> The Human And The Well
>  by Zandar13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Human And The Well
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello, allow me to introduce myself to you all, my name is Adrian Frost and this is my story of how I found myself in another world and surrounded by the most strangest of creatures. But of course I do not want to get ahead of myself and I shall start this tale the day of my......departure from Earth.


---------- Earth, USA, Michigan, Adrian's House ----------


“Ugh, shut up!” I yelled out to no one in particular as I reached over to my phone and turned off the alarm that was pounding my head awake. Once it was off I slowly peeled myself out of my futon bed to start my morning routine of showering, getting dressed, eating a quick breakfast, then brushing my teeth to finally welcome the day ahead. 

I looked outside and saw that it had snowed again last night and now I would have to shovel again “Ugh, even though I love snow I do not enjoy getting rid of it” I solemnly told myself as I sluggishly got my winter outfit on before stepping outside and being greeted by the beautiful white winter morning and the cool, crisp air as it bit on any small exposed skin, mainly my nose. Thankfully I had left the shovel next to the door, so I grabbed it on my way out.

Lucky for me it was a light snow so snow duties lasted only a half hour before I stepped back into the empty house and tossed the snow gear aside to dry as I went to the kitchen to make myself a nice cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows. Yeah, yeah I know, a twenty two year old making hot chocolate sounds silly but truthfully the taste of coffee is not a welcomed taste in my mouth, so hot cocoa it is! So with a warm cup in hand I headed over to my couch and turned on my T.V.

Nothing much was on so I switched to the news and saw that some sort of holiday event was going on in the park and with nothing to do I finished my drink and wrapped myself up in warm clothing, grabbing my phone, wallet, keys, and other small things one might need. Before I headed out I took a quick look at a photo that was hanging on the wall and I smiled at it before saying “Heading out mom, look after the house”. With my farewell I headed out and locked up before plugging in headphones and picked out my music as I began the walk to the park.

It was only about thirty minutes before I saw that I was getting close to the park so I turned off my music, pocketed my headphones and continued my walk but before I went any further I saw something sparkling off to my right and letting my curiosity lead me on I went down the slight dirt hill and started following the tiny stream while I tried to figure out where the shiny went.

After wandering for a few minutes I was about to give up and get back to the park when I noticed in the distance an old stone well sitting in the middle of a clearing and once again I let my curiosity lead me forward. I reached it and began to investigate it and found nothing of interest on the outside before I stuck my head inside to see down into it and saw only some water that had pooled there over time at the bottom.

I was about to lean back out before I saw a shimmer in the water and I leaned over a bit to take a better look. And that was my undoing, for as soon as I put more weight on the old stone wall, it collapsed and sent me tumbling down the dark well before I splashed into the cold, frigid water. The shock of the bitter cold made me gasp out and draw in water which led to me desperately trying swim up to get air but my legs refused to listen as they yelled out in pain and soon my arms followed suit as all energy seemed to drain out of me.

I began to sink deeper and deeper into the cold arctic waters within the well and soon after I felt my senses start to blacken and I began to lose consciousness as my mind trembled in fear at the knowledge that I was about to die. But that did not last long as my vision went dark while my body was pulled further in until it disappeared into darkness.


---------- Unknown Place, 4 Hours Later ----------


Darkness. That was the only thing I could see when I felt myself awaken from the endless slumber, but with it came some muffled voices all around me, but due to my hearing not being fully awakened I could not understand what they were saying. This continued for a while before color and shapes started to sneak back into my line of sight and the voices started to become slightly clearer though I still could not understand what was being said. I simply laid there and allowed my senses to come back to me.

Was this the afterlife? Simply waking up and slowly greeting it after dying? Seemed a bit bizarre to me but who am I to argue? So deciding that things would work themselves out soon enough, I simply let my body do its thing as my senses came back though I could feel myself breathing just fine. After a few minutes I finally managed to open my eyes and was met with what looked like a blue sky with a few clouds passing by, which seemed very nice before I realized that I was lying down on top of grass as I felt the few stalks of grass gently caress my fingers.

It was then that I realized that the voices had stopped but my sight had thankfully returned to normal but seemed a bit blurry. Great even in death I still needed to wear glasses. But I threw that thought aside as I decided to test my ability to move by slowly clenching both hands into fists multiple times. Not only did I feel my fingers strength return, but I also heard a slight gasp as multiple female voices began to whisper which reaffirmed my earlier thought that someone was talking.

Knowing that I had some strength left to give, I decided to slowly sit up by propping by elbows on the ground and pushing my body up and into a sitting position with my legs out, though I had closed my eyes as to not get vertigo from the sudden rush of movement and possibly new sights. After getting myself up I rubbed my face and eyes and felt everything still there, a very good sign, and so I slowly began to raise my eyelids and allowed the blurs to reconfigure into my slightly bad sight though the shapes that did appear were not what I was expecting to see. 

When my sight finally returned I saw that in a semi-circle around me were five.....no six four legged creatures! But all of them were multicolored and roughly resembled ponies with very big eyes and as I stared at the very bizarre sight I began to notice that a few of them had horns, wings, none, and one even had both a horn and wings! I was simply speechless and I felt my jaw drop and hang down on my face as I sat there wide eyed and stared at them all while my brain was screaming 'WHAT?!'

I couldn't see what sort of faces they were making exactly but I think one or two were like me and stared with hanging jaws, while some others simply stared and I think one was scared, but the only other thing I noticed was a giggle with a very girly and high pitched voice coming from my left side. Only moving my eyes I tried to see who was laughing and I only saw a very pink blob bobbing its head up and down that was in fact emitting the very same laughter.

After a few moments of mostly silence I finally uttered “Wh-wh-who and what are you?” with a very shocked face.

Once again this got a collective gasp from this group of creatures in front of me before the one with a horn and wings stepped forward “H-hello? Can you understand me?” she said, or I assumed for the moment it was a she since it also had a very feminine voice.

I simply nodded and managed to close my hanging jaw before I blinked a few times and rubbed my eyes with a groan.

The same one spoke up again “Are you alright? Is there something wrong with your eyes?” she asked inquisitively.

I stopped rubbing my eyes “Yes, I'm alright. My eyes hurt a little since I don't have my glasses” I replied while slightly squinting.

This seemed to make her happy as I think she smiled and I saw her horn glow a light purple as my pair of glasses, which were also surrounded in the same light purple, floated in front of me “These must be yours then, we found them next to your body” she happily replied. 

I slowly lifted my arm and grabbed them and as soon as I did the purple light vanished and I put them on over my eyes and let them readjust themselves. Soon I saw clearly again and I was now seeing these creatures in all details. The one who I assumed gave me my glasses was a lavender colored thing with a horn and big wings and I saw that near her backside she had a mark that looked like six or seven stars but when I returned to her face I now saw two very big and very pretty eyes staring at me very closely, in fact so close that I could almost feel her breath on my face.

We stared at each other for a few seconds before I slightly tilted my had and asked “Sorry to interrupt but I want to ask again. Who and what are you?”

My words seemed to snap her out of her trance and she blushed while leaping backwards “Oh! Whoops! So sorry about that. Ahem. Hello there, my name in Princess Twilight Sparkle and I am an Alicorn pony!” she replied with a smile. 

So they are ponies, though very different looking than what I have ever seen but before I could think of anything else my mind snapped to attention at the fact that she was a Princess! Instantly I swirled my legs back and got on my knees in a bow as I placed my hands on the grass beside me and laid my forehead on the ground. “I-I'm so sorry Your Majesty! I had no idea you were royalty! Please forgive me if I did anything to offend you!” I spat out with a hurried tone.

I was met with silence before I heard a few giggles and someone trying to get words out but failing. It did not last long before I felt something on the sides of my head pulling me up, which turned out to be her hooves. “Please! You do not need to do that! That is far too formal and makes me feel bad to have somepony bow so low like that to me! Please rise! Please!” she said with a sad tone and a slight quiver in her voice.

I saw that she had a sad face and I decided that for the moment normal behavior was allowed and while I stayed kneeling I rose my body up to normal “Oh, I see. Well I apologize if I did something wrong. I was not sure how to act in front of royalty” I said with a slight blush.

Thankfully she looked at me and smiled again “Don't be sorry, you did not know and besides, I'm not terribly comfortable with ponies being so formal with me. I like it better to be treated normal” she told me while continuing to smile. 

Before I could say anything she said “So, now that I introduced myself now it's your turn! Please.”.

I nodded and I cleared my throat “Hello there, my name is Adrian Frost and I am a twenty two year old human. It is nice to meet you” I replied, placing my arm out to perform a handshake. 

She looked at my arm for a second before realizing something as she placed her front appendage out and rest it in my hand, so I curled my fingers slightly around it and we shook but suddenly she pulled my hand closer to her face “Oh my! What are these things?” she said as she poked my fingers with the edge of her......hoof I suppose, since she is a pony.

I looked at her blankly before responding “Um, those are my fingers?”.

She gasped as she continued poking them “Interesting! I have never met a human before and the only fingers I have seen are on dragons and minotaurs! Your fingers are very different looking and so soft!” she said as she brought my hand up and rubbed her face with it, still smiling. 

My face blushed red and I heard a few more giggles before I heard someone else step up to her side and placed their own hoof on hers “Ah, Twi. I think yer embarrising the poor fella” the orange pony said in a heavy southern accent.

Twilight stopped nuzzling my hand immediately and I could feel her face heat up before she dropped my hand “Oh my! I am so sorry! I just....I only was.....ugh” she exclaimed, hanging her head down low while the rest of the group giggled. 

I still had a bit of red in my cheeks when I looked at the orange pony, who did not have any wings or a horn “Hello, um I hope I'm not being rude in asking but what kind of.. uh....pony are you?” I sincerely asked. 

The orange pony looked at me and had a huge grin on her face “Well shoot, sorry fer not intraducing maself! The name is Applejack and I am an Earth pony!” she responded with while she took both of her front hooves and grabbed the same hand and begun to shake it a lot before letting go.

My hand was still going up and down before I grabbed it to make it stop “Earth pony? Huh. Ok, so you are an earth pony, and Princess Twilight is an Alicorn. So I am guess that the other types are Unicorns and Pegasi?” I said. 

Before Applejack could respond a blue blur flew right in front of my face and all I saw was a huge grinning pony with rainbow colored hair “Correct! As you can see I myself am a Pegasus!” she quickly turned around and showed off her flapping wings “And not to brag or anything but you are in the presence of the fasted flyer in all of Equestria!” she said as she crossed her arms and wore a huge smile.

My eyes went wide “Wow! Really? That is cool!” I exclaimed but quickly added “But what is Equestria? I have never heard of that place before.” I asked.

The whole group went silent before Twilight spoke up “Never heard of Equestria? Where are you from?” she asked.

I responded by holding up my right hand and pointed to the bottom “I am from Michigan and I live down here” I said while hoping they knew where I was pointing at.

She tilted her head in confusion “Mishegan? Where is that? I have never heard of that country before” she said.

“Um, it is not a country. It is a state within the United States of America, the country” I responded with.

Once again I only got a confused look “The United States of America? I am so sorry but I can't say I have ever heard of it. Hold on” she said before her horn started glowing again and instantly a rolled up piece of paper appeared and laid itself flat on the ground “Could you come over to the map here and show me?” she asked.

I nodded and I stood up, only to immediately realized that these ponies were kinda small, as they only came up to my waist and I could see that they all noticed this too, especially the yellow pegasus who was shaking a bit and hid behind the white unicorn. I saw this and stopped moving “Oh, I'm sorry. I did not mean to scare you” I said while looking at the pegasus who responded by covering her face with her hooves.

The white unicorn nuzzled the pegasus on the top of her head real quick before she smiled and turned to me “It is not your fault darling, Fluttershy here is as her name implies is terribly shy around new ponies and it usually takes her some time to warm up. Oh! Where are my manners! My name is Rarity and as you guessed earlier dear, I am indeed a unicorn!” she said proudly.

I breathed a small sigh of relief “I see, well thank you Rarity. It is an honor to meet you. I am just glad that I didn't accidentally scare her, I would feel terrible if I did” I said while I gave a small smile.

I saw that Fluttershy uncovered her face and whispered something into Rarity's ear but stayed behind her “Fluttershy here says that she is sorry and did not mean to make you feel bad dear. She is just a little nervous about your height”.

I smiled a little more “Thank you Rarity, I am glad to hear it” I said before I heard a small cough behind me, so I turned around and I saw that Twilight was looking at me expectantly, “Oh! Sorry Princess!” I replied and quickly walked over and kneeled down to study the map. Only to find that I did not recognize anything on it. The label in the corner of the map said “Equus” while the majority of the land was labeled under “Equestria”.

I must have looked worried because Applejack asked “Is everything all right? You look pale partner”.

I gave the map one last look before looking up “I don't recognize anything. I have never seen this map before and I have never heard of any of these places” I gulped before finishing “I-if I had to guess then I think I might have come from another world or something”.

This earned me another confused look from everyone “What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Well, I say this because right here it says the name of this planet is Equus, while I come from Planet Earth. Other than that the map could not exist in my world as most of this area” I made a small square with my fingers “would be where my country is. So, unless I am dreaming then I am in......another.....world.” I finished that last sentence as it finally hit me. I was in ANOTHER WORLD! WITH TALKING, MULTICOLORED POINES! It hit me hard and almost immediately I backed up and away from the group and began to hyperventilate and started to walk in circles. 

Fortunately the group had taken notice of my distress and all came running up to me, Well, most of the group. The pink one who I did not know yet zoomed off into the distance impossibly fast and Fluttershy, while looking quite concerned, held back at the back of the group. But due to my panic attack I could not hear what any one was saying to me as I continued to pace back and forth, mumbling something under my nose. Finally my knees gave way and I tumbled to the ground and fell on my side, the pain shot through me and snapped me slightly back to reality as I noticed all of them looking at me with sad and fearful faces and I could also see Fluttershy who started to form tears in her eyes.

When I saw their faces I began taking deep breaths and after a few moments I had calmed down enough and slowly bent up into a sitting position so I could clear the tears from my eyes. It had looked like Twilight was about to talk but she stopped when Fluttershy walked by her and came straight up to me, sitting down and placed a hoof on my knee. She looked up at me “A-a-are you alright?” she said with concern and sadness in her voice while her eyes watered up.

I looked at her and I looked down and took one more deep breath before speaking up “I'm sorry, I freaked out when I finally realized that I had traveled to another world somehow after I woke up from drowning” but once more I took a deep breath in realization that I was indeed drowning but instead of dying I had instead traveled to another world.

Fluttershy gasped when she heard about me drowning and she stood up and placed both her front hooves on my legs, looking up at me with concern “Drowning?! You almost drowned!?!” she said with a concerned and very surprised face and fear in her voice. I saw that her tears had returned and the began to flow down her cheeks.

I don't know what it was but I could not stand to see her cry so I gently lifted my hands to her muzzle and I wiped her tears with my thumbs then I went to scratch the back of her ear. This surprised her as she jumped a little but when I began scratching she calmed down almost instantly and slightly leaned her head into the scratching hand while, the few remaining tears rolled off. I wiped them off again and continued to scratch her ear.

With a sigh I said “Yes, I did. I was walking to the park to go experience an event they were holding there when I got distracted by something shining in the distance and after a little while I found myself looking into an old well. When I saw the water at the bottom shimmer I leaned in closer to see what is was, and then I fell through the old stone work and landed in the water. The water was icy cold and my limbs froze up and I had swallowed water and before I knew it I had blacked out, thinking I was going to die” I shivered at the thought and closed my eyes.

But before long I felt her shift in my lap and I felt my chin being rubbed against something soft, so I opened my eyes and saw that Fluttershy was sitting in my lap and she was nuzzling my neck to comfort me. I smiled and gave her a small hug “Thank you Fluttershy, I'm glad that I don't scare you anymore” I said with a small chuckle. 

This made her blush a little before she nervously stuttered “O-o-oh, I....I am s-s-sorry about that. I j-j-just get nervous around new.....n-new ponies” she said.

I gave another slight chuckle “It's alright, I understand” I said as she continued to sit in my lap.

After a moment she shifted so she had her back to me and sat down “Um, I hope you don't mind me asking but c-could you.....you.....” she quietly said.

“Yes?” I responded.

She gulped as she struggled to find her voice “C-c-c-ould you.....scratch my ear again” she finally said. I could see her neck growing slightly red and I smiled. She was really shy but sweet. I responded by bringing my hand back and began to scratch her ear again. I could tell she was relaxing as her stiff body just seemed to turn into jelly as she leaned into my hand and she gave a quiet “hmmmmmmm”.

The rest of the group simply stared in amazement at their shyest friend being so bold before Applejack laughed “Well shoot sugarcube, looks like ya made yerself a friend” she said. I could feel her head growing warmer as she blushed again before she relaxed at my touch once more.

I looked around the group and I saw the cyan pegasus flying and smiling “Pardon me, but I never caught your name after you told me you were the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria” I asked her.

She looked confused for a second before realizing I was talking to her “OH! Yeah, sorry. I probably got caught up in the moment again. My name is Rainbow Dash!” she exclaimed before she did a few back flips in the air. When she stopped and saw my amazed face her grin grew even wider “Aw yeah! Just made myself a new fan!” she said as she quickly flew down and rubbed the top of my head with her hoof before flying back. 

I gave a slight laugh before looking back at the group “Oh yeah, what happened to that pink pony from bef-” was all I said before said pink pony just seemed to materialize right beside Twilight, who jumped a few feet in the air in surprise “-ore. Oh, speaking of who, who are you?” I asked while looking right at her.

But before she said anything she quickly set down the sheet of cupcakes she now had, grabbed one and held it out to me “Before that, eat this!” she said before almost shoving it down my throat. I eventually got it in my mouth in one piece and began chewing it. I melted at the taste of the red velvet taste mixed with the vanilla icing as it glided along my throat and into my stomach. I must have had a goofy smile since Rainbow started to snicker.

“Yay! He is all better now! My special “Feel Better Velvet Cupcakes” always do the trick! Oh and my name is Pinkie Pie and I'm the most super duper awesome amazing spectacular party pony you will ever meet! And I love making friends and making them smile! I already made you smile! So that makes you my friend already! I love making new friends, especially since it's a pony we have never seen before but you're not a pony but a human. GASP! My first human friend! Oh I am so lucky and excited! I need to set up a “Welcome To Ponyville” party! NO! Wait! Maybe a “First Human To Equestria” party! NO WAIT!” she continued to go on and on and on about different parties and what not.

Pinkie simply became lost in her world and did not seem to care that she was now talking to herself. Twilight had recovered and spoke up “Yes, well to answer your question that was Pinkie Pie and like she said she likes to see ponies smile and when you.....well.....had your panic attack she ran off to her shop to get those cupcakes for you. She is quite a hoof full but a good friend. Weird and sometimes scary, but good” she said while adding a smile.

“OH! It looks like you are already making friends too! You must be good to already have Fluttershy warmed up to you already! That head scratch looks mighty cozy! He he!” Pinkie added out of nowhere. Flutterhsy probably heard it too but was still smiling away as I scratched her ear. Pinkie tilted her head as she looked at my hand scratching Fluttershy's head before she bounced over to my free hand and lied down “Me too! Me too!” she happily exclaimed.

I simply laughed and I gently placed my hand on her head and began to scratch her ear but I could tell that she was not ready for this feeling because as soon as I did, she gasped loudly before her body just seemed to melt into the ground while staying solid. “Oh, that......feelsh.....shoooo.....gooooood” she sluggishly said. 

Pinkie's reaction made all but Flutterhsy start to laugh before Applejack spoke up “Well shoot! Will ya look at that! I reckon yer a good fella if you got both Fluttershy and Pinkie to like ya so quick! Glad ya are, I have to admit that I was slightly worried since we aint seen nutin like ya before and a few times before ya new was not always a welcome wagon” she said calmly but sternly.

I thought about that for a moment “That is understandable, I was in the same shoes when I first saw you all when I woke up. I had no idea what you were going to do with me then I got introduced to royalty then I got my fingers prodded. So I wasn't exactly sure what to expect” I said before adding a chuckle.

Before anyone could say anything else, my stomach started to growl a bit and when it stopped I blushed a bit “Heh heh, eh. Sorry about that” I quickly added.

This got a giggle out of them “Well girls, I do declare that we settle down for lunch down with our new friend! What do you think Adrian darling?” Rarity said.

I thought about it for a moment before nodding “I think that sounds lovely Rarity. Thank you” I added.

“Oh please don't mention it darling. Besides, I have a few questions if you do not mind” she said. 

“I don't mind so long as I can also ask a few questions myself” I replied.

With this Twilight started to hop in place “YES! YES! YES! I'm going to write everything down and put it into a book or a journal! All this new information! I can't wait!” she happy said while bouncing.

This made Rainbow roll her eyes “Geez, what an egghead. Though I guess it would be kinda cool to hear about another world, I suppose” she innocently said while trying to look not interested.

With that said the four other girls walked away for a bit before returning with a few baskets and blankets “Good thing we came prepared!” Rarity said before they started to set up the picnic area. Within a few minutes it was all set up and they had plenty to eat. There was no meat but that was understandable since they were ponies.

I stopped my scratches which earned two whines of disappointment but Pinkie stayed where she was and pulled up her food while Fluttershy slowly moved to my other side and got hers. Before we started eating Applejack cleared her throat “Attention y'all! Before we eat, I just wanna raise a toast! To our new friend Adrian the human! Cheers!” she declared before the rest joined in “Cheers!” then we all digged in. 

Fluttershy quickly tapped my knee “And welcome to Equestria Adrian” she said with a cute little smile.
> The Only Human In Town
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


--------- Plain Field (Picnic Area), About two hours and many questions and answers later ---------


“AH! That was a really great lunch!” I happily said as I took the last bite of my apple, speaking of which “So, these same apples were grown on your own farm Applejack?”.

The orange mare grinned at this “Sure as hay they did! My family has been growing apples since forever! Just ask Granny Smith! She'll tell ya all sorta stories from back in the day” she exclaimed.

“Wow, that is pretty cool. Well just know that these apples are so far the best ones I have ever had” I said as I took a napkin and began to clean off my mouth.

“Well DUH! Of course they are, they are the only apples you have had here in Equestria silly!” Pinkie Pie quickly added with a giggle.

I playfully rolled my eyes “I meant that these are better than the ones I tasted back home, ya goof ball” I retorted as I brought my hand up and started to scratch her ear again, of which I heard no complaints.

Once again Applejack wore the biggest grin I have ever seen and I could see a hint of blush “Well golly gee, I knew that I had the best apples here but to say I have better then from another world! I would almost say you're sweet talking mister” she said with a smile.

I simply laughed “I do mean it though, I wouldn't say that if I thought it was not true! And besides, now whatever I eat after this will now have to be compared to your wonderful apples!” I concluded with a wink. From behind me I heard a hearty laugh as Rainbow laid her arms across the top of my head.

“Now THERE was some sweet talking if I ever heard it, trust me” she said while continuing to laugh. This got a bit more blush out of Applejack before she joined in the laughter.

“Well that is mighty kind of ya Adrian, thank ye” she said with a smile as she cleaned up her area which resulted in the rest of the girls to follow suit, all except for Pinkie who refused to move from her ear scratching spot. After the cleanup Twilight looked over to us and saw Pinkie's face that had a look of pure bliss and tilted her head.

“Pardon me Adrian but do you mind if I ask you a question?” Twilight asked.

“I do not mind Princess, even though I'm not sure what else to answer about since you asked almost everything during lunch” I replied with a chuckle that also got a chuckle out of a few of the other girls around.

Twilight gave the girls a quick stink eye before normally looking at me “I was simply wondering, why are you scratching her ear like that? I was curious when you started doing it to Fluttershy but I did not ask then, as it seemed to calm her down” she asked with a voice full of curiosity.

Before I spoke I thought about it for a moment before a realization dawned upon me and I stopped scratching Pinkie's ear, which earned me a look of confusion and a quivering lip. I quickly spoke up “Oh, is that wrong of me to do? Does that action mean something personal here or something? I'm really sorry if I offended you in any way Princess” I said as I clasped my hands together and laid them in my lap.

“OH! No, no, no! It does not mean anything at all! Sorry if I worried you with that question! I-I was simply curious as to why you performed that action was all!” she hurriedly responded with as she grew a nervous look.

“Oh, good. Sorry, I was worried I did something wrong against your culture. Remind me to ask about that later. But as to why well, I, um” I gulped in concern and worry with the answer “Well, back home we also have ponies and other furry creatur-” was all I got out before all six gasped.

“WAIT! Earth also has ponies as well?!” Twilight exclaimed as her eyes went wide before they shrunk back down to normal and she scrunched her face in confusion “If that is so then why did you appear surprised when you saw us then if you already have ponies in your world?” she asked, that made the others nod in agreement and look to me for answers. 

I gulped and took a deep breath after “Well, yes and no. Yes we have ponies but they are not like you. You see they are just like cats and dogs and other animals here on Equus. That and they look much different than you but when I first saw you, you seemed to have the general shape of a pony so while I was shocked I kind of realized what you were. Well sort of since I was still in shock at the fact that I was talking to a multicolored being that was not human” I said with a nervous laugh before it quickly died out in my mouth.

With this new information, all the girls stood in silence as they thought about this and I was greeted with the grand gift of silence for a few minutes that started to become very awkward and I even began to fiddle with my thumbs and looked down. My only thoughts were 'I hope they don't think that I see them as beasts of burden or mindless or anything. That was so stupid of me to say, I should have lied and said that we scratch ears back home to comfort each other or something' Sigh. 

Before I could muster any other thoughts Twilight finally stood forward and gave a slight cough to catch my attention “So, basically humans on Earth hold the same intelligence and social standing as ponies do on Equus?” she asked. I only nodded in response before I saw her give a small smile “Well, I suppose that things would be very different on another world though it is very surprising to hear and must be even more so for you!” she added with a small laugh.

But as soon as she said that Rainbow flew up to my face and stared at me eye to eye, pressing her muzzle against my nose “Lets clear one thing right now though bub! We ponies are not some sort of beasts of burden or any sort of crap like that! Got it pal?!” she told me in an angry voice.

My eyes shrunk to the size of pins and my voice was caught in my throat and taking a small breath of air did I finally manage to say “I-I-I would never think of my friends like that, ponies or otherwise” I said softly and with a nervous voice. After I said that it seemed to snap Rainbow out of her temper and she flew back with a gasp and landed on the ground, pawing at the dirt with her hoof.

“Now Rainbow! That was uncalled for, ya hear! Especially saying that sorta thing ta our friend! You really need to control your temper!” Applejack said with a snort before she took a few steps and laid a hoof on my hands “I'm awfully sorry about that Adrian, Rainbow has a short fuse and a big temper. But that's only because she has a big heart and did not want to see a strange being treat her friends like wild animals. I hope ya understand that she did not mean that in a bad way sugarcube, honest” she said while looking at me with a small smile.

It took me a moment to calm down, before I softly rubbed her hoof with my thumb in response “I understand, I suppose hearing a strange thing like me saying that could cause a misunderstanding or fearful response” I said before I slowly stood up and walked over to Rainbow and kneeled down to look at her “I'm sorry Rainbow if I upset you but I promise you that I will never think or treat you or anyone like that ever. Alright?” I told her, wearing a sad smile.

Rainbow continued to look down in shame before I heard her say “Ok, I will forgive you on one condition” she responded with by looking up at me.

I raised an eyebrow up at this “And what condition is that?” I asked hesitantly. This only made her blush ever so slightly as she stared at me for a few seconds before I heard her say.

“Co-coul-could you........scratch my ear too?” she asked with a voice that almost rivaled Fluttershy's. It took me a moment to realize what she asked before I smiled and chuckled a little at the thought of Equestria's most awesome and fastest flyer asking for an ear scratch.

“It would be my honor to give Equestria's most awesome and fastest flier an ear scratch Rainbow” I happily replied with as I slowly reached up to her head. She flinched slightly as she felt my hand contact her ear but as soon as I began to scratch her eyes bulged open and her face adopted a goofy smile as she ever so slightly leaned into my hand. 

“Oh yeah, that does feel.....awesome” she muttered with a happy smile and droopy eyes and what she did next made my heart skip a beat. As I continued to scratch her head I saw her back right leg give a few slight kicks, that of course got a few muffled laughs from the rest which made the rainbowed one realize exactly what she just did and quickly take to the air and cross her hooves, looking away. “W-well, since you did what I asked I have decided to forgive you” she said while trying to sound proud before Applejack gave a quick cough “And that I....I'm sorry” she finished, her face getting a bit redder.

I simply laughed and nodded in response before Twilight spoke up “While I am glad that that was all cleared up, you still have not answered my original question Adrian” she said as she looked at me expectantly again. 

“OH! Sorry Princess! Um, let's see. Where did I leave off?” I said as I thought where I left off in the original conversation “Oh! I know, alright so like I was saying back home whenever we see that animals are in distress or maybe just in general we have learned that scratching behind their ears usually has a calming effect.”

“So when I saw Fluttershy sad, I had thought that maybe that action could work here on sentient ponies as well and fortunately I was right. That and also it generally feels good for animals back home, which also seem to apply to you three as well” I finally explained as I gave a slight chuckle to that last part which made Fluttershy and Rainbow blush while Pinkie simply laughed out loud.

“Well, I for one am simply glad that everything worked out in the end but I do think that we should head back to Ponyville, for I have a lot of orders to fill for next week!” Rarity quickly chimed in and began to walk in the direction that I assumed where their town was.

“Yes, you're right Rarity and I have to get back to the library and write a letter to Princess Celestia! She needs to know about you Adrian right away!” Twilight said in a happy tone as she grabbed her basket and other supplies and began to trot alongside with Rarity.

“Yeah, I need to get back to the farm and get back ta work bucking apples. They don't fall off by themselves ya know!” Applejack quickly said as she joined the forward group with her stuff.

“Me too, I gotta get to work and do cloud and storm detail for tomorrow before I practice some more moves for the Wonderbolts! I will see everypony else later!” Rainbow Dash said before she flew over to me and ruffled my hair with her hoof “See ya later big guy” and she quickly flew off into the distance. 

Pinkie, Fluttershy, and me simply followed behind the first three and we began to walk. Our walk together did not last for long as Pinkie, who was bouncing along, suddenly jumped into my arms and luckily I caught her “Whoa there Pinkie, you surprised me” I said with a laugh.

“Free ride back home! Yay! Oh! And could you scratch my ear again, it feels SOOOOOOOO GOOD!” she quickly said as she nestled comfortably into my arms and waited for the scratch. 

With a roll of my eyes I adjusted my arm and began to scratch her ear, which she responded with a soft happy moan “I might have to start charging you for this service Pinkie” I said halfheartedly. She did not respond but simply began to mumble some sort of song as she was carried. The other girls giggled at us as we continued our walk.


–-------- Ten Minutes Later –-------- 


“And so I said to the waiter 'That's not chocolate, that's mud!'” I finished off my joke while barely containing my laughter, which was joined by Pinkie, Twilight, and a quiet Fluttershy while Rarity nervously chuckled.

“I do hope dear, that that was a made up joke than a real life joke” Rarity said while trying not to sound mortified that a waiter had just tasted mud.

After a few more laughs I was finally able to speak “O-oh yes Rar-Rarity. It was made up, I would never trick a waiter into eating mud” I said while trying to catch my breath.

With a visible sigh of relief Rarity spoke “Well that is a relief, I shall be departing here. See everypony later!” she said as she readjusted her curled mane again and walked off.

“I need to be heading off as well girls, Angel is probably worried sick and I need to check on the rest of my animals” Fluttershy quietly said before she flew up and nuzzled my cheek “If you need anything, and I mean anything at all, Adrian then please let me know. Ok?” she said with the sweetest and kindest voice she could muster while looking at me with big, caring eyes.

“I will remember that Fluttershy, thank you so much” I replied with a smile before she nodded again and flew off in the opposite direction.

Now it was only Twilight, Applejack, and me with a very happy and lazy Pinkie in my arms still as we continued to walk but as I saw the outskirts of town I stopped “Hey Princess Twilight, wait a moment”.

This made her and Applejack stop and look at me “Yes Adrian? What is wrong?” she asked.

“Well, not that I think anything bad will happen but do you think it will be alright with me, a never before seen creature, walking into town?” I asked worryingly. This made Twilight bring a hoof up to her chin and I could almost hear the gears spinning in her head as she continued to think and think. Finally her face snapped back to normal and she looked at me before speaking.

“Well, the last few times a strange pony came into Ponyville they were not met with happy greetings but since you are traveling with Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and myself I suspect that they will not see you as a threat or any thing too weird. But having said that I would still be wary that a few ponies might be scared or try to ignore you. Please don't take it personal Adrian, I promise you that once they meet and talk with you they will see your as normal as anypony else! Ok?” Twilight said with a kind and caring voice as she smiled up at me.

I smiled back and nodded “All right Princess, thank you. Now, let's go and see where you all live!” I happily exclaimed. The three mares happily nodded and we all continued our journey into town with me looking around, trying to see as much sights as possible. I was surprised by the looks of the buildings and houses, they all seemed very rustic and rural with the wooden sides and straw roofs and almost made me feel like I stepped back in time.

As soon as we stepped into town Pinkie finally leapt from my arms and began to bounce-walk alongside me with a mile-long smile. I was starting to think that her smile was permanently attached to her face. But another thing I noticed when I looked around was that I certainly was grabbing everyone’s attention as I saw that all the ponies in town were staring at me as we walked on by but so far mostly due to curiosity and not fear. 

I even saw a few ponies crash into objects while they stared at me, which made me laugh under my breath as we continued to walk. I continued to observe the town as I saw mares, stallions, and little kids, foals or fillies I think, of every kind go about their day until they saw me and just stared until I passed. I'm not sure if none of them approached us because of me or Princess Twilight, which made me wonder how they normally reacted around royalty around here in a town this size. 

“OH! OH! WE'RE HERE!” Pinkie Pie shouted which snapped me back to reality as I looked where Pinkie was and there before me was a GINGERBREAD HOUSE! I kid you not, a real life, full sized, gingerbread house, complete with candy canes, frosting, candy coating, you name it. 

“Welcome to SugarCube Corner Adrian! This is the local bakery and sweets shop where I work! The other sweets shop is down the corner and run by a mare called Bon-Bon by the way. Oh I can't wait to show you all the kinds of sweets and sugary confections I can cook up!” Pinkie said as her body started to literally shake like she was standing atop an earthquake.

“BUT I can't right now since this afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Cake, the owners, and I have to bake a bunch of orders that have to be done soon or else!” she exclaimed before she gave a slight pout and a sigh.

I smiled as I walked over and patted her head “Don't worry Pinkie, I know that whatever you make will be super duper delicious! So I can wait as long as you need” I said.

This got her to smile and bounce again and also got a giggle “Yay! Well don't you worry one bit, I am gonna bake like there is no tomorrow so I can stuff you full of sweets! See ya later!” and with that she disappeared inside the gingerbread house. 

Once she was gone I took a deep breath “Wow, is she always such a handful?” I asked with a smile.

The two remaining mares giggled and looked at me “Yep, she sure is and that is only the tip of the iceberg. You have yet to see her REALLY crazy antics. Believe me, I know” Twilight explained. 

“Well I hate to run off and leave ya but I gotta get some supplies for the farm before I head on back, so I shall be seeing ya later Twi! And be sure to drop by the farm sometime later Adrian for another of yer most favorite apples in all of Equstria and Earth!” Applejack said before she walked off somewhere, leaving only me and Twilight.

“Well, with everypony else doing work, let's head on back to the library to get you settled in and allow me to write to the Princess” Twilight said as she began to walk with me following her.

“Settled in? What do you mean Princess Twilight?” I asked.

This only got a cute little laugh in response “I mean getting you set up to live with me until we figure out something more permanent silly” she said as she looked up at me with an amused expression. This made me blush a little and feel myself at a loss of words.

“B-but Princess! I do not want to intrude and to just suddenly move in an-and-” I blubbered out quite foolishly. 

“It is no trouble at all Adrian, you are a visitor to our world and as Princess it is my duty to take care of those who need it. That and as my friend, I could never allow you to sleep somewhere in the streets! Never!” she stated quite sternly.

I simply stared at her while we continued to walk before a smile crept back onto my face “Wow, thank you so much Princess. If there is anything I could do for you, please don't hesitate to ask. I am in your debt” I quickly ran in front of her, forcing her to stop, and got down on one knee and took her hoof and giving it a quick kiss, placing my other hand on top of my heart. 

This simply made the lavender mare blush hard as she tried and failed to form a sentence that did not sound like gibberish. But before she could find her voice another voice, more like three different voices, called out of nowhere yelling “WATCH OUT!”. I quickly turned my head towards the sound but was too late to react as three small fillies smashed into me and we all tumbled to the ground while their scooter and little cart flew away. After a few more moments of tumbling and rolling we finally stopped and plopped to the ground in a mash of body parts.

After the dust settled and my sight restored to normal I finally gazed down as to what hit me and that was when I saw the three fillies lying on top of me groaning and heads swaying. “Are you three alright?” I groggily asked. This seemed to wake them from their daze as they shook their heads and looked up at me.

“Yeah, were fiIIIIIIIINE!” the cream colored unicorn shouted as she leapt off of me and looked at me with a low hanging jaw. This confused the other two, so they both turned around to look at me and they both adopted the same expression but the red haired earth pony jumped off and joined the other one while the small orange pegasus simply stared up at me with twinkling eyes. 

Before any of us could speak Twilight ran over to us “Oh my gosh! Are you ok Adrian?” I nodded in response “Oh thank Celestia and how about you girls? Are any of you three hurt?” this simply made the three look at her with confused faces. 

“Wait, ya mean you know who and what this thing is Twilight?” the red haired earth pony said in a familiar sounding southern accent.

With a sigh she nodded “Yes girls, his name name is Adrian Frost and he is a human being. Me and the girls just met him earlier today and we all became his friend. Who you just ran into I might add” she gave the three girls a knowing look which caused them to hang their heads in shame. 

“We're so sorry miss Twilight, we were heading to the library to check out a few books that might help us get our cutie marks but we went too fast and couldn't stop. We're sorry” the cream colored unicorn sadly said. 

“I am not the one you need to apologize to, since I was not the one who you three plowed into, now am I?” Twilight stated.

All three turned their heads to me and in one voice said “We're sorry” and gave me the most apologetic, puppy dog eyes I have ever seen, that just made my insides turn to jelly. 

With a forgiving sigh I spoke up and said “I can't be mad at the those three cute and adorable faces”. As I said that I brought my hand up and ruffled the orange pegasus' mane, that made all three smile and the other two quickly ran up to me.

“Wowey mister! I can't say I ever heard of a human before! Where did ya come from?” the earth pony asked.

With a chuckle I said “Before I answer that, can I know your names first? Like Princess Twilight said my name is Adrian Frost, nice to meet you three”. 

All three gasped then took a few steps back to form a line before the red haired one spoke up first “Ma name's Applebloom, Applejacks lil' sister!”. 

Next the cream colored unicorn “And I am Sweetie Bell! Rarity's little sister!”. 

Finally the orange pegasus spoke up to say “And last and not least, Scootaloo's the name and speed is my game! And together we're-” 

All three took a breath before shouting “THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS! YAY!” 

I stared at them for a moment before I gave a short applause “Wow, that was very well done. Well it is nice to meet you Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootaloo!” I said before all three responded with “It's nice to meet you too!” in one voice, to which I gave a slight chuckle. 

Right before I was about to answer their earlier question Twilight spoke up “Hey girls, why don't we head on over to the library first before you start asking all your questions since we are all heading there”. This made the three groan at first before their spirits were lifted back up for some reason. “Alright, let's get going”.

I slowly got to my feet and dusted myself off before I heard three collective gasps, so I turned around to see the three staring up at me with jaws open again, before Sweetie Bell said “Golly gee mister, your tall!” she then ran up to me and placed her front two hooves on my leg, looking up at me “Can I ride on your head? Please! I wanna see how it looks if I was that big! Pretty please!” she begged as she proceeded to pull out the puppy dog eyes and added a quivering lip, these girls were the master at cuteness and it was very unfair. 

With a defeated sigh I reached down, gently wrapped my hands around her and slowly brought her up, placing her upper body on top of my head while she positioned her back hoofs to support her. Once she was up, she let out an excited gasp and began bouncing slightly “WOW! Everything looks so different from up here! This is amazing!” she said with a very happy tone.

This made the other two rush up and begin pleading to be let up as well and they even repeated the cute looks, to which I only gave another defeated sigh “It is very unfair, that you three have mastered that cute look, you know” I playfully said as I scooped up the two in each hand and gently placed them on each shoulder and they each repeated the same amazement as Sweetie Bell did. When all three were settled in on their new perch they each said “Ready!” which only made me and Twilight laugh. 

When I began to follow Twilight the movement made the three jump slightly before they started laughing and began to look around in awe at their new height but before long Sweetie Bell spoke up “Thank you so much for letting me... I-I mean us up Adrian! That was really nice of you”.

I chuckled a bit before I reached up and petted her head for a second “No problem Sweetie” I said with a smile which made her nuzzle the top of my head before she layed her head on top of my head and gave a happy sigh as we made our way to the library.
> The Power Of Magic And A Human
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


---------- Ponyville, 5 Minutes and a brisk walk with laughing fillies later ----------


I think I am going to need to go to the hospital for cuteness disease because I am pretty sure these three fillies have infected me. For five whole minutes during our brief walk all I have gotten out of them is giggles, tail wagging, cheek nuzzles, head rubs, and adorable commentary at their new height. Thanks to them distracting me I had failed to notice the library which came into view until now. I stopped in my tracks and my eyes became glued to the building in front of me and all I could think to say was “Wow”.

The 'library' was in fact a HUGE CASTLE in a tree! Except the tree itself seemed to be made out of crystal and it shined in the sunlight but it did not blind me as I stared at the beauty of it. When I finally made my way to the top I saw a huge star that matched the symbol on Twilight, which reminds me to ask about that later and why the CMC do not have them. Could the symbols be cutie marks? I'll ask later when I stop gawking at the castle made out of a crystal tree.

All senses left me as I continued to stare until finally I noticed Twilight staring at me, that and the multiple pokings upon my face courtesy of the three fillies. I finally blinked and sported a sheepish smile “S-sorry about that Princess, it's just that when you said library I was expecting a normal, old, and probably plain building and not a crystal castle in a tree!” I exclaimed as the excitement in my voice grew and grew but this made Twilight frown a little.

“Sorry about that Adrian, it's just that I am used to calling it my library and not used to calling it the castle yet ever since it magically grew.” she said plainly but that last bit made me take a step back.

“WHAT?! You mean that Crystal Castle grew OUT OF the ground?!? And with MAGIC? But....how....what....I mean.....duhhh” the words flew carelessly out of my mouth before they became gibberish and my face contorted to one full of confusion which promptly got a laugh out of all four girls. 

Twilight spoke up once she had her fill of laughs “Yeah, crazy stuff happens here all the time but I’m sure you have had your share of crazy magic happenings back on Earth, right?” she asked with a normal face and a smile which just made my confused face even more confused. 

After a brief moment “No, I don't. We don't have magic back on Earth.” I said which caused all four to drop their jaws in disbelief and I could feel their stares radiating at me.

“You mean none of you can do any sort of magic whatsoever?!” Sweetie Bell said in an alarmed tone, to which I responded with a gentle nodding of my head, careful not to knock her off of her spot.

“But how do ya do stuff then?! What if something is too tall for ya to reach or too high to get to? Oh, wait! I guess whose with wings do that sorta thing right?” Applebloom asked.

“Nope, we do everything by hand or with the help of machines. No humans on earth posses magic or wings, I guess we are all kinda like earth ponies.” I calmly explained which just made the girls eyes bug out even more.

“NO WINGS?!? But....but....that sounds so boring! How do you travel or do anything then?!” Scootaloo said in a mixture of disbelief and confusion.

I slightly chuckled at this “Well like I said, we have machines and tools to help us. Traveling we use cars, trains, airplanes, and boats to get to pretty much everywhere that walking can't.” I stopped for a moment to think “Um, cars for us are like carriages for you here except they drive themselves with us steering them and controlling how fast or slow they go.” I explained.

Once I got done talking I was met the sound of silence as all of them let this new information sink in, but after a minute or so Twilight stepped forward “So Earth has absolutely no magic at all?” she worryingly asked but I nodded my head in response “Oh, I see. That seems so sad. But how do you defend yourselves in case somepo... ahem something attacks?” she curiously asked.

I froze for a moment and thought how to answer but I could not find a nice way to answer and my face went numb as I frowned “Princess Twilight.....I....I do not wish to answer that right now. If you heard how we, the human race, responds then you might think less of us.....less of me.” I responded with a very sad tone “Is that alright for now?” I pleaded. 

Twilight saw that my face was filled with pain and sadness and quickly trotted over to me and place a hoof on my upper leg “That is quite alright Adrian, I do not wish to pressure you. Although that makes me even more curious and worried but I will respect your wishes.” she said with a kind and reassuring smile “For now lets get inside” she added. When she finished she took a few steps back and quickly her horn glowed and her entire body vanished! But before I could ponder where she went I saw the front doors open inward and saw her standing there “Well come on you slowpokes!” she said with a laugh.

I smiled as I walked over to the doors and just before I went inside I slowly set the three fillies down one by one, which of course got grunts of disappointment “Don't worry, if we have time later then you three can show me around town and back in your spots, ok?” I playfully said which got three huge grins in reply before they quickly ran off inside the crystal corridors. I stared again at the beautiful design of the hallways before I heard Twilight cough to get my attention.

“Well come one! And be sure to close the doors on your way in please!” she asked politely. I nodded and I made to take my first step inside before I heard something above me.

“WATCH OUT BELOW!” a voice said as I saw a shape fall towards me but before I could respond the same thing crashed down on me and once again I found myself on the ground with something laying on my chest while I saw stars dancing around my head. 

“Not again!” I heard Twilight call out before I heard the sound of approaching hoofs on crystal and in a few moments Twilight had reached me “Are you all right Adrian?” she asked with concern. I groggily nodded my head as my sight returned to normal before I looked at who had crashed into me and this time it was only one instead of three.

I saw that laying dazed on my chest but a gray pony with yellow hair and I think her mark is bubbles. The pony groaned and sat up and shaked it head before opening its eyes, to which I saw two yellow eyes that were crossed and were now looking at me in confusion. “Derpy, you need to learn to be more careful! As a mail mare you could accidentally destroy someponies package you know” Twilight said in a gentle but stern tone. So I guess all mares have this same general body shape, but until I see some stallions to compare I will keep on open mind.

The mare looked down and her eyes drooped a bit “I'm sorry, I just don't know what went wrong! I was flying perfectly then I saw this strange creature walking with three fillies on top then next thing I knew I was flying in circles and zig zags! Then I crashed” she looked up at me and stared at me for a few moments “What are you anyway?” she said.

I stared for a few moments longer than I should of before I shook my head, I hope she did not think I was being rude for staring at her eyes, “My name is Adrian and I am a human. Nice to meet you” I polity said as I partially stuck out my hand since she was so close. 

She looked at my hand for a second before realizing what I was doing and she smiled “Hello Adrian the human! My name is Derpy Hooves!” she said as she shook my hand then dropped it “Are you sure your ok?”

I smiled “Yeah, I’ll be fine. What about you though? Are you ok?” I asked worryingly which got a small blush from her.

“Yeah, I-I'll be fine. I'm used to it by now” she responded and looked down in disappointment which made me worry a bit.

“Whats wrong?” I asked again.

She sighed “It's nothing, it's just I am used to crashing and worrying ponies since my eyes are messed up. I have to concentrate to fly straight and I know this but once I got distracted I messed up. Like I always do” she said in such a sad tone and she let out of few sniffles. I instantly lifted my hand up and rested it on her head and using my fingers I scratched her ear while using my thumb to pet her mane which startled her for a split second before I felt her slightly relax.

“It's alright Derpy, everyone has something they don't like about themselves. It is just unfortunate that yours causes you a bit of trouble but that is alright. You know why?” I gently asked, which made her look at me with a few tears and she shook her head “Because from I can tell you don't let that stop you from doing your job and living your life. Most would probably give up or let their problems become their excuse for not doing anything. But you have not given up and do your best, which is the right thing to do.”

“And you wanna know what else Derpy?” I asked again and this time she stared at me in wonder “I think you have very pretty eyes” I smiled at her and continued to scratch her ear and rub her mane. She rubbed her eyes to take away the tears and when she looked up at me again she had a beautiful smile plastered on her face before she leaned in and layed her head against my chest and gave it a slight nuzzle.

“Thank you” was all she said before she took a deep breath and continued to lie still on my chest while I continued to scratch and rub. After a few moments she took her head off and looked at me “Thank you so much for helping me and saying all that stuff. I really needed it and truthfully I had been feeling bad for a little while but now I feel so free!” she exclaimed before she quickly lept into the air and did a back flip in the air before hovering in front of me “I gotta get going and deliver the rest of the mail. Will I see you around?” she asked.

I stood up and nodded my head “I believe so, just hopefully we won't have to crash into each other next time” I said while giving a playful chuckle to which she gave one in reply before she came in closer and nuzzled my cheek and then flew off. I watched her fly off and continued to smile before I turned around and saw Twilight standing there in awe with a few tears in her eyes which she quickly tried to get rid of the moment she saw me looking. 

“Are you all right Princess?” I asked with a bit of concern but she nodded and smiled in return.

“Oh yes. I am quite alright, I just thought it was so beautiful how you handled that situation and I am really happy that you said all those thing to her and cheered her up. You are a really nice pony Adrian. Oops! I mean, human. Oh! I mean...um” she said bashfully as she tried to find a word which only made me chuckle. 

“Person is the word your looking for” I said.

“Oh! I see, pursun....no that's not right.....purson.....pur....per...person......Person! Yes! I learned a new word!” she happily exclaimed and she did a small shuffle with her hoofs. “Yes, you are a nice person Adrian” she finally said as she calmed down and continued to wear that smile which made me turn red a bit.

“Well, it certainly helped that I have helped people back home who were kinda the same way after a bully or something made fun of them. But I am just glad that I was able to help her though, makes it all worth while to see someone smile like that” I said bashfully and scratched the back of my neck while I gave a sheepish smile.

This made Twilight playfully roll her eyes before she motioned for me to follow “Lets get inside and make sure the Crusaders haven't destroyed the library.....again” she groaned at that last bit before she began to walk to where I assumed they were. When I stepped in I made sure to close the doors before catching up to her, but it was not long before we made our way into the library and I once again felt my jaw drop and eyes bulge.

It was huge! It was certainly the biggest library I had ever seen! It had two floors and the walls were lined to the brim full of book cases and each one was stuffed with books of all sizes and color but what was nice though was the middle of each floor was spacious and had a couch and table to read on. But the other thing that caught my eye was on the opposite side was a set of double doors that once again had her mark plastered on the front. But before I could ask I felt my legs being assaulted by three fillies.

“What took you so long! I-We! We were starting to get bored waiting for you!” Sweetie Bell said while looking up at me with an overkill sad face and I pulled a Twilight and playfully rolled my eyes.

“We were held up when Derpy accidentally crashed into him but both of them are fine and she went merrily on her way to deliver her mail. So, what books were you girls thinking of checking out?” Twilight said and I could tell she quickly changed the subject so they would not ask. I fazed out a bit as I looked around the library while the CMC began to list off the activities they already tried to get their marks and from what I was hearing it was quite a long list.

I started to wonder a bit and tried to see how Twilight organized the books to which I found that everything was labeled in sections such as 'Education' and 'Fiction'. So I started to see if they had a fantasy section, which was funny since I myself was in the perfect setting for a fantasy book or fan fiction, but I digress.

I had always liked fantasy books and I was curious as to what sort of stories they would write and how it would compare. After a few minutes of searching I finally found the fantasy section, which was right next to the 'The Magic Of Equestria' section, wonder what was in there. But I ignored that query as I began to search for a title that caught my eye and I found one named “There And Back Again: A Gryphons Journey”. I squinted my eyes at the title and thought “This sounds almost familiar, I wonder why” I shrugged and opened it up and began reading.


---------- 30 Minutes Later ----------


I finally tore myself away from the book and stretched out my back and made a makeshift bookmark out of some paper I had in my pocket. Man, I already loved this book! I was very interesting though I would need to ask Twilight about some things in the book that I did not understand, mainly just some of words they used like when one of the villains said “We have had nothing to eat but maggoty bread for three bucking days!”. Bucking, wonder if that was a swear word here. But I stopped for another reason, one of the characters had found a magic ring and though he did not posses magic the ring allowed him to wield magic.

Which made me start to think that maybe this world had magical items as well and I could use them! That would me so epic! I could finally live out the ultimate dream of my D&D days and maybe wield a flame sword or something! Ok, ok, calm down, don't get ahead of yourself. I took a deep breath and regathered my thoughts, I decided to head back and check out the section next door, 'The Magic Of Equestria' section. So I tucked my new book into a pocket, thankfully it was a small book so it fit perfectly like the ones back home.

So I meandered over to the next section and began to look around and only then did I realize I had no idea was I was looking for. So I began to look at random book and see if one of them would be useful but for a good five to ten minutes I could not decided which one to read, such as “Star Swirls 1001 Tips”, “A Hyrda And You”, “Ancient Forest Dwellers And What Not To Do”, “The Magic Of Beauty And You”, and so on. I was about to give up when near the bottom I saw a book labeled as “Unicorn Magic 101: A Beginners Guide”, sounds reasonable and maybe I will learn a bit more as to what to look for, for future reference.

So once again while standing I opened up to the first page and began reading.


---------- 10 Minutes Later ----------


“UGH! I feel like I am reading a chemistry book” is all I said after I gave up reading for a moment and rubbed my tired eyes “Guess I should of known that magic was not as easy as I thought” I groaned. For the past ten minutes the book was telling me to know all the properties of whatever I wanted to do, like making a simple ball of fire I needed to know how much oxygen to burn and keep in contained which meant how big or small to keep it and blah blah blah. The only good thing was that it said that due to the properties of magic that once you learned how to make that fire it would be engrained into your memory and all you had to do was think of whatever fire you wanted to make and you could make it. 

I went back to the index and looked to see if maybe they had a simple spell and seeing none I decided to go to lightning magic since that was one that always intrigued me and began reading again. Thankfully this time I somewhat understood the concept of making magic so I only needed to read how to produce the element, not that it was any easier. But it did seem to click a little bit since it reminded me of how I produce static when I shuffle my socked feet on carpet or how rubbing a balloon in my hair causes it to cling. So after taking a few more minutes to properly read all the way through the chapter I set the book on the ground and moved my hands so they were facing each other, like I was holding a ball.

Remembering what the book saying and how I have to feel the flow and push my mind into making the desired thing through myself and out I began to urge my whole being into producing a spark..........

….......

….......

I sighed “Nothing”. Nothing came out and I did not feel or see anything happen and I once again sighed in defeat “Well, the book did say for the magic to come out of a unicorns horn. Guess that means that in Equus that only unicorns and whatever Twilight is, an Alicorn I think she said, can produce that spark of magic. Oh well, can't say that I did not try.” I picked up the book and closed it before returning it to its proper place and began to walk back to where I think the others were. “Darn, that would have been so cool to just hold out my hand and produce a bolt, like 'Phooof'” I exclaimed and I snapped open my hands behind me as to imitate in my mind the action and result. 

What I did not see though was behind me a small little arc of electricity zapping the air before dying out, unseen, unfelt and forgotten. 

After winding my way back to the middle I saw a mountain of books stacked on the middle table while each of the four had a book in their hoofs and were all reading intensely and only when I was right next to Twilight did she break away and look at me “Oh! There you are! I was wondering where you went. So, what did you find?” she asked while she pleasantly smiled.

“Well, I went to the fantasy section to see how you ponies wrote books to compare with ones back on Earth. Fortunately the one I picked up was very good and was just a good and better than some back home!” I happily replied.

“That is excellent and I am very happy to see that you like to read! I love reading books! Books, books, books!” she merrily exclaimed as she clapped her front hoofs together excitedly while the three fillies groaned.

“Geez Twilight, now I understand why Rainbow Dash keeps on calling you an egghead” Scootaloo haughtily replied which got a small giggle out of the other two. This made Twilight gasp and she gave Scootaloo a stern look.

“Just because some ponies like to read ten to fifteen a books does not mean they are an 'egghead' Scootaloo” she replied while clearly annoyed which only made the three give her a deadpan look.

“Miss Twilight, it ain't normal for a pony to read ten to fifteen books, heck most ponies only read one maybe two books a week! Yer an egghead” Applebloom said.

This cause Twilight to get extremely flustered which caused her to turn to me “ADRIAN! Since you like to read, tell me! How many books do you finish within a week?!” she rapidly said with growing anticipation while eying me.

I thought about the best answer and decided to be truthful “Well, if I am not busy with work or other activities then maybe two a week, if I am lucky or one is a short book then possibly three” I replied with a shrug then I asked “Do you really read ten to fifteen books a day Princess?”

She looked shocked at my answer then she shifted her gaze down and began to fiddle with her hoofs “Well, back in Canterlot when I thought I did not need friends then yes” she said with a quiet voice and a slight blush which caused me to chuckle.

“Well it's not bad to like books but with most things in life, too much of a good thing can be bad” I declared which caused Twilight to sigh but nod in agreement.

“I suppose that is true, so what book did you end up reading?” she quizzically asked.

I retrieved the book from my pocket and held it up “ There And Back Again: A Gryphons Journey, it is quite good actually! I read it non-stop for a good thirty minutes before I stopped to stretch and wander a bit more” I said.

Twilights face lit up “Oh wow! I have not read that book in a long time, if you really like it then I can see if I can get the rest of the series for you! I believe they have another three or four books in this series before it goes into the sequel series!” she happily told me with a slight spring in her step to which I could chuckle at again.

“Well, lets get me a place to live first before I bury my nose in books eh?” I said with a smile.

“Oh yes, of course! Speaking of which, let me show you to your room! Girls, could you follow me please” she stated.

The girls all jumped off the couch and were instantly at my side and giggling “That's fine, we were getting bored of reading anyway” Scootaloo said which caused Twilights right eye to twitch for a second before she turned and lead the way to a side door.

I noticed this and looked back at the big double doors then back to Twilight “Excuse me, Princess Twilight? What is through those huge double doors back there?” I asked while pointing with my thumb behind me.

“Ah, well through there is the main throne room where me and the elements of harmony hold court, or at least we will when we figure out how to do that” she exclaimed as we turned a corner and went up a set of stairs while I continued to look around and saw that a lot of the spare rooms contained books.

“Why do you have separate rooms for books on this level?” I curiously asked.

“Ah, these books are special. These have some more deep level magic spells and other higher knowledge information that could be dangerous in the wrong hoofs so I keep them separate unless the pony who seeks the knowledge proves that they can handle the information and not use it for to harm others” she explained.

I simply nodded at her explanation while I thought “Makes sense, sometimes knowledge in the wrong hands can prove disastrous, even if the person does not know what they are reading” with my thoughts concluded I made sure to remember the way back down and not get lost, which was not too hard as we finally stopped.

“And here is where you will staying for now Adrian” Twilight explained as she pushed open the door and showed me in and I was amazed at the size and condition of the room. Like the rest of the castle, it had crystal walls but the floor was carpeted and it held a desk, most likely a closet door, another door that was open and led into a bathroom, and a huge bed! I explored the room and peaked inside the bathroom and found a nice sized sink, toilet, a cabinet, and a shower big enough for three! 

I went back into the main room and I walked up to the bed and tested it with my hand and it was so soft and squishy that my hands sunk a bit into it before I pulled them out and I jumped into the center of the bed and I let out a comfortable sigh as I let my body be consumed by the softness, though to my surprise I was quickly joined by three giggling fillies as they jumped up and down like silly monkeys.

Twilight laughed at our antics before speaking up “Glad to see you like the bed, it is called a cloudbed and it is made up in Cloudsdale. What they do is they make a big cloud and they condense it into this size and using a magic frame to contain it allows one to feel the softness of a cloud without falling through it. Oh! Speaking of that, in Equus only pegasus can walk and lie on clouds naturally, unless you have a cloud walking spell cast on you! You have no idea how big and popular these became when they came out a few years ago, it was chaos for the economy when everypony threw out their old beds and most used almost every bit they had to buy one! Though I cannot complain” she added with a grin.

Hmmm, interesting. You can walk on clouds here too? Man, magic is awesome or whatever it is. An amusing thought entered my mind “Hey Princess? What room number is this room?” I asked while holding in a laugh.

Twilight looked at me before quickly checking the front and started counting before coming in “Room Number Nine, why?” she asked before I busted out laughing at the thought that I was literally laying on Cloud Nine. After spending a few more moments laughing I took a few breaths to calm down. 

“S-sorry about that, it is just there is a phrase back on earth where if you are feeling extremely happy that you describe that feeling as being on cloud nine, or in this case laying on cloud nine” I explained as I continued to stifle my laughter. This earned a giggle out of her, though I could barely hear her over the sound of the fillies continuously giggling and bouncing.

“Alright girls, that is enough jumping on the bed, lets get back downstairs so you can go off and do some more crusading” she said with the thought of getting them out of here so she can ask me more questions and get me settled in. 

“Awwwwww, alright I suppose” Sweetie Bell said as she went in for her last bounce but instead of bouncing up she went off a bit and landed on my chest which caused her to sheepishly grin “Oops, sorry about that. He he” she said but I laughed as I reached out and scratched her head which caused her to smile.

The other two bouncing fillies saw this and both of them 'accidentally' bounced to me. Applebloom bounced over to my other arm while Scootaloo landed short and was by my arm that was scratching Sweetie Bell and they both looked at each other and tried to muffle their laughter. “Do ya mind if we play with Adrian a bit before we leave?” Applebloom asked.

Twilight tilted her head and smiled “Weeeellllll I suppose that would alright, since I have to go and get Adrian a set of towels and other toiletries. Just don't bug him too much alright girls?” she playfully said as she turned to leave.

“We promise!” all three declared in one voice which got a laugh out of Twilight as she left. I continued to scratch Sweetie Bells head which made her yawn a bit and she decided to lie down and curl up on my chest. “Your really warm” she sleepily said with another yawn.

These three must be perfectly synched cause the other two yawned as well, I lifted my arm up and around Applebloom which cause her to curl up and soon I heard her breathing slow down and she was out. Scootaloo also curled up and tucked her head in by my arm that was scratching Sweetie Bell and soon enough she was asleep as well. I took a quick look at the three and simply smiled and thought my heart would explode at their cuteness.

“Have a good night Sweetie” I said while I rested my hand on her body and felt her body move up and down as she breathed and feeling all three sleeping soundly caused me to drift off to sleep on the comfy cloud bed and before I realized it I fell asleep as well with these three fillies.

“Alright, so I found you a couple of towels and-” Twilight had started to saw before she saw that all four of us were sound asleep and that caused her to sprout a huge smile “Awwww, that is so sweet. They must really trust and like him already. That's good, the more friends he has the better! I'll just drop these off and get dinner ready for them when they wake up” she said as she quietly put everything in the bathroom and just before she left she gently moved a pillow down and under my head before heading down with a huge grin and spring in her already bouncing step.
> The Sleeping Human And His Dreams
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


---------- Sunset ----------


The four us of were sawing logs and the three little fillies were twitching in their sleep while they snuggled up to the warm human and thankfully for Adrian he was fast asleep while Twilight stood in the doorway with a huge grin on her face. She had finished up dinner a little while ago and had come up to wake them but when she saw how cute they we all looked she just stopped and giggled quietly to herself and decided to watch us. Only when she had enough did she clear her throat.

“Wake up everyone! Dinner's ready!~” she sung as she used her magic to reenforce her voice to stir us awake, which it did and it made all of us snort awake and our eyes fluttered open groggily “Come on you sleepy heads, dinner is waiting for you” she added before walking out of the room.

I reached up and rubbed my eyes and I tried to get up but two things prevented me, One: My body refused to move from the cloud bed, its soft and plushy hands clutched my body in its wonderful deathly embrace and Two: the three fillies made it quite difficult to move without launching them off so I was in a standstill. Seeing as I was still in a daze I decided that the best option for the shortest time was to carry them.

So with Sweetie Bell still on my chest I lifted the arm that Applebloom was on and scooted her on my chest and I used my other hand to gently lift Scootaloo next to the other two, then I held them tight to my chest as I slowly got off the comfy death trap and headed down. While I walked I looked down to see the three fillies smiling up at me with lazy eyes while they tried to wake up, ugh I am going to die of cuteness from these three one day but when I do I shall do so with a smile.

Trusting my memory I found the stairs to the library which eventually led me to the kitchen and I do not know what is was but the smell hit us like a ton of savory bricks which led to the Crusaders fully waking up and leaping from my arms and directly to the chairs which held their dinner. I took another second or two to allow the aroma to sink into my nose before I looked around for a place to sit, unfortunately it seems that pony chairs are not meant for humans. 

The remaining chairs were all the same size and I even tried to sit on the arm rests of two combined chairs but I decided against it when I heard them creak so I simply knelt down. Thankfully since ponies are mostly small in comparison the table came up to the middle of my stomach and by that time the food was served which to my surprise was spaghetti and garlic bread! It smelled wonderful and I guess my face held a goofy smile cause I heard some giggling from the others before I dug in.

“Oh man, that was good” I exclaimed as I patted my stomach in delight while wearing a happy smile.

“Well I would hope so, you ate it all” Twilight cheerfully said as she used her magic to float the empty dishes to the sink and began to wash them and by the time we ate everything and washed up it was night time. I was about to say something about walking the three home when I heard a couple of loud knocks “Oh good, they're here! Come on girls, lets get you home” she said as she led the three out and I decided to follow.

Once we all got to the front Twilight opened them up and I saw Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash standing there waiting but not for long as all three of their faces lit up once they saw the three fillies rush to them and hugged them. “Hey there big guy! So this is where you ended up huh? Man, here for a day and already living in the castle. Nice!” Rainbow said as she nudged me with her front hoofs elbow with a toothy grin. I rolled my eyes and playfully swatted her hoof away. “So, you ready to get on going Scoots?” she asked which got an immediate response as she nodded gleefully.

“Yeah, had a lot of fun today! We tried a couple of new things today before we decided to head to the library and that is when we kinda....sorta....crashed into Adrian. He he” she sheepishly grinned “But once we got past the crash and talked he carried us on his shoulders. Well, except for Sweetie Bell who got to ride on his head” this made Sweetie Bell blush a little and made Rarity smile and pat her head.

“Yeah! And when we got here Miss Twi here showed us some books ta read then we played with Adrian a bit before we all took a nap together then we ate dinner and then yall showed up!” Applebloom happily exclaimed while bouncing up and down. 

“Oh? You took a nap with Adrian dear?” Rarity asked her sister which made Sweetie Bell blush a bit.

“Well, yeah. He was really warm” she bashfully said which got a chuckle out of the other girls, this only caused her to blush even more and she began to push Rarity “Come onnnnnnnn, lets go home already” she said irritably. 

Rarity giggled “All right, all right. Good night dearies!” she said as she began to walk on her own with Sweetie Bell in tow who took a quick look back and I decided to wave at her which made her smile and she turned back around.

“Come on squirt, lets get ya home. Ya need ta brush yer teeth before ya off ta bed” Applejack said.

“All right, bye Twilight! Bye Adrian! I hope we can play again soon!” she happily said and waved before the two walked off. 

Scootaloo quickly ran back and hugged my leg “It was awesome to meet you! Don't be a stranger alright?” she said before she began to walk off. Rainbow fly over to my head and ruffled my hair again.

“Thanks for looking out for her and the girls big buy” she said with a grin before she flew off to catch up with the filly. I took one look at them again and shook my head while smiling before Twilight and I heading back inside.

“Hey I have a question, is Rainbow Dash Scootaloos big sister?” I curiously asked.

“Not technically by blood like Sweetie and Rarity or the apples. But a while back Scootaloo asked Rainbow if she could be take her under her wing and be like a big sister and from then on they have pretty much been like sisters” she stated. I gave a little chuckle which earned me a confused look from Twilight. 

“Guess that means that Rainbow is a bit of a softie under that awesome exterior of hers” I said with another amused chuckle which Twilight joined in with.

“Just don't let her hear you say that or you might get a horseshoe to the head, he he” she nervously chuckled while she rubbed the right side of her head for a second while we walked back to the library.

“Just one more question, if you don't mind Princess?” I asked and for a brief second I saw her face contort with worry and she looked like she was gonna say something before she shook her head and smiled.

“Of course, I don't mind. Usually though I am the one asking the questions” she said while laughing. 

I looked at her for a second and thought to ask if everything was alright but decided to hold off asking and opted for the original “I don't mean to pry but does anyone else live here? It just seems awfully big for only one....pony to live in all by herself” I carefully asked. 

Fortunately Twilight did not seemed to be bothered by the questions and with a cheerful attitude she answered “Oh! Yes! I totally forgot to tell you, I live with Spike! He is my number one assistant and best friend! He is a baby dragon that I hatched as part of Princess Celestias magic test, which allowed me to become her personal student! Everything I know and have become is thanks to her!” after she said she almost seemed to have a dreamy face as her thoughts ran wild and only with a subtle cough from me did it snap her out of her fantasy.

“Ahem, as I was saying Spike lives here with me and that is it. It has always been us two together though I do see what you mean by living in the castle with barely anypony but the castle is new so I am getting used to it as well. I have barely touched any of the rooms except to store books and make a few guest bedrooms just in case and as you can see that notion was correct!” she beamed as her future planning skillset was put to good use. 

I nodded at this and was about to ask another question when I remembered something about Spike..... HE WAS A DRAGON! “Wait! Hold on! Spike is a DRAGON?!?” I worryingly exclaimed, now don't get me wrong the thought of living with a dragon was very cool but at the same time it also brought many more concerns that outweighed the positives in my mind.

“Yes he is. Why? Is that a problem?” she asked innocently.

“Bu-but is he nice and small and highly intelligent or something? Has he burned down a village or have a hoard of treasures or anything?! I mean, this castle is huge but for a dragon to live here?!” I said with a hint of fear and a lot of concern. Twilight saw this and strode over to me and place a hoof on my leg.

“Normally yes, most dragons are very much like that, teenage dragons are even worse though. Ugh, so rude and thick headed. But ever since I hatched him he has been living with ponies and has grown up learning our values and knowledge and making friends. But while he has been living here in Ponyville he did have one out burst of dragon hoarding which made him grow greedy and gigantic until he remembered that he selflessly gave up a ruby he had been making to Rarity and he returned to normal”

“I will admit that after that he had starting going through different phases, like trying to figure out his past or how a normal dragon should act and what not. He saw this first hand and realized that he is not a normal dragon and he did not have to become them to be a true dragon of his own. But secretly I have been trying to acquire dragon lore and history for him but with little to no success as we simply do not have that knowledge anywhere I know of. I hope that clears any problematic thoughts you have of him Adrian” she finally said and took a deep breath.

Hmmm, a unique dragon born and raised separate then his kin. I'm sure that when he gets older there will a hard transition for him to make without the proper knowledge but I will let his friends cross that bridge when the time comes. I took a breath “Yeah, it does. Sorry for freaking out, guess I let my imagination get the better of me and I apologize” I said and took a quick little bow. “So, where is he then if he lives here? I would of thought all the commotion during the day would of brought him here by now” I asked.

“Oh! Well he usually likes to spend most days helping Rarity with whatever she needs" she said whatever with a little more emphasis which I quickly picked up on.

“Ah, he likes her then. Does she know?” I asked inquisitively.

She gave an annoyed sigh and rubbed her forehead “Thatssssss.......an interesting question. She is a very smart mare and I would not put it past her to have figured that out but either she is doing nothing about it or something else is going on that I am unaware of. It is frustrating but Spike has not complained or asked for my help even though I have asked mulitple times and he always says “Everything is perfect”. Sigh. I will watch out for him but until I see a need to intervene then I am going to keep my distance for now” she said and I pondered this for a moment before I gave a happy smile.

I walked over to her and patted her head “Your a good elder sister to him, he is lucky to have you watching over him” I explained to her with a grin which she gave one in return.

“Well of course, I love him too much to see him get hurt. Now unless you have some more questions, lets retire for the night. You have a big day tomorrow!” she said gleefully as she happily trotted off to the stairs. Now I was confused and I quickly followed her to ask why.

“I do? Why? What is happening tomorrow?” 

She gasped “Oh! I totally forgot to tell you during dinner! Well, while you were taking your little nap with the girls, which was adorable by the way!” she squeaked a little at this which made me blush, but only a tiny bit “I had some extra time and I decided to write to Princess Celestia about you so we could discuss how you got here and possibly how to send you back home and she wrote back saying that she would be coming over tomorrow to meet you and take things from there” she told me as we walked.

I stopped in the middle of the hallway as her sentence hit me and made my mind spin. During the course of meeting everyone and having fun and learning all the new things I had not thought about going back home or anything! But now that she said about possibly being able to send me back, which told me that she did not know if they could or not. Would I be able to go back? Am I stuck here forever? What about everyone back home? Did they know I was gone? On and on the questions in my mind multiplied. 

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt something touch me and I snapped back to reality to a very worried looking Twilight looking at me with concern and worry “Adrian? What's wrong? Are you feeling ill?” she asked while she took a hoof and felt my forehead and she stuck out her tongue while glancing off and trying to determine my temperature “You don't feel hot”.

I took a deep breath and threw on a fake smile “Yeah, I'll be fine. I just had not thought about going back home, got caught up in the momentum of learning about a whole new world and magic and talking ponies!” I said before I laughed, even though what I said was actually true it was mainly to cover up my fear. For the moment it seems that Twilight bought it since she smiled.

“That's understandable, I would be thrown in a loop if I was in your hoofs” she said and in my mind I face palmed at the reference but was glad that Twilight did not prod more as she landed and began to walk to my room. Once we began to walk again my mind picked up the pace and internally I was in a panic but I did not want to worry Twilight again so I put up a front for now.

I almost ran into Twilight when she stopped in front of my room, but thankfully I saw her in time and did a quick turn into the room and I breathed a quick sigh of relief before I turned back around “So, what time should I wake up tomorrow Princess?” I asked. She placed a hoof on her chin and started to think. 

“Well, I was thinking early morning so we can get you cleaned up and presentable for the Princess and we might be able to get you in to see Rarity and hopefully she can work her magic and make you something nice to wear. Hmmmm, what else?” she said as she continue to think out loud. But I was too busy looking over myself and giving myself a smell. What I really bad smelling? And I guess my clothes do look a bit too plain. I guess I was frowning and stretching out my clothes too much because Twilight looked up suddenly and gasped.

“OH MY GOSH! NO! No, no, no, no! I-I-I didn't mean that you don't look nice or anything! I just wanted Princess Celestia to have the best first impression of you! I-I mean you of her! No! I-I mean!” her face was all flustered as she once again tried to find the words and for a moment my thoughts swirled away and I just laughed a good laugh before I walked over and placed my hand on her head and rubbed it.

“I understand, you'll probably have to wake me up since my inner clock is probably messed up. So you better be off to bed Princess, we have a big day tomorrow” I said while flashing a smile which seemed to calm her down and her face gave way to a slight blush while she quietly laughed to herself. 

“Alright and don't worry, I have gotten used to waking up a baby dragon. You. Won't. Be. A. Problem~” she smugly sounded as she left the room with a giggle. These ponies are certainly a handful and crazy to boot. But a good kind of crazy that you want to be a part of or something like that. I dunno, my mind is in a bit of a tizzy. 

I went over and quietly closed the door and went over to the bed and threw up my shoes and socks and took off my long sleeved shirt, I can't believe that I was not boiling in this thing with the weather outside, must be magic. Heh, I can use that excuse now. Now just wearing a black short sleeved shirt and pants I crawled my way into bed since the only light was the moon coming in from the small balcony. I thought that my raving mind would keep me up but I did not comprehend the true, terrible power of the cloud bed as it slowly sucked me away into a deep slumber.......

I was running through the open plains of a grassy plane while the ferocious and terrible beast breathed fire behind me but as a knight set out to save the princess and slay the dragon, the very same dragon who gave chase for its next meal, I could not back down from the challenge and after scaling a mighty mountain I finally saw eye to eye to the beast. With my sword in hand I let out a roar rivaling the most terrible of demons and charged the man eating leviathan and swung my sword when suddenly the- “Adrian! Dinner's ready!” my mom called from the porch in my backyard.

“Coming Mom!” I called out as I dropped my stick on the ground and ran around the weird looking stump and onto the porch but before I went inside my mom stopped me and pointed at my dirty shoes. With a groan I untied my shoes and set them to the side before I was allowed to come into house which smelled like meatloaf and potatoes, my favorite! I went to wash my hands since I knew my mom would make me anyway and soon enough I was sitting at the table and eating away! Soon after I found myself in the living room with my head in my moms lap while she scratched my ear and hummed a tune which she always sung.

Just as I was about to fall asleep I felt my shirt being lifted up and she started to blow raspberrys into my stomach and as a normal eight year old I immediately started to laugh and failed to push her away with my arms. After a few more and many laughs out of us both we started to calm down and I lied back down in her lap “I love you mom” I suddenly said which got a surprised coo out of her before she  rubbed my head soothingly.

“I love you more Adrian” she replied as she leaned down and kissed my cheek “But why did you leave me?” she asked grimly but before I could turn to her confused I felt something wet drop on my face. So I reached up and took it off to look at it and I saw something white skinned dripping with a red liquid, it looked like blood! I freaked out and I quickly turned to see if my mom was alright before I fell off the couch in fear.

When I looked up I saw that my moms face was falling off as patches of skin peeled off and blood started to drain from her face and white bone started to shine through, I turned to run and while I felt myself running I stayed in place yet everything around me started to shift and change. I felt my body grow and age and many bad and sad memories started to fly by me and after what felt like an eternity of bad dreams and memories I found myself in the woods and it was winter.

I felt the chill of the wind blow through my face and fly through my hair while the frost bit at my nose but I still continued to run and this time I ran forward into the woods for a few minutes until ran into a familiar looking well. I finally stopped running and stared it before I heard a terrifying cry that seemed to echo all around me and I covered my ears with my hands to try and block out the horrible sound but to no avail. 

I spun around to try and find the source until I saw a dark shadow approach and I backed up until I felt my foot bump into the well and I turned and saw that the wall had crumpled and I saw the shimmer in the water but I turned back around and was face to face with a skeletal face. My entire body froze as it started at me with eyeless sockets that bled and its mouth started to slowly open and said in my mothers voice “Adrian, why did you leave me? Why? Why? WHY?!” it suddenly shouted and caused me to fall.

I fell further and further into the darkness and the only light was the opening of the well where a blood crying skeleton shouted at me in my mothers voice “Why did you leave me again? Why did you leave everyone? Why? Why? WHY?!” I said nothing as tears erupted from my twenty two year old body as my limp body fell through the eternal darkness that had swallowed me whole. I heard nothing, saw nothing, felt nothing.

As I continued to drift into eternity my mind went blank and my eyes simply started into the void but after a brief moment of silence and when all seemed to stand still my eyes bursted open and I screamed in agony and pain as I felt my body split open and saw many things erupt. Fire, water, lighting, earth, and many other elements came forth and circled my body like electrons orbiting a nucleus before they struck back into my body one by one but now I could feel them swirling inside of me and I saw my body glow.

But before anything could sink in and allow me peace I felt the elements within me burst out again but instead of floating around me they all seemed to explode around me and strike the building that had appeared suddenly. Fire shot down like meteors and exploded and caused the buildings to ignite, water flooded over others and wore them down to their foundations, lightning streaked across the sky and struck multiple houses but when they did a sphere of electricity surrounded them and when they dissipated nothing was left but random arcs of static.

I watched in horror as the elements continued to cause chaos and destruction but then I saw a form move from the burnt ashes of a building and I saw that it was the partial skeletal body of my mother and half of her body was aflame while the other half was a shining skeleton that looked at me in despair and started to walk to towards my still form. My body once again froze while the once glowing figure of motherly love now slowly stalked me as the harbinger of death and during this time the figure slowly lifted an arm and while doing so bits of burning flesh fell off and fell into a small stream of dark water that reflected everything.

“You......you did this......to me.......you.....killed....me” the figure declared while its eyes glowed red with hate and it seemed to shift closer to me “You...killed....me” it said again while pointing at me and shifted again right in front of me and I could smell the scent of death wafting from her walking and burning corpse. Her voice became so clear that it sounded like her vocal cords were not burnt while her soulless eyes stared into my being before her voice erupted from everywhere and nowhere “YOU KILLED ME!”she shrieked like a banshee and caused my ears to bleed and I felt my body become limp and even my tears burned as they fell.

“ENOUGH!” a strong yet feminine voice boomed from the horror that caused the flames to stop, drain the water, calm the air, and made my mother return to her normal smiling self for a split second before she faded into nothing along with everything else around me, sending me back into the eternal darkness. 

“GASP!” I let out as I awoke from the horrible nightmare that had consumed my sleep and when I shot up from the bed I found myself falling onto floor and soon onto my hands and knees gasping for air. A cold sweat had drenched my body while my breaths were ragged, like I had just got done running a ten mile race and my body shook in fear. During the brief moment of silence I felt bile starting to rise up within me and using whatever strength I had I stumbled into the bathroom to get rid of the vile in my mouth. During all of this I failed to notice that the ceiling had been sparkling with electricity until the moment I ran into the bathroom then it peacefully dispersed into the air and vanished. 

When my stomach was empty I had recovered enough stamina to walk somewhat normally as I found myself walking to the cool air wafting into the room from the balcony and after a few failed attempts I found myself standing outside and letting the brisk cold air envelop me. I stared at the beautiful night sky and gazed upon the hundreds and hundreds of stars shined like velvet while the moon illuminated the town below and it looked beautiful and helped calmed me down a little. Unfortunately that calm lead me to break down into tears and though my hands refused to let go of the railing my body slunk down to my knees and my head hung down low and tears started to pool below me. 

Minutes went by as I unloaded all my feelings, my fears, my soul through my tears as I continued to see that nightmare replay itself over and over again and it was not until I felt myself calm down did I feel that a wing was laying itself over me but I refused to let my eyes leave the floor “Pr-prin.....Twilight?” I somberly asked with a quivering voice but the voice that replied was not one that I recognized. 

“No, I am not Princess Twilight. My name is Nightingale and I just want to let you know that everything is going to be ok” her voice told me and when I listened I felt every word vibrate and flow through me like a river that just seemed to carry all the weight of the dream away and I felt myself grow a little bit lighter. After sitting in silence for a few moments I decided to take a look at this new being and once again I saw another new sight in this strange world.

Her body was like that of a typical mare that most of the girls seemed to share but the one big difference was that her wings, instead of looking like that of a birds, resembled that of a bats and they appeared to be quite large as well. Moving up I clearing saw the color of her mane in the light of moon that it was red but it seemed to shine in the light and when I traced the curly but spiked hair back up to the head I saw staring at me a pair of beautiful emerald eyes that just seemed to stare right into my very soul, like my nightmare mothers. But instead of fear they inspired strength and offered beauty while I looked into them.

I tried to break away from her gaze but when I found myself looking down and away for long I found myself drawn back to them and soon I felt my eyes start to water again, though I was amazed that I had any left to shed. She saw this and offered a sincere smile and used her spare wing to wipe them gently away. “Take a few deep breaths then we shall have a little talk, alright?” she kindly offered to me, to which I gladly accepted and I immediately drew in deep breaths using my nose and exhaled with my mouth and I repeated this until I felt my heart slow down to almost nothing.

Once I felt a stillness inside my body I soon realized that my body had stopped shaking as well and she could feel this as well because the next moment she wrapped her other wing around me and pulled me into a tight embrace. I leaned gently into the crook of her neck and shoulder and took one more deep breath using my nose and realized that her coat smelled like violets. After my breath I finally asked “What kind of pony are you?” which took her by surprise cause I felt her flinch for a second before I heard her give a quiet laugh.

“Out of all the questions you could and should be asking, you ask me what kind of pony I am? You certainly are a strange one, a kind but very strange one” she said with another quiet giggle “I am a bat pony and no I do not suck blood. We are a rare breed of ponies that are born into the night, so I suppose you could say we are the night time version of a pegasus” she explained.

Taking another deep breath and accidentally taking another whiff of her violet scent I asked “Why are you here?” in a voice that sounded tired and defeated but had somehow retained a sense of curiosity. 

“Heh, now that is the right question. I am part of the Night Guard of Princess Luna, Co-Ruler of Equestria and the Protector of dreams. As part of her Guard we serve two purposes, One: To watch over the night and protect the citizens from any threat and Two: To help the citizens conquer their nightmares. Having said that though, Princess Luna as well as myself sincerely apologize to you with all of our hearts” she said with a heavy voice filled with regret,

Before I could ask she went on “We are sorry that your nightmare lasted as long as it did, normally we would of stepped in as soon as we identified your fear and help you realize you could fight it and conquer it forever. But when we saw your dream we could not enter it and until we realized that you were not a pony were fought with all our power to enter and eventually we did. But at that point you had lived through the majority of it and we were to late to help you defeat it. We failed you” she said with a voice full of regret and despair.

Hearing her voice a spark ignited within me and I felt my arms rise and wrap themselves around her “It is not your fault, you tried your best and in the end your best won through or else I would still be confined in that nightmare. So you still performed your duty, good job Nightingale” I softly said. 

After a moment of silence I heard her start to laugh again “You really are a strange and kind creature. Thank you” she said before she withdrew her wings and slid back a bit to fully look at me “Now, thanks to the ten mares in town that met you today who are dreaming about you, we know that you are a human being and we now know how to protect your dreams. So from this day forward we solemnly swear that we shall never allow you to witness that nightmare until you are ready to face it. Do you understand, Adrian Frost?” she sternly said with a voice that definitely showed that she was a Guard and a good one at that. 

I nodded my head which caused her to relax and return to a normal posture “Good, now lets get you back into bed. According to Princess Twilights dreams you are set to meet with Princess Celestia tomorrow so you need all the rest you can get” she said with a happy smile.

The moment she said those words I suddenly felt really tired and heavy with sleep that I almost fell over which made her quickly rush to my side “How about we get you to your bed first?” she said playfully but I only nodded and I rose to my feet and eventually found my way to my bed and got in. Once I found a comfy spot I saw that, while she was flying, she was using her teeth to grab my blanket to cover me and once she was done she gently landed on my chest and smiled down at me.

“Good night Adrian, sweet dreams” she said before she leaned down and gave me a kiss on the forehead which made me blush for a second before I found myself passed out. After giving it a full minute and seeing that I was fully asleep she reached to the small necklace that she had hidden in her fur and touched it. It let off a small blue glow before she leaned down and touched my forehead with hers as she inspected my dreams to make sure nothing bad invaded.

I was sitting on a grassy plain with a checkered cloth beneath me and I was about to reach for a sandwich when I heard someone behind me shout “Hi Adrian!” I turned and saw that Pinkie Pie was bouncing to me with the rest of the girls behind her, including the three cutie crusaders. They all said down and pulled out their own lunch and we all got to talking. 

“Sorry I'm late!” another voice called out and I looked up to the sky to see Derpy carefully gliding in and just as she was about to smoothly land she tripped on air and crashed the last few inches right next to me. She groaned but smiled and said “Whoops, did it again” but I only laughed as started to scratch her ear which made her happy as a clam again and she sat up and ate lunch. 

The invisible eyes of Nightingale watched as the peaceful dream unfolded and just as she was about to leave she saw me stand up and reach beside him and set up a huge parasol that covered a huge area next to him in shadow. She was about to wonder why when she saw herself, while carrying an open umbrella, fly to the group and landed next to him in the shadow.

“Hi Nightingale! I am happy you made it!” then her dream clone proceeded to mingle and unfortunately for Adrian the real version watching could hear his dream thoughts which said “She is really pretty and has beautiful eyes” which made both his dream self and her real self blush.

Nightingale leaned back and opened her eyes and still felt the blush on her face before she shook it off and gave an amused smile “You silly thing” was all she said before she flew off into the night, leaving behind a smiling human enjoying a very good dream. 
> A Stitch Or Two For A Human
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


---------- 7:30 AM ----------


“.....” something said in the distance, or maybe it was closer but I still could not hear it so I simply decided to ignore and continue lying on my comfy prison of clouds. 

“w... .p” there it was again but I definitely heard something that time, but I still could not properly hear it and this time I decided to strain my ears to hear it better.

“Wa.e U.” way you? Was I standing in someones way? No, I was in bed so it must be something else but what is it? I was about to wake myself up fully to hear it but I never got the chance.

“WAKE UP!” a very angry female voice exploded in my ears and probably popped them but I was now fully awake and my heart was pounding and I reached up and cupped my poor pounding eardrums with my hands while I groaned rather loudly. “About time! Geez and here I thought baby dragons were heavy sleepers” the voice said in a calm but annoyed tone.

After a moment or two I finally let my arms drop and I looked around the room to gather my bearings and I gathered that I was sitting up in my bed with the covers splayed everywhere and a purple alicorn was sitting at the foot of the bed with an expecting face while she stared at my discombobulated form. I blinked a few times before I finally did a morning stretch “Good morning Twilight” I yawned before I dragged myself off the bed, which ended up with me crashing on the floor with a groan.

“GASP! Are you alright?!” Twilight said as she hopped off the bed and offered me a helping ha-hoof, helping hoof. Kinda weird to say but it is technically correct. I groggily nodded my head as I strained my body to respond to my commands as I stood up and stumbled my way to the bathroom.

“I.....I'll be reeht ut, jus nee ta wake up” I said rather ungracefully but my body was in a state of denial as it was pried away from the clutches of the cloud bed but thankfully the now laughing pony understood.

“Ah-Alright, ju-just head down....downstairs for some breakfast” she said in between laughs before she trotted out. I paid no attention to anything but the HUGE shower before me, I swear that I have never seen anything bigger! But I should say that it was horizontally huge, its height was perfect for me but I suppose that it was designed for ponies with their bigger backsides. Hmmm, probably should not say that out loud, might be taken a whole another way.

I shook off those thoughts as I got undressed and stepped in, I have to thank Twilight again for putting everything in here last night, and I started fiddling with the knobs.


---------- Downstairs, Kitchen ----------


Twilight was finishing up preparing breakfast and was also getting the plates out before she heard a painful scream from upstairs, quickly followed by “AHHHHHH! I'M BOILING ALIVE!.......BURRAAAHH! NOW I'M FREEZING! MAKE IT STOP!” the voice said in a matter of seconds before nothing was heard. Twilight tried her best to stifle her laughter since it was not funny that I had burned and froze myself with shower water but at the same it was pretty funny. After taking a few seconds to breath, she continued to set up breakfast with a huge smile on her face.


---------- Upstairs, Guest Room #9 ----------


After a good ten minute shower, the first minute used to figure out the perfect mixture of boiling and freezing, I got out and freshen myself up and got re-dressed. Would of preferred new clothing but for the moment I was stuck with my one set of clothing until I got some new ones but thankfully I took a sniff and they did not smell so that was good. Once I was done I felt like new, slept in a dream bed, had an amazing shower, and their body wash made me smell good so I was a happy man.

I took a quick moment to look at myself in the mirror as I mind started to wonder to back night, the nightmare, Nightingale, and the nice dream afterward. I wonder how long it took to wake me up, she sounded kinda irritated but hey, she said I would be no problem next to a baby dragon. Heh, another weird thing I can say normally now, awesome. But it dawned on me that I called her by her name without her title and I tensed up for a moment. I hope that she did not think I was being rude or disrespectful, I think not since she did not say anything. That or she just chalked it up to morning drowsiness.

I groaned and rubbed my eyes, I have to make sure that I remember her title in the future, she is a princess after all and it would be disrespectful for a stranger like me to address her so informally. Though I have noticed that no one else seems to call her Princess or any other fancy title. Though most of them have been her friends and friends usually are relaxed about titles and such. I won't think much on it for now until she says something.

So with that thought done with, I began to head downstairs and to the aroma of a wonderful smelling breakfast and after bumping into a few walls since I had my eyes closed and followed my nose I found myself in the kitchen while Twilight hummed a tune. I decided to pull something silly and I quietly tip toed my way over to her and once I was right behind her I quickly covered her eyes with my hands “Guess who?” I said as I dragged the word who out.

Twilight stopped and did a tiny surprised jump before I heard her chuckle under her breath “Adrian, that is a little foals game” she said playfully. Once she said my name I let out a disappointed aww and removed my hands and made my way over to my kneeling spot.

“Gosh darn it, how ever did you know it was me?!” I laid the sarcasm on very thick and finished with an innocent grin which only made her roll her eyes and smile.

“Well statically speaking it was very easy to narrow down who was here and who would be up this early and” that was all she said before I thumped by forehead against the table “Are you alright?” she asked curiously.

“Yeah, yeah. I just did not realize how much of an egghead you really were” I said rather cheekily and I showed her a toothy grin, which only made her puff up her cheeks and pout. I gave a slight chuckle to this “Hehe, alright. I'm sorry Princess, but I honestly thought you were gonna say something simple and not go into a full blown lecture on stats and numbers” I said.

She gave a slight sigh and turned back around to grab the rest of the stuff and the finished food and floated it all over to the table, I don't think I will ever be able to get over the fact that magic is real and used to normally here. She pushed over my plate and I saw it was big stack of pancakes already topped with butter and dripping with syrup. I felt a small dribble of drool escape and I quickly used a napkin to wipe it up before I grabbed the utensils and dug in but once I had the first bite in I stopped mid-chew and took a few moments to really get a taste. I had a confused look on my face which alerted Twilight that something was amiss.

“Does it taste alright? I hope that it tastes good, does it taste good?” she worryingly asked and repeated.

I nodded my head and swallowed “Yeah, it is really good! Just a bit different tasting then what I thought and am used to is all” I said with a smile before I cut up another big piece and dipped it in the extra syrup and ate some more. 

“Oh, that's good. I thought maybe I messed up again. I am glad you like it” she said and planted a smile on her face before starting in on her meal. We both ate our meals in silence and I was full up on pancakes and syrup, which I expressed by leaning back and letting out a satisfied moan. This made her laugh again and she floated everything to its proper place and began to wash the dishes. I finally willed myself up and stretched my legs before wandering up to her.

“So, why did we wake up so early for anyway?” I asked.

“Ah, well since Princess Celestia is coming later in the afternoon I thought it would be best to head on over to Raritys place early and see if we can get you something to wear before she arrives and see if we can get you some more clothes to wear since I am sure that you do not want to be stuck in just one outfit” she explained as she finished up cleaning.

I laughed a bit “Yeah, having only one outfit would not be good. But how is she going to make something nice in only a few hours? Wouldn't it take at least a day or two?” I curiously asked. 

She responded by shaking her head “Nope, just give Rarity an hour or two and she will be able to make you anything! Within reason of course” she said.

“Wow, she must be an amazing seamstress! Back home it would take a bit more time to make something really nice, an hour or two and that would usually result in something simple. Well, we must not delay anymore! Lead on Princess!” I said as we began to walk to the front.

She giggled a bit “Oh and you will be able to meet Spike as well since he should still be there. Hehehe, he is probably still asleep though. He loves his sleep. How did you sleep last night?” she asked but her light toned voice became a bit lower when she asked that last thing. 

For the moment I ignored it and answered with “I slept like a baby! I have never slept on a bed as softy and comfy as that cloud bed! If I were to make and sell those back home, I would be a very rich man” I laughed at that last part and for a brief second she had also smile but it went away just as quick as she looked up at me with concern in her eyes.

“Di-did you have any.......nightmares?” she hesitantly asked. Now her face was starting to grow a worried look as she continued to walk and stare. I looked away for a moment and began to scratch the back of my neck as I thought of how to answer. 

“M-maybe, why?” I said, it was not he best thing I could of said but I did not want to talk about it yet.

Her eyes slanted down a bit “I...well I....I felt something that woke me up, sort of like raw magic bursting out and swirling around but before I could search for it it vanished. But since I was already up I decided to walk out to my balcony and see if I could sense where it came from. During my search I heard your balcony door open before I heard the faint sound of crying. I stood there frozen as you continued to cry and cry and I could not think of anything to do or say to you. But as I was about to fly up I saw a Lunar Guard fly by and land by you and I had decided to leave and allow her to console you since she is probably better at confronting nightmares” she sadly told me.

Her eyes started to tear up a bit “I'm so sorry that I could not help you during your time of need Adrian, I hope you can forgive me” she said while she hung her head down a little. I sighed a bit and bit my lip as I thought of what to say next but I decided that words would not help right now and I simply reached down and began to pet her mane softly. She felt this and looked up at me and saw a small smile while I continued to pet her, she did not say anything but leaned into my leg a bit while we both walked.

After a bit I spoke up “You have nothing to forgive, it would have been harder to explain the dream and try to comfort me for you. But thankfully due to Princess Luna and Nightingale they helped me out of the nightmare and were able to console me, well mainly Nightingale for that last part. It should be me apologizing to you for worrying you like that, I just had a bit of a scare about not being able to go home and see my family again and such. But I think I am going to be fine now that I got it out of my system, so don't try and worry so much alright?” I concluded by kneeling down in front of her and pulled her into a hug.

She gladly hugged back and nuzzled my neck a bit “Alright, I suppose I can try. But if you ever wanna talk about it then know that me or any of the other girls will gladly listen and do our best to help. Please remember that, ok?” she silently said but with a bit of pep in her voice. I simply nodded against her head and we let go of each other and began walking again. 

We walked in silence for a bit but as we did I looked around and saw that it was pretty early since most of the stores and shops were either still closed or were just starting to set up to open, I just hope that we won't have to wake Rarity up or anything. I was looking around some more before I spotted a new familiar face walking up to a nearby house and dropping of a newspaper. I smiled “Good morning Derpy!” I said loud enough for her to hear me.

She heard and she quickly dropped off the paper and flew over to me and wrapped her hooves around my neck and gave a slight squeak when she did “Good morning Adrian! What are you doing up so early?” she asked as she clung to me and flew while we walked.

“Well, Princess Twilight here is taking me to Raritys place in order to get a few new outfits for me to wear so I can impress Princess Celestia this afternoon” I said but once she heard Celestias name she gasped out in surprise.

“She is coming here today?! And your going to meet her?! Wow, you get along quick!” she excitedly said while refusing to let go of me.

“Yeppers! So she thought it would be better to go early and get it down before anything else. So do you deliver the paper every morning?” I asked.

“No, we only deliver on Tuesday and Thursday and sometimes on Saturday if the news is declared big enough but when that happens we get paid extra so it's all good” she happily said as she continued to snuggle my head.

I gave an amused sigh while I reached up and began to scratch her ear, which only made her slump down and almost fall but I caught her. She then used my arm to support her back hooves and reapplied herself and continued to hug me and lie her head on my shoulder, a head that had closed eyes and a happy smile. “You should probably get back to work, Derpy” I said which only made her groan in reply.

“But I don't wanna, I like it right here” she said as she snuggled more into me.

“Come on Derpy, you have a job to do and I don't wanna get you in trouble” I explained which seemed to finally break through as I felt her slump.

She sighed before she took to flight and hovered in front of me “Your right, so I will see you later then!” she happily exclaimed and gave my cheek a quick nuzzle before flying off to the next house.

Twilight gave an amused giggle “She has really taken a liking to you, which I am happy about because she does not have enough support around her due to her eyes and such. I should ask if she would like me to ask the town to treat her more fairly” she said.

I shook my head “No, that probably would not work in the long run since most would see it as playing favorite or giving her special attention. Hmmm, I have an idea. You are the Princess of Friendship correct?” she nodded yes in reply “So, how about holding a town meeting discussing the facts that no matter what someone looks like or talks, acts, etc. that everyone should be treated equally and fairly and become friends with everyone. Cause for them to be friends not only 'normal' ponies but with 'different' ponies as well, then that would be the real magic of friendship. What do you think?” I finished explained and saw that Twilight was awestruck and looked at me with sparkles in her eyes.

“That was beautiful Adrian! And you are absolutely right! I need to start planning that right away! Oh, thank you so much for that wonderful idea!” she flew up and gave me a very happy hug while she squealed in delight at the idea before returning to my side. The next few minutes were in silence, mainly because I could see her thinking away about my idea. I was glad I was able to say that correctly, I was kinda running with the whole Princess Of Friendship thing and at first I thought I was gonna babble something useless but turned out I did an ok job. 

The sun was now starting to warm up the town and started to light up the town and I could see a big white building a little ways away, it looked like a carousal from a carnival but with fancy colors and walls. The design was very cool and interesting and I would love to have a similar house but I would change a few colors, but that is for a later day. This was mostly likely Raritys place, since it seemed fancy and I could tell that she was a very fancy lady. 

“Hey, quick question. Will Spike freak out if he sees me?” I asked as we walked closer to the shop.

“Well, hopefully not because when I sent the letter saying it was ok for him to stay over I also told him to have Rarity explain you to him, so he should hopefully expect something unexpected” she told me calmly as we approached the front door. I nodded at her response then we stopped and she knocked three times on the door.

“Coming!~” a feminine voice sung out from behind the door and a couple of seconds later Rarity opened the door and offered a kind smile “Why hello darlings! I was wondering when you would show up! Thank you ever so much Twilight dear for sending me that heads up last night about setting up our dear human friend here with some new clothes for today when he meets the Princess! Oh I am so excited! Come in, come in!” she offered us, which he both gladly accepted and walked inside as she closed the door behind us. “Now just wait here for a moment while I get everything ready! SPIKE! Twilights here and with our guest!” she called out as she left in the opposite direction.

After a brief moment I saw a tiny little creature with purple and green scales descend from the stairs above and quickly made its way over to Twilight and hugged her front leg to which she took her other leg and gave him a hug back “Good morning Spike, I am surprised that you are up and not sleeping in!” she said with a light laugh, to which I saw Spike roll his eyes. 

“Aw come on Twilight, I don't always sleep in you know” he said as he puffed out his chest and crossed his arms, which only made her smile and shake her head.

“Alright, alright. Now Spike, I would like to introduce you to Adrian Frost!” she finished by presenting me with both her front hooves like she was unveiling a statue or a prize. The little dragon seemed surprise that I was suddenly standing there and he jumped back a little before he eyed me over.

“Whoa, freaky. So, are you like a hairless minotaur or monkey or something?” he said casually as he crossed his arms again but I saw that Twilight had dropped her jaw to the ground and stared at him like he just lit fire to a forest. She was about to say something but I stepped forward and stopped her and shook my head. She seemed to understand but still stared at Spike with daggers in her eyes.

“Lets go with the 'or something' one. I'm actually a human being from another world! I somehow got transported to this world yesterday and since then have been very well taken care off. And I just wanna say that it is an honor to meet a real live dragon! So, hopefully we can get along as well Spike” I said as I stuck out my hand for him. His eyes became huge and his mouth grew into a huge grin.

“WAIT! So, your like an alien then?!” he excitedly said. I forced myself not to roll my eyes at the comment, sounds like him and Rainbow Dash would get along. I nodded my head though and he gained a bounce in his step as he rushed over to me and shook my hand “WOW! This is so cool! To meet a real live alien! This is awesome!” he sounded like a kid in a toy store, guess that is why she said he was a baby dragon.

“Manners my dear Spikey-Wikey, he may be new here but he is still our friend after all” Rarity said as she came back with a huge pile of linens and many other things used to sew and placed them next to her sewing machine.

“Oh! Right, sorry about. Hehe” he said as he nervously chuckled in embarrassment.

“It's fine Spike, I know the feeling. You and Rainbow Dash acted the same way” I explained with a laugh.

Twilight also laughed “Alright, hey Rarity do you mind if I take Spike with me while you work with Adrian? I need some help setting up some things for when Princess Celestia arrives” she politely asked.

“Oh no problem at all dearie! If I do need a little helper then Sweetie Bell can help when she wakes up, now run along you two, I need my space to begin my work while I am in the zone!” she said as she continued to set up her work station.

“Alright, I will see you later then Adrian! Come on Spike, lets get going” she said as she walked out the door with Spike right behind. I went over and closed the door for them before I stood back where I was and began to look around. I saw plenty of outfits of all shapes and sizes and colors, both hanging and on mannequins, or I suppose in this case ponnequins. I was not paying attention before I heard Rarity start coughing and I snapped back around.

“Alright darling, now since I have never worked with your body shape before I am going to have to take extreme measurements all around your body to make sure I get everything right but I do not think I will have too much trouble. Now stand with your legs apart a bit and hold your arms out” she said and I moved in accordance to her instructions “Perfect! Now hold still while I measure” she told me as she used her magic to hold a notebook and quill while using her hoofs with a measuring tape to tape and measure me before writing it down.

After about four or five minutes of measuring and remeasuring she told me to relax while she held up different colored sheets up to me, probably to decide which color would suit me best against my fair white skin and white hair, yeah my family trait is our natural white hair which also might explain why my last name is Frost but I am not complaining. Finally it seems like she has a few colors picked out and she told me to sit down until she needs to me try out a few pieces to see if it fits and whatnot.

As I sat I watched her work her magic, literally and figuratively and I truly believed that she could make me an entire wardrobe full of clothing within a day if she wanted. It was really amazing to watch as the pieces of cloth just melted together with every stitch, I feel like whatever she will make for me will blow my mind. I just sat back and continued to watch her, mainly as a way to pass the time though since she had no books or magazines or even Derpys morning paper.

Thankfully I did not die of boredom for long because I soon heard a cute yawn and down the steps came Sweetie Bell with a bit of a bed head look, or maybe its bed mane? Anyway she did not seem to notice me as she went straight to Rarity with tired looking eyes “Hey big sis, can you make me some breakfast? I'm kinda hungry” she sleepily said.

“Sorry dear but I am currently working on something very important right now. Adrian, be a dear and can you help Sweetie Bell out please” she asked without even looking up from her work. As for Sweetie Bell her eyes shot open and she jumped/turned to look at me before a huge and adorable smile adorned her face and then she zipped across the room and jumped into my lap and began to bounce up and down.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Adrian! What are you doing here?! I'm so happy to see you again!” she very happily said as she continued to bounce in my lap.

I chuckled at the sweet little filly “I'm here to get a new outfit so I can look presentable for Princess Celestia when she visits later today to meet me” I explained to her.

“WHAT?! Princess Celestia is coming here today?! That is amazing!” she excitingly claimed and began to just vibrate her entire body while bouncing, I'm not sure if that is magic or just her but I gently put my hands on her upper body to try and keep her still in order to calm her down a bit.

“Yes, yes now take a breath before you vibrate yourself into the future!” I jokingly said but she took my words well and I saw her take a couple of deep breaths and eventually she stopped shaking and instead of bouncing she did a little dance instead. “There we go, so I am guessing you slept well?” I asked.

She nodded her head “I sure did! I had a fun dream where me and the crusaders were having fun playing with you! But we all had super powers, like flight or eye beams and cool things like that!” she said with a silly grin. I chuckled at this and I reached up and scratched her ear which made her stop dancing and she sat in my lap with a happy smile and pushed her head into my hand to get a better feel.

“That's good, I could tell cause you still have a bit of bed mane hairdo” I said but it made her lift her hooves into her mane to try and hide it and she blushed a bit, she is far too adorable for her own good. So I lifted her up so we were face to face “I think it looks cute on you” I said before I brought her in for a hug and played with her mane a bit with my hand. I could tell she blushed a bit more cause I could feel the heat of her cheeks but soon it went away and wrapped her hoofs around my neck and hugged me back and giggled a bit when I played with her mane.

“Awwwww, how adorable you two are!” Rarity said as she stopped working for a moment and looked up at us with her front hoofs folded under by her face and she giggled with a huge smile. The two of us blushed a bit and she dropped back down to my lap and faced her sister and huffed. I laughed a bit at this and I reached down to scratch her ear again and although I could not see it, I felt her smile again.

“I thought you were 'In The Zone' as it were Rarity?” I jokingly asked with emphasis on the 'In The Zone” part.

“Oh I am darling, I am. But that does not mean I cannot enjoy the cuteness between you two” she said as she gave one more giggle before returning to work. I think Sweetie Bell was enjoying my work too much to hear her sister, which was probably for the best.

“Hey Sweetie, wanna play a game while we wait for Rarity?” I asked but before she could answer I heard her little belly rumble and she groaned in reply “Or how about some breakfast first then we go and play?” I offered and she leaned her head back and flashed me a smile and nodded vigorously. So I scooped her up and while I stood up I placed her on top of my head or 'her spot' and we began our walk to the kitchen. 

“So, what do you wanna eat?” I asked my cute, bouncing passenger.

“Oh! Oh! How about Prench Toast with some hay bacon!” she told me with a cheerful tone. Prench Toast? Oh man, that is a good one. I love the word play, it is almost too ridiculous but for now I'm gonna roll with it while I figure out what the hay is hay bacon. 

“Alright, lets get to it then!” I exclaimed as I began the walk to the kitchen.
> Human And Royalty
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


---------- 1:00 PM ----------


UGH. I will never ever get a job being a model after this, I have been in and out of outfits all morning. Some tight, some loose, some that were very questionable and made for a very embarrassing moment for us all. But thankfully when I had my normal clothes back on for a while I was playing with Sweetie Bell and having fun although I felt bad when we were playing hide and seek and Rarity used her magic to drag me away and I accidentally left Sweetie Bell hiding for almost a whole hour. 

But a few ear scratches and some hugging made up for it and we were all good, before I got dragged back for more modeling. I have to thank Twilight for showing up and telling Rarity that I have to start getting ready or else she would of spent of the whole day making me even more outfits and do more modeling. So once she finally calmed down and got out of her 'zone' she gathered up the four outfits she finished and added some final touches before choosing my outfit.

It was a three buttoned black jacket with a dark purple buttoned up shirt with matching black slacks and she even made me some dress shoes! The only thing different I noticed was on both the jacket and shirt sleeves was Raritys cutie mark sewn in, which made me curious “Hey Rarity, quick question. Why did you sew your cutie mark on the sleeves?” I asked.

“Well that's simple darling! It is so that any pony who sees who knows that I personally made the first human in Equestrias outfit! It's brilliant! That and sewing ones cutie mark into their clothing is the normal way to identify your brand of clothing dear” she stated. 

I nodded and I took one final look at it “I think it looks amazing and you did all this in only a few hours! I am really impressed Rarity! Thank you” I said with a grateful smile.

Raritys face was beaming and possibly glowing after I said that “Oh darling! It was no trouble at all and I should be thanking you for dropping in and allowing me to work on you! I always love a challenge and the opportunity to impress royalty!” she said with a huge smile but Twilight cocked her head to the side at that last comment but didn't say anything.

I grabbed what I was going to wear and I headed to the dressing room which I quickly got familiar with and quickly changed, another thing I learned recently because Rarity was not a patient pony when it came to clothing. I was dressed and I took some time to wet and comb my messy hair and brushed my teeth using a spare brush that I had asked for at lunch. I finally came out all dressed up and looking sharp but I kept the top two buttons undone for now and I presented myself to the three mares and dragon.

“Wow Rarity! You did an excellent job with his outfit! He looks very nice” Twilight said with a nice smile.

“Whoa dude, you sure clean up good! Now if you only had a mustache then the outfit would be complete” Spike said while he stroked his imaginary mustache which only made Twilight roll her eyes.

“Did you have any doubts I could? I can make an outfit for any noble and I could even make a rock look fabulous! A handsome stallion such as Adrian was no problem at all” Rarity declared without any hesitation which made me blush a bit.

Sweetie Bell was staring at me with eyes as big as the moon and were twinkling like stars “You look amazing” she said but once she heard the two mares giggle she shook her head and blushed a bit in return. I did a quiet chuckle as well but I smiled and looked myself over in the mirror real quick. 

“Well, I think I look presentable now so lets get these other outfits back to my room real quick then we can get ready for her arrival. Thank you again Rarity, I will find a way to pay you back for your generosity. I promise” I said with a bow and that made Rarity giggle a bit and her face had a slight hint of red.

“Oh, such a gentlecolt! Well you do not have to worry about paying since it was my honor and privilege to do so but if you could then maybe later you could help out in the shop again. An extra pair of hoofs never hurt from time to time” Rarity told me and when she said the extra hoofs bit I looked at my hands and laughed “What's funny?”

I presented my hands to her “Well, I do not know about hoofs but I can always offer a set of hands instead” I said with a slight grin which made everyone in the room laugh.

“Hands aside, he is right though about getting back. Thank you again Rarity for helping, see you when Princess Celestia arrives!” Twilight said as she began to walk out with Spike and I in tow waving goodbye. Rarity and Sweetie Bell were at the door waving back, well Sweetie Bell was bouncing and waving while looking at me with Rarity silently giggling.

On our way back to the library I was once again the center of attention but instead of fear and worry like the first time everyone was looking at me with awe and to tell you the truth it made me feel really good. Nothing happened though until we got to the middle of town when I heard a familiar voice call out “WHOA! WATCH OUT ADR-” was all Derpy said just as she was about to crash into me but this time I took a slight step back and held out my arms to catch her in the nick of time.

“-ian. Heh, sorry about that. Again” Derpy said while looking embarrassed, which made her look cute with her crossed eyes. I simply shook my head while smiling.

“We have to stop meeting like this Derpy, you don't have to get my attention with extreme measures” I jokingly said while I smiled with her cradled in my arms like a princess. This made her blush and she scooted her front hooves up to her chin and gave a sheepish smile.

“Sorry though, I was going back to the post office to pick up the larger packages when I saw you dressed up and you looked really nice and it made me lose my balance again and well you know the rest. Hehe” she said. I playfully rolled my eyes while I lowered myself to the ground and gently placed her on her hooves to the ground.

“Glad you like it though Derpy, Rarity spent most of the morning making this and a few others for me. Now I look nice enough to meet Princess Celestia” I said while I did a quick turn around for her to see the back. 

"I thought you looked good already" Derpy said very quietly and I leaned in closer.

“What was that? I didn't quite catch that” I asked as I kneeled down. 

“N-n-nothing! Just talking to myself! Well I better get going, can't let ponies wait too much longer for their mail!” she nervously said as she took a few flaps of her wings to get in the air.

I reached over and gave her a quick pat and rub on the head “Good luck Derpy and see you later!” I said with a kind smile. Derpy nodded and smiled back before taking off and when she was out of sight I shook my head “I worry about her sometimes but if she is still flying then I think she will be alright”

Twilight nodded in agreement “She will fine and now she has a good friend like you looking out for her so everything will work out great!” she said while her smile beamed. We took a few steps before we saw that Spike stood frozen behind us. “Spike? Come on, we need to get moving”

Spike turned around with a slight look of fear “Uh, I don't think we will be moving soon” he said. Before either Twilight or myself could ask we felt the ground rumble a bit and before we knew it we were surrounded by a dozen or so ponies who wore excited faces and were jumping for joy.

“Oh my gosh! I thought you were scary and thought you were gonna hurt Derpy but you caught her and carried her like a princess in a storybook!” a mint green mare said who had a harp cutie mark.

“Yeah! Me and my sister were kinda worried when Princess Twilight was leading you back to the library yesterday but with the way you were gentle with her told us that you probably were not a monster or anything!” a blue mare with a bright pink mane said who seemed to have some kind of flower for a cutie mark, right next to her nodding in agreement was the same looking mare but with reverse colors and an identical cutie mark. I was guessing that she was the sister and they were twins.

After the first three spoke this seemed to inspire the rest of the crowd to talk all at once and soon a wave full of different colors and mares and a few stallions washed over me and were trying to talk to me all at once. It was too much for me to handle and I put my hands up and tried to speak but they all drowned me out with questions upon questions that I could not hear and I even took a step back while I tried to get their attention. I looked around for Twilight and I saw her at the edge of the crowd trying to force her way in.

She looked up and saw me looking at her and I mouthed the words 'help me' and she nodded instantly before she took a deep breath and yelled "QUIET" in a very loud voice that could probably be heard from the edge of town or further. They all stopped and finally realized that they were all crowded over me and took a few steps back, Twilight let out a sigh and spoke up “I realize that you all have questions for him but ganging up on him is no way to do so. So I suggest you all disperse and approach him one on one in the future. Thank you!”

The crowd nodded their heads but they all looked so disappointed and began to separate, I looked around and decided to say something “But before you all go, just know that I am very happy that you all are interested in talking to me! I was kinda worried when you all stared at me yesterday but I hope to get to know you all in the future! And I would be willing to answer one per- uh, ponies questions for a bit!” I said which got the attention of the few closest to me and I saw that the two twins were the first and only ones to come back as the others saw them and walked off.

“Hello there! Sorry about before but we got caught up in the crowd and wanted to meet you! My name is Lotus Blossom and this is my twin sister Aloe Blossom! We run the local spa in town and want to let you know that we are always open and would love to treat you sometime!” Lotus said with a cheery smile.

“While we would love to ask you a ton of questions I think we should let you go for now but be sure to stop by and visit us! Your first spa treatment will be on the house! See you later cutie!” Aloe said and blew me a kiss with her hoof and the twins turned and walked off with a slight skip in their steps. I was about to let out a tired sigh before I felt a tap on the back of my leg and I turned around and saw a white unicorn with sunglasses on and electric blue hair.

“Yo! What's up dude! The name is Vinyl Scratch and I am the local DJ and ultimate music master in Ponyville! Just wanted to let you know real quick that I am having a party tonight and I would love for you to come on down as my special quest! You would get all your drinks for free and probably plenty of stage time!” she said with a grin and I saw her horn light up and I saw a card appear with a pen and she wrote something down on the back before giving it to me. “This is my card and your invitation along with my info on the back, just in case. Hope to see ya tonight, now give me a hoof bump!” she finished by holding up her front hoof.

Hoof bump? I wonder if that is like a fist bump back home, probably. So I made a fist and I bumped her hoof and when I did her smile grew and she walked off and waved. I checked around to make sure there was not another pony waiting and saw that the only ones their was Twilight and Spike who walked over to me. “Sorry about that Adrian, I guess they were all still nervous about you until they saw you being nice to Derpy. Guess they just needed a little push” she said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I guess so. Quite a rush though, had me a bit worried for a moment. Thank you for the save back there, I appreciate it” I gratefully said as I put Vinyls card in my pocket and we all began walking again. We walked for a bit before I felt Spike elbow nudging me.

“Boy dude, you sure are a lady killer. Having the spa twins all over you like that, especially Aloe” he said as he winked at me. This earned him a soft smack on the back of the head from Twilight. “Ow! What was that f-” he was about to ask but all he got was a glare from Twilight. He sighed “Fine. Sorry Adrian. Your not a lady killer, just a very nice guy. Who gets all the girls” that last part was said very quietly and I could tell Twilight heard but simply sighed and accepted his semi apology. 

The rest of the brief walk was spent in silence and soon enough we were walking inside the crystal castle and I quickly went up to my room and hanged them up in the closet. Thankfully the closet was big enough so that I did not have to reach down much to hang them, so with my three new outfits hanging and my old pair folded nicely I closed the closet door and went to the bathroom to freshen up again.

After doing my business and making sure I smelled nice I stepped out onto the balcony and leaned against the railing and let the warm sun bask down on me and enjoyed the nice breeze across my face. I do not know how long I stood there for but I enjoyed the serenity of everything. I really liked Ponyville, the whole town just seemed so peaceful and relaxing and even nature just soothed my entire being, I felt rested just by standing there and allowing myself to soak in all the sounds, smells, and feelings of the area. 

I was so zoned out that I did not notice a pair of violet eyes looking up at me and eventually I broke out of my trace and glanced down at her and smiled “Hey Princess, sorry that I zoned out for a bit. I was just taking in the beauty of this place, it is so different from anything back home and I really like it” I told her.

She smiled in return “That is good to hear Adrian, I am glad that you feel that way” she said as she placed her front hooves on the rail beside me and looked out and we just stood there enjoying each others company in silence. But after a little while I saw that she started to fiddle with her hoofs, like she was nervous about something “Hey Adrian, since we are friends and all you don't have to always call m-” she started to say before we saw a large covered golden chariot being pulled by two equally golden pegasuses slowly descend the sky and start to land in front of the library.

“OH MY GOSH! SHE IS HERE!” Twilight exclaimed and started to panic and in one motion she flew back and turned me around and started to inspect me and fuss over me “Ok, hair good, no dirt or anything on your suit good, shoes and hoofs shiny good, Adrian smile!” she frantically told me and I replied by smiling “Ok, nothing sticking out in your teeth and they look clean good. Alright, good! Your all set! GASP! But how do I look?! Adrian! How do I look?!” she said in a panic and she landed and started to smooth out her fur and seemed to comb her hair with her hoofs.

I leaned down and I held her sides in my hands to stop her movements and try to calm her “Princess, calm down. Take a breath and just calm down, ok?” I told her and at first she took short frantic breaths but I started to take deep breaths with my nose and exhaled out my mouth to show her and thankfully she caught on and started to repeat me. After a good ten breaths she calmed down and I let her go before I reached up and gave her a few scratches on her ear “You look absolutely fine and pretty, so don't worry. Just relax and act like you always do, alright?” I soothingly told her.

She sat there for a few moments before she closed her eyes and smiled and gave a happy groan before she shook her head, which made me drop me hand and she took one more deep breath. “Ok, thank you for that and sorry. I always get a little nervous when Princess Celestia visits” she told me with a nervous chuckle.

I smiled and gave a slight chuckle “That's alright, now let's head on down and welcome her properly” I said as I stood up but before I could take a step I heard her start to say something.

“W-w-wait! Just a second, before we go down” she nervously said “Could....could you do me one small thing before we see her?” I nodded and knelt down to her height. “W-would you mind.....would you mind giving me one more......ear......scratch?” she finished and almost sounded like Fluttershy with the request. I gave a playful little laugh before I reached back over and started to scratch the same ear as before and in no time her nervousness and stiffness melted away as she leaned her body into my hand a bit and smiled.

I did this for about a minute before she pulled back and gave a happy sigh “I can see why the others like that so much” she said with a slight blush but smiled warmly before she started to walk out and I followed her. We walked down the stairs and we came into the library before she stopped me “Adrian, do you want to wait in here while I greet the Princess and bring her in here?” she asked with concern.

“Yeah, I think that would be best. Thank you” I said with a nervous smile, she simply nodded and walked to the door and disappeared. I stood in the middle of the library and tried my best not to be nervous because I didn't want to start sweating and began to pace back and forth. Gah, now my throat feels dry and my hands feel clammy and started to shake and my heart started to go faster. My mind started to whirl about with stupid ideas and thoughts and after a brief moment of panic I decided to follow my own advice to Twilight and started to take deep breaths and thankfully it worked for me as well and I began to calm down.

I heard the door start to creak and I snapped to attention but in the next instant I saw a pink blur rocket out and land in front of me “HIYA ADRIAN! Wowwy! You look spiffy and cool! Guess you went over and saw Rarity this morning huh? Awesomeriffic!” Pinkie said in a flurry of words and exaggerated movements that only brought a calming smile to my face. Soon enough I saw the other four girls walk in and move to me.

“Well shoot sugarcube, look at ya! You clean up real nice there Adrian. Your sure ta give the Princess the best first impression!” Applejack declared.

“Oh my, you do look very dashing Adrian. I really like that jacket too” Fluttershy quietly said.

“Meh, you look cool and all but I personally think your normal clothes looked better” Rainbow said as she circled around me.

“Rainbow Dash! How can you say such a thing! He looks absolutely smashing in that attire! Why he could sweep any mare off their hooves if he wanted to!” Rarity forcefully told everyone. Rainbow smirked and started to nudge Rarity.

“Guess that means you want the big guy to sweep you off your hooves like a Princess huh?” she said as she wiggled her eyebrows which only made Rarity blush red all over. “Bwahahahaha! Oh man Rarity, you should see your face! It-it's too much!” Rainbow said as she fell to the ground and clutched her stomach as she laughed.

Applejack tried to stifle her laughter as she walked over to the two “Well, don't look now but he probably already has two mares who have fallen for him” she whispered which made the two stop their actions and look over at me. While Rainbow and Rarity were playing around Fluttershy and Pinkie had made their way over to my sides and had leaned against me and I decided to give them both ear scratches and soon enough they both had loving smiles planted on their faces.

Before the other three mares could say anything Twilight entered the room and gave a cough to get our attention “Alright everypony, get ready” she said as she made her way over to us while the others got up and formed a semi-line. Just as we got in position four white pegasuses in golden armor lined up by the door and stood at attention.

“Now entering the library: Princess Celestia, Co-Ruler of all of Equestria and Princess of the Sun and  Princess Luna, Co-Ruler of all of Equestria and Princess of the Night!” the guard declared in a very loud and booming voice. But in my mind I started to freak out a little at the fact that not only was I meeting Princess Celestia but now all of a sudden I am now also meeting Princess Luna as well! Why was she here as well and why did Twilight not tell me? 

The first one to come in was a tall, white Alicorn who wore golden accessories but I think the most striking feature I saw was her mane. It seemed to shimmer and weave in the air like wind was constantly make it flow in the breeze yet I did not feel any air in here, once again I blame magic. Heh, I love that excuse now! But another striking feature was the way she carried herself, I saw that every step she took was graceful and full of poise, almost like she had done this before many, many times.

While that might have been intimidating it was her kind and gentle smile that she carried which allowed me to feel slightly at ease in her oncoming presence, if it wasn't for the fact that I knew was a Princess I would of said she was the Queen for one other reason. I cannot fully explain what it is but I feel something powerful surrounding me, like a dense fog, but it does not hurt or make me worry and I can both feel it and not feel it at the same time. It is a very weird feeling that I have never felt before. That last thing I saw about her was her massive wing span, her feathers seemed very clean and pristine and gave her a very elegant grace when they are spread. I can see why Twilight wanted me to look nice, this was definitely a pony worth dressing up for.  

I had to peel my eyes away from her to notice the other Alicorn striding beside her, who was slightly shorter than her but commanded no less respect and grace than the other. Yet she had a different kind of beauty about her that equaled the first one as I admired her nice, blue fur that glowed a gentle hue in the sun which was accompanied by her black accessories that drew out her color nicely. But her cerulean eyes were a very dominate feature as they seemed gentle yet seemed to house a very sharp tone that I would hate to see dawned upon me if she were angry, but all this fails to compare the one thing that drew my eye to her.

Her mane, which also seemed to dance in the breeze, looked exactly like the night sky without any sort of illumination to dull its embrace as every star that I saw twinkled and the rich black of its night drew me in deeper and deeper until I felt like I would fall into its beautiful embrace. I felt so peaceful when I looked at her mane and with it wavering it almost seemed hypnotic, without a doubt this one was the Princess of the Night. It was amazing just how different these two looked and how in tune they were with day and night. 

When they were both almost upon us, I quickly took a knee before them and bowed my head but I kept my eyes open which is when I saw both of their covered hoofs stop before us and I heard a voice speak “Hello my little ponies, please rise your heads. You know I prefer to speak with you all normally” the voice spoke very gently and it was accompanied with a light giggle. I did not raise my head though since she did say ponies but then saw and felt her hoof go under my chin and she gently lifted it up so we were facing each other.

“Forgive me, I am used to usually addressing ponies. I suppose I should say ponies and human I believe, correct?” the white alicorn asked with a smile.

“Yes your majesty, I am Adrian Frost the human. You are Princess Celestia, correct?” I asked respectfully which she nodded at “It is my honor to meet you Princess Celestia” I gently took her hoof from my chin and kissed it before I turned to the blue alicorn “And I must assume that you are Princess Luna your grace, it is with my utmost honor and privilege to not only meet you but to also thank you for assisting with my nightmare. I thank you” I gracefully said as I also took her hoof and placed a quick kiss upon her hoof before letting it back down.

Celestia seemed stunned at my actions and looked at me for a moment before her smile returned and both of them giggled but it was Luna who spoke first “My, my! Such a gentlecolt, we like this one very much sister” Luna said with an amused smile.

“Indeed sister, I have not seen such a proper greeting in many moons. Though a bit outdated it is a nice refresher to see” she said with sincerity “We personally welcome you Adrian to the land of Equestria and I can only hope that my little ponies have been treating you well” she finished with a slight bow of her head. “You may rise now”

I did as she asked and I rose to my full height and I saw that in comparison to the all the other girls, who came to my waist, Celestia stood almost as tall as me as the top of her head came up to my eyes though her horn did beat me and rose above me. The top of Lunas head came to my mouth and her horn  is at eye level and I could see the surprise of my height in their eyes as they looked me up and down “We must say, thou....you are very tall Adrian, very tall indeed! I have seen few creatures who overtake my dear sister in height without them being a mighty adult dragon!” Luna said with a mixture of awe and wonder.

Celestia gave a slight giggle “Yes, she is quite right. Are you considered tall for a human?” she curiously asked.

I nodded “Yes Princess, last I checked I was about six feet and two inches tall and compared to most humans I am considered taller than normal but there are humans are are even taller, by two feet and a couple more inches. But humans that tall are usually an extreme rarity though” I explained which not only made the two of them shocked but I also noticed the six girls beside me in the same state.

“I-I see, that is certainly surprising and I suppose that makes us even more honored that we are in the presence of a rare human then!” she playfully said which got the rest of them back to normal.

“Awwww yeah! A rare alien! What could be better!” Rainbow said as she flew up and gave me a noogie. I simply laughed as I reached up and messed with her mane.

Celestia laughed at our messing around but she cleared her throat which made us stop and return to normal “I am very glad to see that you are able to get along with these ponies, now girls I wish to ask something and when I ask I do not mean to imply or be rude but as the Princess of Equestria I must ask. Girls, do you consider Adrian here to be a threat to anypony or anything in the lands of Eqeustria?” she asked sternly and it caught me by surprise.

At first I was kinda upset but I thought about what she said and I realized that she is only making sure that the strange new alien creature will not pose a threat and if our positions were reversed I would be asking the same question. I was happy at what happened next though cause the next thing all six girls said was “NO!” in unison, which caught us three by surprise. 

“Certainly not! Our dear Adrian here has been a joy to been around so far and he has presented a new challenge for me and my line of work! And not only that but he is very gentle and kind, especially to Sweetie Bell. Those two played all morning while he helped model for the very same outfit he is wearing now!” Rarity explained.

“Yer darn tootin he ain't no danger! I can same ta same thing about him and Applebloom, she was so excited last night that I had a hard time getting her ta bed cause all she was talkin about was Adrian here” she said with a laugh.

“Yeah! The big guy here is cool Princess! Even after he saw my not so good side for a moment he forgave me right away and is still cool with me! And even Scootaloo liked playing with him!” Rainbow boasted as she nudged my leg while wearing a grin.

“I have to agree with them Princess Celestia, Adrian has been very nice and thoughtful when we found him and has treated us kindly” Fluttershy timidly said but she looked up at me and smiled, which I happily returned.

“Not only that but he has become a very important friend to our local mailmare Derpy Hooves and has treated her with kindness and respect even when most other ponies tend to ignore her or get upset when she messes up due to her crossed eyes and clumsy flying. He was able to cheer her up and said something very important to her and they became very good friends, even when she still accidentally crashes into him” she gave a slight laugh at that last part “He even gave an excellent suggestion on how to address that problem without putting her in the spotlight! I would like to tell you of this later, if you do not mind Princess Celestia” Twilight politely asked. 

“AND don't forget to mention his amazing and super wonderiffic ear scratches! They are gooooooooooooooooood” she said with a huge grin and some more over exaggerated movements, which seemed to produce confetti out of nowhere. 

Both Celestia and Luna seemed confused at this “Ear scratches? What do you mean by that Pinkie Pie?” Celestia asked.

“What do I mean!?! I mean him giving the best scratching of ears this world has ever seen! But I think it might be better to show you though!” Pinkie explained before she bounced over to my side and looked up at me with a huge smile that sparkled along with her eyes, ugh she could get away with murder with a look like that. So not being able to refuse the look I stretched out my hand real quick before I reached down and began my ear scratch on her which automatically made her turn into a limp noodle with a happy smile. “Ahhhhhh, that's the spot”

Celestia stared at Pinkies melted body before gazing up to me and smiled “Well, I think I can safely say that you pose no threat and will be able to offer many new things to our world. Please continue to look out for my little ponies and I expect the same kind of treatment upon you as well” she gracefully said.

I smiled and gave a slight head bow “Princess Celestia, I have a question I would like to ask of you” I asked which she responded with a head bow in return “Now I do not know how exactly I got here, all I remember is I was traveling in the woods in winter and I came upon an old well and I saw the water shimmer and when I leaned in closer to look I fell in. I tried to swim to the surface but I fell down further and I thought I was going to drown and die but then the next thing I knew I woke up here surrounded by these six. Actually I have been meaning to ask how you girls found me as well” I said.

“Well that is the thing, when we walked out to the field we simply found you already laying there passed out and we were discussing how to best wake you and deal with you. I did not sense any sort of magic being used recently and since it was in the middle of the field there was nothing magical that could have been the cause” Twilight explained.

“Hmmm, weird. But back to the question, with all that information do you think it might be possible to send me back home Princess Celestia, Princess Luna?” I seriously asked. Both of them did not answer right away and took some time to think and discuss with each other which made me start to worry and lose hope. I had stopped scratching Pinkies ear which made her poke my hand with her muzzle while she looked at me with a smile and I felt the same thing on my other hand by Fluttershy who looked at me with a caring concern. I gave a small smile and began to scratch both of their ears, which started to make me feel a little better when I saw them both smile.

I think the rest of the girls felt how uneasy I was feeling cause Applejack and Rarity placed a hoof on my foot while Twilight simply offered a kind smile but Rainbow flew up and gave my cheek a quick nuzzle before she landed and sat on my shoulders and layed her head on top of mine, I gave a small chuckle at that but I smiled at the kind but slightly silly gesture. After waiting a few more tense minutes the two Princesses turned back to us and cleared their throats “Adrian, my sister and I have discussed this matter and at this moment we cannot confirm or deny the possibility of sending you back home. Now I do not wish to possibly give you false hope but their might be a slim chance that there is a spell back in Canterlot within the Star Swirl the Bearded section that could hold the answer. But it will take us a while to locate it within the thousands upon thousands of scrolls and books but I promise you that we will spare as much time as we can to help locate the possible spell” Celestia said with a caring voice.

I smiled at this “Thank you very much Princesses, I am in both of your debts for your kindness” I replied with a slight head bow as to not throw Rainbow off “Now with that, since I am going to be staying here for an unknown amount of time I would like to be able to hold a job so I can pay for food and lodging until such time that it is no longer needed” I said.

“You don't have to worry about that Adrian! You can stay at the castle and have a room and food for free! It wouldn't be any trouble!” Twilight pleaded but I only shook my head.

“While I am grateful for that Princess, I would feel bad for having to freeload off of you and not just because you are a Princess but because you are a friend and having to mooch off of a friend would leave a bad taste in my mouth. So until I can find a place to live and save up enough money to live on my own, I humbly ask that I continue to live in your castle Princess Twilight” I politely asked. 

Twilight was silent as she look back and forth between me and Celestia but finally Celestia looked at her sternly and gave a firm nod which made Twilight sigh and sag but she eventually turned back to me “Alright, I suppose I can't stop you but at least take your time and don't feel like you have to rush ok? My doors are always to you” she kindly said.

I nodded and smiled at Twilight but before I could say anything “Well, with that all settled I would like to ask all six of you to take a walk with me and discuss his situation and plan out a solution” Celestia asked to which all six nodded to and slowly left me and drifted over to the other end of the library and I could see scrolls and quills being taken out and written on. I decided to sit down on the couch and relax for a bit since my legs stated to shake. But I soon joined by another as Luna trotted up and sat beside me.

“While they discuss your future, I would like to take this time to discuss two important things with you Adrian. One will be a brief talk about your nightmare and what it meant, if you are willing to discuss it now of course” Luna tenderly asked.

“I-I think I would be able to since it would be easier to talk about it with someone who has already seen it” I explained.

“Good and there is one other matter of great importance that has recently been brought to our attention” she said in a grimly manner.

“W-what matter would that be Princess Luna?” I nervously asked.

What happened next was certainly very odd and surprising as she began to fiddle with her hooves before asking “W-w-WE would like to formally request....an.......an......an ear scratch”
> Dreams, Spas, And A Human
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sat there dumbfounded at what Princess Luna had formally requested of me, she wanted me to give her an ear scratch but why? Maybe she got curious after the little demonstration Pinkie forced me to do but to hear her ask still blew me away. “Uh-uh-umm P-Princess Luna, why do you want an e-ear scratch?” I nervously stuttered which only made her seem to blush a bit as she fiddled with her hooves again.

“W-well our dear Adrian, we were quite curious as to the feel of it when we saw how Miss Pie reacted to it and it seemed most enjoyable and so we thought to ask as to feel that same experience. Please?” she fumblingly said but when she asked she looked up at me with a pleading look.

“Bu-but is it alright for a commoner such as me to do that to someone of Royalty?” I asked which made her stop fumbling and she looked at me with a confused face.

“Why does it matter if we are royal or not? We are just like any other pony in all of Equestria and are not above wanting or needing things you know. Are royalty treated different where you are from?” she curiously asked.

“Well yes and no, it depends on the person but how most of us see it we have to act respectfully with them at all times and not do anything that could affect their image or anything. So when you asked I thought that it might look like I am being overly familiar with you and I did not want to cause an uproar or anything” I carefully explained to Luna.

“We see, well while we do agree with being treated respectfully but we are not so shallow as to ban or condemn simple actions like this or even hugs! Now if we were in a diplomatic setting then yes we would only allow actions that are deemed acceptable and worthy but this is simply a talk to get to know you at home. So please don't think of us as heads of state but simply as one of your friends” she said with a kind smile “Now, commence with the royal ear scratch if you would please!” she added with excitement. 

I sat there for a moment to allow what she said to soak it and I realized how silly I had been acting, guess I was just nervous and maybe a little worried that if I said or did the wrong thing I would be thrown in the dungeon or something! Guess I should not have looked down on them in such a manner or thought badly of them, like she said they are just like everyone else......well everypony else. Gosh, gonna take some time to get used to saying it like that. Before I got another thought in I saw that her ear twitched and her cheeks puffed ever so slightly, these ponies sure know how to get to someone.

I gave my fingers a give stretch before I slowly reached down and rested my hand on the top of her head and felt her mane wash over my skin and it felt just like a normal mane except that it felt like she had just stepped inside after standing in a cool wind. But without wasting anymore time I took my finger and began the 'royal' ear scratch and I felt her body tense up for a moment before she relaxed and I heard her let out a soft moan of approval. 

I saw her eyes close and her smile grew as we went on and she got so relaxed that she slowly lowered her body down till she was laying down next to me with her head in my lap as I continued the royal treatment. Her flowing mane was just below my face and I stared once again into the beautiful night sky that occupied her mane and I felt my other hand start to run its fingers through it and that got a slight reaction out of Luna before she snuggled into me a bit more. 

I do not know how long this went on for but we were both zoned out in happiness and it felt nice to have her with me, I was feeling a bit warm in the library but with her so close to me it felt like I was snuggling with the cold side of a pillow. “So, does the 'royal ear scratch' pass inspection Princess?” I casually asked her with a slightly playful voice.

“Luna, you may call me Luna and yes, I fully approve of the royal ear scratch. Now be quiet and continue” she quietly told me as she readjusted herself and cuddled more into me. I smiled as I closed my eyes and continued to scratch her ear and comb her mane with my fingers. We sat in silence as we enjoyed each others company and entered our own little world, that is until we heard a few gasps followed by a full hearted giggle. We both opened our eyes and turned to see that most of the girls were staring with hanging jaws while Celestia stood there with a delightful smile and continued to giggle.

“Well, my dear sister, it seems that you have gained a friend and appear to be enjoying the new 'royal ear scratch'” Celestia cheekily said as she smiled down at us “So, is it as good as Pinkie Pie said?”

“Tis as good as she explained and more so! And we would like to continue our treatment in private while we discuss a few things with Adrian here” she boasted and tried to hold herself high without actually moving from her spot. This simply got a chuckle out of Celestia again.

“We will let you two get back to your discussions, I was simply worried that you might of gotten bored and was hoping you two would talk. Seems like my worries were misplaced, come along everypony we need to continue our little talks as well” she declared as she herded the others back into their spot which took a bit since they were all mostly in shock but after a push or two of her wings got them to move.

With the two of us alone again she settle back into her comfy spot and I wasted no time and re assumed my two actions upon her ear and mane and we sat there for about a minute until she spoke up “Adrian, now that we are alone would you like to discuss your nightmare now? You do not have to right now but since I am already here I thought you might like to” she gently asked. 

I did not say anything for a few moments as I thought about it, I was almost about to say that I did not want to talk about it right now and move on to other topics but since she was the guardian of dreams and what not she might be able to explain what I saw since a lot of it seemed to not make sense. So I took a deep breath “I would like to discuss it a bit but maybe not fully today though. It is still fresh in my mind and I don't want to prod into it too much for now” I explained.

“Very well, that is understandable. Now from what I saw it seemed your nightmare was composed of two parts, the image dealing with that female creature and the elements that caused all that destruction. The main damage was from the female while the elements seemed to be more secondary nature at first but towards the end seemed to connect somehow to the first. Which one would you like to discuss?” she asked.

I definitely did not want to talk about my mother yet so I decided for the second option “Lets talk about the elements and that female creature was a female human by the way. Now it felt like when the elements first appeared they got absorbed into my body and I felt powerful but strange at this surge of new feelings. But then they just exploded out of me and caused all that destruction. I don't really understand what that was about but it scared me that it seemed that I personally caused all that chaos” I told her with a slight shiver in my body.

“Now since you are from a different world and have a lifetime of different experiences I could be wrong with some of my guesses but there is one thing that I think I can identify. That small portion of when you saw and felt them absorb into your body is actually a common aspect for unicorns when they are about to fully discover their magic. A unicorns magic grows with them and when they are younger it is mostly uncontrollable and unrefined but when they have that dream it is their body telling them that their magic is stabilizing within them and helps them understand what type of magic is their strong point” Luna said before taking a breath.

“For example, if a unicorn dreamt of the fire element being absorbed then it means that their magic is more wild and active so they might develop more offensive and/or physical improving magic. Water would be more of a healer and/or soothing magic. There are many types within each of the elements and is difficult to fully understand what each one means but it is more meant to be a general guide. But what you experienced was by far the most difficult and confusing thing I have ever witnessed”

“Before you, Twilight Sparkle had the most difficult magic dream as she seemed to not have a single raw element define her but rather had the single entity of magic define her which meant that she could do every sort of magic, which makes perfect sense now though seeing as she is now a Princess and represented the Element Of Magic within the Elements Of Harmony. Simply she controls the raw energy of magic itself instead of it conforming to a specific area”

“Now your dream showed that instead of controlling magic itself, it showed that you can control all of the elements of magic instead. That has never happened before because it is very dangerous because it means that instead of focusing on one area within you, you have the potential to control all the different aspects. It is rare for a unicorn to have more than one and the most I have seen in a normal unicorn is three because it means that they could be powerful like fire but soothing like water”

“That can be dangerous and for an example in simple terms, imagine a pony being told that they are not only the master of the sword but of the bow and arrow as well. Now instead of focusing on using one, they are now trying to use both and if not trained right could hurt either themselves or others. Now in your case, your dream is telling me that you can use a sword, bow, mace, staff, axe, and so on all at once. Which is why I think that the part showing it being destructive means that if not properly trained then you could bring great harm to those around you and possibly to whoever that human was” she finally concluded.

I had stopped moving my body and all its functions a little while ago as I soaked in this new information, first off she is saying that the dream is telling me that I have magic within me and instead of just one I have control of all of them and finally she said that because of all of them within me could  cause me to destroy everything around me! Suffice to say, that did not sit well with me and any good thought at the fact that I might actually be able to control magic was overshadowed by the fact that I could be destructive.

My whole body began to shake in fear and I felt like I had been dropped right back into the nightmare and I realized that the buildings in the background of the dream were those in Ponyville! Did that mean that I was destined to destroy this peaceful place? A million similar questions buzzed in my mind and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and I began to fall into fear. 

But it did not last long as I felt a surge within me and a soothing calm rush all over my body and after a second or two I realized that I had shut my eyes and when I opened them I saw a very worried and concerned Luna staring at me and her horn was encased in a blue shroud and I think I knew why, she was using her magic to calm me down. Once I felt my heartbeat slow down to normal I was about to say something but when I moved my lips I felt her hoof rest on them which made me stop. I looked up at her in confusion but she simply shook her head before placing it back down. 

“I am so sorry Adrian, I did not mean to frighten you! I got caught up explaining it to you and did not realize how terrible it sounded and when I realized that you had stopped moving and were silent I looked up and saw your eyes closed and were shaking in fear. I am so sorry” she guiltily said while she moved her body off of mine and chose to sit next to me like before. We both sat in silence as we both thought about what to do next.

I was staring off into space when I turned my head slightly to look at Luna and saw how sad she looked and for a moment I forgot all about my problems and simply wanted to make her smile again, so I reached over and gave her ear a scratch which caught her by surprise and she looked up at me “I'm sorry for making you worry Princ- I mean, Luna. I should be happy to hear that a human like me could use magic but the image of Ponyville destroyed because of the magic simply overtook me. And like you said, due to me being a foreign resident here the dream could me something else all together” I explained with a strained smile.

Luna nodded her head “That is also true, since you said that there is no magic in your world so the dream could also be saying that due to your discovery of magic it is destroying your old thoughts and memories since it is such a new concept for you and your brain is doing what it can to rationalize it. But let me tell you one thing though” Luna said as she turned her body to sternly look at me.

“No matter which version of the dream is true, know that whether you have magic or not we are all here for you and will do our best to help you with anything you need. If you discover you do have magic then we will all help you train so you can control it and if you simply do not have any then nothing will change and you will still have all your friends to help you transition to our world full of magic” Luna said with a comforting voice.

I simply looked at her and realized that I really had let me fear get the better of me and once I realized it all that weight from before seemed to fly off my shoulders and I found myself pulling her in for a hug which he quickly responded to with one of her own “Thank you Luna, sorry for letting my fears get the better of me. I will believe in your words and simply let things flow down whatever path appears in front of me” I sincerely told her.

I felt her nuzzle my neck for a bit before she spoke up “You are quite welcome Adrian, we are quite relieved and very happy to help you out. I am sorry again that things turned sour but it seems that we were able to help you out a bit”

“Indeed you did Luna, indeed you did” I quickly said before I began to scratch her ear again and it definitely caught her by surprise but after a quick second she looked like Pinkie Pie from before with her body seeming to become droopy at my touch and she quickly lied back down with a happy sigh. It was at this time did I notice that Celestia and the others were starting to make their way back with happy looks on their faces.

“Hello you two, I hope that your conversation went well?” Celestia asked.

I nodded “Yes it did, it was very......insightful” I said while I choose that last word.

“Very good, so we just got done discussing about living arrangements and jobs as well as other living aspects for you and we think we came up with a good plan for you to start out with. Now since we do not know what your special skills and talents are, we thought it would be better to have you try jobs all over Ponyville to try and see what appeals to you most. If you find a job that suits you or even if you find something unique to offer then I encourage you to continue with it and earn your bits” Celestia explained.

“Now you also told Twilight that you would be willing to live in the castle until you had enough money to afford your own residence. I could help with that by offering you a monthly stipend of bits until you are able to hold your own. I could also help find you a place to live as well and due to my title I can probably find you a good house with discount” she said with a wink at that last part which made me chuckle a bit. I took a moment to think about her deal and how it would look to Twilight since I had basically said I didn't want support.

But unlike Twilight who was willing to pay for food and boarding for free, Celestia would find me a place and offer money until I was able to stand on my own, which in the long run would be better. “Alright Princess Celestia, I accept your offer. Thank you very much for your overwhelming kindness” I said with a bow which made her giggle a bit.

“No need for such formalities Adrian, since you are already calling my sister by name I would ask of you to offer us the same kindness” she said with a gentle smile “Now with that all settled, I believe that it is time for me and my sister to be heading back to Canterlot to start filling out the paperwork for you Adrian. It will take some time to make new living and identity papers to allow you to own a house officially” Celestia explained.

I simply nodded before I felt Luna bump my side “We will be watching out for you Adrian and if you need anything, have Twilight here send a letter to us and we will be sure to respond as soon as we are able!” she said “Now goodbye Adrian, it was most fortunate to be able to meet one such as you” she finished up with a kind smile. She flew up and gave me a goodbye hug before returning to the side of her sister.

“Goodbye my little ponies, and human” she giggled at that part “We shall be in touch and Adrian, we will let you know if we can find out anything on that spell back home if it exists. And if you are ever in Canterlot, be sure to drop on by for a visit with us so I can be treated to the Royal Ear Scratch sometime” she said with another giggle. 

“It would be my honor, Celestia” I said with a bow before waving them goodbye. We all escorted them out, well behind the guards of course, and saw them leave in their chariot. We waved them off and only when we could no longer see them we all stopped and collectively we let out a tired sigh. I guess we all felt tense the whole time and had not realized it since we immediately laughed at each other for it. 

“Well then, now with that all sorted out and done, I think I am going to head on over to the Spa for a massage, I can feel the stress of the day already building and I need to rid of it before I get wrinkles!” Rarity dramatically exclaimed and I saw both Applejack and Rainbow roll their eyes.

“The Spa? Is that the one run by Lotus and Aloe?” I asked.

“Why yes! The very same! How ever did you know that?” she curiously asked.

I gave a nervous chuckle “Ah, well funny story. After Twilight and I left your home this morning I got ambushed by everypony in town and three of them I actually got to meet and talk to. Two of them just happened to be those two and they said that I should visit sometime and that my first visit would be on the house” I explained to Rarity.

She let out a surprised gasp “My goodness darling! You certainly know how to make all the right friends! And since I am a regular I have a few cards where I can get half off on treatments! I KNOW! Girls! Why don't we all go down to the Spa! My treat of course!” Rarity beamed at the prospect.

“Ah, yeah. I would love to but uh I have some cloud busting I need to get to, I'm uh behind on schedule for today. SOIwillbeseeingyoualllaterokbye!” Rainbow quickly said before zooming off in a flash, leaving only a slight rainbow contrail behind her.

“Shoot, well ah would love to but I have to get back to the farm and get back ta work. Those apples won't buck themselves! But maybe next time, see yall later!” Applejack said before she began to walk off to I am guessing the farm.

“Such a shame, those two have not gone in such a long time! What about you three?” Rarity asked.

“Well I was planning on reading a book but I suppose I can tag along” Twilight said.

“I would love to Rarity” Fluttershy quietly told us.

“If Adrian is going then count me in!” Pinkie said with boundless enthusiasm.

“Excellent! Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!” Rarity exclaimed as she began to lead the way with us in tow. On our way over I began to think that maybe I should of waited to go since I do not know how they handle clothing and privacy here, since it looks like everyone is already walking around naked. Well, mostly since they still have fur and whatnot but still.


Unfortunately the trip to the spa was actually a lot closer than I thought since we were already coming up to a shop that clearly read “Ponyville Day Spa” on its sign. Deciding that I would handle all that when then time came, I continued to walk to the building with the four girls. Just as we were about to enter I went ahead and opened the door for the girls and motioned for them to enter first which got a very girly giggle out of Rarity “Oh my, you really are a gentlecolt!” she said as she trotted inside with the rest following before I came in and closed the door.

The first thing I noticed was the smell of the place and I could already feel relaxed from the burning incense that they had by the counter before I heard Rarity ring the bell “Coming!” came a female voice off in the distance. We heard the faint sound of hooves approaching then with a swish of the curtain came Lotus with a smile but her smile grew wider when she saw me but she acted normal and walked up to our group.

“Welcome, welcome to the Day Spa! What kind of treatment would you five like for today?” Lotus politely asked.

“Hello Lotus, well I was thinking that we all could use our regular treatment, a number 5 please” Rarity said.

“Alright, so five number fives for two hours. Miss Rarity, do you have your cards with you?” Lotus asked. Rarity nodded and she used her magic to make four cards appear that had holes stamped in them and gave them to her “Ah, I see. So with all these it is half off total cost and for you Adrian your first visit is free! So in total, that will be 60 bits please” as soon as she said that Rarity used her magic again and she summoned a bag that clinked with the sound of multiple coins and after a quick count she handed the bag over.

Lotus grabbed it and double checked the amount before she nodded and placed the bag away then she motioned for us to follow as we walked behind the curtain, I began to look around and noticed one odd thing about the place “Hey Lotus, does this place have two separate areas for guys and girls?” I asked.

Lotus shook her head “Nope, everypony gets treatments together but with that being said I expect appropriate behavior to be held at all times. Is this going to be a problem Adrian?” she said.

“No, I will act like a gentleman, er gentlecolt I suppose. I asked because back home most places like this would always have separate rooms for both genders. Mainly just to keep the temptation away. But like I said I promise to behave and make you proud” I said sternly. 

“Good, glad to hear it. Now here are all your towels and give me a moment Adrian to grab some of our bigger towels for minotaur guests since I am guessing that pony towels will be a bit small for you” Lotus said just as I draped a pony towel over my pants and it barely went half way around. She let out a slight chuckle before she went to the back and soon came back with a larger towel. “Try this” she asked as she gave it to me, which I did and it fit just fine “Good, looks like it fits perfectly. Aloe! We have customers!” she shouted out.

From the back rooms we heard the sound of rushed hooves clopping around before we saw Aloe step out and quickly walked over to us “Sorry about that, I was putting away the last of the new lotions” the pink pony said with a huff.

“No problem, can you go get the water ready for five” she asked her sister.

Aloe was about to respond when she turned to see who the five were and her face lit up when she saw me “Oh goody! Adrian! You’re here already! Let me get the spa warmed up for you!” she happily told me before she leisurely walked over to the huge tub in the middle of the room and started turning dials and knobs.

“Adrian, are you going to soak in those clothes?” Lotus jokingly asked which got a giggle out of the rest of the girls.

“Ha ha. Do you have a room I can use to get undressed?” I asked her. She nodded and led me to a closed room and I entered and started undressing. I saw a small basket in the corner that had a single towel folded, so I took it out and decided to use that as my storage bin. After wrapping myself up with the large towel and neatly folding my clothes into the basket I came back out and saw that the girls were waiting.

I knew it was a bad idea to come cause the moment they layed eyes on me I felt so embarrassed, mainly because I was not the most fit guys on earth. I mean, I was not fat but I had a little bit of pudge though my chest was not bad though and I was thankful for all the heavy lifting I had to do back home so my arms and legs were pretty nice. They all continued to stare at me and the more they did I felt my face turn more and more red but before I could say anything Pinkie bounced out of no where and poked my stomach “Looks like some pony has had one too many of my cupcakes!” she teasingly said but I simply groaned and covered my stomach with my hand.

“Pinkie Pie! Don't be rude! Please pay her no mind deary, you look fine. You have quite the muscle tone!” Rarity said as her eyes outlines my arms. 

“T-thank you Rarity, I have been working hard to get rid of this last little bit that Pinkie had to point out” I said as I gave said pink pony the stink eye which made her sheepishly grin.

“Don't worry about it Adrian, like Rarity said you look quite handsome. Aloe how is the water coming? ….... Aloe?” Lotus asked and turned around to see why she was not answering and saw that her sister was looking at me with dreamy eyes and her tail was wagging. She sighed and walked over to her and gave her a nudge “Aloe!”

Aloe snapped out of it and instantly turned some more knobs and dials “Alright everypony! The water is ready!” she said like nothing happened which only made Lotus shake her head “Adrian! As our honored guest, why don't you go in first!” she happily exclaimed.

I shrugged as I set my basket down next to a massage table and while keeping a hand on my towel I made my way up the stairs and tested the water with my feet and found it was a very comfortable heat level. So still gripping my towel I slowly made my way into heated waters and found myself standing in the middle which was up to my waist and when I sat down it came to my chest. I let the warm water soak my skin before I let out a long and approving sigh and I just sat there and let peace and relaxation take over.

That was before Pinkie Pie did a cannonball into the middle and splashed everyone with water yet she came back up with a smile and a laugh while everyone gave her the death stare. Thankfully Pinkie did not start doing the backstroke or anything and just simply sat to the left of me and actually sat still, amazing. Soon the other three made their way into the water and Fluttershy sat to right of me, Twilight across of me, and Rarity sat between Fluttershy and Twilight.

After a couple of minutes to soaking in silence Rarity spoke up “Ah, isn't this just delightful! I can just feel all my stress and wrinkles melt away into the water” she said pleasantly.

“Really?! Where! What do soggy wrinkles look like in water?” Pinkie said as she sat up and started to search the water for the imaginary wrinkles which just made us all roll our eyes but I smiled and reached over to ruffle her wet hair. She let out a squeak and floated back to her spot. I heard the sound of hooves behind me and I saw that Aloe was carrying a basket of bottles but I saw that she was no longer wearing her headband that she had on before Pinkie soaked her.

“Here we go, a couple of soap bottles to choose from for you. We have 'Cherry Lavender', 'Fleur De Lis's Secret Collection', 'Sugar, Spice, And Everything Right', and 'Diamond Shine'” she read them all out and set them out in a row.

“Oh! Oh! Sugar, Spice, And Everything Right! That sounds good!” Pinkie said as she licked her lips.

“How about Cherry Lavender? That sounds soothing” Twilight said.

“Oh, I heard Fleur De Lis's Secret Collection is really good and environmentally safe” Fluttershy quietly told us. 

“Oh PLEASE! Diamond Shine is the only way to darlings, honestly” Rarity stated. But when all four realized that they each said something different they all looked at me and I guessed they wanted me to be the tie breaker. I honestly had no clue since all of them sounded good but I knew I had to make a decision or else their stares would bore a hole in my head. So I turned to Aloe to speak.

“Well Aloe, as the expert what one would you use?” I asked, I know a bit of cowards way out but one thing I know was that women are scary when it comes to beauty and such so I decided to ask the only other women in the room. This made her blush and smile while she shook her body back and forth with her hooves places against her head, once again a reaction way beyond my realm. 

“Oh Adrian! I am so happy you asked! Well my favorite is actually Fleur De Lis's Secret Collection, I AL-ways use it” Aloe said but she seemed to put some extra emphasis on when she said always, what was she doing? But before I could ask I saw that she put the others away and placed the basket back and brought some combs out and placed them on the edge next to the lone bottle.

After that she went over to the Fleur bottle and opened it and started to pour all of it out but it seemed that she was finishing off the rest of the bottle. It seemed like she could pour no more and started to smack the bottom of it and during one of the smacks she seemed to lean forward more than necessary and promptly fell in with a splash. She came back up with a mane full of wet hair and soap all over but she washed it away from her eyes before she opened them and looked at me “Whoopsies!” she said with feigned innocence. 

We all looked at her before we washed the soap off but while I was splashing water in my eyes I felt a swoosh of water next to me and when I opened my eyes I saw that Aloe was washing her self with the soap along with the rest of the girls, so I decided to follow suit. Once that was done Rarity finally spoke up “Aloe, why are you still in the tub? I can understand you accidentally falling in but why haven't you gotten out yet?” she asked. 

Aloe simply shrugged “Well, I guess it is because since I fell in and made me all soapy I might as well clean myself up properly instead of waiting for you to be done” she said like it was no big deal. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight all gave her a look while Pinkie was playing with bubbles but no one said anything. 

After a few moments of awkward silence Rarity grabbed the combs with her magic and handed them out and I saw that Twilight moved to help Pinkie comb her hair, good luck Twilight, while Rarity moved to help Fluttershy. I looked at the comb in my hands before I felt a hoof poke me and I saw that it was Aloe “Adrian, could you possibly help me comb my mane. It is really hard to reach some spots all by myself” she asked with a really sweet voice, man she laid it on thick but seeing it as being nice I went along and scooted up close.

“So, how do you normally brush it? I have never brushed hair besides my own before” I asked.

Aloe gave me a giggle “It's simple, just take one hoof to hold out the mane and use the other with the comb and gently smooth it out, watch out for knots and don't pull on them too hard~” she sang as she made herself comfortable as I began my work and after a few attempts and watching the others I finally got the hang of it though I dare say I was not going to be a professional hair stylist but it will do. Her mane was really soft and it was kinda nice to do something so simple. After a while I assumed I was done since I saw that I had combed her mane for so long that all four of them were done.

It was really bizarre to see Pinkie with straight hair, she looked like a whole different pony! Ugh these person/pony references are so annoying but I am going to have to learn to live with it. But what was really surprising was how pretty Rarity looked with her straight purple hair and she caught me staring at her “What is it darling?” she asked me.

“Oh! Sorry, didn't mean to stare. It was just that you look kinda pretty with your mane straight like that” I uttered out with an embarrassed tone and this made Rarity blush a little but she smiled at me.

“I see, well thank you dear. I have never heard somepony said that before” she told me. 

“How about my mane, doesn't it look nice too?” Aloe turned her head to look at me and gave me a quivering lip and stared at me with puppy dog eyes, UGH every mare must have this secret weapon and that is scary. 

But not wanting to be mean or anything I smiled at her “Your mane looks very pretty Aloe, you must take care of it everyday” I honestly told her which made her bring her hooves up to her face and she shook back and forth and blushed again. Wait, this looks familiar, where have I seen this before?

“Awwww, thank you so much Adrian. Your so sweet” Aloe said as she stood up and hopped out and grabbed an extra towel and quickly dried herself off “Alright everypony, get yourselves dried off and get ready for the hoof massage! The other three masseuses will be out in a moment along with me and Lotus” she told us as she made her way to the back. The let the four girls get out first and they made their way to the massage tables and dried off their. Once they were gone I got out and saw that another large towel was siting their as well so I grabbed that and made my way back to the room I changed in earlier.

I dried off and re wrapped myself in a dry towel that I grabbed on the way in and headed over to the table I placed my basket at and saw that the others were laying down and joined them. The table was very nice and comfy and though it was meant for ponies and other larger bodied creatures it fit me just fine then I heard the soft clatter of hooves as the masseuses lined up for them but I had no pony. 

Until I felt a warm hoof on my back and I turned my head and saw that it was Aloe and she had seemed to be looked at me with her eyes half-lidded and a wicked smile which sent shivers up my spine, she then layed her other hoof on my back. She then leaned down and whispered in my ear “Your gonna have a great time under my hooves sweetie” she said in a low voice.

The only thing that entered my mind were the words “Uh oh”
> Heated Love And A Human Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Uh Oh' were the only thoughts I could manage to conjure in my mind and if I could I would of slapped myself silly for not realizing this sooner but now I finally did. Aloe was hitting on me and she was really forward about it. I probably should of realized this when she 'accidentally' fell into the water with me and had me wash her mane, I am an idiot. I should get with Pinkie later and have her throw me “The Most Oblivious Human In Equestria” party with confetti and on each piece of paper have the words 'Idiot' 'Dummy' and 'Stupid' written on them.

But now an even more important theory came to mind and that would be the actual act of dating. I have been single for most of my life and though my height allowed me to make many friends, a lot of girls did not seem to want to date me because of it. I know this because I asked one of my friends, who is a girl, why I could not get a date and she told me that the girls felt like I would overpower them and that I was just too tall. That made me feel tons better since it seemed like I was the only person over six foot in the county and it also told me that either the girls were really insecure or had problems with over controlling boyfriends. Just perfect, just bucking perfect and now I am swearing like a pony, even more perfect. 

But back to the main point and the now possible scenario of dating a pony. Would that be morally wrong of me to date another species? I mean, yeah I played Dungeons And Dragons and my characters have dated other species but that was all in a game where worlds like this existed on paper or on a television show! But instead of them being an elf or goblin or something these are ponies and back home I would be dating a horse, an animal to their eyes and if I ever went back they would burn me at the stake for doing such actions. Well, that is a serious exaggeration but that is how it would feel like to me.

Bah, I need another slap to the face because I know that these ponies are intelligent creatures and not simple, mindless creatures who have no thoughts or feelings and who also have developed magic! I wonder if that is how they have created that cheat move of the pouty lip and puppy dog eyes to get anything they want, nah probably not since a few friends back home used that on me as well though not as well as the fillies here, especially Sweetie Bell. 

My inner life debate would of continued if not for the back that I felt something cool being splashed on my back and realized that I was still laying down on the massage table with Aloe who just put down a bottle of lotion and was rubbing her hooves together. What am I doing to do? Should I tell her that I am not interested in a relationship right now? Ugh, why is this so complicated to me? The questions stopped when I felt her hooves on my back and I mentally flinched shut my eyes to the thought that hooves would probably hurt on my back.


---------- 30 Seconds Later ----------


Ohhhhhhhhh myyyyyyyyy........... I think I am in love. Her hooves feel sooooooooo gooooooooood on my back as she continued to kneed into me and relax muscles that I never knew I had before. I just let my body thoroughly relax and it must of shown because after a little while later I heard some shushed snickering and I peaked open my eyes and I saw that Pinkie was trying her best not to laugh while she stared at me. I was gonna question it when I realized that I had my mouth open and my tongue slightly popped out and I was drooling a bit. So I quickly shut my mouth and turned my head the other way and groaned.

“Is everything alright?” Aloe asked which brought a slight sense of relief cause it meant that she did not see that embarrassing moment “I thought you were enjoying yourself since you were relaxing and drooling a bit” Scratch that last thought, this was now far worse and I groaned again. “Am I hitting something sore?” she asked.

I let out a sigh “No, your hooves feel amazing. I just can't believe I drooled and you and Pinkie saw it” I pathetically whimpered. This only got me a small giggle from Aloe.

“Don't worry about that, that is normal for us. At least you don't thump your back leg when we hit a good spot. This one stallion looked like a thumping rabbit when I undid a knot in his shoulder blade, it was hilarious!” Aloe laughed as she told the story but then I felt her body lean forward on me a little bit and a rush of warm air by my ear “Besides, you looked cute” she silently said and I felt something wet on my ear before she leaned back and continued her work.

Wait, did she just lick my ear? SHE DID! Uh oh, now that is a red flag, a major red flag. Why is she being so forward with me? I mean, I have heard of love at first sight but she is really jumping the gun here and I felt odd as my body was being massaged and relaxed while at the same time I was mentally tensing up. How much longer was this massage going to be? As her hooves went to my lower back, which felt incredible by the way, I felt something soft brush my leg again and again.

I think it's her tail that is brushing my leg, another red flag but I was sorta impressed that they had such great control of them but that discovery was quickly overshadowed by the fact that she was stroking my leg with it. I think I was starting to get a cold sweat but thankfully I had my face turned or else everypony would of seen my tensed up face, unfortunately Aloe could feel it.

“What is the matter sweetie? You seem to be tensing up” Aloe sweetly said and that was another thing, her calling me sweetie “I thought you were enjoying my pleasurable service” she quickly added along with her trailing her hoof down my spine which oddly felt good.

“I-I am.....it....it's just......just” I struggled to find the words as she seemed to tease my body with random hoof placements.

“It's. Just. What~” Aloe sang in my ear while she placed another lick upon it and that sent shivers all along my body. I need to do something, this is bad, I mean REALLY really bad. What should I do? What should I do? WHAT SHOULD I DO?!?

DING DING DING

“Alright everypony, time is up!” Lotus declared as she went over and turned off the timer and as soon as the ding came I heard Aloe give a disappointed sigh as she got off of me and when she did I felt my entire body deflate. I unknowingly held in my breath but now it was gone and I felt the entire message sink in now that she stopped moving. Once I regulated my breathing again I was about to sit up before I felt a hoof on my back and my leg being brushed over.

“I hope that you enjoyed yourself” Aloe said in a very suspicious voice which made me snap right up while simultaneously grabbing my basket of clothes and I speed walked to the room.

“I sure did, thank you” I quickly sputtered out the hasty sentence before I closed the door and did my best to speed change back into my new clothing. I would have been done faster if I did not fumble with the buttons on the shirt and put them in the wrong holes twice but eventually I got everything on right but I felt warm so I left the jacket off and left the top two buttons undone. I made sure all my clothing was done right before I stepped out and saw my group talking to the twins but smiled and waved when they saw me. I walked over but decided to stand as far away from Aloe as I could without it being too obvious.

“Thank all of you so much for stopping on by and I hope that you had a memorable first time at our spa Adrian! I hope that you decide to come on back whenever you feel like it” Lotus kindly said with a smile before she turned and started to head to the back “Come on Aloe, lets finish up that stocking from this morning” she called out. The girls were no behind me and talking, leaving Aloe a clear path to me.

“Be right there sis!” Aloe replied was about to leave but when she turned she snapped her tail and spanked me with it “Hope to see you soon sweetie” she told me before she followed her sister. My body went stiff as a board and my joints vanished from my body as I turned around on the ball of my foot and saw the four staring at me but I decided to ignore them as I speed walked by them and out the door with them in hot pursuit.

“Adrian! Wait! What was that?” Twilight said.

“What was what? I have no idea what your talking about Twilight. Ha ha ha” I said nervously as I continued to speed walk back to the library.

“Did something happen deary? Why did Aloe do that and why are you walking so bizarre?” Rarity said as she tried to keep pace with me.

“N-nothing happened my dear friend Rarity! Aloe gave me a wonderful massage and I am walking normally! Just another weird thing about your only local human, yep all normal!” I quickly said while I stared at the horizon hoping for the view of the crystal library to come quicker.

“Whoa there! Where are you trying to get to? GASP! IS there a party I don't know about?!” Pinkie said as she pulled a pair of binoculars out of her poofy mane and started to look around and as much as I would love to stare at her and ask how she did that I needed to get back to my room.

“Yep, sure is. It's called 'Lock Myself Away From The Really Forward And Ear Licking Aloe Party' that only I am invited to in my room” I quickly explained as I quickened my pace to almost a run and unknown to me Twilight had casted a spell and before I knew it I was running in place in the air but I did not notice. I only stopped when I felt my body being slightly shaken and I saw the four looking up at me with shock.

“Hold on, did we hear you correctly? Did you say really forward and ear licking Aloe?” Twilight asked. I could only nod as I didn't have it in me to speak right now.

“Why in the world would she lick your ear deary? I can believe her being forward and all but licking ones ear? The only time I have heard of somepony doing that to a stranger was if a mare was in he-” Rarity stopped as her eyes opened in fear at that last word and by the sound of it the other girls knew exactly what she was going to say as they all copied her expression, even Pinkie.

While I was still a little skiddish I calmed down enough to at least talk and thankfully Twilight had put me back down on the ground and I realized that we were practically next to the library as well. “Wait, what? What were you about to say? What was she in?” I asked with a vigor in my voice, because by the sounds of it this may mean why she was so forward to me and everything else. I needed to know! But the girls looked at each other nervously and with a bit of shame, what was it that was so bad? Twilight finally took a sigh and stepped up.

“Well, first let me ask you a question. How do ponies back on Earth....um.....well....attract a mate I suppose” Twilight asked which got me thinking, was Aloe just peacocking or something? 

“Well, from what I know horses like most animals go into heat and that smell or something attracts a male and then...... they....... no” as I finished I think I understood what happened.

“I see then yes the terminology is basically the same. So to simply answer, I believe that Aloe was in heat and you caught her fancy” Twilight explained and just as she was about to say something else she saw that I was no longer standing there and had in fact ran full force into the library and up into my room and slammed the door shut and locked it before doing the same to the balcony doors and closed the curtains. After I was done I fell on my back and decided to lie on the ground and stare at the ceiling and become lost in thought.

Barely any time had gone by before I heard the eventual knocks at the door “Adrian! Dear! Open up please!” Rarity asked with a worried tone “It's all right to be concerned and I understand that this must be quite a shock to you. Truth be told that this is one of the issues Princess Celestia talked to us about yesterday and she told us to tell you about this soon so you could look for the warning signs. We are so very sorry that you found out this way” she concluded.

I continued to lie there and while I heard them I did not say anything, mainly because I had no words as to how to explain to them how I felt. I was mad and upset and slightly disgusted but not at them but at Aloe, I felt like I had been used like a toy for her pleasure and that I had thought for a second that she liked me. Though I did not have any real feelings for her, I thought we could have been friends or something but now I felt betrayed and I never wanted to go back to the spa ever again.

Here I thought they were intelligent creatures but I guess I was wrong, their body governs their actions and they give into it easily and let it control them. What about the rest of the girls? Did they see me as a friend or just an object of emotions and eventual plaything? What about the fillies? Was I just an oversized toy for them? What am I to the Princesses? Just a poor lost soul to take advantage of? Luna could easily use her magic to get in my mind, maybe she already did something to my brain.

I could feel a few tears start to sting my eyes and I let out a quick sniffle before I used my sleeve to dry myself off “Adrian? Are you ok? Please let us in” I heard Pinkie Pie say with a very sad voice and it made me kinda worry to hear the party pony sad, no I cannot let them sway me like this! But I heard a noise like a rubber tire letting out air and a sad sigh. 

I sat in silence again as I refused to move from my spot but I started to feel kinda bad for some of my previous thoughts and I gave myself yet again another mental slap. Of course their biology played a big part and I can't say that humans have done nothing idiotic in the name of emotions and bodily urges. But I still felt upset at the fact that just because she was in heat that allowed her to toy with me like that.

Before any more thoughts crept their way in I heard a sound that almost broke my heart, it was the sound of Fluttershy crying “A-adrian, please let us in. Please” she asked in between sobs and I immediately regretted all ill will I had thought just thought of, how could I think someone as sweet as Fluttershy would use me like that. To even think that a pony like Pinkie would be even capable of thinking of anything besides parties and smiles is beyond me or even how the three silly fillies could be able to conjure up any sort of evil intentions. To imagine Derpy as a pony of such abuse to me, I finally let myself have it as I gave my face a mighty smack and strangely I felt a little better after doing so. 

Once I slapped myself back into reality I picked myself up and headed to the source of the crying and I unlocked the door and opened it up slightly enough for them to hear the creaking but I decided to leave it like that as I headed back to my spot but instead I sat up and against the bed frame. But before I could settle down for long I was being tackled on by sides by Pinkie and Fluttershy, with the ladder cuddling with my arm and staining it with tears. I saw that Pinkie was tightly hugging my arm with her whole body, heck even her tail wrapped around my wrist.

But I also saw that her hair was no longer poofy and was straight and her whole body seemed to be a darker shade of pink, that really concerned me but I figured I would ask later. I finally noticed that Rarity had finally made her way over and sat in front of me but when she did I looked around and saw that Twilight was not here and it seems that Rarity noticed this as well “Twilight isn't here dearie, as soon as you ran inside she told us to after you while she she flew back to the spa and inquire about whether or nor Aloe was in heat or not” Rarity calmly explained to me.

“Even if it turns out she is not in heat, I think Twilight will give her a piece of her mind for treating you like that” she said but soon after she looked nervous and drew circles in the floor with her hoof “You do not have to answer but I wanted to ask if she did anything else to you”

I drew in a breath of air and slowly exhaled it “I can answer. Well besides the multiple ear licks, I also felt her tail play with my leg a few times and she started calling me sweetie. That was it though, I just kinda freaked out with how forward she was and it sort of scared me a bit. Back home, whenever girls are straightforward that much then things tend to go downhill quickly. So I locked up and just wanted to get back to the library as soon as possible” I told them with a tired sigh.

I felt Fluttershy tug at my arm a little when I got done talking “I am so, so sorry Adrian. She should not have done that to you. I just hope that you don't hate us ponies now” she said sadly while a few more tears ran down my arms from her. I could just feel my heart start to shatter when she said that with how she looked and I simply let my head drop on top of hers and gave it a quick nuzzle. I could feel her body flinch a bit at the action.

“I could never hate you Fluttershy, I could never hate any of you. While yes I still remain a bit upset at Aloe for treating me like a plaything, I don't judge a species by the one individual. If I did then I would hate every single person back home. So please don't cry anymore Fluttershy, you shall always be my friend” I soothingly told her as I finished by placing a kiss on the top of her head which made her look up at me and smile while the last of her tears dropped.

I smiled back before I switched sides “Same goes for you Pinkie, I could never hate you. I don't think it is possible for anyone to hate you Pinkie. Besides, how can the super duper party pony throw awesome parties and make ponies smile if she is sad? Come on, give me a smile and show me the real Pinkie Pie” I told her with zeal which got her attention as she looked up at me and to play along with my words I put on a fake sad face with an exaggerated lip pout.

The effect instantaneous as I saw her mane explode back into its regular poofy state and her mane color shined and returned back to normal as her smile blossomed on her face and she gave my arm a few more tight squeezes that also strangely made her squeak as well just before she dive bombed into a giggle fit. I smiled so hard that I thought my cheeks would rip off but it would be well worth it “There she is! There is my Pinkie Pie!” I boldly declared which only made her laugh more and I could also hear Fluttershy start to laugh as well.

The only one not laughing was Rarity who was crying a bit but before any of us could ask she spoke up “Oh, don't mind me darling. I am just so moved at how sweet you can be Adrian, even though we came up here to comfort you yet it seems your the one taking care of us instead” she finished up with a laughing sob. This only made us laugh a bit more and before we knew it we were all laughing for a good few minutes.

Once we started to settle down I noticed that Fluttershy and Pinkie had let go of my arms but had repositioned themselves so they both lied inside my arms. I naturally let my hands go to their heads and started to scratch their ears again, to which they approved with happy sighs. After a while I decided to speak up “Thank you again girls for helping me out and sorry for freaking out like that. I freaked myself out when the massage started because I started thinking that she was acting that way cause she wanted to go out with me and go on dates or something” I said,

This got Raritys attention “Would that of been so bad if that is all it was?” she asked and her question made the other two curious as they both stared up at me.

“I am not sure, back home due to my height and probably other reasons I never had a lot of girls go out with me so I am used to being single. When the thought of dating a pony rang up in my mind I started thinking if that was ok for me to do or not” I explained,

“Why wouldn't it of been ok? You got a thing against ponies mister?” Pinkie jokingly asked as she continued to enjoy the ear scratch.

I sighed at the question “It is nothing against you, it is just back home the only species that we dated and got married to were humans and if you gave your love to another species, which were usually animals or something then it was highly frowned upon and shunned by society. So I started thinking of how everyone back home would view me if I did date a pony. Like I said I have nothing against you, it is just hard to get over something that has been taught to us since we were born” I somberly said.

Rarity nodded her head in understanding “I see, that is understandable. But now that you are here and might be here for a while, do you think you would be open to the idea of dating in the future?” she innocently asked. While I should of answered normally I saw an opportunity and I took in.

“Why do you ask Rarity? Is this your way of asking me out on a date?” I said with a wink which made the mare blush like crazy and she started to fumble for words. I let out a good laugh “Sorry, sorry Rarity. I was simply joking” I told her which made her cheeks puff out in embarrassment and she kicked my foot a bit.

I laughed a little more “Sorry again but in all seriousness, I am not really sure about that yet. Especially after today I am probably going to take some time to ponder on my feelings. But to officially answer, I think I might be willing to date in the future. How far into the future I do not know but I think I will one day if I am still here by then” I said.

“I see, well hopefully you have somepony in mind by next month or else it shall be a very interesting Hearts And Hooves Day for you” Rarity said with a giggle.

“Hearts And Hooves Day? What is that?” I asked her.

“Oh dear! I totally forgot that you don't know our holidays! Well, simply put darling it is a day where you express your love for your special somepony, most take it as a day to either ask a pony out or make it their special day together. Do you have something similar back home dear?” Rarity said.

“Actually we do, but it takes place in near the end of Winter and it is called Valentines Day and they are basically the same type of day” I told them.

“I see! Well at least you will know what to do when the day comes, but enough about that for now. How are you feeling now dear?” Rarity sincerely asked. I was about to ask when I heard a knock on the open door and saw that Twilight was standing there, a little red faced and breathing hard. Guess she really went off on Aloe, I almost feel sorry for her. Almost. “Ah, welcome back Twilight!”

Twilight quickly walked over to me and started to examine me from head to toe with a worried expression but when she started to look at my face I simply smiled at her “I'm fine Princess, I had these three to help cheer me up and we talked about it. Though we still need to have a full talk about when all you mares go into heat and what happens but for now lets save that talk for another day” I explained to her which got her to calm down.

“That is such a relief, I cannot tell you how sorry I am for that happening to you. When you ran off I flew back there and confronted her about her actions. After a few......unkind words were spoken we all calmed down and with the help of her sister, I learned that she was in heat and had lied about it to her sister who asked that morning. Her heat had started yesterday and when she saw you her body seemed to strongly react to you and that is why she lied about it” Twilight said to us.

“This made her realize what she had done to you and she wanted to rush over and apologize to you but I told her that it would not be a good time right now and allow some time for you to cool off. But she still wanted me to tell you how sorry she was for acting like that and for giving you a horrible first impression. I know that I don't have the right to ask but do you think you can forgive her?” she asked me.

I took a few moments to think this over, I am happy that she realized what she had done and wants to apologize but I am still upset and kinda worried that she reacted so strongly to me. But she was not in control of her actions and letting nature act, though that does not wipe clean the blame she bears. But I think I can give her a second chance but I will have a stern talking with her first and explain the conditions of this second chance.

After taking my time I said “Yes, I can forgive her but it is going to take some time and when we do finally talk I am going to sternly explain the few conditions on this second chance”

Letting out a relieved sigh Twilight spoke again “Phew, that is good. I hate to see ponies fighting. Well, human and pony in this case. Heh heh” she said. 

“Yay! Now that we got all that stuff out of the way, we need to throw you a party!” Pinkie excitingly said as she bounced away from my hand and began to travel the room with a happy grin.

“A party? For what?” I asked.

“WELL DUH! I still need to throw you a 'Welcome To Ponyville And First Human In Equestria' party!” Pinkie said with even more enthusiasm. I looked over at Twilight who mouthed the words 'Sorry, nothing we can do' at me which only made me sigh but not in a bad way. But I had an idea and I reached into my pocket and pulled out Vinyls card she gave me.

“Hey Pinkie, I have an idea. Vinyl Scratch is already holding a party tonight, so why don't we just celebrate it there tonight? I have her card with directions and my own personal pass here” I said as I showed her the card and I became very afraid the next moment. She heard the idea and saw the card and I saw her body visibly shake and her mane seemed to explode again and again while her smile grew wider and wider. This pony defied all laws of physics and I am very scared at what she can truly do. 

“THAT IS THE BEST IDEA EVER!!!!!!” Pinkie finally shouted out and she began to zip around the room at impossible speeds but then I saw Twilight absorb her body into a magic bubble and I saw that pink pony began to run inside the bubble in a circle so fast that it was simply a pink ring inside the violet bubble. I watched her run at first but quickly became dizzy and waited it out. Finally after five whole minutes of running she finally stopped and sat in the bubble with a smile and bobbed up and down in her spot. Twilight lowered her down and released her which made her zoom back to me.

“SO?!?! Will you come?! Will ya? Will ya? Huh! Huh! HUH!” Pinkie asked as she stared at me with her big blue eyes that also seemed to beg me. I suppose a party would get my mind off of recent events and it would be a good way to spend time with the town and the girls. I also wondered if they had alcohol here because if I was going to dance at the club, I needed some liquid courage. 

So after I decided I looked at Pinkie and smiled “Wouldn't miss it for the world Pinkie” I told her as I pet her mane. 

“OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH! BEST DAY EVER! GASP! Quick! Adrian! Let me see that card!” Pinkie asked and I showed her the card “I know where that is! I gotta get going and see if I can help spice it up! See you tonight a nine! BYE!” she loudly told us before disappearing in a poof of pink. This left the rest of us flabbergasted but the three quickly recovered, they are probably used to this by now.

“Well, seeing as we are now going to a party tonight I need to get home and get ready! We only have-” Rarity said before she looked around the room and found the clock “two hours to freshen up! Ta ta darlings!” she took off as soon as she was done.

“Oh dear, I need to get home and feed the rest of the animals for the night before I can go. Are you going to be ok Adrian?” Fluttershy kindly asked me, I responded by giving her another quick ear scratch.

“I'll be fine, now take care of your animals and I will see you tonight. Ok?” I said. She nodded with a smile before she nuzzled my hand real quick then she walked off leaving only me and Twilight. After a moment or two we both let out a sigh before we looked at each other and laughed.

“Today has been a really interesting day, good and bad” I told her.

“Yes, yes it has” She replied.

“Well, I think I am going to take Raritys advice and get myself freshened up for tonight. Going to be a long night as well” I said as I nervously laughed at that last bit. But as I went to move I felt her tugging at my leg with a saddened expression, so I kneeled down to her level and pet her mane. “What's wrong Princess?” I asked.

She flinched at that last word “I really am sorry that you had to experience something like that on only your second day here with us. I wished that you could of gotten just a normal day instead of that” Twilight solemnly said. I laughed at that last part though which made her look at me in confusion.

“Princess, I don't think I am ever going to have a normal day again. I somehow got transported to  another world that is filled with talking magical ponies, got introduced to eleven wonderful friends, three of which who are real life Princesses, and where my ear scratches could probably lead to a well paying job either here or as the “Royal Ear Scratchier” as Luna would say. Suffice to say in only a two days I have seen and met so many new and wonderful things and I still have a party to go to tonight!” I said with a happy tone.

“There will always be bad times, that is life but as I see it I have been gifted with so many good times and I think I have many more to come, whether or not I stay here or not. So don't be so grim on the small stuff, advice that I myself have to take as well. Alright Princess?” I finished. 

“One more thing Adrian, I remember earlier on your way back from the spa that you called me Twilight only-” she started to say before I realized that I had indeed said only her name. 

“I am so sorry Princess! I didn't mean to, I was just in a hurry and forgot my manners, forgive me” I asked of her but she only shook her head.

“Don't be sorry, I want you to call me Twilight instead of Princess. Your my friend and my friends don't have to call me by title. I want you to treat me like any other pony and not be so formal and stiff around me, it makes me feel weird coming from you” she explained to me.

“Oh, I didn't know I was making you feel uncomfortable. Back home you usually always address a person by their formal title unless you are told not to. Since you had not told me not to, I simply assumed that you wanted me to continue calling you princess. I'm sorry.....Twilight” I said as I offered a kind smile to apologize with. 

“Like I said, you have nothing to be sorry for and now I understand why you did it. I was actually going to ask you to this morning right before Princess Celestia showed up” she said.

“I see, one other question. I am sure they have asked you as well but why do you always call Celestia Princess? I mean she and Luna both asked be to call them by name only on my second day, surely you can call them by name as well?” I curiously asked her.

She blushed a little at the question “Well, you see, I was Celestia's personal magic student ever since I was a filly and I continued to be so until I became a Princess as well and until then I always felt the need to call Princess Celestia and I have gotten a little better at saying only her name. But a habit is hard to break” she told me.

“Wait, you were not born a princess?” I asked her.

“Nope, I was granted this title and privilege from Celestia after proving myself through many trials and with my own skills. That is another reason why I am not used to being called Princess and being treated like royalty, it feels weird to suddenly change lifestyles” Twilight said.

“I see, wow! That is cool! I would love to ask you more questions but I think we should both get ready for tonight, Princess” I said with a grin.

“Hey! I thought I just told you not to call me that!” she pouted.

“I know you did Twilight, I know you did” I quickly added with a wink as I made my way to the bathroom. I saw Twilight puff her cheeks out before sticking her tongue out at me before forming a smile of her own and left my room.


---------- 1 and ½ Hours Later ----------


Both me and Twilight had taken showers and had a quick dinner before we headed out, Twilight told me that Spike was going to be foalsitting the CMC tonight in the castle since they were not allowed in the club. I kept the black shoes but I changed into a pair of white pants and an electric blue buttoned shirt with a gray undershirt. I chose this outfit since it reminded me of Vinyl and since I was her guest of honor I thought this would the best way to showcase her. Plus it was a party and I wanted to have fun. 

After brushing my teeth and giving myself a once over I met Twilight at the doors and saw that the other girls were already waiting for us, including Rainbow and Applejack. Twilight had written them all a letter during dinner and sent them out saying to meet up here ready to party. They were all wearing some sort of dress that matched them perfectly but they looked liked casual dresses, nothing too fancy. All but Rarity of course who looked like she was getting ready to model at a runway. 

So with Pinkie and Fluttershy by my side and a Rainbow hovering by my head, we all began the walk downtown. It was quite a walk but I could tell Pinkie was excited but everytime we asked she would not spill the beans but just kept telling us to get ready for some fun. I was nervous but excited at the same time as we walked to the club, I checked my pocket to make sure the card was there and it was.

A half hour went by when we started to hear the music rock the streets “Oh, did the party already start?” I asked Pinkie.

“Well the club opens at eight but it takes about an hour for it to really start and I told DJ Pon-3 that our party would start around nine!” Pinkie said. I was about to ask who Pon-3 was but I looked at the card and saw that it was Vinyls stage name. I liked her already with that cool name. When the club came into view I saw that the line was already two buildings back and was barely moving.

I was about to say something about the long line but Pinkie jumped up to wave at someone “Vinyl! The party is here!” she shouted. I looked over and I saw that Vinyl was waiting up front with a very big stallion, probably the bouncer. Once she saw and heard Pinkie she smiled and waved us over, we walked by the line but they were too busy staring at me to notice.

“YO! I am so happy you made it! Been waiting for you for a few minutes, I know how you like to show up on time Pinkie and you never like to keep a party waiting!” Vinyl said as she gave Pinkie a hug “Hey Bulk! These six girls are good to go in” 

The huge, white stallion grunted as he struggled to write on the clipboard and for a moment I saw that he had wings, just very tiny ones. He then looked up at me “What about him?” he asked.

Vinyl grinned and walked up beside me “I have something special planned for him, we are going through the employee entrance and he is my special guest tonight so put him under V.I.P” she explained and Bulk grunted and did as she asked but returning to his normal work. The other girls were looking at us and waiting.

“Come on in girls! Vinyl is doing something special for Adrian and he will joining us later, so lets get our party on!” Pinkie said to the girls and they all waved and said they can't wait to party with me. Once they left Vinyl led me to the side entrance labeled “Employees Only” and rushed me inside. She led me down the many doors and she opened up the very end door that had a record disk with the words “DJ Pon-3” over top of it.

We came inside and I saw tons of boxes with records in it as well as other musical equipment and a wardrobe and makeup booth, I also saw some other clothing thrown about that I had to avert my eyes to. She saw this and laughed “Sorry about the mess, haven't had a male guest back here in a long while. Quick question, how old are you?” she asked.

“I am twenty two years old, why?” I replied back with.

She grinned as she went over to her fridge and pulled out what looked like bottles of beer “Cause a party at my club ain’t complete without some booze! I hope you drink!” she told me as she brought me the bottles which was labeled as 'Apple Family Rock Hard Cider'. Huh, looks like Applejacks family also does alcohol as well. Good to know for the future but before I opened them she told me to wait as she went back and started to pour multiple drinks into a single glass before giving it to me.

“Here you go, the Pon-3 House Special and trust me, it is good” she said with a toothy grin, I gave it a quick smell and it reeked of all sorts of different alcohol but seeing how Pinkie trusted her I trusted she wasn't going to pull anything over me.

“Cheers to an awesome party with my new friend Vinyl!” I raised the glass and clinked our glasses before chugging the beverage and WHOOF was it strong and she was right, it was good. I coughed a bit though but smiled and laugh “Wow, that was good. Do I wanna know what was in it?” I asked.

“Probably not and you might not know it since your new here and all” she told me and I nodded in agreement “Want one more before he hit the dance floor?” she asked with another grin off of her devious face. I nodded though and once more we chugged another glass and I could already feel the alcohol start to warm me up.

I took a quick swing of the cider and it was also really good and you could barely taste the booze “Alright, well I am feeling pretty good so lets go!” I declared.

“Wait, one last thing” she told me before she came over and untucked my shirt and undid the top three buttons and messed up my hair “There, now your ready to party! Lets go!” with that we quickly sped down the hallway and by the time we were at the stage I had finished the first cider and waited to start the second. Made that mistake before and did not want to make it again, I was about to go up when Vinyl motioned for me to wait “Wait till I introduce you” she quickly said before she hopped on stage and made her way over to the DJ booth.

The crowd went wild as soon as she appeared and she ushered for them to quiet down, which took a minute to do, before she grabbed a microphone “HELLO LADIES AND GENTLECOLTS! And welcome to The Scratch House!” she yelled which got another round of applause and cheers “Now before we start this thing off right, I have a special guest for you tonight! He is a new friend of mine and the only one of his kind and I wanna give him a warm welcome to Ponyville and all of Equestria!” another round cheers rose over the crowd.

“Also, thanks to Pinkie Pie-” she started to say.

“THAT'S ME!” Pinkie yelled which got them all to laugh.

“That super duper party pony also planned this!” Vinyl pressed a button and a party ball exploded and confetti rained down and a highly decorated banner hung across the top and Vinyl read it out loud “Welcome to Ponyville AND First Human in Equestria! Now without further ado, lets give a warm Ponyville welcome to the one and only ADRIAN FROST!” she loudly said while she motioned for me and I ran up beside her and threw my hands in the air and was greeted with a roaring applause and it did not stop for three whole minutes.

I wanted to cry from the sheer awesome feeling but I held it back as I leaned over to Vinyl “I think I love you Vinyl” I quietly said to her which got me a soft punch to the shoulder but we both laughed. I grabbed the microphone and pointed at Vinyl and screamed “LETS PARTY!”
> A Humans Awakening And A Walk In The Woods
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


---------- 10:07 AM, Adrians Room ----------


“Uuuuuuuugh” I moaned loudly as I opened my aching eyes and was greeted by the warm and annoying sun that filtered into the room through any small crack that the curtain granted. My body felt so heavy but thankfully my head was not pounding too hard but I could still feel the light drumbeat that played in my skull and made me groan. Everything was still in a haze and my ears felt stuffed and my body felt numb, what did I do last night?

After laying in my bed for a few minutes my senses started kicking in and my vision started to come back clearly, guess I went to bed with my glasses on, my ears came alive and I heard everything clearly and what I heard were multiple snores around me. Strangely that did not connect in my mind and I ignored it and tried to move up instead only to find that my body was stuck in place and the heavy feeling on my body remained as I moved. What in the world?

I tried to move any part of my body again and I felt pressure on that body part and it refused to let me move and I started to get a little worried so I decided to tilt my head up and see what kept me pinned down. Thankfully my head was mobile and I leaned my head up and I was greeted to a very bizarre sight as I was surrounded from the neck down with ponies cuddled up and sleeping all over me, that explains two things: Why I was immovable and Why I was so warm. But it brought up so many more.

I looked around to see who was here and the first I saw was Sweetie Bell curled up and sleeping on my chest and I realized I would die from her cuteness one day but that is for a later day as I noticed that my right arm was wrapped around Derpy, who was snuggling up against me with a smile on her face. I eventually cast my glance to my left and I saw that it was Nightingale with her back to me but with her legs wrapped around my arm. Another question for later. 

I continued down and noticed that Fluttershy was using my right leg as a pillow and was using her wings as a blanket for both her and my leg, utterly adorable, and my left leg was consumed by both Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo as they used it as a body pillow, guess a leg pillow in this case I suppose. I had to look around a wild looking mane to see them before I realized that it belonged to Vinyl who was laying on her back and using my stomach as a pillow. One more question to add to the ever growing pile.

At the very foot of the bed I saw Rarity, Applejack, and Applebloom bundled up together and snoozing away until I saw a purple hoof kick from behind them before going back down, guess Twilight fell behind them or something. I never realized how huge this bed was as I looked around again and I noticed that there was one pony missing from the group, Pinkie Pie. I turned my head left and right again to try and find her and I was about to give up when I heard a chuckle snort behind me.

I lifted my head a bit more and looked behind my head and saw that I was apparently using Pinkie as a pillow for my head this whole time “heh, zhat tickles” I heard her sleepily say before she gave out a cute snore. Well found her and deciding not to wake any of them up I gently layed my head back down on Pinkie and I was greeted with a happy sigh. I decided to take the time and figure out how I got here and what happened at the club last night. Think, think, think.


---------- 10:30 PM, The Scratch House, Dance Floor ----------


I am glad I had put the thought of taking it slow on the drinks earlier cause if I had not I would be smashed by now cause those ciders were very easy to take down and quickly became my favorite drink of the night. Other than that I was loving every second of this, I was having fun, and my friends were having a blast. I also loved the music being played, it was very similar to the club music back on Earth, of course I did not know any of the songs but that didn't matter since I usually did not know half the songs they played back then either. Also the free drinks that every pony in the club bought me was very generous and dangerous.

The moment I had come down off of Vinyls stage I was set upon by the party goers and they all tried to dance with me and I had to catch a few who flew into me. After the mob rush they mostly scattered by trying their best to dance close to me, that was until I tried to pardon myself to get another drink and at that point I think literally every pony in their had bought me a drink and at first I was only going to drink a few but the more I drank, the more I drank. Thankfully they were not anywhere as strong as the Pon-3 House Special, a drink that you could only order if Vinyl herself was with you, but after consuming shot after shot it still got to me.

I had enough liquid in me to fill a gallon tank but at that point all that liquid courage exploded and I slide into the middle of the dance floor and unloaded all my dance moves that I could remember from back home and suffice to say I was quite a show. Of course I got challenged a bunch of times to a dance off with a lot of random stallion and a few mares and according to the crowd I won every time. After the last battle was done I decided to stagger across the floor to find my friends, which was not hard since Pinkie also dominated the floor with her randomness.

I met up with them and they all gave me hugs and asked if I was ok “Oh yeah! I am feeling dandy! Though I will admit I am very drunk~” I amazingly said without sloshing any words but that last part got them all to laugh and I could see that Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie had also taken a drink or two. Rarity was holding a wine glass and was sipping off of that, where she got that glass I could not fathom while Fluttershy and Twilight babied their drinks. 

We all ended up dancing together and about an hour later a mare who challenged me before drunkenly challenged Pinkie Pie and myself to a dance off and seeing how we were both in a very good party mood accepted. Another random mare shouted “DANCE WAR! PINKIE VS ADRIAN!” and that got the whole club to gather around us and provided us with a circle.

“Dance war?” I asked.

“That's right buckaroo! I hold the title as the Dance Off Queen at this club, prepare to lose!” Pinkie declared. I simply smirked and I decided to pull of a few Micheal Jackson moves as best I could.

I ended it with a spin and snapped my fingers “Bring it” I said smoothly which got the crowd wiled up and we began our epic dance war.


---------- One Hour Later ----------


“And the winner and newly appointed Dance Off King, ADRIAN!” Vinyl grabbed my hand and threw it up as she declared me the winner and I got another roar of applause but soon I got a hold of the microphone and cleared my throat the catch their attention.

“But I would like to say that I still consider my good friend Pinkie Pie as the official Dance Off Queen and am willing to share the dance floor with her. We shall be the King and Queen of the Dance Floor!” I declared to them which once again was met with thunderous applause and I could see Pinkie beaming as she smiled. I was about to get down when I felt Vinyl tug at me shirt and I turned around to see her reaching out.

“Piggy back ride me to bar please” Vinyl said and I laughed as I backed up and let her on and led the way to the bar, I saw the girls and motioned them to follow us. We met up at the bar and Vinyl called the bartender over “Yo Barkeep! Heh, I need-” she looked over and started counting “Eight Pon-3 House Specials for me and my friends and especially for The KING!” she told him and he nodded and started to mix them up for us all.

“Oh dear me, I don't really drink......um.....heavy deary” Rarity said as she gave her glass a disgusted look.

“Awww come on! It's Adrians party! We gotta celebrate!” Vinyl said while still on my back.

“Besides Rarity, it actually goes down really smooth and you can hardly taste any alcohol. At least a sip to see if you like it or not” I said to her.

She looked at the glass and gave it a sniff “Well, I suppose I can manage a sip” Rarity said in a defeated tone which made Vinyl, Rainbow, Pinkie, and myself to cheer.

“A toast to Adrian! An awesomriffic friend who I hope to get to know better!” Pinkie said as she raised her glass. 

The rest of us raised our glasses as we all said “To getting to know each other!” together and we drank. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight took their time but all three ended up finishing their drinks and I could see them start to sway a bit. 

I walked up to Rainbow and quietly asked her “I am guessing those three are light weights?”.

“Oh yeah they are and I have only seem them drunk once and it was hilarious!” Rainbow told me as she went up to the bar and grabbed each of us a cider. Surprisingly the three took them and began to sip of them.

“Alright Vinyl, lets get you back on stage. You need to drop us a beat!” I told the mare on my back.

“Awww, but I like it up here, your so tall and your back is warm” she told me as she nuzzled my back a bit which made me blush a bit but my face was already red from the drinks “But your right, I gotta provide the tunes to the party!” she finally said.

After dropping her off I rejoined my friends and we began dancing some more. After a few songs I needed to take a small break and catch my breath and I went off to a secluded corner so I could get some fresh air. But when I found my way to the corner, I saw a familiar face sitting all alone but she was head bobbing to the music. “Derpy? Vwhat are you doin all by yourshelf” I asked with a hint of drunkenness as I finally began to slur my words.

She looked up at me in surprise but smiled warmly when she realized it was me “Adrian! Hey! I just felt like coming and when I heard your party was going to be held here I wanted to see you. But you were always surrounded and kept on doing dance battles and stuff. So I tried to party but soon found myself sitting out. I was actually gonna leave soon though” Derpy said to me with a hint of sadness. I made my way next to her and rather ungracefully flopped down next to her which made her laugh a bit.

“You shuld of grabbed my attentsion, I woyld of gladly made time fer a friend, especially you” I told her as I wrapped my arm around her and hugged her. I saw her blush but she smiled.

“I know, but I am still kinda nervous about the crowd. But that is why I like to come here cause usually nopony notices my clumsiness. But I still end up sitting out but I have fun and have a drink or two. Are you ok?” she concernedly asked of me cause I was smiling really wide and was rocking back and forth.

“Oh yeah, I am fit as a whistle! Drunk but fine! I have not had theese much fun in a loooooong time” I told her “Especially with friends, back home I was usually alone most days and very rarely did I go out and get drunk and have THEESE MUCH FUN!” 

This made her laugh harder and she leaned against me a bit “You were alone? I thought you would be out every day or something. You are funny and kind and handsome and really nice. I thought you would be popular or something” Derpy explained to me and thankfully for her I did not see her face blossom with red as she realized she called me handsome. 

“I wish I was popular but back home I was kinda normal, except for being the only tall person for miles around. But enough about sad times, we are here for Fun Time!” I happily exclaimed as I shot up to my feet “Come with me Derpy” I asked her as I reached out for her.

She looked at my hand and shyly looked away “I dunno” was all she said before I swooped her up and held her in my arms like you would if you doing the waltz, except her feet were dangling and I did all the moving as I gently swung her back and forth through the crowd. “A-a-a-adrian?!” she said in a very embarrassed tone.

“I am going to make sure you have a fun time with ush tanight Derpy! I guess I am like Pinkie as I want to see my cute friend smile!” I boldly told her as I ignored the part where I called her cute. Once again she blushed as she smiled and giggled. She leaned her head against me and gave a happy sigh as I made our way back to my friends and we all danced together and drank some more.


---------- 2:00 AM, Closing Time ----------


“Ah-all right everypony! Itsh closing time, happy you all came out and had shum fun! Be sure to get home safe and yada yada! Ha ha! See ya next time!” Vinyl slurred into the microphone and the now small crowd slowly staggered out of the club, a few falling multiple times and one had to be carried out. It didn't take long for Vinyl to get her stuff as she normally pre-packs in case she gets drunk or something.

But she came out looking worried “Whats wrong Vinyl?” I asked.

“I-I-I can't find my keys to my house!” She said as she looked through her bag again and again “What am I going to do?” she said with a sad and depressed voice.

“I gots an idea, hey Twilight!” I called out to my friend who was using her magic to balance random objects on her nose and giggling every time they fell but I eventually got her attention “Do ya mine if Vinyl crashes with us for the night, she can't fi her keys” I asked her groggily and I saw her shake her head but lost her balance for a second and wobbled. “There ya go! Problem solved til the morning then we can go look for it”

Vinyl let out a sigh of relief before she stumbled over to me “Thanks man, your an awesome dude and don't let any pony here say otherwise!” she told me and I gave her a thumbs up. 

“All right girls, are we ready to.....girls?” I looked around and I saw that they were all swaying back and forth and laughing. Wow, we really got drunk. “Hey, how avout you all stay over at ze castle tanight” I said to them all.

“N-now darling! I could not possibly partake in such a devious thing as that! A drunken lady being taken home by a rascal such as you!” Rarity said as she bobbed her head up and down.

“Pssh, ya think the great and wonderful Rainbow needs ta be looked out for or shometing?” Rainbow drunkenly mumbled. 

“Ah crab apples sugar, ya think ol AJ here can't handle a family recipe?” she told me as she pointed to herself in a prideful manner before she fell over due to the missing hoof on the ground. She quickly got up though and acted like it didn't happen.

“It hash nothing ta do with pride or anyting like that, I would just be worried shick if I let you girls go and you accidentally got hurt or did not make it home ok. I care for you girls so much” I said to them and I saw that they all blushed and seemed to think about what I said and they all looked at each other and nodded at me. 

I was about to get going but I saw Derpy fly up a few feet and fall and I caught her but she tried to struggle “You are in no condition to fly silly” I told her and she pouted for a second before she tried to hide her smile.

“Ah yeah! Piggy back ride!” I heard Vinyl say as she rushed behind me and jumped onto my back, I stumbled a bit but I reached behind me and helped her readjust on my back. I rolled my eyes but laughed anyway. I started to walk and I saw the small herd of drunken ponies follow me, man my life has turned out really weird.

During our walk back Fluttershy walked over to my leg and used her wing on my leg to help balance herself out and this made Twilight copy her idea on my other leg. Pinkie and Applejack helped support Rarity and thankfully Rainbow walked beside us instead of flying. Derpy was smiling up at me in my arms and I think Vinyl was started to fall asleep on my back so I continued to support her on my arm while her legs wrapped around my neck.

Before I even knew it I found myself in front of the castle doors and I opened it real quick and closed it when the gang got inside before heading to the library stairs. When we got inside the library we were greeted by the three fillies “Girls! Whatever are you doing up so late!” Rarity told them.

“Sorry sis but we all got worried that you never came and picked us up so we decided to stay up and wait for you” Sweetie Bell said in a worried voice.

“GASP! We forgot to pick you ghirls up! We fere suppose to leave before midnight! Oh gracious me! How could I furgot! Please fergive me Sweetie Bell!” Rarity tried to apologize while slurring but it made us all laugh, including her sister.

“Looks like you guys had a fun night! I can't wait till I'm older!” Scootaloo excitedly said.

“Well, growing up will have to wait till morning girls. But first we all gotta get to bed fhirst” I explained in a drunken manner as I lead the group upstairs and without thinking I went into my room first and laid my two passengers down on my bed and stretched and was about to climb in but I realized I need to show the girls to the spare room but when I turned around I saw the rest climb up and start to get comfy.

My drunk and tired mind decided not to question it and I simply laid on top of the covers and got comfy “Heya Adrian, whers tha bathroom?” Pinkie asked and I pointed to it. She left to do her business and I closed my eyes and sighed before I felt my body start to get heavy. I opened my eyes as I saw the girls position themselves on or around my body and still deciding not to question it I let them. Derpy laid on my arm but it felt uncomfortable so I picked it up and draped it around her but she did not seem to mind as she cuddled up with me.

Sweeite Bell was originally with Rarity but she walked over to me “C-could I sleep with you like before?” she sweetly asked me.

I petted her head with my free arm “Of course you can Sweetie, anytime” I told her which made her grin like she just got a piece of free candy before she quickly made her way on my chest and curled up like a cat. I was about to close my eyes again before I felt a body make its way to the inside of my legs and I felt a head rest itself on my stomach.

“There was no other room” Vinyl said before she drifted off. I would of questioned it but once I heard the snores start to rise up I remained quiet and I soon found myself drifting off to sleep as well. I never noticed when Pinkie came back out and saw that all the spots besides my arm were taken.

“I wanna snuggle too!” She declared as she hopped up and kicked away the spare pillows and used her body as my pillow while she used mine as her own. Once she got comfy and calmed down she looked us all over and smiled “Best party ever” she silently told herself before falling asleep.


---------- 10:22 AM, Adrians Room ----------


“Ah, I remember now” I said to myself as all the mares continued their sleep. I felt my left side twitch as saw Nightingale squirm in her sleep before resting again. Where did she come from though? I guess I will have to ask when she wakes up but for now I had to figure out what to do next, should I wake them or wait? I should probably wait since I know how it feels to wake up when I am not ready to after drinking too much.

I closed my eyes again as I tried to catch some more sleep but destiny had other plans for me apparently as I felt something soft tickle my nose but I ignored it until it came by again and again and the third time it tickled me I opened my eyes and saw a poofy pink tail twitching in my face. Ugh, now it was really tickling my nose and I felt a sneeze coming up. I have to fight it......come on......fight it......fi-hiet it, oh no. No, no, nea, neu, uh oh “ACHOO!” I sneezed rather loudly and I saw every single one of them jolt awake.

I was about to sneeze again when I saw Pinkies body fall down on me and covered my face, thankfully her body somehow made me stop sneezing. All I heard were groans and moans as they all woke up but Pinkie refused to move and after a moment I tried to speak “Finkie, can huu fleas wofe” was all I able to mumble out and now I apparently tickled her since she laughed and told me to stop tickling her.

I tried again and got the same result and by the third try she finally got up and hopped off the bed “What did ya say Adrian?” Pinkie curiously asked.

Taking a breath of fresh air I felt relieved before I yawned “I said: Pinkie, can you please move” I said.

“Oh! Whoopsies! Sorry but your sneeze spooked me!” she explained.

“Well, it was your twitching tail that caused me to sneeze in the first place goof ball” I replied back. But she gasped and started looking up like she was expecting something to fall. “What are you looking for?”

“For something to fall silly! Whenever I get a twitchy tail it means something is about to fall from the sky!” she said in a serious voice. I looked over at Twilight who shook her head and mouthed 'Don't Ask'.

“Well, you did fall on my face when I spooked you, does that count?” I asked her and she calmed down and smiled like normal.

“Sure does! Boy last night was sure fun and even sleeping was fun as I got to snuggle with you and you used me as a pillow! And by the looks of it you got used as a pillow too! Yay pillow time!” Pinkie said as she bounced happily around the room. The others who did use me as a pillow to snuggle with all had cherry red faces and by this time they all made their way to the floor.

I followed suite as I stretched out my stiff joints “Hey, sorry everypony but I gotta get going. I need to head back and find my keys. Thank you so much dude for letting me sleep over. I had fun using ya as a pillow!” Vinyl said with a grin and I playfully rolled my eyes and smiled.

“See you later Vinyl and thank you for the amazing party and fun night! I will have to do it again but not so soon though” I said to her and laughed before I kneeled down and gave her a hug and when we broke it off she held out her hoof and I hoof bumped it before she left.

“Well it was mighty kind of ya to let me and ma sis to stay the night but I have to get back to the farm and get back to work! Catch y’all later!” Applejack said but Applebloom rushed over and gave me a hug real quick before catching back up to her sister.

“I'm afraid I need to be heading off as well, oof, I am not feeling so well. I shall most likely in bed today, blehh. I did have fun though darling, just a little too much for me though. Ta t-aaaaaaahh” Rarity said. Sweetie Bell was still on my chest so I picked her up in a hug before bringing her over to her sister and petted her head before waving them off.

I turned around and saw Rainbow looking at me before she flew over to me “Hey, uh, can you please not tell anypony about how bad I was last night” she nervously said as she rubbed her front leg. 

I smiled and pulled her in for a hug “For you Rainbow, I think I can handle that” I told her while grinning which made her smile and she quickly returned the hug before flying up.

“Well, you know, I have my awesome reputation to maintain and all that cool jazz” she told me like it was no big deal but I simply sighed as her. She laughed and messed with my hair “You ready to go Scoots?” the orange filly nodded and gave me a quick hug goodbye and the two left swiftly. This left Pinkie, Fluttershy, Twilight, Derpy, and Nightingale. 

“Well I had a super duper time last night! I still can't believe you out danced me, my King!” she gave a goofy bow while she giggled and I decided to return it just as goofy.

“It was my honor, my Queen!” I replied back which caused her to jump in my arms and hug with while she nuzzled my neck.

“I gotta get to Sugarcube Corner soon, I have some more sweets to bake!” she jumped down and waved us goodbye before zipping off. I saw the last three sitting back on the bed and looking tired so I sat down next to them and yawned with them.

“How about you Derpy? Do you need to head off to work as well?” I asked her but she shook her head no.

“Nope, I have the day off but I have to go shopping and do some chores now that I have the day off” she said.

“Busy, busy, busy I see” I jokingly said to her which made her laugh. Once she was done she flew up and wrapped her hooves around me and hugged me, which I returned right away “I hope you had fun last night Derpy”

She snuggled up a little bit and I could feel her face smile “I really did, thank you so much for that and everything else” she kindly told me and she looked at me and I saw a slight twinkle in her eyes before she let go and carefully flew out. As soon as she left I saw Twilight flop back down on the bed and groaned.

“You alright Twilight?” I asked.

“Ugh, head pounding. Need medicine” she slowly and quietly said. 

“Where are they, I can fetch them for you” I offered her but she shook her head.

“I need more from Zecora. Ran out yesterday” Twilight said.

“How about you get to bed and I go and get some from this Zecora, well after I learn where she is that is” I replied with.

Before Twilight could speak Nightingale finally spoke up “I can take you there, I visit her from time to time to ask for some special medicine for the Night Guard” she stated as she looked at me with those shining emerald eyes.

“Perfect! So, with that” I stood up and scooped up Twilight in my arms and carried her to her room with Nightingale in tow “Lets get you warm and comfy” I told her. Soon enough we entered her room and I saw that it looked like a miniature library with multiple book shelves, a writing desk, a similar looking bed but with her color scheme for the blankets and stuff, a closet, bathroom, and balcony. I walked over to her bed and pulled the covers back and gently placed her down and tucked her in. “I hope your comfy Princess” I teased.

“I told you not to call me that” she grumpily said as her eye lids drooped while she snuggled in.

“I know, goodnight Twilight. Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite” I told her as I pet her mane and in no time she was sawing logs. I quietly chuckled to myself while the two of us made our way out but I also saw a small basket that held a sleeping purple dragon who was still fast asleep. We walked by and closed the door and as soon as we were out we began to walk out to begin our trek to Zecoras, wherever that was.

Right before we walked outside I saw her pull out a pair of sunglasses and put them on and I followed her lead. “Hey, now that we are alone I wanted to ask you something” I said to her.

She laughed at this and turned to look at me “I bet your wondering why I was huddled up with you last night” she stated. 

I held up my hands “Guilty” I told her.

She giggled “Well I was doing my rounds and was quite tired because I had to spend some time properly documenting your nightmare since it was of importance to you as well as Princess Luna. And don't worry, only Princess Luna and myself are allowed to view it so your privacy is protected. So I flew by the castle to check up on you and that is when I noticed that there were several dreams mixed together and so I flew in to check and saw all the ponies laying together with you” she explained and that last part made me blush.

“Sorry about that, about making you stay up late because of me and for causing the confusion. Vinyl Scratch had invited me to her club yesterday night and Pinkie also used it as a welcome party for me so we dance and drank till two in the morning and I talked them all into sleeping over so I did not have to worry about them going home and getting hurt or worse. But when we got home I accidentally went straight to my room and they all followed and just settled in around me. Heh heh” I told her with a nervous chuckle.

“No need to be sorry, it is my job and I am glad that I was able to help. So after I saw you surrounded I decided to check your dream to make sure everything was alright since I am not sure how magic affects you yet. So I carefully flew to your left side and checked your dream and thankfully it was a peaceful dream. I was about to leave when I felt your arm slide up and you started petting me” she got a bit red after telling me that.

“So not wanting to wake you I let you continue thinking you would stop but when you did your arm fell around me and you pulled me in and sorta trapped me. So continuing with my original plan I waited for you to stop moving and when you did I tried to leave without waking you but I had no luck. So I decided to wait it out and hope for your arm to move, so I got comfy and scooted in and lied next to you and waited” 

“But soon I found myself falling asleep due to your warm body and how you were holding me and against my wishes I fell asleep and you know the rest” she finished up explained and her face held her blush from before and for a few minutes we walked together in silence while the town slowly started to thin behind us. 

“Sorry about that, I didn't mean to hold you up. I hope I have not caused you trouble for you missing out on doing your job last night” I shamefully said but she waved me off.

“No need to worry, I used my dream walker charm after I woke up and checked the dreams last night and fortunately no pony had a nightmare last night so no harm, no foul. I just have to be careful around the human snuggle monster” she jokingly said to me as she bumped my leg with her own making me laugh.

“So, who is Zecora and where is this pony located?” I asked as I looked around and saw we were at the edge of town.

“Well Zecora is a zebra who lives in the Everfree Forest up ahead and she is the finest potion maker and alchemist I have ever met” she proudly stated.

“Wow, a zebra? Cool! And a potion maker, she must be good if you and the night guards come to her a lot” I said with sense of awe.

She giggled a bit “Yes she is though it took us a while to get used to her and her strange habit” she said.

“Strange habit? What sorta of strange habit?” I asked.

“You. Will. Have. To. Wait. And. See~” she sang as she told me and I gave a frustrated sigh at the riddle. We walked for a bit until we came upon the entrance to the forest but before we went in she turned to me and adopted her guard look “Now listen up, the Everfree is a strange and mystic place that is full of dangerous creatures and other harmful things. So be on your guard at all times and listen to everything, if you hear or see anything dangerous let me know I will protect you. Understood?” she sternly asked me with a solid stare, though it was not as menacing cause the sunglasses were a bit bulky and gave her a slightly silly look.

But I could feel her gaze and I nodded my head “Yes ma’am, I understand” I replied which made her relax and go back to normal.

“That's good but normally where she lives none of the dangers come close enough so we should not have any problem. But it's always better to go in prepared, now with that in mind lets go!” she said as she walked in first. I was about to follow but off in the distance I heard multiple roars and noises that sounded ominous and they continued for a few seconds before it all went silent and I saw her waving at me to follow.

“I have a bad feeling about this” I said out loud before I quickly followed her.
> Human, Rhymes, And The Magic Within
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alright, so far so good. Looks like this forest isn't as bad as it looked when I first came in” I casually talked to Nightingale as we wandered our way through the forest in search for this mysterious zebra. 

Though I just said that, the first ten minutes of walking were horrible for me, jumping at every sound that came from everywhere and I even got spooked by a squirrel who rustled a bush and popped out. I think Nightingale gave me a few weird looks but thankfully she did not tease me and simply stood at me side and nudged me with her wing every minute or so.

“Sorry about all that before Nightingale, I must of looked pathetic for jumping like that” I nervously said to her but she smiled and shook her head.

“There is nothing to apologize for, the forest is a mysterious and dangerous place and for someone who knows nothing about it to suddenly face it? It is quite normal to be scared of it, it shows that you have good reflexes and common sense and those two are the best qualities to have” she explained to me.

“Well, I suppose when you put it like that then I don't feel quite so bad. But still, for jumping at a squirrel like that was pretty embarrassing” I said. 

“Oh, terribly embarrassing! I would not be surprised to see that squirrel in your dreams tonight! Oh the horror!” she said in a mocking tone but quickly chuckled. I groaned while I crossed my arms and pouted “Aww, you look cute when your pouting” she told me which made me walk faster so she could not see the front of my face. I heard her giggle behind me but she made a few quick steps and retook her spot beside me.

“Squirrels aside, what other sort of creatures live here that could actually harm me?” I asked her. She took a few moments to ponder which made me nervous, was there a lot? Or were so few that she had to  remember them?

“While there are a lot of them, most of them stick to their territory deep within the forest and so long as you don't go up to a random nest and kick it you will be fine for almost all of them. The main ones that like to wander are Timberwolves, Manticores, maybe a Cockatrice or two, and very very rarely a chimera. If you are by the water then watch out for cragadiles or sea serpents and hyrdas. If you wander upon a cave then you could run into a dragon or an Ursa family. But like I said, so long as you keep to the path then you should not run into any problems” she calmly told me.

My fear began to build up and I could feel my stomach knot up and I almost felt woozy. Hyrdas? Dragons? CHIMERAS?! Great googily goo! This forest is a potential death trap! I am surprised they don't have a wall or something built around this place and this zebra lives in here? She is either very brave, smart, or incredibly stupid. I mean I can understand the need to do so for her craft but still! I think my face was starting to show my fear cause I felt a hoof poke me and I looked down to see Nightingale looking up at me worryingly.

“Are you ok?” she simply asked.

“Ye-ye-yeah. Perfectly fine! Just surrounded by creatures that could kill me at any moment! A O K!” I said with a forced smile while a bead of sweat rolled off my face. I could feel her walking closer to me while her wing tried to wrap around me.

“Hey, everything is going to be alright. Yes it may sound very dangerous but every pony who has come in here has always gotten out alive, some very scared and a few with a scratch or two but alive and well. Even Fluttershy has ventured out here alone and has made it back without a scratch. Besides, you have a Night Guard right here with you and I promise that nothings going to harm you, not while I'm around” she told me with a gentle voice and that got me to calm down and regain my composure.

“Thank you Nightingale, again” I said as I gave a small chuckle at my own expense “I have to admit though that if it wasn't for the fact that I was in their territory, I would find it extremely cool that all those creatures actually exist! Back on Earth none of them exist except for in stories and myth. Man, it really is cool here now that I really think about it!” I excitedly claim.

“Really? Why is that?” Nightingale curiously asked.

“Well, like I was saying with the creatures, almost everything here from talking ponies to magic to dragons all don't exist back home. They all lived in story books or myths and legends of olden times. I am constantly amazed every second by absolutely everything, including you!” I explained and when I said that last part I think she blushed a bit.

“Including me?” She asked.

“Well yeah, your a talking pony.....sorry bat pony! Who can leap into dreams with a magical object and help fight nightmares! That is amazing! You are so cool and you look amazing too!” I told her as my excitement grew, which made me not realize what I just said to her.

“I-I look....amazing?” She nervously said as he fiddled at the ground.

“Of course! Your wings look wicked and your red mane really suits you, especially with your beautiful......emerald......eyes” I slowly explained when I finally realized that I sounded like I was hitting on her with my compliments. My blush grew as we both remained nervously silent until I heard her speak up.

“T-thank you for saying so. Being a part of the Night Guard means that I have little to no interaction with ponies and as such I tend to look a bit messy. So no pony has ever really said anything nice about my looks before. So, thank you, Adrian” Nightingale said with a dazzling smile before she turned around and motioned for me to follow “Now come along, we are almost there, you silly thing” and with that she trotted ahead of me and I followed and luckily for her I could not see her happy face.

It was about another ten whole minutes filled with random growls and a particularly loud roar which I found out belonged to a dragon probably claiming a prize. What that prize was I did not dwell to think on and I simply followed Nightingale very closely. Thankfully after another minute or two or walking we found ourselves coming upon a large hut with a chimney that was producing smoke. The wind blew the smoke in our direction and when it did I could smell something in it but I could not tell what it was.

We stopped right outside the door and just before she went to knock Nightingale turned to me “Be prepared for Zecoras unusual habit” she warned me.

“But you haven't told me what it is” I retorted back but she only grinned and knocked. We only waited for a few seconds before the door opened and a warm air rushed out to greet us along with a few unusual smells and scents. In the middle of the door stood a black and white zebra with a Mohawk mane and she had multiple gold rings wrapped around her neck while she wore a warm greeting smile. 

“Ah, hello there dear Nightingale! It has been a while since we last met, come in and tell me your tale” the zebra mare offered before she noticed me “Oh my, what have we here? Another tale of who you are I would most like to hear!” she said. Wait. Did she just rhyme? 

“Of course Zecora, his story is most unusual and I know how much you like to hear unusual stories” Nightingale said as we both stepped inside and I found myself standing with just enough head room to not bump into anything so long as I stood in the middle of the room, but a giant bubbling black cauldron held that spot. I took a quick look around before I saw Zecora staring at me inquisitively. 

“Oh! Sorry, where are my manners. My name is Adrian Frost and I am a human being. Pleasure to meet you” I introduced myself with a quick bow. 

“Adrian the human you say? Come, sit and tell me about your day!” Zecora said while she patted the edge of the bed as my seat which I took “Pray tell my dear, from where do you hail? I have seen much of this land, yet I have never seen a creature of such scale!” I swear she is still rhyming! Is she doing this on purpose?

“Ah, well that is because I come from another world called Earth where there is no Equestria or dragons or talking ponies and zebras” I explained to her.

“My my, such a fate I could never of foreseen! What about your rulers, be they a princess or a queen?” she asked.

“Well, not in my country. Some foreign countries are still led my Kings and Queens but mine is led by a President who is elected by popular vote of the people who live in the country” I said and at this I caught both of their attentions and they sat there wide eyed at this new information.

“A president that is elected through the ones who live there you say? That sounds very chaotic and could lead the country astray!” she said.

“At times it is very chaotic but that has been our system for hundreds of years so we are used to it, mostly” I chuckled at that last bit.

“Most interesting but enough about politics and matters of state. Tell me Nightingale, of what did you inquire of me on today’s date?” the rhyming zebra asked. She really was rhyming every single sentence! How did she do that so quickly? And why?

“Ah, yes! We came to pick up some medicine for Princess Twilight. She woke up with a headache after the party last night held for Adrian and told us that she had run out and talk to you for more” Nightingale informed her.

“Ah, I see, young Twilights EverCure pills! They are alicorn medicine that can cure coughs, lumps, and chills!” Zecora explained to us while she went through some bags.

“Alicorn medicine? So does each species have a different set of medicine to take?” I asked.

“No my dear human friend, this applies only to the alicorn body type. Alicorns are a mixture of all three pony types and as such are seen fit to join the royalty hype” she told me. How does she rhyme with such ease? I bet she went to school and got a couple of rhyming degrees.......AGH! Now I am rhyming! I accidentally groaned out loud which caught the two mares by surprise.

“You alright Adrian?” Nightingale normally asked.

“Yeah, I accidentally rhymed my last thought. I was thinking of what school Zecora went to where rhyming was taught” I explained then I face palmed myself and groaned loudly again “I did it again” which made the two mares start to laugh.

“My apologies my friend, I did not know my rhyming would catch on! I suppose that means you will have to stop thinking and use some of that brawn!” Zecora jested as she poked my arm which made me give out a dry laugh. After that Zecora walked over to Nightingale and gave her a medium sized pouch “Please take these to Princess Twilight. Also tell her not to worry about the cost, or else she will be in such a fright!”

“Thank you so much Zecora, I will be sure to giv-” she stopped mid sentence and I saw her necklace glow bright for a few seconds before dying back down and was followed by Nightingale sighing “Sorry about that but I just got a message saying for me to report back to the castle. Guess my little break is over” she turned to me “Do you think you will be able to get back to Ponyville on your own?” she hesitantly asked me.

“Yeah, I think I will be able to. After seeing that the path to and from here is not far and with my initial shock over with I will be fine” I told her with a smile. She nodded and handed me the pouch before she went over to the door and opened it.

“I will see you around then Adrian and thank you for the pleasant morning” she said to me with a hint of blush on her smiling face before she flew off.

“And best you hurry off as well my friend. Young Twilight is in pain and dealing with her is something even I would not wish to contend” Zecora told me as we waved each other off and I began my trek back to Ponyville. Thankfully the pouch had a strap so I secured it against my chest and followed the path. I was feeling good about being alone until I heard a growl in the distance and my body shrunk and I wished Nightingale was here.

As I continued to walk my head was constantly in motion as I checked out the bushes, the trees, the sky, I checked everything around me to make sure nothing would surprise me, but the one place I should of checked was my feet or else I would of noticed the slight winding curve in the path as I continued to fearfully walk straight ahead.


---------- One Hour Later ----------


“Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, holy crap I am horribly lost!” I said to myself as I searched the area in a panic again and again. I had finally noticed that I was lost when I no longer saw any sort of a path and when I saw that I had walked in a circle and ran into my footprints. I originally followed my prints backwards but after a couple of feet they had disappeared. I was about to walk in the general direction when I heard a wolfs howl that sounded very close so I booked it in the opposite direction and got even more lost.

After running for a while I slowed down and took a breather to calm myself down and realized that panicking only made it worse and made it easy for any creature out there to find me. Once I slowed my breathing down I took a quick look around and listened, thankfully I did not hear anything that sounded like it wanted to kill me. I took another look and saw a large rock hill up ahead and I decided that I could use that to see further and try to find a way out. Hopefully it was just a hill and not full of caves. 

Carefully looking around and listening for any dangers I made my way over to the rock hill but the closer I got the more I realized how much bigger it actually was and it almost looked like a small mountain. As I made my way closer I heard a noise and I stopped instantly and looked around but saw nothing. I stood still and heard it again but still saw nothing coming closer or otherwise. Deciding to move I slowly walked over to this hill and I continued to hear something in the distance but the closer I got it started to become more clear.

“he--” I heard it and it sounded like a voice! I cupped my hand up to my ear to try and ear it better and slightly picked up my pace. “-elp” I heard it again! And it sounded feminine as well, a gut feeling started to form inside me and I began to jog to the hill. “Help!” the voice now clearly called out and with that I fully ran to try and find the source quickly. “HELP!” the voice sounded frantic now and a lot closer than ever.

I rounded the corner and saw a ton of rocks and boulders scattered about the small carved portion of the hill and right by the wall was a turquoise colored pony with a white mane in some sort of uniform who was struggling against a large rock. I did a quick look around and saw nothing for the moment so I rushed over but she had not yet noticed me “HELP! Oh please let somepony hear me” she sadly said while she continued to struggle.

“Hello there, are you hurt?” I asked her as I began to get closer.

She gasped and began to look around “Oh sweet Celestia! Thank goodness you foun-” she stopped talking the moment she saw me approach “AHH!! HELP! HELP! WHOEVER YOU ARE HELP! THERE IS SOME SORT OF CREATURE COMING AT ME!” she said with fear and panic. I stopped rushing over and slowed to a snails pace while bringing up my hands.

“It's alright, it's alright. I know that I probably look weird to you but I assure you I am no monster. I just heard your voice and wanted to help, honest” I calmly said as I inched slowly over to her. While she still seemed a bit in a panic she appeared to be calming down a bit.

“Y-you're intelligent? What are you then?” she fearfully asked.

“Yes I am and I am a human. Adrian is my name. What is your name, if I may ask?” I asked her. She took a few moments to look me over and studied my face.

“My name is Fleetfoot. What's a human?” she asked as she relaxed a bit more and I took a few more steps closer.

“Well, it's what I am I suppose” I joked to try and lighten her mood and it worked a little because she let out a small chuckle. “Are you hurt at all?”

She looked at the boulder “Not really, my right wing got a little singed from the dragon earlier and when I fell I accidentally caused the rock slide and my left wing got pinned under this rock” she said.

“Dragon?! What were you doing with a dragon?” I asked.

“Well I am part of a team called The Wonderbolts and part of our job is to survey the area and see if any pony needs assistance in the Everfree. During a low pass I accidentally caught the attention of a dragon and it decided to shoot fire at me and it caught my wing a bit and that's when I fell into this mess” she explained to me. By this time I was right next to her and I leaned down to examine her wing that was caught under the rock. 

“Do you think you would be able to fly once the rock is off?” I asked her.

“Of course! Something small like this could never keep a Wonderbolt like me down!” she proudly said.

“Good, ok now I think I can get this off of you by-” I tried to say before she yelled.

“BEHIND YOU!” I turned around and saw that we now slowly being surrounded by some sort of wooden creature on four legs. When they got closer I heard them start to growl and snarl like a wolf.

“Wait, are those?” I tried to ask.

“Timberwolves!” Fleetfoot answered. I mentally face palmed myself as the play on words but due to the fact that they could kill me I decided against any further mental action and directed all thought on how to survive. I looked between them and Fleetfoot and made a decision.

“Alright, I am going to quickly get this rock off of you. When I do fly out of here and get to Ponyville and inform Princess Twilight and anyone else you can” I told her as I ran behind her and positioned by back against the rock and propped my feet against the rock wall.

“B-but what about you?!” she worryingly asked.

“One of us has to inform them and your faster in the air and away from them on the ground. Ok, on three I am going to push” I prepared myself “One.....two” I tensed my body up “Three!” I put all my strength into pushing and after a few seconds I felt the rock move and tumble away and set her free. She instantly backed up and began to flex her wings. “Alright, now go go go!”

“I can't leave you here!” she argued with me.

“Yes you can! Now fly Fleetfoot! Show me that Wonderbolt speed and get out of here! Please!” I begged of her and though I could see her mentally struggling she eventually nodded and quickly took off and flew away. I sighed and collapsed a bit before I heard the snarl and snapped back up and saw that there was at least fifteen of them and they had positioned themselves so they boxed me in. This was not good. 

I looked down and saw a number of bigger rocks that I could throw and at the moment they were my only feasible weapon. Ugh, if only I could use magic or something to help me get out of here then it would be easy. I stood my ground as I contemplated my desperate strategies while they slowly closed in on me and began snapping their jaws and growling at me. I bent down and picked up a big, flat rock and held it firmly in my hands and prepared for them. 

My only chance was hope that I could break through and out run them, most likely not but better than not trying anything. I saw one step out of line and walk up to me, getting ready to pounce, so I took a stance and with my heart pounding, sweating profusely, dilated eyes, trembling fingers, and fear radiating from my body I saw the wolf pounce. It all happened in slow motion and even though I could see him move my body was frozen in place and refused to move, no matter how loud my mind was screaming. Time returned to me as the beast clamped down on my arm and drew blood which finally made me react, so with it still clinging to my arm I swung and flung it to the large boulder.

Its teeth tore away from my arm as it flew and hit the boulder, still flowing with the momentum of the swing I swung my other arm that was tightly clutching the rock and smashed it against the beasts head. Surprisingly though the head collapsed and I saw a brief flash of green then the wood simply fell to the ground, lifeless and stiff. This made the wolfs stop for a moment as they reassessed me, unfortunately the pause made me start to lose my burst of adrenaline and I started to feel the pain surge through me. I cringed and I took a knee and they saw this weakness and lunged at me, two on each side and one down the middle. 

The center one swiped first and gashed its claws against my chest and tore away the fabric and ripped my skin, as soon as it struck the others on both sides clamped down on my arms and legs and I felt their weight drag me down as my blood trickled against their bark and hissed against something inside of them. I could not move against their weight and force but I tried to struggle to no avail. I felt my heart beating against my chest and my mind swirled for a way to get out but no matter what I failed in the end.

The only thought I claimed was the ridiculous notion of me using magic to escape, but I knew that I could not do it. But seeing as I was close to death anyway I decided to at least try so I quickly thought back to the library, back to the magic book I read and I remembered what it said about casting magic and all its complexity. Well, most of it, I could not remember all the proper things about casting fire and the only other one I read and understood was lighting but against wood that type would not help.

Still, with my arms and legs being tugged at and my blood leaving me my mind decided to give it a shot and I instantly thought of zapping the wolves with my hands so I opened my eyes and concentrated on the closest beast and I pushed everything I had through my hands.

Nothing.

No spark, no zap, no nothing and with that I finally broke down and thought about the way I was about to die and I got scared. Scared of dying, scared of not being able to say goodbye to my friends, scared of how my body will be mutilated, just plain scared.

But I also found something else, I felt anger at these animals for taking me away like this just because I helped Fleetfoot escape, anger at them for taking me away, an anger that I had no idea I held within me. My anger, that primal hatred struck something within me and I felt my body become flooded from within with an indescribable feeling of power and adrenaline. The best way to even think about it was like the feeling of my arm falling asleep but instead of feeling pain and numbness, I felt warmth and strength.

This feeling surged into my arms and I could feel it spinning and twirling inside of my hands, like they were stuck in a whirlpool. All of a sudden my mind flashed the memory of the spell and all of its components and not wasting a second breath I unleashed the lighting spell from my hands and instead of striking one wolf, it blasted all five of them back so fast that they shattered into splinters upon the rocks. Each one flashed green and the five piles remained still which made the pack take a step back and growl at me.

With nothing to hold me down anymore I tentatively rose to my feet and found myself with renewed energy, I looked at my arms where they had bitten and though they were still open the wounds did not bleed and I felt like I had not been on the edge of my life. Though my mind felt a biz fuzzy and my body tingled all over, I felt good and I felt like I could take them all on. So I tested this new found power out and shot forth a bolt from my palm and it smacked into the closest wolf though it did not destroy it but I saw it slightly singed and in pain.

Wanting to take this opportunity I unleashed multiple bolts around and forced them to back up, though just barely and for a moment it looked like they were all about to attack at once but just before they did I heard a loud and forceful howl erupt from the woods. At once the wolves backed down and took a few steps back while from behind two new shapes formed. One appeared to be a pup due to its small size and by the look of its hide being new and light colored, but the other was very different from the rest all thanks to its huge, bulking size and powerful steps. 

It easily stood twice as tall as the rest of the pack and looked liked someone took two or three wolves and mashed them together to form the girth, but its hide was dark and withered and showed scars. This must be the Alpha and I think I just challenged it with my new found strength. It finally stood tall and proud in front of its pack while the cub, most likely its son, growled and barked at me and tried to act tough which only made its father give a low growl and he stopped. The Alpha bent down and nuzzled its young before he pushed him away and stared at me.

Knowing full well that I could not escape without a fight I took a stance and fed my hands full of energy, probably magic, and waited for his first strike. It came in a flash and I saw that with two mighty strokes of its back legs he flew at me with an open jaw and death in his eyes which made me freeze once more. But this time I felt my magic reassert itself and I found myself rolling under it and coming to a stand on its opposite side while he landed on his feet and seemed to be getting ready to come again.

Seizing the moment I began to pour forth a slurry of lightning bolts from my hands, all aimed to strike it down but it was faster than what it looked and seemed to easily dodge all my shots, feeling a bit of anger bit at me I pushed more and more magic through my hands and now I fired off bolts so fast that it looked like I was firing a machine gun with endless ammo. I screamed at the creature while my magic struck everything in front of me and caused a dust cloud to form while the sound of rocks and dirt exploding filled the air. 

After a full minute of non stop spells I finally stopped as my breath became ragged and my body felt like I just ran a marathon but I had my eyes glued in front of me, waiting to see whether or not I killed the beast. But silence was the only thing that greeted me, so letting my guard down I relaxed a bit and turned my back to the scene and began to stare at the others. A roar shattered the silence and I tried to turn back in time but by then I found myself once pinned against the ground, the Alpha standing on me with its jaw firmly place around the nape of my neck and its teeth boring deeper and deeper into my skin.

Once again I felt the surge of pain erupt in my body but I acted quickly and brought my hands up and placed them against its head and tried to pull him off but his stance allowed him to overcome me. Though due to my actions it made sure he did not dig deeper into me and I could see my magic sizzling around its face but it made no difference to the enraged wolf. I poured more magic into my hands but still to no effect and in a short amount of time I felt myself losing my grip on reality and fading to black.

Feeling my hands lose their strength I allowed my magic to flow normally and that is when I felt a strong sensation in my chest, like the first time when I blew them all off! So with what will and strength I could muster I condensed everything into my chest and giving one last shout of defiance I let loose the magic and I saw not only the Alpha fly off but an electric sphere exploded from my chest and I briefly saw it expand and destroy the rocks around me and I heard the faint sound of painful cries from the wolfs before it quickly died out.

I felt the very ground shake from the magical explosion and during this time I also heard and felt the rock wall around me crumble and fall around me, thankfully though it stopped just short of me. Allowing the aftershock to take its course, I simply laid there and felt my neck burn a little as my magic did its work on my wound, whatever it was doing. Once I felt the ground stand still and the only sound was the faint crackling of static I slowly rose up to my feet but I was greeted to the sight of a barely standing Alpha a few feet from me.

The hairs of my body stood and I tried to muster my new found magic again but only a slight arc of static graced my fingertips nevertheless I took a fighting stance to the best of my ability without falling down. The single standing wolf tried to take a step but fell and tried to stand again but its body refused and eventually it slumped to the ground and its breathing slowed to almost a standstill. I remained motionless as I witnessed it takes its final breath before I saw the body collapse but strangely the green glow in the shape of the massive Alpha stood and the eerie green flicker of its body stood tall and proud.

I took a step back in fear when I saw it start to slowly stride over to me but its body language gave it a sense of peace, still I prepared myself for anything. Its walked right in front of me and stopped, but what it did next surprised me as it seemed to look up at me for a few seconds and bowed its head before suddenly rushing to me and seemed to disappear inside my body. At first nothing seemed to happen but a sudden jolt of pain spiked my head and my vision became fuzzy while my body went limp and I fell to my knees.

Time passed and the pain finally subdued and I was left kneeling with no clue as to what just happened. The moment I tried to move I heard a slight yelp from somewhere and I looked up and saw the small timber pup standing there, looking at the dead Alpha pile. It bent down and nudged the pile with its nose and whimpered before it looked at me and snarled and it charged at me, but I did not dare move for I had no spare energy and I should let it at least bite me for killing its father.

I held out my hand and instantly the little wolf clamped down on it, thankfully it was still teething so the bite did not hurt much but it still stung. But what happened next I can not explain for the snarling pup stopped its attack and gave my hand a sniff and began to lick it instead. Feeling my body just lose the last of its strength I fell backwards and layed my back against a newly fallen rock. The pup gave me a quizzical look before he slowly stepped up to my side and forced its head under my hand and arm and lied down next to me.

Though my mind was fuzzy and my body ached from head to toe, I found the small guys action quite cute and I found myself petting its head and in return he gave me a happy sigh. A small smile adorned my face as I let my body fade out and rest and my last thought before I fully blacked out was “What is going to happen now?”
> A Humans Trip To An Empire, Pets, And Love
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I blasted the Alpha wolf with a monstrous lighting strike that shook the very foundations of the mountain behind me, cracking the ground below and opening a crevice wide enough to devour us all. Along with the strike the arcing electricity raced around and as it passed through the remaining wolves they exploded upon contact and their lifeless hides shattered the burnt grounds. Even the small pup could not escape my magical wrath as I threw all my hatred and despair at my foes.

The surrounding trees caught on fire and within a matter of seconds a wildfire consumed the forest and lit the sky with smoke and ash. I watched from behind as my body began to walk forward and stepped on the pile that housed the Alphas body before walking off to the woods, during all of this my body seemed to be pulsating and small cracks formed on my skin and a bright blue light shined like a beacon. When my body got to the edge of the forest it turned and stared right at me with soulless eyes that also shined with the same blue light and smiled.

It was then I saw a shadowy figure start to materialize next to it but before long the form caught on fire and from the blaze stood the horrible visage of my mother as a half burnt skeleton who also stared at me with dead eyes. The fiery and boney hand rose from its resting place and pointed a single finger at me followed with a raspy voice that bellowed out to me saying “Monster”

My mothers horrid figure kept on repeating those words “Monster” at me again and again. My body also started to join in on the chanting and repeated her words but the voice that came sounded like mine but sounded deeper and hollow, like it was talking through a long, empty tube. I did not move from my spot but I felt afraid and tried to back up only to find that I could not and when I did try to move I heard familiar voices start to call out.

I looked left and right and saw that the rock formations around me had taken the shapes of my friends  heads and faces back in Ponyville but I heard them chant “Monster” with scowls upon their stone faces as they stared at me. I was surrounded by the echoing voices of my friends, my own body, and finally my deformed mothers who simply repeated the word “Monster”

I fearfully tried to cover my ears to attempt to drown our their voices but I could not feel any part of my body, so I was forced to listen to that single word bore itself into my mind. When every single body had surrounded me and were all standing within five feet of me they suddenly stopped moving and talking altogether and simply stared at me. After the brief moment of silence my crackling body rose its own hand and from the ground erupted five stone statues with blank plaques on them.

My body walked up to the first and the statue was that of a tall alicorn with spiked armor and slanted eyes and its body seemed to radiate fear. I saw a continuous streak of lighting spark from my bodies finger which spelled out “Nightmare Moon” upon the empty plaque. After writing my body spoke “Monster” while looking at the statue before moving on to the next. Next was a strange looking creature that looked like a mixture of an alicorn pony and an insect, with holes in its legs and a nasty looking horn with snake like eyes. 

Its name was “Queen Chrysalis” and again my body looked at it and said “Monster” and moved onto a statue that had the body of a unicorn but its body was covered in armor and a royal looking cape but what stroke me the most was its evil smile. This one was named “King Sombra” and was described as “Monster” by my body once again. Though this next one was very different as it stood very tall and bulking in size and appeared to be a centaur.

Its plaque soon read “Lord Tirek” and like its predecessors was labeled “Monster” by my body and finally moved to the last stone figure. Now this one was a cloaked human being standing in a fighting posture and had one hand extended out while its fingers seemed to be grasping for something while its other hand was raised into the air, reaching out. Before I could see its face I saw the flash of light and saw its naming starting to be written out and when it was I gasped in shock.

“Adrian Frost” was written on the plaque and I snapped my head up and saw that it was me and the stone statue looked forward like it had just killed something and enjoyed it. It scared me that I could make a face like that but slowly I lowered my head to my other body and saw that it was now pointing at me “Monster” was all it said. This triggered the others to chant that word and even the new statues moved to look at me while repeating the word over and over and over again.

I felt afraid and terrified and even if I could speak, my mouth would not move anyway as I was speechless to everything. Why? Why was I being showed this? Who are those four other monsters? Why am I being called that? Why? Why? WHY?! But I got nothing in return to my questions and simply heard “Monster” ring and echo in my ears. 

“ENOUGH” a new voice rang out but it sounded familiar and I hopefully looked to the sky and expected to see Princess Luna come but she did not as I saw no saving figure descend from the sky. Instead I looked back down and saw the statue of Nightmare Moon moving off its stone base and began to walk to me with a mischievous smirk on its face. It stopped before me and said “You will be mine” before it lowered its head and stabbed my heart with its horn.

“AHHHH!” I screamed as I sat up and whipped my head around in fear while searching for that figure or anything else but thankfully I saw that I was alone. Well, mostly alone as when I sat up I heard a small whine and felt something move in my lap. I looked down while I tried to catch my breath and focus my vision and after a full minute I finally saw that in my lap was the sleeping form of the timberwolf pup, who was curled up in a ball. After viewing the pup I decided to see where I was and surprisingly I found myself back in my room and in my bed.

My heart was still pounding in my chest and I could feel the formation of sweat all over my body and my mind raced as I thought about that disturbing dream and what it all meant. While my body started to calm down a little I took another glance around the room and saw that I really was alone, I wonder why Nightingale or some other Night Guard was not here. Surely with a nightmare like that they would come? 

But once again I was reminded of the fact that I was sitting in the dark by myself, I opted to get up and go to the balcony but was reminded of the little one bundled up in my lap and not wanting to disturb its slumber I lied back down and stared up at the ceiling. Though this action did not last long for momentarily afterwards the pup got up and perched itself on my chest and looked down at me happily.

I could feel its tail wagging and deciding that it probably would not bite me I raised my hand and started to pet its head, which made it very happy for its tail was wagging even more and it began panting with its odd tongue lopping out. I thought it would be a piece of wood its tongue but instead it looked like it was on fire and green but when it licked my hand next it did not hurt so it obviously was not fire. Magic, until I know better I shall blame magic for this and I felt better about it.

Seeing that I was not moving again the little one pawed at my chest and layed down as I continued to pet its head, I am starting to think and believe that head petting and ear scratches will get me anywhere in this world. But that is for the future and right now I began to dwell on my current situation, like how I got home in the first place! Most likely Fleetfloot went back to Ponyville and found Twilight and gang and when they found me brought me back here, though I am surprised with my injuries I am not in the hospital. Speaking of wounds, I am surprised that my body is not writhing in pain after all that. 

Deciding to investigate I lifted my spare hand and inspected my mostly bare arm and saw that all the bite and claw marks were healed! Though they left plenty of scars, the wound was healed up like it happened months ago and it did not ache or anything. Hmmmm, I wonder if this is thanks to my magic or something? My regeneration seemed to boost greatly after I somehow unlocked my magical abilities, another thing I need to ask about later, so I guess given enough time most wounds will heal though I suspect I should not press my luck in any future encounter. 

Also speaking of magic, what was that thing with the Alpha and that thing it did when it died and somehow came into me? Yay for tons upon tons of questions to ask later, though I suspect I will have thoroughly apologize to the girls for worrying them, I can't imagine Fluttershy taking it well at all, poor sweet thing. One thing at a time, one thing at a time or else my head will explode. Wanting to take my mind off things I looked back down at the nice sight of the sleeping timberwolf upon my chest.

Man, never thought I would ever say that in my life, but I suppose I should give it a name but that also left me with another question. What gender was it? Did they have one being magically animated pieces of wood? Ugh, magic is awesome and confusing at the same time. Magic this, magic that, I wish I could magically find the answer at this point and would not be surprised if I did so. Unfortunately that wish did not come true and I was left there to ponder and wonder.

Suddenly the wolf pup sat up and did a one eighty and did its best to growl at the sound of the door opening, I sat my head up not wanting to move my body and accidentally spook the pup and in doing so I caught the backside of the little one and got my answer, it was a girl. Not going into further details on that area I moved my head to stare at the guest and saw that it was Twilight looking quite depressed while carrying a tray of food. Oh man, she must have been equally worried about me.

Not wanting to worry her further I wanted to calm down the female pup, so I slowly and gently reached up and petted her body, which felt a little odd with her wooden body. Instantly she calmed down and plopped down on my chest and let me pet her more, guess her hunting instincts have not kicked in quite yet. Looking back to Twilight she never noticed our movements as her head was down the entire time with her saddened face growing dimmer. “Twilight? What's wrong?” I calmly asked.

This made her snap into attention as her eyes glued onto me and she let her magic go and the platter of food fell to the floor and scattered to the four winds but she did not care as she focused her entire being on me. “Ah-Adrian?!? Your awake!” she asked with a mixture of shock and excitement. 

“I suppose I am” I joked with a short chuckle but was cut off as Twilight flung herself around me with a hug and she began to cry into my shoulder. During this time she also cast a spell and bubbled up the wolf and had her fly above us, guess she did not want to get bitten or anything. But why was she acting like I just woke up from a coma or from surgery? “Twilight? Whats wrong? Did I scare you that much when you found me in the woods?” I worryingly asked.

Taking a few more moments to cry and blubber she finally found her voice and cried out “You scared us so not only when we found you but after we brought you to the hospital you would not wake up! We all tried so hard to do anything we could to wake you but you just slept” she somberly told me in between her tears and hiccups. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in closer with my hug as I placed my head next to her own. I wonder how long I was out for, for them to think I would not wake. I waited to ask until she calmed down so I just held her in my arms and used my hand to pet her mane.

A good five minutes went on by in relative silence, as Twilight let out all of her fears and worries with her tears before she finally lifted her head up and wiped her face clean. We just stared at each other before I asked “How long was I sleeping for?”

Twilight took a quick breath to prepare herself before saying “Counting today, you were asleep for seven whole days”

I made an audible gasp as I took in this new information, a whole week?!? No wonder she was worried, oh god the others are probably worried sick to death about me. 

“Adrian, what happened to you? All we know is from what Fleetfoot told us about you saving her from the timberwolfs and you telling her to find me. When she told us what was going on I had her take me to you so I could teleport you to safety but when we found you, you were passed out against the rock slide with cuts and bites all over your body! You even had that little thing under your arm like a pet!” Twilight frantically explained to me. She breathed a few heavy breaths as her nerves calmed down “We were all so worried about you. I was so scared”

She looked so sad and down when she said that last part, on the verge of tears again. I pulled her in for another hug, which she gladly accepted. “It's going to be ok Twilight. Everything is going to be just fine, alright?” I calmly said as I tried to soothe her feelings. I felt her nod her head and I let her go back to where she was and I told her the story of what happened, starting with how lost I got while trying to get back and ending with the last coherent thought I had which was me blacking out with the pup under my arm.

After my story was done with I saw that she looked utterly shocked with what I told her, guess that is to be expected after all I am still in shock about it myself. “You can do magic?! How!?” she asked me as she grabbed my arm and started prodding and poking it all over while examining it. 

“I cannot explain it either, I just sorta felt it when I was on the verge of death and when I was I felt that....that flame inside of me spark and ignite, filling me up with this feeling and thankfully do my curiosity in the library I had read a magic 101 book. But after reading and trying it out nothing happened then so I figured that I probably did not have magic here. Guess I was wrong, thankfully” I explained to her as she continued her examination of me.

“Interesting, I am surprised you understood the process of producing magic. It usually takes ponies at least a week before producing a simple flicker of flame or even a drop of water. But for you to suddenly summon as many lightning spells as you did, quite advanced spells at that, is utterly amazing! But that would also explain why you passed out for a week. For your body, which is not accustomed to magic or even having it in the first place, to suddenly discover and exceed the limit all at once gave it quick a shock. Your lucky your magic manifesting in your body and gave you excellent regenerative powers, which is quite rare for it to be so powerful” she told me.

“That makes sense, I suppose. Do you think it would be dangerous if I continued to use magic? And what about that thing the Alpha did after I......defeated it in combat” I carefully asked. 

“To be honest Adrian, I have no idea. If you were a creature of this world then I would say yes since magic naturally flows through all beings, whether or not they can control it and or be able use it. But since you come from a world with no magic, I would of said that you probably would not be able to use it either but since you can I have no clue!” she explained to me in a frustrated way, guess she is not use to being in the dark about stuff. “As for the Alpha, I am not sure either. I never really studied much into the biology of magical creatures. Hmmmmm” she brought a hoof up to her chin and began to think.

“Oh! I think I may know where we can find out! We can either go to the Canterlot archives or go check out the library within the Crystal Empire. Actually, the Crystal Empire may be better since they have  quite a few older books that Canterlot does not have. This is great! This gives us the chance to see Cadance and Shining! SQUEEEE~!” Twilight happily exclaimed as she did a little dance which got a chuckle out of me.

“Crystal Empire? That sounds cool but does that mean that they have Emperor in charge?” I asked.

“Oh no! Not anymore, many many years ago it was founded by Emperor Quakehoof but over the years it has become a kingdom but no pony changed the name. Though a thousand years ago it came under the rule of King Sombra, an evil unicorn who enslaved the crystal ponies until Princess Celestia and Princess Luna defeated him. He returned a while ago and me and my friends were tasked with aiding Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in defeating him, which we did!” She smiled proudly at this but I shook a little when I heard the name King Sombra, which was the same name as in my dream. 

“U-um, Twilight? Can I ask something?” I nervously asked.

“Sure! Go ahead” she replied back with.

“Well, do you consider King Sombra a monster and have their been others like him who you consider monsters as well?” I asked again of her. She tilted her head a little, probably confused on how I worded the question.

“Well, I am not sure about calling anypony a monster though in his case I guess I could consider it. But as for the other question, over the years I have had to work together to stop villains from taking over Equestria. First for me was Nightmare moon, who was actually Princess Luna but a thousand years ago she gave way to the darkness in her heart and transformed into Nightmare moon. Celestia banished her to the moon but she escaped, thankfully me and my friends were able to defeat her and return her to normal”

“Discord escaped his stone prison and literally turned all of Equestria upside down, he is the physical embodiment of chaos and disorder and controls chaos magic. We eventually returned him back to stone but Celestia wanted us to reform him to use his chaos magic for good and after a few trials and error, he has been reformed for the most part. Though he still likes to cause trouble now and then but mainly in good fun” she giggled a bit at that.

“Queen Chrysalis tried to take over Canterlot during Cadence and Shinings wedding by impersonating Cadence. You see she is the Queen of race called changelings who have the ability to mimic a ponies body and voice, though not memory. She was actually defeated by Cadence and Shining who used the power of love to repel her and her army of changelings out of Canterlot. Thankfully no pony got hurt and in the end Cadence and Shining got married!” 

“Actually quite soon after that was when King Sombra reappeared but we defeated him by using an artifact known as the Crystal Heart and using the power of love within the crystal ponies of the empire we were able to beat him. But Lord Tirek was probably one of the worst, he is an evil centaur who thought he deserved all the magic in Equestria and had succeeded in absorbing Earth, Pegasus, Unicorn, Chaos, and even Alicorn magic and was nearly unstoppable. But using the Elements Of Harmony we defeated him and sent him back to Tartarus and restored magic back to all of Equestria” she finally explained to me. 

“Wow, sounds like I just missed all the fun” I said which got a dry laugh out of Twilight but this made me shudder a bit as all but this Discord appeared in my dreams and were labeled as monsters, with me. 

“I would love to continue with the history lesson but I think we should get you to the Crystal Empire as soon as we can, so we can know whether or not you will be safe with your magic” after saying this she lowered the timberwolf pup back down on the back and released her while she trotted over to the curtains and opened them up, which I had to shield my eyes from. “Now, go take a shower and get packed and ready....to.....go” she started to slow down as she stared at me again.

I looked around and found nothing behind me but she stared at me still so I waved my hand in front of her which eventually returned her to reality “Oh my gosh, what happened to your eyes?!” she exclaimed as she stared at me eyes one at a time. My eyes? What did she mean by that? Did I grow a third eye or something? I reached and gently felt my eyes and forehead, no third eye but I saw just fine and clearly......WAIT! I was seeing every thing clearly and I did not have my glasses on! 

“I can see! I can see without my glasses! This is amazing!” I happily said but this barely got a reaction out of her “What? What is it then if not my glasses?” I asked her.

“Sorry! Didn't mean to make it sound bad, it is just......both of your eyes are different colors now” She said as she stared at me once more. Making sure I did not kick off the pup I jumped out of bed and rushed over to the bathroom, almost tripping twice, before I looked into the mirror and saw something very different staring back at me. While it was me, I looked very different all together.

Firstly my eyes, originally I had icy blue eyes and with my snow white hair made me look like something from a D&D adventure but now I had two different and multiple eye colors. My left eye was still ice blue but had a bright yellow ring inside, not amber but a bright golden yellow and my right eye was a bright green, actually it looked like the color green the timberwolves had inside of them, mixed with purple. Almost like someone evenly mixed the two in a bucket and stirred them in a circle.

Also due to me not shaving since I got here my face was getting a bit shaggy but one thing struck me as odd was the length of my hair, I liked having my hair short so it was easier to maintain and style. But it was now really long, I looked behind me and saw that it came to the middle of my back. What the heck? How could my eyes and my hair change so drastically, I guess I am going to have to blame magic again. Darn you magic, darn you. 

Once I stopped looking at my new eyes and long white hair I saw a bit of the scar on my neck and I took off my shirt and saw all my new scars that wolves had given me. The side of my neck was covered  from the bite and claws along with both my arms but right in the middle of my chest were four long gashes the came vertically down. Guessing my legs look like my arms, I gave myself a once over and it kinda intimidated me how I looked.

“Who are you?” I asked the reflection before giving a deep sigh but I laughed a bit as I looked down and saw I still had a bit of fat around my stomach “Darn it magic, you changed my eyes, grew my hair, and even gave my powers but you can't make me skinny” I talked to myself but behind me a heard a faint chuckle. As soon as I heard that I threw my shirt back on, hopefully none of them have seen my new scars yet, they would probably freak them out and worry themselves even more.

I came back to the door and smiled at Twilight “Guess you heard me talking to myself huh?” she nodded but smiled back at me “This new me is going to take some getting used to, especially this long hair! How do you girls deal with this?” I asked as I ran my fingers through it again and again.

“It's simple! Just wash it and keep it combed daily! Cause once you get a knot or two in it you will wish you never had it” she grunted at that last bit and she summoned a comb out of thin air and began to brush herself. “Now wash up and get ready, I am going to get the girls over and explain what is going on and see if any of them want to come along. Be warned though, you shall be pounced on” she said with a laugh.

I simply shook my head and smiled “I know, but I deserve it after making you girls worry. Speaking of such, how is Fleetfoot? I am curious is everything turned out all right for her” I asked.

“She is fine, the hospital simply grounded her for a day or two to allow her wing to rest just in case. Thankfully the rock only landed on her feathers and not on her bones. She is also worried about you and wants to thank you for rescuing her personally. Perhaps you made another new friend!” she happily said but she winced when she saw the timberwolf pup stride up next to her and look at me with happy face. “What are you going to do with this?”

“Well, I think I should look after her. I did unfortunately kill its entire clan and probably family members. I am pretty sure she was the daughter of the Alpha cause when it stepped up to challenge me she was right beside it and it gave her a quick lick and sent her off to safety. Still don't know why she likes me though since it clearly knows I killed its dad” I said as I gave the small beast a sad look but only got a happy tail wag in return for acknowledging her presence.

“I suppose your right but just be careful. No pony has ever raised a timberwolf before, let alone have one as a pet” Twilight said to me.

“Well, seeing how I am the only human being in existence on this world who can use magic I think it would probably be seen as normal for me at this point” I explained with a laugh.

“I guess your right, well I won't keep you hold up any longer. Meet me in the library when your done with everything” she told me as she began to walk out. The female pup simply gave me a look and waited for me to talk.

“Alright, I guess you can accompany me while I shower. Hmmmmm, I think I have the perfect name for you!” I kneeled down next to her and looked at her while I pointed “You shall be named Artemis” I said and at this she happily gave me a quick little howl and wagged her tail and jumped around. “I guess you like that name, come along Artemis, my little hunter” I said as she bounced inside and I closed the door.


---------- 2 Hours Later ----------


“Artemis! Get off my bag!” I said to the adorable puppy who had just moments ago pounded on top of my bag I just finished packing. She gave me a playful howl before she leaped off and ran around my feet before running off. “Boy, she had gotten really friendly after I named her. Wonder why?” I shrugged at my own question seeing how it didn't really matter so long as she behaved herself. It was odd to watch her play since she had the outline of a wolf back home but instead of fur and skin she had wood patches covering her from head to toe.

What was really bizarre was her face, while it seemed like random pieces of wood just stuck together, the way they formed together and moved gave the appearance of facial gestures and at times simply looked like a brown colored wolf from earth. So it was odd cause at times she looked like some sort of wooden creature then most of the time she looked like a cute brown wolf puppy. What a life I have come to live eh? 

I picked up my big bag and made my way to the kitchen where some food was left out for me to eat with a note saying 'This is for you, eat up and meet us in the library – Twilight P.S – On the counter is something for Artemis' How did she already know her name? She must have really good hearing and was probably still close by when I named her. That or I am blaming magic again, seemed like an good thing to blame for anything I could not explain for now. So I went to the counter first and saw a black collar with a silver name tag with 'Artemis' on the front and 'Owner: Adrian Frost/Human'.

I called her over and after a few failed attempts and a face licking later I finally got the collar on her and thankfully she did not try to bite or claw it off. There was also a plate with a fish next to it and I heard her whine while she stared in the direction of the fish. Guess she is also a meat eater, which is another thing I need to talk to them about. I liked eating the veggie pasta dishes but soon I would need some meat to fill my diet.

So placing the dish on the ground and letting her go to town I went and ate my own meal. After we were both done I picked up my bag and heading to the library and right before I entered I heard hushed talking behind the door and taking a deep breath to brace myself with I slowly opened the door and headed in. Surprisingly none of the eleven mares waiting and talking to each other noticed me so I decided to sneak up on them and when I right behind them all I spooked them by simply saying “Hi!”

They all jumped instantly and whipped their heads around to see me smiling and waving at them but a nanosecond later I was brought down and weighed down by six bodies who cried and tried to talk to me at the same time. My legs were being hugged to the by the CMC while Fluttershy and Pinkie occupied my chest and my head was being snuggled by Derpy and in the commotion I also saw the Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow, and Vinyl standing around me smiling and wiping their eyes. I simply wrapped my arms around the closest body and smiled with a tear or two dripping down. 

Once they all stopped questioning me for a second I leaned up a bit while Derpy continued to hug my neck and nuzzled my cheek with her own. I blushed at this and I swear I heard a pony or two quietly say “Awww” but I ignored that as I cleared my throat to catch their attention. They all snapped to attention and stopped whatever action they were doing, though what Pinkie was about to do with a cupcake and streamers I had no idea.

“Sorry to worry you all, I did not mean to make you all worry about me like this. But I just want to tell you that I am fine, just got a little overwhelmed and had to rest a while to recover” I calmly explained to them but this did not work to calm most of them down.

“But are really alright?! You got attacked by a pack of timberwolves and you got caught in a rock slide and you were passed out and you would not wake up and and and” Fluttershy timidly said as she clutched my chest and cried a bit more.

“We were all really worried that something was wrong with you. And I....I was so scared” Derpy sadly said as she hugged me a little bit tighter.

“I hoped you would wake up sooner so I could throw you a party for waking up! I wanted to make you happy so I could be happy because....because this whole week I have been sad.......you got so hurt” Pinkie somberly said as she lied her head down and petted my chest.

“And we were really worried about you, your our friend and I hated seeing you just sleep and say nothing day in and day out!” Sweetie Bell exclaimed as she clung to my leg and the other two crusaders nodded and repeated the action.

I let them cry it out a bit more before I saw them clear up and started to wipe their eyes and they slowly released me, except for Derpy who refused to move. I smiled as I gently petted her head and gave her a quick cheek nuzzle which finally made her relax a little and finally climbed off my back. I readjusted myself so I was sitting down normally and when I was done I saw the rest of the girls walk over and I gave them all hugs and reassured them I was ok.

Vinyl was the last and she gave a quick sniff as she held back her tears so when she leaned back I reached over and wiped away the remaining tears with my thumbs and gave her a warm smile which she gladly returned. When they all were done making sure I was ok Twilight spoke up “Alright everypony, now sit down as we discuss what we are going to do next” and with this they gathered around and sat down in their own spots, except for a few.

Fluttershy took her spot to my left while Pinkie was on my right, seems like this is their permanent spots with me along with CMC using my head and shoulders as their perch. I stretched out my legs to get comfy when I noticed that Derpy flew over and sat right in front of me and leaned her back into me. I blushed a bit but let her continue before I saw Artemis lie down next to my leg and curled up to take a nap. I swear I could hear a ticking time bomb for cuteness about to explode any day now.

Twilight rolled her eyes when she saw that I had become a sitting zone for the six mares and timberwolf pup. I then began my usual thing and had my ear scratches going for Fluttershy and Pinkie who happily sighed and melted in my hands. The rest casually glanced over and a few sweetly smiled while I saw a smirk or two flash my way. But Twilight coughed and caught our attention.

“Alright everypony, now with everything that just happened to Adrian and with my brief explanation earlier to you girls of his new magic powers and the incident with the Alpha Timberwolf I have decided that I need to take him up to the Crystal Empire and do some research on any sort of clue explaining either situation. Right now he is in no danger to himself or others but I want to make sure that nothing bad will accidentally happen in the future should any unforeseen incident occur”

“So, with that said me and Adrian will be leaving for the Crystal Empire immediately and so I ask you if any of you want to join us or are available to. We would be gone at least a couple of days or more” Twilight explained and as soon as she was done I saw all of them start to think and ponder away. About two or three minutes later they all had answered and it turned out that only Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Vinyl would be coming with me and Twilight. 

Vinyl was going because she was already heading up there to meet her roommate Octavia who was doing a concert and they would heading to a birthday party for another friend. None of the girls allowed the CMC to come along, mainly because they had school. Derpy really wanted to come but she did not have enough leave days saved for this sudden thing, I gave her a few ear scratches to help cheer her up and it worked. Rarity needed to stay to catch up on some new orders for a pony named Fancy Pants. Fluttershy was also highly disappointed by her animal skills were needed this week for multiple animal migrations. 

“Well you girls better go and get ready for a long trip and we will meet up in the train station, the next train will leave in an hour and a half” Twilight said to the four girls who nodded and headed out. Rarity bid her farewell and went back to work. After that only Sweetie Bell, Derpy, and Fluttershy were left since Applebloom and Scootaloo left with their sisters to help pack, of course after a big, long hug from me first.

Sweetie Bell came up first “I'm really glad you are alright Adrian, but now I'm sad that your leaving so soon” she sadly sad as she kicked the floor. I gently picked her up so we could look at each other at eye level.

“I know but I would rather go away for a little while and study then stay here and accidentally hurt you because I did not know about these powers or the thing with the Alpha. I would never be able to forgive myself if I ever hurt you Sweetie Bell. Besides, now I won't be a distraction from you getting your cutie mark!” I explained to her with a smile.

“Yeah, I guess your right. Just be sure to come home soon so we can play together!” she happily said with a grin, so I gave her a hug and a quick head rub before she went to catch up with her own sister. I turned my head and saw that Fluttershy was sweetly smiling at me before walking up to me.

“She was really worried about you, she came in every day to check on you and when we came up to check on her we would always find her curled up beside you and had your hand placed over her like a blanket. It was really cute” she said with a giggle which made me groan a little and blush but I smiled in the end. She really was a cute and sweet girl, Rarity is lucky to have her as a little sister. If she were my little sister, I probably would of spoiled her rotten right now heh heh.

“Hey Fluttershy, I wanna apologize to you for everything I did” I told her which made her squeak in surprise.

“W-w-whatever for?” she nervously said,

“Well for worrying you and because I ended up.........k-killing them. I know you care for animals and because of me this timberwolf pup is now an orphan. But I am going to take care of her and raise Artemis here to the best of my ability” I explained to her. Fluttershy smiled up at me and wrapped a wing around me and hugged me.

“No need to be sorry, while yes I am saddened that they did die but you did what you did not only for self defense but for the defense of others instead of being cruel or for sport. And I am so proud that you are going to raise her, truthfully I have never seen a timberwolf pup grow up before. So if you ever have a question about anything please ask me right away!” Fluttershy said.

“Thank you Fluttershy, I am glad that you don't hate me for what I did. By the way, did you bring her the fish that was in the kitchen or was that Twilight?” I quickly asked.

“Oh that was me, when Twilight called us over and explained everything she also asked what to give a Timberwolf for food. Though I was confused as to why she was asking until I got here and she fully explained why” she told me.

I am going to have to thank Twilight later for doing that “Well thank you again Fluttershy and sorry you could not come with us. There is always next time though” I said which cheered her up a little and we hugged and said our goodbyes. 

“Alright, I will be right back. I need to start packing as well” Twilight said before she left, leaving only me and Derpy who was avoiding eye contact until she heard the door click close then she jumped over and hugged me tight, I returned the hug but was worried at what was bugging her.

“You alright Derpy?” I said softly into her ear as I held her but I heard her sniffle a little and I felt my shirt dampen a bit, so I reached up and began to pet her mane which relaxed her body some but she continued to quietly cry. Within a minute or so she finally collected herself and stared up with red eyes, I used my thumbs to clean her eyes up a bit and I smiled “Feel better?” I asked.

She nodded “I'm sorry Adrian, it's just.......i-it's just......just” she said in a cracked voice “I was so scared at the thought of losing you” she wrapped her hooves around my neck and hung her head in the crook of my neck “Your the first stallion who has ever paid attention to me and comforted me. Your the only one who has ever talked to me like a normal pony and even made me feel proud to be me even with my eyes” 

“Even when I crash into you, you don't get mad or yell at me, you always ask if I am ok. You're so nice to me and when I heard that you were attacked I broke down and cried so hard. I visited you every day and held your hand, feeling the warmth of your body touching me. I just......I-I just......” she stopped herself and let out a few sobs before she took a breath “I just really care about you” she said but the look on her face told me she was gonna say something else but for now I will let her continue.

She rubbed her eye a bit “I-I'm sorry if I seem forward, I heard from Twilight about what Aloe did and I  don't want you think bad of me” she hung her head a little after saying that but I just picked her right back up and hugged her again which surprised her.

“I could never think bad of you Derpy and believe me, your not being forward at all. I am honored that you think so highly of me Derpy and I really care about you too. So please don't be sad, crying makes it hard to see your pretty yellow eyes” I said with a caring smile and that little comment brightened her up and got her to smile as she pressed into the hug even more. 

“Thank you for listening Adrian, I really appreciate it” Derpy said as she backed up and took to the air “Unfortunately I have to get going and get back to my route” she dug in her pack real quick and took out a small torn piece of paper and gave it to me “I don't know how long you will be gone but maybe you could write to me while your away” she said with a blush and studied the floor with her eyes.

I looked at the paper and it was an address with her name on it and I got up, which finally seemed to wake Artemis up but she lied there and began to stretch her body out. “Well, if I do end up staying for a while I will do my best to write to you, that is if I am busy saving the world or something” I said to her with a grin which got her to laugh. I held out my arms for one last hug and she gladly flew in for it. “See you later Derpy and be careful while I am away”

“I will, I'm going to miss you” Derpy said as she leaned away from the hug. I lowered my arms and she seemed to fly away for a second but suddenly she flew back in and gave me a kiss on the cheek, which made both of our faces explode into red “Uh! Um! BYE!” she nervously said before she quickly dashed out and amazingly she did not crash into anything. I stood there frozen in time, the only movement was my hand that moved to touch the cheek she kissed.

I must of stood there for five whole minutes cause it was about this time that I heard Artemis give me a little howl as she pawed my legs. I shook my head and looked down at her which made her spin in a circle and panted heavily. “All right girl, lets take you out. We both need some fresh air”


---------- 1 Hour and 15 Minutes Later ----------


You know one new thing I learned this past hour or so? Long hair is annoying to take care of, especially twenty three inches of it! I asked Twilight after getting over my shock how long it was and she measured it twice and it was now twenty three inches long! After flailing it all over and eating most of it I finally got some help and Twilight put a single hair band at the bottom of my neck which actually kept it in place. Who knew!

So after an hour Twilight had finally come down and we were off and we spend the next fifteenth minutes getting through the crowd, well I should say five minutes of struggling before Twilight teleported us both out of harms way before sneaking over to the train station the next ten minutes. Who also know being so popular was difficult? But here we are at the train station and luckily the other four were ready and waiting and were saying goodbye to the others. Of course I was assaulted upon arrival by the three fillies who begged me to either stay or take them with but with some talking to I finally convinced them to stay, nearly dying of a cuteness heart attack.

After saying our goodbyes we boarded our train and putting our luggage away we made our way to our seats and waved out final goodbyes. I was about to sit back when I heard Rainbow say “Hey, is that Derpy?” I snapped back to the window and saw that she had just gotten here and was out of breath as she looked at me. The train whistle blew and we started to move and the second we did Derpy started to walk with the train till she got to the edge and simply waved at me with a smile. I sat there for a few moments staring at the train station until it was out of sight before I slumped back into my seat.

I didn't notice the other girls staring at me until Pinkie popped under me and startled me which only made her laugh “Whatcha looking at?” she asked.

“I-I don't....I am looking at a very silly pink pony with poofy curls and goofy smile” I said to her.

“GASP! Really?! Where!” she said she started to look around without actually moving her body.

“Right.........here” I said as I bopped her nose which made it wiggle, followed very shortly by a giggle as she snuggled into my lap and let out a content sigh. 

“Boy, you sure are a charmer eh?” Vinyl jested as she poked my arm.

“Nope, I just caught myself a Pinkie Pie and I am enjoying the spoils of war” I boasted as I pumped out my chest and gave a grunt “And one day I shall catch them all!” 

“Well, good luck with that. I won't be such an easy catch for you” Vinyl said as she stuck out her tongue.

“Don't underestimate him! Any pony who gets caught in his terrifying ear scratch fall under his spell! Among its victims are Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Princess Luna, and myself!” Pinkie concluded with dramatic sigh and to prove her point I slightly reach out with my left hand and began the dreaded ear scratch of legend and instantly she melted in my hand once more “Heh heh! Seeeeeeeeeee~”

“HEY! I did not fall victim! I allowed him to scratch my ear just to see what all the fuss was about!” Rainbow cried out while crossing her legs and pouted. 

“Really? Huh, well like I said. I am not such an easy prey to catch!” Vinyl boasted but I saw that she scooted a little bit closer to me.

“Well, if you think you can resist then shall I give it a try?” I said as I held up my free hand and gave the air a few squeezes. 

“Bring it!” Vinyl said as she scooted right next to me and grinned. I smiled at as I reached over to her right side and using my right hand I placed it upon her ear and began to scratch and I felt her body jolt a bit before slumping a bit. “Rer-rai-Rainbow was right, I-I don't see what the-the......” she tried to get out before she leaned into my hand and hummed a tune to herself.

“Capture complete” Pinkie Pie silently said before returning to her blissful state which caused the other three mares to giggle but suddenly Vinyl scooted closer and rested her head on my side while I scratched and her breathing became soft and rhythmic. She fell asleep and deciding to follow suite Pinkie also fell asleep in my lap with her ear being scratched. 

“Well shoot sugarcube, looks like ya caught another one” Applejack joked as she tried to stifle her laughter with her hoof but soon she found herself yawning “But I have'ta say that looks mighty fine to me, guess I could take a short nap” she said as she lowered her stetson over her face and leaned back, quickly catching up to the growing trend. 

“Yeah, didn't get much sleep either. Goodnight big guy, night Twilight” Rainbow said as she made a quick spot for herself before curling up and wrapping herself with her wings like a blanket and began snoozing.

“Their probably all tired from not sleeping well this past week, we were all really worried about you” Twilight said as her eyelids began to droop “But before I take a nap too I want to ask one thing, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to yet”

“Go ahead Twilight” I said.

“Well, I didn't mean to pry but after I left I forgot my favorite quill in the library and was going to retrieve it when I saw through the crack of the door Derpy crying in your arms and I heard a little bit of the end and her goodbye as well. What are you going to do?” she asked.

I let out a deep sigh while I searched for the words, I had not really thought about it much since I was still shocked by it “I......I'm not really sure. I am still sorting out my feelings about the possibility of dating ponies and what not after the Aloe thing. Speaking of such, Derpy said you told her about all that?” I said.

“Yes, I didn't mean to but she told me during her flight she saw you acting strange when you got out that day and then she probably heard my little........talk with her later on. So she came up to me and got a little worried about you. I didn't tell her every single detail of her actions, but she caught on to what I was saying and seemed to understand why you were upset. Sorry if you didn't want her knowing” she explained to me.

I shook my head “It's alright, I just wasn't expecting it. But back to your question, I guess I am kinda glad we are going away for a while. Gives me some time to think. I don't think she meant to kiss my cheek since she seemed equally as surprised as me but earlier she seemed to want to say something else but ended up saying she really cared for me. But I''m pretty sure she meant that certain something else” I told her.

“That is what I was thinking as well from what I heard. Well, when we get to the Crystal Empire you can always talk to Cadence about this. She is the Princess of Love after all and it was that very love that defeated Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra. So if anyone can help, its her!” she happily exclaimed.

“You really love her don't you?” I said.

“Sure do! She is my sister-in-law after all, Shining Armor is my brother and is the captain of the royal guard!” she excitedly told me. 

“Wow! You have quite a family. Well I guess I could give it a shot and talk to her, no promises though. It might take a while but I also know that I should have some sort of an answer before I get back” I said.

“Yes, that would best” she briefly said before she yawned “Do you want to talk about it some more?”

“No, thats enough for now. I have a lot to think about already” I gave a nervous chuckle “Go ahead and get some sleep, you don't want to tired when we meet your two favorite peop-onies! Ponies......ponies” I corrected myself. 

Twilight giggled at it anyway before she yawned again “Good night Adrian” she said before she rested her head against the cushion and soon fell asleep, leaving me awake and alone. I mindlessly continued to scratch Pinkies and Vinyls ears as I aimlessly stared out the window and saw the world outside fly by and slowly change while I was surrounded by sleeping mares and a timberwolf pup.

“Crystal Empire here I come”
> The Princess Of Love Meets A Human And The Study Of Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


---------- 4 ½ Hours Later ----------


“OH! OH! OH! MY TURN!” Pinkie said as energetically as ever before she did a complete three sixty degree turn while looking around for an object and finally settling on one she said “OK! I spy with my little eye something green and purple!”

The rest of us began searching all over the inside of the train car and outside to try and find an object that was both green and purple, though at first we all thought it was going to be easy since there is not a lot with those two colors. But after a minute or so of searching we all gave up and asked what it was. Pinkie giggled first before saying “It's Adrian eye!” she pointed a hoof at said eye which caused us all to groan.

“That wasn't fair Pinkie, I can't see my own eyes” I said jokingly.

“I know but it was still funny! And I can't help but notice them, their so colorful and sparkly!” Pinkie said with a smile.

“Not to mention totally wicked and cool! Almost like me, but nothing can ever compare to me of course” Rainbow boasted.

“Rainbows boasting aside, I am wondering sugarcube why yer eyes are like that now” Applejack said.

“Actually we are not completely sure about that Applejack, that is one of the main reasons we are heading over to the Crystal Empire and researching. It might be something simple as his bodies natural reaction to magic and trying to compensate or it could mean something more serious and hurtful to himself and others” Twilight explained.

“Ah see! Well I hope nothings wrong with ya Adrian, would hate ta see something bad happen to ya” Applejack said to me.

“I appreciate that Applejack, but I am willing to bet that it is nothing serious and simply me reacting to magic. Though it could of done that without my hair exploding” I said with a pout as I ran my hand through my long white hair. 

“Well I like it! It looks like you have a mane like us now!” Pinkie said before she crawled her way behind me and wrapped my hair around her like a cloak “Ooooooooh! And its super soft! What do you think girls? You like?” she asked as she let my hair rest naturally on her and posed like a supermodel. 

“Shoot sugarcube, you actually look good with his white hair mixed with yer own Pinkie” Applejack said.

“Really?! SQUEEEE~” Pinkie said with a squeak before my hair fell in her eyes then she scooted back and latched herself to my back “And now I have the perfect hiding spot! A warm and comfy hiding spot heeeeee” I rolled my eyes before glancing outside and saw that it had turned into a winter wonderland outside and thankfully it was not snowing so I could see into the distance, though all I saw were white mountains and a few trees. 

“So, is it always winter time up here?” I asked.

“Yes it is, the Crystal Empire is always surrounded by snow and ice but thanks to the magic of the crystal heart and the ponies love keeps back the snow and the cold and out of the city” Twilight told us.

“Ah, I see. Magic really is amazing. Hopefully I can learn how to control it and not pass out” I said with a laugh.

“Well that is why we are here after and we should be pulling in probably within the next fifteen minutes or so” Twilight said.

“Alright, quick question. Are there any special rules or customs I need to know about before we arrive?” I asked.

“Not really, but I would suggest that you do not talk or mention King Sombra at all. Most, if not all, of the crystal ponies are still afraid of him and don't like talking about him or anything related to him” she explained.

“Well that won't be a problem since I don't have any knowledge of him anyway” I said

“Excellent! Other than that, just prepare yourself for their reactions to you. I sent a letter to Cadence before we left describing our situation and a little about you as well as a current picture of you so she could inform the Empire and not have them freak out or anything” Twilight said.

“Wow, thank you Twilight. Your always a step or two ahead” I complimented her.

“Well it always helps to be prepared and take everything into account. One small lesson I learned from Celestia” she said with a beaming smile.

“So real quick, what are Princess Cadence and Shining Armor like?” I asked her.

“You'll really like them both! Shining will probably a little cautious of you at first since part of his guard training to is assess anything new and determine if it is a threat or not. Nothing against you of course!” she quickly added and I replied with a smile and a nod “Once he is past that he is really goofy and a bit nerdy, while in Canterlot Academy he had a small group of friends who loved to play a game called Oubliettes & Ogres. But he is also really kind and sweet and would anything for a pony in need”

“Cadence was my foal sitter when I was little and so we practically grew up together and she is the most kind and wonderful mare ever! She is also sweet and gentle and has so much love for every pony! She is amazing and I am so happy that she is my sister-in-law!” Twilight said with a smile a mile long.

I felt Pinkie climb up my back and whispered into my ear “Just wait until you see their special dance they do whenever they see each other” she very quietly said before sliding back down. 

“Oh and since you don't know, Cadence is a pink Alicorn and Shining is a white and blue unicorn. She is a little bit taller than us but not quite as tall as Celestia. She is probably around Lunas height” Twilight explained to me.

I nodded and was about to ask something else before a brown stallion in a fancy coat came through “We will be arriving at the Crystal Empire in five minutes! All guests be sure to clean your area and pick up any and all personal items and luggage! Again! We will be arriving at the Crystal Empire in five minutes!” he yelled out before he walked through and into the next car. 

“Oh I am so excited to be able to visit Cadence and Shining again! And to be able to visit the Crystal Library and study!” Twilight happily said as she danced in place.

“Unfortunately I will not be sticking around, once we arrive I have to get going to meet Octavia. She got us a dinner reservation at this fancy restaurant that she has been raving on and on about. If you have some spare time then you should totally meet her Adrian! Of course that is after I tell her all about you!” Vinyl said with a wink and smile.

“I would love to meet her, anyone who can learn to live with you is certainly a special pony indeed” I jokingly said but laughed when she playfully hit my arm.

“Though I will be leaving out some embarrassing aspects on my part, especially the ear scratch part” she said with a pout and I laughed again.

“Well like I said I would love to meet her and hear her perform” I honestly said.

“She would love that, actually it would probably boost her ratings having the only human in Equestria come and see her perform!” Vinyl exclaimed.

“Guess I can't refuse now” I said with a chuckle. After that we quickly exchanged info as she gave me another card that held her address for while she was in the Crystal Empire and a pamphlet for Octavias  show with her writing down how to receive free tickets. The train eventually came to a stop and with a few stretches we gathered our things and got off the train and walked over to an empty spot. 

“Well this is where I take my leave. I hope to see you girls around!” Vinyl said to the mares and gave them all a quick wave before walking up to me “And I better see you sooner!”

“I promise I will do my very best to come see you and Octavia” I told her as I placed my hand over my heart.

“You better! Now come here” She motioned with her hoof to come closer, so I kneeled down and she gave me a hug, to which I happily gave her one and decided to sneak in a few ear scratches. I felt her melt into me for a few seconds before she snapped back to reality and ended the hug but smiled at me while waving us goodbye.

It was about this time that I noticed something kinda strange, while the ponies around were giving me strange looks as they stared at me I noticed that the ponies were literally shining! It almost looked like someone carved a pony out of crystals and brought it to life. Guess that is why they are called Crystal Ponies. Breaking away from the new sight I turned to Twilight. “So, where are we meeting up with them?” I asked.

Twilight took a quick look around “Well we should be meeting them here at the station and I told them when the train was going to be pulling in. So lets wait here for a few minutes and then go from there” she told us all. Thankfully we did not wait long for we saw a figure heading towards us and going off what Twilight told me I was pretty sure this was her brother.

He was a strong looking stallion with body armor on, though he kept his helmet off. But I saw his eyes staring through me as he inspected me from head to toe, as though he was expecting me to carry a hidden weapon. Figuring the best thing to do was to show that I meant to harm, so once he stopped walking and stood in front of me I did a small bow and smiled while I held out my hand “Hello there sir. My name is Adrian Frost and it is an honor to meet you” I said to him.

He looked a little surprised at my greeting but after taking one more glance over he relaxed a little and shook my hand “Good to meet you Adrian, so this is what a human looks like” he said as he inspected my hand in his hoof. He finally let it down and he smiled wide as he spotted Twilight and the two ran to each other and embraced. “TWILY! It is so good to see you again lil sis!” 

Twilight giggled but hugged him more “I am so happy to see you again BBBFF!” she said before they finally let go of each other and started small talking back and forth. 

I turned to Applejack and quietly said “What's BBBFF?”

“Big Brother Best Friend Forever. Something they call each other since they were foals” she explained to me. 

“So Shining, where is Cadence? I thought you both were going to meet us?” Twilight asked Shining.

“I told her to wait until I checked him out. I trusted your letter to us but I just wanted to see for myself before introducing her” he told her.

“I understand, so where is she then?” Twilight asked.

“Give me a moment” Shining said. He lifted his head and charged his horn before releasing a small red ball into the air before it vanished “I told her to wait close by until she saw that signal. She should be here any-” at that moment a flash of pink zoomed past them and slammed into me as I felt myself being crushed by a set of hooves “-moment. Cadence?!?” Shining confusingly shouted out.

“OH MY GOSH! HE IS SO CUTE!” the pink alicorn declared as she continued her hug while rolling us both back and forth on the ground, her wings wrapped around me and her face nuzzling mine. “He looked so adorable in the photo but he is even cuter up close! SQUEEEEEEEEEE~!” 

The four mares and stallion had utterly confused looks as they witnessed me being hugged and squeezed by the giggling alicorn mare, and by this time my face was as red an apple. “C-c-Cadence! What in Celestia are you doing?!” Shining worryingly called out.

“Whatever do you mean dear husband?” she said to him with a blank face, as if he had just said something crazy and she was acting normal “As you can see I am welcoming our guest!”

“By hugging him and calling him cute?!” Shining said as he stared at us.

“Well of course! What else did you expect me to do if I see something cute! I was like this when we visited the pet store in Saddle Arabia and I saw those adorable tiger kittens!” she explained by snuggling me a bit more and her face turned into one of absolute joy and bliss while she ran a hoof through my hair.

“Yes but they were pets and animals, this is.....well.......not” Shining tried to explain before turning to Twilight “Right?”

Twilight stood there mouth agape before she registered that he asked her a question and shook her head to clear her thoughts “Y-yes. Adrian is a human being from another world” she said.

“GASP! Your from another world? Amazing! Well I guess that explains why your cute!” she told me before snuggling me even more.

“It does?” all five ponies said simultaneously. 

“It does! His cuteness is out of this world!” she said in all seriousness before she nuzzled my cheek, my face felt like it was going to explode any second now and I think steam was starting to drift from my head. But right after she said that I heard four moans reply to her terrible joke but only one set of laughter, no need to guess which pony that came from. Pinkie.

“Um, Cadence?” Twilight finally spoke up which finally made Cadence release me from her grip as she made her way to Twilight.

“Twilight! Oh it is so good to see you!” the two hugged before they faced each other and started to do a little dance while they both sang “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” afterwards they hugged again and like Shining they engaged in small talk and tried to catch up with each other. I sat there dazed and confused as to what just happened.

Rainbow was the first to help me up to my feet but not before she snickered “Well, looks like you have a fan” 

“I know! Which is good for you!” Pinkie Pie said which made the rest of us confused, especially Shining.

“How is that good?” said stallion asked.

“Its good cause all you need to do now Adrian is use your ear scratch on her and add her to your collection!” Pinkie happily said as she bounced around me but the look on Shinings face was one of confusion and slight horror.

“Collection?!?” he shouted as he took a step back and charged his horn but thankfully the girls came to my aid and shielded me from him.

“She didn't mean it like that Shining! Honest! It's just a bit of an inside joke is all!” Rainbow quickly defended me and after the others agreed he finally lowered his horn but gave me a scrutinized look.

“Well, what did she mean by that then?” he curiously asked.

It was at this did Pinkie happily smiled before she leaped and bounded over to me and forced me to sit down before taking her normal spot next to me and wiggled her ear. Finding I probably had no choice I reached over and began the ear scratch and turned her into goo which a silly grin “Theeeeeeeese ish what I meant by thaaaaaaaaat” she groggily said which in turn made the girls laugh.

Shining stared in disbelief but after a few seconds started to chuckle along as well “I-I see. Sorry that I misinterpreted this......action” he said while stifling his laughter “So how many others have you.....collected?” he asked.

Before I could speak Pinkie jumped up with renewed vigor and answered with “Well besides me, he also has the CMC, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Derpy, Vinyl, and even Princess Luna!”

Rainbow blushed before she pounded her hoof on the ground “I am not! Like I said I was just curious as to what all the fuss was about, that's all!” she said before she took to the air with an embarrassed look on her face.

Shining was about to comment before he was knocked aside by the same pink blur as before but she stopped right before me and stared at me “Did you just say you collected Princess Luna?” she asked.

“He sure did! Isn't that right Adrian?” Pinkie said which I responded with by rolling my eyes and petting her head which seemed to squeak under my hand.

“And you did this by simply performing an ear scratch?” Cadence asked.

“Well Princess Cadence, in Princess Luna's case it was The Royal Ear Scratch. With Pinkie and the others it was The Ear Scratch” I embarrassingly said.

“Oh please Adrian, just call me Cadence. I won't have a cute thing like you call me so formally!” she happily said which only made me blush “And if you don't mind, perhaps later you could also give me The Royal Ear Scratch?” Cadence pleaded to me with a sad pouty face and twinkling eyes.

“I-I-I would be honored” I finally made out which earned me another delightful squeak from her. 

Twilight interrupted by doing a fake cough to catch our attention “That should wait for later, we should start heading over to the library so we can start our research” she told us all.

“Your absolutely right Twilight! Lets go do that right now!” Shining called out as he gently leaded his wife away from us and most likely in the direction of the library. She looked back at me with a sad face  but continued walking and sighed. The rest of us slowly followed behind and after a minute I bent down to Twilight to ask her a question.

“Hey Twilight, did you say something to her while you two were talking?” I asked her.

“Mostly yes, I just told her not to be so........loving. I wasn't sure how comfortable you were so I asked her to ease up a little. Why? Did you already notice?” Twilight jokingly asked with that last question which made me give out a slight grunt.

“Implications aside, yes I did notice by the fact that she did not hug me again when she somehow learned about the ear scratch thing or beg me to give her one. That and look” I pointed at Cadence who was visibly shaking and her wings were extended and twitched nervously. “She looks like she is holding herself back”

Twilight saw this and sighed and was about to say something before she noticed that Cadence had stopped walking and simply stood in place and was shaking like a leaf, Shining was next to her asking if she was alright. No answer was heard so we all rushed up to her and saw her face which looked conflicted and in pain. I went to stand in front of her and I saw her flinch a bit but she bit her lip and began to sweat a little. Finally after Shining asked again we finally heard her say “I-I-I can't hold back for much longer”

Shining and the other girls, besides Twilight, were confused and Shining asked what she meant, to which she replied with “Urge to hug and cuddle.......ever growing” and with that I heard them all groan, except for Pinkie again who just laughed.

I smiled but shook my head at her antics before I looked over at Shining “With your permission?” I asked and after a mental debate he finally nodded his approval. I turned to face the trembling Alicorn and I opened up my arms “Come on” I said in a defeated sigh which was automatically met with her shooting forward like a cannonball and wrapping her hooves around me while nuzzling and snuggling me. 

“OH THANK YOU! I could not bear to hold back from hugging you for much longer!” Cadence said as she hung from my neck “You are so kind and SO CUTE!” she told me as she wiggled around in delight. 

Letting out a playful sigh I scooped her up in my arms and held her in a princess carry while she clung to me but gasped out in surprised when I did so. “Oh my! Kind, cute, and chivalrous! Lucky me!” Cadence happily sung as she swung her back hooves back and forth as we continued our walk. “Now, on our way to the library tell me everything about you Adrian! From both back home until now!” she excitingly said. So taking in a deep breath I began my tale.


---------- 30 Minutes Later ----------


“Oh you poor, poor thing!” Cadence said as she squeezed me even more in her warm, friendly hug. I had just finished telling her about myself, well I left out a lot of details about back home saying that I was not ready just yet to reveal so much since most of it was really emotional for me. Thankfully Cadence did not pry and just let me continue. I had concluded with the attack in the woods and the after talk and plan to come here to study, I left out the last part about Derpy since that will be a more private talk for later. 

“I am very much surprised about all that, your very lucky to have survived that ambush especially with an Alpha involved!” Shining said. He only really payed attention to the battle and my bout with the Alpha against my magic. It was also around this time when I explained about Artemis did I notice that she had been really quiet and spent a few minutes searching for her and found her hunting a few stray animals and eating. Which led to another explanation of her not being dangerous and her being my pet. 

Once everything was calm and the two accepted Artemis as my pet, we continued our walk to the Crystal Library. Suffice to say that with how our group looked, we got our fair share and more of surprised looks with me carrying their Princess bridal style, with an entourage that consisted of her husband, Princess Twilight, the girls, and a timberwolf pup. The staring on me was much more intense than those in Ponyville this time though, mainly because of my new look and I didn't really blame them for it. 

But thankfully no pony did or say anything strange to any of us, well I guess I should say to me. Also thankfully Artemis was behaving very well which surprised me since this is probably the first time she had been around this many ponies outside the forest. But simply taking it as a good sign and not wanting to jinx it I let it be as I let Cadence continue to be a snuggle bunny in my arms, a fact that I was pretty sure led to Shining boring a hole in my head through his stare.

I was walking ahead of him since Cadence wanted to be out front to lead us while being carried and continuously calling me cute and other embarrassing and endearing terms. That was one thing that really confused me as to why she thought I was cute and was being really friendly, but never being really affectionate. But due to the name calling it led me to believe and feel her husbands stare into my skull.

I was brought out of my inner debate when I felt my long hair being played with, so I looked down to find Cadence twirling and fiddling with my hair in her hooves with a giddy look plastered on her face. “You have such a nice mane! And I really like the color, its really rare to see pure white colored hair. You and Fleetfoot are the only two I know of who have it. And your eyes” she raised her head a little to look into my eyes “They are really entrancing and magical looking. They are quite lovely” she said which made me flush red once again, to which she noticed and giggled.

“Awwwww! You are so adorable and cute with your blushing!” she excitingly said as she giggled in my arms. Sheesh, I think my face was going to have a permanent blush thanks to her. I groaned rather loudly which made her giggle again but when I looked down at her she looked at me like a mother would look at a child when they did something silly and smiled. I was really shocked to see her have a face like that and I felt my face return to normal as my lips formed a friendly smile in return.

After I returned her loving smile she reached up with her hoof and touched my cheek “I can tell that you don't have a special somepony in your life right now, but I sense that their may be one in the future. Whoever they are will be a really lucky mare to have you” Cadence seriously said to me in a mature tone, which stunned me to see the goofy mare a few moments ago suddenly say this. But after a moment to take in what she said I smiled and shook my head.

“No, I would be the lucky one to have them” I sincerely said to her. This made her smile more as her eyes seemed to study me “But in regards to that, I wish to speak to you later in private about this matter” which seemed to grab her attention.

“I would love to have that chat with you, so long as it isn't about you declaring your love for me. I already have a husband you silly human” she playfully giggled as she pretended to be bashful.

“Oh darn, you caught me Cadence” I played along with her but she giggled madly at this and soon I fell in line and laughed with her. “Unfortunately it isn't about you but another mare back in Ponyville. That's all I wanna say for now though until we are in private. I hope that is ok” I said to her.

She nodded her head “That is perfectly fine, matters of the heart are best done privately. Now hug me some more you cute and warm human!” she loudly said as she jumped in my arms and hung around my neck and forced me to twirl around. Seeing that she might fly off I grabbed under her front legs, but now she let go slightly and now it looked like I was swinging her around like one would to for their girlfriend or wife. I swear the side of my head was on fire due to Shining staring at me.

Once she got that out of her system she retook her place in my arms and pointed me in the right direction again and off we went. Very soon I felt her head plop against my chest and she began to nuzzle me which of course made me red once more, taking a deep breath I spoke up “Your a very different kind of pony Cadence, starting off silly to being all serious then right back to silly” I told her.

“Well, I am the Princess of Love and love works in mysterious ways so I change from time to time depending on who is with me and how their hearts feel and beat. For you I can feel a touch of loneliness and sadness and a bit of fear, but also the great capacity to love others and accept them with open hooves. I can't wait to see your heart bloom in others and in yourself” Cadence said as she smiled sweetly at me before nuzzling my chest more. I felt my heart skip a few beats during her talk just now, how she said it really struck me. 

I was going to say something else before I heard Cadence speak up “Ta Da! I present to you the Royal Library of the Crystal Empire!” she presented the building by holding her front hooves off in a showcase manner while in my arms. Twilight sprinted in front of yes while repeating the word yes over and over again, I rolled my eyes at this but smiled anyway. The rest of us followed behind her dust trail and into the large crystal building. 

“Wow! This place is amazing!” I found myself saying as I gawked at the view, it was all very beautiful and awe inspiring. While the crystal layout reminded me of Twilights library, it differed in the fact that almost everything but the books were made out of crystal instead of it just being the walls, floor, and ceiling. Even the handrails looked to be made from black obsidian and had glass panels installed underneath. 

“I'm glad you like it Adrian, it makes me very proud to be able to hold such an amazing place like this in my Empire. Now as I understand it we are looking for information on foreign magic on non-magical beings, nature magic or natural animal magic, and eventually magical application?” She asked.

“Exactly! Where can we find those sections?” Twilight said to Cadence.

“Actually all of them happen to be under a single section called 'Practical World Magic' in the 'Magical Biology And Application' Wing” Cadence stated. I almost wanted to laugh which Cadence saw and asked “What?”

“It's nothing, just thought it was a little funny that it seemed a little convenient to me is all” I said to her.

She simply shrugged “Well larger libraries like this one and the Royal Canterlot Archives house so many books and unless we wanted to have so many sections and wings that we would still be sorting today we decided to simplify it for now. Though we do have multiple plans on how to sort them into more detailed selections in the future” she informed us.

“I see, well lead the way Princess!” I said to her to which she pointed in the direction and away we all walked, well most of us walked while a certain Alicorn refused to be set down. After passing by several sections and wings we finally made our way to the correct section and for the first time Cadence finally let herself down before she started trotting down the aisles in search of the correct book, soon followed by Twilight. 

Thankfully after only waiting ten minutes or so both Cadence and Twilight returned with a mountain of books carried by their magic and set them on the closest table. Unfortunately due to the fact that it was a mountain of books meant we would be in here for a while the rest of us knew it and shared the same expression of dread. Twilight grabbed the first book and held it up “Alright everypony, now since most of you don't know exactly what to look for I want you to search for keywords instead. Look for timberwolves, alpha, changes in eye color, and non magical beings. If you find one then start reading that section closely, if not then carefully skim the rest for those keywords. Since it already so late we will do a light search for now and pick up tomorrow” she said to us before diving into her book.

Pinkie Pie, Cadence, and Shining were the first to pick up a book and finally after a grunt of disapproval Rainbow and Applejack finally picked up a random book and started as well. I finally found one that struck my eye and picked up a dark crimson book with a gold trim and imprinted in the middle was a polished silver symbol that seemed to resemble fire. I looked to the side and I did not see a title, wonder why they picked this one up then if it had no title? I cracked open the hard cover to see if a title was inside.

The inside cover and first page were blank so I turned it to the next and hissed my hand back due to getting a paper cut and brought my finger to my mouth and sucked on the small amount of blood till it stopped. I looked down at the book to see if any blood had stained the paper and thankfully it was clean and that is when I saw the title in bold lettering, almost looked new actually. 'The Element Within: Spirit Of Fire' now this looked interesting though I doubt it had what we were searching for. But Twilight did say today would be short and we would be starting the real searching tomorrow so I continued reading.

On the next page it read 'This book was written by Star Swirled the Bearded to instruct those who wish to learn how to conquer the magic within and use it. Be wary for those who use this power for greed will perish while those who wish to provide magic to their neighbors will prevail'

Right below this text was another sentence that read 'This book has been co-read and approved by Princess Celestia and King Solar Flare' 

Hmmm, I wonder who King Solar Flare is? Come to think of it, the only queen I have heard of is Queen Chrysalis and the only king has been King Sombra. Wonder why? A question I think Celestia should probably answer since it seems that both her and this King Solar Flare probably lived in the same time. Putting that away for later I turned the page and was bombarded with paragraphs upon paragraphs of words with a chapter title of 'Chapter One: Dragon Ember, Natures Fire' now this sounded interesting. 

I found a chair to sit down in and I began to read: 'In the beginning fire did not exist outside of molten magma that set all material, flesh, and bone on fire and could not be controlled. The only masters of fire were the mighty and proud dragon race that dominated the skies and rained fire upon their foes or potential rivals, so I decided to venture south to study dragon kind and learn their secrets of fire manipulation. With that in mind I requested the audience of King Flare who was celebrating the birth of his daughters, his sun and moon as he liked to call them. Once the summit with the King was over and all my materials approved and packed I journeyed south past the Badlands.....'


---------- 3 Hours Later ----------


I gave a hearty yawn and rubbed my eyes as I placed the golden ribbon bookmark that was attached to the book where I had stopped. I had made it through the first two chapters and was likely about half way through the third when I heard Twilight call out for me to join them. Placing the book on the table I wandered over to the group who had gathered around a book.

“Adrian! Look, we found something!” Twilight said as she pointed to a particular piece of text which was titled 'Magical Backlash' “Now we are not hundred percent sure but from what we read it sounds the closest to your situation. It says that creatures or objects that are not born with magic inside of them or who do not develop them have a resistance to magic instead and all magical effects cast on them are either lessened or if the spell is weak enough will simply not work”

“So then earth ponies are natural magic resistant?” I asked.

“No, while earth ponies do not posses unicorn magic they do in fact have the magic of the land strongly infused within them which is why most earth ponies tend to the land since they are more in tune. Basically the same concept for pegasus ponies and of course unicorns are born to be able to manipulate magic they are born with. It is actually very rare for any sort of creature or object to be born without having magic”

“However, lets say a mountain was made and had no magic infused and a rock broke off and blocked a road and a unicorn tried to move it with magic it would either be very difficult to move or simply not be affected and would have to be moved by hoof. Now magical backlash happens when you try to infuse that rock with magic and said magic rebounds on either the rock or the user and a fifty/fifty effect will happen though usually negative”

“For instance that rock might either simply absorb the magic and be a normal rock or it might explode. For the user, in this case the unicorn traveler, the spell would rebound back to them and they could gain properties of that rock like stone fur or enhanced durability or stamina. Or they could die from having their magic being forced back inside. Now that being said a rebounded spell would only be deadly depending on how powerful or how big it is. A simple levitation spell would simply cause a headache or a cut or two”

“It also says that those who survive more powerful backlashes that are enough to kill could sometimes be physically altered due to the properties of the magic spell. Some of the reported changes have been different fur or mane colors, new personalities, hooves changing to claws, longer tails, and only one case of one single eye changing colors. So we are possibly thinking that you got a bit of magical backlash” Twilight finished with a long breath.

“However it might not be since due to the fact that you were not born with magic that you know of but then acquired it when you crossed over to our world and you would of felt it for it to be powerful enough to change your eyes and your hair. But since you told us that you felt no pain and only the opposite means that it is a new kind of harmless backlash or something else entirely” Cadence explained.

“I'm sorry that we weren't able to find anything definite Adrian” Twilight sorrowfully said and hung her head and the others seemed to show the same feeling.

I simply shook my head and smiled “Don't beat yourselves up over this, like you said earlier Twilight today was simply a short start and that meant that we would probably not find anything in the first place. The fact that you found something is an excellent start and from there we grow on it and learn and continue to find the truth. If you get hung up on something little then you won't be able to see the big picture” I kindly told Twilight.

This made her cheer up almost instantly and she stared at me with wide eyes “You sounded like Princess Celestia with that last bit of advice. She actually said something similar to me before when I was her student in Canterlot” she told me then began to smile “Guess great minds think alike” 

I mildly blushed at the comment “I don't think I am quite as great as Celestia but thank you” I said with a nervous chuckle. I heard the others chuckle with me and I even saw Artemis happily wag her tail at me. I picked her up in my arms and began petting her which only made her happier and she began to lick my face.

“Awwww! That is adorable! And a little bizarre since I have never seen a timberwolf act like that before, first time for everything I suppose!” Cadence added in.

“Well we should get going for the night, unless there is something else you wish to do” Shining said to us all and then I thought about Vinyls offer so I set Artemis down, who whined at the action which made me wanna cry out in awe, and reached into my pocket and pulled folded pamphlet and looked at the dates and saw that the opening show was tonight at ten thirty.

“What time is it right now?” I asked them all.

They all looked around for a clock but Applejack found it first “It is nine right now partner” she informed me.

“Thank you Applejack. Well I do have an idea, Vinyls friend Octavia is doing her opening show tonight at ten thirty so if any of you want to we could always go and see that?” I told them.

“Wait! You know Vinyl Scratch?” Shining asked me.

“I sure do, I was her VIP guest at her club back in Ponyville about a week and a half ago, which was also my 'Welcome To Ponyville' party hosted by Pinkie. When we told her about us heading up here she rode along with us since she was already coming here for Octavia and when she left she invited me to come and meet Octavia and enjoy her performance” I said to him.

“Well aren't you just the cutest little stud! Your going to become quite the celebrity with all the friends your making in such a short amount of time!” Cadence said to me.

“Well I am the only one of my kind here so that is to be expected I suppose” I said with a nervous chuckle “So, what do you all think? Want to check her out tonight or wait for another day?” I asked them again.

They all talked amongst themselves and after a quick debate they all said yes and we were informed that Cadence and Shining had called to have our bags picked up at the station for us when we arrived and had them sent to our rooms in the castle. Boy, I am getting spoiled by once again staying in another castle as a guest.

So with our destination in mind Cadence and Twilight picked up all the books on the table and returned them and were about to leave when I stopped them “I think you forgot one” I told them as I went to my table to pick up the one I had to find it was gone “Oh, never mind. Guess you got it already”

“Neither me or Twilight picked up a book from that table, we thought all the books were already here” Cadence said to me “What did your book look like?”

“Well it had a crimson red cover with a gold lining and a shiny silver emblem on the front but had no name on the front” I explained.

“Weird, I don't remember picking that one up and there were none missing from my pile” Twilight said.

“Same here, all the books I picked got returned and I saw none missing. Maybe you accidentally picked one up that was already on the table from before?” Cadence offered.

“But who took it then if not you two?” I asked of them.

“Perhaps one of the roaming librarians picked it up, not the first time that a roaming librarian accidentally picked up a book in use and returned it” Cadence said to me.

“Darn, it was really interesting. Oh well, hopefully tomorrow I can find it again” I said with a shrug “Now, lets go get ready!” the others agreed and Artemis happily howled as she followed me. Though it was not two steps later when I felt a weight in my arms and saw a grinning Cadence looking up at me. “I should of guessed” I mused. But before I could say anything else I felt another weight slam into my back while a pair of hooves wrapped around my neck along with a familiar giggle “Et tu, Pinkie?”

Said Pinkie Pie simply giggled as she snuggled into me and I could feel her smile widen and seeing it as a challenge Cadence wrapped her hooves around my mid chest and tightly squeezed. I let out a defeated sigh before I began walking along with the laughing mares and even Shining started to find it amusing. “Tonight's going to be an interesting night”

“Your absolutely right, my cute human!” Cadence happily exclaimed as the two pink mares used me as a giant walking teddy bear/ transport. I only offered another sigh but smiled anyway, I don't think any of these ponies could ever make me mad at them for their silly antics. So with that in mind and arms full we began our trek to the castle for a fun night.


---------- Crystal Castle, Adrians Room ----------


“And that is the last of the luggage, thanks for helping out Flicker and you as well Shambles” the older stallion called out to his two helpers.

“No prob boss! Jus let us know if ye need any ting else alright?” Shambles said as he headed out.

“Twas our honor, inform me if thou need our assistance again! Fare thee well!” Flicker poetically said as he glided out. The older stallion simple sighed and dragged his hoof down his face.

“That Flicker is certainly a character but so long as he works hard then I ain't got no complaints” he said before closing the door and headed back home. The room was now empty and still except for the small poof sound before a solid object slammed onto the desk. The curtain was slightly ajar and the half moon briefly shined into the room and illuminated the crimson red book while the silver emblem reflected the moons soft beams into the room before a cloud snuffed out the light.
> Musical Notes, Dragon Fire, And A Human
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I will tell you one thing, nothing gathers more attention than a human being in the middle of a pink sandwich, especially when one of them is a Princess. But once again we were left alone and left our antics to the imagination of others as we continued our walk to the castle. I don't know if it is due to me getting used to carrying these ponies around or my magic but I noticed that the two of them were not heavy to carry but in the end I am not complaining and neither or they. I was already looking around at my surroundings when I felt my chest getting poked and when I looked down I saw a smiling Cadence.

“Yyyyyyeeeeees?” I dragged out the word to make her laugh, which worked like a charm cause she held a hoof up to her mouth while she tried to cover up her giggle.

“Wwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeel I just wanted to let you know that our castle is coming up and I wanted you to get a good look, it is really a breathtaking new sight!” Cadence told me.

I was going to ask but as we rounded a corner I saw what she meant and I was speechless. Their castle was a shining beacon even this late at night but the design blew me away, it stood on four legs and stretched into the sky and the whole building was symmetrically balanced with two towers on each side and the middle peaked up high as the crystal reflected the Empire perfectly. All in all it really was quite a sight to take in, how did I miss this before?

I was brought back to reality when I felt another soft poke on my chest and saw a giggling Cadence “I guess you like?” she said with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. 

“I suppose so” I said while I tried to feign like I was not impressed which got a good reaction out of her cause she puffed up her cheeks and pouted with her legs crossed. My act dropped in a second and I laughed “It looks amazing, I have never seen anything like it” I told her which made her return to normal in an instant and she gave me a hug.

“I am so glad you like it! I wanted to impress you!” she cheerfully said to me while she continued to snuggle up with me. I think they are trying to get me to permanently smile cause everything they do just makes my face hurt from smiling so much. We all continued up the path leading to the castle and soon enough we were facing the main doors, along with the guards who were staring at us with confused faces. Their mouths kept opening and closing as they tried to find the words but we were left in silence.

“Good evening Night Guards, would you be so kind as to let us in please? I do not want our guests thinking the Crystal Ponies are rude” Cadence spoke in a serious and royal manner, though the effect was slightly lost due to her being in my arms and having her legs wrapped around my body and hugging me. But they could not disobey her orders so they snapped to attention and quickly opened the doors for us “Thank you, keep up the good work!”

After Cadence thanked the guards we all walked inside but I turned around to make sure Artemis followed me in, thankfully she did though I saw the guards face twist into a mix of awe, shock, and confusion at her. Can't say I blame them though, not everyday a bipedal creature is carrying your princess and being followed by a friendly timberwolf, oh the joy of being me. But once we were all inside the doors close and we were greeted to the shimmering castle foyer and once again I look on in awe.

“Wow, this place is amazing! I'm not sure how to describe it but even though it all looks shiny and new, it has a rustic feel about it” I described out loud as I looked around.

“Well your not wrong, the Crystal Castle decor has not been changed in a thousand years and I really enjoy it. It really makes me feel at home” Cadence said to me as she looked around with a calm and relaxed face. 

“Your right dear, I felt no need to change anything when I first stepped in here. It's perfect” Shining spoke up.

“I always love visiting your home Cadence! It is always so beautiful!” Twilight said.

“But Twilight, your castle has the same kind of look on the inside” Rainbow told her while she flew around.

Twilight shook her head “Not really, while yes the general crystal look is similar the design and feel of the architect here is much more amazing and beautiful. But I am not saying that my library is boring and plain, I have just always loved it here” she explained to us.

The other girls seemed to agree with her as they dropped the conversation after that “Alright everypony! Now we have about an hour and ten minutes before Octavias concert starts, so we will show you to your rooms so you can get dressed and freshened up. Shining can you call a few taxis to meet us at ten, it will only take a few minutes to get there by cart” Cadence said to us all “Adrian, could you wait until tomorrow for the grand tour? It would be much better to enjoy it with sunlight illuminating the halls”

“I do not mind waiting, just means I have something else to look forward to!” I cheerfully said, which made her hug me a bit more. 

“You are too kind Adrian! Now walk through those doors and to the left to get to the stairs and from there I will direct you all to your rooms” Cadence explained and after we all nodded we began walking. Once we made our way upstairs Cadence pointed to their rooms and the girls started getting ready. After the rest were gone she directed me to my room but had kindly asked me to carry her to her room and not being able to say no I complied and I was rewarded with a squee and a hug. 

So after another brisk walk I found myself standing in front of a set of purple doors and on each door were cutie marks that belonged to Shining and Cadence, Cadence flared up her magic and opened the doors and led me inside her room and if I had to describe it in one word: Cozy. The bed was a king sized bed with posts that held a soft shade of purple colored curtains and the floor was a dark red carpet. Over in the corner was an unlit fireplace with a stack leading outside, I also saw three closet doors and the other door was probably to the bathroom.

Taking one more glance around I walked over to the bed and gently placed the pink alicorn on her bed with a disappointed sigh “Sorry Cadence but I can't hold you while you get ready” I said to her.

“I know, doesn't mean I have to like it” she replied with a pouty voice which only made me chuckle. “Hurry up and get ready so I don't have to wait long! Meet us in the foyer when your done” she told me and I nodded in response. Closing her doors I walked back to my room and began looking through my clothing which had expanded during my week long absence. Rarity had made me tons of new clothing to cheer me up with when I woke up and though I was happy I was worried that she spent too much time on me and not on her business. Fortunately she told me that she likes to stay ahead of her schedule and was already two and a half weeks ahead so she had some time to spare. 

Though when I opened up my bags and hung them all up I was looking at a rainbow of clothing and it almost made my eyes hurt. Deciding that tonight should be a black tie event I looked at the few darker outfits and decided on a black and long tail coat outfit. Taking it out and laying it all out on the bed with the shoes I looked to the next problem, Artemis. I am pretty sure they will not allow pets into the concert hall, especially a timberwolf, so I had to figure out how I was going to keep her locked up. I could either simply lock up my room or close her in the bathroom, actually the bathroom sounds better for now.

So with that in mind I got out my toiletries and took a nice, long hot shower. Though it was only long because I had to fumble with my new hair length and figure out how to properly wash it all and after a few pulled hairs I finally did. So after I dried off and brushed my teeth I got dressed, though I left off the coat for now, and I went over to the desk and sat down to think. I really hope that my magic won't be a problem for me or others and if it isn't I really hope that I can learn to control it, that would be awesome to be able to do all sorts of magic.

Well I am confident that we will find something useful during our stay here, and speaking of libraries I hope I can find that book again that I was reading, it was really interesting and I had really gotten into it and wanted to read more. Lets see, I still have about a half hour till I meet up with them, what can I do until then. I know! I am gonna pull out 'There And Back Again: A Gryphons Journey' and read some more out of that! Now where did I put it?

I began looking around the desk and in my bag but just as I lifted up a book to find it I noticed that the book in my hand looked familiar, so I brought it down and in front of me before I let out a gasp. It was the book from the library! How in the world did it get here?!? I opened up the front to look at the title and sure enough it read 'The Element Within: Spirit Of Fire' so it really is the same book as before! But the question of how it got here remains.

Maybe one of the librarians brought it up here? No, how would they know where I was since Cadence did not recognize the book and she would of told me if she did this. Gah, maybe I should just blame magic again for now until I talk to Twilight or Cadence about this. But I do have about thirty minutes to kill, so maybe some light reading will do for now. Just as I picked the book back up I felt Artemis paw at my legs and whined a little, so I reached over and placed her in my lap. Apparently this is what she wanted as she licked me a few times before curling up in my lap, so with her in place I cracked open the book and began where I left off.

'From what I learned after talking to the Dragon King Bahamut, dragons posses two different types of fire. From birth they have the ability to produce and sustain fire but only as a means of survival and was not meant for any offensive measures against any other creature. That type of fire is named Dragons Breath while the type of flames that we know of is called Dragons Fire and that is the flame they conjure using their natural magic. Most dragons don't know the difference since they use both with ease and without thought but their King knows otherwise and is about to explain the exact process. That process is........'


---------- 28 Minutes Later ----------


'….. and expelling the air out and using magic to combine it with the dragons breath will produce the magical flames of Dragons Fire. Quite fascinating really, and quite dangerous as I almost burned myself the second time I tried using it but with great focus and patience it is a worthy spell to master. But when I finally learned to control it I felt a new spark within me, a spark I had not felt since I acquired my magic when I was small. This feeling was that of understanding of the true essence of magic and the gift of nature.'

“Alright, that is enough for now. It is time to meet up with them” I said to myself as I bookmarked my page and set it down on the desk. I gently picked Artemis up and carried her over to the bathroom “All right Artemis, I am going to be gone for a while so just stay in here for now and behave. Understand?” I asked her and surprisingly she had sat down and took a guardian stance. Seeing as she understood me I went over and placed a few towels on the ground to make a bed.

I smiled at her before I shut the bathroom door and put on my tail coal before I looked myself over and decided that I was ready to go. But before I left I wanted to try something, so I went to the balcony and stood in the cool night air as I remembered what the book said to do to summon Dragon Fire. With that in mind I shut my eyes in order to concentrate on that feeling I had when I first did magic and once I found it again I took a deep breath, felt that swirling shoot up to my head and exhaled my breath with open eyes. What did I see? Nothing.

So I tried again and again and finally on the third try I saw a slight sliver of fire spiral from my mouth and into the air before it died out. YES! YES! YES! YES! That was awesome! Well, nothing as cool as what I thought but just the fact that I did that is amazing! I loved the way this book described the formula for fire magic instead of that complicated mess the 'Magic 101' book in Ponyville read. But cutting my victory short I quickly shut the balcony doors and my own room door as I sped down the stairs to the foyer.

I came to a stop right before the door to the foyer and took a breath, didn't want to sweat or look rushed, so I inhaled some air and let it out before I calmly opened the door and was greeted by the sight of five beautiful mares in dresses. Pinkie and Applejack were in dresses that matched their colors perfectly and Pinkie had done up her hair a little as well while Applejack still wore her stetson but appeared to be a cleaner and newer one. 

Rainbow wore a dress that shimmered like a rainbow with what looked like a trim made out of clouds but she wore a golden wreath headdress and looked Roman, it looked good on her. Twilight wore a dress that was dark blue and had stars sewn into it, matched her pretty well. Cadence wore a teal colored dress that had shiny purple flared tips sewn along the edge, it really made her eyes stand out. Shining wore what looked like a red and white military uniform that held a badge with his cutie mark on front with straps. 

“Wow, you all look great!” I said to the girls “And I really like your uniform Shining, looks good” I told him and he gave me a quick smile and nodded. The girls looked at me and gave me a quiet gasp as they looked me over, I was kinda worried when they did not reply so I looked myself over and began dusting myself thinking I missed a spot.

“You look amazing Adrian! All fine and shiny and dandy!” Pinkie said as she bounced around me.

“Oh my. Cute and handsome! Whatever shall I do with you now!” Cadence said to me while Shining gave her an irritated look which she took away when she gave him a quick peck on the cheek then he was glowing. 

“Did Rarity make that for you big guy?” Rainbow asked which I nodded my head in reply “Wow! She really did a good job! I might be tempted to join your collection if you always looked like that!” she said with a hearty laugh. 

“But Rainbow, aren't you already in the collection with me?” Pinkie asked her.

“NO I AM NOT! How many times do I have to say that I was simply curious as to what all the huff was about!” Rainbow said as she defended herself.

“Oh Rainbow! No need to act so tough! I mean he got Princess Luna and Vinyl to join, so there is no shame in it!” Pinkie replied with a grin.

“Well I am not a Princess or a DJ! I am the awesome Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow huffed as she turned her back “Let's just get going already, jeez” she said as she slowly walked away and to the door. The rest of the girls looked at each other and laughed before we all joined up with her. Outside were two taxi carts with a stallion hooked up front and ready to go.

“DIBS ON RIDING WITH ADRIAN!” both Cadence and Pinkie shouted before they dashed to my side with a mile long smile. 

“Cadence!” Shining said in a slightly annoyed tone.

“Oh please let me go with Adrian Shining. Please?” she asked of her husband with an adorable puppy dog face and I could see Shining visibly shocked that he was getting this face. He tried to resist but I saw that he was slowly starting to crumble. But just before he finally cracked Twilight stepped in.

“You know Shining, why don't you ride me with me and Applejack. I have been meaning to do some more catching up with you!” Twilight happily said and I could see Shining mentally sighing in relief.

“That sounds like an excellent idea Twilight, besides by taxi the ride won't long anyway” Cadence chipped in “See you soon Shining dear!” she said as she headed to our taxi but I ran ahead and opened the door for her “Why thank you Adrian! You are the cutest thing ever and your chivalry knows no bounds!” she finished with a giggle before Pinkie and Rainbow followed then I hopped in and closed the door. When I did this I felt the taxi shift and started moving and I stumbled a bit before sitting down in the middle, well sitting and bending over since it was small for me.

“Oh wow, are you going to be ok big guy?” Rainbow asked me when she saw me hunched over.

“Yeah, I'll be fine so long as we don't hit any-” we hit a rock and the whole cart jumped a bit which caused me to smack my head on the ceiling “-bumps” I finished as I tried to rub my head.

“Oh Adrian! Are you ok? Here, maybe you should sit down lower so you won't hurt yourself” Cadence said very worryingly. Seeing it as the best option I carefully slid from the seat and onto the floor and now I had head room but before I could rub it I felt a pair of hooves examining it. “Phew, looks like nothing. Sorry Adrian, I didn't think about your height. I should of ordered the Minotaur sized Taxi”

“Don't worry Cadence, I'm pretty tough. I think I can handle a bump or two. Though I would prefer no more bumps” I said with a chuckle which made the others join in. 

“So Adrian, have you heard Equestrian music yet?” Cadence asked.

“Well, besides the music at Vinyls club,  I have not. I haven't really gotten spare time yet, I have only really been here for three days then I slept for the next seven” I told her before adding a nervous chuckle before ending it.

“Yes, I heard about that. I hope that we can find answers for you soon so you can enjoy yourself while here with us” Cadence said in a soft tone before she nuzzled my cheek “I wouldn't want a cute thing like you to be all cooped up in a library all day, unlike a certain purple pony” she jokingly said.

“Well, so long as I had company once and a while then I suppose it would not be so bad” I told her.

“Like ME!” Pinkie said as she jumped into my lap and grinned. I shook my head before I began to scratch her ear and I felt her slump into me.

“Yes, just like you Pinkie. Like you” I said softly as I continued to scratch. I heard a small poof of air behind me and a slight stomp so I turned around and saw Cadence with puffed up cheeks and looked cross “Cadence?”

“No fair, I want one too!” she pouted. Rolling my eyes I patted the empty spot next to me and I saw her happily skip off her seat and onto the ground and wiggled in place.

“All right, are you ready to receive the 'Royal Ear Scratch' Princess Cadence?” I asked with a slightly deeper voice and tried to sound fancy. 

“You may proceed Sir Adrian” Cadence continued with the fancy talk and speech but dropped the poise when she saw me reaching up to her ear. I gently rested my hand on top of her head and reached out with my fingers and began scratching. I heard her gasp for a second but soon enough I felt her relax under my hand and she leaned into me a bit and hummed under her breath. 

“Capture complete! You caught Princess Cadence Adrian!” Pinkie said as she enjoyed her own ear scratch. “Now you just need to collect Twilight and Princess Celestia!” she concluded with a laugh.

“Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhh~ Anything for you to continue. Hmmmmmmmm” Cadence lazily said as she swayed a bit while wearing a goofy smile.  “I hope this taxi ride lasts forever”

“Now, now, now Cadence. Whatever would your husband think?” I teasingly asked her.

“I could just always hire you as the Crystal Empires Royal Ear Scratcher!” she declared before melting back down. 

“But you can't do that! Princess Luna already has plans to make him the Canterlot Royal Ear Scratcher!” Pinkie shockingly said.

“I see, well then this leaves me with only one option. I must declare war!” Cadence proudly said.

“GASP! The Royal Ear Scratch wars! We are all doomed!” Pinkie dramatically called out before faking to faint in my arms.

I could only laugh at this new brand of shenanigans “Oh boy, having two Princesses declaring war over me? I am honored, your royal highness” I said in a royal tone and gave a short head bow. At this I heard Rainbow Dash start to snicker which finally made all four of us bust out laughing. 

“Oh that was a good one, If I do say so myself” Cadence said to us “But if it did come down to it, I will have to negotiate with Luna on how best to share you” she told me before she snuggled against me a bit while I scratched her ear some more. 

I gave a slight chuckle to this “Your gonna spoil me with all this kindness Cadence” I told her with a smile.

“Not as much as you have spoiled me with your cuteness!” she replied back with as she hugged me more.  Oh my goodness, if Artemis was not already my pet I would adopt Cadence as my pet. She is ridiculously lovable but Pinkie still holds that spot for now. Guess that means my secret desire is to have a pink, goofy pet. Weird how a different world changes perspectives on things..... oh well.

Speaking of world changing, I should probably mention something about that book ending up in my room. But as luck would have it we stopped suddenly and I heard a gruff voice saying we had arrived. Probably the stallion who got us here so quick. Guess I will have to ask later I suppose, so once I stopped moving I carefully placed Pinkie aside and stepped around Cadence to open the door for them.

What I was not expecting was just how fancy this concert hall was, it felt like I was in Hollywood stepping out of a limo and onto the red carpet. Though I was fortunate not be surrounded and hounded by cameras and paparazzi, instead I was greeted by ponies of all types who were most likely either very rich, famous, or powerful. Who of course are all equally surprised to be seeing someone like me step out of a taxi and followed by Princess Cadence, Princess Twilight, and Captain Shining Armor.

Suffice to say I became the topic of interest very quickly and as we slowly made our way to the ticket counter I heard the murmurs and whispers and most if not all involved who and what I was and my relationship to these important ponies. I looked around at my entourage and I saw that most of them held themselves high and simply looked forward, all except for Pinkie of course who bounced and zipped around saying hi and how do you do. Guess silliness can only go so far in certain groups, which I fully understand.

I can't imagine though Cadences willpower to hold herself back from leaping into my arms again, but knowing first hand that she does have a serious side to her helps put me to ease. Might tease her about this later, she'll get a kick out of it. So after a long and tedious walk we finally made our way to the ticket counter and we were greeted by a mare with light blue fur and a purple mane which was done up in a bun. She had a business suit on and had black framed glasses resting on her muzzle. 

“Hello and welcome to The Crystal Empire Concert Hall, do you have a reservation to see the show tonight?” the mare asked our group, though she probably already knows we do since two of Equestrias princesses are attending. But she seemed surprised when I stepped forward to answer instead.

“Yes we do, my name is Adrian Frost and I should have a reservation made by Vinyl Scratch” I told her while I reached into my pocket to pull out the card Vinyl gave me earlier and showed it to her. She acknowledged what I said and the card before she looked down at her list to find us.

“Ah, here you are. Adrian Frost and guests. VIP Seating. Are you all right with this arrangement Princess Cadence since those are usually your seats?” the mare asked.

“Certainly, after all we are in the same group. Is this acceptable for you all?” she asked our group to which we all nodded yes “That will be fine, thank you for your service Miss Inkley” 

The mare nodded at us and turned to deal with the next group behind us while we headed inside and to our seating. Cadence led us around back so we didn't have to deal with the crowds ogling us and just as we were about to head up the stairs I heard a familiar voice call out “ADRIAN! YA MADE IT!”

I turned around and saw a finely dressed Vinyl with her shades galloping towards me “Vinyl! Hey, long time no see!” I said to her.

She finally made her way to us “Awww, you miss me already? I'm flattered” she exclaimed as she made a kissy face. I sighed while smiling at her before I petted her head a bit.

“I always miss my friends!” I told her.

She grinned a little “Dawww, I knew you'd miss me big guy” she said before she nuzzled my leg a bit before she noticed Cadence “OH! P-Princess Cadence! I d-didn't notice you! My apologies!”

Cadence simply giggled at her antics “No need for such apologies, I understand. Adrian here is a very popular guy after all” she said before she nudged my leg with her own and wiggled her eyebrows. Vinyl instantly laughed and followed shortly by the other girls. 

“Oh and guess what Vinyl! Adrian here has now collected Princess Cadence too with his ear scratches! Now if we can only convince Rainbow Dash that she is already part of the group as well” Pinkie exclaimed which made Shining look back and forth between Cadence and me. 

“Well actually, it was The Royal Ear Scratch to be more precise Vinyl, after all I am a Princess” the pink alicorn declared which only made her husband glare a tiny bit more. “You would of liked it too Shining! It just melts away all your worries and relaxes you”

“AND I AM NOT in that group Pinkie!” Rainbow shouted. Pinkie simply rolled her eyes and giggled at Rainbow.

“Good to see your making new friends all the time dude. But I wanted to ask if you wanted to meet Octavia real quick before the show” she asked me.

“I would love to meet her if she is willing, but I know that musicians like to concentrate before they go on stage. I would hate to be a distraction before her big show” I explained.

“Oh, trying to add Octavia to your collection already? You sly dog” Vinyl jested.

“Not like that Vinyl, you goof” I joked back.

Vinyl simply laughed at me “I know, I know. She won't mind if it is just you, she might get a little flustered if you all show up though” she told us.

“Ah, no worries. We will head to our seats and grab some snacks and drinks before she starts. Adrian, when you get down just come back to this section and go up these stairs behind us. The VIP section is the only one up there so you can't miss us. See you soon!” Cadence said to me before leading our group up. I turned back around and followed Vinyl back stage and after a few twists and turns and a brave soul coming up and asking about me we finally made it to the dressing rooms.

“Hey Octavia, its Vinyl! You busy?” she asked. 

“Besides getting ready to perform in front of the Crystal Empire? Not really, come on in” a soothe voice answered back and next Vinyl opened the door and led me inside.

“Hey Octy! You know that human I have been telling you about? Well guess who is here to visit you?!” Vinyl exclaimed as she presented me and I saw a light gray furred mare with a dark gray mane and light purple eyes with a pink bow tie and white collar. She had a very dignified feel about her as she examined me top to bottom but when she looked up at me she had a nice smile.

“Hello there, how do you do? I am Octavia Melody” she introduced herself before holding out a hoof.

I bent down on one knee and lightly grasped her hoof and shook it “It is my pleasure to meet you Octavia. As you may of heard I am Adrian Frost and I am a human being from another world” I said to her.

“Yes, so I have heard. Vinyl over here has been telling me about you non-stop ever since she met you, and I want to express my delight that you have recovered from your timberwolf attack while saving Fleetfoot. That was very noble of you” she said in a very nice and delightful tone. 

“You flatter me Miss Melody. I was simply doing what was right and was saved by sure dumb luck. Hopefully I can learn to stay out of that kind of trouble in the future” I replied back with a nervous chuckle.

“Please, just call me Octavia Adrian. I feel like we are already friends with Vinyl telling me everything about you and more” she said while quickly glancing over to said mare.

“And here I thought you didn't care about little ol' me” I teased Vinyl who was blushing a little.

“Well it's not everyday you get to meet an alien and befriend them! So sue me for being a little excited. Hmph!” Vinyl pouted a little.

Octavia stared at her for a second before gaining a tiny smirk “Oh and don't even get me started on what she told me today when you scratched her e-” Octavia was cut off when Vinyl zoomed over and covered her mouth.

“OK! OK! We get it! So I missed you a bit” Vinyl grudgingly said before she lowered her hoof from Octavias mouth. I simply smiled and petted Vinyls head a bit.

“What's wrong with missing your friends? Nothing wrong with that, I admit that I missed you. And like I said earlier, I always miss my friends” I said to her which got her to smile.

“All right, all right you big softie. Just keep it on the down low, I have a reputation to protect you know” Vinyl said.

“Yeah, yeah you knucklehead” I replied back with and that is when I heard a giggle. Me and Vinyl both looked over at Octavia who was the one giggling and after a bit she finally stopped and looked at us.

“Sorry about that, but it has been a long time since I have seen you be so calm and casual with any pony, Vinyl” she said “I'm just happy to see it”

“Jeez, and here I was thinking the big guy here would be the only distraction back here” Vinyl said as she sighed. Before any one of us talked next we heard a knock at the door and followed shortly by a voice telling Octavia she had ten minutes before show time. 

“Well you two had better be going, it was really great to finally meet you Adrian. If you liked the show then come find me again after it is done, alright?” Octavia asked me.

“The honor was all mine Octavia and I am glad to have met you as well. I will see you after the show cause I am sure it will be quite a show” I said with a smile. After saying our goodbyes the two of us left and headed back. “Where are you sitting at Vinyl?”

“Oh I am sitting in a different VIP section for musicians and composers. I call it the critic box since most of the time those ponies usually just sit there and find some little thing to complain about. But I have to be there for professional reasons and blah blah blah. I will meet you here after the show and we can introduce your group. Enjoy the show!” Vinyl explained to me before taking off to her own section.

After that I went up the stairs and saw the red velvet curtains and nothing else so I opened up the curtains and saw them all sitting down “Did I miss anything?” I said to them. They all whipped their heads around and waved me over but the moment I took my first step I felt myself floating over them then being gently dropped in front of Cadence who wrapped her front hooves around my neck.

“I figured since your so tall you would want to sit down lower so you can be with us and not block any ponies view” Cadence told me.

“Ah, I see. Guess this had nothing to do with having to act all prim and proper for so long?” I joking asked her.

“It was so unfair! I wanted you to carry me in and let me sit in your lap for the show! But some ponies would find that kind of attitude with their princess unworthy and they would fuss and give me and auntie Celestia a headache. So I shall have to make do” she complained to me.

“Then I guess that leaves room for me then!” I heard Pinkie Pie exclaim before she leaped over and gently landed on my lap and snuggled into place “Best seat in the house!”

“Th-t-that's no fair!” Cadence said.

“Now, now honey. You always have me and Twilight who are sitting next to you” Shining said to her.

“Oh I suppose, but at least I still have Adrian in my hooves. So not all is lost” Cadence relented.

I heard Shining sigh before shifting in his seat, thankfully their was barely a ledge so neither me or Pinkies view were being blocked and even though I was being used as a seat and a teddy bear I was sitting comfortable and warm. Soon we saw the lights dim around us and a single spotlight shined on stage before a fancy looking stallion in a suit and a monocle took to the stage.

“Greeting everypony of the Crystal Empire and beyond! My name is Fancy Pants and I would like to welcome you to The Sounds Of Equestria!” the crowd started to applaud then died down “With us tonight are many musicians that you know of and some that you do not and we hope that we help expand your musical tastes tonight. Our first and opening guest tonight is Canterlots very own celloist, Octavia Melody!” Fancy concluded as the audience cheered. 

The curtains pulled open while the spotlight dimmed away while the stage lights slowly illuminated the stage and standing in the middle was Octavia with her cello ready to play. She looked around to see her audience and when I saw her glance in my direction I waved at her, which she acknowledged with a head bow and did the same in another direction. Probably for Vinyl, then she took a breath before speaking.

“Good evening one and all, my name is Octavia Melody. The first song I will be playing tonight is 'Glamderial', which I composed myself. I hope you all enjoy it” she calmly told the audience, said crowd cheered for a few moments before falling silent and Octavia began her song. 

I listened to her melody and I was enchanted by her music, so adjusting Pinkie in my lap and shifting myself under Cadences hoofs I readied myself for the next two hours of music, hoping to hear more of Octavias sounds.
> A Humans Understanding Of Love And The Secret Book
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


---------- 12:30 AM, Concert Hall ----------


“Bravo! Bravo! Well done!” I yelled out as I clapped my hands together to the last performers of the night, a band called Manes and Strings and they were really good. The rest of my group were also cheering and applauding not only for them but for all of them in the show, While the band was walking offstage I saw Fancy Pants walk in from the other side and proceeded to wait for the audience to calm down before talking.

“Mares and Gentlecolts! Once again I wish to thank you all for coming out tonight to support these fine musicians! If you wish to hear more of them then be sure to pick up their schedules by the exit, once again thank you all so much for your patronage! Good night!” he concluded with a short bow before exiting stage left. I had to wait for Pinkie to get off before I could stand and when I did I stretched out my back a little to get rid of the soreness.

“So Adrian, what did you think?” Cadence asked while she was also stretching out her limbs.

“It was amazing! Your music here is very well done and sounds different from my music back home, I really enjoyed myself” I said to her.

“Who was your favorite?! Mine was Treble Tails! How they used their magic to make their tails play instruments was super amazing! I want to do that too!” Pinkie excitedly said as she bounced around.

“Shoot, ah think ma favorite band were Barnhooves. Their music really felt like home” Applejack replied.

“I personally enjoyed the solo violinist Windsey Stirling, her music was really beautiful and energetic!” Twilight said.

“Eh, all of them sounded good. Can't really say I like one or another” Rainbow simply stated.

“My favorite was the last band Mane and Strings! How about you sweety?” Cadence asked Shining.

“Oh! Um, well if I had to choose I would say Windsey Stirling as well. The combination she did with her music and physical movements were very interesting and she sounded great as well” Shining sounded surprised at first that she had asked but he recovered quickly.

“That's good to hear, so Adrian? What about you?” Cadence asked me again.

“Well, I liked them all but the one who stuck out the most to me was Octavia. Her music synched with me when she struck her first note. It was beautiful” I honestly said with a smile.

“Uh oh, sounds like you got a crush!” a familiar voice said and we all turned around and saw Vinyl standing there with a smirk on her face “Can't say I blame you, she is very pretty”

“Good to see you too Vinyl” I said with a sigh but continued to smile “What are you doing over here already? I thought you asked for us to meet you downstairs?”

“Yeah, that was the plan but as soon as the show ended I booked it over here to get away from those snobs I sat next to. Sweet Celestia were they dim witted! They wouldn't know good music even if it hit them! The only one they said was good was that one band called Both Directions, just a bunch of pretty colts trying to sing if you asked me but to them they were the next Manecheal Hoofson!” Vinyl explained.

“Manecheal Hoofson? Who is that?” I asked.

“He was a really popular singer who defined a generation of music! Sadly he died a few years ago, one of my favorite songs of his was Chiller. A great song for Nightmare Night!” Vinyl told me.

Wait, wait, wait, Manecheal Hoofson? Chiller? This is sounding kinda familiar “Chiller? Did this song have a performance about dancing zombies?” I asked.

“Yeah! It did! How did you know that?” Vinyl asked while I face palmed myself. 

“Just a human hunch I suppose” I said in a defeated tone “Anyway! Lets get going backstage!”

“Eager to confess your love to Octavia already? You sly dog!” Vinyl jested as she hip checked me. I simply gave her a look and she started to laugh “Just kidding big guy, just kidding. Follow me every pony!” I let out blatant cough “And Adrian” I simply rolled my eyes while a few of the girls laughed. We followed Vinyl backstage and stopped at a closed door, which Vinyl knocked on a few times.

“Yo Octavia! You ready for some company?!” Vinyl loudly asked.

“Come on in!” Octavia replied. With her answer Vinyl opened the door and led us inside the room and up to Octavia who was packing her personal belongings and musical gear. She stopped packing as she noticed the two Princesses walking up to her and immediately gave a bow.

“P-Princess Cadence, Princess Twilight! It is an honor to meet you both! I hope you enjoyed the show!” Octavia nervously said.

“No need to be so nervous Octavia and yes, we all enjoyed the show immensely” Cadence said. 

I saw Octavia give a sigh of relief and her posture became more normal and relaxed “That is wonderful to hear!” she said with a smile.

“And I think you got yourself a new fan and admirer!” Vinyl quickly said.

“Oh ha ha, very funny Vinyl. Who is it this time? Your right side of your shades? The seat you sat on?” Octavia said very skeptically and with no humor in her voice. Guess Vinyl teased her with this one a lot.

“Nope! Big guy here!” Vinyl said as she smacked my leg a bit which caused me to stumble forward a bit “Let's see, how did you say it? AH! You said 'But the one who stuck out the most to me was Octavia. Her music synched with me when she struck her first note. It was beautiful'” she said as she tried to mimic my voice. I was going to say something but I saw Octavia start to blush a little.

“Did you really think so?” Octavia asked me but didn't look up at me.

“Well, yeah. Your music stuck out the most to me and I really enjoyed it and would love to hear it again if I could” I told her which made her blush a little more but she finally looked up at me with a big smile.

“Thank you so much! I really appreciate hearing that and a small part of me is relieved” Octavia said.

“Relieved?” I asked.

“Yes, to be honest I was kinda nervous how my.... how Equestrian music would sound to you since you came from another world. I thought that maybe our music and sounds would sound bad to you. But hearing you say that my music synched with you and sounded beautiful puts me at ease and I am very happy to have pleased you” Octavia explained.

“Well it was an honor to hear you perform Octavia” I said to her with a smile and I think she blushed a little more. But before any one else could talk I felt a new weight cling to my back and a head lay on my shoulder. I glanced over and saw a pouty Cadence looking back at me. “Can I help you?”

“You've been giving her all your attention and I have gotten none! Being all flirty and nice and cute, which I don't mind so long as it is to me” Cadence said in a sad voice but I felt myself getting a little flustered.

“I am not being flirty! I am just complimenting Octavia-” I started to say.

“OH! Complementing Octavia? I knew you had a crush” Vinyl said as she walked over to Octavia and gave her a wink by sliding her shades off a little. Now Octavia started to get flustered.

“YOU GUYS! UGH!” I cried out loud before I covered up my face and took a deep breath. “I am simply letting Octavia know that I really enjoyed her music and that I enjoyed the show. OK?!” 

I heard Rainbow start to laugh behind me “They know but they are taking advantage of your flustered state big guy. It is hilarious!” she cried out before busting out laughing again before being joined by Vinyl and I even heard Cadence giggle a bit. But what happened next surprised me a bit as I heard Octavia stomp her hoof loudly.

“You all need to stop this at once! It is not funny to take advantage of someones feelings! Adrian here is simply being honest and nice and you all are making fun of him! I don't mean to insult you Princess Cadence but I simply had to say something!” Octavia declared with a serious face.

“You are right Octavia and I apologize to you both. Vinyl, Rainbow, we all need to respect his feelings and simply let things be. Will you both accept my apology?” Cadence seriously asked Octavia and I. I looked over at Octavia while she looked back, we both nodded and smiled.

“Yes, of course. I know you guys were just messing around but I think you may of taken it a bit too far” I explained.

“I agree with you Adrian. But” Cadence said.

“But?” I asked in return.

“But I just couldn't help myself seeing how cute your reaction was! You are so adorable my cute human!” Cadence said as she hugged a little tighter and nuzzle my neck a bit. I simply let out a sigh before reaching up and petting her mane a little which of course got a content sigh from her. 

“Well, I think we should probably get going before she says anything else embarrassing” I said before I knelt down on one knee and extended out my hand “It was an honor and a pleasure to meet you and listen to your music Octavia”

Octavia gave me a gentle smile “I am happy to of met you Adrian and I am ever grateful that you enjoyed my music. Here, let me give you this” she said before she went over to her bags and grabbed a card and wrote something down “This is my card and I wrote my normal address as well as a note on the back making you a VIP to all my future shows”

“Wow! Thank you so much Octavia! I hope this means that I can call you my friend then?” I asked.

“It sure does Adrian, my first human friend. Take care on getting back tonight!” she said as she waved us off. Outside her room I felt my pant leg being tugged on and I saw Vinyl smiling up at me.

“Way to go big guy! You made a really good impression on Octavia, I can tell. Be careful with that card though, lucky guy” she teased me yet again but I simply smiled and gave her a goodbye hug and with Cadence still on my back we all headed out and only had to wait a barely a minute before our taxis showed up and we all rode with the same ones we came here with.

“Well, aren't you just a cute stud? Getting a mares address? Wonder if she likes you~” Cadence said as she swirled her hoof in a circle on my shoulder. “Is she the first address you've gotten?”

“No, she is actually the third. Vinyl gave me her address first BUT before you say anything it was just like Octavia did, so I could get a VIP pass to their places” I carefully explained in hope none of them would tease me.

“I understand, BUT What. About. The. Second. Address?~” Cadence slowly asked.

“Oh, yeah. Well the second one is from Derpy in Ponyville. She gave it to me before I left to come here” I told her in a calm voice.

“OH reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally?” Cadence said in a happy tone as she heard this juicy new information “Tell me more! Tell me more!”

I was about to say something when I felt the taxi lurch to a stop “Here we are! The Crystal Castle!” said the gruff voice of our driver.

“What?! Already? But it was just starting to get good” Cadence sadly said but I reached up and petted her head which got her to smile again. “Alright, I guess I can find out later”

So I opened the door for them and we all headed inside the castle and into the foyer “Ok everypony, lets get to bed so we can wake up at a decent time tomorrow and do more studying!” Twilight explained.

Almost immediately I had a Pinkie foot warmer wrapped around my leg and a Cadence coat snuggling up against me, these ponies are ridiculous, hilarious but ridiculous. So I slowly made my way up the stairs and when I got to Pinkies room I had to pry her off twice, the first time to get her off my leg then the second time because I was foolish to say yes to a goodnight hug. I finally got her off but once I turned to leave I heard her say “Hey Adrian?”

“Yes Pinkie?” I responded.

“Can you tuck me in?” She said and she looked up to me expectantly while her face just pleaded. I am so weak willed but with a sigh I nodded yes so picking her up again I carried her to her bed and once she got comfy I pulled the blankets over her and tucked the sheets around her body while she grinned. “Goodnight Adrian”

“Goodnight Pinkie, sweet dreams” I said as I gave her ear a quick scratch and left her room. Next I walked down the hall and I found Shining waiting in front of their room and was glaring at me a little. So I reached around and was able to get Cadence off my back and placed her next to her husband “Goodnight Shining, goodnight Cadence”

“Goodnight Adrian” is all Shining said before he walked into his room.

“Goodnight Adrian, I guess our little talk is going to have to wait till tomorrow” Cadence said before joining Shining. Letting out a tired sigh I slowly wandered back to my room and sluggishly changed into my new pajamas that I also found in my suitcase, I really owe Rarity big time for this. I glanced over to the desk and spotted my mystery book. I really like the book for its history and magic lessons but the question of how it got here and why still plagued my mind.

I decided to bring it with me tomorrow and show it to the others and ask about it, that would be for the best. But until then I need some sleep since it was already about one o' clock in the morning, so I went over to the bathroom and let out Artemis and after a few minutes of face licking I washed my face and used the bathroom. Once I was done I climbed into bed and was soon joined by Artemis who took residence in the open space between my legs and soon enough I heard the little snore from her, adorable.

Deciding to follow suite I let the cloud bed devour me and I found myself drifting off into sleep and into dreamland.

A nice warm breeze wafted across my face as I sat legs out on top of a checkered blanket with a basked full of food sitting across from me. I stared up into the blue sky and my eyes followed a few clouds and watched them form shapes as they slowly traveled across the sky while the sun gave off a warm tingle on my skin. I felt so good and happy to just be sitting here and enjoying the beauty of the scene, so much so that I almost did not hear the voice calling out to me.

I turned around and I saw in the distance a gray pegasus flying towards me and I smiled at her. I found myself in her embrace as we hugged each other with smiles on our faces and a blissful feeling surrounding us. I don't really remember what we talked to each other about but all I know is that she is smiling and having fun and every so often I find her staring at me and her smile gets just a little bit bigger. 

Time just seems to fly by us as we continue to talk about our lives but then we find ourselves on our backs while watching the sky starting to darken but the mixing colors of sunset seem to meld the sky together and when I see them reflect in her golden eyes I feel my face heat up a little but I smile all the same. She notices this but does not say anything and simply lets her face fall towards me and we find ourselves just staring at each other but what she does next surprises me a bit as she slightly extends her hoof out so it rests in the middle of us.

Feeling my face heat up a little bit more I take in a nervous gulp before I extend my own hand out and gently clasp her hoof and I can see her lovely smile grow even more. I watch her eyes twinkle as they stare at my own but neither of us say a single word and just let the moment and feeling overtake us. I wanted to say something but no words came out, luckily it seems that she also has something to say and finds the courage to speak and for the first time I clearly hear her speak as she says “I love you”

I jolted awake and find myself breathing heavy as my eyes adjust to the darkness and from suddenly being forced open, with my eyes I see that I have not woken up Artemis which is good cause she might make a loud noise from being suddenly woken up. I sat up and allowed my breathing to return to normal and that is when I noticed that something wet was on my face, so I reached up and felt small tears falling down my face.

Why was I crying? That was one of the best dreams I have had for a long time, but now that I think about it why was I dreaming of Derpy and her saying that to me at the end? Ugh my head is so confused and my feelings are so conflicted right now, I am happy and fearful at the same time. I need some fresh air before I say anything, so carefully pulling my legs up and around Artemis I silently made my way over to the balcony window and opened them up and walked outside.

Standing on the balcony I looked out into the night sky and let my eyes rest of the sight of the beautiful night sky that was layed out before me. The cool, crisp night air rolled off and around my skin but it felt good and so I closed my eyes and took a deep breath then another before I reopened my eyes and stared at the moon shining down and reflecting off the crystal structures below and around me. 

I continued to look up at the moon and that is when I felt the tears start to return and when they did I remembered the dream and I found myself shaking and slightly crying while I leaned against the railing. I don't know what it is but I just can't stop this uneasy feeling about that dream and about Derpy, it's not a bad feeling but not exactly a good one either. I just let the cool night air run its course as I continued in my confusion.

I wonder if Nightingale would come and comfort me again, then again the Night Guards would only come to face nightmares and clearly that was no nightmare so no luck there. That is until I felt a wing slowly drape itself across my back, did she really come? Taking a few breaths I look over and instead of Nightingale I saw sitting next to me Cadence who was smiling at me. “C-Ca-Cadence? What are you doing here?” I quietly asked her.

She gives me a small giggle “Well I felt a strong feeling of love wake me up but something felt different about it so I decided to figure out why and where it was coming from. To my surprise I find the source to be you! So tell me, why is my cute human sitting alone in the middle of the night and crying?” Cadence tenderly asks me. I fell to my knees and turned around so my back was leaning against the railing, Cadence sat down next to me and placed a hoof on my knee.

“I don't know Cadence, I don't know what I am feeling” I tell her.

“Was it some sort of Nightmare?” She asked.

I shook my head “No, it was actually a really good dream but when I suddenly woke up I felt happy and scared and confused” 

“Just let it all out and tell me, tell me why you feel those three. Is is about whoever you dreamt about?” Cadence softly asked as she leaned against me a bit.

“Yes, I dreamt about Derpy. The mare who was the second one to give me their address” as soon as I said that I found myself laugh a little “I guess we are gonna have that love talk after all” I gave out another laugh but Cadence stayed silent and instead she reached up and hugged me while she nuzzled my arm a bit.

“Well I am happy cause it was such a nice dream, we just sat together and had a picnic and just talked about things, I don't remember about anything we actually talked about but I know we just talked. She was so happy though and it was like I could feel her happiness radiate off her body and it felt so good”

“After a while we were lying apart on our backs and staring at the sky and the clouds but was actually look at her and was mesmerized as the dawn sky was reflected off her golden eyes and soon she was staring back at me. She reached between us with her hoof and I held he hoof in my hand while we smiled and the final thing I remember was her saying I love you then I woke up”

“I am happy because I do like her and I am pretty sure she likes me too since when she gave me her address she kissed my cheek and flew off. Then when we were on the train and departed I saw her arrive at the station and she followed me until the end of the platform” I explained.

“I understand and from what little Twilight and the others said to me you have been quite an important part in her life recently, doesn't surprise me that she is probably in love with my cute and chivalrous human” Cadence said as she happily nuzzled my arm again but this time I wrapped that arm around her and pulled her close, I could feel her smile as she laid her head against my chest and wrapped us in her wings.

“But I feel scared because I have never really been in a relationship before and I am still unsure on my feelings of dating a different species, also the little incident at the spa also clouds my judgment a little. But I am also scared because I am thinking ahead and I don't want to accidentally hurt Derpy somehow and what the other ponies would do or think if we were together”

“And I am confused because both of those happy and unhappy thoughts are swirling in my mind and I just feel torn and my feelings are all over the place and I just......I just” I could not finish as I felt my tears start to boil over again but in my babble I still continue “I am just so scared because I am all alone in this world and with the timberwolf attack and my sudden magic and my nightmares. Everything is happening so fast”

“My nightmares show me hurting ponies with my magic and I am scared of that the most. I don't want to hurt Twilight or Rainbow, Vinyl, Pinkie, Derpy, or even you. Everything is just so confusing” I finally blurted out before my voice left me and my tears erupted with my feelings that I brought up. Cadence did not say anything again but I felt her hug me tight and she was humming something but I did not notice much.

The two of us sat there in the cool night with her comforting me and me sitting there and unloading my tears. But I was really happy that Cadence was there, just her presence alone was soothing to me and allowed me to feel more. Which is probably why I went a little bit into my nightmare fears but I still held that back a bit, one problem at a time. After what felt like hours I finally stopped and looked down at Cadence was still holding me tight.

I reached up with my arm and began to pet her mane a little which got her to settle in a bit more and while she still hugged me eased up a little. She looked up at me and simply gave me a smile that was warm and almost motherly “Feeling better?” she asked. I simply nodded as I pet her “Do you want to talk about all this now or do you want to wait till you feel better tomorrow?”

“No, it would be better to talk about it now since my feelings are already out in the open” I said to her.

“I understand, well first things first” is all she said before I felt her move and I suddenly felt her place a kiss on my right cheek “That is for being the most kind and sweetest thing I have met in a long, long time. Though some of your feelings may seem a bit silly I understand your fear and I am going to let you know that you have nothing to fear”

“The big thing is you are over-thinking things, being in love or in a relationship is a wonderful thing and no relationship or pony is perfect and there will always be something that has to be worked out. But those moments of conflict and struggle are what brings them together, if you give up and break apart due to them then it means that they were not the one for you. But if you stay and work things through, your bond will be stronger then ever”

“I understand through Twilight that Miss Derpy has crossed-eyes and due to them have made her unpopular and clumsy. While yes those with disabilities have a harder time and the relationship is tough, in the end they are just regular ponies with feelings and dreams and if you treat them as such then your time together will me magical”

“Now this is something that you will have to decide for yourself about dating another species but in my experience and in Equestria it is quite normal to date, marry, and even have kids with another species. I have helped a griffon and a minotaur fall in love and have seen many others like a zebra and a merpony. I am also keeping on eye on Spike and Rarity back in Ponyville, I really hope for those two to end up together. I think they would do well together and I am curious as to what their children will look like” she said with a slight giggle.

“But like I said, your feelings on that will have to come from in your heart, I just hope you make the right choice. And the last thing, about these nightmares of yours” she stopped to hug me a little more and nuzzled my chest a bit “I know the feeling of being scared of your dreams, I have had many dreams where my love has caused other ponies grief or I accidentally cause two ponies to fall in love and they were wrong for each other. One nightmare I had had me making these two fall in love and due to their differences it caused one of them to commit suicide”

She clutched my shirt a bit at that part and when she did I reached over and scratched her ears which calmed her down and I could feel her slunk into me a bit. I felt her smile “Thank you, but yes I have had many dreams and nightmares like that and for a while I never helped ponies fall in love. But I was saved when a couple who I thought were wrong for each other came up and thanked me for helping them. They admitted that they fight a lot but everytime they did they became stronger together”

“Finally as for your magic, the one thing you must know is that yes magic can be scary at times and can feel overwhelming but that magic is you and you control it. It can never control you or force you to do something you do not want to do. If you let it change you then that means you were weak and allowed yourself to get swallowed up. But I know you Adrian and I know that you would never hurt another, you sacrificed yourself to save Fleetfoot, a pony you did not even know”

“And besides, just because I am a cuddle bunny does not mean I am a pushover you know and I can certainly take care of myself mister” she jokingly said as she poked me with a hoof which caused me to laugh as well. “Just always remember to be yourself and you can never go wrong, sometimes life will hurt you but also life can save you and show you amazing things. Did you think I would ever get to meet an alien being from another world who is so cute?” she added another chuckle as she snuggled up with me.

She was right about that, I would of never imagined that I would be transported to another world and meet talking ponies, let alone see dragons and use magic! Yes some bad have happened but so far I have had many more good things happen then the bad, guess I just got so caught up in the confusion that I lost track of things. I wrapped both arms around Cadence and held her close “Thank you Cadence, thank you so much. Guess I just lost track of things in the confusion of everything”

She laughed a bit “Perfectly understandable. You have the privilege of adjusting to a whole new world but also accidentally having ponies fall in love with you. So some things are going to be difficult but you have many friends to rely on and you keep on making more. Like me, and I love you very much” she told me which threw me off balance for a moment.

“Y-yo-you do?” I nervously asked.

“But of course silly, there are different types of love and you have to be able to see which kindes you have. I love you like family and would do anything to help you. I think most of the girls love you as well as a friend, you are very important to us all after all. And of course I think you have a pony or two who really like you and wish for you to fall in love with them” she explained.

“I understand” I said.

“So, do you love me too?” she asked

“W-what?” I stumbled with my words.

“Gasp! Does this mean you don't love me too? Oh boo hoo!” Cadence quivered her lower lip and gave me a pair of sad eyes. Ugh these ponies, I love them so much that it is disgusting. Oh well.

“I-I love you too Cadence, you silly princess” I said to her which cause her to squeeze me tight and she buried her muzzle in my stomach and was giggling madly like a school girl. She is ridiculous how she can go from being serious to silly in seconds. But she was right, there are different kinds of love and I did love her so I simply hugged her and smiled.

“So, now with your love to me declared, is there anything else you wanna talk about tonight?” she said.

I laughed at first but thinking about it maybe now would be a good time to ask about that book “Well, actually there is something. You know how I was asking about that book earlier in the library? Well when I came into my room to get dressed for the concert I found it sitting on my desk, waiting for me. I do not know how but it somehow appeared in my room on my desk with the rest of my books that I brought from Ponyville. Do you know anything about that?” I asked her.

“Hmmm, I am not sure. There is a spell that allows an object to teleport back to their owner if it gets stolen or simply lost but I am pretty sure you don't know that spell and that book does not belong to you. Can you show me this book?” Cadence asked.

“You can actually see it from here, its that red book on top of the desk” I pointed to it and when Cadence followed it she used her magic to lift the book over to us and inspected it with her hooves before she opened the front covers and though I could barely hear it under her breath I heard a gasp but she simply closed it back up and looked up at me.

“I think I know what happened, this book is one of the much older books in the library and back then books were very valuable and rare so in order to allow one to keep their book in case of a robbery or other misfortune spells were cast on them. This spell binds to blood and basically the book could only be given away if either the pony died or verbally relinquished it to the next owner then the next owner would touch a page with a drop of blood and it would belong to them”

“So you probably got a paper cut and accidentally bound the book to you since this book belonged to no one anymore. Just a simple mistake, it would take some time but I could unbind it if you wanted” she offered.

“Well, for the moment I guess it is not bad since I am reading it. So if you will allow me to, I will hold onto it then when I am done I will return it to you. If that is ok with you” I asked.

Cadence seemed to ponder this for a long while but eventually she nodded yes “That is alright, so have you learned anything from it?” she asked me.

“Yeah! It is telling me the history of dragons and the difference between Dragons Breath and Dragon Fire and how to properly use it and conform to your body. I am just about done with chapter three, oh! Watch this!” I slowly rose to my feet after I made sure Cadence was fully off of me and I turned around  to face the open space and I repeated the actions and feelings of earlier. Feeling the swirling rise from within and focusing it up and through my mouth with the thought of fire and I summoned a bigger fire that almost roared out of my mouth.

Once I cut it off I look out in surprise, that was way bigger than last time! Maybe it was due to magical spell imprint which allows my inner mind to remember the blueprints for a spell and be able to summon it without actually remembering all the small details. But I shook it off and looked at Cadence “Ta da! Dragon Fire!”

She seemed visibly stunned by this and she even took a step back but she looked at me and shook her head “Sorry about that, I just have not seen that type of magic from anything but a dragon before. Got just a tiny bit intimidated. But that is awesome to see you being able to learn magic so well!” Cadence happily said “Well, I think we should be getting off to bed. And for now lets keep this Dragon Fire a secret, especially from Twilight. She would probably kidnap you and experiment on your body or something. She does that when she finds something she can't explain” she explained to me.

I shrugged and nodded in agreement “That seems fair and it would probably worry them all since we are here to make sure this very same magic won't somehow kill me or anything. Guess that was not too smart on my part eh?” I regretfully said.

“Also true, so for now lets get some rest. We have a big day ahead” she said as she led me back to my bed, she summoned her magic again and used it to lift not only me but Artemis and my blankets up and arrange us accordingly and not even waking up the snoring timberwolf pup. Once I was all tucked in she leaned up and against the bed to look at me “Goodnight Adrian, sweet dreams”

“Thank you again Cadence, for everything. Nighty nighty” I said to her as I felt my tired body slowly slip away from reality and slip back into the land of dreams. Cadence watched me for a minute or two and smiled when she saw my chest rising and falling as well as two sets of slight snores. She then grimly turned her head and saw the crimson book had already returned to the desk where she picked it up from without her help. She then left my room and wandered down to another room.


---------- Parchment and Mail Room ----------


Cadence quietly and quickly made her way to this room and using her magic she lit a candle that was sitting on the desk and using the new light found a quill, ink, and a usable piece of parchment before finally sitting on on the chair to the desk. Dipping the quill in the ink she brought it down to the paper and began to write: 
“Dear Princess Celestia, 
this is Princess Cadence and I have some news concerning Adrian. He is doing well and he appears to be behaving fine and there are no signs of any magical outburst. Twilight and the girls also appear to be fine and confirm that he is normal. However, I just learned that Adrian has accidentally found a dangerous and ancient magical object. He has found Star Swirl the Beardeds journal 'The Element Within: Spirit Of Fire' and has also been imprinted with it. 

He has also been reading and understanding the context within and even displayed the power to summon Dragon Fire. For now I told him to keep it a secret between us and I believe he will keep it. I do not know what this means in the fact that he was able to find it even though you cursed it to be unfindable. For the moment I shall keep on eye on him and make sure nothing develops or anything worse. 
Your loving niece,
Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.
> A Humans View On Flying And The Chaos Inside
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


---------- 5 Days Later ----------


So things have progressed very slowly after that first day but I would not say any time was wasted because even though we were not finding any relevant information we did find plenty of information and when we combined that knowledge together we had a good understanding on the Alpha Timberwolf situation. Basically the Alpha is both a title and a birthright, which is confusing but after all the reading we did it made sense in the long run and I blamed magic once more. 

For the title, it is possible for another timberwolf to challenge and, if they are lucky, kill the Alpha and once they do so the Alpha Soul will inhabit the victor and will become the new Alpha. But if the Alpha is to breed and produce offspring then one of the children will inherit the Alpha Soul and grow up stronger and wiser then either the previous Alpha or offspring. So no matter what the next Alpha will always be stronger and smarter then the last and from the recordings we found in a journal it is almost impossible to see a timberwolf kill an Alpha since they are so naturally strong. 

Though we did not find anything explaining why a non-timberwolf was able to possess the power of the Alpha, we figured that the green wolf image I saw was most likely the Alpha Soul coming into me. Since I was the new Alpha in a way we also guessed that is why Artemis felt at ease with me though the details on that is still fuzzy. Another thing is might explain is the reason why my one eye changed and I felt stronger and was assumed to be smarter, sometimes I felt smarter and other times I felt normal so I can't really tell.

As for my other eye changing, hair length, and my new magical self we could not find anything useful or assuring other than theories and guess work. Some of those guesses was my body changed when I somehow entered this world and that is how I gained the power of magic inside. We also guessed that I did have some sort of magical backlash, like we discussed on the first day, because I probably overused my magic the first time I really summoned it. So that and combining it with coming into possession with the Alpha Soul sent my body into shock and I transformed to fit the new magical properties swirling withing me.

At least that is our best guess work and throughout the week Princess Cadence enlisted the help of several scholars from the Crystal Empire to help us out with our research, I originally protested against the idea since I did not like the idea of her diverting their important studies to help me out but she simply shushed me and squeezed me like a stuffed toy and made a face which I could not help but fall victim to. So after three more times of this I finally conceded and allowed them to help and when I did I got a thank you hug from Cadence and a random hug from Pinkie who felt left out, of course.

Of course I was always keeping myself busy as well since I could not put down that crimson book that had bonded to me, which I was so happy to hear from Cadence that it was just a simple binding that made me the books owner and that it would never be truly stolen from me unless I was killed. So with no chance of that happening I simply continued reading the book and learned a lot about Dragon Fire and some dragon history.

Another added bonus about successfully learning Dragon Fire was that the magic from it would sit in my body and since it was originally meant to keep a dragons body firm and fit my body slowly started to mold and harden and the little bit of stomach fat that I had slowly disappeared. I didn't get a six pack or anything but now I looked and felt fit and I found my stamina had increased when both Applejack and Rainbow Dash challenged me to a race around the Empire and much to my surprise I won! Though Rainbow was a bit of a sore loser and wanted a re-match but I refused and simply kept on teasing her on how a measly human like me won against the awesome and amazing Rainbow dash, she hit me a couple of times and I thank magic for allowing me to withstand them or else. 

The last thing I learned from the book was that while every dragon possessed Dragon Fire, each dragon had a unique aspect gained from their own Dragon Fire like one could engulf their claw in fire and attack that way and the Dragon King Bahamut could form a clone of himself made entirely out of his own Dragon Fire. Would not want to get on his bad side, no sir! When I learned about that I practiced my own fire out to see if I could find my own aspect but with no luck, though I set the curtains on fire twice though. But I did not fret about it since it would probably come in time or great need or something like that.

One last thing I did was I started writing a few letters to Derpy back in Ponyville, mainly telling her I am alright and the research was going well and that I would fully explain when I got back since it was hard to fully detail on paper. The one thing I did not write about was about her kiss since I was still talking it over with Cadence, but thankfully when she wrote back she did not mention it either so that is either a good thing or a bad thing. Ugh. On her end she was telling me that things were pretty normal for her and she was able to get a pay raise and due to my contact with her a few of the ponies have started talking to her.

That being said it was mainly questions about me and what not but it was still good for her to be communicating with the others and it shows them she is normal. But back to now I suppose, today is the fifth day and when we stopped for lunch Cadence, Twilight, and the scholars talked things over and informed us that there were no other books that would be able to help us out. So after some debate it was decided that we return to Ponyville for now and try later at the Royal Canterlot Library. Twilight tried to get us to go immediately but I convinced her that we needed a break and that I would not be fair for the others to just jump in.

She agreed and even said it was foolish since the proper thing to do would be to inform Celestia in advance and wait for the perfect time to go. So with that all in mind we thought about returning home but Cadence suggested that we wait a day and just relax instead of going from one thing to another and to that we all agreed on. Which leads us to now with me sitting in the library and reading over Derpys latest letter to me which I had gotten only this morning. 

“and then the barrel exploded and out came the CMC while posing! After that the whole town clapped and applauded them! It was amazing to see and they said that this was only a practice run and the real thing would be for you when you get back. Oh, um, I mean for when you all get back, yeah. Well that is all for now, I gotta get to work now. I am so happy that I got that pay raise, though the slightly longer hours is a bit rough but I am so grateful and want to prove to Mr. Tail that I can do it. I hope that you find what your looking for and know that we all miss you here in Ponyville, I hope to see you soon. Love From Derpy”

I could barely read what the heavily scratched out word said but after seeing the letters lo I am guessing she wrote love then changed it to from. I couldn't help but smile at this and chuckled a bit. “OH! A love letter?! Lucky you!' Cadence suddenly said behind me. I launched from my seat and flipped over the table and roughly landed on the ground and groaned but slowly I leaned up and rubbed the sore spot. “Whoopsies?” Cadence sheepishly said. 

“Holy cow you gave me a heart attack! Didn't your mother teach you it is not polite to read over anothers shoulder?” I asked her.

“Well of course she did! But what fun is that though? Besides, it's the best way to find out juicy information about you” Cadence said as she slowly walked towards me with a predatory look on her face.

“Ca-Cadence? Wh-what are you?” I briefly asked before I saw her leap at me and pounced, bringing me back down to the ground but now with her hugging her caught prey. “This is the seventh time today”

“And you still don't learn” Cadence proudly stated as she snuggled with me more “Besides, your gonna leave me tomorrow. So I need to get in as many hugs and snuggles as I possibly can!” she boldly declared as she squeezed me more.

“I come to a new world and I am reduced to being a stuffed animal. Oh the joy of being me” I said in a very sarcastic tone.

“Now, now. Someone as cute and cuddly as you has no room for sarcasm mister” she said as she bopped my nose with her hoof. “Besides, I wanted to talk to you anyway. Do you know what you are going to do and say to her when you get back?” Cadence seriously asked.

“Not really but no matter what I need to talk to her as soon as I get back. It is only fair to her. I think I am just going to be honest with my feelings and tell her how I feel about.....well everything I suppose” I let out a sigh “I don't want to hurt her but in this situation I want to be honest with her”

I lied there on my back and without knowing it I had started petting Cadences mane while I chewed on my lower lip and thought about it. “Do you have any advice?” I asked her. At first I did not get an answer, so I looked down and I saw her lying still on my chest with a huge smile on her face with her eyes closed with me petting her. Geez, sometimes it feels like I am dealing with a walking, talking puppy or something. Though me having a supernatural wolf pup made out of wood as my actual pet kinda compliments that.

“I think you have the right idea about this, it is always best to be honest and with her it is better to have her know your thoughts and feeling about any sort of relationship. It may hurt but in the long run it is better for her to know why. I suppose my only advice would be in a nice setting and break it to her slowly” Cadence quietly told me while she rested on my chest. 

“I suppose I will have to believe that is best, after all you are the Princess Of Love after all” I jokingly said. I felt her head move and when I looked down her cheeks were puffed out and she had an irritated look in her eyes and I could only laugh. I brought my arms up around her and this time I initiated the hug “I am going to miss you Cadence”

“I am going to miss you too, I wish you could stay. But that would be too greedy of me to ask” Cadence tenderly said to me as she snuggled up with me in my arms. “Who am I going to hug and squeeze when you are gone?”

“Well, you could always hug and squeeze your husband?” I asked and somewhat hinted.

“Nah, he is no fun with mushy and gushy stuff like this. I love him for being serious but kind hearted. Just wish he was a little more cutesy though” Cadence somberly said.

“Well, guess you will just have to make a body pillow in my likeness and use that then!” I very jokingly said and laughed at but I suddenly saw her stand up and gasped out loud.

“That is brilliant! I COULD DO THAT! I gotta go!” Cadence loudly said before she zoomed off into the distance. Oh dear, what have I done? A small shiver went up my spine at the thought of her in bed with her husband but with her hugging a body pillow with my likeness. I think I could feel the rage just oozing off of Shining if that ever happened. 


---------- Meanwhile, elsewhere in the castle ----------


“Whoa, that was weird. It feels like something disturbing is about to happen. Oh sweet Faust what is Cadence about to do with that human now?!” Shining Armor said to himself as he pushed himself away from his desk full of paperwork and went to search for his wife.


---------- Castle Library ----------


Anyway, shaking that thought away I finally pulled myself up and nicely put the letter back into the envelop and tucked it away in my bag I had left on the seat. After placing the messenger bag shoulder strap on I began to walk to the entrance of the castle, guess now would be the best time to go and explore before I get dragged into something else. 

Suddenly I was bowled over by a cyan mass and I found myself looking up at the crystal ceiling once more but this time I saw a rainbow colored mane in my view “ADRIAN! There you are! Quickly! I need you to come with me!” Rainbow urgently said to me. I totally called it by the way, can't go three steps without being dragged into something.  But before I could answer her she had my shirt in her teeth and in one swift motion brought me to my feet and began dragging me to the front.

I finally caught up to my feet and followed her on my own accord as we headed out front, but I was worried at the fact that Rainbow had a serious look on her face. That did not bod well with me and so I picked up the pace a little, a fact that Rainbow seemed to appreciate and before I knew it I was standing outside but not before I caught a face full of purple magic. I shook my head to get my senses back and before I could ask what the heck was going on I felt my body start to lift.

“There, he is good to go! Now hurry Rainbow!” Twilight said in a rushed and worried tone. Once again before I could ask I felt two pairs of hooves quickly sliding under my arms and before I could blink twice I found myself flying through the air and the wind rushing by. I could not speak due to the fact that the wind speed was blowing the sky into my face, cause this is what it feels like to be in a wind tunnel. But instead of having my feet on the ground and surrounded by matting I was now X feet in the air and only by a pair of hooves was I not falling. 

Withing a matter of minutes I soon saw we were heading towards a large grouping of clouds and I saw Rainbow sharply turn up to avoid the wall of clouds, but the moment she broke through to the top I was in awe at the brief city in clouds I saw. I wanted that brief moment to last a bit longer so I could take a proper view around but all too soon I felt my body take a nose dive and I began to twist and turn around buildings and objects that all seemed to be made of clouds and after another brief flash of white we finally stopped.

When my eyes caught up with me I looked in front of me and saw a decent sized house sitting there but the moment I thought we were done moving I felt Rainbows hooves remove themselves and I began to fall. OH NO NO NO NO! WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT?!?! IS SHE TRYING TO KILL ME! RAINBOW DASH IS FREAKING NUTS! I began to scream at the top of my lungs but very much to my surprise the moment my body hit the clouds I instantly stopped moving and my screaming was being muffled by the soft material that I was sinking into.

After a few moments of screaming I stopped but I used my hands to move around and feel the...... cloud ground? I felt like I was on a big cloud bed and when I pushed my hands down I felt it push back and I leaned up. I began my investigation and saw that I was indeed on top of a cloud but I did not fall. My eyes were still in shock though and my whole body was tensed up but as I got to my knees I started  to calm down. “Dude! What are you doing on the ground?! We gotta hurry up!” Rainbow yelled.

The moment she spoke I let out a small scream and I jumped away, only to land on some more solid clouds but I was freaked out again and I was slightly angry so I turned my head to Rainbow “WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING?!” I very loudly yelled at her “I thought I was gonna DIE!” 

“Why would do die on clouds?” Rainbow confusingly asked. 

“What do you mean why would I? Clouds don't normally hold people! Clouds don't hold anything! I thought I was gonna fall to the ground!” I exclaimed as I took deep breaths to try and calm myself. 

The realization finally dawned on Rainbow before she landed on the ground and looked at the ground in shame “I.......I'm sorry Adrian. I didn't think” Rainbow briefly said before going quiet. We both sat there in silence as I tried to catch my breath. 

“What in the hay is going on out here?!” a loud female voice called out and from the house in front of us came flying out a yellow furred pegasus with a two toned fiery mane. Her eyes were looking us over before she seemed to calm down “Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?” she asked.

This seemed to snap Rainbow out of it “Spitfire! I came as soon as I got your letter!” she said.

This seemed to make the yellow one, Spitfire, even more confused “That's good and all that the mail system works but that doesn't answer why you are here” she said.

“What do you mean?! You said that Fleetfoot was not feeling well due to not knowing about Adrian and that you would have to reschedule your air show! So I came here with Adrian as soon as I could so you didn't have to reschedule!” Rainbow said in a worried tone. 

I saw Spitfire facepalm, I guess hoofplam I this case, her face “Rainbow, I am happy that you always put us first and all but this was nothing to worry yourself over. It is just a little funk she is dealing with is al- WAIT! Did you say you brought the guy called Adrian up?” Spitfire said in a surprised voice.

“Sure did! He is right here!” Rainbow pointed at me and I weakly waved up at her as I tried to stand up. Spitfire flew up a little closer to me and examined me head to toe before she threw on a little smirk.

“First time standing on cloud boy?” she asked me.

“He he he, how could you tell?” I nervously said “I just wish I was warned a little first though or else I wouldn't of yelled out like that. Sorry about that by the way” 

“No worries, the first time is always scary for non-pegasi. So, what are you? If you don't mind me asking” Spitfire asked.

“Oh, I am a human being from another world. Name is Adrian Frost, nice to meet you” I said and once I finally had a firm footing I placed my hand out for a shake which she did.

“Pleasure is all mine, names Spitfire and I am the captain of the Wonderbolts. Heard a little about you ever since you rescued Fleetfoot in the Everfree. And it wasn't my intention to have Rainbow bring you up here but I guess since you are here now could I ask you for a favor?” she asked me.

“Sure, go ahead” I replied back with.

“As you just heard a little bit ago, Fleetfoot has been feeling a little down lately since she has not heard anything about you other than you are alive. So I am wondering if you wouldn't mind going inside her house here and talking to her?” she requested.

Darn it, I knew I should of asked about her sooner. Now I feel bad that I was worrying her this whole time “I would not mind at all, in fact I was wanting to get in contact with her to let her know I was alright. So where is her room then?” I asked her.

“Just go inside and go up the only stairs and her room is the third door on the left. Knock first though, just in case. Good luck” she told me then she added a kind smile. 

Right before I turned to leave I quickly looked back at Rainbow “Remind me that me and you need to have a little chat about flying before we leave” I told her before I left and behind me I heard the two of started talking about air speed and dynamics for stunts. Guess it is for Wonderbolt stuff but never mind that for now, I found the stairs and counted the doors before finding the third on the left. Taking a deep breath I slowly raised my hand and knocked on the door. 

“Who is it?” a voice quietly called out. 

“It's me, Adrian. I just wan-” I began to say before the door flew open and I was staring at Fleetfoot who was staring back at me with an open jaw and wide eyes. 

“It's you.......i-it's really you” she sputtered out. 

“Yep, though I guess I look a little different then when we first met though” I let out a dry laugh “I just dropped on by to make sure you were ok. I wanted to stop by earlier but I got swept up in some things and lost track of time. Sorry to worry you Fleetfoot” I told her as I got down on one knee.

I heard her sniffle for a second or two before she used her hoof to wipe them away and she replaced them with a smile “I'm so glad that your ok. I was really scared when we came back and we found you bleeding and unconscious. But knowing that your well puts me at ease, but I also wanted to tell you one  important thing” she said.

“What's that?” I asked.

“I just wanted to say thank you so much for saving a stranger like me and for sacrificing yourself to save me. Especially how I yelled out that you were a monster and all” she bashfully admitted.

“Don't worry, I knew that you were just scared and you are very welcome. I couldn't just leave someone in trouble and if I hadn't who knows what would of happened” I explained to her with a smile

She smiled back and told me to wait a moment before she went back to her room and did some digging around before she came back with a piece of paper “Here, this is my address and know that if you ever show up to see a Wonderbolt show that you will always be considered a VIP and have a free ticket. But write to me first so I can be sure to set it up, just in case I forget” Fleetfoot said to me.

“Oh wow! A-are you sure? I mean I am honored and I thank you so much for it but are you sure? I mean VIP and free tickets?” I asked her.

“It's the least I can do for you, without you I might not be here and doing the thing I love most. Without you my family, friends, and fans would be crying over me. So thank you again so much” she happily said.

Now this time I felt my eyes start to water so I took a moment to let out a few little sniffles before cleaning myself up, but when I was I felt a hoof rest itself on my lower knee and when I looked I saw Fleetfoot there smiling at me with a few more tears in her eyes as well and I smiled back. “So, when is your next show?”

She took a moment to regain her focus “Well our next scheduled performance is tomorrow but its only a small display to help support a local charity. Our next big show is next month in Manehatten. I would wait til then so that way I can blow you away with a big show” she said with a wink and smiled.

“Well I can't wait to see you perform then!” I said back to her.

“I will make sure to make it one of my best performances then! Hehehe. Well you better get going then, the team and I need to get back to practice now that I am feeling better and all pumped up now!” Fleetfoot excitingly said.

“Sure thing, glad to see your all better now. See you soon!” I told her as I stood back up.

“Oh, one last thing. You live in Ponyville right? With Rainbow and Princess Twilight?” she asked. I nodded yes in response “Ok, well you might get to see me sooner since we are passing by there while on our way to Manehatten”

“Can't wait, well til next we meet then!” I said as I waved her goodbye and her in return. On my way down I carefully placed the paper she gave me in my bag which surprisingly stayed on during the fly up. Once I got down and out I saw that Spitfire and Rainbow had not moved since I left and were still talking about aerodynamics and wing speed. 

“Ah, there you are! So, everything alright?” Spitfire asked me.

“Yep, she is feeling much better and said she is all pumped up to train now!” I told her.

“That's great to hear, thank you for coming around to cheer her up” Spitfire said to me before she flew up and gave me a quick hug “Means a lot to me what you did” 

“Well if you want to thank anyone then I guess you should thank your number one fan for blowing a letter out of proportion” I jested while I looked over in Rainbows direction who sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of her neck “Fleetfoot told me to wait for your guys big show next month since the next one was a charity event”

“Ah, I see. Well that is for the best since like she said it is just a small event. Wouldn't want our first human fan to see us in a small show now would we” she explained to me with a wink “Well hope to see you then! Thanks again for everything” she finally said as she flew back inside the house and closed the door. When I heard the door click I turned around to face Rainbow who was flying beside me.

“Ready to get going big guy?” she asked.

“Not quite yet, we need to have a quick talk first” I sternly said to her and she did not say anything as she landed back on the surface. “Now I understand why you did it and that was not bad of you but I am upset at the fact that I was not told anything before being scooped up in the air and flown here before being dropped. I really was scared and quite mad at you. Do you understand?” I asked her.

She simply nodded her head while she stared at the ground “Good, now to make it alright I need to punish you. Don't worry, ill make it nice and quick” I told her as I kneeled back down and I saw her flinch the moment I raised my hand. I slowly moved my hand over to her and flexed my fingers, she heard my fingers pop and flinched again. Then I moved my thumb and finger together and flicked her forehead.

“Alright, punishment over” I told her who was still had her eyes tightly shut but slowly opened one eye then the other before looking at me in confusion.

“That was it? Just a head flick?” she asked.

“Yep, that's it” I replied.

“B-b-but you were mad and upset with me! How can that be it?!” she confusingly said.

“Because your my friend Rainbow, and yes I will still be a little upset but that is not enough for me to hate you or anything. You learned your lesson and I gave you your punishment. So, lets get back down to our friends. Though could you be just a little bit slower on the way down?” I asked her.

She stared at me with a blank face for a few moments before she gave me an understanding smile then she flew behind me and picked me up again and down we flew at a more comfortable speed. I never dared to look down though cause I was sure if I did I would freak out or freeze up and neither one would be good for Rainbow so I simply stared up or ahead. “So Rainbow, quick question. How was I able to walk on clouds anyway?” 

“Oh that? Twilight cast a spell on you that she used on the rest before that allows you to walk on clouds like a pegasus. Sorry again for.....well you know” Rainbow explained to me.

“Ah, I see. That is a pretty nifty spell to have. Magic really is amazing and I already forgave you” I replied.

“I know, but I just wanted to say it again. I'm used to messing up and going to far with things and I am also used to ponies and such being mad at me, so when you said you forgave me so easily and wasn't really mad at me I was really happy. So thanks big guy, I appreciate it” she told me before she quickly nuzzled my head. The rest of the flight down was quiet and soon enough the ground greeted my feet.

Thankfully as soon as we landed the girls greeted us and asked us what happened. After explaining Rainbows little stunt and overreaction Twilight apologized as well since she went along and did what Rainbow asked and asked me in return for punishment as well. So I did exactly what I did with Rainbow, started with the little talk and flicked her forehead as punishment and amusingly was met with the same reaction. So I hit the repeat button and told her what I said to Rainbow and was met with a smile. 

“Phew, well glad that all worked out an all. I would like ta say we ain't got no more surprises for ya but.....” Applejack said.

“But a certain someone decided to pop out of the blue for a visit and one thing led to another and he really wants to meet you. Cadence and Shining are talking to him now and explaining the rules of his visit” Twilight said.

“Who is he?” I asked.

“WHY IT'S ME!” a disembodied voice called out and I looked around and saw no one new and when I turned back around I saw Cadence, Shining, and the girls all hoofpalming. “Whoa! Careful! You might knock me off with all the head spinning!”

I tried to look around again but to no avail and I was about to ask Twilight when a small blurry figure leaned down over my eyes and waved “Hello!” it said and I jumped back in surprise while the thing laughed. It floated in mid air for a moment before its body expanded into a huge......a huge.......I dunno what in the world it is. 

His head is kinda horse-like and has a deer antler on the right, a blue goat horn on the left, one long fang, a snake tongue, a goat beard, and white bushy eyebrows. But he has the right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, and the left leg of a goat. On his back he has a bat's right wing, a Pegasus' left wing, a horse's mane, and a dragon-like snake's tail with a white tail tuft. The shape of his body resembles that of a snake overall with how it is curved. 

I felt my face skew into one of utter confusion as I tried to wrap my brain around how he looked and everything else about him. “Now, now! If you make a face like that it might stick and that would not be good” the thing said in a joking tone. I shook my head to clear my thoughts but when I opened my eyes I saw that he was sticking out his eagle clawed hand “My dear fellow, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Discord! A pleasure to meet you”

I looked at his hand before I brought my own up and we shook “Nice to meet you as well, my name is Adrian” I told him.

“Ah, so your the human that Tia has been talking about lately! Honestly I thought she was making you up, guess I was wrong! So is it true? Are you from another world?” he asked.

“Yep, I come from another world called Earth. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you?” I asked him. 

“Oh dear me, where are my manners? I, dear fellow, am a draconequus! I am the spirit of chaos and disharmony! But fear not, I may have been bad in the past but thanks to Twilight and her friends I have been reformed!” Discord said with over exaggerated hand movements. “And you my new friend have the talk of the town!”

“Oh? How so?” I asked him.

“Well dear boy from what Princess Cadence informed of me this past week you have been trying to figure out about that mysterious but interesting magic that lies within you. And being such a kind and generous friend I offered my help to the cause, with your permission of course” he explained to me and ended with a bow.

“Well, how exactly do you plan on helping?” I said to him.

“Yes, how exactly do you plan on helping him Discord?” Twilight curiously asked. 

“Ah, my dear Twilight, so glad you asked. Well what I want to do is-” he snapped his fingers and a small black swirling ball of magic poofed into his hand “take his small ball of chaos magic and have it examine him from the inside and tell us what exactly his magic is and whatever other spicy information that lies within!” he explained.

“Hmmm, will that hurt him or interfere with his unknown magic?” Twilight cautiously asked.


“Well to be honest Twilight I am not sure, normally my magic won't react to anything else it is other chaos magic. So long as Adrian here does not hold any sort of chaos magic in him already he should be fine” he said.

“I dunno, sounds mighty dangerous if ya ask me” Applejack exclaimed.

“I second that, we have no idea what this could do you Adrian” Cadence worryingly said.

“Hmmm, I agree with them but the choice is up to you Adrian. What do you want to do?” Twilight asked me.

I do agree with them but at the same time this might be the best chance I have to fully figure out what is going on with me and tell us if I am dangerous or not to the others. “I think we should give it a try, but you should have something prepared just in case” I told them. All of them agreed and they made a five foot circle around me and I saw Twilight and Shining conjure up a pink dome around me.

Once it was fully formed and solid Twilight gave Discord the go ahead, a small hole opened in the shield which allowed the small chaos ball to fly in before it closed behind it. The small orb slowly flew to me but stopped right before me and I heard a knock. I looked up and saw Discord giving me a thumbs up or thumbs down so I gave him a thumbs up and he nodded which led to the orb going inside my body and when it did I closed my eyes and held my breath.

Five seconds.....

Ten seconds..........

Fifteen seconds...............

Nothing hurt and I didn't feel anything wrong and when I opened my eyes I saw all of them, including Shining, staring worryingly at me. I let out my held breath and stood up tall “It's alright, I don't feel anything wro-” I started to say before I felt something like a horse kicking me in the chest and I fell to my knees in pain and agony. Inside my body I felt my magic swirling so hard that it was painful then that pain turned into a searing heat inside my body and I cried out in agony.

My mind was going a million miles a second and images flashed before my eyes and the pain in my chest got worse while the heat in my body flared so hot that I thought I smelled burning flesh but in the next moment I saw a small amount of blood eject itself from my mouth in between the screams of agony. All of this combined started to black out my senses and the last thing I remember is a wicked laughter screaming in my head.


---------- Outside the force field ----------


His screams, his blood curdling screams was all I could heard coming from my human friend as I saw his suffer inside my magic shield. My body refused to move and my mind was blank, what should I do? What should I do? WHAT SHOULD I DO? Suddenly I saw him spewing blood from his mouth and the moment he did his body was surrounded by columns of lightning that swirled around him but stopped climbing when it hit my shield. Just as I regained some of my senses I heard something new arise from his body who had just gone silent not two seconds ago. Instead of screams of agony or words I heard the soft cackle of laughter.

The soft cackle soon turned into a full blown maniacal laughter then just as quickly he flung his head up and from his mouth I saw fire erupt into life and blasted into my shield but thankfully due to me and my brothers strong magic it did not crack or break but that did not stop the torrent of flames from enveloping the inside and soon our vision of him was blocked out by fire that we felt outside the bubble.

During this brief pause of events I turned to a visibly stunned and horrified Discord “DISCORD! What did you do?!” I asked him at the top of my voice.

“I-I don't know, I honestly don't know. I have never seen a reaction like this before in my life” he said obviously baffled by this phenomenon.

I turned my head back to the flaming inferno that was trapped inside, what is going on inside? My answer came sooner than I expected for that infernal laughter rose from the depths of the flames as they died out and I saw something that looked like Adrian but there were some slight changes. One of the main things I saw was that his snow white hair had turned almost black, no wait, a very dark blue.

Also over top of his clothing there seemed to be dark flaming armor covering him in certain random places, but the most striking feature was the most subtle and that was the whites of his eyes had definitely turned black while his heterochromia irises remained the same which made them seem more evil than beautiful like before. This time when his laughter ended he roared and out came the flames but mixed into it now was a dark mist and when it slammed into our shield it cracked and I saw the tiniest little ember escape through. This is not good, this is not good at all.

Just as my hopes started to falter I saw Adrian fall to his knees again and began coughing up even more blood but what surprised us next was that every time he coughed up blood his black, flowing hair started to revert back to white and the random assortment of armor faded away into the air but his eyes remained as black as the night. Suddenly his head snapped up to stare at us with malice and hatred yet a twisted grin grew while his breathing became heavy and ragged.

“His nightmares will become your reality” said a dark voice that originated from within the cracked bubble shield and the next instant Adrians head went straight up and an ear splitting screech exploded from Adrian with such force that it completely shattered the bubble shield and from his mouth came the small chaos orb Discord had placed within him but when it floated out it shot into the sky and exploded with a force powerful enough to shatter glass. What came next though was something quite a shocking feeling.

When the explosion died down I felt a cold, dark shiver crawl up my spine and to my right I saw both Discord and Cadence shiver as well and the moment it died down Adrians body slumped down on the ground and into the small pool of blood he had previously coughed up. What just happened? But before I could even think to move a single muscle I saw Cadence instantly run up to Adrian and ignoring the blood she cupped his upper body in her hooves and opened his eyes.

To our relief his eyes returned to normal and his irises beautifully shimmered once more and that is when my legs gave out as well as the rest of us but Cadence still held him and she began to cry over him and much to my confusion she said “What have we done?”
> A Humans Forgiveness And A Trip Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


---------- 2 Days Later, Crystal Empire Hospital, Room #13 ----------


“GASP” I suddenly exclaimed as I shot up from my spot and I began breathing heavily, my body was slowly catching up to me as my hearing and sight returned to me. What I saw was a light green colored room that shined a bit and I was lying under a blanket roughly the same color in what seemed to be a hospital bed. My ears picked up a beeping noise that blipped every few seconds, turning my head I saw that it was a heart monitor, beeping in rhythm to my heart.  When I looked down at myself I saw that I was wearing a long hospital gown that was either made for me or for minotaur guests. 

How in the world did I end up here? Last thing I remember is screaming in pain after that chaos orb went inside of me then nothing. What did Discord do to me? Ugh, nevermind that for now cause now my body just spiked in pain and I slumped back down and groaned in pain. Great, body in pain and I am in the hospital after blacking out. Thanks magic. Wonder how long I was out this time. Hopefully not too long, I don't want to worry them all again.

UGH! Another shot of pain just rippled through my body, I am just gonna close my eyes and see if I can just relax my body. So I did and it seemed to help a little but every now and then a small spike would hit me but it quickly went away, thankfully. Minutes rolled on by and if not for the ticking clock the room would have been dead silent, next to the heart monitor of course but that did not bother me anymore. If not for the silence though I might of missed the tiny sound of the door being gently opened and the sound of hooves sluggishly moving towards me. 

It is probably the doctor or nurse so I kept my eyes closed and let my body rest, I would get up when they start talking but when I heard them stop and stayed silent I was kinda curious as to what they were doing. I was about to open my eyes when I then heard sniffles coming from my guest “I am so sorry Adrian” said a familiar voice belonging to a certain pink alicorn princess. “I am so sorry that this happened to you”

Cadence stepped closer and I heard the scuffle of a chair being moved and her getting up to sit before I felt something lay against my left leg and from the new sniffles I heard I guessed it was most likely her head. When she finally stopped moving I felt my leg start to get wet, oh no Cadence started crying! This is bad, like really bad! But how should I let her know I am awake? Cause I am sure no matter what she will spring on me and hug me to death, not that I mind but I just want it to be a smooth transaction. But after giving it some thought I mentally shrugged and decided to just go with it. 


So I opened my eyes and there she was, my adorable and cuddly friend crying over me and I felt my heart sink. Twice now I have made them worry over me because of me almost dying, I need to fix this. Taking a small breath I lifted my left hand and guided it over to the top of her head and I began to gently pet her mane and like a bullet she shot straight up with red, surprised eyes that stared at me in disbelief and shock. Guess they thought I was going to be out a while longer.

We simply stared at each other and decided to speak first I let a gentle smile roll over my face “Good morning Cadence” I simply said to her.

“ADRIAN?!?! YOUR AWAKE!” She loudly stated as a look of glee overtook her and she began to lurch towards me but she stopped herself and drew her hooves back to her chest and adopted a sullen look on her face and looked away in shame. “I'm sorry, you probably don't want me of all ponies to touch you” she grimly said.

I looked at her very confused “Whatever do you mean? If your worried about hurting me due to whatever injury I have, don't be. I'll be fine and I would probably feel better if I had a Cadence hug” I explained to her while I gave her a wink at that last part but this did not get any sort of positive reaction out of her and she seemed to flinch when I said her name.

She shook her head and said “No, no you wouldn't. I am the one who hurt you and I don't want to hurt you even more again. All of this is my fault”

“What's going on Cadence? Your not acting like yourself, you can tell me anything you know. That is what friends are for” I said as I smiled at her while my hand reached out for her but she slapped it away and new tears formed in her face.

“I AM NOT YOUR FRIEND!” Cadence yelled at me with her eyes shut as they cried. “I can't be your friend anymore, not after all I did to you behind your back!”

“C-Cadence? Wha-what?” I quietly asked as I registered her words in my head and became very worried and sad. 

“A true friend would not sneak behind the other and keep secrets from them! If I had told you the truth from the beginning then you wouldn't be here in the hospital! You wouldn't have had to get hurt just to answer our hidden questions! You could have been home already!” She screamed at me with overflowing tears. After her outburst she simply stared at me with an angry look on her face but it wasn't directed at me.

I was silent while I let her words tumble in my mind, what in the world was she talking about? What is all this secret behind my back stuff? Especially that already being home part, that struck a bit of a nerve  but I did not let out any emotion because I needed answers and I needed them now. So I took a long, deep breath before I looked back at her “Explain” I simply said with no emotion.

The way I said it must of struck her cause she flinched again and stayed silent for a few moments before she forced herself to stop crying and took a few calming breaths and once she regained her composure she stood up in her seat and looked at me once more “I guess I should start in the beginning” 

“So, first off Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Shining Armor, Twilight, and myself talked in secret after she found you unconscious in the Everfree. Twilight had sensed something wrong with you and the fact that the new found magic inside you had gathered. Now we know that it was your inner magic bursting free and had been mixed with the Alphas Soul, but at the time we were all scared at what you might become when you woke up”

“We did not wish to have negative thoughts against you but history had shown us that usually whenever a pony or other creature gains hold of new and very powerful magic they change and not always for the better. But since we have no idea about your race or anything about you in general it made our worries double and we came up with a plan of action for you. Simply put we would write secret reports to Celestia and inform her if you showed any signs of change or destructive thoughts and/or actions”

“We were to also report to her about your magic growth for a while and study it to see if it was too dangerous. Thankfully all the reports were good and you showed no signs of aggression or change in general, that was until you found that book. I cannot tell you much about it but all I do know is that it should not of been found by you. It is the first book in an ancient and dangerous series of books written long ago”

“As for the reason they are dangerous I cannot say and will have to ask Princess Celestia but when I saw it I reported it to her immediately and only I was told to keep a close eye on you since she did not want knowledge of the book getting out. But as for what happened next I swear to you I did not know and I apologize again for it all”

“The day after you collapsed I wrote a letter to Celestia explaining what happened to you and after her genuine shock to the ill news she informed me that she was the one who sent over Discord to try and help figure out how your body worked since the magic you now hold inside is dangerous and possibly deadly since it is magic that has never intertwined before. None of us could of ever guessed that his Chaos magic would have such disastrous effects on you” she carefully explained to me before she forced herself to stop as she was on the verge of tears again.

“I......I-I am so sorry that we hurt you Adrian. If I had known I would of sent Discord away at once! But I allowed him to continue and......and......” Cadence briefly said before her tears interrupted her speech and made her stop. But not for long as she grabbed the tissue box next to my bed and quickly used it to clean herself up.

“I-I see. But what about me being sent home?” I quietly asked her. 

“Yes, yes, home. (sniffles) I apologize again for the secrecy and for the accidental misinformation. Celestia informed me that Luna had found the only scroll that held information about travel between different worlds, information that was found with some sort of magic portal project conducted by Star Swirl. However she asked me to keep this a secret from you for now for two reasons, one she wanted to see if the new magic inside would not corrupt you”

“And second, the spell does allow you to go home but for only a single day before you must return to Equestria. After that it would take ten years time to allow you to travel back again for another day. She wanted to keep it a secret as to not disappoint you in her failure to find a more permanent way back home” she finally and fully explained to me and I saw her shudder for a moment “That is honestly everything we have held from you and I can understand if you can never forgive us for this betrayal” 

I layed there in my hospital bed and just let my mind wander and spin around this new information. Honestly, all in all, I am actually not all that mad. Yeah I am a little upset that they were sneaking behind my back with all this spying on me but I can also understand why and see that it was for a good reason. Heck, back home if we saw Cadence walking around the government would of probably kidnapped her and experimented on her and question her endlessly. So compared to us there methods were very sane and safe.

I also would of liked to have known about the book and that it was possibly dangerous or whatever, guess that is something I will have to inquire from Celestia later. I was shaken from my inner debate when I heard Cadence sniffle again and was on the verge of tears again, for goodness sakes these ponies have such kind and pure hearts. Not wanting to see her suffer any longer I quickly reached over and grabbed her and pulled her in close for a hug, which was met with a very surprised reaction.

“Wh-what are you doing?!” She worryingly asked as she struggled a bit in my arms. 

“I forgive you Cadence” I simply stated and she stopped squirming the second I uttered those four little words.

“What..... did you just say?” Cadence confusingly asked.

“I said I forgive you Cadence” I said again.

“Bu-bu-bu-But how?!? How can you say that! You should be furious! Upset! MAD! I was suppose to be your friend but I betrayed your trust! I got you hurt! How can you just forgive me so easily?!? How? How? HOW?!” Cadence furiously asked in a strained voice as she tried to comprehend my words. I simply held her closer and used my hand to cradle the back of her head and pet her mane. 

“Why that's simple Cadence, I’m your cute and silly human!” I said as I gave a quiet little laugh that hummed through my body “And you are my friend. Yes sometimes friends make mistakes and maybe sometimes they do something that upsets the other. And yes I am a little upset at this but I understand why you did this and I would of done the same thing if a new, strange creature suddenly got hold of something dangerous to himself and others”

“As for Discord, you all said that it could be dangerous and that I had a choice to say no but I took that risk upon myself and I am the only one to blame. You did not force me to say yes or for him to use his magic on me, so you have nothing to be sorry for. I saw it as a chance to learn about what is happening to me and I took it, yes it is unfortunate that I got hurt and blacked out but that is no way your fault”

“I want to talk to Celestia about that crimson book sooner or later but I also understand her reasons as well and I forgive her as well. I also want to let her know that I am so very grateful that they were able to find that spell to send me home, they had no obligation to fulfill and I would never force them to do so. To be able to find such a spell is a tremendous accomplishment, one they should be proud of” I explained to her.

I felt her start to cry a while ago so I sat there and held her in my arms and allowed her to get it out of her systems. It was only a minute or so before I heard her ask “Can you really forgive us so easily?”

“Of course I can and I just did silly” I quickly said to her before I leaned my head back and gave her forehead a quick kiss and chuckled to myself “I love all of you girls so much and I don't think I could ever stay mad at one of you for long, especially if you pull out those puppy dog eyes” 

Cadence simply stared at me in wonder and awe with her shiny eyes and I felt her lurch back into my chest while she wrapped her hooves around me and snuggled up with me “You are the most amazing human I have ever met, thank you” she quietly said as she layed her head against my chest.

“Oh? And here I thought I was the only human you had met” I jokingly said and this time I heard her give a faint laugh.

“Shut up and hug me more” Cadence said as she snuggled me more.

“There's my Cadence, I was beginning to miss her” I teasingly said to her as I lifted my hand to her ear and gave it a good scratching and was happily met with a moan of approval. So with that I gently lowered myself back down and against the back of the bed while the two of us just silently enjoyed each others company. 

“You should not of said that though” I heard Cadence say.

“Said what?” I asked her.

“That your weakness is our puppy dog eyes” She said with a grin.

“Oh dear, what have I done” I jokingly said as I went along with her silliness before the two of us started laughing.


–-------- 2 Hours Later, Hospital Waiting Room –--------


Once Cadence was satisfied with her hugs and snuggles, well I should the doctor forcing her out so he could give me a final examination which lead to a clean slate of health. I had learned that after I blacked out, I had coughed up a significant amount of blood but since they did not know the original amount I had, they were worried that I had lost too much. But after day one when they reexamined me they determined that I had recovered most of it back, probably due to my human physiology and my healing magic.

During this time I had asked Cadence to gather the others so I could let them know I was alright and to let Twilight know that I forgive her as well since she was probably feeling the same as Cadence about this whole thing. It wasn't long after the doctor left my room that I saw a purple flash and was set upon by Twilight who was blubbering about the same things that Cadence apologized for. Gosh she was adorable in the end though after I explained that I understood and forgave her.

She told me that the others were going to meet us in the waiting room, so after giving her a few more hugs we finally left my room since I was given the all clear. The two of us walked out and saw the girls waiting, so I sped up a little and finally stepped into the room. “Hey girls! Sorry for making you-” was all I could say before a pink missile bombarded me and I found myself rolling backwards and crashing into the wall “-wooooooorrrrry. What in the world hit me?”

I looked down and I saw a pink party pony clutching me tightly with her face buried in my chest and I could tell she was crying and once again I saw her mane was straight and her fur color was slightly darker, oh dear Pinkie Pie. Seeing that she was really sad again I simply sat up a little and wrapped my arms around her and pet her mane, that is when I noticed that Twilight was looking at her with a sad face “She has been like this ever since we brought you to the hospital” she informed me. 

“I'm so sorry for making you worry Pinkie, but see? I'm all fine and better now!” I informed her and tried to sound enthusiastic but I got no response from her. I decided to stand up and cradle her in my arms “We better get going, I think it would be better to cheer her up in the castle” I said and the others simply nodded in agreement, though Applejack and Rainbow didn't look any better then Pinkie. Thankfully I was able to change into a pair of larger green scrubs instead of that flapping gown earlier.

Once we left I was thinking in my mind how to get Pinkie out of this funk, so I decided that the best thing to do first was to get her talking again “Pinkie Pie?” No response “Piiiiiiinkie Pie” still nothing “Oh Piiiiinkie Pie!” I added a gentle poke to her head and finally she moved her head up a little to only show me her watery eyes staring sadly up at me, ACK! I think I just felt my heart break a little, this is not good. “Come on, tell me what's wrong. I wanna make you smile again!” I said as I made it as enthusiastic as I possibly could but she still gave me a sad look.

“I don't feel like smiling” was all she said before she slumped her head back down.

“Well I don't care! I wanna see my friend smile!” I boldly declared and she looked back up again. This is good, so I toned my voice back down and spoke friendly “Pinkie, if this is about me getting hurt then don't worry. This was not your or any pony elses fault. I chose to have Discord inspect me with his magic and anything that happened to me afterwards was my fault alone. So please don't beat yourself up and feel sad over that, ok?”

She simply shook her head “That is not why I don't feel like smiling” Pinkie sadly said.

“Then what else could possibly make the super duper party pony feel so blue?” I asked her with a gentle smile as I stroked her mane.

“Your going to leave me and go back home” Pinkie said before she hugged me tighter “I don't want you to leave” she quickly added before I felt her cry a little more. Well, there goes another little piece of my heart. But I understand now why the others looked to glum, they probably heard Cadence or Twilight talk about that spell about sending me back home but not the part where it was only for a day. I simply let out a sigh as I rested my head on her own.

“Who told you about the spell?” I asked her.

“Twilight told us who learned about it from Cadence who learned about it from Celestia. Are you really going to leave us?” she asked me without looking up.

“Before I answer that, I need to tell you all something about that spell” I said out loud which caused our group to stop and stare at me “Now according to Cadence that spell can send me back home BUT only for ONE day then I will be brought back to you all in Equestria”

POOF

“SAY WHAT?!?!” Pinkie suddenly and loudly shouted as I saw her mane and color explode back to normal and she used her front two hooves to stand against my chest while she looked at me with two beach ball sized eyeballs.

I chuckled under my breath a bit “What” I responded back with and for a few seconds Pinkie did not respond and looked confused until her eyes lit up and she laughed and laughed and every second she did I felt my heart heal just a little more. I even heard the other girls chuckle a little but mostly they looked happy at the news and that Pinkie was......well Pinkie again. 

Finally after getting all her happy emotions back Pinkie looked back up at me with sparkling eyes that shined with hope “So your not leaving?” She asked.

I gave another quick little chuckle before I ruffled her mane a little “No, I am not leaving you Pinkie or any pony else any time soon” I told her which earned me a happy hug from said pink pony. Responding in kind, I squeezed her with my hug which got a giggle out of her.

“Phoo! Glad to hear that partner! I was getting mighty worried that I would have to tell Applebloom that you were leaving” Applejack said as she walked up.

“Yeah right AJ! You were all worried that he wasn't gonna tell YOU goodbye!” Rainbow pointed out which made the apple farmer puff out her cheeks. 

“Mighty rich comin from YOU Dash! I seem ta recall a certain phrase, now what was it? Oh yeah 'It would stink if he left without giving me one last ear scratch' I believe” Applejack grinned when she was done and now Rainbow was getting all flustered and was muttering gibberish.

“DID NOT! I was simply sad that I would lose my best and only human fan is all!” Rainbow huffed as she crossed her hoofs and pouted. This made Pinkie and Applejack laugh hard and I even heard Twilight and Cadence give a hushed chuckle. I looked around and saw all of them laughing and having fun with their smiling faces and I smiled as big as I could. Now that we were all in high spirits we continued our walk back to the castle and soon enough we found ourselves right outside the castle doors.

Pinkie had hopped down at this point but was bouncing in her steps all the way with a smile permanently plastered on her face. But just before we entered Cadence stopped us “Adrian, real quick. I forgot to tell you before we left but when I was gathering them I sent a letter to Celestia telling her you were awake and wanted to peacefully talk to her. So be prepared to see her soon, since she will probably want to resolve this issue quickly” She explained to me.

I nodded my head in acknowledgment and we walked inside and she lead us to the throne room and the second she did we all gasped in unison as we saw that waiting for us was both Celestia and Luna. “Hehe, guess she REALLY wanted to resolve this as quickly as possible” Cadence nervously said. As soon as Cadence talked the two sisters noticed us, mainly me and our two groups met in the middle. Before any could speak I saw the two of them bow before me, ok this was weird.

“C-Celestia! Luna! Please, you don't need to bow!” I quickly said as I walked up to them.

“But we do Adrian, there are no words or actions we can do to ever express our sincerest apologies for our actions against you” Celestia said with her head still down.

“We agree with our sister, Adrian. Our heart is heavy and full of sorrow and regret for our inexcusable actions brought against you. We could never ask for you to forgive us” Luna added with her head also still bowed. Ah jeez, these ponies. Inside my head I was smiling and sighing at them. But what would these two understand to make them stop bowing? Hmmm, what would older royalty understand the best? Hmmmmmmm..................... AH HA! I GOT IT!

“Princess Celestia. Princess Luna. Please, raise your heads. You are correct and as such I believe it would be fair if I were to impose a punishment upon the two of you, only then would I deem you two worthy of my forgiveness” I said to the two of them in a very posh but stern voice. This grabbed their attention and thankfully they raised their heads and looked at me and patiently waited.

“Adrian?” I heard Cadence say from behind me, so I turned around and very quickly flashed her a smile and a wink before turning around with a serious face. 

“Now for your punishment” I took a step back and very dramatically pointed my right hand and finger at them “My punishment for both you Celestia and Luna is as follows!” I loudly said which made the two of them flinch and close their eyes “For one week I shall not allow either one of you to receive The Royal Ear Scratch! That is all” I concluded my speech and waited for them to respond.

That took a while for the moment I told them their punishment I saw them stare at the ground in confusion, it was talking all my willpower not to laugh at them. Finally they both raised their heads back up to me and stared at me. Their expressions practically were asking me 'What?'

“What? I told you my punishment, that means I have now forgiven you both!” I told them with a smile on my face.

“Bu-bu-but how? Why?” Luna finally pieced together her sentence.

“How and why can I forgive you so easily? Simple, I told this to Cadence and Twilight and now I shall tell this to you two as well. You are my friends and friends forgive each other for their mistakes. Yes I am still a little upset about the secrets but I fully understand your reasons why and think you were right to keep on eye on me. I would not of been upset if you had told me though, you were simply protecting not only your people but myself as well”

“AND I am not mad about you not informing me about the spell back home. I am extremely happy and grateful that you two took the time and effort for someone like me and were dedicated to help me. So instead I thank you, thank you for looking out for me like one of your own” I happily informed them. When I was done talking the sisters faces went from confusion to that of being happy and grateful and that was before I found myself being pounced by Luna.

“Oh thank you so much Adrian! We are so happy that you do not hate us!” Luna said as she nuzzled me while her hooves were wrapped around me and hugging me tightly. 

Letting out a light laugh I reached up with my hand and gave her ear a scratch “I could never hate you Luna. I could never hate any of you” I said.

“GASP! Adrian? We thought you said our punishment was an entire week without receiving The Royal Ear Scratch?” Luna confusingly asked me. 

“Oh I did, but I never said when it would start. It could start tomorrow or in three hundred years. I am still deciding on that” I jokingly teased her with a wink before I heard them all laugh.

“Well we hope you think about it later. Much, much later” Luna said as she leaned against me while I scratched. I looked over and I saw that Celestia was looking at me with a kind and caring face and she gave a small head how thanking me. So I smiled back and returned one to her.

“So Adrian, since you have been informed of the spell I would like to ask you something” I nodded my head “Are you still interested in returning home for only one day?

“Yes I do Celestia, if anything I would like to retrieve my personal possessions and bring them back since I probably won't be heading back anytime soon” I explained to her.

“Very well then. We can perform the spell anytime your ready” Celestia said and at this Luna found the will to move from her spot in order to stand next to her sister and nodded in agreement.

“WAIT!” Rainbow suddenly yelled out which brought all attention to her “Can we come to?!” she excitingly asked. At this the others suddenly were inspired to join her side and looked at us expectingly.

“I dunno, would be really dangerous and risky to have even one of you come and accidentally be seen” I said to them.

“No problem! We can use our magic to either hide or disguise ourselves!” Twilight happily said.

“Well, while that would work here I don't know if it will back on Earth since my world doesn't really have magic as far as I am aware” I explained to them.

“Hmm, that would be problematic. I will leave the decision up to you Adrian since this is your home” Celestia said. 

I pondered this for a moment but I made the mistake of turning around to think and that is when I saw the five of them staring up at me with huge puppy dog eyes and fierce quivering lips. GAH! MY HEART! I think an arrow just shot through it! Ack! Guh! Ffffffffuuuuuuu-

“Fine” I finally said which made them all jump in joy but Celestia cut it short.

“I do have to inform you all that only three of you can accompany him, it would be safer to travel in a smaller group just in case and with a spell of this magnitude it would easier to transport fewer numbers” Celestia informed us. Instead of grumps and groans the five of them started discussing how to settle it and after a few minutes of arguing they decided to draw sticks, whoever drew the two shortest sticks would stay behind and after a long five minutes it was decided that Cadence, Rainbow, and Pinkie would come while Twilight and Applejack would stay behind.

“Alright, now that everything is settled, are you ready to go Adrian?” Celestia asked as she walked up to me. She stopped in front of me and waited for my answer while she had that loving smile on her face. It is really weird to see her up close and being so tall in compared to the others.......wait. Hold on a moment, something is different. Last time her horn reached above me and was taller but now that she is standing in front of me now her horn is level with my forehead. Have I grown taller? 

She must of noticed me taking my time and looking us both over up and down “What's wrong Adrian?”  she asked.

“Um, this is kinda a weird question to ask but have I grown taller?” I asked in return. With this Celestia now looked me up and down and noticed where her horn was according to me.

“I do believe you have Adrian, how strange” she calmly stated “By my guess I think you have grown about three inches”

“Three inches?! Wow, do you think it had something to do with the crimson book?” I asked her again.

“Most likely and when you return we will be having a lengthy discussion concerning that book” Celestia sternly said as she looked at me with a serious look in her eyes.  I nodded in acknowledgment “Very good, now you four go and stand in the middle of the room and we shall began”

With that being said we did as we were asked and grouped up in the middle of the room, huh three inches? So now I am six foot five inches, with the new height and my eyes and hair I doubt anybody back home will easily recognize me. Then again I am literally the only tall person in the county so that might be a clue but I shall cross that bridge when it comes. But that also makes me think, how long have I already been here in Equestria? Lets see, three then the week then that plus these few days...... eighteen days.

Almost three weeks already? Well nine of those I spent passed out but still. Enough of those thoughts for now as I see both Celestia and Luna charging up their magic and I can see their magic starting to swirl around us and wrapping us in a shape of some kind. That's interesting, instead of a bubble the magic is forming a box around us, a blue box. No. No freaking way. HAHAHA! This is perfect. “All right, get ready everypony! Here we go!” Celestia loudly said as the magic hummed around us. 

I could see our bodies start to fade away as the magic started to work and deciding this was the best time to unleash my dorky side I quickly said out loud “ALLONS-Y!” and with that we warped and found ourselves surrounded by darkness but with the feeling of falling up instead of down.

“Allons-y? Do you know what that means Tia?” Luna asked.

“I have no idea Luna” Celestia honestly said as she looked upon where we once stood.


---------- Earth, USA, Michigan ----------


“Ugh, that was not as smooth as I was led to believe” I groaned as we all sat on the ground and tried to make the world stop spinning. 

“Was it that bad when you came through the first time?” Cadence asked me.

“I don't know, I was unconscious the first time and now I guess I should consider myself lucky” I groggily said. The next few minutes were spent breathing heavily and getting our bearings. Thankfully once the world stopped spinning everything else came back to us and in no time we were all good to go.

“All right, now that we are all settled first things first. Cadence, are you able to use your magic?” I asked. Right away I saw her start to concentrate and her horn was actually glowing and the next thing I know the three of them disappeared. “Whoa! Cadence? Rainbow? Pinkie?” Did they teleport?

“We are right here silly!” I heard Pinkie say but I could not see her. Before I could ask I saw the three standing where they were before come back.

“Sorry Adrian, I thought it would be best to try an invisibility spell. Looks like our magic works in your world! What about yours?” Cadence said. Hmmm, well lets give it a shot then shall we? I started by stirring my magic inside of me to see if I could feel it and once I did I concentrated it on my hand and snapped my fingers and I summoned a little electrical ball that crackled in the cold air. 

“Looks like mine works as well, now there is one other problem” I declared.

“What's wrong?” Cadence asked.

“It's the middle of winter and we are all standing here in next to nothing!” I loudly declared. It was only now did I think about changing clothes instead of staying in my green scrubs, I was already starting to feel the cold, crisp Michigan air strike at my skin. Thankfully I had my shoes on but the rest of me only slightly shivered.

“No worries, I can use a warm heating spell to keep us warm” Cadence said to us all.

“No need! I got some stuff here for all of us!” Pinkie suddenly popped up and using her front hooves she dived into her mane and after some digging around she pulled out one of my outfits and some scarfs and hats for them. My jaw unhinged and just hung there in disbelief and I barely made my head turn to stare and Rainbow and Cadence who simply shook their heads.

“It's Pinkie Pie, don't ask” is all Rainbow said before she scooped up a pair of blue and yellow marked scarf and hat. Taking a few more seconds to try and ignore how Pinkie broke the universe I eventually walked my way over to my stuff before I saw a blue aura surround and lift them.

“Let me help you real quick” Cadence said to me and the next thing I know my whole body tingled and hearing a popping sound I found myself fully dressed, wearing a pair of black slacks, a long sleeved purple buttoned shirt, and a black vest. Huzzah for magic! 

“Thank you Cadence, saved me the trouble of finding a place to change. Hehehe” I said to her as I smoothed out my hair.

“No problem, so where to Adrian?” She asked me.

“Hmmm, well I suppose we should head to my house first so I can get all my stuff ready to go before we do anything else” I suggested.

“Sounds good, well lets go gi-” Cadence started to say.

“Hey mister! Whatcha doing?” a new voice chimed in and I felt my blood freeze. CRAP! Barely here for five minutes and someone has already seen us. How am I going to explain this? Hoping that my brain will come up with something on the spot I turned around and in between a pair of frost covered trees I saw a little red headed girl with blue eyes standing there looking at us in fascination. Ok, its a kid, I can hopefully come up with a good lie to fool her.

“Well, you see, um, we are-” I droned off a bit to think before Pinkie Pie stepped up.

“Were here to party!” She loudly said. UGH, PINKIE! I gave her the stink eye “What? Everyone likes to party silly!”

“Party? Oh! You mean the Fantasy Convention in town?” the little girl said. OH THANK YOU MICHIGAN! Wait, their was a Fantasy Convention coming to town? Nevermind, I don't care. We just found our cover.

“Yes! Yes! That, we were heading over there but....... my friends costumes got a little messed up so we wanted to come somewhere private to fix it before going in!” I quickly told her, thank you brain. 

“Cool! So, what are they?” she asked.

“Ah, well guess no harm in introductions I suppose. Well my name is Adrian Frost and the pink earth pony over there is-” I started to say.

“PINKIE PIE AND I LOVE TO PARTY!” Pinkie happily exclaimed.

“Yes, thank you Pinkie. Next the cyan pegasus over there is Rainbow Dash!” I showed her.

“Yo! What's up?” Rainbow casually said. 

“Yeah (cough) and finally the tall, pink alicorn is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or simply Cadence” I waved my hands as to showcase her. Cadence did a quick bow and smiled.

“Greetings little one, it is an honor to meet you” Cadence softly said. The little girl did a cute curtsy before looking over us all.

“Cool! Well I gotta get going, my mom is probably worried about me! It was nice to meet you all! Bye!” the little girl said as she turned around and ran off, when she turned around I saw on her backpack in big, bold letters the initials 'L. F.'. Wonder what her name was, L, L, L, probably Lauren or something. 

“Phew, all right. Spell up now! Before any one else sees us!” I quickly said to Cadence. She nodded in agreement and casted the same spell again but this time I could still see them. “Did it work? I can still see you three”

“Yes, I made it so you could see us in case we accidentally get lost or anything” Cadence explained.

“Ah, good idea! Well my little ponies, lets get rolling!” I said as I started to walk off with the three invisible ponies following me. What I did not notice and wouldn't notice in the future was that we had just walked by a newly built well with a sign hanging on it reading 'Beware: Use extreme caution when observing the well as accidents could occur that might lead to injury or death. In memory of' the rest was covered in snow.


> Grave News And The Humans Shimmering Past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

'PINKIE! GAH!' I screamed in my thoughts as I saw the invisible pink pony zoom from shop to shop and pressing her face against the glass while ogling all the products and people. While it was kinda cute and adorable to witness and I knew that no body here could see her, it still made me nervous to have her out of reach and knowing her anything could happen. But that was not the only thing making me uneasy while I swiveled my head around and looking at all the new things that just seemed to pop up all over.

“Adrian? Is everything alright?” I heard Cadence quietly ask, a new rule I imposed to them since Pinkie kept screaming with excitement and I was already getting odd looks without a faceless voice talking nonstop around me. I was kinda used to it by now because before I left my height would always make me the center of attention in town.

“Yeah, guess time away from here has made me forgetful cause I don't recognize half of these places and not just the new ones from the Festival” I quietly whispered back. I took another look around and I must of look worried because next thing I knew I felt a slight pressure leaning against my leg and looking down I saw that Cadence was walking next to me and was leaning against me with a smile on her face. I smiled back and quickly pet her head before continuing forward. 

Rainbow had decided to stick to the ground after flying around for five minutes and complained that the air above stinks, for the time being I simply shrugged it off, not wanting to explain the damage we humans have done to our home. But anyway, she had found a new way to have fun by fully utilizing her invisibility by slightly hovering in front of a random human and started making funny faces at them. I almost busted out laughing when she gave a business guy in a suit a raspberry and he flinched and started looking around for the source of the sound and spit. 

I had to restrain Pinkie a little bit when she zipped across the street, totaling ignoring the cars and people and even causing a few people to trip over her tail. So after she zipped back over to us I told her to at least stay somewhat in reach and on the same side of the street, she instantly agreed before zooming to the next shop in front of us. I let out a mental sigh but also a grateful one for Cadences magic working here on Earth or else this would be a very weird trip. 

Then again I'm surprised by myself that I have not freaked out yet at the fact that I have returned home, even if only for a day. But I suppose I'm not all that surprised because I did not have a lot to return back to I suppose, was I always this depressing? Deciding not to dwell on those thoughts, I shook my head and saw that we were getting close to the street we needed to turn to and once we were I told them all to turn left and that my house was at the end of this street. 

The moment I took my first step onto the street I was hit with a wave of nostalgia and was grateful for it as everything looked the same as I remembered it last. Taking a look around I saw that the street was empty for the moment and took a chance to speak to the girls without looking like I was crazy and talking to the wind. “I have so many things to show you girls! And I have to be sure to bring some stuff back for everyone back in Equestria. Definitely books for Twilight, perhaps some apple recipes for Applejack, need to find my music for Vinyl, lets see. What else?” I asked out loud. 

“Well you don't have to worry about space since I can use my magic to store as much as you want” Cadence informed me.

“Perfect! Well that takes one thing off my mind, cause it was going to be hard to choose what to take or leave behind” I told her in return. 

“Yo Adrian! What is up with this snow?” Rainbow asked.

“What do you mean?” I confusingly said.

“I mean how is it snowing? I don't see any pegasi up there making any!” she said.

“Well it does it naturally. Nature controls how the weather and seasons come and go here on Earth” I told her and when I did she had a look of absolute shock.

“WHAT?!? How do your people stay alive then? What if you need rain or sun or something?!” Rainbow asked.

“We just have to wait and hope I suppose, we do have people who can guess at what the weather will bring in on a daily basis and it also depends on where you live. Some places get more rain than others or are just naturally more humid and dry” I explained.

“Wow, are you sure chaos magic isn't at work?” Rainbow asked.

I gave a chuckle at this “I am sure, nature is pretty chaotic but can also be beautiful as well” I replied with. I took a quick look around and saw we were pretty close to my house so I started to quicken my steps almost to a full out run until I saw the edge of my house then I came to a full stop and thrusted out my hands to present my home “And I present to you ladies, my humble abode!” I announced to them.

I saw the three of them stare at my house and only Pinkie was smiling while the other two simply looked on and said nothing, that is until Rainbow said “Nothing too special” in a very nonchalant voice. 

I glared at her with an annoyed look on my face “Well IM SO SORRY that I don't live in a Crystal Castle, or in a cloud house, or even in a gingerbread house!” I spilled out before I turned around to cross my arms and flared my nostrils.

“Rainbow Dash! That was not very nice, now you go apologize to him right now!” I heard Cadence sternly say but I heard Rainbow give out an annoyed huff of air before the sound of flapping wings closed in on me. I felt a hoof touch my shoulder.

“Sorry Adrian” was all Rainbow said. I gently pushed her hoof off of my shoulder and took a few steps away from here and let out an audible hmph. “Hey, what gives?”

“I am upset with you Rainbow, here I am finally showing you my home and the first thing you say? 'Nothing too special'.” I bluntly told her. 

“O-oh. Yeah, guess that was kinda rude” she said with a nervous chuckle. I did not respond and simply stood there in silence with my back to her. I heard the familiar sound of flapping wings but this time I felt her land against my back with her hooves draping over my shoulder and her head resting on my right shoulder. “I really am sorry, didn't mean to upset you big guy”

I only responded with silence and I slightly turned my head away from hers and I heard her give a quiet sigh “Will you forgive me if I tell you a secret?” she asked and at this I turned my head back to her and looked at her. “W-w-w-well, my secret is.......is.........that I sort of might possibly kinda like your.......ear.......scratches” Rainbow nervously stuttered out and I could feel her face heat up and it was at this moment did I finally give up my facade and let out a hearty laugh while I reached up with my right hand and gave her ear a scratch.

“Well, I suppose I can forgive you” I told her with a smile while I continued to scratch her ear and just for a moment or two I heard give out a content sigh and I felt her nuzzle my cheek for a split second before she catapulted off of me and fly into the air. I was about to say something when I saw Pinkie curiously looking behind me and started walking. 

“Hey Adrian, why do you have pictures of yourself sitting here?” Pinkie asked. Pictures? What pictures? I had a confused look on my face when I turned around and when I did I saw that sitting all around my front steps were multiple and different pictures of me and I could also see a few flowers scattered about, almost like a shrine. 

“What in the world is going on?” I asked out loud as I took a few steps forward and looked around and after a quick search I saw a newspaper clipping tucked in one of the picture frames, so I gently plucked it out and unfolded it and started to read it to myself.

“Adrian? What it is your reading there?” Cadence asked me but I did not hear her and in a few moments I found myself shaking as a chill coursed through my body and that is when the three girls gasp in surprise. “Adrian?! What's wrong? Adrian?”

“I......I have to go” was all I said before I took off running in a certain direction.

“Whoa! We gotta catch him! Come on Pinkie!” Rainbow yelled out as the two of them started to chase after me and Cadence was about to join them before she noticed the newspaper clipping float in front of her and land on the ground. Using her magic she picked it up and straightened it out and began to read it.

“Oh no” Cadence silently whispered to herself before joining the chase.

Speed, that is all I cared about as I willed my legs to move faster and faster to get where I needed to go. Nothing else mattered, not even the fact that I was going so fast that I created a barrier of snow around me and if someone stood to close I slightly blew them away but only by a foot or two. The vortex I created also shielded myself so no one could see what exactly it was that flew by them, they only saw a barrier of snow bombarding them.

I did not care about what obstacles lay before me because I knew the path here by heart, which is sometimes the only strength I found to get me here before in the past to see her. Soon enough I came upon the black gates and found myself slowing down to a slow walk and finally forcing my body to stop just before the imposing gates. Searching inside of myself I found a small bit of strength and will to take the first step inside.

Letting my heart guide me through the many rows and columns in dead silence I eventually found my way a spot I have visited many before but now a new addition lay just to the left and upon inspecting it and fully realizing the truth that lay before me I fell to my knees and stared at the object with a blank and emotionless face.


---------- 5 minutes later, Cemetery Entrance ----------


This is bad, this is very very bad! I've got to find him before something bad happens! I hope nothing bad happens at all but hearing this kinda news would be devastating! I hope that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were able to keep track of him as well and followed him here. Using my magic to sense him tracks I gently pushed against the open black gates to the cemetery and saw hundreds of tombstones filling the rows of the snow covered land. I took a step forward and heard the crunch of snow beneath my hoof and saw another round hoof print imbedded in the snow, so Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash are here.

Remaining silent as I trekked through the snow covered graves, I wove through the different sized graves and occasionally read the names that decorated them. Judging from the date I found on the paper most of these humans died a long time ago but as I got closer to Adrian I saw the dates become more and more recent. Suddenly around the corner I heard two sets of gasps, picking up the pace I hurried over to the source of the noise and found that both Rainbow and Pinkie held their hooves up to their mouths and stared in disbelief at a certain tombstone that Adrian was also staring at. 

I slowly walked up to them and I followed their gaze and even though I had read on the piece of paper, it was still shocking to see and I could feel a jolt of pain squeeze my heart. On the gray stone it read “R.I.P – Adrian Corvinus Frost – A giant amongst friends that held the world in his giant heart. May your kindness reach out to others and lead them to smile, forever and always” I could not help but shed a tear after reading such a beautiful thing but it was also painful to read, knowing that the world thought Adrian was dead when he was alive and well. But now he can't come back to this world even if he wanted to, he has no home and his past life is now dead. This dreadful feeling inside of me caused me to weep even more for him.

But during my weeping I heard Adrian shift in the snow as he slid to the next grave over but instead of looking distraught he put on a smile while his face became glistened with tears from his eyes. Whos grave was that? He did not cry for his own grave. The other girls seemed to notice this as well and soon us three surrounded him and for some reason I found myself reading the grave out loud “R.I.P – Vivian Marie Frost – Mother to all and mother to one, may she find peace knowing her son carries on her soul and helps bring kindness back to the world she loved so much” 

I let out a gasp, oh no. Was this.....his mother? I felt my legs tremble a little but I forced myself to remain standing as I made my way over to him and draped my wing over his back and leaned against his side and taking up my initiative Rainbow used her own wing to cover his other side and hugged his arm while Pinkie gently walked into this lap and leaned against his chest while she let out a few sniffles. What surprised me though was that I felt his arm move under my wing and he wrapped it around and hugged me.

“Hey mom, I'm back. Sorry to have worried you for a little bit. But I wanted to let you know that I am alive and doing well. As you can see I made myself some new friends, though not ones that you probably would of ever imagined” Adrian silently said as he fought back his tears and his voice slightly trembled.

“I ended up in another world called Equus and landed in a place called Equestria and that is where I met these three and my many other friends. I even met royalty and even they are my friends. One of them is right here actually, on my left is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, ruler of the Crystal Empire. Though she prefers to be called Cadence and loves to hug and squeeze me and calls me cute non-stop” he said and gave a weak laugh but I ended up smiling a little and gave his side a quick nuzzle.

“On my right is their worlds most awesome and gravity defying pegasus they have ever known and her name is Rainbow Dash. She can be a bit brash at times and prefers to act before thinking but she has a good heart and in the end will always do what is right, even if it means doing something silly” Adrian said and I could hear him ruffle her mane a little but she only gave a silent giggle in response before sniffling.

“And last but certainly not least is Equestria very own super duper party pony named Pinkie Pie. No words can really describe her crazy and mind blowing antics but she is always around to make any pony and in my case, any human smile and feel warm inside, especially her baked goods. Also currently the two of us are the King and Queen of the dance floor at a night club, another thing you probably never expected from me” he said with another weak laugh as he held back his tears.

“But due to unexplained circumstances I ended up falling into well and traveled to their world and to me I was there for about three weeks when I found a temporary way back for one day. But when I got back and went to the your house I had discovered that on Earth I have been gone for over a year and was thought dead to all due to me falling into the well. Due to the well being connected to many other piping leading to the great lakes, they tried their best to search for my body but could not find it and pronounced me dead”

“So as soon as I found that out I came to see you to let you know that your little boy was alive and now I can do magic! I just keep on surprising you eh mom?” Adrian said but he stopped and took a few breaths and let loose a few tears but I used my other wing to reach around and wipe them off, he turned his head to me and smiled before turning back to his mother. 

“I have been wanting to see you for a while though because I have been having nightmares involving you lately and I am scared of them and what they mean and what they have to do with you. I keep on seeing you burn and haunt me and your burning skeleton stares at me and blames me for killing you” he abruptly ended as his body trembled while his eyes poured out his fears. All three of us wrapped our hooves around him and tried out best to warm him up and comfort him. 

“An-and I also have to apologize to you girls as well” Adrian suddenly said which caught all of our attention. Why is he apologizing to us? “It seems like lately I have been making you girls sad and I hate seeing you all sad instead of being cuddly” he said to me “awesome” to Rainbow “and poofy” to Pinkie. “So for that I am so sorry” I finally said as he used his arms to hold us close.

“You have nothing to be sorry about silly!” Pinkie said with a happy tone “Friends are there for you for the good and bad times. And besides, we got to meet your mom. Hi Adrians mom!” I couldn't help but laugh a little as I found myself waving a hoof at the grave.

“You raised a fine son, I am a lucky mare to have found a super cute and cuddly human such as him” I told his mom before I snuggled up with Adrian a bit more, just before he let out a groan.

“Cadence, not in front of my mom! Geez” he said with a slight blush on his face. Oh my goodness he is adorable! Squee! I squeezed him a little more but not just because of his cute reaction but for being strong and for being able to react normally like that during this stressful time. Whoever wrote that phrase on his gravestone knew him well, he does have a giant heart. 

“You don't have to worry about a thing ma'am! With me, the awesome and amazing Rainbow Dash at his side, he won't ever be lonely or bored!” Rainbow boasted with pride and though Adrians arm was mostly hidden I could see a bit of movement happening before I saw his hand resting on her head and his fingers started to scratch her ear. And for a moment or two I saw her make a blissful face as she blushed and hugged his arm a little tighter. AWWWWWW! SHE IS SO CUTE! He definitely has added her to his Ear Scratched collection! 

After letting a few more tears fall and a quick laugh Adrian finally spoke up again “So there you have it mom, I hope that proves to you that I am in capable hands. Well, capable hooves in their case. OH and I also have a pet! Her name is Artemis and she is a magical creature that is like a wolf but made out of wood and is called a timberwolf. And yes I fully realize the irony of that name mother, don't you worry about that” he added a short little laugh.

He took a deep breath as he seemed to collect his thought before he turned to us “Hey girls, can I have a moment alone to say my goodbyes?” he asked us and we all nodded yes and slowly took our leave but stayed close. As we were leaving I took a quick glance at the grave next to his mothers and the name seemed familiar somehow. 


---------- Vivians Grave ----------


After the girls left I turned back to my mothers grave and gave it a warm smile as I remembered all the good things about her “I won't be able to come and see you for a while mom, so I wanted to tell you that I miss you a lot and I will always love you” I gingerly said. After taking another quick look to make sure the girls were gone I leaned in a bit closer.

“I have one last thing to surprise you about but I think I finally found a girl I love back in Equestria. I am still worried about a lot of things about us being two different species and I fear for her future...... but....but I think I am willing to give it a chance. I just hope you don't think less of me for wanting to date a pony but she is intelligent and kind and very pretty. I just hope I can make her happy” I nervously said and my voice shook a little but casting that aside I stood up and took one last look at my moms grave and letting a few tears fall I gave it a big toothy smile. 

“I love you mom, goodbye” I solemnly declared and took a few moments for myself and shed a few tears. I felt much better after letting my emotions go, I cleaned up my face before I took one final look at both my mothers grave then my own grave. I suppose in the end it is fitting because this worlds Adrian no longer existed in a sense. So as I walked away from my grave, I was also saying goodbye to my old life on Earth and walked forward to embrace my new life on Equestria. 

I looked up ahead and saw the three girls waiting for me with warm smiles on their faces, so I decided to join them and smiled just as big and began the long walk back home. 


---------- 15 Minutes Later ----------


Phew, that was a longer walk back then I remembered. Well it would have been shorter but I decided that we needed to take the long way around when we arrived back into town and they were cleaning up my little mess I made when I blew past, didn't realize how fast I could run now thanks to my magic. Have to remember that. But once we found a safe route back we eventually found our way back to my house and thankfully no one found the spare key I had hidden. Once I retrieved the key I went to the back door as to not disturb the shrine out front, thankfully everything still worked fine and I invited my guests inside.

“I'm home” I said out loud, some habits are hard to break I suppose. I took one glance around and much to my relief no one has touched anything inside, so I can easily find and gather whatever I want. “Hey Cadence, how much time do we have til we return?” I asked.

Cadence lifted a hoof up to her chin and began to think “Well, give or take few minutes I would roughly say twenty-one hours” she informed me.

“Perfect, well first thing we should do is go around and close all the blinds and make sure all the doors are locked so you guys can walk around without worry” I told them and much to my amazement I merely blinked and saw all the blinds closed and heard the click of the locks. Another blink later and all three were sitting in front of me with grins on their faces. “I will never understand how you ponies do the impossible” Darn magical ponies. 

Taking one last glance to make sure everything was good I gave Cadence my nod of approval and a few moments and a spell later all three ponies were visible while Cadence let out a breath of relief “Phew, holding a spell for that long was starting to tire me out” she said.

“Well, make yourselves at home!” I told them and they all scattered to the four winds of my two story house. I simply shook my head and laughed then I shuddered at the thought of having the CMC here, the house would be a smoldering heap by the time we left. Probably. Hmmm, I wonder if the electricity is still running. Pffff, probably not. Stuff like that only happens in the movies. Still I went to the kitchen and hit the wall switch and was greeted.......with nothing. Shocker.

OH! Speaking of shocking, maybe I could use my lightning magic to charge the house or something. Magic solves everything! So I walked to the nearest power outlet and summoning my magic I thought of the lowest voltage spell and fed it into the outlet, so far nothing so every ten seconds I upped the spell strength and after the fifth try I saw the lights start to flicker on. Strengthening the spell one more time I let the magic flow into the socket for a long while and soon enough the lights came to life! I threw my arms in the air and grinned, magic rules!

I waited for about a minute to see if the lights stayed on and giving the electricity the ok I went over to the TV and turned it on, huzzah for basic cable. “WHOA! Whats that?!” I heard Rainbows voice appear out of nowhere as she appeared right next to me. 

“Oh, um, well this is called a Television or TV and it is a device that allows you to watch.....um.....lets see. I guess the best term would be moving pictures of plays or sports or anything people want to view and watch” I explained to her. To best demonstrate I switched it over to ESPN and it was showcasing the top one hundred sport plays and it was currently on number eighty eight. 

“This is ESPN, short for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. This shows highlights of most or all sport games around the world” I explained but I think Rainbow was not hearing anything since her eyes were as big as saucer plates and I think a bit of drool was coming out. Well, that is one pony taken care of but I still got her attention by standing in front of the TV real quick.

“Ok, before you watch any more I want to show you how to work the remote in case you want to watch something else. Just press this button labeled 'Guide'” I pressed it “it will show you all the channels you can watch, so you can browse and see what catches your attention. Got it?” I asked and Rainbow smiled and nodded her head. She grabbed it and tested out pressing the button a few times. I also showed her the power and volume button. 

I began to walk away when I heard the channel change and the announcer said “Welcome back to ESPN8, the ocho!” NO, NO, NO. I walked back over and changed it back.

“Alright, let me rephrase. Anything BUT that, trust me” I sternly told her and she gave me a whatever look and simply scrolled through the channels again. Well, one pony down, two to go I suppose. Now, where did they go? I started to search when I heard some rummaging down the hall, so I walked down and eventually found them both in my room. They were huddled together so I could not see what they were looking at.

“Oh, hey Adrian! Why do you have a book about naked humans?” Pinkie innocently asked. NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! OH SWEET CELESTIA NO! I quickly jumped over them and snatched it from their prying hooves and proceeded to push them out and slammed the door behind them.

“NO GIRLS IN MY ROOM!” I embarrassingly shouted out with a red face. On the other side I heard the pair of them giggle their butts off before walking off. OMG, the first girls I have in my house in a long time and they find my secret stash. Just fantastic. Going through my room and finding anything I don't want them to see I bundled them together and put them in a bag and labeled it as 'PRIVATE – DO NOT TOUCH'. 

Once that was done I opened my door back up but no pony was there waiting, thank goodness. So with that, I decided to gather all my stuff and place it in piles according to the group like books, clothing, etc. This is going to take a while.


---------- 3 Hours Later ----------


UGH. I never realized I had so much stuff, well only forty five percent was mine and the other fifty five was my moms and just general household stuff. The one good thing we had was three huge medieval looking chests that we found at garage sales and markets that we used for extra junk or decoration. So I placed all my stuff I wanted to bring inside, so books, clothes, some electronics, photos, and other miscellaneous stuff that I like and want to bring and stuffed all three and made them full. 

So books for Twilight, some recipe books and farming books and tools for Applejack, animal care books, an old animal calender, and an encyclopedia about all the worlds animals for Fluttershy, fashion magazines, clothing, and jewelry for Rarity, any and all sports equipment and gear for Rainbow, and other recipe books and a joke book for Pinkie. Geez, a lot of books. My phone with all my music, pics, and videos was up front, guess it fell out during the fall so I plugged it in to charge so I could hopefully show Vinyl my music collection. 

Lets see, for the CMC I can bring them the Guinness Book Of Records so they can try some of them out, should be funny. But they can share the same stuff I gave their big sisters, so they are good but I have a few tricks up my sleeve as a personal gift. For Luna, a book on star gazing and astronomy. Lets see, I can give Celestia I could give her my special laser pointer that comes with different colors and shapes, might seem childish but she would get a kick out of it, better warn her to keep it out of Rainbow and Pinkies hooves though. 

Now, what for Derpy? I need to give her something special but I am not sure what. Hmmmm, what would be good? That is when I felt a pressure on my back and soon a pair of hooves made their way around my neck “What are you thinking about?” Cadence asked.

“Just thinking about my gift for Derpy, I want it to be special but I don't know what she would like” I told her. She giggled a little in response.

“I don't think she will really care what you get her, because of the simple fact that you thought of her and gave her a present from you. At least that is my opinion” she said. 

“Awe jeez Cadence, I know your the princess of love but sometimes your a bit too sappy” I jokingly said. 

“You know you love it” she evilly grinned back at me before she snuck a kiss on my cheek. 

I puffed my cheek and pretended to pout “Just because your right doesn't mean I have to agree with you” I defiantly said. This action made her giggle even more and she hugged my neck a bit more and nuzzled me. My reply was to sarcastically roll my eyes as I reached up with my hand and scratched her ear which made her melt. 

“Hmmmmmm, I love your ear scratches. But if you really want to wow her then you could give her this” she said and out of nowhere I saw something coated in her magic float over to me and using my other hand I reached out to grab it when she let it go. It was a silver necklace that had some cool designs and patterns etched into the woven strands of metal that circled the frame and right in the middle was a pretty yellow gem that seemed to glow in the light. 

“Oh wow, I have not seen this in a long time. It was my grandmothers gift from my grandfather. I pardon you for digging through my stuff this time because it is perfect. Thank you Cadence” I said to her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek which made her blush a little as she smiled.

“Oh if only I had not married Shining then I could of swooped you off and have you all to myself” Cadence said in a dramatic tone. 

I only rolled my eyes again and was going to say something before I heard my stomach growl a little “Guess I should get some food ready....... hey Cadence” I slyly asked.

“Yes Adrian?” Cadence responded with.

“Have you ever had a pizza?” I asked as I began to think of my devious scheme.


---------- 30 Minutes Later ----------


I walked back into the house carrying three boxes of pizza and two two liters of soda and little snacks. I got a meat lovers for myself and got two different kinds of vegi pizza for the girls. I told them to wait on the couch in the living room while I prepared the plates and drinks. Once that was done I set up dinner trays for them before giving them their food, the three looked at it weirdly. “This looks kinda funny” Rainbow said.

“Maybe so but it is really good, trust me” I said to them. 

“Okie dokies then!” Pinkie excitingly said as she picked up her slice and took a huge bite. The moment it did her eyes seemed to explode “Oh tese ish rally gurd!” she said with her mouth full. Rainbow and Cadence picked up their own slices and tasted it and appeared to like it since they quickly took more bites and soon enough all three asked for more. So using an extra tray I set it up and placed both boxes up on it and let them have it and before I finished my third slice the three of them devoured both boxes.

“I take it you three liked it?” I asked and got three satisfied nods and Pinkie smiled with cheese covering most of her teeth, I simply shook my head with a smile of my own. “Well if you still have a little room I brought some snacks as well” I said as I reached into the bag and pulled out three different kinds. I tossed Rainbow a bag of skittles, to Pinkie I tossed over Gummi Worms, and I gave Cadence a pack of M&Ms. 

“Look Dashie! They match your mane!” Pinkie teasingly said before breaking out into laughter. Said Rainbow colored mare glared at me and while maintaining eye contact she brought up a few and ate them. 

“Whoa! Their actually kinda good” Rainbow said in a surprised tone. Pinkie was using her mane to pick up the worms and flinging them into the air in order to catch them in her mouth, she looked at me and with stuffed cheeks smiled a bit. Oh goodness gravy she is ridiculous. Cadence was also popping them into her mouth and had a satisfied look on her face.

“These are delectable!” Cadence quickly said before popping a few more into her mouth. Once they were all full up on food I cleaned up and threw everything away.

“Alright, I am going to take one last look around the house to see if I missed packing anything” I told them and the next ten minutes or so went by fast and I came back empty handed cause the rest was stuff I didn't need or want to bring. That was when I noticed the picture hanging on the wall by the door, can't believe I almost forgot that! So I walked over and gently retrieved it before I looked at it and smiled at my mothers picture.

“You almost ready to go big guy?” Rainbow asked as she hovered by my shoulder. I brought the picture down to my side and held it tightly before I looked around at my house one last time. Letting out a sad breath I turned back to Rainbow and nodded. 

“Yeah, lets go home” I proudly said. 

“Alright, now lets go stand next to your chests and I will cast the spell. Ok good, we all ready?” Cadence asked and we all nodded our heads. Next I saw was Cadence closing her eyes while her horn began to glow and I saw the blue box shaped spell surround us and just before I felt it start to take us I looked back to the front door and smiled.

“Goodbye” I silently said before we were teleported and the house was now empty. 


---------- Equestria, Royal Castle, Throne Room ----------


THUNK

“Ow” I groaned out loud as my face was being squished against the ground while having three ponies dog piled on my back who were groaning and grunting as well. Ugh, this spell needs some serious work done on it. I picked up my head a bit and before resting my cheek against the floor and I saw that my three chests were also stacked on top of each other, glad they didn't fall on top of us. That is when I heard two sets of giggling coming closer.

“It appears that we might need to work out the kinks of the spell a little more” Celestia said in a light voice. So glad she noticed. Then I saw her long horn glow and all the weight on my back disappeared, so I slowly got up and cracked my back. “Um, Pinkie Pie. What do you have in your mane?”

We all turned around to look at Pinkie and there sticking out of her mane was my picture frame, Celestia used her magic to pick it up and hovered it over to her and her sister to look at. Luna was the first to look up at me and had a slightly worried look on her face “Adrian? Who is this?” she asked.

I walked up to them “This is my mother, Vivian” I told them. Luna took another glance at the picture then looked at me again.

“Adrian, your mothers picture look like the creature in your nightmares” I heard Lunas voice in my head but her lips did not move, telepathy? 

“Um hello? Can you hear me?” I asked in my head.

“Yes we can” she replied back

“Huh, cool. But back to your question. Yes, my mother is the thing from my nightmares. I was going to tell you eventually but the topic was painful to talk about” I told her.

“We understand and know that we will always be here when you are ready to talk about it, oh and one last thing Adrian” Luna said. 

“Yes Luna?” I said.

“Did you bring us a gift?” Luna cutely asked and her face pouted a little. 

“Yes Luna, I brought everyone a gift but that will be for later. I am feeling a little tired” I informed her as I wobbled a bit. Luna quickly trotted over to me and gave me a hug.

“Yes, big spells like that can sometimes tire out the ones it is used on. Though I am surprised that you came back so soon though” Celestia said.

“Yeah, I originally planned on using the full day but after discovering a bit of bad news I decided to end it a little early” I explained.

“What sort of ill news our dear Adrian?” Luna worryingly asked.

“Tomorrow, I will tell you tomorrow because that will lead to a long story” I told them. 

“We understand, I will summon someone to come and help move your chests to your room for tonight. I can't wait to see what gift you brought us!” Celestia excitingly said with a silly smile on her face. I let out a little chuckle before I heard the doors open behind us and in walked three guards who were all unicorns and using their magic they easily lifted the chests in the air and started to walk out, taking my leave I followed them and wished everyone a good night though Pinkie and Rainbow started following me and told me their rooms were next to me. So we all told the princess good night and departed the throne room.


---------- Back Inside The Throne Room ----------


I waved Adrian and the girls goodbye and once I heard the door click close I turned around to talk to Celestia but she beat me to it “So Cadence, how was your trip?” she asked me.

“It was really fun but also kinda sad but I will let Adrian explain everything tomorrow. It would be better to have him talk about it” I explained.

“Oh dear, I am worried about what this bad news is now. But I suppose I shall have to wait” Celestia said. 

“However there is one thing I would like to ask you about” I said.

“Oh? And what might that be?” Celestia replied with.

I thought back to the cemetery but I had to say something else for now as to not inform them of his mothers death, so I took a moment to think before saying “Well when I was looking at the names of his family, there was a name that stuck out and grabbed my attention because it seemed familiar. Does the name Sunset Shimmer ring a bell to you Celestia?” 
> A Humans Gift And Unexpected Family
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Carry me?” is the first thing Pinkie asked me not mere moments after stepping out of the throne room. I stared down at the pink fluff ball on four legs who stared at me with her big, blue eyes that seemed to shine a little brighter than normal. No, I must resist! I must resist! 

“Pinkie, I am pretty sure you have enough energy to make another sun in the sky and four strong enough legs to run around the world fast enough to make it spin backwards and go back in time” why am I now imagining Pinkie in a blue suit with a red cape? “With that in mind I am positive that you are not tired enough to warrant me carrying you” I told her in a tired voice, but I resisted her! 

Having successfully countered the pink menace I triumphantly looked back down and there she was, still looking at me with her big, shining blue eyes but now they seemed sad and glittered against the light while her lower lip was jutted out and quivered. NO! I must resist! I must resist! I must...... I must! 

“Come here Pinkie” I groaned out loud as I opened my arms and invited her in. Without wasting a millisecond Pinkie launched herself from the floor and into my arms with a giggle as she made herself comfortable. I simply continued walking down the halls in defeat while Pinkie finally settled in with her back against my arms while her hooves floundered about. “Hey Pinkie” I said.

“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees Adrian?” she said in a sweet tone as she smiled up at me. Darn you Pinkie, darn you.

“I am curious about something, why did you ask that time to be picked up? You never asked before, you always just jumped and thankfully I caught you” I asked her since I was actually curious.

“It was more fun this way!” she cheekily said with a grin and a wriggling eyebrow. Oh you devious little pony.

“And you fell for it hook, line, and sinker big guy!” Rainbow chimed in as she laughed away at me. 

“You are so lucky that you are so sweet Pinkie or else I might have to drop you so I can mess with Rainbow” I said.

“Ohhhhh~ Does that mean you have a sweet tooth then mister?” Pinkie jested as she playfully wriggled in my arms. Oh no, your are not winning another round you silly party pony! I must defend my pride as a human and I know just what to do.

“It sure does, in fact you do look pretty tasty” I licked my lips as I scanned her body “I think I will dig right in!” I told her before I buried my face in her chest fur and using my lips to cover my teeth I gently nibbled her over and over again “Num num num num num num!” 

Pinkie was giggling like mad “A-A-Adrian! St-st-stop that!” she tried saying but her own laughter kept interrupting her. Now she was trying to use her hooves to push me away but her strength had left her and her actions failed to stop me. Behind me I could also hear Rainbow roaring with laughter, probably a mix between laughing at Pinkie and laughing at me for doing something this ridiculous. 

I gave her a few more nibbles before I came up and grinned while Pinkie let out more and more giggles and laughs before she finally caught her breath and did a weird mixture of taking deep breaths and laughing. But I could not stop there though, I had to teach her a lesson and I knew what I needed to do next. 

“Yummy! You tasted like taffy! But I wonder” I drifted off while my eyes slowly examined her poofy mane “If your mane tastes like cotton candy!” I loudly said before I grabbed a large chunk of her mane that was sticking out closest to me and began gently chewing on it in my mouth. Once again Pinkie exploded in a fit of laughter right along with Rainbow who had crashed into the ground.

“Th-that tickles!” Pinkie barely gasped out between her loud sets of laughter. Her eyes had started to get watery from all the laughing she was doing but I just went forward and continued to nom on my new hairy snack. 

“What'n tarnations is going on out here?” I heard from behind me and instantly as one the three of us stopped dead in our tracks and I slowly turned around and saw both Applejack and Twilight giving us confused looks. She became even more confused when she saw Pinkie in my arms with tears in her eyes and the biggest smile while I had a large strand of her mane in my mouth. My eyes shifted back and forth between Pinkie and Applejack.

“Nuffin” I eventually garbled out of my mouth and doing so made me accidentally chew on her mane a bit more which of course made her laugh a bit. At this I heard Rainbow give out a slight snicker and I could see Twilight stifle a laugh by holding up a hoof to her now smiling face. 

“Well, it looks like your trip back home went good but what are you doing back so soon? You had about twenty four hours before having to come back” Twilight asked as the two of them walked up to us. I tried to get Pinkies mane out of my mouth but it was stuck a bit so I had to use my hand to pull it out and when I did a few small strands of hair were left.

I used the same hand to quickly wipe my mouth clean before speaking “Yeah, Cadence told me how long we had but some things came up and I didn't really need to stick around for too long but it was a fruitful trip and I brought a lot of my stuff back and I even got some things for you girls” I told her.

“GASP! Did you bring me some books from your world?! Did you!? Did YOU?!?” Twilight loudly said as she zoomed and flew up to my face with a huge smile on her face and a small twinkle in her eyes. I smiled back before I placed my finger on her muzzle.

“You. Shall. Have. To. Wait. And. See” I slowly said and which each word I tapped her muzzle gently and ended with a small chuckle to myself. She frowned a bit but went right back to smiling as she landed on the ground. “I am going to wait for tomorrow since I am a bit tired from the journey and it would be better to give you your gifts during the day”

“I suppose that would be for the best, oh I can't wait for tomorrow!” Twilight excitingly said as she danced in place with a smile as big as Pinkies. 

“Well I reckon we hit the hay then or else Twi here might tire herself out” Applejack teased which made Twilight stop dancing and blush. After letting out one final laugh we all headed up to our rooms and after saying goodnight to the other three I went to Pinkies room to drop her off and when I stepped inside I was greeted to a very big surprise.

Even though this was a room in the castle, the inside had been redecorated and made to look like a party room, streamers covered the ceiling and some of the walls while the rest of the walls had various other party objects placed on them. I had to watch my step because the ground was littered with balloons and other party favors, how in the world did she manage to do this? I shook out those thoughts since it was probably better not to ask considering it was Pinkie.

Once I stepped over the party death traps I finally reached her bed and placed her on it “Alright, goodnight Pinkie Pie. I will see you in the morning” I told her and I had just turned around when I felt my shirt being tugged, so I turned back and saw Pinkie giving me a sad look again. Oh no, not again! 

“Adrian? Can you tuck me in please?” she asked me but unlike before she did seem kinda sad and her tone had an unhappy hint in it. Hmm, I wonder what's wrong? I nodded though and gave her a warm smile so I gently picked her up again so I could unfold her blankets and place her under them. Letting her adjust her body real quick I then folded the blankets back over her and tucked them in a little while she had her front hooves out over the top, gosh these ponies are too cute for their own good.

“There we go, all tucked in warm and snugly. Is there anything I can do for you Pinkie?” I asked her, hoping that the sad hint in her voice from earlier was gone. She however remained silent for a few seconds before she looked up at me.

“Hey Adrian, how big is your family back home?” she asked.

“How big? Well, the Frost family is pretty big and I have a lot of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Heck last year one of my cousins had a kid. Even though he is my cousin they wanted to introduce me to their kid as an uncle. But as for my immediate family, well for all my life it was only me and my mom” I explained to her, I wonder why she is asking about this.

“Just you two? No brothers or sisters? And what about your dad?” Pinkie curiously asked.

I shook my head “I do not have any siblings that I know of because I have no idea where my dad is” I let out a sad sigh “I don't know all the details but from what I know and have pieced together my dad dated my mom and had accidentally gotten her pregnant. When he found out he split and disappeared, leaving my mom to give birth to me and raise me all alone. So I have no idea who he is or where he is” I sadly explained.

The room went quiet for about a minute, with me sitting on the edge of the bed while Pinkie looked at me tucked under the blankets but I felt her hoof touch my hand “I think you would be the best big brother ever” she quietly said.

“Really? Why would you say that?” I asked her.

“Because that is how I feel with you, you go along with my silliness and play with me but you know when I take things to far and gently tell me to calm down. In my family I had three sisters, two younger and one older but my older sister was kinda quiet and we never really talked much. So I always had to be the big sister, but when I am with you I feel like the silly younger sister and you the kind older brother” Pinkie said. 

“So even though I know that we can never really replace family, I hope that maybe you can see me as your little sister. If you want to” Pinkie quietly said as her eyes shifted off into the distance, looking like I was probably going to say no already. I gave what she said a moment to sink in and I let a smile creep onto my face before I leaned over to pick her up and give her a big hug. I heard her give a surprised squeak which made me laugh a little. 

“I would love to have someone as cute and sweet as you as my little sister, so long as you don't mind someone like me being your big brother” I gently said.

“Then welcome to the family, big brother” Pinkie replied back with along with a big huge hug. Heh, I would of never of guessed that something like this would happen. I just hope that she does not call me Adrian Pie though, that would be just silly. Wait, if it is silly then..... oh no. “So should I call you Adrian Pie now? Or just big brother? OH! OH! I know! How about Big Brother Pie?! Or maybe just Big Pie!” 

I let out a loud groan while mentally I was face palming very intensely. “Definitely not Adrian Pie. Either just Adrian or big brother please” I said to her.

“Ok just Adrian, my new big brother!” Pinkie happily said while I mentally face palmed again at the just Adrian thing. What have I done accepting her as my little sister? Oh well, not like crazier things have happened or anything. 

“Alright, as my new little sister you need to get your sleep for our big day tomorrow” I said to her.

“Okie dokie loki!” she replied before settling back into place and I re-tucked her in. Once she was all wrapped up again I stood up and smiled at her while she smiled back at me. I decided to lean down to give her a good night kiss on her cheek, when I did she giggled a little.

“Good night my little sister” I quietly told her.

“Good night big brother, I love you” she said back to me which got me to blush a little but I smiled anyway and took a few moments to avoid the party traps on the ground to reach the candle and blow it out.

Since it was next to the door I slid to the side and just before I closed the door I leaned my head in to say “I love you too”. With that I quietly closed the door and headed down to my room but now before I let out a big yawn that seemed to echo down the hall. After a brief walk I made my way into my room that was illuminated by the moon which cast an eerie shadow inside my room but that dread feeling melted away when I felt Artemis bounce up and down on my leg with a happy look on her face. Gosh she was adorable.

I picked her up and hugged her against my chest but she pushed on my chest so she could use my arms as a platform in order to stand up and lick my face repeatedly. Still weird that her tongue looked like a green flame in the shape of a tongue that didn't burn or anything, but good thing was no slobber to wipe off my face.  With her in my arms I strode over to my desk and saw a note saying 'Artemis was fed and we left some extra fish in the cabinet below your desk – Luna'

Have to thank her tomorrow for that, I'll just tell her when I give her my gift. Better prepare for another bear hug from her. Hehehe. I placed Artemis down on the ground as I got changed into my pajamas and used the bathroom and brushed my teeth before settling down on my comfy, comfy cloud bed and closed my eyes while Artemis curled up next to me. I closed my tired eyes and let the night consume me.


---------- 7:30 A.M, Adrians Room ----------


UGH. Not a wink of sleep. Not one! Blarg, my whole body just aches from tossing and turning in my sleep, much to the dismay of Artemis who eventually curled up at the foot of my bed. But it doesn't really surprise me after everything that happened yesterday, getting to sleep after you find out that you have been pronounced dead on your home world is not exactly comforting. 

At first I just tried to keep my eyes closed and just imagine good and comforting thoughts but that did not seem to work so I just lied awake and stared at the ceiling. When I realized that staring only made a mere ten minutes fly by I eventually got up and read a few chapters of 'There And Back Again: A Gryphons Journey' but even that did not help me drift off to sleep even though I could feel myself nodding off. So all night I just layed in bed awake, trying to do anything to fall asleep but no avail. 

Which leads me to now as the sun finally broke through my curtains and shone into my face. Ugh, fine. I suppose I have no choice but to get up, which I finally did after moving a grumpy Artemis who was finally happy that I had stopped moving earlier. So doing my usual shower, teeth brushing, grooming, and finally getting dressed in yet another new outfit Rarity had made me I stepped out of the bathroom feeling refreshed and made me almost forget about the fact that I had gotten no real sleep. 

Well I guess one good thing that came out of last night was I had enough time to gather all my gifts together in a separate chest so that none of them would accidentally see their gifts. Now I just need a unicorn or something to help me get it down there but I can worry about that later after I get some breakfast. First thing I did was feed Artemis the fish I had gotten, once she was full and happy I opened my door and took two steps out an- BAM!

“Big brother! Big Brother! Good morning big brother!” Pinkie said in a very happy voice as she tackle-hugged me to the ground and giggled like crazy. At first I was do dazed and confused that I lied there for a few seconds before it hit me that she blindsided me like that but I remembered her greeting and it made me blush a little but I smiled just as big as her.

“Good morning little sister, I take it you slept well?” I asked her as I messed with her mane.

“Oh boy did I! I had the best dream ever! Well I think I did, I don't really remember all of it but I really me and I remember you and I remember you making me really happy! And any dream where I am really happy is a very good dream!” she exclaimed. 

“Well that is good to hear, glad I can make you happy even when your asleep” I grinned at my boast but Pinkie happily agreed to it anyway. 

“Are you heading to breakfast?! Cause I am too! Lets go together as brother and sister! Everypony else is already down there!” Pinkie asked.

I gave a brief chuckle at the fact that we already seemed to taking this brother sister thing so casually. But I guess that is the magic of Pinkie Pie I suppose. I nodded my head and got on one knee and presented my back to her, to which she leapt on and snuggled up to me with her hooves wrapped around me while she layed her head on my shoulder and smiled. Giving another quick chuckle I lifted both of us up and began to make our way to the dining hall. 

After taking a few small detours due to Pinkies wandering eye we finally found ourselves wandering into the dining hall where the four princesses were eating along with Shining, Applejack, and Rainbow.  “HI EVERYPONY!” Pinkie loudly shouted as the two of us waved at them. I was now sharing my chest with another pink pony, or should I say alicorn, now that Cadence was firmly clamped with her hooves wrapped around my chest, thank goodness that the dragon magic strengthened me up or else I might of died due to hugs. 

“Good morning Adrian! How are you this morning?” Cadence asked very enthusiastically. 

“Good morning to you too Cadence, I am feeling alright. Didn't really get a good night's sleep but I was greeted to a very pleasant greeting by this one here” I explained while I pointed to Pinkie with my finger. 

“Didn't sleep well? Is everything alright?” Cadence worryingly asked.

“Oh yeah, it was just everything that happened yesterday kinda overwhelmed me and with all that in m mind it did not lead to a very pleasant sleep like usual” I explained to her. 

“True, I suppose hearing that sort of news would tend to make one stay awake. But do you think this will be a problem in the future?” she asked again.

“No, I don't think so. I just need some time to let it sort out by itself is all but I will fine and if not I will consult you, deal?” I said to her.

“Deal. Alright, now were are the goodies?!” she asked once more.

I laughed at first “Slow down there, can I at least grab a bite to eat and besides I have them ready to go. I just need some help getting the one chest full of gifts down here” I explained.

“Which chest?” Luna asked.

“Um, the dark red chest with black hinges. Why do you-” I was cut short when I heard a POP behind me, turning around I saw that it was my chest that had the gifts “ask. Impatient Luna?” I teasingly asked her which got her dark blue cheeks to blush red a bit, making her look adorable. “Well with that now settled, I can go and eat real quick. No peaking Rainbow Dash” I quickly added.

Said pony zoomed back to her seat and began to whistle innocently. Walking over to the table with two pink ponies latched on I grabbed my plate and grabbed some hot food and gobbled it up. I will definitely need to talk to them about getting me something more wholesome for food in the future, like meat. But pushing that aside I set my plate down and eventually pried the two ponies off of my body so I could sit normally and eat, much to their displeasure. 

After eating with all of their expecting eyes watching me I let out a loud groan “Alright! Go sit down and I wll get you your gift, sheesh” I told them and within a flash all of them, including Celestia, had taken a seat on the outer table seats nearest the chest. Once that was done I stood in front of the chest “Ok, now first off I am sorry if some of my gifts seem silly to you but since I don't really know what all you like yet I did my best to think what you would like”

“So long as it nothing lame like a pen or something then I am totally fine with whatever” Rainbow tried to say nonchalantly. 

“Well, big headiness aside, Rainbow is right. A gift is a gift and it is from you personally from your own world, so no matter what it is I know we will enjoy whatever you have to give” Twilight said with a nice smile.

Giving her a nod I leaned down and turned the chest so when I opened it they would see the cover only, then I reached inside and found the first two items so I collected them and walked up to Celestia. “My first gift is for you Princess Celestia, as my way of saying thanks for allowing me to live here with you and your ponies and for taking your own personal time to find a spell to get me back home. So thank you Celestia for everything you have done for me. First is a picture that I think you would enjoy, even though it has humans in it I think you can enjoy the atmosphere within it” I said as I presented a medium sized picture within a frame.

“This is beautifully done! Amazing and yes, you are right. I enjoy the display and actions in this picture. Thank you so much my dear Adrian” Celestia said.

“Ah, one more gift. This can be used as both a toy and a helpful device, it is called a laser pointer. If you press this button” I pressed the button and had the setting of a simple dot set up “a red beam will shoot out and according to whatever the metal casing here has will shine out. This one is just a red beam but there is this one” I quickly changed the metal casing “and when you shine it, it displays the sun! Just be careful not to point this in anyones eyes or else it could hurt their eyes” I explained to her.

Celestia took the next minute playing around with the laser and tried a few of the other picture settings then she turned it off and turned to me and much to my surprise gave me a hug “Oh thank you Adrian! These are both wonderful gifts, it has been a while since I have received a sincere gift from anypony else. Thank you” she said and I blushed a bit out of embarrassment but I hugged her back and moved to back to collect the next set of gifts for Luna. 

“For you Princess Luna I present to you these gifts as my thanks for assisting me with my dreams and for being a kind friend and as a thank you for helping me out yesterday with Artemis. My first gift is this book about my worlds astronomy and star gazing. I think you will enjoy seeing the different stories and pictures we have discovered in our night sky. And my second gift is a pillow casing that has a famous painting from my world printed into it, I think you might enjoy it” I said to her. 

Luna took a quick look at the pillow casing and smiled as she used her magic to hold it up before she looked at a few pages in the book and gasped. “This is amazing! Oh thank you so much Adrian!” Luna said before she threw her own hooves around me and swung me around in excitement, causing her sister to giggle a bit. After another full swing she set me down and was beaming “We thank you so much, this means so much to us”

Taking a moment to regain my footing I smiled at the lunar princess before returning to the chest and pulling out three objects for Cadence “For you Princess Cadence I present these two books containing my worlds most famous love stories, though I have to warn you that a few of them don't exactly have happy endings though. And my last gift is this heart shaped pocket watch, so that no matter where you go you will always remember there is always time for love” I concluded with a kind smile. 

It only took a few seconds for her to look over my gifts before she flung herself around me with a huge smile plastered to her face “Oh you are so kind and sweet and cute and so thoughtful! Thank you so much Adrian! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said with much glee. Of course I had to wait for her to settle down before I even though about scraping her off but when I did she began to eye and take a closer look at the pocket watch. I went back and gathered several books and set them down in front of Twilight.

“Princess Twilight, as thanks for letting me stay in your castle and for looking out for me ever since I arrived I present to you several books of different genres, I still have a majority of them just in case you  don't like them or find the differences hard to understand. But I think you will like these, I have Moby Dick, The Complete Sherlock Holmes, The Princess Bride, Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone, The Hobbit, Frankenstein, Ender's game, and Interview With The Vampire. Oh and this book The Hobbit, this is the book that is similar to the book I reading 'There And Back Again: A Gryphons Journey'. Oh and one more warning, some of these books are kinda mature so....don't....freak-” I tried to finish but Twilight had already picked up The Princess Bride and started reading it right there.

We all shook our heads and laughed at the fact that she was totally ignoring the outside world, guess I will get my hug from her later. So I went back and grabbed the next gifts for Applejack. “For you Applejack I present to you a few books from back home about farming, which includes the different types of apple trees and how to raise them, some farming tools, and luckily my mom had a book about different apple themed foods. I hope you like them” I said to her.

“Well shoot! This means an awful lot to me Adrian, though I would be surprised if I find an apple recipe the apple family has not done yet! But I think that ther apple farming book would be a interesting read. Thanks a lot Adrian!” she concluded with a hug and set all her stuff in a neat pile. I went back to the chest and came back for Pinkie.

“For you Pinkie, my new dear little sister, I thought you might like these cook books for making deserts and tasty snacks and I also have this joke and riddle book that you might enjoy” I said to her. She flipped open the joke book and laughed at several different jokes before she happily looked up.

“OH! OH! OH! Adrian! Knock Knock!” she began to ask.

“Who's there?”

“Moustache!”

“Moustache who?”

“I moustache you a question, but I'll shave it for later!” Pinkie concluded as she began to giggle-snort and a few of us laughed while the other half groaned.  I am almost considering taking back that joke book but against my better judgment I decide to let her keep it. I was about to take a step back to the chest when I heard Applejack cough to catch my attention.

“I don't mean ta pry but I am kinda curious as ta what ya meant by calling Pinky here yer new little sister” Applejack said.

“Oh! Yeah, sorry about that. Well last night me and Pinky did some talking about families and one thing led to another and she offered to become my little sister and me her big brother. So I happily accepted of course!” I beamed a smile at said pink pony who returned one twice as big. 

“OH! OH! That means that you and Applejack are cousins now! Since I'm her cousin and she is mine! So now you two are cousins too! Oh this is so exciting!” Pinkie explained to us. What? 

“What?” I asked in confusion.

“Oh that's right, ya don't know about that. Well a lil while ago we found out that Pinkie here is related to ma family! So now were cousins! But Pinkie, I don't think that is how......new cousins are made” Applejack tried to explain. 

“Ah fiddlesticks! He is my big brother now and that makes him family! So NYAH!” Pinkie exclaimed that last part by sticking out her tongue in a very comedic fashion. Me and Applejack looked at each other and shrugged but I held out my hand to her.

“Well, nice to meet you cousin” I said to her with a playful smile. 

Applejack chuckled a bit before she took my hand “Nice to meet ya cousin” she said back. 

“ALL RIGHT! Yeah family is important BUT what about my GIFT!?” Rainbow suddenly said out loud. I stared at her for a split second before chuckling.

“All right, all right. Just sit back down and I will go get it” I told her and thankfully she complied. With that I went back to the chest and pulled out several objects before returning. “And for you Rainbow Dash, I know your a sports girl so I thought giving you my sports stuff would be the best thing for you. So I have a basketball, soccer ball, football, baseball, hockey puck with face mask, tennis rackets with tennis ball, and a pair of ping pong paddles with a ping pong. Oh and I have these cool ski goggles that have a rainbow like effect when light hits it” I said to her. 

She didn't really seem all the interested in the football and stuff but the ski goggles grabbed her attention and she tried them on and after taking a quick spin in the air then going around the room she landed with a huge grin “Awesome! These goggles are perfect! They are comfy and don't fog up and I can barely feel the wind hitting against them! Thanks Adrian!” Rainbow said before quickly giving me a hug then taking to the air again. Glad she liked at least one thing. 

I looked back down the line and I saw that each of the girls were either reading or using their new gifts which meant I had some privacy to sneak a gift over to Shining. Taking a long rectangle box out of the chest I snuck my way over to Shining who was curiously watching the others play. “Hey Shining, I got you something that I think Cadence will like” I quietly whispered into his ear.

He now turned his curious gaze over to me and I quickly showed him the necklace I had in the box and the moment he saw it his eyes widened and a genuine smile crept onto his face. So I closed it back up and handed it over to him, he mouthed the words 'Thank you' along with a head bow. I returned the gesture before heading back over to the girls. 

It was a few minutes before I heard the click clacking of hooves heading towards me and they belonged to Celestia “Hello my dear, I am so grateful that you gave not only me but everypony here a personal gift. It warms my heart to see such selflessness” Celestia elegantly told me before she wrapped her large wings around me, pulling me into a hug of which I gladly returned back to her. “But I do have a question for you Adrian, did you happen to bring along some sort of family photo album? 

“Hmm, I think so........ yes! Yes I do, why do you ask?” I curiously asked. 

“Well Cadence noticed something back on your world and brought it up to me since it reminded her of something in my past. It was a name, possibly belonging to one of your relatives. Her name sounds identical to a pony I knew long ago and so I very curious. If you do not mind but could I perhaps look inside your family's photo album?” she asked of me. 

“It is no problem, it will probably help when I bring up the topic of what happened back on Earth as well. I will be right back!” I said to her before speeding off to my room and within ten minutes I ran back into the hall with my family's very large photo album. I set it down in front of Celestia and I presented it to her to use, after giving me a quick head bow she used her magic to grasp the pages and started scanning each page carefully.

I sat down next to her and patiently waited before I felt hoof poke me and that hoof belonged to Pinkie Pie “Hey big brother, whatcha two doing?” she asked. 

“Celestia is looking through my family's photo album seeing if she can spot a name that sounds familiar to a pony she knew a long time ago” I explained to the pink party pony who had now stepped into my lap with a smiling face.

“I see! Oh! Can I look at it later? I wanna see what my new human family members looked like!” she excitingly said. I could only roll my eyes at her silliness but smiled anyway before reaching up and began petting her mane.

“Sun.....sun.....sun.....ah! Here!” Celestia suddenly spoke as she laid the book down on the ground for us all to see. The rest of the group gathered around the book and when they had Celestia used her golden hoof to point at a certain picture. “Who is this?”

“Oh! That's Grandma Shimmer! She was my moms mother, I was always curious about her odd name but she told me that where she came from it was a normal but strong name. She had lot's of stories and even though told us a lot she never really seemed to give out any definite information about where her stories were or where she came from” I explained.

“So she is your descendant then? Is she still on Earth?” Celestia asked me again.

“Unfortunately no, she passed away peacefully about two years ago. She was about one hundred and six, which is really old for us and very, very rare. Most humans pass away from old age around ninety to one hundred years old but Grandma Shimmer always held on like she was searching for something but none of us ever knew what. Now she is with my mother along with the rest of my family” I sadly explained. 

“Oh my, I am so sorry Adrian. I did not mean to bring up a tender subject. I should not of pried” Celestia quickly apologized.

“No worries, I have accepted their deaths but I always hold onto my memories of them and smile” I said before I felt multiple hooves and wings gently touch me and all around I saw them make sad faces but still tried to comfort me. “Thank you everyone, I am happy to have friends like you around. So Celestia, what are you thinking about my grandma?”

“Hmm, I am not sure. Her name and her mane style in this photo look identical but she is human. Let me try a spell, with your permission of course” Celestia said to me. I gave her my approval and when I did her horn began to glow and when she touched the picture it soaked into it and glowed brightly before fading back to normal. At first nothing happened but I saw the picture shimmer and when it did Celestia let out a surprised gasp.

“What? What is sister?” Luna asked with a worried tone.

“Adrian, come and see this” Celestia beckoned me which I obeyed. I leaned down to view the picture better and everything in the photo was the same except that where my grandma was sitting there now sat an older looking pony with the same glasses and hair style as my grandmother. 

“What does this mean?” Cadence spoke up.

“This means that my former student, Sunset Shimmer, who I banished from Equestria almost one thousand years ago ended up on Earth and became Adrians grandmother” Celestia solemnly declared. 

I simply stared at the new picture of my grandmother before I spoke up “So what does that mean for me? Am I part pony or something?” I asked.

Celestia took a moment to think before speaking up to say “I am not sure about that but the one thing I am certain about is that her magical blood runs through your veins, Adrian” 
> The Human Experiment And Flighty Company
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I don't..... I don't understand what this all means. I mean, how did a pony from your world end up a my human grandmother?! And she had magic? So that means that magic does exist on Earth? I just....” I tossed out the words that came flying into my mind while I pondered about this new information about not only myself but my family as well. Does this mean my mother had magic too? Maybe this is what my nightmares were hinting at. 

All around me remained silent as I tried to work things out while I paced back and forth muttering words and partial sentences. “Wait!” I suddenly shouted out which startled the group. “I just had an idea, this might explain why I can use magic here. I mean, since she had magical properties in her DNA and such and that probably got passed down to me but was dormant since I had no clue how to truly use it” I explained out loud. 

This time Luna was the one to speak up “Yes, this does explain why the magic that resides within you seems to be chaotic but pure since our Equestrian magic was most likely only meant for our world. But it was passed down through your bloodline and seems to have adapted to your human nature. Most interesting” 

Celestia spoke up next “And this might also explain why Discords magic affected you in such a manner. Like you said Luna, it appears to be chaotic yet pure and since the magic inside of you is new and old from two worlds, it is almost a new type of chaos magic. So when Discord said that only against other chaos magic would this pose a problem, it appears that he was truthful” she said but seemed to do so with a heavy heart as she lowered her head.

“I am truly sorry Adrian, if we had known this then you would not have had to endure such a painful experience” Celestia quickly added while her head was still lowered. 

“You do not need to apologize Celestia” I explained to her which caused her to raise her head with a slightly confused look. “Celestia, there is no way in two worlds that you could of ever known or even guessed at something like this” I quickly laughed “And besides, like I said before even though I knew that there was a huge risk I still decided and allowed him to examine me with his magic. So any and all fault is mine and mine alone” I said.

After I got done explaining I heard Celestia let out a small giggle “I thank you Adrian for looking at this with such an open mind and a kind heart” she said with a warm smile but then she erupted into another giggle fit, I felt my body laugh a little in return.

“Wh-what's so funny?” I asked her while still laughing.

After taking a few short breaths she looked at me “I was just thinking that maybe this all meant that you were destined to come here then and meet us all and learn about your magic, reminded me a bit of Sunset Shimmer when she was a filly” Celestia explained. I was about to ask about about that last comment when I heard a gasp behind me, so I turned around to see Cadence have a shocked expression on her face.

“This means you were destined to meet me then! SQUEE~!” was all Cadence said before she instantaneously appeared before me in order to squeeze me tightly in a huge bear hug. “I knew it was more than mere chance to have met you, my cute and adorable human!”. Oh boy, now she will never let me go now. But before I could continue any more similar thoughts I heard a whoosh of air behind me just before I felt a soft thud on my back, soon accompanied by a pair of hooves wrapping around my neck and a soft, warm, and fuzzy cheek nuzzling my own. 

“This also means that you were destined to be my big brother! I am so happy!” Pinkie happily exclaimed as she snuggled with me. Oh jeez! This two are ridiculously sweet and adorable, almost sickeningly so. Giving my eyes a roll I used both hands to reach them and gave them each an ear scratch with a smile. 

“You two are ridiculous, you know that right?” I said halfheartedly. I could already feel the two of them sinking into my fingers and I heard a pair of satisfied moans. “But I don't really believe in destiny. However, I consider myself more extremely lucky to have met you all instead. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined myself being sent to another world and becoming friends with four of the kindest princesses in the world. Or getting a cute and overly sweet little sister” I kissed Pinkies cheek real quick which made her giggle and snuggle me more.

“And lets not forget making so many awesome and amazing friends, like you Applejack and Rainbow and also Vinyl and Derpy and everypony else I met. So no, I don't believe destiny brought us together but I am thankful for every day I have with all of you together” I finished and using my two hands I stopped scratching their ears and used them to hug the two tightly. I looked around the room and I saw all of them smiling and a few even had a tear or two in their eyes, heck even Shining was smiling a bit though he tried to hide it from me.

We all stood still and enjoyed the moment but eventually I felt the two climb off of me and when we were all re-situated Celestia cleared her throat to catch our attention. “My dear Adrian, there is something I would like to discuss if you do not mind” she said to me. I nodded my head to her and she understood “All right, well I am glad that we were able to discover a bit about your past and about your magic but there are still a few things I am most curious about”

“I would still like to give you a thorough examination so we can figure out your anatomy and health for future reference and in case you ever find yourself in a hospital again. It is much easier for them to work with a patient knowing their blood type and how they work” she added a little giggle “But I am still a little concerned about how your magic works and how it might affect you and others around you” 

That is true and that is what I wanted Discord to do originally “I agree, better safe than sorry” I said to her “But how are you planning on doing so? Discord can't do it, so who else?”

“Actually an old friend of mine is visiting Canterlot right now and is a brilliant doctor and magical examiner. If you are sure about this then I can write him a letter explaining the situation so he can start to prepare his lab for your arrival” Celestia said to me.

“If you trust him Celestia than I will trust you. Please send him the letter” I told her.

“Very well, while I do I would pack your things since it would be easier to carry your belongings with us to Canterlot before you head back to Ponyville. So say your goodbyes” she informed us all before her and Luna walked off with their gifts in tow. 

I turned back around and was once again assaulted by a certain pink alicorn “NO! You can't leave me! I don't want you to leave!” Cadence cried out. “You don't have to leave forever! If you come back I will be sure to take care of you and feed you and you can live in the castle! You could have anything you wanted!”

I let out a sigh before I slid my arms under her front legs to lift her up and pull her into a hug “I know you could but I am not a pet you know, silly” I gently told her while she rested her head on my shoulder.

“I know your not, but I really like having you around” she replied.

At this I gave a slight chuckle “Careful Cadence, you might make your husband jealous” I teasingly told her but she only hugged me tighter.

“Just promise me you will write and visit me sometimes” Cadence quietly asked me.

I pulled her back a little so we could look at each other in the eyes “I promise” I honestly told her with a big smile on my face. She nodded her head and tried to climb back down but I promptly pulled her back up into my arms and started walking, she gave me a slightly confused look “What? Just because I am leaving doesn't mean I have to stop spoiling you” I grinned down at her after saying that and I soon felt her hooves wrap around me and hugged me. I could hear her giggle under her breath the entire time. 

While we were walking Applejack strode up beside me “Phewie partner, you jus keep getting more and more interesting. Although, much as I would like ta be there for ya, I need to be heading back to the farm” she said. 

“Ah, no worries Applejack. I understand, thanks for sticking around for so long and helping me out. And for all the fun!” I said back.

“Yeah, same for me big guy. I gotta get back to the weather factory for my job to” Rainbow said.

“Well of course! Ponyville needs their awesome and amazing Rainbow Dash to handle the weather after all!” I said to her and of course she sprouted a huge grin and did a couple of back flips in the air. I looked to the side at Twilight and Pinkie “What about you two? Do you need to head back as well?”

“Nopeserie! The cakes have the shop under control and I did bake them a full two days worth of goods before I left, so they are all good!” Pinkie excitingly said as she hopped along side us.

Twilight was slightly aghast at this but she shook her head and looked up at me “I am good as well and besides, I wouldn't miss this rare opportunity to learn something new about an alien creature!” Twilight had a huge smile as she trotted along in glee.

“Oh I see, I am just a science project. Oh woe is me, oh WOE is me!” I dramatically said which cause Twilight to screech to a halt. 

“GASP! No, no, no, no, no! I didn't mean it like that!” Twilight said with panic in her voice.

It only took us a few seconds before we all busted out laughing and caused Twilight to blush in embarrassment. “Glad to have another friend with in Canterlot, even if she is only interested in my body” I said with a wink and Twilights head exploded into a new shade of red but the rest of us howled with laughter. Once we all caught our breath I turned back to Twilight who still had a slight blush but sported a pouty lip “I'm sorry Twilight, I couldn't resist. You can probably blame Rainbow for that” 

“Hey!” Rainbow yelled.

At this Twilight now let out a little laugh before she looked back at me “I suppose I could, she does have a bad influence sometimes” she said to me. Me and her laughed at this and soon enough we all found ourselves on the upper floor with our rooms in sight so one by one they all dispersed and after dropping Cadence off at her room I went back to my own and was greeted to a very happy looking Artemis who paced around my feet.

“Hey Artemis! Guess what? We are going to Canterlot! I hope you like it up there!” I told the small timberwolf pup who gave a small howl in acknowledgment. Thankfully Luna had returned my chest back to my room earlier, now when I pack up I am going to re-arrange and evenly spread out my stuff between the three. I quickly went over and placed down a plate with another fish for Artemis and let her eat and just as I went to start packing a saw a piece of paper fall to the ground, so I picked it up and saw that it was the last letter I read from Derpy.

I re-read it over and over again and held her in my mind, seeing her smile and looking at me with her big, beautiful eyes. Ah jeez, Cadence would be all over me if she could read minds. But taking one last glance at the letter I decided to write a letter back, letting her know I would be coming back to Ponyville tomorrow. So taking a seat I spread out a clean piece of parchment, dipped my quill in ink and began writing “Dear Derpy”


---------- 2 ½ Hours Later ----------


We were all standing on the train station platform, waiting for the train that was scheduled to arrive in about ten minutes or so. We had finally gotten the crowd to disperse after they all mobbed us since not only were the four princesses there but also the strange alien creature that was with them, a.k.a me. But thankfully Celestia had mastered the art of crowd control and after answering a few questions seemed to calm the crowd. 

Of course it probably would of helped if I did not have Cadence nestled in my arms and even though she told me before that she would act normally among the crowd, now she was glued to me and repeated my words of me spoiling her til I actually leave. Darn me and my good will. “And be sure to write to me often! I want to hear everything and anything about you! Understand?” she said to me again.

“Yes, yes, yes. I promise” I plainly told her. 

She finally let out a big sigh before she leaned her head against my chest “I am going to miss you” she whispered to me. 

“Well I am going to miss you more” I teasing said but she shot up and was ready for this challenge. 

“No way mister! I am going to miss YOU way more!” she argued.

“Nuh uh! I will miss you tons more!” I said back.

“I don't think so! I am going to miss you infinity times more!” Cadence smugly said since she thinks she won. 

“Oh no, I will miss you infinity plus one times more!” I replied back.

“W-w-w-well I....I am going to miss you infinity times infinity times more!” she said on the spot. 

We both stared at each with determination for about a minute before we both cracked and started laughing hard. But before I could say something I heard a loud horn and whistle blow and soon saw the train slowly pull into the station. I looked back at Cadence who was frowning and looking down so I pulled her into one last hug “I am going to miss you Cadence, thank you for having me and for, well everything else” I quietly said to her.

“I will miss you too Adrian, thank you for coming into my life and for those Royal Ear Scratches. Please visit soon and know that I will always love you” she said sweetly to me as she kissed my cheek “And good luck with Derpy”

I couldn't help but smile as I leaned down and kissed her forehead and gave her one last ear scratch. “Love you too Cadence and thank you, I will try my best” I said to her before I gently placed her on the ground and I went over to Shining and stuck out my hand “It was an honor to meet you Shining Armor, sorry for accidentally hogging your wife” I sheepishly said but much to my surprise he shook my hand and had a faint smile.

“I think I can overlook it and thank you for the gift, you have good tastes” he sternly said to me. I nodded and gave our hand/hoof shake one final tug before we let go and climbed on board while the station ponies handled our bags, only because Celestia got us all first class tickets. I took my seat and looked out the window and saw Twilight giving a teary goodbye to both Shining and Cadence. If it was not for the conductor calling out for last call to board then I think Twilight might of missed the train but she broke it off and quickly climbed aboard and joined the six of us.

I was surprised that both Celestia and Luna decided to take the train back with us but they said that they do not usually get a chance to go and out and live normally or do simple things like ride the train instead of simply teleporting. Guess this is like a bit of a vacation for them both and I am happy that they are able to relax a little, I could not imagine the stress of their daily routine. But I think the best thing was that neither of them could help falling asleep due to the warmth of the cabin and the lull of the tracks. They ended up falling asleep next to each other, though Luna acted like a tired kid and was sprawled out a bit while Celestia continued to look regal.

Of course I had my hands full as well for I had a little curled up Artemis sleeping in my lap and on my right I had Pinkie who was using my thigh as a pillow and was sawing logs. The other three also fell under the sleep trap as well, Twilight was next to Celestia and fell asleep under her wing. Rainbow took the vacant seat next to us and soon enough mimicked Luna being sprawled out as well and finally Applejack took the spot next to Pinkie and fell asleep with her stetson covering her eyes.

So I ended up staying up alone and watched out the window next to me as the world outside passed us by, this world really was full of beauty. 


---------- 3 Hours Later ----------


“Attention! Attention! We are going to be pulling into Canterlot Central Station in about ten minutes, please pick up all trash and miscellaneous objects and properly sort them into appropriate receptacles. Again, we are pulling into Canterlot Central Station in about ten minutes!” said the conductor as he made his rounds through the cars. 

It was due to him that all of them finally woke up after their three hour nap and much to my amusement both Artemis and Pinkie woke up the same way, they got up and stretched their front legs before shaking their heads. What was even better was when Luna woke up and quickly wiped the drool away I had to hide my snickering due to her bed head look which was kinda weird due to her flowing mane. But the look was hilarious due to one side looking normal but the side she slept on was sticking straight up and still flowed in the air. 

But much to her embarrassment, Celestia licked her hoofs and straightened out her sisters mane, thankfully Luna allowed it and simply left it at that. I gently moved Artemis to the side and stood up and stretched and when I did we all started saying our goodbyes to Applejack and Rainbow. I told them to say hi to everyone and tell them I have gifts waiting for them. I also sneaked Applejack my letter to Derpy and asked her to discretely give it to her. She agreed and gave me a goodbye hug, followed by Rainbow who messed up my hair before giving me my hug. 

By the time the five of us stepped out we saw our bags already being handled and carried off to the castle, boy it must be nice to have that kinda power sometimes. Once the train was offloaded and all new passengers came on the train took off and we waved our two friends off. When the train was out of view Celestia turned to us “Adrian, did we ever discuss anything about Dr. Feathers before we arrived?” she asked me.

“Dr. Feathers? No, we never did after you took your little nap on the train” I said to her. 

“Oh dear, well before anything I need to tell you that Dr. Feathers is a little-” Celestia started to say before I heard a loud screech and the sound of wheels rolling at high speeds. We all turned around and saw a creature with eagle talons and large brown wings wearing a lab coat and bifocals speeding towards us, I think that is a gryphon I believe. 

But before I could ask or think anything else I felt a pair of strong claws grab my shoulders and lifted me up a bit into the air before throwing me at the gryphon who was holding onto a hospital bed with wheels. “Uncle, catch!” said a voice behind me before I crashed onto the bed and within a second I was strapped down to the table 

“Good throw niece! Now back to the lab!” the gryphon said before quickly turning around and using his wings to speed up I found myself flying through the streets and to the castle, followed closely behind by another gryphon. 


--------- Canterlot Central Station ---------


“-eccentric. Oh pony feathers” Celestia finally finished as the scene that unfolded before her came to a close. “Oh dear”

“Sister, was that?” I asked her.

“Yes Luna, that was Dr. Feathers. We better go catch up” she said.


---------- Canterlot Laboratory #4 –--------


“Simply amazing! Simply, simply fantastic! A being not of this world! Extraordinary!” said the one gryphon that sounded male as he lifted up my free hand and inspected every digit carefully and bended them at the joints and felt them. At first I was going to freak out and do everything I could to break free but when I looked around and saw the castle guards nod at him and the fact that nobody screamed and did anything to stop him I kinda thought something was up. 

Then as soon as we barged through the doors and he set the bed to allow me to sit up he undid the straps and began asking me a million questions while he sat in a chair and inspected me. Maybe he was just a little bit eccentric or else the castle guards would not of simply let him be. So I decided to trust him as this was most likely the doctor that Celestia told me about, or at least was trying to tell me about. 

While the doctor rambled on about the intricate details about how my nail cuticles connected through my skin or something I saw off to the side the second gryphon leaning against a counter and they looked bored until they saw me looking at them, then it gave a wave of its hand “Yo, whats up” is all it said, sounded feminine. 

“Nothing much I suppose, though being kidnapped certainly was a curve ball” I jokingly said with a nervous chuckle. 

“Yeah, sorry about that. My uncle has a few loose bolts in that genius mind of his. Names Gilda by the way, Gilda Feathers” she said.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Adrian Frost. And your name sir?” I asked the probing gryphon who snapped out of his trance. 

“Oh my word! So sorry about that lad, I suppose introductions are in order. Huhhum! The name is Dr. Tiberius Feathers! But you can just call me doc, or Dr. Feathers, or whatever nickname you think serves best! I have a million of them! Ha!” I boasted out loud.

“I just called him Feather brains or Uncle” Gilda smugly said with a grin. 

“And you best be grateful to be a Feather brained as well! I will not have a dim-witted niece in my family!” Doc proudly said with a harrumph but I simply stared at him with a blank face and tried to say something but could not find the words and I even looked over at Gilda who simply smirked and shook her head. 

Suddenly I heard a crash behind me so I turned around and I saw Doc digging around in an oversized bag before pulling out a couple of electrodes and hooked them all up to a machine behind him and when he was done he menacingly turned around with the other ends in his claws “Now my boy, please hold still so I better understand your insides! HAHAHAHAHA!” he said rather loudly and he only took two steps before the laboratory doors bursted open and I saw all three princesses with charged horns along with Pinkie who was doing some sort of karate pose. 

“Doctor Feathers! Cease thy actions against our dear Adrian at once!” Luna bellowed in her Equestrian Voice which sent anything loose in front of her flying backwards, Doc and Gilda took to the air and were simply pushed back a little but I was not so luck as my bed table flipped with me and all the tools and other items in the room slammed into me against the back wall and that is when I fell to the ground with everything that just hit me piled on top. It was a very brief moment of silence before I finally groaned. 

“Whoa dude, you have like the worst luck ever” I barely heard Gilda say and I only responded with an annoyed groan. Though by the second groan I felt everything on top of me start to lift off and soon enough I was free, sitting up I saw all three alicorns using their magic to properly replace everything back. 

“Are you alright Adrian? We are most sorry that we did this to you” Luna said as she strolled up to me, offering up a helpful hoof. Accepting her help I stood up and did a once over of my body and satisfied that I was not dead or dying I nodded. 

“I'm good Luna and no worries, I understand why you thought something was......off” I ended by raising an eyebrow at the Doc who took no offense. 

“I was simply doing what I do best! Words never properly explain my methods” he explained. 

“That and you never do things like normally and make everyone second guess you” Gilda added in. But when she did I heard Pinkie Pie gasp and point at her with her hoof.

“It's you!” she declared.

Gilda slowly turned around and glared at the pink pony and hissed “Pinkie”

“Gilda”

“Pinkie”

“Gilda!”

“Pinkie!”

“Gilda!” 

“Pinkie!”

“Tiberius!” Doc randomly interjected himself between the two who were going back and forth for some reason. Pinkie was giving her the stink eye and in return Gilda was growling back, what in the world was going on?

“Pinkie Pie, settle down. I am well aware of the situation between you two and that is the very reason why she is here now with her Uncle. I instructed her family to punish her and their idea was to have her help her uncle, Dr. Feathers, with his experiments until she learned her lesson” Celestia calmly explained. Pinkie backed off but still eyed the gryphon.

“Well OK then. So I guess the real question is what were YOU doing to Adrian then?” she directed herself in front of Doc and questioned him.

“Well if you must know I was about to attached these electrodes to this lads chest so I could monitor his vitals and examine his body. But now that you are here Celestia you can easily scan him with your magic and transfer it to this device” he patted the odd machine behind him “Once that is that I can inspect his body from the inside without getting messy, magical or otherwise!” he explained.

“Really? Well, with your permission then Adrian” Celestia politely asked. I nodded my head then I saw her long white horn glow at the tip before it started at my feet and almost like an electric scanner it washed over my body until it reached the top of my head and stopped. She then summoned a little ball of light from the tip of her horn and levitated it over to the machine and dropped it into a round open slot in the panel. 

“Perfect! Thank you Celestia! Now, the DATA!” he declared before planting himself in front of his machine and muttered many words as he worked his own kind of magic. Twilight found herself walking to the strange thing and after inspecting a few of the data printouts she followed suit and struck up a conversation with Doc and the two began sciencing away. I did not follow a single and utter word they said so I left them be and returned to my semi-comfy table bed, where ten seconds later I found myself holding a Pinkie Pie in my lap.

Gilda found this notion interesting “What is she doing?” she asked me.

“Oh she is just being Pinkie Pie and being silly. She also likes it here because it allows me to pet her mane and give her ear scratches easier” I explained to the female gryphon. 

“Ear scratches?” she confusingly asked.

“Oh yeah! His ear scratches! They are the most powerful weapon in all of Equestria! It has conquered many ponies and whoever falls under its spell is added to his collection! And it is wonderful!” Pinkie excitingly explained as she bounced in my lap. 

Gilda seemed hardly impressed by this “Uh huh, so what exactly do you do?” she asked me again.

Letting out a sigh I quickly stretched out my fingers before I place them upon Pinkies mane and began performing the ear scratch and withing milliseconds Pinkie went limp as a noodle and flopped into my lap and let out a long, drawn out sigh of approval as I continued to scratch. “Theeeeeeeey are sho goooooood” she mumbled as a few of her words slurred. 

“They are indeed, I quite enjoy them myself. Then again we receive the Royal Ear Scratch, so it is far superior and relaxes us so!” Luna beamed as she explained it. 

Gilda seemed awestruck at this “Pr-Princess Luna?! He has done this to you as well?” she gasped out. 

“Indeed!” Luna said.

“What about you Princess Celestia?” she asked. Celestia shook her head.

“Unfortunately I have not yet received this wonderful service but I do look forward to the day that I do” Celestia stated with a smile.

Gilda just stood there, beak flapping as she tried to think of the words to say but failed until a smirk appeared “Oh yeah? Well who else has received this service then?” she asked.

“Oh! Oh! I know! So far, me, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, the CMC, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Derpy, Vinyl, Aloe, and I think that is it for now” Pinkie said.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, so your telling me that even the one and only Rainbow Dash got one too?” Gilda asked.

“Oh yeah! Though she refuses to say that she liked it, hehehe” Pinkie let out a soft laugh. Gilda did not say anything and seemed to be pondering something before I saw her walk over to the right side of my table bed and she gracefully perched herself. 

“Let's get one thing straight, I am not doing this because of liking it or not. I am simply wanting to know why ponies like Rainbow or even the Princesses like it so much. Got it?!” she slightly snarled before resting her head back out front and flicked her left ear a few times. Sigh, I can totally see Rainbow and Gilda being friends. Not wanting to keep her waiting I reached up with my free arm and gently rested it among her soft, white feathers and made my way to her ear. 

Feeling it around a bit since it was a bit different than a ponies ear I finally found what I was looking for and began to scratch and though it was subtle I could tell she was surprised and internally gasped and rested her head down “Tch, I suppose I could see where some ponies might like this sorta thing” she huffed out but I could see the faint edge of a smile on her beak and even her long tail started swinging back and forth as it dangled off the edge.

“Fascinating” both Twilight and Doc said simultaneously and wrote something down in their notebooks. 

Pinkie slid her way up to my ear and using a hoof to cover it up she whispered “Capture complete” and accompanied it with a sly grin before returning to her post and me to my scratching. I remained there with the two happily enjoying their ear scratches with a pair of smiling Princesses observing us while the two scientists babbled away in their foreign tongue. At least until we heard a very loud DING that startled Gilda a bit who began flying away back to her slouching spot. Strangely she did not want to look at me in the eye.

“Brilliant! Simply brilliant! I have all the data right here! Miss Twilight, would you care to help me decrypt the data?” he asked her.

“I would be honored to Dr. Feathers!” she replied back with much enthusiasm. Once again leaving us in silence for about five whole minutes. “Hmmm, Dr. Feathers. I am afraid I don't understand this part right here” Twilight pointed out something on the paper and the Doc investigated it. 

“Hmmmmm, most interesting. Most interesting indeed” he said with a grim tone but when he looked up at us who stared at him with concern he smiled “Oh don't mind me, just going over how different his DNA is. Now, it is going to take me a while to fully go over all the data and sort it out to more simpler terms for the lot of you” he explained. 

Before any of us could comment on the simpler terms part Celestia spoke up first “Thank you Doctor and I apologize if this was at all inconvenient for you” 

“Oh nonsense Princess! The chance to study and learn about a new species and an alien one at that is that chance of a lifetime! I am honored that you allowed me to oversee such an experiment! And speaking of such, I would like to discuss some things with you privately about funding and such for future endeavors” Doc said.

“I see, well I shall indulge you then. The rest of you can go and enjoy yourselves for the time being unless you all want to watch Dr. Feathers and Gilda work?” Celestia asked us.

Twilight was probably about to say yes so the three of us covered up her mouth and shook our heads no. With that we quickly dragged Twilight out and rushed off to the main part of the castle. Phew, I don't mean to be mean to Twilight but I would die of boredom if I had to listen to them go on and on about all that science stuff. But now I have the Princess of the Night, a super duper party pony, and the Princess of Friendship with me in Canterlot castle. I think we can cook up some fun.


---------- Canterlot Laboratory #4 ----------


Hmmm, I wonder what Uncle wants to talk to Princess Celestia about? He doesn't care about funding, he would probably sell his own kidney first in order to do more research. 

“So Dr. Feathers, what is it you really wanted to discuss with me?” Celestia asked. Oh she is good. But when she asked I saw a solemn look on Uncles face, which was weird because even if he discovers something bad he usually gets happy that he found it in the name of science or something. 

“Well, I have not read and cross checked all the data yet but there is one thing that Twilight pointed out that caught my attention. It was about the magic that lies within that boy” Uncle said in a very serious tone. Wait, what?! Was something wrong inside Adrian? ….... Not like I care or anything about him or those ridiculous ear scratches but I am just curious is all. 

“What is it Doctor?” Celestia asked of him.

He let out a long sigh and rubbed his eyes before readjusting his bifocals “Well when I cross-referenced and reversed the process of the overlapping data between two identical objects but with one being magical and one not and applied it to him to create a non magical copy I noticed something.......well, something dangerous” he informed her.

“Dangerous?!” Celestia asked in a very worried tone.

Taking another long breath he finally said “Well, not dangerous to anything on Equus but I used his non-magical data as the standard blueprint for normal human beings back on his world and that is where I discovered that his magic was most likely poisoning those who stayed too close him for long periods of time”


---------- Ponyville, Residential Home ----------


KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Huh? Who ever could that be at this hour? Well, better get there quickly. All right, careful, careful, one step at a time. Just think of Adrian, just think of Adrian. Yes! I got down the stairs without falling again! Thanks Adrian! Now, who is at the door? 

Once I was at the door I creaked it open and saw that it was Applejack waiting for me so I fully opened my door and smiled “Hello Applejack! What can I do for you?” I greeted her with.

“Well howdy thar Derpy! I jus got back myself but Adrian wanted me ta give this to ya” Applejack said as she reached into her hat and pulled out a letter that had a bit of a bulge to it.

“Adrian?! Is he here?!?” I gasped out in shock and I started to get nervous and really jittery. 

“Whoa, simmer down there sally! No he ain't here yet, right now he is in Canterlot and finishing up the last of whatever he gotta do. But I think he should be back within a day or two. But like I said he wanted me ta make sure this here letter got to ya” Applejack calmly said as she handed the letter over and I gently clasped it in my hooves. Oh boy! He sent me another letter! He sent me another letter! I hugged the letter against my chest and let out a happy sigh.

“Well, I better skee daddle out of here and back to the farm. Careful with that letter now ya hear?” she said to me with a wink before heading back out. I waved her goodbye before shutting the door and took the letter back to the kitchen, grabbing my letter opener I smoothly cut a slit in the envelope and removed the paper. Taking in a deep breath to prepare myself I finally opened the letter, ignoring what was making the envelope bulge for now.

“Dear Derpy, 
How are you doing? I am doing well, another day another adventure in this magical world called Equestria. Well yesterday I did something rather unexpected, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were able to find a spell to send me home but it was only for twenty four hours at max. They felt bad since it was only a temporary way back but I told them not to worry and that I forgave them. After a small argument and a little lottery it was decided that Princess Cadence, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash would accompany me back to my world since only a limited number could go. 

Let me tell you, it was quite a ride and not too easy on the stomach but thankfully we all came out fine. It was really something to see my home again after so long in another world! But thankfully my memory came through and I found our way back to my home with relative ease. I don't want to get into it now and would rather tell you in person but basically there was a big time difference between our worlds and three weeks here is almost equal to a year plus back on Earth. So some things had changed and I figured the best thing for me now would be to stay in Equestria, not like I was planning on leaving anytime soon anyway.

Once back in my old house I spent the next few hours gathering my stuff to bring back and while I was at it I decided to bring back gifts for all of you as my way of saying things and how much you all mean to me. Once I got back with everything I gave out the first of my gifts and plan on giving the rest whenever I see the rest. But due to some new found knowledge it was suggested that I stop my Canterlot and see an expert on magic and other things and see what he can tell about me and my magic.

I don't expect this trip to be long, at max two days and if more than I will send you another letter. You may of seen it already but I included a small gift that I planned on giving to you with the rest for you but I felt like giving you something as a way to say sorry for being away for so long and for now fully expressing my feelings. There are still one or two things I am thinking about but I do have an answer for you when I return. 

So please wait just a little bit longer and I hope you enjoy the gift, I think it will go well with your golden mane and beautiful eyes. I hope to see you soon. 

From, Adrian

P.S: I miss you very much.

I had to re-read the letter two times and everytime I did I felt my heart flutter in my chest more and more and if I did not already have wings I would of said I would be flying right now. My cheeks were burning bright red but I did not care cause all I had on my mind was Adrian. But I now remembered the bulge in the envelope so I gently turned it upside down and let the object slide into my hoof.

Oh my gosh, it is beautiful! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I love it! I love it so much, it is so pretty! I felt my eyes sting a bit as a few tears formed but I still did not care as my mind swirled around Adrian. I still can't believe that a being from another world has been so kind and caring to somepony like me. I will always remember those words he told me when we first met, even then he showed his big, warm, kind heart to me and made me happy with myself.

Hugging his gift close to me I quickly flew to the downstairs bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror and smoothing out a patch of hair I help the clip open and let it clamp itself in my hair. I was mesmerized by how beautiful it looked and how well it complimented me. I almost wanted to take it off, thinking that such a pretty thing did not belong on a mare like me.

But I thought about what Adrian told me and I shook those thoughts out of my head and smiled proudly at the pretty mare staring back at me in the mirror. I felt another tear form in the corner of my eye and when it fell I lifted my hoof up to touch his gift and smiled and out loud I said “Please come home soon”
> Only Human
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alright, so what sort of trouble can we get into?” I asked out loud while Luna, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie trailed behind me. The four of us had been sneaking around the halls of Canterlot for a while now and a few times Pinkie and Luna had wanted to do something but Twilight stopped them, much to our annoyance. 

“Why do you all want to get in trouble?! We are in Canterlot! The principle of high class and dignity!” Twilight all but screamed out as she frantically peered around, making sure we were alone. 

“BECAUSE of that very reason Twilight! These ponies are all snooty and stuff cause they have not had any fun!” Pinkie exclaimed as she continued to bounce in place. 

“We agree with Pinkie, these nobles are far too stuffy for our tastes. It is time they learned of fun!” Luna happily explained to us as we all spotted a group of six ponies all dressed up and just oozing of boring and snotty attitudes. 

“Targets spotted and I think I know the perfect thing for them. Luna, can you make water balloons but with different types of liquids inside?” I asked her.

“Yes we can but what sorts of liquids?” she replied.

“Hmmm, water, lemonade, syrup, maybe tar, and maybe some alcohol. Covers all the bases I think” I said to her but when I turned around I saw Pinkie grinning at me “What in the world are you grinning about goof ball?”

“Ooooooh nothing~ Just surprised at how mischievous you can be” Pinkie explained. 

“Yeah, its a rare side of me. I only really did this sorta thing once do a bully back home who thought he was of a higher caliber than the rest of us and demanded we all treat him like a spoiled prince” I thought back to that day and smiled at his face that radiated with sheer terror when I pulled the classic tar and feather trick on him during a rally in front of the whole school. 

“Alright, we are set. Two balloons for each of us, including you Twilight” Luna said as she floated two big, plump balloons that swished whenever they moved. 

“Pr-Princess Luna! I can't do this!” Twilight fearfully said.

“And why not? We are doing this and so are your friends. If you are worried about punishment then don't for we will not put any blame upon any of you, including myself of course” Luna quickly explained as our quarry slowly approached us. “Besides, it will be fun!”

“At least give it a try Twilight? Please?” I nicely asked her with a kind smile and after a few seconds of inner debating she let out a breath of air she had been holding and nodded her head “Excellent, alright stay out of sight and when I say 'now' let loose the balloons of war!” I explained to them and nodding in acknowledgment they all hid behind the nearby columns and we waited for the moment to strike.

“.....so I said to the poor pony 'If not for the fact that the fly would make the soup taste better, I would demand it gone!' and the look on his face was priceless, just like me” one of two females of the group said in a haughty voice and the whole group bursted out laughing. Oh they were going to get it and get it good. I waited for a few more steps and when I saw the lead pony cross the threshold I sprung out from my hiding spot and held one hand up high.

“NOW!” I loudly said and launched my first balloon, directly aimed at the mare who talked last. Though I was quickly joined by my comrades who launched their assault as well, even Twilight who nailed two different ponies with two regular water balloons. My first one exploded on her face and covered her in tar and quickly spread all over her sparkling white dress and multiple jewelry. My second one hit the stallion beside her and I think it was the alcohol cause I could smell it. Pinkie and Luna took out the remaining two and their extra two simply spread around the group. 

They were all panicking and due to the combination of tar, syrup, and water they slipped and tripped over each other and become stuck together but still struggled to move, only to trap themselves more. Before we ourselves could burst out into laughter we heard metal hoof steps and shouting coming around the corner so Luna quickly teleported us to a random location, which so happened to be the throne room. 

Once we had safely landed and saw nobody around we all summoned up a fit of laughter and giggles while we rolled around on the marble floors, it was very funny to me to see Twilight like this since she was so serious all the time. Our laughs echoed throughout the chamber and were so loud that the guards came in to check but Luna assured them everything was fine between her giggle fits so we were left alone to our hysterical laughing. But our lungs needed a break so it slowly began to die down to where we were barely laughing past our own lips. 

All four of us were on our backs taking deep breaths, Pinkie letting out a snort here or there but we all simply enjoyed being together after pulling that off. I couldn't see what it was but I heard the small sound of something scooting on the ground but my answer came when I felt and saw Pinkie using my chest as a pillow, so I used my arm to scoot her in closer and was met with an approving squeak. Before I knew it my other side was being used by Luna who copied Pinkies movements and even Twilight flew opposite of my head to lie down but settled so both our heads touched.

“Your the best big brother I could of ever hoped for!” Pinkie happily stated. Ugh, why did I have to agree to being her big brother? I am going to die of her sweetness one day, but for now I could live with it so I ruffled her mane a bit and smiled. Before I could respond I heard a little huff coming from Luna who seemed to be puffing out her cheeks.

“Luna? What's wrong?” I asked her.

“Nothing is wrong, we are just simply annoyed that you are not our big brother” Luna stated but she quickly brought her hooves up to her mouth and blushed. Guess she did not mean to say that out loud. I could not help but laugh even more but using my other arm I wrapped her up in a hug, though this did not help lessen her red face. 

“Awww, I'm sorry Princess Luna. I didn't know! Hmmm, since he is already my big brother, how about he become your little brother instead!” Pinkie suggested and instantly Luna snapped back to normal, well mostly as she now had a mile wide grin.

“YES! Adrian shall become our sweet and kind little brother! We are so lucky!” Luna stated as she threw her hooves around me and hugged me tight, once again I thank that dragon magic for strengthening me up or else this hug might of snapped me in half. But I let out a small chuckle in response, this made Luna look up at me with a confused look.

“I am honored Luna but what would the public think of such a scandal! They might think I might want the throne and overthrow you! And I am not ready to be crowned prince! And that is not even the worst thing!” I over exaggerated as I boomed my voice. 

“What could be even worse?!” Pinkie joined in as she playfully went along. 

“This would mean you would have to share your little brother with your sister” I teased to Luna but she took it seriously and protectively threw her hooves around my head and snuggled up with me.

“NEVER! Celestia shall never have you!” Luna loudly stated. Oh dear, what have I done now? 

“Who shall I never have sister dear?” we heard Celestias voice clearly say from behind us and as one big unit all four of us, while still on the ground, turned our heads to her direction and stared blankly at the smiling face of Celestia. But that did not last long as Luna quickly got to her feet and dragged me along as she walked up to her sister. 

“We know what your planning! You knew that we wanted to have Adrian here as our brother! But taking advantage of our blood you must of thought that we would just share him so easily and have him  all to yourself!” Luna accusingly said to a very confused Celestia who looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Pinkie complimented me on being the best big brother she could ever hope for and Luna accidentally told me she wanted me to be her big brother but Pinkie suggested me to be her sweet and nice little brother instead. So I teased her a bit about a scandal of becoming a prince and whatnot before saying the worst thing she would have to do is share me with you and well you the rest” I sheepishly said while Luna continued to hold me tightly. 

This time it was Celestias turn to laugh and she did it so hard a few tears rolled down her face “Oh, forgive me everypony. I have not had a good laugh in a long time. Oh sister, you have quite the imagination. But-” she stopped as her horn glowed and next thing I knew I was next to Celestia with a hoof around my shoulders “-I suppose having a little brother would be a nice change of pace” she concluded by giving me a quick kiss on the cheek and I did not know how but Luna had blushed so hard her whole head was as red as a strawberry.

“S-S-SISTER!” Luna stuttered out. 

“Well Adrian, are you ready to become the first human prince of Equestria?” Celestia said but gave me a sly wink that was hidden from her sister and the others. Oh Celestia you are so bad. 

I backed up a step before taking a knee in front of her “It would be my honor, big sister” I said in a serious tone but my attention was brought to my right as I saw Twilight with fully erect wings.

“Prince Adrian? Big sister?! Wha?! But how! I-I-I!” Twilight was bubbling over with sensory overload and she fainted. Pinkie was bouncing around like a rubber ball in a small square room.

“Does this mean that I am now Princess Celestias and Princess Lunas sister too! OH and now the Apple family is part of your family too and my family! THIS IS SO EXCITING and wonderful and awesomeriffic! AND....AND!” Pinkie exclaimed and fainted next to Twilight but how she fell reminded me of the fainting goats back on Earth. With those two down and out I looked back over to Luna who stood there with a blank look in her eyes but her mouth was contorted to that of surprise and utter shock. 

I looked back to Celestia and the two of us shared a laugh with one another “I think we broke them Celestia. Looks like Luna is not the only royal sister who has a devious side to them” I said to her with a sly grin. 

“Oh I love to trick Luna whenever I can but I am usually too busy to prank her or get back at her. So I could not pass up such an opportunity” she explained to me before she giggled some more at Lunas expression. After taking some time to catch her breath she turned back to me but had a bit of a stern look to her “Though I was joking around just now, have you ever considered being royally adopted by myself or Luna?” 

Now I was utterly shocked and if it could my jaw would of probably smashed through the marble due to how hard it had just dropped. “Cel-Celestia?” I nervously said to her.

She shook her head “My apologies, I know that sort of question would strike hard but I did not know how else to ask. But due to recent knowledge and my own thoughts I had thought that perhaps you wanted a real family to call your own here in Equestria. And if you were adopted by either one of us you would not have to worry about money or anything else for as long as you lived in a world not of your own” Celestia said with a bit of sorrow. 

Letting out a sigh of my own I brought my hand up to her mane and began to pet her a bit which took her by surprise “Thank you Celestia, no wonder every pony loves you. You show kindness and love to all of us and are willing to do anything for our sakes. Thank you so much” I said to her before I brought my arms down and around her to hug her. She laid her head on my shoulder and I could hear her give out a breath of relief. 

“So, does this mean you accept our offer then?” Celestia quietly asked in my ear. 

“Unfortunately no, I am going to have to decline such a generous offer for now” I told her and I backed  away so we could see eye to eye. “”As much as I would love to be called a prince and be treated like royalty, and have you two as sisters I feel like I would be asking too much. I want to earn and build my own place in this world instead of simply being given a title and position” I explained.

She nodded her head and gave me a warm smile “I understand and I wish you luck in this venture. But know that my offer will always be open for you if you ever change your mind” she said to me before leaning over and kissing my forehead. Though she smiled I could see it start to waver as her eyes began to divert away from me, I wonder what else is on her mind?

“Is there something else you wanted to discuss?” I asked her. As she opened her mouth to talk I heard a loud crash behind me and before I could turn my head to see I felt myself being tackled to the ground but with a strong grip being wrapped around me.

“Gilda! Get your malcontent beak back here this instant!” I heard Dr. Feathers screech out. Now that we had stopped moving I finally had a good look and saw that it was Gilda who had grabbed me but now stood over me defensively. What in the world is going on? 

“No! I won't allow you two to hurt him like this! Such knowledge should not be shared! Especially this type! Do you have any idea what this would do to him?!” Gilda shouted out in return and due to the noise I saw the three previously incapacitated mares stir and return to normal, though they were just as equally confused as to why Dr. Feathers and Celestia were slowly walking towards Gilda who was protecting me. 

“Gilda, I know that you are trying to protect the boy but he cannot live in ignorance! He has to know the truth!” Doc replied back with as the duo took another few steps closer. 

“Yes he can! I would have been much happier living in ignorance knowing that Rainbow Dash was the same pony I knew back in school! Then we would still be friends” Gilda sadly stated but she threw it aside and took her stance. 

“Alright! Enough!” I suddenly shouted out and quickly got out of Gildas hold and stood up next to her. “What in blue blazes are you three going on about?!” 

“Yes indeed, what sort of knowledge are you withholding from Adrian, sister?” Luna spoke up as she finally recomposed herself alongside Twilight and Pinkie who both wore concerned expressions. 

Celestia looked around the room and saw all of our expressions before glancing to Dr. Feathers, he looked up at her and nodded his head. Taking in a fresh breath of air she finally spoke up “Before I continue, I need to know something first. Adrian, forgive me for my bluntness but while living on Earth did you live with any family members and have any of them passed on?” she asked me. Whoa, wait! Why is she asking that? 

“Um.... well yes. I lived only with my mother and she died when I was young due to an unknown disease. Why?”I concernedly asked in return.

Stealing another glance at Dr. Feathers before back to me Celestia said “We have discovered something concerning your magic that we found in your test results” 

My heart started to skip a few beats and a nervous bead of sweat appeared on my forehead while my mouth started feeling dry. 

“But know first that this only concerns humans on Earth and that nothing here in all of Equestria is in any danger. Please remember that before I continue” Celestia stated but this did not help me calm down and only made me feel worse. Was my magic really dangerous all along? 

“Adrian, we believe that your magic was having a negative effect on those who stayed within close proximity of you for very long periods of time. Due to humans having no magic, yours that resided within yourself was leaking out naturally and was something akin to poison to them. But because the levels were so low, only those who stayed around you for long periods of time were truly infected. Do you understand what we are saying?” Celestia explained in a very sad and shaky voice. 

I visibly stumbled back a few steps as my face grew into one of horror and utter shock. No, no it could not be true! Why?! Why would they tell me this? That's why she offered to adopt me, she was just feeling pity for me! She must of heard of my moms death from one of the girls and came up with it! Yes! That has to be it! She set this whole thing up just to adopt me! She made it so grandma Shimmer would be sent to Earth and make kids and somehow knew I would end up.....killing......my.....mom. No! My dream was right all along! I KILLED MY MOM! No.... no.....-

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!” I suddenly screamed as I felt my heart was torn to shreds and I could not even think clearly. All I could focus on was my mom and all the nightmarish images of her. 

“You......you did this......to me.......you.....killed....me” the figure declared while its eyes glowed red with hate and it seemed to shift closer to me “You...killed....me” it said again while pointing at me and shifted again right in front of me and I could smell the scent of death wafting from her walking and burning corpse. 

Her voice became so clear that it sounded like her vocal cords were not burnt while her soulless eyes stared into my being before her voice erupted from everywhere and nowhere “YOU KILLED ME!”she shrieked like a banshee and caused my ears to bleed and I felt my body become limp and even my tears burned as they fell. 

I suddenly recalled the first nightmare I had and her words rang in my head, so much so I brought my hands up to them in a vain attempt to shield them but to no avail. 

“Adrian Frost” was written on the plaque and I snapped my head up and saw that it was me and the stone statue looked forward like it had just killed something and enjoyed it. It scared me that I could make a face like that but slowly I lowered my head to my other body and saw that it was now pointing at me “Monster” was all it said. This triggered the others to chant that word and even the new statues moved to look at me while repeating the word over and over and over again. 

NO! I am not a monster! I am..... I am.... “I am a monster!” I yelled out so loud that a visible wave erupted from my body, almost like I was using Lunas Royal Equestrian Voice. After yelling it out I began to scream from the pain my heart and head were feeling at all this new information. 

“Adrian! No! Please, listen to my voice!” I barely heard Celestia say over my own foul screams but I looked up at her with fear in my eyes.

“No! Stay away! Stay away!” I said as I tried to swipe at her in hopes of her backing away. I began to hyperventilate as the magic within me swirled with such intensity that I almost felt like throwing up but nothing came out at first but soon I felt a strong heat emanating within me. The more it grew I began to foster a deep and terrible anger and wanting to release it I shouted once more but along with my pained voice came a powerful dragon fire that surrounded me in a shell of flame.

But once I was surrounded the sudden outburst of anger fled into fear as it almost looked like the very flames I summoned were about to swallow me whole and I am not sure if it was the flames or my own eyes playing tricks on me but for a brief moment I saw the same burning figure of my mother standing in the wall of fire. Its eyes pierced through me and due to my hyperventilation I ran out of air and felt myself go limp while the fire engulfing me only grew stronger. 

My arms and legs were bound in dark, cold chains and had me suspended in a pit of blackness while I was surrounded by nothing. I could not even see where the chains were attached to but my attention was drawn to the sound of heels clacking against stone that echoed all around me. 

I tried to call out but found no sound coming out of my mouth, the clacking sound drew closer and closer until the darkness slowly gave way to a faint light and the closer it got the more brighter and hotter its source became. My eyes widened in horror and disbelief as I saw the half burning corpse of my mother standing there with one glowing red eye that was fixated on me.

But a new addition was in its left hand was a fiery whip was being held with a deathly grip as it groaned and creaked with every squeeze it gave the handle. I once again tried to yell out in protest but my voice was lost to me in this pit of despair and I was at the mercy of this horrid figure. It was still walking closer and closer, the heat was becoming unbearable and I felt like any second my skin was going to burst into flames but it did not.

The nightmare finally stopped within five feet of me and with its free hand pointed a boney finger at me as a piece of flesh fell with a splat. “You....killed.....me. My.....son.....killed ME!” the figure shouted with such intensity that I felt my lungs bear the pressure. With a quick crack of the whip it whipped the torture device at me and struck with a powerful snap that left three marks on my bare stomach that started to bleed. 

Once it whipped me I saw its mouth open and out came a sound like a volcano erupting mixed together with the actual sound of my mother screaming in pain. While this wretched sound blasted my ears it continued its whippings across my body, giving me scores upon scores of bleeding scratches and open wounds but I could not scream out as my voice refused to obey me. 

Time seemed to pass by endlessly as the whippings continued over and over again and when the strain of holding my neck up proved too much I slumped down and ended up watching the whip tare apart my skin, all the way down to the muscle and bone. I had given up trying to scream out loud while my mind picked up the slack though during the painful torture I saw something begin to glow in my chest.

Once the glowing started the whippings started to become erratic and more frequent, almost like it was wanting to carve out that area with the whip. The moment it became fully open I heard the sound of blood soaked leather drop onto stone, finding a small patch of strength left I picked up my head and saw the figure reaching out with its hand and start to walk toward me. 

“Soon you will be mine” I heard a soft, dissipated voice say in my ear as the burning image of my dead mother continue to draw near the glow in my chest. Inches away I could feel the heat start to boil my exposed skin and blood but it did not stop and the moment it was about to touch it I closed my eyes and prepared myself.

“ADRIAN!” a new voice boomed into existence and the sound of two bodies crashing into each other now filled my ear before a struggle replaced it. Though my eyes were closed I felt my body become lighter and felt my arms drift back down to my sides, risking a peak I opened my one eye and did not see a glow coming from me anymore. I fully opened my eyes and saw that my hands were free and that they were clean and restored.

Looking down I saw that my body had been fully restored to normal, looking around I found the figure battling with a scythe against a familiar form. It was Luna who was using her magic to form a pair of swords to block and attack my mothers image. Feeling a strange sensation in my throat I finally was able to form my first words “lu.....l-lu.....luna” I gasped out as my voice grew stronger with each passing second.

“Adrian! Fear not! This is all just a nightmare! You control it! Only you can defeat this nightmare once and for all!” Luna declared as she battled back and forth with the ever looming and deadly scythe. 

“But......but how?” I asked her with a weakened voice. 

“Remember your mother for how she was, remember all the good and bad things about her, remember her! You have to remember your mother and not this nightmare! You can do it Adrian! Your big sister believes in you!” Luna said as she jumped back to avoid a downward stroke before doing a multi-slash attack of her own. 

Remember her as she was? I let my mind wander back and soon the empty space around us became a lively and vivid scene where multiple viewing screens showed my memories of my mom during the good and bad times. The one time where I skinned my knee while playing and her gently reassuring me while putting a band-aid on. Another where she was spanking me for saying a bad word. Her cooking my favorite dinner. Putting me to bed. The sad look on her face when I asked about dad. Her laugh. Her smile. Her crying. I remembered it all.

The burning figure was weakening and dropped its weapon which evaporated into black smoke, the same kind that  flowed from its body now that the flames had died. It turned away from Luna and slowly began to stumble to me as its body began to disappear. “Yes! That’s it Adrian! Now, to banish this foul spirit! Think of the most powerful memory of your mother! Something that has etched itself into your heart, the true essence of your mother!” Luna explained as she watched on with worry. 

But I knew exactly the memory and the second I thought of everything swirled around me and I found myself shrunk down to my young, childhood self who was crying cause I just saw our cat lying dead in the street after accidentally being run over by a random car who did not stop. The smoldering figure of my mother faded away and was replaced by the loving and caring image of my mom who was petting my head as I cried into her lap. 

“Why.....why did Thomas have to die?” I asked her.

“It was an accident Adrian, nobody has to die. But we all do die in the end, but don't think of his death and instead think about all the good times we had with him. Ok?” she gently said to me.

“Why did that driver have to run him over mommy? What did Thomas ever do to him? Why are people so mean?” I said to her. 

“Not everyone is mean, I'm not mean am I?” she replied back.

“No! Not you mommy! Your so nice and pretty!” I quickly said back to her.

“Thank you sweetie” she said before she bent down and kissed my head. “But there are mean people in the world just as there are nice people. Some love to help others while some selfishly hide themselves away behind their power and wealth”

“But why. Why can't everyone be as nice as you?” I asked her.

She let out a small giggle “Because Adrian, they are only human”

“Only human” I found myself saying while I woke up. I heard several gasps around me, including one that sounded right next to me and when I fully opened my tired eyes I saw a pair of bright blue eyes staring at me with concern which was attached to a pink, cloud of hair. 

“Adrian...... are you-” Pinkie tried to say but she could not find the will to finish. Taking a moment to collect my bearings I looked around and saw everyone looking at me with concern and sadness though Luna appeared to be tired as well. Looking down and around me I saw a thick black ring where my dragon fire had encircled me. But it was at this time I felt a pair of hooves wrap themselves around my neck and I heard a small sniffle coming from Pinkie Pie. 

I was about to hug her back but when I lifted my arms I stared at my hands for a few seconds and considered if I really should even touch her. I got my answer when I heard her give out a few pre-cry breaths and the second I did I threw my arms around her and held her close as I buried my head in her comfy and springy pink mane. 

“Adrian.... are you..... are you going to be alright?” I heard Gilda ask from behind me. 

I shook my head before lifting it up “I don't know, I have to come to terms about this and living with the knowledge that I was responsible for my mothers death” I said those last few words with a shaky voice as my body threatened to give out and cry. “But”

“But?” Gilda asked. 

“But so long as I have my goof ball little sister, my royal big sister of the night, and all my friends here, in Ponyville, and everywhere else with me...then I......then I-I think I will find a way” I explained and when I did I saw a faint smile grace all of their lips. When it did I slunk my head back down to rest in Pinkies mane and let all the tension in my body flow and cried. 

I cried like nothing I had ever done before but I felt Pinkie hug me all the tighter and around me I felt a few hooves and claws pat and rub my back. Letting me know they would be here for me and though my heart felt heavy and torn asunder I could feel the smallest bit of warmth finding its way inside. 
> Human Grief, Soft Hooves, And A Book
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I continued to sit there on the cold, marble floor with my head buried in Pinkies mane as I unloaded all my pent-up emotions and for a moment I thought I was never going to stop but I knew that I would eventually so I just allowed myself to continue on until there was nothing left to give. I am not sure how much time actually passed but after an eternity or so I finally felt my body just a little bit lighter as my insides started to expand like normal. Taking in a few deep breaths and using my long sleeve to wipe my eyes clean I leaned back to a normal sitting position but I still had my eyes closed.

Breathing in deeply through my nose and exhaling with my mouth calmed my body down and once I felt myself be still instead of twitching I opened up my tired, red eyes to see myself surrounded by warm, smiling faces though I few of them had tears of their own but they still smiled for me. This caused me to sprout a faint smile of my own for a few seconds, deciding to stand up so I could stretch I shifted one leg around to stand on while I used the other as my base. 

Guess this whole ordeal drained me a bit more than I expected cause the moment I lifted up to stand I felt myself wobble and almost topple over but thankfully Pinkie and Gilda caught my arms and I was able to use them fully stand. “You good?” Gilda asked.

“Yeah, sorry about that” I said to her. 

“Don't worry about it, I understand” she replied back and with a couple of pats on the back to reassure me.  “So, what are you gonna do now?”

“I am not sure, I kinda want to do something to take my mind off things for a while” I explained in a slightly quieter voice. My eyes stared down and through the ground below me as my mind whirled about. I could not see it but everyone around me adopted a worried expression again but could not find the right words to say to me. 

“I know!” Celestia said which surprised us all “Why don't we visit the local spa here in Canterlot?”

“Great idea Celestia!” Doc Feathers chimed in out of nowhere “A relaxing activity such as that would do wonders for him! It is proven that a stressed mind and body responds much better if such negativity is undone within a short period of time after the initial cause!” 

“Wha?” Pinkie said with a dumbfounded expression.

“What he basically said is if Adrian gets this massage right now he will feel better sooner rather than waiting to get it later” Gilda explained in an annoyed tone, though I am not sure if she is annoyed at Pinkie or her Uncle.

“Oh! I get it! Your right Doctor Feathers! Now lets get going!” Pinkie excitingly said.

“Whoa, whoa there pipsqueak. Wheres the fire?” Gilda asked.

“Well we have to get to spa! Doctors orders!” Pinkie explained with a wink which got a laugh out of Doc but made the rest of us groan a little. 

“Sister, which one of us is going with Adrian then?” Luna asked.

“What do you mean Luna?” Celestia responded back with.

“What I mean is who is going to stay here and handle court?” Luna said.

“Oh Luna, we both have been gone for a few days already. I don't think a few more hours will hurt” Celestia said with a childish grin “Besides I already have my aide, Raven, handling my affairs”

“We see.....well then what are we waiting for then?” Luna said with a childish grin of her own and with that she personally lead our group out and Gilda tried to join us but her uncle pinched her ear.

“And where do you think your going young lady? Science never rests! We need to go over the rest of Adrian's biometric information!” Doc explained to the now grumpy female gryphon.

Gilda grumbled something under her breath as she was forcefully dragged back through the doors and presumably back to the lab. I kinda felt bad for her but she is under her uncles strict supervision so there is nothing I could really do to stop it. But soon my thoughts drifted back to earlier and I found myself walked in a haze behind the four of them, the few times I came back to reality I had to pick up my pace a little so I did not get lost. 

But I usually found myself wandering back into the depths of my mind and its thoughts, so much so that I had tuned out the outside world and did not notice the wooden pillar until I smacked into it. Suffice to say that brought my full attention back to the world around me, that and the fact that my nose was throbbing in pain. So I stopped and held my hands up to my nose “Ow, that hurt” I briefly said in a weird nasally voice. 

“Adrian! Are you alright?” Twilight asked in a very concerned voice as the others raced back. I rubbed my nose a little before the pain settled down. 

“Yeah. I wasn't looking where I was going. Sorry” I said in a low tone while I scratched the back of my head as I looked away. But before any of the others could say anything I felt something soft slide through my hand, so I looked down and saw Luna standing beside me with a smile on her face while my arm was draped over her. 

“Then we shall assist you then” Luna said. I then felt something hop on my back and hooves wrapped around me, just as a pink face poked over my shoulder.

“Don't worry Adrian! I got your back!” Pinkie said with a wink. This made me give out a little laugh which only made Pinkie smile even wider than before. 

“Will you be able to manage Adrian?” Celestia asked me while Twilight walked up to my other side.

Letting a smile out I said “I think I can manage with three Princesses guiding with and a Pinkie on my back” 

“That is good to hear. The spa is just up ahead” Celestia said before leading our group again. With my attention drawn back to the world around me I finally noticed that we had left the castle already and were walking down one of the streets in Canterlot. It is amazing how different the cities look, I mean I have only seen three here in Equestria but still. 

It looked so posh and clean, even the buildings seemed to shine even though they looked to be made of marble or some sort of stone. And even the looks of the ponies around were very different and it really made me feel like I had wandered into the high class part of town or something and the looks I got made me feel it even more so. I am not sure how to describe it, they were in awe and shock at the fact that all three Princesses were walking about so casually about town mixed with the confusion and maybe disgust of a strange creature like me being with them.

So needless to say I kept my eyes straight ahead and tried not to pay any mind to them and instead focus on something else though my mind drifted between their stares of disgust and my own depression over the events that just happened. I think Luna saw my face droop a little because she cleared her throat in order to catch my attention. 

“So sister, do you think we might be lucky to have the twins here in Canterlot to give us a massage?” Luna asked. 

Celestia turned her head around while she pondered this thought “You know, I am not sure. I do hope so though! I really enjoyed myself under their gentle care last time I was able to get out” she said.

“Well we shall find out soon enough for we have arrived dear sister!” Luna said as she pointed out with her hoof. I looked up ahead and I saw a sign that read 'Canterlot Day Spa', hmmmm the sign kinda looked familiar. Twilight seemed to be thinking the same thing when we walked in through the front doors.

“Celestia, when you and Luna said the twins, what were their names?” Twilight asked. Celestia would of answered but due to the bell ringing when we opened the doors we were met with a familiar voice.

“Hello and welcome to Canterlot Day Spa! How can I-” Lotus stopped dead in her tracks while giving her normal greeting. She was staring at the group of us in awe and wonder for a moment before she realized that I was here then she seemed to calm down and became a little nervous but smiled. “H-Hello there Princess Celestia! Princess Luna and Princess Twilight. I am honored that you all have stopped in today and I am equally glad to see you again Adrian” 

“Oh? You have already met Adrian?” Luna questioned.

“Yes I have! We were in Ponyville at the time when Adrian stopped in with Princess Twilight and her friends” Lotus explained but while she looked at Celestia and Luna her eyes drifted over to me a few times. She must of also noticed my gloomy nature “Are you alright Adrian?”

I took a deep breath and exhaled before I forced a small smile on my face “Yeah. I just had a few very..... mentally exhausting days recently. Celestia had suggested taking me here to help me.... find some peace and relaxation” I took my time explaining to Lotus. I saw Pinkie and Twilight casting concerned glances at me.

But then I felt Lotus place her hoof on my leg with a smile on her face “Well then you came to the right place then, I hope we can help you” she said. I nodded in acknowledgment before she went back to the desk “So I suppose you will be having the Royalty Special I presume?”

“Indeed we will! For all five of us and as per usual please send the bill to the Royal Canterlot Bank” Luna instructed Lotus who was already busy writing out the bill and everything else. Once she was done writing she extended her hoof to the back “Well then will the ladies go on ahead and make yourselves comfortable. Adrian could you wait here till we bring you a larger towel?” she asked of me. I simply nodded again and watched as the four of them left but before Twilight disappeared behind the curtains she looked back at me with a worried look.

Even though my eyes were a bit hazy I smiled the best I could and ushered her to go ahead, which she did. It did not take long for Lotus to appear but she had a worried look as well and a frown to boot “Adrian, I just want to say that I am so sorry about my sisters rudeness last time. We were suppose to show you a good and relaxing time yet due to her foolishness she drove you away. I really am sorry and I would not blame you for wanting to leave or at least request somepony else to attend you” Lotus sadly said as she hung her head in shame.

Feeling something snap back into place inside my mind I quickly kneeled down and took hold of her hooves “No, please. It is not your fault Lotus. I understand what happened and while I will admit that I was kinda freaked out originally but that was before I knew why she did it. I had a small talk with her after Twilight.... properly explained some things to her and I told her that I am willing to give her a second chance but I had wanted some time away to get my feelings in order” I said to her.

Lotus looked up at me with teary eyes “Really? You are really able to forgive her?” she asked me.

I nodded “Yes but I told her that the next chance would be the last one and so if we were to ever see each other again we would act like normal. So for the time being I will allow Aloe to look over us, so she can come out from behind the curtain now” I said as I looked over to the obvious lump in the curtain behind us. I heard a gasp and though it took a little while, I eventually saw Aloe slowly walk her way over to us.

Lotus looked at us both before she handed me my towel “Well, I will get the water ready for the others. I will let you two.... hash things out” she said before going off to the back, leaving a rather sad and nervous looking Aloe alone with me.

Silence greeted the two of us as we looked at each other, trying to find the words to say but always coming up short. “Ad.....Adrian?” she quietly called out.

“Yes Aloe?” I replied.

“You don't....... you don't have to force yourself to be here you know” Aloe spat out which caught me off guard.  “I saw how you looked when you walked in and even though we talked about it briefly back in Ponyville I know you probably hate me for acting like a..... like a...... wild beast” she bit her lip while she fought back her tears. 

Sniffling a bit she looked back up at me “And now..... because of that I ruined everything. I really like you Adrian and I think your very handsome, even when I first saw you walking through Ponyville. So I let my guard down and tried to catch your attention but then I lost control of my heat and gave in” Aloe said and had let a few tears fall down her face “And now you hate me” she squeaked out while she quietly cried to herself. 

I did not say anything but almost acting on instinct I reached out for her and though she flinched at my touch I gently pulled her in for a hug while I stroked her mane. At first I took a breath of air through my nose, as to not accidentally inhale her mane with my mouth, but then I took a few quick whiffs of the scent coming off of her mane and it reminded me of something she said back in Ponyville and I felt a genuine chuckle come out, which greatly surprised Aloe.  Using her hooves to clear her eyes before looking at me “What?” she muffled out.

“Your mane smells nice, guess you really do use Fleur De Lis's Secret Collection everyday” I explained to her though this made her a bit confused. “Remember when I asked you what shampoo you liked and you said that your favorite was Fleur De Lis's and that you always use it?” I reminded her and it took her a moment to realize what I was talking about and she blushed at the thought.

“Y-y-you remember that?” she nervously said.

“I sure do, I try to remember what my friends like” I said as I smiled at her. She was utterly speechless and was looking at me like I just said I killed her cat or something. But it made her seem kinda cute and I chuckled again “What?” I asked her.

“Friend? Me?! But.... what I did to you” Aloe nervously sputtered out. I smiled more at her before pulling her back in for another hug.

“If I really hated you then I would not of remembered anything of our first encounter and I would of left the moment I saw Lotus greeting us. And I am sorry for how I looked coming in but like I briefly said to Lotus I have gone though a lot of mentally exhausting ordeals these past few days. So I am a bit out of sorts and would love to have a friend give me another excellent massage. Though this time without the 'special service' if you please” I said to her with a laugh.

I heard her sniffle again before she leaned her head into my chest and let out a few more tears “Thank you Adrian” she quietly muffled out before she took a few moments to recollect herself but when she leaned back she seemed nervous again but now had a slight blush “So....does this mean.....that me.....and you......could-” Aloe tried to say but fell short as her face exploded into red.

Chuckling once more I stroked her mane again “Sorry Aloe but another mare back in Ponyville beat you to it” I explained to her and she let out a sigh.

“Guess I should of known. Who is it, if I can ask?” Aloe said.

“Not saying yet, I am waiting till I get back and properly talk to her before we make it official or not. Besides I don't want any rumors spreading yet” I said with a wink but even though she blushed she laughed too.

“Can't promise that a rumor about you possibly dating a mare won't spread though” she replied back.

“Fair enough, well I think I better join the others before they get too worried” I said to her while I gave her one last hug “And thank you Aloe for making me feel a little bit better, my friend”

Once we finished our hug I stood up with my towel and helped Aloe back onto her own hooves “But I have to warn you, once you get done with my massage you might end up falling in love with these hooves instead” she jokingly said with a wink of her own. I could only smile and shake my head before I headed to a side room and like before using a basket to store my clothes before wrapping myself up. 

But before I could step out I heard a knock on the door “Adrian? Its me Lotus. Can I talk to you for a moment?” she asked. Probably worried about what happened with her sister, so I let her in while I made sure my towel was probably secured. “I know it is none of my business but I am worried about her. So will you two be ok in the same room or?”

“Everything is fine and I am looking forward to her massage later” I simply told her with an added smile but I was so glad to see Lotus smile like she is now.

“Oh thank goodness, she had been so worried about what you thought of her and she was really sad for a while. Thank you Adrian for forgiving my sister” Lotus sincerely said with a few tears of her own but she quickly composed herself “So, I am just curious. Does this mean you and her are?”

I had to roll my eyes but I smiled as I leaned down and gently bopped her on the nose “You two are defiantly sisters, wanting to know all the details about my love life” I said to her with a chuckle “But like I told her, there is a mare back in Ponyville who beat Aloe to it but I won't say who until me and her talk about making it official or not” I reexplained.

Letting out a sigh of defeat Lotus turned back around “What a shame, but oh well. I hope everything works out for you. Now get that muscular body in here already!” Lotus said as she ushered me out. I quickly grabbed my basket and placed it by an open spot before walking up to the spa that had steam rolling off of it. 

“Awwwww, Adrian! Your little cupcake tummy is gone!” Pinkie complained as she leaned halfway out of the water and over the edge. I looked back down at my bare stomach and I was surprised at how lean and muscular it looked. Thank you dragon magic! 

I still blushed but I grinned this time “I did tell you I was working it off” I said to her but she still pouted as I made my way into the pool of hot water. Though I was quickly joined by Pinkie and Luna sitting on either side of me who were giggling away. 

“Pray tell Pinkie, was Adrian not always so well toned?” Luna asked.

“Nope! The first time we came to the spa together he had a little stomach pudge, probably from eating one too many cupcakes!” Pinkie said and I felt myself blushing a little. Gah, I need to find some guy friends here so I don't get as embarrassed by these girls so often. 

“We see, well we must say Adrian that you are excellent shape and quite handsome as well” Luna said as she lifted my arm to inspect the scars from the timberwolf attack. 

Feeling a little playful I let out an exaggerated gasp “Luna! Flirting with your own little brother?! Forshame! I did not think that my own big sister was this scandalous!” I layed it on thick and it did the trick for Luna was as red as Applejacks own red apples.

And it looked like Celestia caught on this time as well “I quite agree Luna, it would be very bad if the ponies of Canterlot knew of such behavior” she said elegantly but then she shifted her eyes onto me and grinned “Although I cannot blame you for wanting to admire our cute and lovable little brother. Would you agree Pinkie?” Oh you traitor! Traitor!

“Most definitely! But then again my big brother always looks good!” Pinkie chimed in.

“So, what do you have to say now, little brother?” Luna said as she recovered from my attack and now I had taken her place and was blushing to hard that my head was starting to steam even more than the spa. I slowly sinked down into the water to try and escape but due to me being so tall I could only slide until my head remained above water while my long white hair danced around me in the water. This of course made the four of them laugh more and more, further adding to my embarrassment. 

Thankfully I heard the sound of hoovesteps coming up the stairs and soon Aloe with a basket of bottles came up and was confused as to why I was head bobbing while the four mares laughed. But soon I rose back up to my normal sitting position as the water around started to bubble up and foam, which smelled almost like bubble gum actually. When I was sitting again I simply closed my eyes and let the warm water simply erase the stress away and though my mind still swirled I was honestly feeling a bit better. 

“You feeling ok Adrian?” I heard Pinkie say so I opened my eyes and saw her looking at me with concern. 

“Yeah, I am starting to feel a little better. Sorting things out with Aloe also helped and just relaxing here with my friends helps as well” I said but I turned my head to stare at the ceiling and let out a sigh “But it will take me a while to fully come to terms about my mother” I sadly stated but I felt Luna and Pinkie place a hoof on my shoulders, quickly glancing at them both I smiled before readjusting my seat. “But like I said, with my friends around I will find a way”

“And when we get back you can always have a cupcake or two whenever you feel sad or blue!” Pinkie exclaimed as she snuggled up with my arm. I had to lean down a bit but I placed my head on top of Pinkies and nuzzled her.

“Thanks Pinkie” I told her. After that we started some small talk while we soaked and once again I was made to comb out a mane though instead of Aloe it was Pinkies. Luna wanted hers done but due to her ethereal mane I could not actually comb it, much to her disappointment. But it was still nice to just do something simple while we talked. Once the water started to cool off we moved onto the massage table so the girls could get a hooficure before we all had to lie down for the massage.

Once again I saw Aloe walk up to my table with a nice smile but before she hopped up she asked “Are you sure you want me here? I could always get Lotus to be here instead”

I shook my head “No, its fine. Since I am giving you a second chance, I want us to start off with a clean slate. So far you did not 'accidentally' fall into the spa with me, so now all that is left is a massage which will make me fall in love with those hooves of yours” I said to her which caused her to giggle.

“I promise that you will, so lets begin then” she said before I felt her soft hooves on my back and began to work her magic again. Hopefully this time I can actually enjoy it without building more stress.


---------- 45 Minutes Later ----------


DING DING DING

“Ohhhhhh man, already?” I complained as I heard the timer go off, signaling the end of the session. Though the royal treatment was longer than normal ones I wanted even more. My back had turned into jello thanks to Aloes golden hooves and I was enjoying every second of it. I had even dozed off for about a two minutes and even though Aloe was nice enough not to say anything I heard Pinkie giggle-snort on her table which made me pout before I went right back to enjoying the massage. 

But once I felt her get off I slowly made my way up and did a quick stretch I felt like my body was so much lighter and I was really happy. Aloe probably saw my goofy looking face cause she giggled before asking “So? Did you fall in love or what?”

I nodded my head before grinning “Oh yes, I fell in love with those hooves. But only them, nothing attached to them” I jokingly teased her with a playful wink which only made her puff her cheeks up while pouting. I held it off for only three seconds before I bursted out laughing. “I am glad I gave you second chance, cause I don't know if I could ever find better” 

“Thank you, I am so glad I had this chance to make it up to you” she said as she beamed with glee. Grabbing my basket I headed back the side room and quickly got dressed and met the others back out front where they were saying goodbye to Lotus and Aloe. 

“Hurry up slowpoke!” Pinkie said as she paced around in a circle. 

I only rolled my eyes as I kneeled down on one leg “Thank you both so much for the very relaxing and stress free time. I am just glad to know that I have two more friends!” I told them before I received a hug from Lotus first.

“And thank you for being so sweet with my sister after last time. I really appreciate it” she said to me before making room for Aloe who hugged me tightly.

“Thank you so much Adrian for everything. I am kinda sad that I missed my chance but I am more happy to have you as my friend instead of you hating me” she quickly said before I felt her kiss my cheek just as she climbed down “Please come back again!” We all waved goodbye before we headed back to the castle to meet back up with Gilda and Doc.

As we were walking I felt a tug on my pants, looking down I saw that Twilight wanted to talk so she flew up to me “I am glad everything worked out and that she did not try anything this time. But did I see her kiss your cheek as we left?” she asked me.

“Well. Miss. Nosey” I gently tapped her nose at every word “She did but it was just a friendly thing cause she asked if I was single but I told her that a mare back in Ponyville had beaten her first. But I did not say her name cause I didn't want any sort of rumors about her spreading before anything official” I explained to her. 

She wiggled her nose as she got over the initial three taps “I see, well I think you handled all that rather well and I am glad to see that you are doing better. But just know that we are all here for you and are willing to be patient with you” she told me with a nice, little smile.

I gently held the other side of her head as I pushed her closer so I could nuzzle her cheek while I said “Thanks Twilight, I appreciate you saying that”

And with some more small talk between us all we eventually found our way inside the castle and heading down to the laboratory. Celestia entered first and cleared her throat to announce herself “Hello again Dr. Feathers. How is everything?” she asked him.

“Ah Celestia! Adrian! So glad you are both here! The two of us just gone writing down all of your medical information and made copies! One copy for you Princess and the originals for you Adrian. Be sure to give that to your local hospital in Ponyville as soon as you can” Doc explained to the two of us.

“This is perfect! With this now done I can also give you your personal identification papers, which will now allow you to own your own property and be able to hold a job. Be sure to hold on to these as well and make copies just in case” Celestia said to me before she summoned said paperwork with her magic and gave them to me in a nice folder, which I used to put my medical papers in as well.

“Cool! Thank you both so much, so Doc. Other than that one thing, is there anything else you can tell me about my magic or something?” I asked him.

“Hmmm, well from what I could examine it seems like your body does not have a set mold like most unicorns have in terms of what type of magic they can learn. Which means that so long as your know your limits you have the potential to learn every type of magic out there! Though I would be careful since some magics don't mix too well inside the body” he explained.

“Dr. Feathers, what about the Alpha Timberwolf magic inside of him? Do you know anything about what exactly it is?” Twilight asked. 

“Ah! Now that is rather fascinating. As you might know, the Alpha is passed down either genetically or by defeating the current alpha and in your case you defeated the one Alpha and so it presented itself to you. Now due to it normally being only for timberwolves some...... coding you might say did not pass over. Mainly the history of previous Alpha battles and the hunting instincts which would make the current Alpha timberwolf a top notch predator”

“But since you are something not of this world the coding got a little scrambled and you received the power boost and the presence of the Alpha but only animals would truly sense that. So with the strength of the Alpha lapped over your dragon magic your body has become a very strong fortress and you might find yourself with new physical abilities such as super strength or heightened speeds. Oh and one other thing I should mention”

“You might be wondering if the Alpha will be passed down if you ever conceive a child of your own, which is possible by the way, the child would not possess it since its coding is meant for timberwolf DNA. You got it by sheer luck and due to your DNA being so unique but if your child was made with a mare then half of its genetic coding would repel the Alpha and you would keep it until you died then it would find the next suitable timberwolf host” Doc explained thoroughly.

Whoa, wait a sec. Did he say it was possible to have a child of my own here? Gosh, that opens up so many possibilities WAIT NO! I can't be thinking of children yet! I don't even have a girlfriend! That deserves a mental slap! Ouch. I had to shake my head to clear those thoughts but I found my face becoming a little warm. 

“What the heck you blushing for?” Gilda loudly pointed out and now they ALL became very interested in me. 

“Yeah?! What you blushing for? Hmmmmmm?” Pinkie said as she jumped up and down to stare into my eyes. 

“N-Nothing! Nothing at all! Certainly not about children or anything!” I said as I let out an awkward and nervous chuckle. 

“Oh ho! Thinking about making babies already? Who's the lucky mare, stud?” Gilda teased by leaning against me and poking my chest. I had steam coming out my ears at this point, so I let out a rather loud hmph and marched myself out of the lab.

“I will up in my room packing” I quickly said as I pushed open the doors that now housed multiple laughter’s. Gosh, why do they all have to pick on me! Gah, I am twenty three years old for crying out loud! I was the fourth oldest in that room! Right after Doc! Well I will show them! By marching up.....to …...my......room. GAH! 

I had to face palm myself so hard for that last thought and unfortunately I did it in the middle of a corridor where several guards and other fancy ponies saw me. So I straightened out my outfit and carried on smartly down the halls leading up to my room. Thought that did not last long cause as I turned the corner I heard the voices of the nobles we had pranked earlier complaining rather loudly and saying some not very nice words towards a certain Princess of the night. I will have to let Luna know about this ASAP for some revenge pranking. 

But I did not want to deal with them right now so I dove into the nearest set of doors and listened as the disgruntled group walk past with their potty mouths flapping away. Letting out a sigh of relief I turned around and saw that I was in the Royal Canterlot Library and boy was it huge! I can see what Cadence was talking about needing a simple sorting system, a complicated one would take forever to find something. But my thoughts were interrupted when I felt someone bump into me as well as a large stack of books.

I was buried underneath the pile of books and I groaned out loud “Oh my goodness! My sincerest apologies!” I heard a female voice say as well as a spark of someone casting magic. Soon enough I felt books begin to lift off one by one and wanting to speed up the process I reached up to close the open book on my face but my finger caught a page and got a papercut. Agh! That stings!

“Oh! Are you alright sir?” I heard the voice say again and now I could see that it was a white coated mare with a dark brown mane that was done up in a bun and she wore a large pair of black glasses. She offered me a hoof and though I took it I used my own strength since I would of probably taken her down with my weight and height. 

“Yes, yes I'm fine. Sorry about that, I had just walked in and did not see you coming” I apologized to her.

“Oh no, I am the one who should apologize. I was caught up in my own thoughts again. I have been busy these last couple of days due to Celestia taking some time off. I am glad she is though cause she needed to take a break, I don't know how she can manage ruling day after day for thousands of years and yet she rarely takes breaks. Oh, sorry again! I am blabbing again” she chuckled a bit.

“Oh and where are my manners, my name is Raven Desk but you can just call me Raven. You must be Adrian Frost, the human! Oh I have heard so much about you from Celestia and Luna! Especially Luna, oh she talks like you are some sort of super star!” Raven said.

I blushed a little “Well hopefully she says only good things and it is my pleasure to meet you Raven” I replied.

“Oh don't worry, all good things. I promise! So what brings you to the Royal Canterlot Library today?” she asked.

“Ah, I was actually avoiding some rather rude nobles when I ducked behind the closest doors and they just so happened to be the library doors and then I bumped into you!” I chuckled as I finished explaining.

“Understandable, nobles today are so spoiled rotten and half of them don't even deserve their titles. But oh well, not my area of expertise! So anyway, while you are here do you want to check out a new book perhaps?” she asked of me.

“Hmmm, I would like to but I am already reading two different books and if I picked up a third I would forget my place in the other two. That and I am heading back to Ponyville tomorrow so I would not be able to return it any time soon” I said to her.

“I see, well you don't have to worry about returning the book. So long as it is not on a waiting list we generally have a give and take system here and judging from what Celestia has said about you, you seem to be a trustworthy individual and would not steal a book. So I insist you borrow a book!” Raven urged me on. 

I smiled at her eagerness “Well if you insist then I suppose I must. Hmmm, could you point me to the fantasy section then?” I asked her.

“Oh! You like fantasy as well! I actually have a few pulled out that I just got done fixing over there on the table” she led me to the table and presented her little collection. Hmmmm, which one? Which one? I reached down and picked up one labeled “Dragon Heart”.

“How about this one?” I said,

“GASP! Excellent choice! That is one of my favorites! It is about an ancient female dragon who takes an interest in a male knight that was suppose to slay her but he doesn't. Its a sad, action romance. You will love it!” Raven explained in a very cute way. 

I chuckled at her again “Well then with your permission I shall borrow this and return in when I finish it!” I said.

“It would be my honor!” she exclaimed.

“Well it was fun meeting you Raven. I better get going then and start packing for tomorrow. Oh and one last thing! I am curious about your name, it reminds me of a riddle back on Earth” I said to her.

“Oh? A riddle? I have never heard about my name in a riddle. Do go on!” she replied.

“The riddle is: Why is a raven like a writing desk?” I asked her.

“Huh. Why is a raven like a writing desk? That is very clever and amazing that a riddle in your world is so close to my name! Well off you go then, and please be careful with that book!” Raven said to me.

“I promise” I replied back before waving goodbye with my new book in hand as I made my way up to my room. Ah, gotta remember to put a band-aid on that papercut.


---------- Royal Canterlot Library ----------


“What a delightful stallion, er human! Hehe! I am happy that he likes to read and he even borrowed one from my library! But back to business, have to reshelf these books again and then get ready for the meeting with guards to adjust day and night guard turnover then plan out the committee on border dispute for Diamond Dog digging. Huh, now that is weird. I could of sworn I had another book in this pile. Maybe I dropped it?” I said to myself as I used my magic to balance my stack of books while I double checked the area. But I liked that riddle, Why is a raven like a writing desk. 

I dropped all my books as I lost my concentration as my mind warped around this riddle “Why IS a raven like a writing desk?” I asked out loud.


---------- Adrians Room ----------


Meanwhile in Adrians Room, a small and adorable timberwolf was chasing around a butterfly that had found its way into the room but neither creatures ever saw or heard the small POP as a new book landed on the desk right next to the crimson book. A small hum rang out as the two books sat next to each other that finally caught the attention of Artemis but as soon as it began it had also ended leaving a very confused Artemis who picked up the chase for the butterfly again.
> The Human And His Nightly Guardian
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hmmm, I hope that she does not think too hard on that riddle since there is no official answer by Lewis. Maybe I should send her a letter later when I am back in Ponyville. But anyway, once I get back to my room I need to start packing. No, actually I need to put a band-aid on that paper cut first.

I looked down at my right finger to inspect the wound but when I held it up to my face I saw that it was already closed and healed, almost like it had never happened. Gosh magic is so great! And thanks to that dragon magic I lost that little bit of weight I had been working off and even gained some muscles! I sure mom would be proud to see me like this. Mom.

My body froze as I said her name in my head and the little bit of joy I had slipped away and turned into sadness. I hunched over as the guilt seemed to crawl its way back over me and my fast stride became a slow step by step walk. I gripped my new book to make sure it was still there as I made my way to my room though any previous thoughts as to way I was, was now lost to me. So with no goal in mind I shambled through the empty halls to my room, lost in a haze while my mind is in a daze. Heh, Zecora might like that one.

Time seemed to slip away from me as my mind dredged up that scene earlier again and again. But eventually I found myself in a familiar hallway and finally looking around I saw that my room was just up ahead. But as I drew closer I saw that my door was slightly ajar and I felt my heart spike thinking that somehow Artemis had gotten out! I ran the rest of the way and threw open the door “Artemis!” I shouted hoping that she was still here.

“She is here with me, have no worries Adrian” I heard a familiar voice say and after I took a few calming breaths I saw that sitting on my bed was indeed Artemis who was curled up in a ball, taking a nap with short little breaths. Sitting next to her was a gray mare with messy red hair and shining emerald eyes that watched me very closely but I did not notice since I was feeling very happy at finally seeing her again.

“Nightingale!” I shouted in excitement while I rushed over to hug her. But much to my surprise I saw her raise a hoof to stop me as her stare started to bore into me. “Nightingale? Whats wrong?”

Once I asked this question her stiff body seemed to loosen up but she still sat at the edge of the bed and looked at me “Adrian. I am not here for a pleasant visit, I am here on behalf of Princess Luna and the Night Guards. I am here to formally apologize to you for personally failing you on multiple accounts and for that I am sincerely sorry” she said with a very serious tone as she bowed. 

“Failed me? Nightingale, how in the world did you fail me?” I asked her.

“Do not play the innocent fool Adrian, you know exactly what I did. My first offense was failing to properly guide you back out of the Everfree Forest, therefore allowing you to get lost and be attacked by a Timberwolf pack and leaving you half dead” Nightingale explained.

“That was not your fault! I was the one-” I tried to protest.

“Secondly after failing you the first time I failed in my duty to protect your dreams from nightmares and allowed you to fully experience the horror it brought upon you and did not even show up to talk you through it. I have failed you” She said in a stern manner that could of turned water into stone.

“Nightingale, that was not your fault! I was the one who-” I once again tried to protest but was cut short.

“It was and is my fault you stupid fool! I was in charge of Ponyville and all of its residents, including you! And while under my charge I allowed the same citizen to not only be harmed physically but also harmed in your dreams! I failed my duty!” She loudly stated which roused Artemis from her sleep and upon seeing the gray bat pony started to growl. 

“And since I failed I have put in the proper paperwork to have myself transferred to a different town or city to atone for my sins. As such I will no longer be able to see you and wanted to apologize to you and wish you farewell” Nightingale said to me with no emotion in her tone but she became agitated when she saw and heard Artemis growling and taking a defensive stance “Be silent you fowl beast!” she shouted and made Artemis flinch and back up a few steps but she continued to growl.

“Wait a moment Nightingale! You don't have to do that! Really, I am fine! There was no way you could of known any of this would happen! You don't have to blame yourself and bear all this weight! Please, lets just sit and talk about this” I offered her my hand but she smacked it away.

“Don't. Please, just don't Adrian. I am not your friend. I was your guard and I failed and as such I must face punishment. I had just learned that you had arrived and I thought the least I could do was explain myself and apologize. Now if you excuse me, I must be heading back to see if my new assignment is ready” Nightingale coldly said as she hopped off the bed and began to head to the open window but I rushed in front of her.

“Nightingale, please! Please don't do this! I don't want to lose you too!” I pleaded as tears began to form but she simply brushed past me and calmly walked onto the balcony. 

“I hope the next Ponyville guard takes good care of you Adrian. Goodbye” was all she said before she took flight and disappeared into the sky, leaving me alone in my room. I stood frozen in time as I let everything that just happened in that short instance hit me in my gut over and over again. As the pain welled up inside me I felt my knees weaken under me and I began to stumble forward and sway. My erratic movements caused me to fall against the front end of my bed, eventually sliding down to sit.

I felt so alone and hurt at this moment. Perhaps I really am a monster like my nightmare said I was. Because of me my friends and family on Earth think I am dead while my body is lost. Because of me I killed my own mother due to this infernal magic I inherited. Because of me I caused Nightingale to lose her job and our friendship. I have caused nothing but trouble since I got here. I even killed an entire pack of animals. 

My body shuddered as I felt the cold air waft through the open balcony doors and the more I shivered the worst I felt my body become, so I brought my legs up to my chest and rested my arms on my knees so I could use them to rest my head on. Also because of this stupid magic in my body my tear ducts have already healed up and all the tears I spent have come back. My heart felt even heavier as I weaped into my arms and I could not feel Artemis paw at my legs while she sadly whined. 

Seeing the open door the small timberwolf pup darted away from me and began to search the castle for someone.


---------- 30 Minutes Later, Throne Room ----------


“-and did you see his face when he left? Oh it was so cute! We are most gracious to have a younger brother such as he! What do you think Twilight?” Luna asked me.

“Well it was pretty adorable but I think we should make it up to him later, it might have been a bit much with everything else that has happened” I explained to her.

“Yes, we suppose you are right Twilight. To hear about ones own death then the truth about his mother to hearing he can procreate with mares of this world would be overwhelming. But for now we think we should leave him be until he is ready” she said with caring words.

“True, true though when the payback comes I think you Gilda should be the first” Dr. Feathers said to a now very surprised Gilda.

“Wha?! Why should I be the first!” she questioned.

“Well you were the one who said and I quote 'Oh ho! Thinking about making babies already? Who's the lucky mare, stud?'” he said while trying to impersonate her, rather badly though. But he made his point clear and I saw Gilda glare at him.

“We were all thinking it! I was just the first to say anything out loud! And besides, he knows I was just joking....... right?” she nervously asked. 

“I am sure he does but I do think it would be best to apologize to him later” Celestia said as she graced us with her wisdom. Oh I really love how she can always be so calm and smart. 

With a loud sigh Gilda took a moment before she said “Yeah, I suppose your right....whoa. Who is that?” Gilda pointed in front of her and when we all turned around to see I saw a gray bat pony with a red colored mane flying towards Luna. Oh! Nightingale! I have not seen her around for a while, I wonder what she is doing here?

“Ah! Nightingale! She is the Night Guard in charge of Ponyville. She was temporary leave after she blamed herself for what happened to Adrian in the Everfree Woods. I hope she is feeling better now” Luna explained to us. 

“Good evening Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, and Princess Twilight Sparkle” she said as she greeted the three of us.

“Good evening Nightingale, I hope that your leave has treated you well?” Luna asked.

“Yes, it has Princess and has made come to realize something important” she replied back.

“Oh? And what is that?” Luna asked again.

“That I am unfit to be Ponyvilles Night Guard again and that I must be assigned to a new town immediately” she boldly stated which caught us all off guard. “I have already put in the paperwork and only need your permission to transfer. I have also said my goodbyes to Adrian as well and explained everything” 

“Nightingale! What is the meaning of this?!” Luna loudly said which caused us all to flinch and back up a step. Though Nightingale was even more surprised at Lunas reaction.

“Pr-Princess Luna, I failed not only you but I failed Adrian as well. For such critical failures it is only natural for me to be punished” she stated. 

“And you think that running away will solve everything? But more importantly how exactly did you explain yourself to Adrian? We must know..... no we must see exactly what happened” Luna said. She began charging her magic and her horn began to glow in a light blue color. She quickly walked up to Nightingale and rested her horn upon Nightingales head for only a moment before a small spot glowed blue. From the small spot a projection shined out of her head and then I realized that she used the Memory Projection spell.

So for the next few minutes we replayed the memory from her waiting on his bed to the moment she left his room. Once the memory was done the spell faded and the room returned to normal but now I stared at Nightingale in anger. How could she be so cold and cruel to him! I know she does not know about the delicate state he is in but still! She could plainly see the pain in his eyes when he pleaded for her not to go! 

But before anything else I saw Luna move closer to Nightingale again and quicker than any of us could react Luna smacked her across the face with her hoof. I let out a surprised gasp along with Pinkie but none of us dared move while Luna was angry. “We will deal with your incompetence later you foolish girl” she declared in a foul tone that made me shudder. Before anyone else could move Luna sprinted out of the throne room and most likely towards Adrians room.

Pinkie and Dr. Feathers followed her while Celestia, Gilda, and myself remained behind with Nightingale who was trembling in place. Suddenly Gilda flew up in front of her, grabbed her, and stared into her eyes. “Do you have any idea what damage you just caused!” she yelled.

“I know that I was a bit cold but in the end this was the right thing to do” Nightingale said in a low tone but Gilda shook her a bit as her grip tightened. 

“A bit? A BIT?! You didn't just hurt him, you stabbed him right through his heart you stupid dingbat!” Gilda shouted again. “Adrian is in a very fragile state right now and you just made it worse!”

“I knew it, he really does blame me for that day in the forest doesn't he?” was all Nightingale replied back with,

“You really are stupid aren't you? Thinking Adrian revolves all around you, you, you! Your not that important sweetheart!” Gilda continued to shout.

“Then what else could it be?!” Nightingale said in a slightly louder voice. 

“If you actually cared and didn't chicken out and have yourself a stupid little pity party for yourself you could of known that in these past few days he found a temporary way back home! But what awaited for him was the fact that he was declared dead! All his friends and family back home think he is dead!”

“And whats worse is that when he comes back here to Equestria we learned that his grandmother was a pony from our world and he had inherited her magic but that very same magic poisoned and killed his own mother! AND after that he blacked out and had another nightmare! Thankfully Princess Luna was able to help him this time but when he came out he was broken inside and we were hoping he was starting to heal, it might of only been a little bit but it was something!”

“And then here you come! Waltzing back into his life and shattering his heart again by rejecting him! He is probably blaming himself for all of this you know! Bah!” Gilda finished her speech by slightly throwing Nightingale across the floor in disgust. “I don't know why I am even talking to you, you probably don't even care”

“Gilda, that is enough. You have said your peace. Now let us be on our way. Adrian needs all the support he needs right now during this time. Come along Twilight, Nightingale needs time to reflect” Celestia calmly said and though Gilda hovered by the bat pony for a moment she eventually caught up to the two of us who were already leaving. Gilda and Celestia had left and just as I began to close the doors I saw Nightingale sitting exactly where we left her but she was sulking with her back hunched over. But I ignored her for now and closed the doors.


---------- Outside Adrians Room ----------


We hope we are not too late to help our dear little brother! He must be in great pain for even Artemis to come seek us out! It was quite a surprise to see the little thing run past us at first and thinking it would be better for Adrian not to worry about her being missing we decided to chase her down. She gave us quite the chase before she realized we were following her, thankfully it was us she was searching for in the first place. Though we wasted a bit of time we all headed back to his room and also to our surprise we saw my sister, Twilight, and Gilda just arriving. 

“Hello again sister, I am surprise that your group was not already here since you left first” Celestia asked of me.

“We were heading here when we saw Artemis searching the castle for somepony and not wanting him to worry about her we decided to catch her, though as luck would have it we were who she was searching for. So then she lead the way back here and here we are” I explained. I searched behind my sisters group and saw no sign of the little wench who hurt Adrian. 

“If you are looking for Nightingale sister, we left her in the throne room to ponder after Gilda..... talked to her” Celestia said to me. 

I nodded my head and was going to praise Gilda but then I heard the small, defeated cries coming from behind the door and I felt my heart sink at every breath he took. But while I felt my heart grow heavy, I also felt something else in the air, something was wrong. With great caution I slowly walked up to the closed door and very gently opened the door as to not make much sound and once I looked inside I felt tears of my own starting to swell as I saw Adrian curled up against the bed.

I just wanted to throw myself over to him and wrap him up in a hug so I could warm him up and let him know that I was here for him. I attempted to move closer but my body was blocked and shocked my electricity, so I quickly backed up to avoid further damage. 

“Sister! What is wrong?” Celestia asked.

“It seems that Adrian has placed an electric barrier around himself so that nopony will be able to get close to him” I explained.

“Oh no, this is not good. Luna, do you think we will be able to break through?” she asked.

“We can try but I do don't know the full extent of his magic or how much he is putting into the spell. If we do it too hard the rebound might hit him harder then if we fail to break through and it hits us instead” I explained again.

“How about we use something non-conductive to make a hole in the barrier to Adrian and once one of us gets inside we can cancel it from the inside or talk him out of it” Twilight said. That is actually a brilliant idea! I am constantly amazed and thankful that Twilight is turning out to be a wonderful Princess. 

“I think that is the best option but lets save that for last and try to talk to him first” Celestia suggested.

“I concur” I said as I took a few steps forward but stopping right beside the edge of the barrier. “Adrian? Can you hear us? It is I, your big sister Luna” I said in a kind voice.

“Please go away Luna. Everyone needs to leave me alone” Adrian replied in a hurtful tone. I could hear how much pain he was in and I can hardly bear it.

“Please, let us in. I know everything. We looked at Ni-...... at her memories and saw what she did and said. I know that you are hurt but please, let us in and help” I pleaded.

“NO!” he suddenly shouted and we felt the force of his voice go through us all. His magic is reacting to his emotional state, this is becoming much worse. “I don't want any help! I just want to be left alone! Before I hurt anyone or anything else”

“Adrian, we know that you would never hurt any of us on purpose and Nightingale was only taking her duties much too seriously. Please come on out?” Celestia spoke up next to me. 

“Yeah and if you are still feeling sad I can always go downstairs to the royal bakery and whip up some super yummy cupcakes to turn that frown upside down!” Pinkie suddenly said as she popped up on my other side.

“I SAID NO!” he loudly shouted again and making us feel his voice flow through us again. “All I have ever done since coming here is cause trouble and death! I am a monster in two worlds and have killed in both as well. I am nothing but a monster and a monster does not deserve any of you” 

“My boy, none of those deaths were your fault. You were simply dealt a bad hand but don't focus on the negative and focus on the positive!” Dr. Feathers spoke up behind me.

“How could anything good come out of murder and death doc?” Adrian asked.

“While it is regrettable that those timberwolves did die you only did that to not only protect and save anothers life but yourself as well. To sacrifice yourself for another is quite a heroic deed and not many would of taken that choice!” Dr. Feathers said.

“But what about my mother? How can I see the positive about ME KILLING HER?! With my own magic that I got from my grandmother who was from your world!” Adrian said and this time he finally lifted his head to look at us with red eyes that still had tears pouring down a conflicted and painful face. We were silent as we knew not what to say in reply.

“You say that now my magic is safe for the inhabitants of his world but what if later my magic gets worse and starts to affect ponies and poisons them too! Am I suppose to just sit and watch as my friends in another world slowly die around me?! Am I suppose to wait and see if nothing bad happens to the ones I love? And what if.... and what if...” he tried to speak but his emotions were too strong and he took a few moments to cry.

“What if I marry her and have a child to only see them both die because of me? Just like my mom?” He quietly asked us and the question struck us hard, so much so that I had to take a step back. I hate to admit it but what if it is true? We could never ask him to go through such pain. We could offer him advice due to me and my sisters longevity but simply outliving a pony is not the same pain as watching them suffer and die due to your own power. 

“Then will you just live your life in fear then?” we heard a voice say behind us and upon turning around we discovered it belonged to Nightingale. Adrian also noticed this but did not seem to care any more than he already was. “Will you live the rest of your days in solitude and reject all your friends simply out of fear?”

She walked past us to stand in front “Could you really bear to know that for the rest of your life you would be making all your friends sad because of what ifs?” she asked him.

“If it means making sure they are safe and live their lives” He quietly responded back.

“That is no way to live, especially for a silly human like you” Nightingale said and even let out a small giggle. “I know that you could never go through with it and let ponies like Pinkie Pie always be sad”

“But I have made her sad, I have made all my friends sad. Even you, because of me you are losing your job and moving away. All because of me” he replied.

She shook her head “No, not because of you. Because of me” she said, which greatly surprised me. “I was the one who was living in fear. I have always taken my job as night guard seriously and when I heard that you were attacked and almost died right after I left you alone, I cried the entire night and passed out due to exhaustion”

“I was so afraid that you and everypony else would hate me for leaving you alone and letting you get hurt. And then I saw you had another nightmare and I was not there to comfort you. I felt horrible and began living in fear of your words. That is really why I want to move away, I am running. Running from you and the pain I caused”

“But you have a good heart and should not live your life in fear. I know that feeling and it continues to hurt me everytime I wake up and go to bed, knowing that I am living with that fear swelling up inside. You have ponies that love you for who you are and are wanting and willing to help you. Please don't push them away because of me and my cowardly words” Nightingale concluded and was left in silence.

But again she broke it with another giggle “And besides, I think you would make a great father. So don't deny some future foal the experience of having an amazing father like you, ok?” she simply stated and even though it was quiet I felt the air begin to return to normal and the gut feeling I had vanished. Reaching out with her front hoof, Nightingale placed it where the barrier was and found nothing. Taking another step she reached out and tested the air to find no barrier shocking her. 

Just before she took another step we heard Adrian give out a few more sobs before saying “I'm sorry. I'm so sorry” in a weak and squeaky voice. That was the final straw for us and without wasting any time we charged forward and wrapped him up in a hug, using both our front hooves and wings. This caused a chain reaction as the rest of the group closed in and hug him and bathed him in love and warmth. I was not sure if it was working until I felt a pair of arms go around my neck.

Looking down I saw him bury his head in my chest and crying soft, gentle sobs. But he surprised me when he craned his neck up and whispered something in my ear. When he was done he rested against me again but now I looked behind me and saw Nightingale slowly exit the room “Nightingale, my dear Adrian has requested that you stay in the room. He wishes to speak to you when he is ready” I calmly told her but I put a bit of magic behind it so she could feel it as well. She did not reply instead she stopped, turned around, and sat where she was and waited. 


---------- 5 Minutes Later ----------


I think this time I finally cried as much as I possibly could and though my mind was still heavy my body felt a little lighter, especially after confessing the few things that had started to plague my mind. Even though my body did not listen, inside my mind I was smiling and felt happy knowing that I had all of them here with me. 

Though I could tell that doc was slightly irritated by the amount of time the hug was taking but he tried his best not to show it. It took me a few moments of deep breaths to collect myself but eventually I straightened myself out and thankfully the others took it as a sign to get off. Once I was free, well after I got Pinkie to let go of her death grip, I stood up and stretched my body before I slowly made my way over to Nightingale and kneeled in front of her.

“I think I know what you are going to do but I do not mind. I deserve everything you do to me” she grimly said before shutting her eyes in anticipation. I waited a few moment but I slowly moved my hands up to her, she flinched when she heard my arms shuffle, but did nothing as I slid my arms around her and pulled her in for a hug. I heard her gasp in surprise and she wiggled a big in my arms but thankfully due to me being huge she was not able to escape.

“What are you doing? Are you not going to punish me or yell at me or hit me? You cannot just hug me after all this! No normal pony would do anything this......this....” she tried to finish her sentence but could not find the right word.

“Silly?” I said and when I finished her she seemed stunned at my choice of word but she actually began to giggle as she rested her head against my chest. “And in case you forgot, I am no pony. I'm a human”

She giggled some more “Yes, I remember. You really are just a silly, silly human” she somberly said.

“And your friend” I replied back with.

“Are you sure? Even after everything I said and did?” she asked me.

“I am sure and besides! I have friends who are Princesses, librarians, a baker, a fashionista, animal handler, wonderbolts, apple farmers, a DJ, a violinist, spa ponies, gryphons, and a mail mare. None of them are a cool and pretty bat pony Night guard!” I happily exclaimed as I felt the small spark of joy start to light inside of me.

I could not see it but she blushed at the compliment but laughed it off as she snuggled against my chest a bit before flying up face to face “You really are a silly thing, thank you Adrian” she said just before kissing me on the forehead. “Now if you excuse me, I have some paperwork to get rid off”

“So I guess that means I will be seeing you again once I am back in Ponyville?” I asked.

“Pft, in your dreams” she playfully said with a wink before she flew away. I raised my hand as I tried to say something back but found myself speechless due to the ambiguousness of what she just said. No wonder I like her. I finally cracked a smile and let out a silent laugh to myself. I stayed there for a minute or so before I felt a hoof tap my leg and saw Pinkie looking up at me with a compassionate smile. 

So naturally I picked her up and hugged her, her happily squeaking when I did so. “You going to be alright Adrian?” she softly asked.

“Yeah, though it was not how I wanted to do it, I had gotten something that was on my mind out in the open” I said to her.

“Was it about having a child?” Twilight gently said. I only nodded yes as I did not want to say it. 

I felt a claw gently grip my shoulder as Gilda came around to talk “Adrian, I just wanted to say that I am sorry if I accidentally pushed the wrong button when I joked about that before” she said. 

I shook my head and smiled “Your fine Gilda, it was something that I had been thinking about for a while then when doc said that it was actually possible my mind went off on its own with the new knowledge about my mom and stuff. Just one too many things happening all at once I suppose” I explained with a nervous chuckle.

“So basically its all my uncles fault” she playfully sneered and I heard doc try to say something but it only came out as caws and mumbles. I found myself starting to snicker and soon it erupted into full out laughter that was soon joined by the others. Oh goodness I needed a good laugh. 

“Oh man, thanks Gilda. I definably needed a good laugh” I thanked her which made her grin. She took her arm off my shoulder and gave it a soft punch.

“No problem, anything for a friend” she replied. 

“Well, now that our little brother is feeling better why don't we grab something sweet to eat!” Luna suggested. With Pinkie still in my arms I readjusted her so I could easily bite her mane in a few seconds.

“I already have something sweet to eat” I quickly said before chomping down on the pink poofy mane and began to softly chew on her cotton candy mane. “Mhmmmhmmmhmm” I mumbled while Pinkie began her adorable giggle-snorts. 

Celestia was giggling at our silliness before clearing her throat “I think that is an excellent idea Luna, why don't you all head down to the kitchen and bring back up some sweets for us all. I wish to speak in private with Adrian for a short moment” she said.

“Pass on the sweets for now Princess. I need to get back to the lab. Gilda...... you can stay with Adrian for the moment if you wish. You would be more useful as a friend than a lab assistant right now anyway” Doc said nonchalantly. 

“Excellent! The more the merrier! Now, TO THE KITCHEN!” Luna declared as she charged out in a battle stance and strangely the others who followed adopted the same kinda pose and attitude. Not sure if that was magic or just plain goofiness. Doc waved goodbye and left normally in the opposite direction. 

The moment they were all gone I felt Celestia wrap her hooves around me in order to pull me in to a hug and for a moment I thought she was going to start to cry “Adrian, I am sorry that you have been forced to deal with all this weight alone. I feel so useless at times like these” she sadly said. I don't know what it was but I felt a heavier meaning behind those words. With her being so sad it was making me feel sad in return. 

So I wrapped my arms under her front hooves and lifted her up as I stood up and I got a surprisingly cute sounding squeak from Celestia who was very surprised by my action. But once she was lifted up I gently spun her around in a circle, almost like what you would do with a child and in a few short moments Celestia was giggling and had a fun smile plastered on her face. 

So with a few more twirls and a laugh I finally slowed to a stop and gently set her on her four hooves while she was still giggling away. Seeing her like this made me feel warm inside, knowing that I was able to briefly help her take away her sadness, so without thinking I leaned down and kissed her forehead and the new blush on her face made her look adorable. 

“And what was that all about, hmmmm?” Celestia nicely asked.

“I don't really know, just seeing and hearing you so sad made me feel sad and I sort of felt like there was a deeper meaning behind those words. And since you have been helping me out so much, I simply wanted to do something in return. And I think it worked” I explained with a carefree smile.

“You would be right, I know this may sound silly but just for a moment I felt like a little filly again when you spun me around and gave me that little kiss on my forehead. It was a very nice feeling and one I have not felt for a very, very long time. So thank you Adrian, thank you for making me feel young again” Celestia said with a warm smile. 

“Anything for you Celestia, now what was the thing you wanted to talk to me about?” I curiously asked. She did no say anything but while she was looking at me she lit up her horn and on my desk I saw her light glowing around a book I had not seen before and in a few moments I was holding it in my hands. The book was very strange as the cover seemed to be made of a foggy glass with a shiny metal trim and in the middle was a polished golden symbol that reminded me of the crimson book. 

I looked up at Celestia in confusion but she gestured to the book again, so I opened it up and like the crimson book the inside and cover page were blank but when I flipped to the next page there was bold lettering already emblazoned upon the old page that read 'The Element Within: Spirit Of Air'. My eyes widened when I read that and I realized that this was exactly like the crimson book but was probably the next book in the series. 

With a slight cough Celestia gathered my attention back to her before she said “Well, it appears you have indeed found the second book. So, lets have a little talk about these books”
> Books, Wars, And A Human To Wine And Dine
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You certainly have been busy as of late Adrian. I take my sights off of you for only a moment and you find a book I have not been able to procure in many, many years” Celestia said to me as I held the newfound book in my hands after Celestia had teleported it over from my desk. 

“I don't understand... how do I have it? I never read or opened this one up before like I did with the crimson book” I questioned as I tried to figure out this puzzle.

“Hmmmm, let me ask you something. Do you know of Blood Binding upon older books?” she asked of me.

“Yeah, Cadence explained that to me when I first showed her the first book” I said back.

“Good, well since you know about this then my next question is did you happen to find your way into the Canterlot Library anytime today?” she asked again.

“Yes I did but only for a short while and I don't.....” I paused as I rewound my memory to back when I met Raven, well stumbled into her and I was buried under the mountain of knowledge and stories. The papercut! “The papercut!” 

“The papercut?” Celestia repeated in confusion.

“Yes! When I hid in the library I accidentally bumped into Raven Desk and the huge stack of books she was carrying fell on me and when I tried to clear them away I remember getting a papercut! I never saw the book but I must of cut my finger on it during the confusion” I explained.

“I see, most interesting and how delightful that you met Raven. She is of great help to me and I could never thank her enough for all the hard work she does for me” Celestia lamented before eying the book I held again. “Well, accident or not it seems that you were meant to find this book and the others that come after it”

I glanced down at the book again to reexamine the mysterious cover and what these books truly mean and why do I get this ominous feeling of dread coming off of it now? 

“Celestia? Is there something wrong with these books?” I tentatively asked her. 

“What do you mean by something wrong?” she replied.

I gulped as I tried to find the right wording to these feelings “Well, when I first showed the original book to Cadence she seemed.... scared. Of not only the book but when I showed her I could do Dragon Fire and then when I found out about the secret talks between you two about these books I felt like something was wrong. And even now, when you took on a serious face the second you showed me this book”

“I don't know what it is but I have this feeling of dread now and I want to know why? Are these books truly that dangerous?” I asked her with sincerity. 

But I was only met with silence as Celestia was drawn into her mind in search of an answer for me and though the waiting ate away at me, I needed to give her time to properly explain. After everything back on Earth and about my mom, I just hope that this new book will not hold a dark past that will loom over me as well. After another minute or so of thinking Celestia looked at me and in her eyes I could almost feel the blunt edge of time, that has taken its toll on her, reach out to me in sorrow.

“There is not a simple answer to that question Adrian. So I will start this story when Star Swirl the bearded began this journey many, many years ago” she took a quick breath and almost seemed to brace her body before speaking again “Back then, Equestria was a very different place. Full of danger and wonder and unexplored areas to discover, land and magic wise. We are at peace today only due to the hard work and sacrifices my own subjects had to endure”

“At the time, Ponies, Gryphons Dragons, Merfolk, and the outcasts were all vying for land and resources, whether it be for the good of their kingdoms or simply for their own greed. It was full of chaos and death as we waged war and devised treaties countless times all in the name of our kingdoms. During this time my father, King Solar Flare, used all his power alongside my mother to try and make peace but was sadly rejected”

“I do not fully know the reason why but the fighting swelled to such proportions that before we knew it, we were engulfed by the flames of war with all of Equestria at stake. Thankfully this war did not last longer than six days and a peace summit was called. Though none of the members were happy about the divide of land, they eventually agreed and left to cultivate the war ravaged lands they fought for”

“It took many years before the first remnants of Canterlot sprung from the mountain thanks to my father and it was during the early years of his reign that we began to hear dark rumors of a potential second war. Though we much later found out that it was only a small faction of rebels that tried to kindle the flames, it was still serious news. To try and prevent war we devised a plan to have a representative talk to the many races and try to understand them”

“That is where Star Swirl comes in, at the time he was a young and powerful unicorn mage who was growing in fame due to his unique way of thinking and usage of magic. So my father tasked him to become Equestria's representative and seek out the other races and learn all he could from them, in hopes to foster permanent peace. While he prevailed in his original task, he had also taken on a secondary, personal agenda and that was to also learn about their magic”

“That secondary task resulted in The Five Mystic Book of the Stars. Legendary books of power that hold the true essence of pure magic developed from the many races. But at the time we saw no harm in this knowledge and saw it as a way to educate others to show them the normal side of the other races. But soon we came to see these books as a curse”

“Due to the books being made public and having multiple copies made of them, we all came to understand and coexist together. But to others, this was a means to an end. It all began when the Changelings began to secretly invade the other countries and continuously feed and feed until they killed their victims. But at the time we all thought it was the other races and war threatened us all once again”

“But my father personally vouched for our citizens on multiple occasions and due to his actions had upset the Dragon King Bahamut, thinking my father was wounding his pride as a dragon or some silly nonsense. In order to prevent another battle they instead hosted a duel and if my father won the dragons would back down and return peacefully, if not they would invade” Celestia took a long breather but how the story was leading, I had a feeling something bad was going to happen next. 

“It was a fierce and terrible battle and had permanently scarred the area we know as the badlands and unfortunately the battle was won by my father and resulted in the Dragon Kings death” she explained with a heavy heart.

But instead of going on, she paused again and had started to tremble for a moment before calming herself down. Was she..... was she scared? What happened? 

“But due to his injuries, my father had succumbed to his wounds in a few short days and had died peacefully in his sleep” she finally uttered out. 

Oh no! This is terrible! No wonder she hates these books! I moved to hug her again but she held up a hoof to stop me and shook her head, though I was reluctant I took my seat and let her continue.

“It was a huge loss to us all but thankfully his sacrifice had convinced all of Equus that it was the Changelings that had killed. So they were officially banished to the far ends of Equus and that is where they had stayed until recently. Due to the power of these books they were deemed far too dangerous and the official order for all copies to be burned were sent out. The original five were sealed away using my mothers magic and were spread across Equestria, never to be found again” she finally finished with a last breath.

“That is.... until I found them” I sadly said as I held the book that had caused so much misery and death.

“Yes, it would seem that they have found a new master. For what purpose I do not know and it is because of that unknown is why I am scared” Celestia said. 

Without thinking I held the book out to her and bowed my head “I am so sorry Celestia, I should not have these. I would gladly give these back to you if you wish” I exclaimed. I heard her move closer and I imagined that she was lifting her hoof to take the book but instead she gently pushed the book back down to me before lifting my head up.

“Do no be sorry Adrian, for whatever reason my mothers magic has allowed you to see these books and learn their secrets. Though I am a little frightened of their potential misuse, I trust my mother and I trust you Adrian” she explained in a very caring voice just as she nuzzled my head. “I only ask that you keep the knowledge within these book to yourself. Due to the magic spell on them, only the one who found them can read them. Any pony else who tried to view the book will see blank pages”

“What about the other three?” I asked.

“They will remain hidden until you find them, the moment you unlocked the first book the series became bound to you and you alone. So, I ask you Adrian. Will you keep the hidden secrets within these tomes to yourself?” Celestia asked me with all her heart. I could see her eyes plead and whether she is doing it on purpose I could almost feel a weighted air surround my body.

“I promise Celestia, I will protect what your father did” I said to her with a smile on my face and in that moment I could see all the weight on her shoulders lift and she leaned and fell into a hug with me. “Even from Twilight?” I jokingly asked to try and relieve the stiff air.

I heard her laugh as she hugged me “Especially from Twilight, you know how she loves her books” Celestia played right along which helped her mood. After one last hug we broke apart and I looked over the book again and sighed. “Whats wrong?”

“Oh nothing, just kinda wondering when I will stop getting such earth shattering surprises” I said with a nervous laugh. 

Celestia smiled and offered another small laugh “Well at least this will keep you distracted from your worries” she said.

“True and now I have a quest to find the other three now as well!” I happily exclaimed. She was right, focusing on these will help relief some pressure from my mom and stuff. Not by much but enough. “Where is Luna? I could really go for some ice cream and cake right now”

“Agreed, especially with that cake!” Celestia agreed with such a happy tone that reminded me of Pinkie. As if on cue I heard the door smack open and in came our entourage of silly ponies, all carrying various amounts of sweets and various shapes, sizes, and color. Though I think Pinkie and Luna had indulged themselves already cause they both had a crazed look in their eyes and had frosting smeared all over.

“BIG BROTHER! SWEETS!” Pinkie quickly yelled before bombarding me with a whole tub of chocolate ice cream and a half thing of vanilla cake. Luna tossed over two whole cakes at Celestia who caught them both with her hooves and I saw a small smile creep on her face. Pinkie and Luna then went back to eating their share just as Twilight and Gilda walked in with only a small amount of goods.

“Yeah, tried to stop them. She tried to bite me. So I stopped caring. Cookie?” Gilda said in a very, unamused tone as she offered me a chocolate chip cookie. After I happily accepted it she dug into her bag and ate one for herself. I looked around and saw my two sisters eating away like no tomorrow while Celestia had a crazed look in her eyes as she slowly took her first bite of cake. Twilight simply stood behind me with her small piece of cake. I could only laugh as I took my bite of chocolate ice cream.


---------- 30 Minutes Later ----------


“Uuuuuuuuuggggggggghhhhhhh” I moaned out loud as I lay on the crumb riddled floor, surrounded by two very full and belly bulging Princesses who moaned just as equally and more. Pinkie was using my tummy as her pillow and was knocked out, which surprised me cause I thought all that sugar would of allowed her to open a portal to another dimension or something. Twilight and Gilda had joined us on the ground except they were happily full and not in pain. 

“So, feeling better dude?” Gilda asked as she playfully punched my arm. 

“Well, I have replaced the emotional pain with physical pain. So in a way yes and in another way no” I lazily explained as I felt the ice cream, cake, and cookie mixture in my stomach churn and hopefully settle. 

“Hey, what are friends for?” Gilda sarcastically said which made me groan weakly at her. 

“Princess Celestia! Princess Celestia!” I heard a male voice call out. “Princess Celestia! Oh sweet faust where is she?!” the voice called out again. The sound of metallic hooves echoed in the hall outside as it got closer and closer and as quick as a flash the guard came and went by the door followed by a sudden halt, which was met with armor clashing on the ground. 

Sounded like he was stumbling to get back up but soon he came to attention at the door and saluted “Princess Celestia! I have what you asked..... of..... me....” the guard slowly came to a halt as she took in the sight of all three Princesses laying on the ground, in a slightly un-royal manner, groaning and covered in cake and ice cream along with the pink party pony, a gryphon, and me. His jaw was hanging loose and his eyes were blank, yep we broke him.

Seeing as his shocked state would prevent any further viewing until he snapped out of it we decided to quickly clean and using their magic all the trash and dirty spots were gone and we were all clean as a whistle. Celestia walked up to the guard and smiled “Yes Flash Sentry? You have something to report?” she calmly asked.

His eyes came back to life and he sprung backwards since he was in close proximity to her and took a moment to readjust himself. The look of shock still hung on his face but was now mixed with confusion as to how and why we were all clean and standing up. But Celestia coughed and he brought his attention back to normal and saluted “Ma'am! I have those train tickets you requested. The train will be departing at ten thirty in the morning. First Class” Flash Sentry said in a stiff voice as he handed over the tickets. 

“Very good, very good. Thank you ever so much for helping me with this little endeavor. Anything else to report?” she said to him.

“No ma'am!” he swiftly said.

“Alright then, you are dismissed then. Have a good day” Celestia said with a smile. He nodded, dropped his salute, and was about to turn when he got a good look at Twilight and I think he blushed a little before he zoomed off. Uh oh! Somepony has a crush! But before I could even plan on any teasing Celestia walked up to me with tickets in hoof. “I made special reservations for you three on the train tomorrow. I hope you don't mind”

“Ce-Celestia! You didn't have to you go out of your way for us!” Twilight stuttered out with a red face.

“I insisted. Besides, I like to spoil ponies now and then” she winked at us which made us laugh as Twilight became even more flustered. I would like to tease Twilight about Flash but I think she would faint so I will save it for the train ride in the morning. 

Luna yawned rather loudly which drew all attention to her “My apologies, we have been staying up much later than normal these past few days. I am going to take a nap before my duties tonight” she said in a sleepy voice.

“Go go Luna. It would be bad if you fell asleep while on duty again” Celestia said but that last remark made Luna huff.

“Well we are not sorry that we found the perfect nap spot while doing our royal duties. We will see you all in the morning” Luna said before teleporting away with her magic. 

“Speaking of time, I cannot believe how late it has already gotten! We should go and grab ourselves a bite to eat and I have just the thing!” Celestia said to us.

“Oh? What do you have in mind?” I asked her.

“Well you have not eaten out in Canterlot yet and I would be a terrible host if I did not at least show you one good place to eat in my town!” Celestia explained. “So lets get freshened up and meet in the foyer in twenty minutes” and with that we all went our separate ways and got ready for the night.


---------- 25 Minutes Later ----------


Gah, can't believe I was a bit late! But Artemis was being really clingy and did not want to let me go, while it was adorable and I would of loved to play with her I had to meet up with them up front. Thankfully I was actually the second one down there, Pinkie told me she got there fifteen minutes ago and was bouncing and waiting for us. I still cannot believe she has not exploded due to how much energy those sweets gave her. Pinkie Magic. 

But soon enough the other three showed, thankfully Doc allowed Gilda to accompany us tonight or else she would be stuck here going over stats and data and blah. I am glad I am going back out cause now I can actually look around and enjoy my surroundings. It was like Celestia said, the whole city looks expertly chiseled out of stone and made into marble, big shiny marble. 

“Miss Twilight! Miss Pie! Hello again!” we all stopped as we got greeted by a deep voice, so we turned around and saw two unicorns standing side by side. On my right was a fairly big stallion with a blue mane and wearing a monocle and a black tuxedo while on my left was a very pretty mare with a white coat and pale pink mane and her beautiful light purple eyes drew me in right away.

“Hello there Fancy Pants! Nice to see you again!” Twilight greeted him.

“It is my honor to see you again. And you as well Miss Pie, last time I saw you was when two of you popped out of my hat!” he casually said. I looked over at Pinkie with a raised eyebrow and a questioning look. 

“Oh yeah! That was fun! And kinda scary, but mostly fun! But don't worry, there is only one of me now!” Pinkie said to him.

“Well that is a worry of my chest indeed! And I see you are traveling with Princess Celestia as well!” he did a small bow and received one in return by her.

“Hello Fancy Pants, it has been a while since I have gotten to talk to you. How goes your business?” she asked.

“Oh quite well, quite well indeed! Thank you for asking, and might I ask who is that standing there?” he asked while looking at me. I was too busy staring at the pretty mare too notice.

“Ah! This is my very special guest, his name is Adrian Frost and he is a human being from another world!” she explained to him.

“Another world?! My, that is impressive and quite surprising! Are there any others like him?” he asked.

“Unfortunately no, he arrived here my accident and we have not been able to find a permanent way for him to get back yet. So he is the only human on all of Equus” she said.

“Oh dear, well my boy my name is Fancy Pants and I just want to welcome you to Canterlot and let you know that if there is anything you need just let me know” Fancy extended his hoof and it took me a moment before I realized it but I quickly shook it and smiled.

“Ah you don't have to worry about him! He has me to look after him and besides! I think he enjoys the view” Pinkie jested as she subtly hinted to the mare. I could feel my face blossom in red and even Gilda gave me a playful punch.

Finally once the mare stopped giggling she offered her hoof “My name is Fleur De Lis and I am honored to meet one such as you” she introduced. I got down on one knee and gently shook her hoof before placing a small kiss on it.

“The honor is all mine Miss De Lis and I do apologize for staring. That was rude of me” I said with a nervous chuckle.

Her face blushed a little at my action “Oh don't worry about it, I am used to it since I am a supermodel after all” she explained.

“Your a supermodel? Wow! That is amazing! But now I don't feel quite so silly for staring at your beauty” I sputtered out with only a hint of red on my face.

“Well I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't not catch your eye though I do feel even more pretty now that I catch the eye of the only human in all of Equestria” she said with a tiny giggle.

“Ah ah ah! Careful dude, you might make the stallion jealous if you continue to flirt with her” Gilda pointed out which made me blush more and the others gave out a soft laugh.

“Oh don't mind me, where is your group heading anyway?” Fancy asked.

“Well Fancy, we are actually heading to Pon Appetit! I wanted to show Adrian here a good meal before he leaves tomorrow” Celestia explained.

“Oh, your leaving already? But we just met dear!” Fleur said with a smile as she took a few steps toward me.

“Yeah, I was sorta on a vacation and I have to get back home” I explained.

“Well what are we waiting for! Me and Fleur here were actually heading there as well for dinner! I would be honored if we could join you Princess” Fancy politely asked with a head bow.

“I would be delighted to have the two of you join us, is that all right with you all?” she asked us and none of us had objections and so the seven of us began walking down the sunset street. We all made small talk though Fleur and I mostly talked to each other, mainly about her job. From the sounds of it a supermodel is almost exactly the same and just as stressful as a supermodel back on Earth.

“Ah, velcome to Pon Appetite. How may ve serve you tonight?” said the front greeter.

“Hello there, table for seven if you please” Celestia said. The greeter bowed and looked behind him and after doing a silent conversation with two waiters he smiled as he turned back. 

“Your table vill be ready for you shortly. If you vould follow me please” he grabbed several menus as got off the front podium and led us through the fancy restaurant. Though we soon became the central attraction and the talk of the place. Probably for several reasons, two princesses, a gryphon, Fancy, a supermodel, and of course me the six foot five tall human. “And Princess, ve vill fetch a chair for our minotaur guests for the tall one” 

“Thank you very much, he will be glad to be able to sit normally” she informed him. Once we reached our table it only took a minute or two before I saw a unicorn waiter levitate a big chair for me to sit in and I thanked him for doing so. 

“Velcome once again to Pon Appetite! My name is Valter and I vill be your vaiter tonight. Vhat sort of drinks can I start you off vith?” he asked. Celestia ordered us all a fine wine to celebrate my first night here in Canterlot. With that Valter.... Walter took off and we all picked up the menus and started to browse. Though I was hardly looking at the menu cause I was extremely nervous due to Fleur sitting down next to me and I could faintly smell her perfume.

“Adrian my boy! Pardon me but may I ask you a weird question?” he asked. A weird question? OH GOD I hope he does not ask why Fleur is sitting next to me and not him. Not like I knew anyway but STILL! “I am curious as to what you eat” PHEW. Thank goodness.

“Oh, well I eat sort of everything since humans are omnivores” I explained to them and I wish I had not cause my whole table was now staring at me with wide eyes. 

“So.... you do eat meat then?” Fancy asked again. GAH! Why did I have to say I eat meat in front of them! Now they think I will eat them or something!

“Y-yes I do but I also enjoy fruits and vegetables and breads and sweets and many other things besides meat!” I quickly explained

“Awesome! I got myself a meat buddy!” Gilda happily said from across the table. 

“I see, well if you want Adrian we can get you and Miss Feathers a menu that includes meats as well” Fancy informed me. I nervously looked around the table but due to the meat talk my stomach let out a growl and I became flushed. “I will take that as a yes then”

“N-no! You don't have to! I mean, I don't want to make you all uncomfortable with the smell or anything!” I quickly said. 

“Adrian, you do not have to worry about us. Yes we were surprised about the meat but most restaurants here in Equestria do try to offer meat menus for the few races that eat it. Have you been holding back on a count of us this whole time?” Celestia asked me and I took another look around before I nodded my head.

“Adrian! You didn't have to do that! You need to keep up your diet!” Twilight exclaimed.

“I'm sorry everyone. I just felt like it would have been some sort of taboo here and I felt like you might of looked at me differently if you found out that I ate meat and I was worried that you might of thought I was going to eat you or something” I nervously explained.

“Oh, you did not have to worry about that! Yes I will admit that we might have been a little wary but you are our friend and don't want you to suffer!” Twilight said.

“Are you sure you will all be alright with this?” I asked again.

“Yes, please go right ahead dear. I will not mind and besides, like you said you eat both right? If you want we could always share a salad” Fleur offered. I smiled and took a few deep breaths. 

“Alright, if you all insist” I said and once Walter returned Fancy asked if he could retrieve the other menu for Gilda and myself. Gilda also swapped seats with Pinkie on my other side cause she wanted to sit next to her new meat buddy. Once the new menu came me and Gilda looked through and saw that the meat menu was not that large anyway, I felt a little better.

The only two dishes that sounded decent was a meat lasagne and something that sounded close to a hamburger but did not have as much meat as the pasta dish. So I got myself a lasagne with garlic bread and was going to order a salad but Fleur said that we could split since she ate little as per her diet. So the small talk began once again but now Fleur, Fancy, and Gilda were all asking me about myself and stuff back home and soon it became a Q&A all about me!

So after about a hundred questions our food and wine were served to us and let me tell you what, it felt amazing to be able to smell meat again! I never realized how hungry I was until that first waft of air hit my nostrils. But Celestia proposed a toast so we all grabbed our glasses.

“To our new dear friend Adrian, may he be happy and joyful while he is in Equestria” Celestia said.

“To Adrian!” we all cheered and clicked our glasses before taking our first drink but just as I was about to I felt my right hand feel something fuzzy, I glanced down and saw that Fleurs tail was curling around my hand for a few seconds before dropping back down. I looked up and saw Fleur giving me a sly smile before taking a sip. Feeling my face warm up I downed half my glass before I dug into my meal with a quietly giggling Fleur next to me.


---------- 1 ½ Hours Later ----------


“and so then I told him 'the fly appears to be doing the backstroke sir'” I finished up my joke and the whole table erupted into laughter and if we had not finished our plates they probably would have been sent flying due to Gilda smacking the table. “So yeah, suffice to say I did not get a tip that night”

“Oh goodness gracious my boy, that was a most excellent story. I have not had a good laugh in a while” Fancy said as he finished up his glass of wine. Once our laughter died down we finally got the bill and it was a weird sight to see two rich people arguing over the bill but eventually they split the bill fifty/fifty. 

What was also weird was that whenever I had my right hand down at my side Fleur would stealthily wrap her tail around it but would let it fall when I brought my hand up to eat or drink. But as the night went on I had gotten used to but decided not to say anything so I would not encourage any further behavior, though that being said I should of just kept my hand on the table the entire time. 

Once the bill was paid and we gave our thanks and very generous tip we wandered outside and began our goodbyes.

“Princess Celestia, Adrian. It was a pleasure having dinner with your party tonight. It was most informative and entertaining!” Fancy complimented. 

“It was my honor Fancy Pants and I am glad to have met you as well Fleur, it is so interesting to meet so many different kinds of ponies and their kind of jobs” I told the two of them.

“The honor was all mind, knowing that my newest fan is the one and only human in all of Equestria. That makes you a celebrity handsome” Fleur graciously said. At this point my face was in a permanent blush so the compliment did not really show. 

“Well we best be off, another busy day awaits us both! Til next time!” Fancy waved goodbye before he began to walk off alone. 

Fleur pulled out a small business card and handed it to me “Whenever you are in Canterlot again or if you simply want to talk here is my card. Don't be a stranger handsome” Fleur said with a wink before she stood on my knee and gave my cheek a quick kiss before joining Fancy. I remained still on my knee as I held her card in my hand and simply stared into the night sky.

“Oh man! You big stud! You got yourself a supermodel!” Gilda wrapped her front leg around my neck as she leaned against me. “I don't know how you do it much you are a lady killer!” 

Twilight giggled but cleared her throat to catch our attention “I am just happy that you didn't flirt back with her, since you are thinking about Derpy back home” she informed me. “BUT you do look adorable now that your have that permanent blush on your face” and with that all the girls started laughing and giggling while I adopted a pouty lip and annoyed look. But I know of a way to get her back.

“Well, mighty rich coming from you Twilight. After all you pretty much had that guard earlier swooning at your hooves, what was his name? Flash Sentry?” I smugly said and now her face was starting to match mine. 

“Oh yeah! And especially after he saw you laying all pretty like on the floor with the rest of us!” Gilda chimed in.

“With all that delicious ice cream and cake!” Pinkie joined in but the moment she said it I bursted out laughing due to the dirty image I was getting but I decided to withhold that information. But it was unnecessary anyway cause Twilight was now hiding behind her wings. 

“He is a handsome young stallion Twilight and Royal Guard as well! It would be a good match!” Celestia said and I think I saw Twilight cringe and used her hooves to pull her wings further over herself. 

“Uh oh, I think we broke her” I commented and after seeing her whimper behind her feathers we all silently laughed.

“All right, that is enough teasing for one night. Twilight, you had best get up so we can head back to the castle. We are going to have an early day tomorrow so we need to be heading to bed soon” Celestia said. 

Twilight remained silent but eventually she unfurled her wings and quickly walked in front of us but tried to look prideful. Though it did not last long due to Gilda and Pinkie catching up and started talking, leaving me and Celestia in the back of the group.

“It looks like I have to thank you again Adrian” she said to me.

“For what?” I asked.

“For helping Gilda along with her rehabilitation. She had certainly calmed down thanks to Dr. Feathers but her personality seems to have improved since meeting you. I would like to think that her and Rainbow Dash can become friends again in the near future. Losing a friend is always hard and something painful, so to see her like this makes me proud. And what about you Adrian? How are you feeling?” she asked of me.

“I am feeling pretty good, a little.....no ALOT flustered after meeting Fleur but pretty good. It was a big shocker to learn about the history of those books and about your family. Oh and speaking of which, do you mind if I ask something?” I asked her in return. She smiled and nodded “What was your mothers name?”

“Oh yes, I never did say during my tale. Well her name is Harmonia, Queen Harmonia” she replied.

“Queen Harmonia. She has a beautiful name. King Solar Flare, Queen Harmonia, Princesses Celestia, and Princess Luna. That is quite a family name” I said. She took a moment to ponder this but I saw her smile spread a little more.

“Yes, you are quite right. I never actually thought about it like that. I guess my family has quite the flare in naming” she said back. We simply smiled at each other as we all walked together back to the castle. Once we reached the castle Celestia bid us good night as she retired to her chambers for the night. 

The other two decided to follow suite and we all climbed up and went to our rooms, well after I was forced to tuck in Pinkie Pie and give her a good night kiss twice due to wanting one on each side so that no matter what side she turned on she knew that each one was equally loved during the night. Ugh, it was so disgustingly sweet that I could not help but smile a mile long. 

So once that cute heart attack was done with I meandered back to my room where I discovered two dark passengers waiting for me. “Welcome back Adrian, we hope you had a pleasant time?” Luna asked.

“I did, though it was full of its own flustered moments as well” I groaned.

“Oh, do tell Adrian. Do tell” Nightingale said.

“Well I met Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis and I don't want to assume but I think Fleur was flirting with me during the entire thing” I told them both.

“Ah, so that explains the lipstick upon your cheek” Luna commented and the moment she did I brought my hand up to my cheek to cover it up.

“THE WHAT?!” I exclaimed before I scrambled into the bathroom and looked into the mirror to see that a light purple shaded pair of lips were indeed on my cheek. “That was there all this time?!? Why didn't they say anything! Not even Celestia said anything!” I turned on the hot water and began cleaning my cheek first before washing the rest of my face to try and calm me down, the laughter in the other room was not helping.

“Well, not that we are not happy to see such activity. We hope that you have not forgotten about Miss Derpy?” Luna asked. I quickly turned off the water before heading back out with a flushed face.

“Of course not! I would never do that to her!” I exclaimed to the grinning pair and I realized they set me up. I groaned and face palmed but I felt something poke my stomach, looking down I saw a smiling Luna in front of me.

“We know Adrian, we know. We just felt like teasing you upon knowing that a supermodel was flirting with you. But we are curious as to how she was flirting since you did not have a positive time last time a mare attempted to flirt with you” Luna asked.

“We-well, she did not mind that I was staring a bit and she told me she felt a little prettier knowing that the only human in all of Equestria thought she was pretty. But during dinner she sat next to me and she would gently curl her tail around my free hand and then when we left she gave me her card and kissed my cheek goodbye” I explained.

“Well, well, well Adrian. You certainly know how to attract a mare, but I am guessing you don't know the meaning of a mare wrapping her tail around you, do you?” Nightingale asked me. I shook my head. “Simply put, it is a sign of affection almost exactly like a cat but normally that is done when you have been dating a while or are married. Tail wrapping on first meeting means she really must like you” she explained.

UGH. I could not get a single girl to bat her eyes at me on Earth but the moment I come to another world full of talking ponies now I have A SUPERMODEL hitting on me?! GAH! I planted my head in my hands and groaned again. “Are you feeling well Adrian?” Luna asked.

“Just thinking on how weird it was that on Earth I could barely get a girl to look at me but the moment I go to a new world I get a supermodels attention. I don't know if the weirdness is normal for me” I said to them.

The two of them chuckled which only made me groan louder “I would not worry about it Adrian, if anything it shows you that no matter where you look you will always find someone to turn to and let you know that you are not alone. That goes for me as well, I will always be here to talk to whether it be in real life or in your dreams” Nightingale soothingly said as she flew around me in a circle. 

I let my hands drop as I thought about that and I could not help but smile at the thought so when she passed in front of me again I quickly snatched her with my arms and hugged her, which was met with a surprise squeak. I love that sound. “Thanks Nightingale, I am really happy that we are still friends” I said to her. 

“Well, you didn't really leave me much choice. And while we are on the subject, my paperwork is all set and I am still responsible for all of Ponyville with Princess Luna's blessing” Nightingale explained. 

“Cool! Glad to hear it, well I better let you go and do your job then. Thanks for coming around and talking Nightingale” I said as I waved her off. She waved me goodbye before she flew off into the clear and still night air.

“And thank you as well Luna for letting her keep her post in Ponyville, I would have been sad to see her go because of me” I told her.

“Think not of it Adrian, we were happy to let her continue her good work. Just make sure you don't use her as a snuggle pillow again” Luna smirked as she said that. Geh, guess she knew about that. Heh heh. 

“I will do my best, well I had best get off to bed as well. Hopefully I can get to sleep tonight, I need it” I yawned louder than I meant to and I could feel my body start to drift off but I shook it off. But Luna saw this and next thing she did was charge her horn and gently tapped it against my forehead. 

“There. That should help you get to sleep and have happy dreams!” Luna exclaimed.

“Geez Luna, I feel like your spoiling me now” I teased.

“Anything for our dear little brother, anything” Luna happily proclaimed before wrapping me in a hug. “Well we best be off, we feel like tonight is going to be a good night”

“Take care Luna, I will see you in the morning” I said as I waved her off this time and soon I was alone with a sleeping Artemis who was curled up on the bed. So I changed into my night wear and did my business in the bathroom before I softly climbed into bed as to not disturb her. I could feel my drowsiness start to take over but I smiled as my eyes began to close and drift off.

Tomorrow is going to be the big day. Tomorrow is when I will hopefully start my normal life in Ponyville. Tomorrow I am go to see her. Tomorrow I will finally see Derpy again.
> Our Human Levels Up And A Departure To A New Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


---------- 8 AM, Adrians Room ----------


I slowly stirred awake as my eyes became blinded by the morning light being filtered in from the partially opened curtains, my body tried its best to wake up but it did not want to get rid of this good feeling that last nights sleep brought. I felt rejuvenated and fresh as I finally began to actually wake up and when I moved to sit up I felt two odd things, one was that my body felt surprisingly light and two was that while I felt light I could feel something heavy on me. Well the second thing was about to be explained for the moment I sat up I heard a loud squeaking noise erupt before something slammed into my chest and clouded my partial vision with pink. 

“GOOD MORNING BIG BROTHER!” I heard Pinkie loudly declare as she wrapped me up in a tight hug. I slumped my head against the back wall and let out a sleepy laugh before I brought my hand up to her head and scratched her ear. 

“Good morning Pinkie Pie, were you waiting for me to wake up?” I groggily asked. 

“Sure was! I wanted to make sure your day started off with hugs and love! SO that way you won't have a sad day!” Pinkie explained as she melted at my touch while she tried to hug me. “Ohhh I love your ear scratches~”

I could only smile at this adorable creature who was now my cute little sister and so I decided to give her a hug and she replied back with another one of her own “Thank you Pinkie, you know just what to do to make me smile” I quietly complimented her.

“Well duh! Of course I do! My middle name is Smile after all!” she proudly said.

“It is? I thought it was Goofball” I said with a smirk.

“Hey! I only use that middle name on Tuesdays!” she quickly explained. I rolled my eyes at the silliness before setting her on the bed but this time I was assaulted by Artemis who patiently waited her turn. So now I was getting a tongue bath by my little timberwolf who was wagging her tail so hard I thought it was going to fly off and get stuck in Pinkies mane. “Hehehe! She must think your tasty!”

“Yea- hey! Artemis! That’s my nose your licking! Jehehe! St-stop that! Ha!” I was laughing while trying to calm her down cause she was licking every single nook and cranny on my face. I could hear Pinkie giggling away as the onslaught of licks continued upon my poor and defenseless head. “AH! Ah-alright Artemis. That's enough, that's enough” 

I finally got her to calm down but she jumped off the bed and started playing on her own, phew! “Well, I need to take a shower so I will so you in a bit Pinkie” I said to her. She nodded and said ok before she bounced out of the room and closed the door with her tail. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts of this mornings bizarre awakening before gathering a fresh set of clothing and headed into the bathroom. 


---------- 30 Minutes Later ----------


Oh my goodness that hot shower felt amazing! My whole body feels light as a feather and all that weight from the past few days feels gone! My smile was beaming as I casually strolled down the corridors to meet up with everyone in the dining hall, I even decided to bring along Artemis who was happily bounding around me with a smile on her face as well. Though a couple of the guards freaked out when they saw the timberwolf pup approach them but after a quick explanation that she was a good girl and all that they calmed down and one female guard even got a little lick on her hoof. 

I am glad that Artemis is becoming more sociable, I was worried for a while since whenever she was around anyone but me she would snarl and be on guard but they say that pets take after their owners and with me being the new miracle social butterfly I apparently am I suppose it is rubbing off on her. That and not being forced to kill or be killed certainly helps. So with a few more stops for Artemis to greet new ponies we finally found our way to the dining hall and was able to grab some Belgoof waffles for myself and thankfully the staff had some fish in store for Artemis thanks to Luna asking them to stock up. 

So I walked over to an open seat next to Pinkie and Twilight who were already deep in conversation and eating so I sat down quietly and listened in while I ate. 

“-and so I think those fingers of his are absolutely wonderful! Each digit is free to move around and spread across the body more easily. So if he took some massage therapy classes and trained himself he could be a big hit! And since you said it felt incredibly good to have your stomach rubbed by them and since he is apparently very good at ear scratches he could offer those kinds of services as well! Though he would have to be careful about the stomach rubs since other could interpret that action as being inappropriate” Twilight explained to Pinkie and was oblivious to my shocked face. 

“That is such a cool idea! He could make buckets of bits for his ear scratches alone! But then I would have to share him and his ear scratching fingers, well I am his sister so I could get it for free! Especially his belly rubs! His hands are so big and really warm, so it felt really good!” Pinkie exclaimed while also miraculously ignoring my existence. 

“I suppose that is also true, I wonder how it would feel to have my stomach massaged” Twilight said before she looked down and rubbed her stomach with her hoof. 

“Well why don't we just ask him! Hey Adrian, how would you feel about giving ol' Twilight here a tummy massage!” Pinkie asked me as she turned in her seat to look at me. Twilight snapped her head and saw me sitting next to Pinkie with my mouth open and a slight blush on my face. A blush that soon spread and infected her own face with greater intensity.

“H-h-how long have you been sitting there?” she nervously asked me as she tried to hide her face.

“Ah-about the time you said I should take some massage therapy classes” I nervously uttered. Now her face was fully hid behind her hoofs and she groaned.

“I-I am so sorry Adrian. I didn't mean anything bad by it! Pinkie was talking about you and one thing led to another and we started talking about your ear scratches and how even Luna was willing to go to war for them and so I thought maybe if you used them for better purposes you could even have a job and well you know the rest” Twilight briefly explained.

Ok, well I don't quite feel as surprised anymore but I was still a little shocked to hear Twilight wanting me to give her stomach a massage. Wait! I need to ask something! “Hey Twilight, can I ask you a serious question?” I asked.

At first Twilight shyly peaked at me but she regained her composure when she saw that I was asking with a serious look on my face. She nodded her head “Well, this concerns about the stomach rubs and stuff like that. Um, well what does Equestria view the touching of anothers stomach to be? Like is it inappropriate like you were saying or is it something more intimate or something else?” I asked her.

Thankfully Twilight did not become embarrassed again and took up a thinking pose and for the next few moments she took her time and thought about my question before she answered with “Well the best answer would depend on the situation. For instance, it is normal for masseuse ponies to massage the stomach as well as the rest of the body so that is ok. Usually couples or married ponies rub their significant others stomach either lovingly or to relax them as well”

“I guess the only times it is considered inappropriate if a random stranger came up and started rubbing another ponies stomach for no reason. It might also be seen that way if friends start randomly doing that while in public too. So I guess that so long as the other pony gives permission, you are at home, or getting a massage then it is ok” she finished up with a nod of approval. 

“Phew. Thank you Twilight. I was worried that I might of accidentally did something inappropriate when I did that to Pinkie and with her being silly might not of realized what I did” I said. 

“My pleasure Adrian and I glad I was able to inform you of this before anything might of happened” she said with a smile. 

“BUT before any of that, we are missing something incredibly important!” Pinkie suddenly blurted out.

“And..... what would.... that be?” I questioned. 

“You can't give Twilight a tummy rub first! She has yet to receive the ear scratch! That would be rude to your friend to not scratch her ear before rub a dub dubbing!” Pinkie seriously explained with a stern look on her face. Me and Twilight looked at each other and had a silent laugh between the two of us while we rolled our eyes. But that does bring up a point that I had not given her an ear scratch yet, as well as Applejack and Rarity. Guess I have another present to give to them when I get back. 

Deciding to strike while the iron was still hot I pushed my plate aside before I stood up and gently grabbed Twilight who let out a surprised gasp as I lifted her over the table and placed her in my lap. Her back was facing me so she turned her head around and said “Ad-Adrian?! What in Equestria are you doing!?”

But I only answered her with a smile before I reached up and placed my hand on her soft head while my fingers reached out for her ear and once I felt the soft fur I began to scratch. At first I was not sure about her reaction cause she became very still and did not make a sound, I even looked over at Pinkie and she seemed just as confused and shrugged. I was about to stop and ask if she was alright when I heard her say something under her breath.

“Hmmmmmmmmmmm” she happily moaned just as she started to sway a bit before she fell back into my chest with her eyes closed and happy smile on her face. I could not help but smile at her cute face and even Pinkie was grinning ear to ear. 

“Capture complete! Congratulations Adrian! You are now a Level Two Ear Scratcher!” Pinkie happily announced. I laughed again and wondered about the implications of being a level two ear scratcher but then that brought me back to their conversation earlier. I really do wonder if I should consider making this an actual job, I mean so far every pony and gryphon I have done this to have become super relaxed and happy. When I get back to Ponyville I will look up those massage therapy classes so that way I can offer more and possibly become even better! 

I laughed even more at this idea, not because it was in itself funny but just because of the thought of me getting a job as a professional ear scratcher. Oh how life throws you a curve ball time and again. But my train of thought became interrupted when I heard the sound of multiple giggles and laughters coming up beside me, so while I continued to scratch her ear I adjusted my head to pear over to my left and saw Celestia, Luna, Gilda, and Doc walking up on us. 

“Well, it appears that you have added another to your collection dear brother” Luna said smugly as she grinned. But once Twilight heard Luna she gasped and turned her head to see the four of them smiling at us and I could feel the heat of her face as she became more and more embarrassed. 

“Yeppers and he leveled up! So now he is a Level Two Ear Scratcher!” Pinkie declared.

“Oh? Most wonderful then! Well with this new found power, we ask that you handle it well Adrian. I would hate to throw you in jail for the misuse of ear scratches” Celestia joked as she giggled more. 

“Worry not Princess! I have my own rules and standards for these. I would never think of throwing them around willy nilly!” I explained as I reached out and gave Pinkie a quick ear scratch. At this action Luna raised her eyebrow and had a questionable face. 

“Then what do you call your actions upon Miss Pie then?” Doc asked in Lunas place. 

“Well Pinkie is the exception since she cannot be bound by laws and rules” I explained again and the second I did they all nodded their head in agreement with my statement. I became slightly worried on how easily they agreed with that. 

“Well with that out of the way, Adrian even though you just ate would you mind if I escorted you to another restaurant in Canterlot for breakfast before you leave?” she asked. 

“I would be happy to Celestia, I have plenty of room for more since I usually eat a light breakfast anyway” I said and with that we all agreed to meet up front once we were ready. So after giving Twilight and Pinkie a few more ear scratches I finally got up and brought Artemis up to my room. Giving her bowl some fresh water I closed the door and headed back down and waited for the rest. 

It was about five minutes or so before they all, including Doc, came down and we set out for this restaurant. It was a bit of walk but it was a pleasant morning and all the ponies wandering the streets greeted us all kindly and paid proper respect for their three princesses. With a few more twists and turns of multiple streets we finally found ourselves standing outside a place called 'EHOP' but the blue sign kinda looked familiar.

“Here were are! EHOP! Which stands for Equestrias House Of Pancakes!” Celestia happily explained. But in my head I was mentally groaning so loud I could of woken a bear. These similarities are going to kill me one day. But I did not say anything cause it was not their fault and it would have been rude to Celestia and probably the whole of Equestria. 

So with that in mind we entered and were given a booth immediately, though we had to place four tables together to make room for us thankfully though the place was nearly empty so we were not stealing them from anyone else. Once we had our seats we were about to be given our menus but Celestia stopped the staff and told them to give us the Royalty Special, with a nod they quickly got us some water before disappearing into the back. We all started to make small talk since Celestia and Luna would not tell us what the special was. 

“Oh my! Fate must be at work to bring us together again” I heard a familiar voice say and now sitting in the once open seat beside me was Fleur with a big smile on her face. 

“Fleur! It is good to see you again, I did not know you would be here” Celestia said.

“And I you Princess, I rarely come here and the one day I do I happen to see you all again! Must be my lucky day!” she happily noted but I could see that she was slowly shifting her eyes to me. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! “So Adrian, how long will you be staying here today before you leave?”

“I, I uh, I will be leaving from the train station at ten thirty” I quickly said before I picked up my glass of water and chugged most of it. 

“I see! That is too bad, I would of loved to get to know you more before you left” she said. 

“Ye-yeah. Me too” I nervously said and with that the entire table went quiet and all eyes were on us. Oh man, oh man, oh man, OH MAN! I quickly looked around the table and the only innocent eyes were from Celestia and Twilight, the rest were smirking and grinning at me while Fleur was batting her pretty eyes at me. I had to refill my glass twice cause I kept downing the entire glass of ice water to try and cool me off, but to no avail. SOMEONE, SOMEPONY SAY SOMETHING PLEASE! 

“Oh! Oh! Fleur! Fleur! You wanna hear something exciting?!” Pinkie said as she pierced through the silence. OH THANK YOU PINKIE! You are the best little sister ever!

“Well of course! I love to hear exciting news” Fleur happily replied but I could faintly see her tail start to swing closer. 

“Well this morning Adrian added Twilight here to his Ear Scratching collection and leveled up!” she said. PINKIE you are the worst little sister ever.

“Ear scratching collection?” Fleur confusingly asked. 

“Oh yes, our dear Adrian here is quite the master of performing ear scratches and Royal Ear Scratches as well! We are most pleased to receive them” Luna added with a loving smile as she remembered the feeling.

“Oh really? That sounds quite nice and amazing that even you Princess Luna approve of them” Fleur said.

“You bet they are! Me, Princess Luna, Twilight, and even Gilda have gotten them and many more!” Pinkie explained.

“Most impressive! But I am curious as to the collection part of this” Fleur asked.

“OH yeah! Well whenever he gives a new pony an ear scratch they go under his Ear Scratch Collection! Currently he has twelve and he even leveled up to level two this morning! Soon he shall become the Master Ear Scratcher of all Equestria!” Pinkie loudly stated. I laughed and groaned at the same time after she got done with her declaration and explanation. 

I was expecting Fleur to question this further but when I looked over she has a smile on her face and was looking up at me expectantly. “Adrian, it would be my greatest honor to receive this marvelous gift as well. If you are willing to with me” she sweetly asked and I could see her eyes start to glisten and widen. Oh no, not the eyes! Not those puppy dog eyes! GAH! Why! Why did she have to pull those dreaded eyes out! 

“Give her the scratch! Give her the scratch!” I heard Pinkie quietly cheering which made me want to glare at her but I was drawn to Fleur's beautiful eyes as they stared into my very soul. I let out a sigh of defeat and I nodded yes which made Fleur let out a happy squee and she scooted her chair as close as she could to me. 

Letting out one more sigh I reached over and rested my right hand on her extremely soft and pleasant smelling mane before reaching out to her waiting ear and I commenced with my now famous ear scratch. She let out a now all too familiar gasp but almost as fast as Pinkie Pie she leaned into me and rested her head on my side with a mile wide smile on her face. 

“P-please don't stop. Don't ever stop” I heard her quietly ask as she closed her eyes and became jelly. 

“All right! Another successful capture!” Pinkie chimed in and added a wink to which I rolled my eyes at. But I continued to scratch the supermodels ear and all was happy, until I felt something a bit off. My shirt started to feel a bit wet and my face showed my confusion, but when I looked around I saw Pinkie, Twilight, Luna, and Gilda holding in their laughter as they stared at Fleur. So I looked down and much to my surprise I saw that Fleur had started to drool onto my shirt but she did not notice.

I could not help but smile and laugh at this but I kept the laughing to a minimum while I reached out with my spare hand and grabbed a few napkins. With them in hand I brought them over and gently cleaned up my shirt and dabbled her mouth which caught her attention and forced open her eyes, only to quickly realize what she had done. She sat up as quick as a flash and had adopted a red face while she stared at the now highly interesting floor. 

At this the others bursted out into laughter just as the food made its way to the table, with even a plate for Fleur as well, but it took us a while to actually calm ourselves down so we could actually eat. I was laughing to much that I almost did not realize that even though she was embarrassed and stared at the floor her tail was wagging just a little bit more than before. 


---------- 45 Minutes Later ----------


“Oh my goodness, I cannot eat another delicious bite” I painfully moaned out as I leaned back in my chair with a now empty plate in front of me. Basically the Royalty Special was one of everything flavored pancakes they had and I had learned that they had fifty different flavors of pancakes. So suffice to say I had plenty to eat and much more. Also to my surprise was that there was not a single pancake left on the tables, thanks to Pinkie and Lunas bottomless stomachs made out of iron. 

At some point the check had come and gone fully paid for so we were free to leave, though it took us all a while to actually want to move. We had finally found the will to get up and our group left and went outside and stretched ourselves out so we did not walk stiff. 

“Well thank you all again for indulging me in my selfishness and allowing me to join you for breakfast” Fleur said. 

“Think nothing of it Fleur, we are always happy to have you” Celestia responded back and turned around to leave, with most of the group following. 

“And thank you Adrian for that wonderful experience, though I am dreadfully sorry for my...... less than pleasant response” Fleur apologized. 

“Don't worry, I have had worse” I said back. Well, not exactly true but I don't want her to think and know that she was actually the worst. 

“Well that is good” she said before we both went silent. “Pl-please write to me, I would love to hear from you and let know if you are ever in Canterlot again” she quickly said before she dashed off and disappeared. 

“Got all the ladies tripping over you” Gilda smugly said with a punch to my arm.

“Careful Gilda, I might have to come after you if you keep up with all sweet talk” I replied back with equal smugness. 

“You could not handle all of me, I play rough big boy” she said with a naughty grin and a wink. I could not help but blush a little which resulted in her laughing and flying away “Told you”

“Gilda! Not funny!” I screamed as I ran after her with a bouncing, giggling Pinkie Pie. 


---------- 9:50 AM, Adrians Room ----------


All right, everything is all packed nice and neat in my three chests, so now I just have to get them all to the train station and be there within the next twenty five minutes so I could be there a little bit early. 

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

“Who is it?” I asked.

“It's only me, Celestia” she replied.

“Come in” I said. With that the tall white princess of Equestria strolled into my room with that warm smile of hers always on her face. 

“Are you all set to go?” she asked.

“I just got done actually, had to re-arrange some old stuff to fit my new stuff. I put all the light stuff in this chest, heavy stuff in this one, and all the fragile objects into that last one” I explained as I pointed to each corresponding chest.

“Good, I am glad that everything worked out” she said. 

“Yeah, me too” I replied back with but I let out a tired sigh much to my surprise. 

“Is everything alright Adrian?” she asked. I did not answer but I found myself sliding against the edge of the bed until I sat down on the ground, Celestia soon joined me as she sat next to me with concern in her eyes. 

“Yeah, today is the first day I have felt this good in a while and I just wanted to let that good feeling last. But now it is sort of feeling like that good feeling was like a sugar rush and now I am crashing. I am just kinda sad that the sugar rush only lasted a few hours. Well, that being said I still feel happy and good though. It's just that..... I guess I am feeling nervous and kinda frightened” I quietly confessed. 

“About what?” she asked worryingly.

“About everything I suppose. I am nervous about going back to Ponyville and living my now normal life. Getting a job and finding a house. Scared about everything that happened while I was on this little vacation and about how it will affect the future. And I am especially nervous and scared about..... a-about” I choked on the last words. I could feel Celestia lay her head on my shoulder while she wrapped her hooves and wings around me. 

“I am scared about Derpy. I am scared that I will mess it up or my magic will somehow hurt her or someone else for that matter. I just feel like there is too much I don't know about and that empty feeling is scaring me. I am just scared for what the future holds for me as the only human. The only one of my kind” I started to sob a bit as I let my feelings rise in my throat. 

“What if I do something wrong? What if hurt her? What if I hurt my friends? What if.... w-what if-” I tried to say more but my voice was lost as I felt the first tears start to flow and I hugged Celestia closer and cried into her soft, white fur. She did not say anything but I felt her wing stroke my head while she whispered small, comforting words into my ear over and over again. 

We sat in silence as I cried away my fears and doubts that had risen and overflowed but Celestia remained still as she stroked my head and comforted me. Eventually I bit back the emotion and let out a few sniffles before finally calming down again. 

“Thank you Celestia and I am sorry for-” I tried to say before she softly bopped her hoof on my forehead while she shook her head.

“Don't be sorry Adrian, it is alright to let yourself go. That is the best thing you can do instead of holding it in and letting it fester inside of you” she said before she closed the distance and hugged me again “And it is perfectly normal to be scared and nervous, especially in your situation. I am sorry that I cannot give you the solution but I can give you my council”

“There will always be the what if's, every day I face them as I deal with running all of Equestria. There are always what if's that lead to disaster and that is always frightening. But that also means there are postive what if's that lead to happiness. So instead of just thinking what if you make her sad, think what if you make her the happiest mare in all of Equus”

“What if you are exactly what she needs and you end up living a perfect life together. What if you end up with a family of your own in the future, whether if be by marriage or letting us adopt you” she ended that last line with a sly wink and a smile “There are so many what if's and while it can be scary, that fear should instead drive you to become better than it and conquer it” 

“You are most likely the greatest and most wonderful what if I have ever had. When I had first discovered that you found the books, I had so many dreadful what if's about you. What if the magic corrupts you, what if it kills you, what if another war happens. But all those have been replaced with joy and happiness as you fill the hearts of those around you with kindness and joy. Including me” she sweetly said then she proceeded to nuzzle me a bit with a joyful laugh. 

“So just remember that for every negative what if you imagine, there are three more positive what if's to replace it and know that you are not alone. You have all your friends to support you and can rely on, so while you may be the only human on Equestria, you will always be a citizen of Equestria and a friend to all” she finished and I could see that few tears were starting to line her eyes so I pulled her back in for another hug, one she gladly returned.

I found myself smiling as I felt her warmth flow into me, whether it was her magic or just her did not matter cause I did not care. “Thank you Celestia, thank you so much for everything. I don't think I could ever repay you for your overwhelming kindness” I said.

“Hmmm, well I could think of one thing that might help” she said before she whispered something in my ear. The moment she pulled away I let out a hearty laugh that made my eyes water up again but out of happiness instead of sorrow. 

“Very well Princess, if that is what you wish” I said. Celestia pulled away and sat down normally next to me with a content smile on her face while I flexed my fingers. Once we were both ready I reached over and let my hand flow through her ethereal hair and up to her head, once there I slowly moved over to her delicate ear and began to administer the Royal Ear Scratch. 

Celestia did not say anything but I could feel the happy warmth that she radiated grow in strength, to the point where she actually seemed to glow. It was so strong that Artemis who was whining at my feet had calmed down and fell asleep with a happy face. I soon felt her start to sway and her head leaned over and rested itself against my arm and her smile deepened while her aura grew and grew. 

THUNK

I was a little surprised when I had to reopen my eyes that I had apparently closed when I heard that noise, but a quick turn of the head revealed that it was Luna who had simply become too relaxed and fell to the floor on the outside of my door frame. She quickly recovered but grew a blush since she was discovered and stood in silence until Pinkie popped in.

“Woo-hoo! Another successful capture! You have the complete Alicorn Princess Set and with that bonus you have leveled up again to Level Three Ear Scratcher!” Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced into the room. At that we all laughed and continued to laugh until Twilight appeared with Flash Sentry, Gilda, and Doc. 

“Ah, thank you Twilight for fetching the guard. Flash, would you kindly ask a few other guards to help move Adrians, Twilights, and Pinkies luggage to the train station?” Celestia said.

“Of course Princess, I shall return as quickly as possible” Flash said before he saluted and dashed off. 

“We apologize sister that we were a little late, but when we came across Flash Sentry some of us became..... caught up” Luna explained and she quickly stared at Twilight and flashed a smile. 

“I understand, well Adrian is all packed and ready to go. So let us not delay and head to the train station. I would not want you all to be late” Celestia said.

“Though we would not mind if you were cause then we would have more time with you Adrian” Luna quickly added. 

“Aww big sis Luna, that is so sweet but I can't stick around forever or else you might spoil me too much” I replied back with. Luna pouted just before me and Celestia could laugh just as the guards showed up to help.


---------- 10:20 AM, Canterlot Train Station ----------


We had just made it to the station five minutes ago and the conductor said the train would arrive on time, so we had about ten minutes to spare for our goodbyes. During our walk over we had actually run into Raven who was out doing an errand and had decided to accompany us since it would mean Celestia would be free after this. 

“So you have everything? Do you need a snack or a drink or something else for the trip back?” Luna worryingly asked for the fifth time as she checked me over and used her wings to dust me off. I could only sigh at her antics, she was acting like a mother hen getting all concerned for her baby chicks. 

“Don't worry Luna, I am a big kid now. If I need anything I can get it on the train ride, ok?” I tried to reassure her again. But this time she looked up at me like she was going to cry just as she leaped into my arms and hugged me.

“We don't want you to go! We love having our dear little brother around!” she said. Oh man, Luna you are just too adorable. 

“Don't worry, you can always visit me in Ponyville or in my dreams!” I said to her. 

“We know, but still!” she replied.

“Come now sister, we must not delay Adrian” Celestia said.

“We will miss you Adrian, please come back to visit us soon” Luna finally gave in as she said her goodbye. 

“I will miss you too Luna” I briefly said back to her while we hugged. She finally flew off and down only once Celestia gave her a little poke. 

“Be sure to visit the Royal Canterlot Library whenever you are in Canterlot next and be sure to take care of that book!” Raven said.

“Don't worry, I will. Goodbye Raven, it was good to meet you” I said as I got down on one knee so we could hug. Finally Celestia came up, so I had to stand back up to see her smiling face again.

“Please be safe and remember what I said to you and if you ever want to talk, write me a letter and give it to Spike and I will see it immediately. That way I can read both your letters and Twilights” Celestia explained before she pulled me into a hug. “Please think about the adoption, you won't have to be a prince or anything of royal status but instead just our official brother” she whispered into my ear.

I hugged her tighter “I will think about it, I promise. Goodbye Celestia, be sure to look after big sis Luna for me ok?” I said back to her.

She giggled at my name for Luna “I will be sure to do that and good luck in Ponyville, You have all your paperwork right? Without it you can't officially hold a job or house or anything” she asked.

I quickly opened my bag and pulled out the large envelope that held everything and said “Yep, right here!”

“Good, good. Well I can see the train coming. Please be sure to write to everyone here in Canterlot, including Miss De Lis alright?” she said with a wink and giggled. I rolled my eyes before I gave her a final goodbye hug. With that I let her say her goodbyes to Twilight and Pinkie as I made my way over to the female gryphon hiding in the corner of the station.

“And here I thought I was not going to say goodbye” I said to her.

“Yeah, yeah hot shot. Thought I would be nice to at least say goodbye” Gilda said “So, you going to be ok in Ponyville with, you know, everything?”

“Yeah, I think I will. And if I am not, I can depend on the girls and my friends to be there to help pick me up. And if all that doesn't work, I could always write a letter to you and you could kick my butt until I feel better” I said with a laugh. 

“Your darn right I will! That and I am not letting my meat buddy be sad if I any say about it!” Gilda proudly said as she puffed up her chest. But once she came back down she had a sad look on her face and she became a bit nervous “Hey, when you go back to Ponyville. Could you do me a favor?”

“Sure, what do you need?” I replied.

“Well, when you go back and see Rainbow Dash, could you try and talk to her and let her know that I really am sorry for being a jerk and that I would like to be her friend again. I mean, you don't have to and blow me off, that's cool too” she tried to act nonchalant but I could see her nervousness. 

“I will see what I can do, Rainbow is pretty thick headed and stubborn but for my friend I am willing to try” I grinned as I finished and I could see her smile a little before she held out her claw and made a fist. Ah, hoofbump. Wait, clawbump? Bah, whatever. I bumped her before I pulled her into a quick hug, one that she surprisingly returned before she punched my arm and laughed. 

“ATTENTION! ATTENTION! The train to Ponyville is pulling in! Please have your tickets and luggage ready to board! ATTENTION! ATTENTION! The train to Ponyville is pulling in! Please have your tickets and luggage ready to board!” The station conductor shouted just as the train slowed to a full stop. 

“Well, thats me. See you around Gilda, good luck with your Uncle and I will be sure to talk to Rainbow” I said to her as I waved goodbye. I made my way back to the main group and saw the guards loading my chests and Twilights crate into the back. I would not be surprised if the crate was full of books. But I soon found myself being assaulted by the Princess of the Night again.

“Please be safe Adrian and visit us soon!” She cried out as we hugged. Thanks to Celestia again, she was forced to climb off so me so Celestia could hug me one last time. I waved goodbye to Luna, Celestia, and Raven as the three of us and Artemis climbed onboard and made our way to our First Class seats. We found our seats and sat near the window and waved goodbye to them all as the train began to move away from the station.

But as we moved I saw Raven start to run along side us and yelling, I could not hear what it was but from reading her lips I saw what she was asking and I laughed to myself. We soon pulled away from the station and saw the landscapes start to approach us as we began our journey back to Ponyville, back home to friends, and back home to Derpy. 


---------- 10:35 AM, Canterlot Train Station Platform ----------


Huff, huff, huff. Darn it. I forgot to ask him! Now I will never know! I need to know! I slowly made my way back to Celestia and Luna who were both looking at me with worry and confusion.

“Raven, why were you chasing the train down?” Luna asked of me.

“Because I forgot to ask Adrian something” I explained.

“What did you forgot to ask?” Celestia asked this time.

“Well when I met him in the library, he left me with a parting riddle and I have not been able to figure it out! I wanted to ask him what the answer was” I said.

Celestia giggled a little before she asked again “What was the riddle?”

“The riddle was: Why is a raven like a writing desk?” I said. Celestia seemed puzzled by this and began to ponder it.

“This is tough, what do you think Lun-” Celestia was about to ask Luna but we both saw that she was wide eyed and mouth agasp.

“Why IS a raven like a writing desk?” she quietly repeated to herself, she looked exactly like me yesterday! 

But Celestia simply laughed before she turned and looked at the train and said “Oh Adrian”
> A Warm Welcome And The Human Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Equestria really is a beautiful place, the view from the train window makes me glad I am taking my time and absorbing the landscape. Even just simple stuff like a marsh or even an old willow tree looks magnificent and makes me forget about all my troubles. I never did take a good look the first time since sights like these were usually rare to find or you had to hike a full day to even catch a glimpse at such a perfect spot. But now an entire catalog of nature shots were going by me and new ones were replacing them every second.

Another equally nice thing was that while I was sightseeing, in my lap I had a fuzzy, pink, and adorable little pony sister who was humming away while I was petting her poofy cotton candy mane. On the other side of me was Twilight who had actually gotten me to look outside in the first place and while she enthralled me with tons of trivia about plants, flora, and everything else that was perfectly described in one of her nature book, I was looking at them just beyond the glass panel. 

The peacefulness really sunk in, so much that I had almost forgotten that we were on a train, because I could not hear the train track sounds and even when the carriage swayed a bit I did not notice. I simply smiled and let the world absorb me, allowing it into my heart in hopes of lessening my fears and worry. Even though everything that has happened after I had learned the truth about my mother, did appear to lighten the burden of guilt, I could always feel its cold chain wrap itself around my heart. 

I accidentally groaned when my mind began to remember the whirlwind of events that had just happened in such a short amount of time. I leaned forward slightly in order to rest my forehead against the cool glass while I trained my eyes to the outside world. 

“Are you ok Adrian?” I heard Pinkie ask me. The moment she started to speak it felt like I had just woken up from a nap and the sounds and movement of the train rushed back into existence. It took me a few seconds for my senses to restart and when they did I sat back in my seat like normal, now using both hands to pet Pinkie's mane and scratch her ear. 

“Yeah, just thinking” I told her.

“About what?” she replied.

“Everything” I simply said.

“Wow, that is a lot to think about!” she exclaimed while she threw up her hoofs in an exaggerated manner. 

“Yeah, I guess it is” I stated. By now the car was silent as Pinkie and Twilight gazed up at me while I had my own eyes glued to the window. I could feel Pinkie shift in my lap, just as her hooves wrapped around me in order to give me a hug. I draped my arms around her and pulled her closer, almost using her as a huggable teddy bear.

“Do you want to talk about it Adrian?” Twilight asked this time.

I paused for a few moments in order to collect my thoughts and decided if I truly wanted to talk about it or simply let it stir in my mind. But I decided to talk about it, knowing that letting it stir would probably not be a good thing. So I took a deep, relaxing breath and gave Pinkie a quick squeeze, which made her squeak and made me let out a brief chuckle. A good way to start off our talk I think.

“I suppose I should, I just don't know where to start” I started off saying. 

“Hmmm, well lets start with the last thing you were really thinking about before Pinkie asked about you” Twilight suggested. 

“Alright...... well to be honest I don't really know what I was exactly thinking. I was kinda in a peaceful haze while my mind was lost in the clouds. But I suppose I was meaning that I am a little anxious about coming back to Ponyville” I said.

“Anxious? About what?” Twilight asked again.

“About everything. I know, a very bland and non-conclusive answer but that is the best way to describe it. Just feels weird to be slowing back down after storm of events and life altering news this long trip has brought me. But then on top of all that I am thinking about my magic, my future job, and Derpy” I explained. 

Twilight seemed deep in thought and took her time before she said “That is understandable, to be honest I am quite impressed and thankful that you have taken everything so well. I think most ponies would of gone down a darker and sad road, but I am proud that you have found the strength to carry on. Not only for yourself, but for us as well” Twilight gave me a big smile after saying that. 

“Also I think it is best that you do slow things down a bit, no matter how strong a pony is, too much stimuli in short bursts will wear them down eventually and could possibly break. So when we get back to Ponyville, we will all do our best to help you heal and smile as much as Pinkie Pie” Twilight concluded. 

“AND if none of that works, I could always whip up a mean cupcake batch that will knock the sadness right out of your socks!” Pinkie happily said. I could feel a smile begin to stir so I greedily wrapped Pinkie up in another hug and gave out a small laugh. 

“See, told you!” Twilight quickly added. “But as for stuff about your future, I think so long as you study from those books your magic should be under control. But if you ever wish for help then do not be afraid to ask, I would love to assist and teach! Now, as for a job, do you have any sort of idea on what you would like to try?” she asked. 

“Well, I sort of have a possible idea....... maybe” I nervously answered. What I had in mind seemed rather silly. 

“Oh really? What is it?” she asked. 

I shifted my eyes back to the scenes of nature passing by us while my cheeks adopted a red color “Pr.... Pro-professional..... ear..... scratcher” I quietly uttered out. 

But before Twilight could comment Pinkie jumped up in excitement “THAT IS THE BEST IDEA EVER!” she loudly declared. 

Twilight's jaw hung loose for only a moment before she re-adjusted herself “A professional ear scratcher?” she asked.

“W-w-well I don't mean just that! I mean, I was thinking that maybe I could learn proper massage techniques from the Spa Twins or something, so that way I could gives massages and give better ear scratches since everyone seems to love them and you have said that my fingers feel good. So I just thought I could work with that...... I suppose” I tried to explain but the more I talked the less confidence I had. 

“I think that would be a wonderful service!” Twilight said. Whoa, she actually agrees with that? Ok, was not expecting that. 

“You.... you do?” I questioned. 

“I sure do! Your ear scratches could be the ultimate relaxation tool and combining that with massages would melt anyponies stress away! And not just ponies, Gilda also seemed to enjoy it as well so you could offer it so anyone!” Twilight said. 

“Hmm, I guess you're right! Though, I think I need to find a couple of guys to try and give an ear scratch to first since they might not like it as much as girls do” I explained.

“True, that could be bad business or lead to unsavory rumors about only servicing female clients or something like that” Twilight reasoned. “You could probably try it on Spike and Big Mac first since Applejack and myself can talk to them and explain”

“YAY! I knew that this was the best idea ever! That way you can become a Professional Level Three Ear Scratcher! OH! OH! Then when you go back to Canterlot or the Crystal Empire you can be the Professional Level Three Royal Ear Scratcher!” Pinkie said in an even more excited voice.

“I think that last one might be a bit much, I think 'The Royal Ear Scratcher' sounds better” I told her.

“Yeah, I guess your right” Pinkie said with a silly giggle. 

“Well, that is two things down. Now, I don't know a lot about relationships but I can certainly try and help you and Derpy” Twilight said. 

I remained quiet as I thought about this but that is when I remembered my talk with Cadence and even though I would like to talk about it, I don't think much would change as it would mostly be them reassuring me. I don't really need that right now, so I smiled and shook my head “Actually, I think I will be alright in that regard. Cadence told me that I am mostly over-thinking things and I should just be myself and that is what I want to do” I told her.

Thankfully she nodded with a smile to match on her own face “I suppose that is best for now, especially since Cadence said so. But just know that you can talk to any of us and ask for advice, help, or whatever you need, ok?” she informed me.

“I will Twilight, thank you” I said. I felt my eyelids flutter a bit for only a moment followed by a quick yawn. “Well since we have a little more than an hour left till Ponyville, I am going to grab a quick nap. That will help clear my mind and should stop me from over thinking” 

“Alright Adrian, I will wake you up when we get close” Twilight said. She then looked above us and used her magic to summon a book from her bag, as soon as it touched her hooves she was lost in the pages of ink. So I gently lifted Pinkie up so I could lie down since slouching would have been uncomfortable. Once I was settled in, Pinkie decided to curl up on my chest and take a nap with me as well, following suit was Artemis who leapt up and curled up against my leg.

I sometimes wonder if they must see me as a giant walking pillow or something, but I can't deny that it feels nice and that they trust me so much. So with Derpy in my thoughts, I drifted off into a light sleep while the train continued to speedily take us to our destination. 


---------- 1 Hour and 25 Minutes Later ----------


“.d..an” I barely heard the voice call out.

“Ad...n” The same voice called out.

“Ad.i,n” What is it trying to say?

“Adrian!” I clearly heard the voice now and quite loudly this time. I sprung up from the soft seat and hazily looked around in a daze while my eyes and hearing slowly came back from sleep. After a good shake of my head I looked around and saw Twilight looking at me. “About time sleepy head! I've been trying to wake you for the past five minutes!”

“Huh..... sorry about-” I let out a quick yawn and smacked my lips “-about that Twilight. Didn't think I would fall into a heavy sleep” I groggily said. I took a quick look around and saw Pinkie and Artemis were missing. “Hey, were did the two of them go?”

“Over here! Artemis wanted to play with you but you were dead asleep! So I played with her! Though it took a while for her to warm up to me enough just to play fetch” Pinkie explained halfway down the hall. 

“Oh, well thanks Pinkie!” I said. 

“Well we will be stopping soon, so could you please hand me my bags from up top there?” Twilight politely asked me.

“Sure, here we go” I said as I quickly lifted her stuff up and down to her. Once we collected our small bags, we waited in our seats for the train to come to a complete stop before heading out to retrieve our bigger stuff. What surprised me though was that by the time we came out two unicorns were already done unloading our luggage and told us that our tickets came with instructions for the staff to deliver it to the castle. Dang, Celestia certainly knows how to use her influence and power well. 

So with our luggage being handled we all took a minute to stretch out and revel in the sight that we were official back in Ponyville. Though the peace was short lived for as soon as I took two steps on the grass coming off the station I heard the sound of three voices going squee just before I was slammed into the ground. 

“ADRIAN! WELCOME HOME!” I heard a familiar trio of voices loudly declare before erupting into a gaggle of giggles. I finally had a chance to look down and saw the happy, beaming faces of the CMC. 

“Applebloom! Sweetie Bell! Scootaloo! It is so wonderful to see you all again!” I happily said before I wrapped the three of them in a big hug, a hug they gladly gave back to me, triple fold! They all squirmed around in my arms cause they were so excited to see me and were trying to talk to me all at once. 

“Girls! Girls! He can't answer you all at once you know!” I heard Rarity call out, glancing over I also saw Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash walking alongside her with smiles on their faces.

“Hi girls! It is so great to see you all again!” Twilight said as she and Pinkie joined the others and mingled. Meanwhile the filly trio had climbed up onto their spots the last time I had them up on my shoulders and head. But I decided to stay on the ground so I could greet the others easier, for example the now fast galloping Fluttershy heading in my direction. 

“Adrian!” Fluttershy called out as she flew into my open arms and we hugged each other, with a pair of grand smiles appearing on our faces. “Oh Adrian! I missed you so much!”

I chuckled a bit before I began to pet her mane “I missed you too Fluttershy, I missed you too” I simply said as the yellow pegasus snuggled up against my chest. 

“Whoa” Sweetie Bell said as she suddenly loomed over my head and stared into my eyes. 

“What is it?” I asked her.

“I just forgot how amazing your eyes looked now” she said while in awe. 

I smiled while trying to look at Sweetie Bell “All the better to see you with my dear” I said. She giggled at that before returning to her position on top of my head and hugged it. 

“Well howdy partner! Been a while since we last saw ya! How've ya been sugercube?” AJ asked.

“Eh, I have been better. Had a rough time and learned quite a few things, but I think I will be ok in the end” I told her. It seems I flipped some sort of switch cause the happy atmosphere suddenly felt heavy and everyone seemed sad. “What? What's wrong?”

“I'm sorry big guy, I let slip about you and your mom accidentally when they asked me about my time on Earth” Rainbow said with a sad voice. 

I shook my head “It's fine Rainbow, they all would of known sooner or later and this way we can get all the sadness out of the way and just be happy and smiling” I told her. That seemed to do the trick cause I was soon surrounded by all of them in one big group hug. I don't know who it was but in the middle of the group I heard a quiet sniffle and like a germ spread to the rest of them. 

“I am really sorry about your mom Adrian, I don't know how I would react if mine ever passed away” I heard Sweetie say as she hugged my head. I squirmed my arm free of the hugging mass and lifted it up to pet her head and give her ear a little scratch.

“It's alright Sweetie, it still hurts from time to time but I have all of you here with me now to help fill that void in my heart. That or simply stuff if full of Pinkie's delicious cupcakes” I jokingly said. 

“Darn tootin you will!” Pinkie suddenly said which caused us all to burst out into laughter. 

We remained in our group hug for a few more minutes while the few of them got their little sniffles and cries out of their system. Once they were all feeling better and had smiling faces again we all split up into a small circle, at that point I had gently taken the three down and onto the ground. They all pouted and tried to use their puppy dog eyes but I closed my eyes and somehow avoided caving in, well that and their sisters helped block them by scooping them up in a hug. 

“Oh and before I forget, Rarity! Thank you so much for all the clothes you made me, I had plenty to wear and came no where closing to running out” I said to the purple haired fashionista. 

“It is my pleasure darling! Did everything fit alright though? A few of those designs felt a bit off on the measurements” she asked.

“I did not find anything wrong with them and they all fit comfortably! If I do find something wrong though I will let you know!” I replied.

“Oh good! Well that is a relief!” Rarity said.

“Now, onto the most important part....... Adrian” Applejack said in a serious tone.

“Y-yes Applejack?” I nervously responded.

“I hear we be gettin gifts, so where are they?!” she asked with a look of excitement in her eyes. 

“GIFTS! GIFTS! GIFTS!” the CMC all shouted in unison. UGH! AJ! Why did you have to say that now!

“Well, you would be right! But they are with the rest of my stuff that is being delivered to the castle-” I tried to finish my sentence but Rarity cut me off.

“PLEASE tell me you got me something fashionable from your world?! Adrian darling, please!” she desperately said.

“Now Rarity, if I told you that would ruin the surprise!” I teasingly said. 

“Well I want my surprise now! Off to the castle!” Rarity said which caused the whole group to start stampeding but I remained still and laughed. “Adrian! Come on!”

I could only laugh more and more at their mob mentality, so much so that my stomach started to hurt from laughing so hard. “I would l-love to girls. But-” I tried to say again.

“But what?!” Applebloom asked this time.

“But I have someone I need to go see first before anything else” I told them all. 

At this they all seemed to calm down before walking back to me, looking up at me with confused faces.

“Who do you need to go see big guy?” Rainbow asked me.

At this I started to blush and I nervously began to scratch the back of my neck “A ah...... a certain gray mailmare” I said back. It took most of them a few moments to think but eventually they all seemed to understand what I was going to do. Everyone except the CMC and Rainbow Dash of course.

“Derpy? Why are you going to give her her present first?” Rainbow asked in all seriousness. The other girls stared at her with wide eyes, even Pinkie. 

AJ walked up to her shortly after and whispered something in her ear, it only took Rainbow a few more seconds before she appeared to finally understand cause she grinned and flew over to me so she could playfully smack my back. “Well then get going big guy! Twilight and Pinkie here can fill us in on the details of everything until you get back” she said while still wearing a huge grin. 

But at this I paused and held up my hand “Wait, before you all go I have to say something first. I don't mind small details but I need to be there to tell you something very important that happened. I can forgive the stuff back on Earth but this matter is very serious to me and I want to be the one to tell you all. Ok?” I informed them.

“Yes, I understand Adrian and I will make sure the two of us don't say anything in regards to that” Twilight said. She looked over at Pinkie and had a serious look in her eyes “Understand Pinkie?”

“Sure do! Besides, there are tons of other stuff we can talk about anyway! So what are we waiting for! Let's go! Good luck big brother!” Pinkie said as she waved me goodbye.

“Wait? Big brother?! Pinkie Pie! Wait!” Applebloom frantically said as she and the CMC tried to catch up to the bouncing baker. The other girls giggled and soon followed suit as they waved me goodbye. Once they had stopped looking at me, I dug into my bag in order to pull out Derpy's last letter so I could find her address. 

Finding it, I pulled it out and examined her address before looking around at the nearest house and seeing I was a little ways off. With her letter in hand I began walking in the direction that should lead me to her house, so off I went!


---------- 10 Minutes Later ----------


Phew! About time! I got lost three times while getting here! The way they number houses is weird! It goes down and up normally when in a line but when you get to an intersection, the count goes off of what the original house starts within that separate line! I have to commend Derpy for being able to figure out and remember all of this! 

I am finally on her street, so now I just have to find the right number. Alright, five..... four.... three... two.. one. I finally stood in front of her house with her letter in my now trembling hand as I stared at it. It was here, the final moment is here at last. Oh god my mind is swirling with a million thoughts on why I should run and leave, GAH! Why am I thinking I should run!..... Maybe.....maybe I should.

NO! No, no, no! I will not run! I will not back down now, not after everything I have done to get here!

I say this but I could feel my legs start to buckle and sway, so I began pacing back and forth just to keep me from falling flat on my face, though it did not help my mentality any. 

What should I do? What should I do?! I know what everyone has said to me and I want to follow through, but now that I am actually here I am starting to fall apart! Phew, ok Adrian. Calm down. Take a deep breath.......... there we go and another one.......... alright good, good. Just be calm... calm. Just remember what Cadence said, nothing is ever perfect, just be yourself, and just let her know how you feel. 

Yes, I have to do it. I even told my mom that she was in my heart, I won't lie to her and I won't lie to myself by making up a stupid excuse. No, I will do this. I will, I will, I WILL! 

With that I took a few more deep and calming breaths before placing her letter back in my bag, though the feeling in the pit of my stomach was going haywire and started messing with my body. But instead of letting it hinder me, I used that feeling to force my feet and legs to start moving forward, one step at a time. With each step I could feel my brow starting to sweat and my hands shook but I continued to use this feeling inside of me to propel me forward until I was at her doorstep.

Oh god, this is it. This is really it. Just beyond these doors is that beautiful mare with eyes of gold, GAH don't have second thoughts now! Just knock, come one I can do at least that. Just..... just...... just!

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

I did! I really did it! Oh crap I really did it! What do I say?! What do I do!? Should I just be casual? Or should I take the lead and say it? NO! Why did I knock?! I betrayed myself! Come on, think, think, think!

~CREAK~

I heard the door slowly open and instantly stood back up and straightened my outfit to get rid of any wrinkles or dust and hopefully get rid of my nervousness. But I soon learned that I did not have to worry about getting rid of it on my own cause she wiped it clean from my mind and body the second she took the first step out of her door.

No words were spoken as our eyes met, her beautiful golden eyes that sparkled in the sun light and made them glisten like a gem. But another color caught my eye as I slightly shifted up and saw that clipped into her pretty yellow mane was the green hair clip I sent her in the mail. I was right, it looks absolutely amazing on her and compliments her eyes so well! But even without it, her beauty would still be there. 

We continued to watch each other in silence but every second that went by seemed to be completely frozen in time, but I would not mind being stuck in time so long as I had her to look at. I could see her chest rise and fall as her breaths began to shorten in excitement and her eyes started to tear up, which made my own eyes start to water. 

I could feel that my legs were starting to lose their strength and begin to wobble, so I ended up taking the first move as I kneeled down on one leg which ended up closing the distance between the two of us. I could see that through the tears, that were starting to sting her eyes, her pretty smile could not be taken away. Feeling the world surround and ensnare my body, I felt my arm move up in order to cup her soft face and using my thumb I gently stroked her muzzle.

“I..... I-I'm back Derpy” I choked out of my now dry throat.

I heard her give a few little sniffles as she squeaked a few times trying to find her voice but kept losing it every time she tried to say something. But instead of words she greatly surprised me by suddenly leaping forward, using my knee as a stepping stone, and gracing me with a soft and tender kiss on the lips. It was only for a brief moment before she leaned her head back and look into my eyes again, a hidden spark deep within her beaming eyes.

I reached up around her so I could pull her in for a hug, using my hand to cradle the back of her head. Using that same hand I gently massaged her mane and felt a new kind of warmth within me, something I never felt before and the feeling was almost the same thing as if I was summoning my magic. It made me feel strong, it made me feel warm, and now it made me feel complete, as if it was something missing all along. 

During all this she had also wrapped me up with her hooves and wings as she nuzzled my neck while she shed tears of joy. We remained in this position for a time, as we just felt right and did not need to say or do anything else. But I felt compelled to say something so I gently leaned my head back so I could talk to her eye to eye.

“I'm sorry for making you wait Derpy. But I am here now and you look absolutely beautiful. Just as I remembered you being” I softly said to her which cause her to smile even more but this time I initiated the kiss and thankfully she accepted it. It was only a short one again but it was all we needed to tell each other how we truly felt now. 

“Thank you so much Adrian, thank you for accepting me. I..... I-I” she tried to say the last few words but she choked up and fell into my chest to cry a little more. 

“I love you too Derpy. I just hope I can make you as happy as you deserve to be” I sweetly said while I ran my fingers through her silky mane. But the moment I said love she stared up at me with such a sweet and innocent fact and had a face like I just lit up her entire world. 

“I love you Adrian, I really do” Derpy said in a soft voice as she snuggled up against me. I could not help but smile at how cute and beautiful she looked. It was no wonder she stole my heart at first crash. 

“Hey Derpy, do you want to head on over to castle with me? I am handing out some more gifts and I still have something else to give you” I informed her and I was met with a surprised gasp.

“Yo-you got me something else?!” she asked with both confusion and joy. 

“Of course, I had to get the mare that I loved more than one gift!” I replied with a grin. She began to blush a bit yet had a smile plastered on. But she only nodded while she looked up at me with wonder and amazement. So I scooped her up and carried her like a princess, something that I have actually done with a real princess, and began to walk towards the castle that was looming over the buildings ahead. 

On our way over we certainly became the hot topic of all Ponyville cause every single pony had their eyes glued on us, at first I was worried that Derpy might become nervous or scared due to how the town usually treats her. But I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that she was smiling lovingly up at me with stars in her eyes. I don't know why but the more she stared at me like that, the greater my blush became. Then she did something quite bold for when we began walking across the open field in front of the castle, that was currently full of ponies, she quickly pecked me on the cheek and did an adorable giggle.

Guess I was just the right confidence booster for her and I could not be any more happier, for both her and myself. Soon enough we found ourselves walking through the castle doors and heading straight for the library, since that is most likely where they put our luggage. Quickly navigating my way to the back, I opened the door and was met with a happy gang of ponies who ran over to us.

“Soooooo, what is the official word you two?” Rarity asked us with peering eyes. I thought for a moment that Derpy would continue her bold streak but now that they were all closely watching us with hungry and curious eyes, she became a bit nervous and red in the face. Luckily for her, I currently had our courage so I gave her a kiss on the cheek, which made Derpy blossom into a happy face and squee'd a bit. 

“All right big guy! Way to go!” Rainbow cheered and was followed soon by the rest.

“Congratulations you two! I hope you two get along with each other!” Twilight said.

“Shoot sugarcube! Looks like ya caught a mighty fine lady! Be sure to treat her well now, ya hear?” AJ told me. 

“Oh this is so sweet! I feel so giddy!” Rarity quickly said before she started talking to herself about dresses and flowers. 

“You two make a nice couple” Fluttershy timidly said but smiled just as sweetly as ever. 

“WOO! YEAH! I gotta make some “Best New Couple” cakes!” Pinkie happily exploded. 

“Awesome! You two look good together!” Scootaloo said.

“Scoots right! You two look mighty fine as a pair!” Applebloom said next. I was expecting Sweetie Bell to say something next but when I looked over I saw that she was pawing the ground and looked a bit sad. So I walked over to her and gently petted her mane. 

“Sweetie Bell? What's wrong?” I asked with concern.

“N-nothing... it's just....” Sweetie Bell started to say.

“Just what?” I asked again.

“It's just now that you got a marefriend, you won't have time for me anymore” she quietly pouted. I was going to say something to reassure her but Derpy slipped down from my arms and sat next to Sweetie Bell who looked kinda shocked.

“You don't have to worry about that, I would never be so selfish as to have him all to myself Sweetie Bell. I know that Adrian means a lot to you and the others and I would never make him choose between his friends and me. You can always play with Adrian as much as you want, I just ask that you leave me with a little bit of time now and then, ok?” Derpy said with a kind and caring voice. 

“Yo-you really mean it?” Sweetie asked in return. Derpy nodded yes with a smile, and in a flash Sweetie Bell ran over to me and leapt into my arms and gave me the biggest hug she could manage while she giggled. “Yay! I am so happy! You got the best marefriend ever Adrian!”

I could not help but smile as I hugged her “I sure do Sweetie Bell, I sure do”
> Can A Human Have A Normal Day?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phew, what a day this has turned into already. It is barely one o' clock and it almost feels like I just got rocked by a hurricane, a colorful hurricane full of crazy ponies that is. After Sweetie and Derpy had their brief talk, Sweetie continued to cling to me for most of the time afterward and though I adored her and all her sweetness, it was starting to become a bit much. But every time I tried to ask, she would look up at me with her big eyes that just gleamed and shimmered with her happiness. So I could never find the will to defy her and let her continue. 

But once I got back to the main group I did get her to stay still in one place since I was going to get the gifts and I did not want her to ruin the surprise. I started off with Fluttershy, I presented her with a few animal care books I had, along with a couple of old animal calendars and finally a huge animal encyclopedia listing pretty much any animal that ever lived on Earth. She greatly surprised all of us when she flew over to me and hugged me so tight and thanked me in a very loud and happy voice. Thankfully she did not notice this change either or else she might of pulled back into her shy shell.

Next up was Applejack and her gifts. I did not think it was as grand as some of the others since all I gave her was a big apple recipe book, along with a farming book and tools. But I was pleasantly surprised again when she ran up to me and began shaking my hand with vigor while she thanked me over and over again for the most thoughtful gift she had ever got in a long while. Thank goodness for that Dragon magic boosting me up cause I swear she would of shook my arm off this time. 

Rarity eagerly awaited like a child during Christmas time, so I quickly rounded up my gifts for her so she did not start bouncing around like Pinkie. I handed over my moms fashion magazines first before I brought out my mothers old clothing and jewelry but held them back “Rarity, before I give you these. I need to tell you and the others who don't know something important first” I said. It took only a moment before I regained all of their attention.

“Well, back on Earth I only lived with my mother for most of my life due to my father accidentally getting her pregnant and leaving town once he knew. But one year she started feeling very sick and her health started to become worse and worse as the weeks and months grew until almost a year and a half later when it finally took its toll and claimed her life” I solemnly explained. The three who knew stood in silence but the others adopted a face of utter shock and gasped. 

“As for her the cause of her death, I would prefer to tell you individually at a later date since I just discovered the real reason in Canterlot and I am still processing that information. But for now I just want you to know Rarity that even though she has passed on, I would like you to have her clothes and some of her jewelery so they can be of better use then just collecting dust or waiting to be auctioned off” I explained again. 

“D-d-darling.... I don't...... I don't know what to say” Rarity fumbled with her words.

“You don't have to take them Rarity, I just thought that it would be better to put them to good use instead of remained untouched. I would be really happy to see some of her style and beauty being used to help others. But like I said, if you feel uncomfortable then I understand” I said to the purple haired seamstress. 

Rarity took a few moments looking over the few dresses I carried before looking up at me and smiled “I would be honored to accept these Adrian. I will do my very best to carry out her memory through my creations! Oh! Deary, what is your mothers name? I want to name this set after her!” she asked.

“Oh yeah! Her name is Vivian. Vivian Marie Frost” I answered. 

“Vivian? What a lovely name! And unique! Excellent! This will really catch the attention of all of Equestria!” Rarity proclaimed. So with that I carefully handed over the rest of her things and Rarity got right to work examining and thoroughly going over every single stitch and detail the clothing and jewelry had. After that I rounded up the CMC and presented them with the latest Guinness Book of World Records, explained of course what it was and how they could use it. Almost immediately I could see the gears start to spin in their minds and their faces gave way to cheerful expressions and new ideas. 

They almost ran off right there and then but I quickly yelled out “Wait! Girls! I am not done!” and in the blink of an eye the three were right back in their spots with expecting faces. I chuckled a bit with a shake of my head before I dove back into the box for Applebloom first. “Alright, here we go. First up is Applebloom. For you I found this apple-themed bow I got at a County Fair a few years back. Thought you might like it” I said to the small, little farmer. 

She greedily snatched it up with her hooves and in one swift motion she had undone her original bow and replaced it with mine. Once she was done she looked up at me with a nice looking smile “So, how do I look?” she asked me. 

“I think you look very pretty Applebloom” I honestly replied and was met with a grinning red haired filly. I readied the next gift and looked at Scootaloo “For you Scootaloo, I want to give you this first place medal I got when I was little” I hung it around my hand so that when I lifted it up she could clearly see it hanging. It was a simple gold medal hung by a red, white, and blue neck piece with '1st Place' on the front and a picture of the globe on the back. 

“Whoa! Adrian! This is awesome! But don't you want it since you earned it?” Scootaloo asked me.

I shook my head “No, I was not doing anything with it anyway. Just another piece that was collecting dust. And besides, I think it fits you more and will help remind you that no matter what happens you will always be number one!” I replied with a grin as I hung it around her neck, though it as a tad to big as the medal slumped against the ground. “Hmm, might need to adjust it a wee bit” 

This time Scootaloo shook her head as she took it off in order to double loop the neck piece, amazingly it fit around her neck perfectly and now she wore it proudly. “This is so cool! Your amazing Adrian! Thank you!” she quickly said before she buzzed over to Rainbow Dash and began showing it off. I could not help but smile again as I rolled by eyes. Now as I readied my third gift I turned back around and was greeted by an ever smiling and cute looking Sweetie Bell who was almost bursting at the seams with excitement. 

Now I understand a little how Cadence felt around me cause now I felt like scooping her up and cuddling her forever and ever cause she was ADORABLE. But I shook off that feeling as I brought my arm around and presented my gift for her, it was a purple scarf with a pretty floral design and at each of the scarf were two small silver bells that quietly rang with jostled. I could tell she liked it cause her eyes were glued to it and sparkled a little. 

“And this is for you Sweetie Bell, when I saw this again I thought of you first and I think you would look beautiful wearing it. We found this at a yard sale, my mom and I, and when my mom picked it up the owner told us that his son bought it for his wife when he found it overseas but she never wore it. So we picked it up and she occasionally wore it during winter time. And now I would like to give it to you Sweetie Bell!” I told her. She glanced back up at me with a pure star-struck look on her face. 

“Re-really?” she innocently asked me.

“Really really” I replied back just before I leaned down and gently wrapped it around her neck while scooping up her mane so it laid on the outside. Once again I think it would be better if Rarity adjusted the length of this piece as well since it took about three to four wraps until it nicely rested around her. But she did not notice as she twirled around a few times to show off her new gift, the bells softly ringing in the air. At once the three CMC members got back together and admired their new gifts before turning to me and pounced!

All three landing on my chest and proceeded to hug me as much as they possibly could well shouting multiple thank yous over and over again with a few sweet sounding giggles now and then. Feeling the urge to cuddle and snuggle rising up within me like a magic spell, I gave into it and wrapped my arms around the three and proceeded to hug them like they have never been hugged before! And it was glorious. 

A few minutes went by as the four of us sat there laughing and hugging but I had one last present to give and it was one of the most important, so with a lot of reluctance I slowly stripped the three small giggling fillies off of me and placed them back onto the library ground. Of course they all groaned and asked why they could not play some more. I nervously chuckled in response but I took a good look at Derpy and I heard AJ, Rarity, and Rainbow come over and herd them back. I am grateful that they understood my not so subtle hint. 

Once the space was cleared the gold eyed pegasus flew over and landed in front of me, just so she could gaze lovingly up into my eyes. I smiled as we looked at each other for a few seconds before I reached behind me, picked up a small rectangular black box, and brought it in front of us. “Derpy, this is my second gift to you and I wanted to wait to give it to you in person because it is meant for my very special someone... er, special somepony I mean” I nervously chuckled again which caused Derpy to giggle in response. 

I opened the box and I presented the very same necklace that Cadence had helped me pick out when I was on Earth, the silver necklace with woven strands of metal that encircled around and down into the center frame with a yellow sapphire gem in the middle, that shined almost as much as her eyes. I heard several ohs and awes behind me but Derpy covered up her mouth with her shaking hooves but I could tell she was happily smiling. 

I picked it up and grasped each end in my hands so I could easily reach around and clasp it together, once it snapped in place I leaned back so I could center it real quick. Once it was perfect I let my eyes wander up and saw how perfect it looked on her, I could not help but smile and tear up a little “You look beautiful” was all I said before she leapt into my arms again this day and gave me an endearing kiss. 

The moment we pulled back we rested our foreheads against each other, in order to just lovingly gaze at each other and bask in the moment. I snuck in one more quick kiss before I turned to the rest of the group “Well, that is all my gifts! I hope you all like them!” I said to them all. 

“OH I certainly will darling! I love the patterns and the stitch work in these dresses! I already have plenty of ideas for the next lineup! And even though I already said it, you two make the sweetest couple! Oh, I do hope I can find my own love soon!” Rarity dramatically said with a woeful sigh. 

I glanced over at Twilight who had a slightly annoyed face and mouthed Spikes name. But that kinda got me thinking and I decided to bring up the subject “Speaking of finding love, I am kinda curious. Do any of you girls have a....ah, special somepony or are thinking of one?” I asked. The room grew very quiet, very fast. I glanced around and all of them were either thinking, looking bashful, or confused. 

“Well, I may be looking at a certain special someone but I am not quite sure yet” Rarity was the first to say. I wonder if she is meaning Spike or somepony else. 

“As fer me, I ain't really been looking for a partner. I got the farm ta look after. But if I was to look for somepony, they would have ta be at least as strong as me!” Applejack stated.  

“Oh gracious no....I don't know if any stallion would like me” Fluttershy quietly said. “But that is alright, I have plenty of company between the animals and all of you and even Discord when he comes around for lunch and dinner and tea. In fact I see Discord most days, he is great company once you get to know him” 

“Oh, so you hang out with Discord?” I said with a surprised tone. 

“I sure do! Have you met him already?” Fluttershy asked. Discord huh? I haven't seen him since that whole mess in the Crystal Empire. I better keep that under wraps since that would just be another thing she would worry about. 

“Yep, I sure did. It was.... interesting” I said. 

“Yeah, he takes a while to get used to but I think you would like him” she said back to me. 

“So, what about you Rainbow? Has a certain stallion caught your eye?” I grinned a little while asking. But instead of flat out rejecting it or something else crazy she actually blushed a bit and bit her lower lip. “No way”

“Shut up! It's not like it is anything serious, just looking is all. What about you egghead? Some super hot bookworm got your pages stuck together?” Rainbow huffed out. She soon realized on how wrong that sounded cause her face exploded into red and I think steam started forming. 

“Adrian? What does she mean b-” Sweetie Bell started to ask me but I quickly cut her off.

“Not until your older Sweetie Bell. Much, much older. Hopefully never” I firmly stated. 

“Oh, ok. Whatever you say!” she happily replied. Oh thank goodness for youthful bliss.

“..... well said Adrian. And for your information Rainbow Dash, he is not a bookwork! He is gu-” Twilight cut herself off as she realized what she was about to say but it was too late. 

“Twilight? You have a crush?” Rarity asked in disbelief. 

“May.....be....” Twilight silently answered. She peaked around and saw all of us staring at her expectantly and she quickly followed up with “What about you Pinkie?! I bet you have somebody you like!” 

“Well duh! Of course I do!” Pinkie chimed. Now everyone looked confusingly at Pinkie who wore her usual smile. 

“.....well spill the beans Pinkie! WHO?!” Rainbow loudly asked. 

“I like Adrian of course! And I like Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and all of you girls, and Princess Celestia and that baker in Canterlot and that one pony in the crystal empire and-” Pinkie continued to name off random other ponies. 

“No, no, no! We mean, do you have a special somepony? Like how Mr. Cake is Mrs. Cakes special somepony” Rarity quickly corrected her way of thinking. 

“OH! That kinda like! Hmmmm..... well I don't like him enough to marry him yet or anything but I kinda like Cheese Sandwich! He was super duper fun once I knew that he wasn't trying to replace me!” Pinkie boldly stated which got the rest of the group to sit in silence. Guess they all didn't expect the goofy Pinkie Pie to be farther in some sort of a relationship then any of them. 

“Wow, well if Pinkie has the guts to admit it then... well like I said it is not really anything but I have kinda liked Soarin from the Wonderbolts. Ever since we talked at Rainbow Falls we have been talking more and more and I think he is pretty cool guy” Rainbow said. 

“I think I might sorta like the guard Flash Sentry in Canterlot” Twilight quickly uttered out. AH HA! I knew it! She did like him! Will defiantly write to Celestia about this! 

“Well? How 'bout it Rares? Who is your mystery fella?” Applejack asked. 

“I am not saying, a lady has to have a few secrets after all” Rarity huffed as she shrugged off the question. 

After all the confessions were finally done, I could not help but chuckle a little “Sorry if I made that an awkward question, I didn't think it would lead to where it did” I said. 

“Ah don't worry about it Adrian. I think it is something we have ta talk about now and then. Heck, ya got yerself a fine lady and you've only been here for a short while! We need to catch up to you now!” Applejack jested and finished with a chuckle of her own. 

DONG..... DONG..... DONG

“Well gracious me! That is the school bell! Now you three run along now! I don't want Miss Cheerilee to yell at us for making you late!” Rarity said to the three fillies.

“Awwwwwww man!” Applebloom whined. 

“Dang, and it was just getting fun too!” Scootaloo said.

“But I want to be with Adrian more big sis! He just got back home!” Sweetie Bell complained. 

“Tut tut tut. No whining and complaining young lady! School is equally as important!” Rarity said. 

“And besides, I am not going anywhere anytime soon. So we can hang out again anytime!” I said to the three and that is when I got an idea “Hey, how about this. How about I walk you three back to school? Or better yet, I can carry you like before!”

As soon as I suggested that I had three bouncing and smiling fillies at my feet. Me and my big mouth. But I reap what I sow, so I scooped them up and placed them in their usual spots. Scootaloo on my left, Applebloom on my right, and Sweetie Bell on my head. Once I felt them settle in position I turned around to Derpy “I will be right back, do you want me to meet you back here or at your home?” I politely asked.

When I asked, she blushed a bit while she fiddled with her hoofs “Ah-actually Adrian..... could you wait until dinner time. I have been wanting to cook you a special meal for when you got back” Derpy nervously said. 

“I would happily wait, just tell me what time you would like and I shall be there” I replied.

“Ho-how about eight o' clock tonight?” she asked me.

“Sounds like a date!” I happily exclaimed. 

“Ye-yes! A date! A dinner date! Perfect! Well I better go and get myself ready! I-I mean the food! I better get the food ready for myself. NO! I mean for you! Us....I.... um” she started to fumble her words while her blush grew. I carefully leaned down and planted a small little kiss on her forehead and smiled.

“I will see you at eight o'clock for our dinner date Derpy” I simply said which got her to calm down.

“Yes! Well, I will see you then. See you then! Bye!” she responded with before flying out and away. 

“Well I better be heading as well, don't want you three to be late. I will see you girls later!” I quickly said before speeding along to the schoolyard. I vaguely remember where it was when I walked around town the past few times. Thankfully the three of them acted as my GPS cause I took a wrong turn twice but got back on track the next second. Withing a minute or so I saw the big red schoolhouse coming up and decided to put on the speed. 

And just like that we found ourselves standing in front of the school! Though I think I may have gone a bit too fast cause the three of them looked like they just got out of a wind tunnel with smiles on their faces. But once I put them on the ground they shook it off and smoothed out their manes. 

“That was fun! I would not mind going to school like that everyday! What a rush!” Scootaloo excitingly said. 

“Defiantly! Well, we better head inside. See ya later Adrian!” Applebloom said.

“Ah! There you girls are, I was starting to wonder where you ran off to for lunch” I heard a new voice call out. Looking up I saw a purple colored mare walking up to us with a two-toned light pink mane color and a trio of flowers for a cutie mark. At first she only looked at the trio of fillies but then she noticed my large shadow and finally looked up at saw me smiling down at her. “Whoa! Oh my, sorry about that. I did not see you there” she apologized.

“No problem, I have not been in town for a while. Just got back today and these three wanted to welcome me back personally. Sorry if they are late at all” I apologized this time. 

“Oh no, they still have a few minutes but I like to be a little early in afternoon attendance and when I saw them missing I was simply curious. So, you must be the being from another world we have all heard about. The hyomun?” she said.

“Am I already that famous? And that was not quite right, I am a hue-min. Human. And my name is Adrian Frost. Nice to meet you” I explained as I bent down on one knee. 

“Hue-hue...humin. Human! How wonderful, I love learning new things! And my name is Miss Cheerilee! I am honored to finally meet you and you are not really famous per say, it is just these three have been talking about you non-stop” she playfully eyed the three who all grinned. 

“Ah, I see. Well knowing these three it was all good things since I would never show my bad side to these silly little things. It was nice meeting you Miss Cheerilee, I should probably get going” I said to her. 

“Oh! Mr. Frost! Wait a moment, I am actually wondering if you might want to stay and introduce yourself to my class! You see, even though you have been the talk of the school house and only with nice things, a few students have been a little worried and kinda scared about such a.... imposing figure such as yourself. All the talk about your giant height and magical abilities and such” she explained.

“Oh, I had no idea! Well, since you asked I would be happy to introduce myself. I would hate to think that anypony would find me scary” I said.

“Most wonderful news! Alright girls, head inside first and don't say anything. Mr. Frost, stand outside and wait until I call for you then come in and introduce yourself then just follow my lead. Alright?” she instructed.

I nodded in acknowledgment. With that the CMC rushed inside while giggling and were shortly followed by Miss Cheerilee, she began by taking attendance before clearing her throat “Now class, today we have a special guest speaker today. He is one of Ponyvilles newest residents and I am sure you all have been curious about him ever since his arrival. Well as luck would have it he stopped on by and I asked him to introduce himself to you all. So lets give a warm Ponyville welcome to Mr. Adrian Frost, the human!” she loudly stated and was soon followed by the sound of hooves clicking together. 

At first I almost bonked my head against the doorway but once I bent over and slowly walked in I found that I had to kneel in order to fully extend my body. So once I got on my knees I smiled and waved hello to the now quiet class who were staring at me. 

“He-hello everyone. As Miss Cheerilee said, my name is Adrian Frost and I am a human being from another world. I heard that a few of you were a bit worried and scared about me and I just want to show you that I would never think of hurting any single of you. So if you want to ask me any sort of question, please feel free” I finished my introduction but I still saw that they were all staring at me. 

“Wow, he is tall”

“Look at his mane, how bizarre”

“Can he really do magic?”

“Look at his eyes, they are so cool!” 

“Yeah, he is not as scary as I thought”

I heard other similar whispers starting to spread and they seemed to be loosening up and were probably close to talking.

“Hah, I always knew he would not be scary. In fact, he looks kinda funny! Like a hairless monkey!” I saw a small filly say with a tiara on her head. At this another filly beside her that had glasses on started to snicker and I heard two more snickers coming from the back. 

“Diamond Tiara! That is a very rude and inappropriate thing to say to our guest! Now you apologize right this second!” Cheerilee said in a teacher voice.

“Why should I? I am only stating the obvious! Right Silver Spoon?” Diamond Tiara said and the one next to her started nodding in agreement. 

“Diamond Tiara! Enough, I am telling you to apologize right this instant” Cheerilee tried again. 

“Fine.... I am sorry hairless monkey” Tiara said with a smirk which got the other three to snicker again. Ok, I am usually pretty good with bullying but for some reason she is really ticking me off. 

“Hey! Don't talk about our friend that way!” Sweetie Bell yelled.

“Yeah! Why you always gotta be such a jerk anyway?!” Scootaloo said next. 

“Ha! Makes sense for this freak to be friends with you blank flanks. Hey, I wonder if I give it a banana it might do some tricks for us” Tiara said. Ok, enough is enough. Time to take matters into my own hands. 

I slid onto my feet and even though I had to bend, I made sure I stood up to my full height as I loomed over her desk, which happened to by at the very front. At this all her haughty language and snickering friends became silent and you could taste the suspense in the air. 

“Wh-what do you want? Y-y-you monkey?” Tiara tried to sound impressive but failed miserably. I slowly reached down and picked her up by the scruff of her neck, like a cat, and I walked back to the where I was and sat down. Next I lifted a knee up in order to place her down on it, her head facing the door. Watching my strength, I slightly raised my hand and I began to spank her multiple times. 

The whole class, Miss Cheerilee included, watched the spectacle with their mouths open while they stared. I continued to spank her until I saw her backside starting to turn a very light shade of red, at that I gave one more good smack before I picked her up like before and gently placed her back in her seat. Soon as I did that I returned to my kneeling position and smiled again.

“My deepest apologies Miss Cheerilee, but back on Earth when a child starts acting up and makes a scene, parents usually give their child a spanking but in lieu of them doing it I took up the mantle and gave her the appropriate punishment. I apologize again if I broke any rules or code of conduct” I sincerely apologized and gave a slight bow. “Also, normally this punishment would go for any and all children who follow such behavior. However I think they got the point, would you other three agree?”

The other three who snickered nodded their head furiously, before adjusting their posture to sit up as much as they could and placed both hooves on the table. However the whole class became silent again after that, that is until I heard a colt speak up in something of a British accent. “Heya! Sir Adrian! Could ya show us some of ya magic please?” 

“Sure!” I quickly responded. Gathering that feeling again inside, I willed up some dragon fire and spit out a very small and controlled fire ball which I caught in my hands. Next up in my other hand I summoned a few small pillars of lighting, after which I tossed the fire ball in the middle of my hands and caught it using the lightning. Using both hands to control the static charge, I used it to change the size of the fire from large to small and did a few tricks. For my final trick I tossed it up while killing the lightning and when it came back down I clapped my hands together, putting out the fire and sending a ring of smoke across the whole class. 

When I opened up my hands again, the smoke was still rising from my hands for a few seconds then nothing was left. Once again I was met with silence, not even the CMC were clapping (though to be honest, I think they were still awestruck with Tiaras spanking), that was until I saw Silver Spoon start to clap with her hooves, not even a second later the entire class was in an uproar and shouting compliments and how cool that was and other similar things. Looks like I made a good impression after all.


---------- 2 ½ Hours Later ----------


“Sweetie Bell! Applebloom! I hope you are all ready to go!” I heard Rarity call out as she looked around for them.

“Over here! Over here!” Sweetie Bell called out as she hung onto my arm. 

“My goodness, what in the world are you all doing outside of..... class” Rarity slowed her speech down when she came behind the school and saw that I was slowly spinning nine kids on my arms, shoulders, and head like a helicopter. After my little presentation, at first it was a ton of Q&A about where I was from and yadda yadda, soon as that was over it somehow become recess for the rest of school and I was the jungle gym. Well, mainly thanks to Sweetie, Scootaloo, and Applebloom since they wanted their usual spot while playing and the other kids started jumping on, which led to one thing then another and now here I am. 

But now that we were found all the other parents had started gathering up their kids who all said their goodbyes to me and told me how awesome it was to meet me and that they wish for me to come again soon. A lot of them were pretty fun to know, like Featherweight and Twist and especially Pipsqueak, the little pirate with a British accent. 

“And here you were, worried you would not be able to spend more time with Adrian” Rarity jested with a little smirk. 

Sweetie Bell replied with a sheepish grin and a slight blush to her cheeks but soon enough Applejack and Rainbow came by as well to pick up the CMC, who almost had to be dragged away cause they did not want to let me go. But a quick ear scratch later and they became quite easy to move. I would of gone with them but I decided to stick around and play with the rest of the kids until they were picked up. 

After another ten minutes, the last kids were picked up, save for a certain four who were having an in-depth discussion with Miss Cheerilee and their parents about their rude behavior in class in regards to me. I stuck around cause I wanted to talk to her as well, but as luck would have it her, the kids, and parents all came to me. 

“Hello there good sir, my name is Mr. Filthy Rich and I am Diamond Tiaras father and I want to offer my personal condolences to you. We know that she is not perfect and have been trying our best to straighten her out but I could not believe that she went so far this time. Words cannot express how sorry I am for my daughters actions” the stallion said. “Kids, I believe you all have something you want to say?”

Three of the four took a step forward and all said sorry to me, but surprisingly they all rushed up to me and started talking to me.

“That was amazing how you did that fireball and the lightning and the boom!” the bigger, green colt said who was called snips.

“Yeah! Like totally amazing dude!” the taller, skinnier one said named snails. 

“Yes, it was really cool to see you! To be honest, I kinda thought you were a some kind of monster but your really nice! I'm really sorry for laughing at you” Silver Spoon said with a sad face. 

“Yeah, were really sorry!” Snips repeated.

“Yeah, me too” Snails said last. 

They all looked down on the ground and kicked the dirt a bit. AH jeez, I am a big softie. I kneeled down and told them to climb up. They all eagerly rushed on and I spun them around a few times at a slightly faster speed and saw them all smiling and having fun. Silver Spoon was on my right shoulder and I bopped her nose real quick “Your more pretty when your not snickering” I told her which got her to smile even more and laugh. 

After a few more spins I gently put them on the ground and sent them back to their parents who thanked me and walked off, leaving only me, Miss Cheerliee, Diamond Tiara and her father. 

“Well Tiara?” Mr. Rich asked her. But she looked away and pouted. Man, she is a stubborn one alright. Hmmm, what could I do? Ah, maybe I could try this! 

I scooted a bit closer before I slowly lowered myself to the ground and sat cross legged. This caught Tiaras attention but she backed up a bit while I remained still with a smile on my face. “Hey Diamond Tiara, I am sorry that I spanked you but you were being very rude to me and saying I was a hairless monkey was a mean insult to say. What I did was not meant to hurt you or embarrass you. It was just meant to teach you a lesson”

“You see, we have a saying on earth 'Treats other how you want to be treated', so when you treated me badly I simply treated you badly as well and showed you that it does not feel good to be treated that way. But did you see how your friend Silver Spoon apologized and I gave her a ride? That's because she was honest and truly sorry for what she did. So since she treated me nice I treated her nice. I like to think some things are just that simple. So how about it? Do you want a ride too?” I softly said to her. 

Once again she remained silent and stood back with her head to the side but I sat still with a smile and I extended my hand out a little bit, hoping she would take it. After a few more seconds she slowly tip toed over to me and followed my hand back to me where she sat in front of me and gathered her words. “I..... I am sorry...... Adrian” she quietly said. I simply smiled and petted her mane a little bit which surprised her but I think she liked it. After I stopped she continued to sit there but she began stuttering something under her breath. 

“Sorry, I didn't quite catch that” I said to her.

She nervously looked around for a second before she spoke up and uttered “C-c-can I have a ride t-too?” 

Dawww, she can be pretty cute as well when she is not being rude bully. With that I used my two hands to gently pick her up and held her in front of me as I spun her around, it took only two full spins before I got her laughing as well. So I continued to spin her around for a few more turns before I returned her to the ground, though with a disappointed groan. But she ran back to her dad and said she was ready to go home.

Her dad walked over to me and wanted me to come closer to talk privately “So, uh, quick question. Do you babysit?” he asked just loud enough to where Diamond heard. 

“DAD!” she said in embarrassment just before she stormed off and with him rushing after her. I could not help but laugh a little and was soon joined by Miss Cheerilee. 

“Well Mr. Frost, I do believe you were a resounding success today and this will surely help quell any bad rumors about you” she said to me.

“I think so too and please, just Adrian. Mr. Frost sounds a bit too formal here” I told her.

She giggled a bit “Sure thing Adrian” she replied.

“Hey, Miss Cheerilee. I do want to apologize if I did accidentally cross any boundaries or anything with what I did to Diamond Tiara” I said to her.

But she simply shook her head no and smiled up at me “As a teacher, yes I wish that the situation could have been resolved in another matter. But as a mare, I think what you did was right for a.... ahem..spoiled brat...ahem such as her. That and I think what you did and said might of gotten through just a little bit. So thank you for, well, behaving in a civil manner about it” she said back to me.

“No problem, I had fun today meeting and playing with them all. Hopefully once I get a house and a job I can come back and play with them again, if that is alright with you of course” I explained. 

“I would love it if you came back, though next time we shall have to schedule it so that way the afternoon lesson does not turn into recess again” she told me in a knowing manner. I nervously chuckled in response.

“Will do, will do. Well I better get going then, I will see you arou-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I started screaming when I felt my body being easily lifted off the ground and began soaring through the air. “Ah come on! Now what?!” I yelled out. But in response was a chuckle I had not heard in a long while. Uh oh. 


---------- 3 PM, Ponyville Schoolhouse ----------


“Oh dear, that certainly is not good. I should report to Princess Twilight about this. Poor Adrian, what a busy day he is having on his first day back” I said to myself as I watched Adrian being flown off by Discord. I better grab my umbrella on the way to the castle, just in case.
> I Am Human, You Are Discord, And She Is Chaos
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


---------- 4 PM, Adrians Room ----------


I have no clue as to what my face looks like right now but I am pretty sure it is a completely new look I probably invented in response to what just happened. The Discord Look. Cause it is because of Discord that I look like this now, just a mass of pure confusion and thoughts full of chaos. And sitting all nice and cozy in my lap is a strange multicolored and patterned egg that said God of Chaos gifted unto me. 

Oh and said egg was now shaking and wiggling around, getting ready to hatch. 

Worst. Apology. Ever.


---------- 1 Hour Ago, Middle Of Nowhere ----------


“DISCORD?! WHAT IN BLAZES ARE YOU DOING?” I shouted at the top of my lungs at the familiar scary feeling of being flown through the sky, legs dangling while the clouds rush past my face. 

“Why my boy! I am simply taking you somewhere where we can talk in private! Oh look! You can see Celestias old castle from here!” Discord calmly said while he pointed down with his tail...hand...fluff....thing. Ignoring the weirdness for just a second I followed where he was pointing, I saw an old, ruined castle sitting alone in the middle of the Everfree Forest. I wonder what happened?

“Well what happened was that dear little Luna became jealous of everypony praising Celestia and her Sun while they all ignored and slept through the night and blah blah blah. So she went evil, turned into Nightmare Moon and tried to beat Celestia but failed and became banished to the moon for a thousand years. A little under dramatic for my taste. I would of fired her out of a cannon to the ice moon of Klepto!” he happily explained. But how did he know I wanted to know what happened?

“Oh my dear boy, I can read minds of course! Though Fluttershy has made me promise to cut down on it cause it makes others nervous and distrustful. Hmmm, probably not a good idea for me to do so since I am trying to apologize to you” he explained again.

“Apologize?” I asked just loud enough.

“Later dear boy, later. Much to busy up here in the clouds to talk. Ah ha! Perfect! Please keep your hands and legs inside the cart while we prepare to land. Air Discord out!” he said. He made it sound like a mix between a roller coaster ride and a plane preparing to land. But just as he said, we ever so slightly curved downward and plummeted to the ground at high speeds. He is trying to kill me!

“GAHHHH!” I hollered out in fear. I looked up to try and talk some sense into him but he had his eyes closed and was laughing up a storm. OH MY GOD I AM GOING TO DIE! I shut my eyes and waited for the inevitable.

SPLOOT

Ok, now this is weird. I still had my eyes closed but now instead of feeling and hearing the wind bombard me, I heard nothing but silence while I felt something slimy touch all over my body. Taking a moment to make sure my heart was not about to explode, I slowly opened my eyes, only to see that I was surrounded by something green, slimy, and jiggly. I also realized that I could breathe normally, though the substance instantly filled in my mouth the second I opened my mouth to breath. 

Wait. It tastes just like lime. HOLD ON A SECOND. Green jiggly slime that tastes like lime? HE FRIGGEN MADE A LIME JELLO LANDING PAD?!?! 

I am not amused. Not in the slightest. But before my scowl could fully form, I heard a loud slurping sound and soon the jello around me disappeared before I heard a pair of lips smacking behind me. Turning around, I saw that it was Discord smacking his green stained lips with a content smile on his face. “Ah, nothing hits the spot better than green jelly!” he declared.  

I said nothing as I glared at him. I simply had no words for this but I still wanted to get my point across. So I let my eyes do all the talking, which apparently worked cause I saw his skin-fur tingle and stand on edge. “Burrrrrrr! Now, what is with that chilling gaze? Don't tell me you don't like lime?! Hmmm, maybe you are more of a strawberry kind of stallion?” he said in all seriousness. 

“Strawberry banana actually, but that is besides the point! What in the world do you think you are doing? Kidnapping me then giving me a heart attack?! I have not seen you since the Crystal Empire and this is how you greet me!?” I loudly stated in a frustrated tone. 

“Hehe, yes. I do apologize for that. I am not the best at friendly interactions, another lesson Fluttershy has been trying to teach me. But for a while I was trying my best to think of the best way to contact you but after two whole days of thinking I threw all those plans away and just decided to do what I do best. Chaos!” Discord explained. 

I felt my eye twitch for only a second before I dragged my hands across my face and sighed. “So, what is it you want?” I asked with an irritated voice this time.

“Ah, straight to the point! I like that!” he said. But instead of continuing on in a happy fashion, he slumped over a bit and adopted a sad look on his face, while he twiddled with his mismatched thumbs. “I actually want to apologize to you Adrian. If you are willing to listen to this old fool”

Hmmm, interesting. He certainly seemed serious in his proposal and though he is the master of chaos, I feel like I can trust him in this moment of calmness. So I internally braced myself for anything before nodding my head. He smiled a little before he cleared his throat “Adrian, I really am terribly sorry for.... well everything I suppose. I truly had no idea that something like that would of happened”

“I was honestly shocked to see such a reaction occur and I felt afraid, something I had not felt since Tirek took away my magic and my previous incarcerations. I have been wanting to speak to you but after being talked and yelled at by Twilight, Cadence, Luna, and Tia I wanted to give you space. So I began to stew in my thoughts and one thing led to another and here I am”

“I thank you for not informing Fluttershy yet about this ordeal, I think she would have been very upset and hurt to hear about you and what I did. I hope you can forgive this old troublemaker” Discord concluded by sticking out his clawed hand. I think I surprised him again by almost instantly taking his hand in my own and gave it a firm shake. 

“Don't be so shocked Master of Chaos, I had already forgiven you a while ago. And like I told everyone else, I was the one who agreed to the idea and allowed you to use your magic on me. I trusted Celestia and everyone else, so I was sure that you did not do that intentionally. Yes I was greatly surprised and maybe a little mad originally but I think that would be natural if something of that magnitude happened to anyone else. I am very happy though that you found me, cause I had been wanting to talk about all that and tell you my thoughts” I said to him.

“I see” was all he said before he began to stroke his beard. His eyes examined me top to bottom a few times before he bursted out into laughter. “You truly are a mysterious being Adrian. No wonder they all like you”

I don't know why but I could not help but grin at the compliment “It is an honor for the Lord of Chaos to compliment me” I said to him as I did a quick little bow. At this we both bursted out into a laughing fit for a few minutes. I had to wipe my eyes to get the tears out before I regained my normal composure. “Hey Discord, do you have the time?”

Discord stuck his lion pawed finger into his mouth, before sticking the now saliva coated digit into the air and hummed. “Goodness me, it is already four thirty! Time flies when you are being nice!” he informed me. 

Ignoring how that told him the time, I said “Well, I think we should probably be heading back soon. Before Twilight and the gang come looking for me since Miss Cheerilee probably has already informed them of what you did”

“Good point. But before that, I want to present to you a gift as a way to solidify our new friendship!” Discord happily exclaimed. But as I was going to ask what it was, he quickly swooped up next to me and simultaneously plucked a piece of my long, white hair and pricked my finger, getting a small bit of blood on his talon. 

“Ow! What the heck-” I tried to say but he ignored me as he summoned a small black cauldron, placing my hair and blood inside, and began to stir with a wooden spoon. Then with a snap of his fingers, the boiling pot was replaced with a chocolate bar that strangely looked like me. Ok now this is getting weird. 

But once again, just as I was going to ask he suddenly threw the chocolate mini-me into his mouth and swallowed it whole. Ok, enough is enough. “Um. Discord? What in Equestria was that all about?” I asked with a highly confused face. 

His response was to give me a wink with a finger held up to his mouth, as to shush me, while his other hand sat on top of what I am guessing is his belly. A minute went by in silence before I saw his stomach expand a little and with every passing second the bump grew and grew. Finally when it had grown to the size of a beach ball, it had stopped growing but the weirdness continued.

Next I saw Discord summon a large, empty bird nest, which he flew to and squatted in a weird position. He began to grunt, pant, and whimper at whatever he was doing, and much to my surprise yet again I saw in the next few moments a medium sized egg simply appear right where he was squatting. It just dawned on me that I literally just witnessed him laying an egg. 

My face was askew in confusion once more, in a fashion that made Discord laugh out loud. He then gently picked up the again and cradled it in his arms before flying over to me in order to hand it to me. Now, I am a man that is not prone to swearing but the weirdness factor has just crossed the line. “Ok, Discord. What in the ever living fuck just happened?” I sternly asked him. 

“Now now Adrian! This is a time of celebration! And Congratulations! You are the father of our future daughter!” Discord said with a happy smile on his face. “Now I know what you are thinking, how could I possibly know our new child is a girl? Well because when I took in your DNA I thought about how a female would think and feel giving birth, so that thought process of female thinking went into the making and out popped a girl! That and it says so here on the bottom” he informed me by softly turning the egg down and pointed to the small engraving in the bottom that said 'Female Egg'

“Now, now I know what you are thinking again what could be more important than this? Why her name of course! Now, lets see here. Pandora? Nah, already done. Illusion? Eh, sounds more like a Princes name. Eris! No, no, no. Sounds like she should have a wand or something. Hmmm. Don't worry Adrian, I know your thoughts are swirling around like a Maelstrom about her name....” he stopped just as a bell starting ringing over his head.

“Maelstrom! A perfect name for my little chaotic daughter! Oops, I mean our little chaotic daughter! Now, lets get you back to your house. I want her to hatch in a homely environment” Discord concluded as he snatched me up and held me in his arms while I in turn held the egg in my arms. The ride back was a slow and silent one as I tried to piece my shattered mind back together.


---------- 4:15 PM, Adrians Room ----------


I continuously stared at the wiggling egg in my lap, mainly at the new engraving which read 'Maelstrom' on the front, which Discord put there after he dropped me off in my room using his magic to write it with his talon. This is a nightmare, it has to be. I mean, I get that his name is Discord and he likes causing Chaos and disorder, but no one would be that crazy to literally make a child at the drop of a hat and just give it away. Right?

So I gave my arm a hard couple of pinches, which hurt, so that implied that this was not a dream and that Luna was not going to glide it to comfort me. Which also means that sitting in my lap is the egg which holds my future daughter, whose parents are a human from another world and the Lord of Chaos. OH GOD. Does that mean I am the dad and he is the mom? A mom-dad? Dad-mom? UGH. Wait! That is not important, what am I going to do about this?!

I can't be a dad! I am not ready for that kind of responsibility! Discord is a lousy friend, who just gives birth to solidify a new found friendship?! I am not even going to think about how that worked in the first place. Oh man, what do I do? What do I do?! WHAT DO I DO?!?

CRACK.... CRACK.... HISS

Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! OH no, no! NO! This is not happening! Oh gods! Please Luna! Nightingale! SOMEONE PLEASE WAKE ME UP! 

POP

And like that, the egg shell seemed to just explode and shatter noiselessly against the walls before fading into thin air. I had shut my eyes immediately after I heard the pop, as to try and maintain what little sanity I have left before gazing upon the abomination that is now sitting in my lap. What do I do now? I can't just get up and leave it alone, as if it is trash to throw away. I could feel the surging of magic and emotions swirling around inside of me again, almost as bad as when I learned the truth about my mother. 

I gladly would of gone my entire life without having to feel this again, but here it is, tormenting me once more. My tightly shut eyes began to tear up as I tried my best to ignore the creature which, at the moment, I had no problem doing since my mind was going blank and my emotions overflowed out of my body. I had no idea how to even rationally think about this, I felt like I was standing on the edge of a mountain, trying to balance myself between firm ground of sanity and the bottomless ravine of insanity and fear below. 

My eyes starting leaking more and more tears, which fell down off my face and probably sprinkling the little thing below me, sitting patiently in my lap. I could not help but cry out into the open now as my voice gave way to the pain I was feeling. So I just stopped thinking about everything and just focused on good memories, the times with Cadence, my welcome to Ponyville party, the concert, and any other time I was laughing and smiling with those strange and mysterious ponies. 

It helped me stitch myself back together, piece by piece, and within a minute or so I no longer felt like a balloon ready to pop. But something greatly surprised me, when I began to sniffle I felt something soft, almost like a paw, gently pat my face and I heard a sad little whimper call out. Forgetting for a moment the reason why I closed my eyes, I opened my eyes back up to see what the soft paw and whimper belonged to.

What I saw in front of me was not a small little abomination or a tiny, freaky creature that would make the town run away in terror. Instead I saw a tiny little ball of fur with legs, and tail, and a pair of pretty eyes that stared at me. Her body had yellow fur that ran all the way back to her back hooves, but stopped at her tail, front legs, and head. Her head fur blended at the neck with yellow but gave way to a gray color like Discords own head.

However, her head seemed more like a foals and she had two little brown stubs adorned on top which was almost covered up by her white colored mane that led down to the small mohawk that led down the back of her head and neck. Her right front leg looked like that of a dragons, a small purple claw while her left front leg, which was still pawing at my cheek, looked like a lions paw but with red fur. Her small tail was exactly like Discords but was colored a dark blue with a white tuft on the end. She also had a matching pair of folded up wings on her back, but I could not tell what kind of wings they are.

Finally her eyes, her pretty eyes were what struck me the most, mainly because they looked familiar. They were a weird combination of Discords yellow eye with my ice blue irises, but she had big eyes that stared at me lovingly with concern. It was like she already knew how I felt and was trying to comfort me. What really struck me now though was that I saw her own eyes start to water, she was about to start crying along with me.

So without thinking I quickly wiped my eyes clean before gently cupping her small face and used my thumbs to wipe clear her own tears. This seemed to of worked since she went back to simply staring at me with her pretty eyes. I stared back as I ran my eyes over her form over and over again, I saw all the different parts of her did not think it was weird, ugly, freaky, or a horrid affront to nature. She was beautiful.

That one word invaded my mind and replaced all the negative thoughts and fears that only moments ago smothered my brain. This small little thing was beautiful and she was my daughter. 

“GASP” I suddenly said out loud after I thought that. This beautiful little thing was my daughter, this bizarre and small creature was my daughter. I smiled. I smiled as I suddenly felt happy and giddy declaring that she was my daughter, heck I might have been floating off the ground for all I cared. What made it even better was after I smiled and stroked her cheeks a bit with my thumbs, she gave a tiny little smile in return and giggled.

I could not hold her back anymore, so I slowly wrapped my hands around her in order to bring her up to my neck and gently hugged her against me. I felt her small hands grasp the sides of my neck just as she began to nuzzle me, I even saw her tail slightly swing back and forth. Alright, I guess I can forgive Discord for this one as well. BUT that does not mean I am not going to give him hell when I see him again. 

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

“Adrian? Are you in there?” I suddenly heard Twilight ask on the other side of the door. 

I felt Maelstrom cringe a bit and she curled up into my neck a little. Instantly I brought a hand up and began to pet her, which helped but she still shook a bit. So I did my best to twist my head over to kiss her cheek, that calmed her down immediately as she stopped shaking but she remained curled up. Deciding that is the best I can do for now, I held her in one hand while I stood up and faced the door. 

“Yes, I am. Come in Twilight but calmly” I said to her. I did not want her to smash the door open and frighten Maelstrom. Thankfully she did not slam open the door, instead she quietly opened the door and walked in though she already saw the little one on by my neck.

“Thank goodness your safe. When Miss Cheerilee said Discord grabbed and flew you away, I assumed the worst. I do trust him, but I still worry when he does... anything” Twilight said to me. “The rest of the girls are downstairs, worrying about you”

“I see, well I better not hold them up. But can you go first and tell them not to panic or make loud noises and just stay calm? I do not want them to scare her” I told her. 

“Her? Who is she anyway? She kinda looks familiar” Twilight said back.

“All in good time Twilight, it would be easier to say in front of you all” I said. So Twilight nodded her head yes before heading out the door, going downstairs. Once she left I gently pulled Maelstrom down from my neck and cradled her in my arms. She was just a little bit smaller than Sweetie Bell but still just as adorable and probably a little more, only cause she is my daughter. 

I wanted to make her laugh again before heading down, so I flicked my finger over her belly fluff and sure enough, she was giggling ever so sweetly again. So while I walked I continued to play with her belly until she softly grabbed it, along with the rest of my hand and snuggled up against it with a content look on her face. It is not fair that almost every creature here can be so cute!

So with her all snuggled up, I slowly made my way down into the library where the six of them patiently and thankfully calmly awaited, though they all homed in on Maelstrom with their eyes. 

“Adrian, oh thank goodness you are alright. I mean, I knew that Discord would never hurt you but he has poor impulse controls from time to time. So when we all heard that Discord took off with you, well I could not help but worry” Fluttershy said first. The other nodded in agreement.

“Well I am happy to say that nothing bad happened, he simply wanted to apologize about something he accidentally did to me back in the Crystal Empire” I simply said.

“Well thank goodness darling. With Discord anything could happen! But now I am curious, who is that cute little thing in your arms deary?” Rarity asked.

I took a quick look at Maelstrom who happily looked back up at me while she continued to cuddle with my hand. How am I going to explain you? Heck, I was there and I still don't know how it happened. “Ummmmm........ well, ah lets see. I...... alright. I have no idea how to properly explain it, since I don't even know. So I will simply tell you the short and confusion version”

“Basically, Discord got a piece of my hair and some blood, boiled them into a piece of chocolate that looked like me, ate it whole, became pregnant and went full term in a matter of minutes, laid an egg and told me that the egg was our daughter, said egg hatched fifteen minutes later and gave birth to my daughter, Maelstrom. And that's it!” I quickly explained to them all. Good news was that I now knew exactly how The Discord Look looked when I did it earlier. Bad news was I think I broke them. My life in a nutshell. 

Minutes rolled by and the only sound to breach the silence of the library was the playful giggles of Maelstrom who was playing with my hand. Glad to know that at least one of us is taking the news well. Twilight finally took a step forward and had to physically close her gasping mouth so she could talk “For the moment, I am putting all Discord related questions to the side, except for one. With this child being born from the two of you, does that mean you two will be together or what?” she asked.

“I do not believe so, he told me that he wanted to give me a gift as to solidify our new friendship and then all that happened. But believe me Twilight, whenever he decides to come back, I will be giving him a large piece of my mind and more. But now I wonder how Derpy will react to this” I sadly responded as I began to think on that last part. How would Derpy react? We just got together and now all of a sudden I have a child?! It almost sounds like a crappy soap opera plot yet it is reality. 

It seems at this new thought the others snapped out of their stupor and began thinking on how Derpy will react. “Maybe she will be cool with it?” Rainbow Dash suggested out of the blue. 

“Cool wit' it? How in tarnations will Derpy be 'Cool wit' it' Rainbow Dash?” Applejack retorted. 

“Well I mean, she obviously loves the big guy here right? So why would she be any different now that he had a magical kid? I mean, yeah I think some times would change but I don't think Derpy is the type of mare to dump him over something like this” Rainbow explained. 

Wow, that was actually insightful and thoughtful of her. I think Tartarus just froze over. Heh, that little fact still freaks me out that their version of Hell actually exists and you can actually go in and out of there. Well, not easily and not normally, but still. 

“She is right, I don't think Derpy would just up and dump you but I still think you should approach this situation with delicacy and tact. You should probably head over a little early and talk to her, this sort of conversation is not really one you should have over dinner” Twilight informed me. 

“Yes, I think that would be best” I said before I let out a tired sigh and slumped on the closest couch. 

“Everything al' right partner?” Applejack worryingly asked. 

“I dunno, I am happy that I have a daughter and all but I just sort of wished life changing events would stop for a while. I don't even have a house or a job or anything yet in one day I have a marefriend and a kid! I am just waiting for my head to explode into a million bits with information overload on top of everything else” I tiredly said. 

I heard the soft whoosh of wings flying over before I felt a hoof gently tap my leg. Looking up I saw Fluttershy sitting there with her kind smile “I don't know how to properly say I know this, since I have never been in any of these sort of situations before, but I think everything will work out in the end Adrian. You are a kind, brave, and strong pony, Adrian and you have so many friends surrounding you who I am sure would gladly help you with anything. So just keep your head up high and just continue being your wonderful self” she happily stated. 

I could not help but happily grin at the shy, little pegasus with such a kind and warming heart. I quickly leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead, which of course made her blossom red and squeaked a bit. “Thank you Fluttershy, I think that was exactly what I needed to hear” I said to her. She recovered pretty quickly and retook her place by the other girls. “Alright, well next thing I need to worry about is what to feed her. Do any of you know what, well whatever Discord eats?” I asked.

Four of five of them shook their heads no, the six head was Pinkies who was still frozen in place with The Discord Look. “I know that Discord usually eats whatever I eat whenever he comes over to visit but I do not know if a baby eats the same. You could probably ask Mr. and Mrs. Cake what they feed their two baby foals” Fluttershy suggested. 

“Good idea, that works out well actually since I should probably drop Pinkie off their and hope she recovers from shock” I said. The other agreed and so with Maelstrom curled up in one arm and Pinkie tucked up in the other I made my way out to Sugarcube Corner. It took only a brisk seven to eight minute walk to get to the giant Gingerbread bakery store while the whole town looked over to the bizarre spectacle their newest resident, aka Me, was doing with a strange creature in arm and a paralyzed Pinkie in the other. 

Thankfully the only bad thing to happen was me bumping my head on the upper door frame while entering the bakery. Once inside I was greeted warmly by who I assumed was Mrs. Cake, since she looked exactly how Pinkie described her, who asked what she could do for me today. 

“Hello Mrs. Cake, well I am here to drop off a sweet package who is currently stuck in place due to shock” I said while pointing at Pinkie. The mare simply gave a light laugh at seeing the pink party pony like this, guess she is used to her shenanigans. 

“Just place her in the back kitchen dearie, that usually does the trick after a few minutes” Mrs. Cake instructed. So I quickly placed her in the kitchen and went back out front to ask my question.

“Also, I have a question about this little one here in my arm. Basically due to Discord messing around, she was created and became my daughter. Since I know nothing about feeding a baby, let alone a foal from your world, I was hoping that you could give me some helpful tips and advice” I said to her.

“Oh my goodness! Well I would be happy to then! Here, could you watch the front for a few minutes while I go and write down a list of everything. You will probably need it dearie” the older mare explained. So I agreed to watch the front, with a quick tutorial on prices and how to run everything of course, while she did created the foal-to-do list. 

Ten minutes and twenty customers later, Mrs. Cake came back with what looked like a ten page list and took back the front desk. “Here we are! I listed everything I could think off, from changing diapers to when they accidentally shoot fire from their horn to when they fly and get stuck on the ceiling. Also all the food they should eat and when. Though I am not sure if your little one is meat eater or not, but I did my best to compensate with that in mind. If you do need meat then the specialty shop down the way will be the best way to order some. And you have any other questions, then don't be afraid to ask!” she told me.

My throat felt very dry and no matter how many times I swallowed my spit, it would not go away. “It is normal to be totally nervous and have cold feet all of a sudden?” I nervously asked. 

“Yes it is dearie, especially if it is unexpected parenthood. But you just have to remember that when times are rough and you feel like giving up, you have to find any sort of strength hidden inside to push yourself forward. Foals need their parent and/or parents to help them, without us they will die and it would be no ponies fault but our own for neglecting them. But most importantly, be sure to always give them love. Love is the one thing that will hold a family together” Mrs. Cake explained to me. 

I let out a few nervous breaths before smiling “Thank you Mrs. Cake, I will be sure to do my best to raise her. I just hope I will be a good father to her” I said.

“I am sure you will, from all I have heard from Pinkie and the other girls, I think you will be an excellent father. But like I said, if you ever have a question or need anything, please come talk to me” she said.

“I will, well better go back to the castle and ask Twilight for help in getting this list of items together. Sorry again for sending Pinkie into shock and thank you for everything” I said to the older mare. With that we waved each other goodbye and I headed back to the castle with my little bundle in my arms. I wonder if I will ever have a normal day around here?


---------- 20 Minutes Later, Canterlot Castle: Royal Throne Room ----------


“-and that is the last document for the day. Lucky for you Princess that today was a slow day. Is there anything either of you need of me while I am gone?” I asked the two Royal sisters who were sitting together. 

“Hmm, perhaps a nice cup of tea. Since it was a slow day today, I think some nice and relaxing tea would do wonders. How about you Luna?” Celestia informed me before asking Princess Luna.

“Tea sounds like a most excellent idea dear sister, that and perhaps a slice of cake!” Luna replied.

“I suppose we could. Raven, if you could please bring us some tea and two slices of cake and please grab something for yourself as well” Celestia asked of me.

“I would be delighted to Princess! Oh, looks like you have a letter as well!” I said as I saw the piece of parchment materialize in front of Princess Celestia. 

“Ah, it is from Twilight Sparkle. Let us see here. …...... Oh, it appears Adrian is doing well and he even asked out that mare he liked and they are having dinner with each other tonight! How wonderful!” Celestia happily exclaimed. 

“Tis most wonderful news indead dear sister! What else? What else?” Luna impatiently asked. 

“Lets see, oh it appears Discord found him and properly apologized and what is this last part?” Both Celestia and Luna peered over the content of the letter together while I properly organized the scrolls and prepared to have them delivered. But just as I was about to leave, I felt a strange feeling in the air. Looking up, I saw that the two of them were staring at the wall with shocked faces and twitching eyes while Celestia appeared to almost tare the letter in half. 

I was about to ask what was wrong when all of a sudden they both screamed at the top of their lungs in their Royal Canterlot voices. They said only one thing and it was a name that usually spelled trouble.

“DISCORD!!!”
> Is This How A Human Sleeps?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


---------- 6:45 PM, Adrians Room ----------


“Maelstrom! My hand is not a chew toy!” I painfully said. This was the third time now that she decided to use my hand as her teething material, just one of the many things I have recently learned in these past few hours. Other things include her being an omnivore like me, she is already capable of using her magic, she can fly, she absolutely refuses to leave my arms for any one else, and she is an adorable and utterly cute little ball of fur that loves to terrorize me. 

Oh and did you know that her droppings catch on fire and disappear within an instant? Yeah, that was fun to learn. But the bright side of that is now I don't have to learn how to change diapers now, so that's nice. As for her magic, Twilight told me that unicorn foals behave the same way and that their magic usually goes off until they learn how to control it, so just another thing I have to learn. I never knew having a daughter would be so much work and so much trouble. Go figure. 

But another positive note is that the one moment I had a break and was able to sit down, Artemis jumped up in my lap in order to inspect Maelstrom. I don't know what it is but for some reason they seemed to like each others company for they did not hiss and growl at all. Speaking of hissing, Maelstrom for the moment mostly makes cat-like sounds, except for her talking meows which sound like 'Mewp'. Which of course hammered another nail of cuteness into my heart, I really do think I will die in the future and my last words will me 'Awwwwwww'

So yeah, that wraps mostly everything up and now that nothing is on fire, she is not hissing, Twilight is not freaking out anymore (before and after sending a letter to someone), Maelstrom has been fed and gone to the bathroom, along with Artemis, and it looks like I will not be getting any new visitors anytime soon. I inhaled a fresh breath of air before gently flopping down in my bed, adjusting the little bundle of fur nestled in my arms so she was comfy and I just relaxed. 

I could just feel the minutes slowly tick by as I lay there, eyes closed, enjoying the sound of silence. Until I felt her squirm out of my arm cradle and took a few soft steps on my chest in order to lay down, then I felt a warm paw on my chin. Opening my eyes I saw my daughters eyes staring at me in wonder as she pawed at my chin just before she let out a little 'Mewp?'

I could not help but chuckle before softly petting her head, much to her delight as she smiled and leaned into my hand a bit. “Whatever am I going to do with you, my little Maelstrom?” I asked her. 

'Mewwwww' was all she replied with while she enjoyed being petted. Man, this is so weird at how calm I am taking all this in. I mean, I was freaking out earlier and on the verge of a panic attack, I think, and now here I am, gracefully lying on my bed, having a one sided conversation with my draconequus daughter. At least, I think that is her official race for now. 

And just as I was starting to feel relaxed, my brain suddenly starts thinking of her future and where it might lead. Her going to school, growing up, learning her magic and how to fly, will she be able to make friends? And now I am thinking of my new future as well, having to grow up with her and teach her everything in a world I don't fully know yet, on top of suddenly being in a relationship with a wonderful girl. Ugh, my brain hurts again. So I let out a tired and slightly frustrated sigh. 

'Mewp?' I heard her say again as she ever so slightly inched and slid her way forward. 

I decided to simply put on a smile while I gently scratched her chin “Sorry Maelstrom. Your papa is just letting the world and all its problems sit on his shoulders again” I softly said to her. We laid in silence again for another minute before I asked “Maelstrom?”

'Mew?' she replied.

“I don't know if you can understand me, but I want to promise you something. That even though I may not know what to do as a dad or am even capable of being one, I promise you that I will the best papa I can be for you. And I promise that I will do my best to make sure nothing ever happens to you, no matter what. Because I love you Maelstrom, my wonderful and beautiful daughter” I gently promised her in a slightly cracking voice. 

Thankfully she did seem to understand the importance of what I said for she pushed her front two legs down so her head was in the air and responded back with 'Mew mew!'. She then dive bombed back down in order to slink around and hug my neck, before nuzzling it with her fuzzy little head. 

“Good, glad to hear it. Now, I wonder what I should try and teach you as your first words. Maybe daddy! Or perhaps papa? Or maybe just dad would be easier? Hmmmmm...” I said out loud. Though I think it would be utterly cute to hear her say papa with her mewing voice. 

'Mewp' …... “pa?” I heard her say. Wait? What was that last thing?

“Pa.....pa” she said. No way, did she already understand what I was trying to get her to say? 

“Papa?” she asked with a bit of confusion. Oh my goodness!

I let out a happy and surprised gasp while simultaneously sitting up with her in my hands “Yes! Yes! Papa! Papa!” I said back.

“Papa! Papa!” she repeated again but now she said it clearly and joyfully as she waved her arms in excitement. 

“Yes! Yes! Good girl! Oh my, I have such a smart daughter! Barely three hours old and she has already called me papa! Ha ha!” I happily said while the two of us laughed and giggled together in our combined excitement. It was then I heard a third laugh coming from the door, so I quickly turned my head and saw that it was Twilight standing there, giggling away. 

“Well, it appears that you two have had a wonderful father daughter bonding moment. Eh, Papa Adrian?” Twilight playfully teased. But I found myself becoming slightly embarrassed when I heard her say Papa Adrian, so in turn my cheeks began to warm up. 

“Oh jeez, that sounds extremely embarrassing when you say it Twilight” I informed her. That of course got her to giggle some more. 

“Sorry, I just could not help myself. But I am surprised that she is already able to form words though. But since none of us know exactly the growth rate of draconequus, this maybe be normal. Though that could mean that she might grow up at an accelerated rate, in comparison to normal foals. Hehehe, guess this means you better enjoy the time with her now while she is still small Adrian” Twilight jokingly said.

To her it might of seemed innocent, but now I felt incredibly depressed knowing that what she said might be true. My face adopted a look that perfectly showed how sad that thought was and I replied with “Gee, thanks Twilight. Anything else you want to say to ruin my first happy moment as a new father?” 

“GASP! Oh my gosh, I am so sorry Adrian! I-I didn't mean it like that! I just.... I, what I meant was.... I mean.... ugh. I need to learn to think out my sentences first sometimes” Twilight groaned. 

But right away I heard Maelstrom start to giggle away again while she repeated her first word again and again, each time she did it made my smile bigger and bigger. “Dawww, I can't stay sad at this. And besides, she will always be my little girl forever and ever” I said before hugging my little girl. 

Twilight had started giggling again “Sorry again Adrian, I really did not mean for that to sound as bad as it did. Anyways, now that you are in a calm period, do you mind having a little chat with me?” she asked. I shook my head no and let her continue on. “Ok, now I know that you already have a lot on your mind about everything and with your dinner date with Derpy in about an hour, I just wanted to ask  if you know what you want to say to her about.... well about your sudden new child?”

“Yes and no. As for explaining how, I think just a simple version of events will do since she is probably not as familiar with Discord as you all are. As for everything after that..... I suppose most of it will depend on what she says. Even though I was not planning on it and may not be fully ready, I have a child now and I have to do my best to take care of her. Even if that means doing it alone, if she is not ready for that kind of commitment. Which I would not blame her, I think I would be kinda freaked out if I was in her shoes, er hooves” 

“So, I will just have to play it calmly and hope for the best I suppose. I wish for everything to work out in the end though since I have had enough stress and worry to last a lifetime already. But if I must, then I must. Is there any last minute tips you would suggest before I start to head over?” I explained and asked.

“Hmmmm, not really since you pretty already covered everything. Like you said, just take it slow and explain everything and wish for the best. Let me know if everything worked in the end when you come back, ok?” Twilight said with concern. 

“I will, now if you will excuse me I need to freshen myself up again before I head out. I will see you whenever I get back!” I said to her with a reassuring smile. She nodded and left my room, allowing me to spend the next few minutes juggling between holding Maelstrom and doing everything I needed to do in the bathroom. Once I was done, I quickly packed up a new bag that held a few bottles of milk, some fruits and veggies for her to snack on, and a few towels. A couple of diapers line the bottom just in case. 

With everything ready to go, I said goodbye to Twilight on my way outside and I quickly found the right path leading to Derpys house. It was currently seven o' five, so I had about an hour till I am suppose to meet but, with recent developments, I want to talk to her about all this before dinner. So with Maelstrom sitting cozy in the nook of my arm, I continued on my path. I was worried that I would have been the hot topic of town again but since it was starting to get dark out, there were fewer ponies out and about.

So with that small blessing, I went on ahead like everything was normal. 

“Adrian! Adrian!” I heard a voice call out from behind. Oh please. Please, please, please, please, PLEASE don't let this be another weird or life altering event again. Bracing myself for the worse, I turned around and saw that it was just Cheerilee was waving me down from what was probably her home. 

“Ah, Cheerilee! Just a second” I replied. I took a few quick back steps and found myself standing in front of her again.

“Adrian, oh thank goodness you are alight. Miss Twilight said not to worry but when it comes to Discord, you never know what could happen” she said to me. Oh Cheerilee, you have no idea just how right you are. “So, what did he want with you anyway?”

Oh boy, the million dollar question with the trillion dollar answer. Sigh. Guess I should just get used to telling the story. “Well, basically Discord wanted to make amends to something he accidentally caused. So we made up and when we did, he gave me a rather..... unusual present, as a token of our friendship” I said.

“Oh, I see. Well thank goodness it was nothing too serious” she replied. Oh, just wait Cheerilee, just you wait for this punchline. 

“I would not say that his, uh, 'gift' was him using his chaos magic to combine our DNA, which he then used to hatch an egg, which ended up giving birth to my new daughter Maelstrom here” I quickly explained while motioning to the silently gazing child. 

Yep, just as I thought. Now Cheerilee had The Discord Look on her face as well, amazingly though she was quicker to shake it off “A child?! Discords apology gift was to make a child and give it to you to raise!?” she exclaimed with great confusion. I simply nodded yes. “What are you going to do with it?”

“Well, I am going to raise her. She is my daughter after all, no matter how she was brought into this world” I explained to her. 

“I see, how very mature and responsible of you. Discord could learn a thing or two from you Adrian. So, do you need any help with her or have any questions I could answer?” she asked me.

“Not right now but thank you though. I already stopped by The Cakes place and Mrs. Cake gave me a short novel with notes, instructions, and many other various important information. But I think I will probably ask you about something in the future once I have some time” I said. 

“Most excellent Adrian, I am glad that you are already on the right track. I am so very proud of you. Well I will let you get back to whatever it is your doing. Good luck and congratulations, I suppose” Cheerilee said.

“Thank you, see you around town” I replied back while we waved goodbye. Phew, thank goodness it that was something simple. With how my luck is, I was expecting something far worse or something. But it looks like there are some normal ponies in town, which is good. Very, very good.

“Papa! Papa!” Maelstrom called out suddenly. While I maintained my bearings so as to not miss her house, I looked down to see her reaching out to me with her tiny hands and she seemed to smacking her lips. Lets see, I believe this means that she is hungry I think. So, let me grab her a bottle of milk and see if that is correct. 

Reaching down into my bag, I grabbed one of the bottles and pulled it out, it appears I was right for her eyes became fixated on it and now she tried to grab for it instead of me. Not wanting to deny her, I brought it down and gently held it slightly up for her while she hungrily drank. 

“I am glad you enjoy drinking milk, I was worried that a draconequus would need to eat and drink something totally else. Oh, careful, careful! Not too fast” I said before I readjusted the bottle and slowed it down. That was one of the things Mrs. Cake informed me off, to always be careful when they eat or drink since they can easily choke. Even with the slowed drink rate, she finished off the bottle soon enough and had a content and drowsy look on her face. 

'Mew. Mew mew m-urp!' she suddenly let out a cute little burp. After one more little burp she snuggled back into my arm and closed her small eyes. I don't think she is fully asleep just yet but at least I know she is getting tired, which is good since this means that her bodys sleep cycle is more or less like that of a normal foal or baby. 

Alright, quick look around and lets see...... ah ha! Just a few more steps and...here...I...am! Huzzah! I actually remembered correctly! I thought I was going to be that clumsy guy who accidentally walks past her house at least three to four times. I am already doing better than I anticipated! I quickly straightened my outfit out and took a deep, calming breath before I walked up the few steps leading to her house and knocked. 

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

“eep!” I barely heard a female voice call out from behind the door. At first I heard nothing but soon I heard a few bumps and smacks being made, followed quickly by them being cleaned up or put back. 

“Just a moment, sorry!” I heard her call out. Looks like she is still really nervous, so I waited at the door. Shoot! Now that I think about it, I should of bought some flowers or brought over a gift! Gah! This is our first date and I don't even bring her flowers! Awesome, I forget the flowers and instead I bring a child to our first date. Ack! 

I had to face-palm myself for that last thought cause it sounded absolutely terrible. 'Oh hey dear! Are you ready for our first big date to solidify our new relationship? Flowers? Nah. Chocolate. Nope. I brought with me my newly hatched magic child, made thanks to the help of Discord' UGH. Why can nothing ever be simple with me? I would of liked to have her take a long nap but when I tried to place her on the bed, she either cried and cried or simply teleported back into my arms. Hooray for magic babies. 

Finally I heard the door creak open and there she stood, bright eyed and cheery. Just as I always imagined her to be, I could not help but smile. “Hello Derpy, sorry that I am a bit early but I kinda wanted to come a bit sooner” I briefly explained. I could see her cheeks light up a bit but she smiled all the same. 

“I am so happy to see you again Adrian. To be honest, I was kinda hoping that you would of shown up early. Looks like that small wish came true, so thank you” she sweetly replied. I don't know what it was but as soon as she finished saying those words, I felt the butterflies in my stomach start to fly and made my whole body tingle. Almost like I am casting a spell but different. I think that this feeling is love, good, pure, and simple love for a girl who has stolen my heart. Everything else simply faded away in that one moment as I leaned all the way down and slowly kissed her warm cheek. 

“W-won't you come on in?” she offered. She stepped aside enough to let me through without me knocking her over as I slowly dipped inside her home for the first time. Taking a quick look around, it appeared that I was in her living room, a couch and a love seat occupied most of the area along with a book shelf and a small table. To the right were stairs leading up and straight ahead appeared to be the kitchen area.

It was a very simplistic living room, nothing too much other than a few plants here and there and a nick knack or two. But it was then I smelled a nice aroma wafting in from the kitchen, taking a good long sniff I was able to detect the faint smell of freshly washed greens. I looked down at Derpy so I could tell her “Dinner smells wonderful”

“You think so? Good! I was a bit nervous cause I did not know what sort of vegetables and fruits and other type of food you eat, so I kinda made a smorgasbord of all types of food. I hope you don't mind” she bashfully said.

“I am sure that whatever you make, will be an excellent meal Derpy” I told her. 

She bashfully looked away but I could tell she was smiling “Oh and I am sorry if my living room seems a bit bland to you. With my eyes the way they are, I crashed into almost everything and broke half of them. So I took a lot of things out and put them away until I got better. As you can see, I am still working on it” she explained. 

I kneeled down next to her, placing my hand on her head so I could scratch her ear with ease. “Don't worry about it. I didn't fall in love with you because of what you owned or bought. I fell in love with you and you alone and that is all I will ever need. Ok?” I simply stated. Once again my words left an impact on her cause while I could not see her face, I could tell she was blushing and smiling. 

“S-s-so Adrian, not that I mind of course, but what made you want to come over early?” Derpy said. 

“Ah. Um. First, lets go sit on the couch. The story is a bit of a doozy” I replied. We made our way over to the front and sat down next to each other, it was at this point that she finally saw the little ball of fur nestled in my arm. 

“Adrian? What is that your carrying there?” she curiously asked. 

“Well, she is the main reason why I came over early. But first, let me ask you something. What do you know of the calamity known as Discord?” I asked in return. 

“Discord? You mean that guy who literally turned our town upside down then started hanging out with Miss Fluttershy and became good? I think” she responded with.

“Yep, that's the one. Well, as you probably either know or can guess, he is pretty random and strange and creates chaos and mischief. Well, when I was visiting the Crystal Empire, I was able to meet him but due to his magic conflicting with my own, he accidentally hurt me a bit. Nothing too bad of course, but enough to give us all a bit of a shock” I started to explain. I will try to tone the story down as not to worry her. “Well, ever since then he has wanted to find a way to apologize to me, which he did today as a matter of fact”

“After I dropped the three off at school, their teacher Miss Cheerilee asked for me to stay and introduce myself to the class since a few silly rumors were floating around me and she wanted to clear them up. So I did and I ended up playing with them all until they got picked up by their parents. It was when they were all gone did he, uh, 'pick me up' to chat with in private”

“So we talked, apologized, and forgave. Now, next he wanted to give me a gift to show off our new bond of friendship and this is where Discord got....weird. (sigh) Basically, he ate a bit of my hair and blood, used his magic to somehow become pregnant, laid an egg, gave the egg to me and declared me the father of said egg. He then dropped me off in my room where the egg hatched into her” I quickly pointed with my spare hand to Maelstrom.

“So, yeah. That is the gist of it. I wanted to come by early to talk to you before dinner since..... well, something like this is not something you casually talk about over dinner. And I wanted to tell you as soon as possible because I care about you and did not want to just suddenly show up with a child in hand. Though I suppose that is what I just did”

“I just wanted to tell you in advance before anything else happens. Because, I don't know how you would feel about suddenly going into a relationship with someone who just out of the blue became a parent. So, if you don't feel comfortable with this then please let me know and I will perfectly understand” I confessed with a heavy heart. Now I could only wait. 

It was a very tense minute that came up next, Derpy looked back and forth between me and Maelstrom and I could see her mind twisting and turning thinking about everything I just said. I wonder what she will say? I wonder how she feels about all this? 

“What's her name?” was all she said. I blanked out for a moment and did not answer since it was one question I did not think she would of asked next. 

“Wh-..... what?” I confusingly asked. She giggled a bit at my reaction.

“I said, what is her name?” she asked again. 

“Oh, it's, um...... her name is Maelstrom” I told her.

“Maelstrom? What an unusual name, then again she is your daughter after all” she replied with a little laugh. 

“So..... your not upset or anything?” I nervously asked.

“Upset? Why would I be upset? You didn't do anything wrong, you were simply at the end of Discords shenanigans. And don't worry, I do believe that someone like Discord could and would do something like this. The first time he came here he made the clouds into cotton candy that rained chocolate milk. He then made a glass, filled it with the chocolate milk and then drank the glass while leaving the milk alone. So him laying an egg is not so weird” she explained.

“But, I mean, you don't mind that the one you just went into a relationship just shows up out of the blue a few hours later with a baby in hand?” I asked again.

“Well, at first I was a little worried. I do admit. But after giving it some thought, I realized that it really does not matter. I love you Adrian and it is kinda like what you just said to me. I did not fall in love with you because of other things, I fell in love with you and because of you. And since she is your daughter, that mean's that she is you too and so, I love her as well. And besides, I like kids” she lovingly said. 

I could feel the butterflies in my stomach start to lift me up again, in fact I almost felt like they were going to burst through me cause they were flying around so much and it is a most wonderful feeling. I could not help but sniffle a little while my smile grew even bigger. I quickly swooped her up in my arm and brought her up to my head, so I could look into her eyes. “I love you so much Derpy” I said.

She brought her two front hooves and gently cupped my cheeks with a smile of her own “And I love you Adrian, my amazing human” she softly said before she brought our heads together in for a kiss. Just a sweet, loving kiss that made me feel like exploding cause I was so happy, almost like a balloon filled with too much air. When we pulled back I could tell she was feeling happy as well cause her fur was standing on edge, probably some akin to having goosebumps. 

It was then I felt my other arm begin to move and I heard a tiny little 'Mewp' that Maelstrom made. So I looked down and saw that she had a sad look in her eye, when I finally made eye contact she stretched out her front legs again and grabbed at the air before speaking “Papa! Papa!” 

“Awww, come here you” I said while I closed the distance between her and me in order for me to kiss her fuzzy cheek. “Papa loves you too Maelstrom. Papa will always love you”

“Awww, Adrian! She already knows how to say papa?” Derpy asked.

“She sure does, I have a smart little girl. Yes I do!” I said as I nuzzled up against Maelstroms head. 

“Does she eat fruits and veggies too?” Derpy asked me.

“Yes, she is like me and is an omnivore. Meaning we can eat pretty much everything” I explained.

“Yay! Well, lets not sit around with empty stomachs then. Lets eat!” Derpy excitingly said as she quickly flew up and off the couch and into the kitchen. So I quickly followed her into the kitchen as well and grabbed myself a plate. 


---------- 1 ½ Hours Later ----------


“Phew, you can make one mean salad Derpy” I complimented as I lazily sat on the couch. It truly was a  smorgasbord of fruits and veggies and everything in between. Heck, even lil Maelstrom had a few bites to eat herself. And now she is laying peaceful and happy tucked away in my arm. Though we did have a bit of a mishap when Derpy tried to feed her a small carrot piece and she hissed at her. So I gently bopped her on the nose and told her that was a bad thing to do. 

I then had Derpy feed me the carrot piece, to hopefully show her that Derpy and the food was safe. It seemed to kinda work for when Derpy offered another small piece, she took it and ate it quietly. Small steps, small steps. 

“I am happy the two of you liked it, I have never really prepared dinner for anypony else before, so I was really nervous” Derpy said.

“Well it was the best first dinner date I have ever eaten, thank you” I told her along with a quick peck on the cheek. She bashfully hid her face with her hooves for a few seconds before she scooted closer to me on the couch.

“Adrian, thank you so much” she timidly said.

“For what?” I asked.

“For everything, for being so nice to be and being patient and for accepting me for who I am and for loving me back. For a while when you left, I was frightened that I came on too hard and scared you off, since you were the first stallion to ever pay attention to me. The real me. So I thought that maybe you were just being nice and that my love was one sided, but then you started sending me those letter and then I got your gift and then..... an-and then...”

“And then every day since I always felt like I was walking on clouds, no matter where I was. And when I came back here to clean up, I was shedding tears of joy because I was so happy to have you. So, thank you Adrian. Thank you for falling in love with me and for allowing me to love you back” Derpy concluded by laying her head in my lap. 

When she did I moved my free arm over her and began to gently scratch her ear, which she greatly appreciated since she snuggled up against me a bit more. I did not say anything, since there was nothing to say in such a perfect moment. So time passed by as we enjoyed each others company and just fell into a happy and blissful state of mind.

It was not until I felt Derpy stir did I come back to reality and I saw her stretch out her wings a bit before she took a glance at the clock. I did as well and I saw that it was already ten thirty at night. Wow, we really did just let time fly! 

“I can't believe it is already so late. I was hoping to spend some more time with you today” Derpy sadly said.

“Don't worry about it Derpy. We live in the same town after all, so it's not like we can't see each other anymore after this” I informed her.

“Yeah! Your right! I was just so caught up in the moment and having a good time just being with you tonight, Adrian” she replied.

“Me too Derpy, me too” I said back. I then stood up as much as I could and stretched out. “Well, I better be heading back” 

At this I felt my pants leg being tugged at, looking down I saw Derpy staring up at me with a sad look in her eye. So I kneeled down and cupped her cheek with my hand, using my thumb to smooth her fur. “What's wrong?”

“Um, before you go. Can I make one request?” Derpy nervously asked.

“Your wish, is my command” I said with a dramatic bow. 

She giggled at this before clearing her throat “I-I know this may sound silly, but do you think you could possibly sleep over here tonight?” she nervously said again.

“Ah-um. Well..... I mean..... I suppose I could, but I am not sure if Maelstrom would like it if she slept next to you” I bashfully uttered. At this Derpy gasped and her wings flared up.

“Oh no! I am so sorry! I-I meant in the s-spare room! Upstairs..... next to my.... room” Derpy said as her blush grew even more. She fiddled with her hooves for a moment before speaking again. “I know it may sound silly, but for some reason when I think about going to sleep tonight I feel..... scared. And nervous. S-so I thought that maybe if you slept here tonight I might feel better” 

I let out a sigh of relief, even though I would have been a gentleman and would not of tried anything, it still made me very nervous to think about sleeping in the same bed with someone else. Yeah, I know that time after my Welcome To Ponyville party and pretty much everypony I knew was sleeping in the same bed as me but that was kinda like a giant sleepover and I was not dating any of them. Also now that I think about it, Pinkie did make a really comfy pillow.

“If that is what you wish” I said to her. With that we gathered up our plates and between the two of us, we got the dishes done in no time. Afterwards she gave me a quick tour upstairs of the two bedrooms, single bathroom, and her spare room where she kept most of her decorations. I did my business in the bathroom real quick and when I came out I saw that Derpy had already changed into her nightware, which was just a long dark blue shirt.

Deciding to spoil her a bit more, I gently picked her up and carried her to her bed, proceeded to tuck her in and gave her a good night kiss. “Good night Derpy, sweet dreams”

“Good night (yawn) Adrian. I will probably wake you up when I get up, since I have to leave early for work. I love you” she sleepily said as she snuggled up under the blanket. 

“I love you too Derpy, see you in the morning” I quietly said back to her as I turned off the light in her room. When I headed into my room, I saw the Maelstrom was already fast asleep, so I carefully peeled her off my arm so I could take off my buttoned shirt and my good pants. Thankfully she did not wake up and in no time I was ready for bed, so I turned off my light as well before picking her back up and getting us settled in the bed.

She automatically snuggled up against my chest and I could hear her soft, little snores. So I carefully leaned my head down and gave her a good night kiss as well and closed my eyes. While today did not go as planned, whatsoever! I still had a fantastic day and can't wait for tomorrow, though I do hope it to be a bit more calm and normal and no more major surprises. So with that in mind, I slowly slipped away into the realm of dreams and into Luna's domain. I bet she will have a word or two to say. Heh. 


---------- Midnight ----------


Hmmmm, so it seems that he is staying with her in her home tonight. How bold! I would not of thought he would stay with her for the night. Though I am sure he will not do anything, I better go and check on him. 

With that in mind, I swooped down in the clear and still night air, using my magic necklace to check on the residents dreams as I fly by. It appears to be another calm and peaceful night, full of happy dreams and new memories, though a lot of childrens dreams are about a certain silly human friend of mind. Now, lets see. Which house? Ah, here it is. 

Silently gliding through the wall, thanks to Princess Luna's magical necklace, I gently landed in Miss Derpy Hooves room and saw only a single occupant in her bed. 

Ah, I see now. So he is sleeping in the same house, not the same bed. You have my respect, Adrian. Now, lets check in on her dreams. 

Connecting my thoughts with the magic of the necklace, I slipped my astral form into her dreamscape and saw what lay inside. A very pleasant and merry dream, once again featuring a certain human. Though I am glad, she had been having restless dreams for a while now, but now she will have the best sleep she has had in years. 

Now, lets check up on Adrian real quick. Slipping through the walls once more, I softly land in the next room and saw the sleeping giant resting peacefully with a smile on his face. I could probably guess at the contents of his dreams but it is my job to thoroughly check every dream, especially his just in case his old nightmares return. 

But once again I am greeted by a pleasant and happy dream, yet again surprising me by dreaming of all his friends, including me. I can not help but blush as such a silly thing along with a silent chuckle.

“Sweet dreams, my dear silly human” I quietly said to my friend and grazed his cheek with a good night kiss spell, to ensure that tonight’s dream and hopefully all future dreams will remain as good and peaceful as this one. 

With those two done, I have mostly done every single resident in Ponyville. All except one, who is stuck frozen with shock and with good reason. To think that Adrian is the father of a draconequus foal, that foolish Discord. What was he thinking? Probably nothing. 

Hmmm? What is this? I feel like Miss Pie is about to fall asleep at last! 

Wait..... oh dear. 

Plug your ears Ponyville, this is going to get loud.

“ADRIAN IS A DADDY! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!”
> Human In The Club Tonight, Oh Yeah!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't know how or why but it looks like my wish for peace and calmness finally got answered, for the next week and a half after my dinner date with Derpy was the best thing for me. Though I did get a few more surprises, they were not earth shattering and ended up being just simple things. Like the very next day, when I walked back to my room after saying goodbye to Derpy and wishing her the best with her job, I got a visit from Celestia and Luna. I just can't stay away from them for long it seems.

They were almost in a panic when they saw me and checked me over and over again to make sure Discord did not do something weird to me. It took a few hugs and an ear scratch or two to make them finally calm down and I once again had the joy of explaining that weird day. I am grateful that they took Maelstroms presence well and due to me being friendly and physical with the two of them, Maelstrom took it as a sign of trust. So while she shyed away from them, she did not hiss or do anything bad.

So after two long hours of making sure I had a plan, money, a long extensive list of ponies to talk to for help, and their full support did they finally agree to go back to Canterlot before they started to panic. I was still waiting to get back into contact with Discord so I could give him a piece of my mind, but he was always 'busy' or 'doing work for Celestia'. Not even Fluttershy could get a hold of him, though he still wrote her letters and he always wrote a note to me telling me not to worry and take care. 

That, of course, led to another Princess coming to suddenly visit and boy was that a disaster. She was in a weird combination of happy and horrified state of mind when I fully explained about Discord and Maelstrom. But once the initial shock wore off and she wiped off The Discord Look from her face, she quickly returned to her bubbly and hugging self. She ended up staying the rest of the day with me and acted like a mom with Maelstrom, though it was a very one sided relationship.

Oh and another weird little surprise is that Cadence and the other girls are amazing singers. I know this because Cadence gathered them all up in order to make Maelstrom her own room that was across from my own. So when they got into that mood, they started singing! I stood in the doorway, just staring at them as I watched them work their magic and sang in perfect unity. It was weird. Amazing and very pretty, but weird. It was almost like a Flash Mob back home. 

When the song and dance number was done, I now noticed that the room was completely done! Top to bottom, with everything you could imagine in a baby room, though in their case a foals room. It was quite amazing to see and once again, I could only think to blame one thing for all this. Magic. Magic once again just blows my mind away but now I am kinda used to it and accepted it.

When the commotion had died down, the others left and went back home and when me and Cadence sat down and made small talk, mostly involving me and Derpy, did I notice that she was wearing the necklace I gave to Shining in secret. So of course I complimented her new neckpiece and she went into great detail on how she repaid his random act of kindness. Which led to her also explaining that she had to purchase a new bed and learn a better soundproofing spell. I won't say much, but I was red as a tomato and my mind was absolutely shattered.

Cadence would of stayed longer but early next morning Shining knocked and eventually dragged his wife back onto the train and back home to the Crystal Empire. I love her but hearing her go in depth about.... her intimate moments, I needed another vacation. But after a few more days of normal living, I was fine and decided to write her a letter, which led to me writing letters to Vinyl, Octavia, Fleetfoot, Celestia and Luna, and to Derpy. 

I know, since me and Derpy are dating and we see each other pretty much on a regular basis but I thought it would be nice for her to see my letter at work and give her something to look forward to. Which she greatly enjoyed, for when I was out and about around town, I felt a tap on my shoulder from behind and when I turned around I was greeted to by a surprise kiss from Derpy. Afterwards she thanked me for always making her day, both during and after work, before getting back to work. All around me, every single pony said “Awwwwwwww” 

All this happened during my week and a half of normal living, so I was feeling great and relaxed. Every day I felt so refreshed and during my down time, I continued reading the crimson book and reading up some more about Dragons and their history and culture. It was also a great way to get Maelstrom to go to sleep, reading it out loud for her. Like magic, after a few pages or so she would slowly and cutely nod off to sleep in my lap. 

During my reading, I had learned a bit about Phoenixes as well since they tended to nest in warmer areas and most of the time, those areas also hosted a dragons nest. So while Star Swirl learned the way of dragons, he took little side notes about the creatures who bursted into flames and were reborn from their ashes. In one side story, a young dragon befriended a baby phoenix and the two grew up together, but due to the dragons greed mixing into its love of friendship it accidentally started hoarding phoenix eggs and almost started a territorial battle.

But thankfully the dragons mother straightened her offspring out and it released the eggs back to their respectful parents, unfortunately the two friends were separated and never saw each other again. Also unfortunately, this gave way to the current trend for teenage dragons to steal phoenix eggs for sport in secret. Other than that, he wrote down that he would write all additional information about the majestic phoenix in a stand alone book in the future.

Which brings us to today, I am currently reading the second to last chapter in the crimson book with my sleeping daughter in my lap, snoring away while I read. I know that I should not be reading these out loud, since Celestia had requested me to keep them secret but I feel like I can trust to read them out in the open in Twilights castle. That being said, I still kept my voice down and I always kept an ear open to the door and window, never finding anything of course. 

When I turned the page, I read 'Chapter XX: The Final Lesson', with that I bookmarked the page and gently closed the book before returning it to my desk and letting out a yawn. Looking up I saw that it was already late at night, which meant dinner time for the two of us. So I softly poked Maelstrom in her fuzzy tummy a few times in order to wake her up, after the sixth poke she yawned and stretched out her front legs with a cute voice. “Papa?” she asked.

“It's time for din-din!” I excitingly said to her. She perked up and began to happily wag her tail back and forth with a smile.

'MEW!' she happily exclaimed as she bounced in my lap. Now that she is fully awake I patted my upper arm, which was code for her to climb up and get ready to move. Like a cat, she wiggled her bottom half and prepared to pounce, with a leap she got all the way up to my elbow before she climbed up the rest of the way. She has been getting better and stronger doing this, though I will probably have to teach her to walk on her own sooner or later. 

Another thing I am grateful for ever since Celestia, Luna, and Cadence showed up is that I now have a steady source of meat coming in for the three of us, me, Maelstrom, and Artemis. At first I wanted to decline since I wanted to be able to procure my own goods for myself, but once they all showed me the prices of having meat sent via mail, I gracefully accepted their help and since the Crystal Empire is closer to the Gryphon Kingdom she is able to get it for a cheaper price before sending it to Canterlot where it gets even cheaper to send to here. 

But even with all their discounts, it was still an eye bulging amount of bits for the amount I received every two weeks. So until my bit income greatly increases soon, I will have to rely on their help for the moment. Not saying that I can't rely on them, but I just don't want to rely on them for everything and feel like a child. But until Aloe and Lotus return from Canterlot, I live off what Twilight grants me (a very, very generous grant if I do say so myself). 

That aside, I already walked downstairs to the kitchen, pulled open my own personal fridge containing the meats, and got something out for the three of us. I am really happy that Maelstrom and Artemis get along and also that Maelstrom does not need to be in my arms twenty-four seven anymore, cause while I prepared our meals I let the two of them play on the ground. I had talked to Twilight about buying a separate fridge for the meat since it would probably freak out everypony to see it. She agreed and bought one right away.

It only took me about thirty minutes to get the meat cooked and a salad ready to eat, so scooping her back up in my arms I sat her down and gave Artemis her food and let her eat. Grabbing a ready bottle from the fridge, I sat down next and let her grab the bottle and carefully watched her drink while I ate. It was quiet tonight because Twilight was out with the other girls and investigating a town the new map in the throne room showed them. 

Yeah, that was another pleasant surprise to suddenly hear, but she explained what happened and put my mind at ease. So for the moment, I was the king of the castle and I cannot help but grin every time I think that. But I also could not help feel a little lonely being the only one in the castle tonight, Spike was also out tonight with Big Mac, saying something about celebrating some hoofball. Gah, now I feel old cause I am here at home looking after a child and a pet while others are out adventuring or celebrating. 

My currently declining train of thoughts was put aside for the moment when I heard a very small and cute yawn calling out to me. Looking down, I saw that Maelstrom was already done with her bottle and was slightly swaying in place with droopy eyes and a bit of milk trailing down her mouth. Laughing to myself, I reached over to grab a napkin and cleaned her up before I grabbed all the empty dishware, washed them, and placed them to the side to dry for the night. 

By the time I came back, I saw that Maelstrom had already dozed off on the table and was already letting out cute, little snores. So I gently picked her up and headed up to my room, with Artemis bringing up the rear. 

I got to my room but I stopped and looked across and saw the new room and thought that I should tuck her into her new bed, so she can get used to it. Agreeing with that thought, I walked in and tucked her in but when I backed up a few steps I saw her face scrunch up and she started to fuss and squirm. Hmmmm.

I picked her back up and walked back to my room and tucked her into my bed instead. This time when I backed up I saw that she was smiling happily in her sleep while she cuddled up with the blanket, letting out her normal cute snores. Artemis then jumped up onto the bed and looked at me, smiling I reached down and petted her a few times, which made her happy. Artemis then walked up to the edge of Maelstroms sleeping form, curled up near her feet, and waited there while looking at me. 

“Sorry Artemis, I am going to be staying up a bit more tonight. But while I am away I want you to look out for her, understand?” I asked the timberwolf pup. Artemis gave me a quick nod before she layed her head down and closed her eyes. Smiling down at both of them, I leaned down and gave the two of them a quick goodnight kiss before quietly closing the curtains and finally the door when I headed out. 

When I was outside, I saw that it was already dark out and the lampposts were lit, giving Ponyville just enough light to help those see down the road but not enough to wake the sleeping residents. It has been a while since I have been by myself, but not without good reason mind you. I do admit that for the first week, I was a bit of a wreck with constant questions and worrying about raising a child, dealing with the flared moments of fear because of my magic and my mom, and well just about everything.

But those moment never lasted long cause I had Twilight or somepony else to talk to, heck a few times I walked down to Sugarcube Corner and talked to Mrs. Cake, who was more than willing to listen and offer sage advice. So after that week, I was feeling pretty good about myself and felt capable of moving forward a bit. 

But now that I was actually alone for the first time, I could not help but let the worries that plague my mind start to creep up again and give me a nervous sweat. And my earlier train of thoughts plowed its way back and I began to worry more. Was it really alright for someone like me to have all this responsibility? I mean, what do I know about raising a kid? Especially a kid from a foreign, alien planet!

And is it smart for me to raise such a child while dating? I mean, I don't even have a job! All I am doing is living off my borrowed luck and living in a room given to me by a generous princess. Back home, if I had a kid suddenly thrusted upon me I would be no where near as good off as I am now. But this is not right, I just can't live off of generosity. 

Was taking responsibility for Maelstrom the right thing for me to do? Do I have the right to raise her like this? 

Was it wrong to confess my feelings for Derpy?

SMACK

I had to give myself a hard smack to the face for even considering that last thought. Blah, I am just letting my fears and worries control me again. I need to go somewhere fun tonight, just to shake things up and get my mind back on track with a pleasant distraction. But where? Vinyl is still out and about in another city or town and other than The Scratch House, I don't know of any bars or clubs or anything. 

Maybe I should of asked for a tour of the town much earlier, or at least gotten a map. 

“Well hi there!” I heard a voice behind me say.

Turning around, I saw two mares standing behind me who were smiling and waving at me. I smiled and waved back while I looked them over. The one who on the left, who spoke first, had a very light purple colored fur while her mane had a two-toned spiky look. The one on the right was almost similar in fur color, though with a bit more of a blue hue instead of purple. Her mane was more calm and combed to the side and she had a pink bow in the back.

“Your name is Adrian, right?” the other mare with the pink bow said. 

“That's me! And what do I call you ladies?” I asked in return.

“My name is Cloudchaser and this here is my best friend Flitter!” Cloudchaser said. I got down on one knee and held out my hand to shake. 

“It is nice to meet you Cloudchaser, and you as well Flitter” they each shook my hand when I said their names “So, what can I help you with?”

“Actually, we were wondering if we could help you! You seemed kinda lost in thought earlier and thought you were going to run into that pole up ahead” Cloudchaser explained.

Looking back, I saw that I was indeed in line to probably smack my head into a pole of an empty stand. 

“Ah, it appears that you caught me in time then. And yeah, I was kinda lost in thought I suppose” I admitted. 

“What about?” Flitter asked this time.

“Hmmm, I guess the simple answer would be about my future here in Equestria” I said to them.

“Whoa, that's some heavy thinking” Cloudchaser said.

“Yeah, well in my position I think it is probably normal” I said with a chuckle.

“Bah, that's no fun! I like to live in the now and worry about the future in the future! Keeps me happy and smiling!” Flitter explained. 

“Yeah! If you take everything in now, then you are just going to burn yourself out later! And trust me, burning yourself out is never fun” Cloudchaser added.

“I suppose your right. I just wish I had a bit of a distraction to keep my mind focused” I said.

“Is that what you are doing out in the middle of the night?” Flitter asked me.

“Yeah, I was looking for something fun to distract myself with but then I realized that the only place I ever went to was Viny- DJ Pon-3s Club for my Welcome To Ponyville party” I explained.

When I finished talking the two mares looked at each other and I saw a small sparkle erupt in their eyes before they stared at me in excitement. 

“Do you wanna come with us to the club then?!” Cloudchaser asked with a big, toothy smile.

Hmmm, I suppose this would be the best way to answer my problem. But would it seem weird for me to accompany these two to a club? I don't want any weird rumors floating around that I am cheating on Derpy or something. I should probably talk to them real quick about this, just to get it out in the open.

“Before I say anything, is this the kinda club a taken guy like me can go to or is it more for single people? Er, single ponies rather. I just don't want any sort of rumor to spread that I am cheating or something” I said to the pair.

They both shook their heads no. “You will be totally fine, I understand what you are saying and this club is cool for any pony to come and visit! I mean, single ponies will probably be there and a mare could hit you up. So long as you tell them no and go there with just having fun in mind, then you will be golden!” Cloudchaser said to me.

“Well, if that is the case then lead me on new friends!” I happily exclaimed to the now squealing pair of mares. 

“Follow us Adrian! The club is just around the corner!” Flitter said as she playfully headbutted the back of my leg. Chuckling at their enthusiasm I followed the pair down the street. 

Thankfully the club was really just around the corner at the end of the street, looking up I saw the dark colored building with flashing lights and read the sign: The Hoofing Club.

“The Hoofing Club?” I asked.

“Yeah! It's the best place to get your hoof on!” Cloudchaser answered with a laugh.

“They have a lot of modern music and good, cheap drinks! Plus, they are not too strict on dancing rules! So long as you don't break anything or throw up on any pony then you are good to go!” Flitter said. 

Sounds like a place I went to back in Michigan. 

“Come on! The party awaits!” Cloudchaser said “It sounds like they got a live DJ tonight as well!”

“Oh! I wonder who they got? Maybe Skrilltex?” Flitter said,

“I hope Deadmouse5 is back! His helmet is so cool!” Cloudchaser replied.

“Oh! Oh! How about Koskade! I always liked his music!” Flitter said back.

“Well, we will never know standing inside! Lets go!” Cloudchaser said just as the pair did their best to push me in. Walking in I looked around and saw that it did not look too different then a club back on earth. They had a black and white checkered floor, globe lights of all kinds scattered everywhere, what appeared to be pleather couches and wooden seats, and a random assortment of artwork on the walls. 

Near the back I saw a raised platform that held the DJ booth and I saw a tail in the air, probably whatever DJ is was looking for something, On the right wall is where I saw the bar and boy, did they have a huge supply of alcohol and other drinks on display. I saw that the almost all the seats were filled  to the brim with ponies of all kinds, drinking and having fun or out on the dance floor. 

I am glad that the place felt and looked normal, in comparison to back on Earth. Though I quickly became the center of attention as I now noticed that all eyes were now on me and if not for the music, the place would have been completely silent. Oh boy, here comes that nervous sweat again and on my right I heard a nervous chuckle.

“Then again, you might stand out a little” Cloudchaser whispered. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hay everypony?! You all demanded this song, why are you all being so quiet!” I heard a familiar voice say. Looking up, I saw that the DJ was none other that my friend.

“Vinyl!” I called out as I temporarily forgot my nervousness. She looked up to see who was calling her and instantly her grumpy face turned upside down and transformed into a huge smile.

“ADRIAN! DUDE!” she bellowed out while she ran away from the booth and up to me. I knelt down, opened up my arms, and gave her a big hug. Well, that broke the silence but now they were all staring at us and started murmuring. “Dude! I can't believe you are here!”

“I didn't know you were back in town, ya goof” I said as I jostled her mane.

“I just got in tonight, I am stopping here for a day while I head over to Manehatten for my next big gig.  I was going to surprise you tomorrow and invite you to party, but I guess you beat me to it” she explained. 

“Well, I guess its a win-win since it means I get to see my good friend again! I missed you” I happily stated. 

She began to grin “Dawww, enough with all that sweet talk big guy! You came here to party, not flirt with your best pal!”she jokingly said.

“I will have you know that I am already in a happy relationship, thank you very much!” I retorted.

“No way?! Really! Congratz man! This is perfect!” she said.

“Perfect? Perfect for what?” I replied.

“Now is my time to swoop in and steal you. Makings you fall head over hooves over me instead!” Vinyl playfully jested.

“Shut up you goof” I said with a laugh while I messed with her mane again. She laughed with me and had to wipe a tear away from her eyes from laughing so hard.

When I looked up I remembered that there was a crowd and now they were just watching us. So when Vinyl stopped laughing I gently poked her then pointed at the staring crowd. She let out a loud harumph before turning around to face them.

“What are you scrubs looking at? This is a club! Not an observatory! So get to dancing already!” She commanded and instantly they obeyed and went back to normal. Well, mostly. A few curious eyes still peered over at me but mostly back to normal. 

I gave a small round of applause “Nicely done” I commended her. 

“Hey, when you have played as many shows as I have, you learn how to be forceful or else the crowd walks all over you. So, how did you find this place anyway?” she asked me.

“Ah, well I was out and about walking, trying to clear my head and find a distraction when all of a sudden these two girls came up and introduced themselves to me and one thing led to another and here I am, catching up with my awesome friend and DJ!” I exclaimed as I told the short story.

“Well, look at you big guy! You got yourself a marefrend and now all the ladies can't keep their hooves off ya!” Vinyl said with a snicker. “So, are you going to introduce me as well?”

“Ah, yeah! Vinyl, to my right is Cloudchaser and to my left in the bow is Flitter. Cloudchaser, Flitter, this is my good friend Vinyl Scratch. Also known as DJ Pon-3!” I said while still kneeled down. 

But I saw that the two mares were standing there, mouths agape in shock. So I gave them both a soft poke and this woke them up from their stupor, only for them to face me immediately. 

“You're friends with DJ Pon-3?!?!” Cloudchaser excitingly asked. 

“Sure am, wanna meet her?” I asked them both. They furiously shook their heads up and down and I laughed since I had already introduced them. “Alright, well Cloudchaser. Flitter. I would like you to meet my friend, Vinyl Scratch” I said as I presented her with my arm. The pair shot back to normal standing and gained a nervous stance. 

“I-i-i-it's a pleasure to me-meet you DJ Pon-3” Cloudchaser nervously said. Flitter was silent but held up her hoof in awe. Vinyl simply grinned as she shook both their hoofs. 

“Well, before you get to dancing big guy, I have few guests with me in the back and by the sounds of things you have already met them” Vinyl said. “So, wanna come and say hi?”

“Sure!” I happily replied. I was about to get up when Vinyl came up and placed her front hooves on my knee and proceeded to use the puppy dog look on me, she even brought her shades down so I could see her eyes. I simply groaned as I stared at her for a moment before I asked “You want me to carry you, don't you?”

She did not move while she continued to use that look on me. Every second she continued to stare, I felt a hard blow being dealt inside of me and I finally caved when I was mentally knocked out. “Get on” I said in a defeated tone. 

With that she let out a happy and triumphant “Yes!” before running behind me and jumping on my back, like she did before. I considered getting up now but I opened my eyes and saw the two girls staring at me in awe and amazement. Since my soft side was already exposed, I decided to wrap my arms around them and carried them with me, with a grinning Vinyl resting her head on my shoulder, telling me where to go.

I felt like Moses as I split the sea of ponies on the dance floor without even trying as I headed to the back. It only took a minute or so and after a quick conversation with backstage guards, we finally found our way to the backroom. I decided to knock, just in case and I heard a muffled voice call out, telling us to come in. With that I opened the door and had to bend over to clear the door. Walking in I set the two mares down while Vinyl climbed off my back and ran over to retrieve her guests. 

“Well, here they are! Cloudchaser, Flitter, Adrian, may I introduce you two to members of the Wonderbolts! First up is the Captain, Spitfire and second up is her right hoof mare, Fleetfoot!” Vinyl loudly introduced, then out came the two mares dressed in very pretty dresses that complimented their colors perfectly. 

“Adrian!” Fleetfoot said first before she walked over to me. I of course knelt down again and offered a smile.

“Well hello again Fleetfoot, looks like we were able to catch up to each other again” I said with a chuckle. She returned the chuckle before smiling up at me.

“I was actually going to go with Vinyl tomorrow when she was going to invite you out but I guess you beat us to it” Fleetfoot said.

“I guess I have a talent for that then, not like I am complaining in meeting up with my friends again” I said. I then looked over at Spitfire who was watching us with a pleasant smile. “And good to see you as well Spitfire and this time I don't look like a complete fool” I said with another chuckle.

“Good to see you again kid, and I will agree that you have a knack for showing up unexpectedly. At least now I know more than one pony here at the club” Spitfire said with a slight smirk.

I was going to say something when I felt two pairs of hooves poking me, turning around I saw Cloudchaser and Flitter in shock and awe again but at least they had their voices this time. “Adrian, just how famous are you?” Flitter gasped out.

“Heh, well the only reason why I know them is because I saved Fleetfoot from being attacked by a pack of timberwolves in the Everfree Forest. The rest is history” I carefully explained. I didn't want to fully go into detail regarding the attack. Hopefully the others caught my drift. 

“And he was very brave in doing so, I am very grateful for the rescue and I wanted to make sure to thank him properly. So I made him a VIP Guest to our shows” Fleetfoot declared. 

“Wow, your amazing Adrian! Not only are you famous with DJ Pon-3 and the Wonderbolts, but you are a hero!” Cloudchaser exclaimed with stars in her eyes. 

“Careful there Cloudchaser, remember that he already has a marefriend” Vinyl smugly said and I could just feel her grin. Cloudchaser blushed a bit and tried to hide behind her large bang. 

“You have a marefriend, son?” Spitfire asked. 

“Sure do, we have been going out for almost two weeks now” I proudly stated.

“Congratulations then, be sure to treat her right. You hear?” Spitfire said in a serious tone.

“I would never dream of doing any wrong against her, I swear on my life” I replied with an equal tone. 

Spitfire looked me over real quick before she grew a large grin “I think I can believe in ya, you have a good heart kid. Be sure to keep it” she instructed.

“Yes ma'am” I responded. “Oh! Before I forget, Spitfire, Fleetfoot. These two beside me are actually the ones who brought me here, on my right is Cloudchaser and my left is Flitter” 

“Nice to see you two again, have you been keeping up your wing practices?” Spitfire asked them. 

“Every day ma'am!” Cloudchaser and Flitter replied at the same time. 

“Very good, now who is ready to party?” Spitfire asked us. Everyone but Spitfire raised their hooves and I raised my own hand as well. “Excellent. Vinyl, lead the way”

“Roger that! Lets go gang! I got something special to play in honor of my best pal Adrian here” Vinyl replied before leading us out. When we got back out front, she asked us to stay back until she introduced us onto the dance floor. 

“Wait, us too?” Cloudchaser asked.

“Yep, prepare to become even more popular” I briefly explained with a grin. Thankfully the two looked at each other and sprouted huge, happy smiles.

Suddenly the lights dimmed while a large white spotlight appeared over Vinyl behind the booth, who tested the microphone with a quick tap of her hoof before saying “Welcome Ladies and Gentlecolts! Are you prepared to have fun tonight?!”

“YEAH!”

“Are you prepared to party your hearts out tonight?!”

“YEAH!”

“ARE YOU PREPARED TO DANCE TILL YOU DROP?!”

“YEAH!”

“Damn right you are! But before that, I have some very special guests to introduce to you all tonight! Now lets make some noise everypony!” 

A thunderous applause came over the club and other random shouting, hooting, and hollering. Man, Vinyl can sure work a crowd. 

“ALL RIGHT! First up, first up are a pair of wild and crazy party ponies who are just as lovely to boot! Presenting: CLOUDCHASER AND FLITTER!” Vinyl shouted with enthusiasm. 

The moment their names were called the crowd went wild and the two mares rushed up behind Vinyl and took a few bows and waved before climbing down to the side.

“Our next pair of guests are two famous members of the illustrious group named THE WONDERBOLTS! I am curious, do any of you know of the Wonderbolts? Let me hear a holla if you do!” Vinyl asked the crowd.

Once again the crowd went wild, almost enough to put a metal concert to shame. 

“All right! Well join me in welcoming the captain of the Wonderbolts and her right hoof mare! Welcome Captain Spitfire and Fleetfoot!” Vinyl loudly said with vigor.

I am surprised the crowd has not fainted due to lack of oxygen but they screamed and applauded with the same amount of enthusiasm as before. 

“And last and certainly not least is Ponyvilles newest and most interesting resident, my good and personal best friend, AND recently crowned as King of the Dance Floor, right beside the Queen Pinkie Pie! Let me hear you make some noise for our local human resident! ADRIAN FROST!” Vinyl concluded her last introduction. Heh, she certainly likes milking the fact that we are friends. 

And just like the others, the crowd went wild and absolutely insane and boy, did I feel pumped! So much so that I ran up those stairs and after scanning the crowd for a few seconds, I summoned some magic and produced a small cone of fire out of my mouth and roared! Once I was done I donned a large smile and was thankfully greeted with an even bigger round of applause. They went nuts! I almost thought they were going to turn into a mob. 

“Nice touch....showoff” Vinyl said to me with a grin. 

“Well I had to make sure to give you a proper welcome after such a warm introduction, best friend” I replied with a sly wink. She responded by playfully slapping my knee before turning back to her booth.

“Well there ya have it folks! NOW LETS PARTY!” Vinyl shouted as she punched a button and soon the club was overrun with vibrations from the speakers. My bones felt like they were shaking. Once the dance floor became a swirling motion of body parts, Vinyl led the group to the bar and ordered each of us a Pon-3 House Special.

Uh oh, I hope the girls here can handle their drinks since this stuff was STRONG. In no time, the stallion bartender had whipped up six big drinks of the special, each of us picked one up and held it up.

“To good friends” I said as our toast.

“To good friends!” they all said in unison before we drank it all down in one go. Fleetfoot, Cloudchaser, and Flitter coughed a bit but were otherwise good to go while me, Vinyl, and Spitfire chuckled a bit at their expense. Vinyl asked us if anyone wanted one more before hitting the dance floor, but no one wanted another one and instead got some other drinks.

Feeling good, I called her up on the offer and this time she got the two of us even bigger glasses. I could not help but laugh a bit but I took it into my hand and was about to drink but Vinyl stopped me.

“A toast, to just us” She said.

“Sure! Hmmmm.... what should we toast to?” I asked.

She grinned and held up her drink right away and said “To my best friend”

I playfully rolled my eyes but matched her grin and repeated “To my best friend”

With our second toast done, we slammed down our drinks though Vinyl was faster than me. She is probably used to it. I took a few seconds to let the alcohol go all the way down before letting out a satisfied breath. “Phew, I almost forgot how strong of a punch they give you” I said.

“Heh, don't worry big guy. Stick with me and I will be sure to get you feeling good in no time. Just like last time” Vinyl said with confidence. 

“Ah, I see what you are trying to do. You just wanna be my warm blanket again. Eh? Ehhhhh?” I teased her.

I could see her face blush a bit before she punched my arm a bit “I thought you said you had a marefriend, she should be the only warm blanket for you now” she grumpily said. 

Now this time my face heated up and I fiddled with my thumbs “W-we have not gone not far yet, we are taking things slow” I nervously said. 

At first I thought she was going to tease me or say something else and I shut my eyes, patiently awaiting for the impact. But to my surprise, when I opened my eye I saw Vinyl staring at me with a caring smile, with her shades down. So I returned back to normal just before she said “I am proud of ya big guy. Not many stallions have the guts or brains to take things slow with a mare they love”

I felt my face blush again but I could not help but smile as I reached over and gave her a quick, little hug “Thanks Vinyl, means a lot to me to hear you say that” I said before I gave the top of her head a quick peck. 

“Wh-wh-what did you do that for?!” she embarrassingly said. 

“Nothing. I just feel really good right now, in the club drinking with my best friend and my other friends. Thanks again, Vinyl” I concluded by reached up with my closest hand and gave her ear a quick scratch. I could feel her lean into me a bit.

“Alright, enough with the love ya big softie. I wanna dance! So bust out those moves, King of the Dance Floor!” Vinyl said as she scooted away from me and onto said dance floor. 

I quickly ordered and paid for another Pon-3 House Special before I limbered up a bit and then as smoothly as I could, I ran and glided into the middle of the dance floor, quickly surrounded by my group of five and a few other random ponies. I cleared my space and I did a few Michael Jackson spins and did a pose. 

“All right, let's dance” I boasted with a grin and what I did next could only be described as good drunk white boy dancing.

God help me. 
> Love And Its Name Is Human
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“ADRIAN! ADRIAN! ADRIAN!” The club cheered my name as I finished up my last few moves. It had only been about thirty minutes or so since I did my little boasting and thankfully, my dance moves were amazing. At least to these ponies, who had never seen them before. 

I concluded by doing a few more spins and stuck another pose, one of my own creation, and was rewarded with thunderous applause. If I was looking for a distraction to take my minds off things for a bit, then this was certainly it and I was glad for it. Once the roaring ponies around me settled down and began to dance on their own, a few trying out my little stunts, I made my way to a booth to sit down. I wasn't winded but I just wanted a little break.

“Whoa~ You dansh good Adrian!” I heard someone say. Looking behind me, I saw a very drunk Cloudchaser and Flitter stumbling up. I chuckled a bit as they reminded me of the girls the first time I went out and partied.

“Thanks Flitter, you two doing ok?” I asked them. 

“We ish good! Feeling funky fresh! Hehe!” Cloudchaser stated with a slight daze in her voice. 

“Oh yeah! Lots and lots of stallions gave us pretty drinks!” Flitter said. 

“Yes, we noticed” I heard a new voice say. Turning back, I saw a mildly annoyed looking Spitfire standing there with Fleetfoot right beside her. 

“Uh oh, all the boys hitting on you?” I asked with a bit of a teasing voice. 

“Yes and due to your dancing, they all tried to hit on me by utterly failing to copy you. One almost spilled his drink on us. While I enjoy the attention from time to time, these boys are far to early to try and get me to talk to them, let alone dance alone” Spitfire told me.

“Hmmm, I wonder if I should feel flattered or embarrassed. It is not every day when others copy you to try and flirt” I asked out loud. 

“Well, you would of worked on us!” Flitter said with enthusiasm. 

“Sounds like you two have certainly gotten enough attention tonight” Fleetfoot commented with a slight smile.

“Oh yeah we have! All them stallions saw we were with you all and kept on giving us drinks and asking questions!” Cloudchaser replied.

“But we might of have one too many” Flitter said with a chuckle.

“Ah, but with you two pretty looking mares its hard for them boys not to try and talk to you” Vinyl suddenly said as she popped up next to me. 

“Yeah, but it quickly dawned on us that they were only interested in you guys and we were their way in” Flitter said in an annoyed tone. 

“Yeah, sorry about that kid. That is what usually happens when we go anywhere” Spitfire stated with a defeated voice. 

“Well, lets get out of here then! All of these guys are stupid drunk and are kinda killing my mood” Vinyl said.

“But aren't you the DJ for the night?” I asked her.

“Eh, no big deal. None of that is my stuff, all I need to do is set up a playlist and I can let that run for the rest of the night. The bartender knows how to turn it off since he likes to play now and then” Vinyl explained. 

“Alright, we will wait here then” Spitfire told her.

“Roger that! Be back in two shakes of a tail!” Vinyl happily said before she sped up to the booth.

“So~ where we heading?” Flitter asked.

“Well, I would suggest our room but it might not be big enough for us all. How about you?” Fleetfoot said.

“Our place is kinda small as well, sorry” Cloudchaser replied.

“How about the castle? I'm in charge of it while Twilight is out on her mission, so we could hang out there for a bit” I said.

“Really? I was always curious about the inside of it when I first heard about it” Spitfire said to me.

“Sure, does that sound good with the rest of you?” I asked them. 

They all nodded their heads in excitement and in no time Vinyl had returned, ready to go. We were just about to leave when a small bundle of stallions blocked our path.

“Hey, hey, hey! Why are our honored guests leaving so soon?” the first one said.

“Yeah! Come on ladies, we were just starting to have fun!” the second one on the left said next.

“It would be rude of you to leave us after such a warm welcome” the third one the right finished. 

“No, what is rude is you three blocking our way. Now move” Spitfire calmly said. 

“Oh come on, it is not everyday we get to meet the sexy captain of the Wonderbolts! We just want to show our appreciation as fans for you!” said number two.

“Eww, your one of those creepy ones? Yeesh” Fleetfoot retorted.

“Aww, don't be like that. You have your fine points as well. I especially love the color of your mane” number three replied back with.

“Wow, what a couple of jokers you three are. Where did you learn your smooth skills from? Douchebag 101?” Vinyl disgustingly said.

“Ouch, that hurt. Maybe what you need is a strong stallion to show you what you have been missing” the first stallion said. He then took a step forward and tried to caress Vinyls face with his hoof but I swiftly grabbed it and he looked surprised to see me.

“Don't. Just don't. Please” I said with an irritated voice. 

“Oh come on, you already have yourself a marefriend. We are just trying to hook up too! Back me up here, you know you want to” number one said. He began to boast a knowing grin, as if he thought I was going to let him do what he wanted already. Boy was he wrong.

“Sorry, dude. I don't think you three are their type. Go home and sober up” I said as I gently pushed his hoof away. 

The first one clicked his tongue in annoyance before he noticed Cloudchaser and Flitter stumble a bit and his grin returned. “Fine, then allow us to escort those two mares home. It appears that they have drunk one too many” he said with confidence. 

“You were the ones who gave ush our drinksh in the ferst place” Cloudchaser said while slurring her words a bit.

“Well, you wanted to party and we helped! So let us take you girls home” number three said. 

“No thanks, I would rather make out with a pile of dirt than go with you jerks” Flitter spitefully said.

“Now you listen here you little whorse!” number three charged forward and raised his hoof “We tried to be nice, now your going to listen to us now!” he said while he went in for the slap. 

I felt a little burst of power within me as my arm shot through the still air and caught his hoof before it made contact. I had a strong and fierce grip on him and I gave it a tight squeeze, unintentionally letting out a little snarl. 

“No, you listen. This is what is going to happen. You three are going to leave and go home as quickly as your scrawny little legs will carry you and never, ever talk to a mare again for as long as you live. If you don't, I will use my fire breath and torch off all your mane and fur, marking you so all of Ponyville can see you in your shame for trying to hit a mare. Do you understand?” I said with force and intimidation. 

Number one and two seemed to perfectly understand as they began to cower in fear, but I think number three was in so much shock that he retorted by swinging his other front leg at me. Feeling that burst of power inside of me again, my hand let go of its death grip on his hoof and instantly went up to his neck and whacked it with a good karate chop. It hit so hard that not only did he get knocked out but he crashed into the other two.

“Take him and leave” I told them but they sat there in shock and simply stared at me. 

So I dug into that power in my chest and while not exactly yelling, my voice seemed to boom when I told them this one word.

“NOW!” 

The two snapped out it and began to furiously drag their unconscious friend away, soon the three disappeared in the dark of the night. It took me a few deep breaths before I felt that surge of power dissipate and I felt normal again. I looked down at my group and saw them all staring at me in awe, all except Spitfire who was grinning.

“Well, never had a knight in shining armor come and protect me before. Nice job sport” Spitefire said in a proud voice. I don't know why but I felt a little embarrassed that I let myself kinda go on auto-pilot there for a moment. But before I talked I looked behind us and saw that once more, we were center attention. 

“Hey, lets go talk outside before the crowd rushes us” I whispered. Once we were outside, Flitter ungracefully flew up to me and hugged me.

“Th-thank you Adrian. I was really scared for a second when h-he tried to hit me” she said as she held back her tears. I brought my hand up so I could pet her mane a bit to try and calm her.

“No problem, I hate guys like that. Glad I could help” I warmly said to her. “Do you girls still want to hang out or do you want to go home?” 

“I.... I wanted to hang out, b-but now I kinda want to go home. I'm sorry” Flitter said. I looked over at Cloudchaser and she nodded her head in agreement. 

“It's ok, I understand. Do you want us to walk you two home?” I asked. They both nodded their heads again, leading us on our way. It was only a ten minute walk to their house and it was without incident. 

“Are you girls going to be alright tonight?” Spitfire asked them.

“I will, but I am not sure about Flitter. She is really shaken up about it, it probably brought up some..... unpleasant memories” Cloudchaser said to us.

Spitfire and Fleetfoot looked at each, almost like they were having a mental conversation. After another moment or so, Spitfire took a step forward to say “Would you like Fleetfoot or myself to stay with you tonight? I doubt those idiots would do anything, but still”

Cloudchaser went over to Flitter and had a private conversation before Cloudchaser came back.

“She doesn't mind if one of you want to stay over. She would feel a little bit safer” Cloudchaser explained.

“I can stay with her boss, if you don't mind” Fleetfoot said.

“Sure, we can meet up in the morning at our room. Have a safe night you three” Spitfire said as she waved goodbye.

“G'night!” Vinyl said with her.

Before I could wish them a good nights sleep, Flitter came up to me with another hug “Th-thanks again for being a gentlecolt” she said in a timid voice.

I wrapped an arm around her as we hugged and smiled “No problem, sweet dreams Flitter. And to you as well Cloudchaser” I said. Once we hugged, she had a little smile on her face while the three went inside, leaving me with the other two. 

“So, still wanna go hang out at the castle? I was able to sneak out a few bottles in my bag” Vinyl said with a wink as she patted her bulgy bag.

“I'm game” Spitfire replied. I nodded yes and with some idle chat we began our walk through the silent streets. 


---------- 15 Minutes Later ----------


“-so then I said 'Here's some sugar for ya baby' and proceeded to smash the apple pie into his face!” Spitfire laughed as she finished telling her story. 

“Oh man! I can't believe Soarin got that smashed at the Gala!” Vinyl said as she had to wipe the tears away from her eye. 

“Oh yeah. We have not let him live that night down since. Though, one of the first questions he asked us when he woke up the next morning was if he said anything bad to Rainbow Dash” Spitfire informed us.

“Uh oh! Sounds like somepony has a crush!” Vinyl teased.

“I am not too sure if it will end well though. I can never really tell with Rainbow, she is such a wild card” Spitfire replied.

“Well..... I can neither confirm or deny this, but a certain cyan pegasus with a colorful mane might have a little crush on a stallion pegasus, who is on some sort of flying team” I told them with a wink. 

This got a little grin out of Spitfire “Well, I will be sure to put this information to good use. Oh wow!” she said with a surprised tone as we came up on the castle doors. Even though it was dark out, the sparse lighting made the crystal texture gleam in the night and gave it a different kind of beauty to it.

“Welcome to The Castle Of Friendship” I said in a welcoming voice while I used my hands to display the castle. 

“Very impressive, very impressive indeed” Spitfire said in awe. 

“Yeah, now that I can actually see straight this time, it does look pretty cool” Vinyl laughed as she gazed upon the castle. 

“Well, no point in standing outside. Lets go in” I said while I creaked open the doors. Making our way to the main library so we can sit on the couches.

“Wow, you certainly are living the high life. Eh?” Vinyl commented as she looked around. 

“For the moment, yes I am” I replied.

“For the moment?” Spitfire asked in return.

“Yeah, I don't plan on living here forever. I don't like living on borrowed luck. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, I owe Twilight so much for taking me in and providing for me, all for free. She even gives me bits to go out and buy stuff. I know she is not doing it so I owe her, but I feel like I do owe her a great debt for all her kindness”

“So, once I start earning bits and save up enough, I want to find my own place to live or at the very least pay her rent” I concluded. After that I quickly went to the kitchen to grab us three glasses to drink from, which I did as soon as I sat back down. 

“I understand your feelings and I think it is very noble of you, but in the meantime don't forget to thank Twilight from time to time and try not to over think the whole bit problem. Ponyville is a very cheap place to live and you have a Princess looking out for you. Just live your life day to day and enjoy yourself” Spitfire explained before pouring herself a big glass.

“Yeah dude! Just live your life and be happy!” Vinyl loudly exclaimed.

“Shhhhhh.... tone it down just a bit. I have a..... guest, upstairs who needs to sleep” I quickly said in a hushed tone. 

“Oh, sorry” Vinyl quickly replied with a sheepish grin. “You have a guest over?”

“Yeah, she is a bit of a handful sometimes but thankfully she is asleep now” I said with a tired sigh.

“She? And who is she?” Spitfire said with a curious glance while she sipped her drink. 

I was also taking a sip but coughed a bit when I saw her look cause I realized how it might of sounded “Ahem! Sorry, I guess that might sound weird. Um...... boy how do I explain this. Well, uh..., you see, the thing is is that she is, technically, my-” 

“PAPA!” 

POOF

“pa...pa~” Maelstrom sleepily said as she fell instantly right back to sleep, curled up in my lap. Almost immediately I heard a low howl echo in the castle and in a few short moments I heard the sound of claws scraping against the ground as Artemis made her way to us. Once Artemis saw that Maelstrom was safe in my lap she jumped up on the couch and proceeded to go back to sleep.

Suffice to say, when I looked back up I saw that Vinyl and Spitfire had very confused looking faces. Guess I should be used to telling the story by now, cause I saw no other way then to just be honest. So once again, I did the little dance and song number and before you know it I am looking at The Discord Look once more.

“So...... she is your... daughter that Discord... hatched?” Vinyl asked.

“Yep” I simply said.

“And she has magic, can fly, and her only words are papa?” Vinyl asked again.

“Yep, yep” I said again.

“AND you also have a timberwolf pup as a pet, the same pup that was part of the pack that cornered Fleetfoot and almost killed you?” Vinyl asked a third time.

“Yep, yep, yep” I replied.

“Dude.... you live a weird life” Vinyl concluded with a dumbfounded face. 

“Yeah, welcome to a small part of my crazy life” I said with another tired sigh as I absentmindedly petted Maelstrom. 

“Whats wrong kid?” Spitfire asked while she started on her third glass. 

“Well, I am just kicking myself a bit cause I now that I think about it, I should not of gone out tonight. I left my child here all alone while I went out to think and ended up drinking and dancing. That certainly won't earn me a Father-of-the-Year award” I explained.

“Well, looking at it like that then you are right and it almost makes me want to smack you upside the head a bit” Spitfire told me.

“Yeah, I wouldn't blame you” I admitted as I finished my second big glass.

“Why did you want to go out though?” Spitfire asked me again while the two mares drank their glasses.

“I had just let my fears and worry creep up on me again about my own life and Maelstroms future” I sighed a bit as I took a moment to collect my thoughts.

“I just feel like ever since I came to Equestria my life has been all over the place, for both good and bad. It just feels so overwhelming sometimes and it scares me at how much my life has changed. Having so many friends, acquiring magic, almost dying, my physical appearance changing, owning a pet, having met and befriending all four Princesses of a foreign and alien land”

“Learning dark and terrible secrets from my past and my new life here, falling in love, and having a child made from my DNA and a mad beings magic all wrapped together in barely a month or so of living here. I was even having nasty nightmares every now and then, but Luna and Nightingale helped with that so I am fine on that front”

Taking a deep breath, I stopped a moment before taking another big drink from my freshly poured glass. 

“So basically on top of all that, now I need to worry about Maelstroms future and in all honesty, that scares me more than anything. I have always been alone and never really knew what to do with my life, now at twenty three years old I have a child and have to give up my life to make sure hers is safe”

At this point in my confession, I felt myself tremble a bit as my emotions swirled around inside of me. So I poured my fourth glass and drank half of it in one big gulp before I continued.

“I-I am just scared that I won't be a good father. I never had a dad and I lost my mom when I was young, so I don't really have a good idea on what being a good parent should be. And how am I suppose to raise a magical baby that is a child of Discord and the only human in Equestria? I just.... I ju-just....” I stopped talking as I felt my insides swirl more and more, never noticing that my hand was actually shaking.

I also did not notice that Spitfire had quickly flown over and set my glass down, so she could look at me in the eye with concern. I don't know what it was but when I looked at her, I could see how mature she was when I looked into her eyes and much to my surprise she gently lifted up a hoof and gave me cheek a few strokes. That small action calmed me down and when I felt totally calm, I reached up and rubbed my eyes.

“Thanks Spitfire” was all I said.

“No problem kiddo. But I can certainly see why you wanted a night off now, even if in the end it was not exactly the right decision to make. I wish I had better advice for you, but honestly I cannot compare your situation to anything I have ever had to deal with in my life. That being said, I think the only advice I can give is actually something I just said earlier”

“Live your life day by day. If you worry so much about the future then you won't know how to deal with today. Have plans, of course, but don't try to live your life tomorrow. Live your life today. Do that and you can surpass any obstacle. You will have a rough life and everyday will be a challenge, but that is life and your life, while filled with a lot of bad, is overflowing with good”

“You have friends all around you and you even have all four Princesses as your friends as well. Do you think anypony else in all of Equestria as that honor? Not only that, but you are friends with the Wonderbolts, a DJ, heck you even made two new friends tonight. Your past does not define you, only you can define you. So make yourself the best that you can be, alright kid?” Spitfire ended with a lovely smile as she gently popped my chin. 

“I will try my best, not only for me but for her as well” I said as I glanced down at the adorable ball of fur in my lap, cutely snoring away.

“Then that is all we can ever ask of you, now buck up and start having fun. You have two beautiful mares in your castle, make the most of it” Spitfire said with a playful wink and I could see Vinyl stifling her laugh. I could not help but laugh as well that Spitfire could suddenly switch from super serious to funny. I held out my hand and thankfully, it was stable so I safely picked up my glass again and finished the rest so I could move onto my fifth.


---------- 45 Minutes Later ----------


“-and then he says 'Only I can make your music treble sweetheart'. Let me tell ya, it was the lamest pickup line he had ever said to me. Celestia knows how I ended up dating him and sticking with him for a whole month” Vinyl finished telling us about her tenth and last boyfriend. 

Sheesh, I don't know if it is the guys or simply where she finds them but either way, she has not had the best relationships. But not like that matters much right now, since we just got done with our third and final bottle and we were all pretty drunk. 

In the middle of my laughter I felt something moving in my lap, looking down I saw Maelstrom re-snuggling herself into my lap and she had snagged my finger in order to use it as a teddy bear. Normally this amount of cuteness would be tolerable, but due to the alcohol it transformed into ridiculously super levels of adorableness. So I could not help but have a huge smile, rivaling that of Pinkie Pie, as I watched my daughter sleep.

“You really love her, don't cha?” Spitfire tiredly said.  

“More than anything, well maybe just as much as Derpy. I will wait till she is older before I hold a contest between them to decided who I love more” I chuckled as I finished. 

“Totally rad idea! A contest of love! Maybe you could hold it during Hearts and Hooves day coming up!” Vinyl excitingly said while keeping her balance. 

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. Bah, I will deal with that in the morning. I am still following Spitfires orders and enjoying the night with two beautiful mares!” I said with a toothy grin. 

“Heh heh heh. Well, this beautiful mare needs to find a bathroom. Where to?” Spitfire asked.

“Just go through this door behind me, keep left till the first turn, then turn and it will be the first door on the right” I instructed as I tried to point behind me. With that she tried to fly her way but lost her balance a few times in the air before deciding to walk the rest of the way.

Just as I turned my head back, I felt a soft thump to my right. Looking, it was a smiling Vinyl with her shades off, giving me a clear view of her red magenta eyes as she stared at me.

“And. What. Can. I. Do. For. You~” I playfully said as I flipped her mane. 

“Oh, nothing. Just wishing I could clone you” Vinyl said.

“Clone me? Now what in the world would you do with a clone me?” I asked her.

“Oh, just have him accompany me and follow me everywhere and have him protect me and watch out for me and other stuff like that” she replied with a grin.

“Heh, sounds you want clone me as a boyfriend or something” I said back.

“Yeah, I suppose it does. Since I can't have the real you anymore” she stated before resting her back against my arm. 

“Vinyl?” I asked her with concern.

“It's nothing big guy. I am just being silly, as you just heard from all my previous boyfriends I have not had a good relationship and I was honestly starting to think all stallions were idiots and jerks. Then here you come, an alien dude and you are the most chill and awesome guy ever. Just wishing I had a guy like you” she sadly stated.

With my free arm, I quickly slipped it around her and brought her in for a hug which surprised her.

“Don't worry Vinyl, there is someone out there for everyone. Though I had to fall through a magical well to find mine, so I might not be the best example” I said with a sheepish grin. “But no matter what, we will always be best friends and I will do my best to be here for you. Though try to limit the girl stuff, I am not good with those kind of talks” 

I could hear her chuckle while she punched my arm, before saying “Jerk”

“Goofball” I replied back with. 

“That being said, I am still kinda jealous of Derpy for being brave. Though there is always the second option~” she tried to say before letting out a big yawn. I could tell she was about to fall asleep any moment.

“Second option?” I nervously asked.

She yawned again before saying “Well.... thought not common....some form-” another yawn erupted her speech “-herds”

“Herds?” I nervously asked again.

“Usually...one guy... loving...multiple....girls~” she tried to fully say before finally giving into sleep. 

At first I was getting kinda sleepy but strangely, I found myself completely awake and I had a nervous sweat coming falling down my head. 

'Herds. One guy. Loving. Multiple girls'

Uh oh.


---------- Same Time, Library Door ----------


“Usually...one guy... loving...multiple....girls~” is all I heard before the second set of snores filtered the air. 

I stopped at the door when I heard Vinyl starting to talk about stallions and her previous relationships, hoping it was just small talk and wishing I did not need to interrupt. But now I wish I had interrupted before she dropped that bomb shell on the poor guy. 

He has enough on his plate to worry about and now he has this whole new world of possibilities thrusted upon him. 

“Uh oh” 
> A Human Has 99 Problems But A Herd Ain’t One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Darn it Vinyl, why did you have to fall asleep now?' I asked myself as I stared blankly into the snoring mare sitting against me. 'Especially after dropping that little line on me'

I know she didn't mean anything bad by it, but now I was starting to feel my insides swirl around again after just calming down. Ugh, my head is starting to hurt from this and from all those drinks we had tonight. But what should I do now? How do I even begin to answer that? 

“Kid?” I heard Spitfire ask from behind me. 

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end when I heard her, so I slowly turned my head and nervously looked back at her. 

“Sounds like we are going to have another little talk” she said in a serious tone. 

“Well, at least I don't have to worry about trying to explain everything now” I said with a halfhearted chuckle. 

With that, Spitfire quickly made her way back over to her seat, leaving her half-empty glass alone before staring up at me. “Before I say anything, I want to hear your thoughts first. So, what do you think of herds?” she asked me.

“Well, back on Earth we have something similar called polyamory where a someone has multiple partners, but it is highly frowned upon and generally disliked by many people. So most of the world practices monogamy, or having only one partner”

“So, with that in mind, herds sound like the same thing as polyamory and right now I don't think it would be something I would ever want. I mean, I have been trying all my life to try and have just one girlfriend and now that I have one I am not going to be foolish and try again for another” I told her.

“Interesting, well that is an acceptable answer. Enough so that I won't have to smack you upside the head for saying something stupid” Spitfire said with a bit of a smirk. 

“Can I ask a question then?” I asked her.

“Shoot kid” she replied.

“How are herds viewed here on Equus?” I asked.

“Hmmm, depends on where you are. Herds are not illegal, but they are not common enough to be seen everywhere. Some major towns discourage it while others fully embrace that life style. I have seen them more in smaller towns, like the size of Ponyville. I haven't seen any here though, interesting enough” she said

“And, your view?” I timidly asked. 

She seemed surprised that I asked that last question at her but she took a moment to collect her thoughts “My take on herds? I personally don't enjoy them, I was actually part of a herd when I was younger and naive. But I very quickly learned that I am a one mare show and did not like my stallion being shared. So from then on I have only sought out one and only one partner to call my own. Though, that being said, I have not had much luck in finding that one. Heh” she said with a quick laugh. 

“Really? I would of thought someone in your position would be having to beat the guys off with a bat, like flies!” I replied back with. 

“Heh, yeah. One would think so, but I think stallions find me a bit too uptight and unapproachable. Fleetfoot has even told me what they really think of me, when they ask her out. But no fur of my muzzle, if they are that big of idiots to be held back by something as stupid as that, then they don't deserve me” Spitfire said with smile as she finally picked up her glass and drank.

“But, enough about me, what are you going to do about her?” she asked while pointing at Vinyl. 

“When she wakes up, I will have to let her down by telling her that right now, Derpy is my one and only marefriend” I said with a sad sigh.

“What's wrong?” she asked after hearing that last sigh.

“I.... I just don't want to disappoint her. Because I understand what her feelings are and all she wants is to be genuinely loved by someone. But, like I told her earlier, I will always be her best friend and I will try my best to here for her” I explained to Spitfire. 

“... well... you don't have to wait” I heard a small voice say. Looking down, I saw that Vinyl was awake and stayed still while laying against me. 

“Vinyl?! How long were you awake for?” I cautiously asked her after my initial shock.

“For a while, I only passed out for a minute or so but when I woke up I realized what I had just said to you and couldn't think of what to say next. Then you two had your little talk, and here we are” Vinyl sadly explained. 

“Then let me ask you this: What in the world were you thinking?! Asking that sort of question to Adrian?” Spitfire asked in a very annoyed and slightly angry voice. 

I felt Vinyl cringe a bit at her words and I could hear her take very small breaths as she lay still against me. I then felt a few small shakes coming from her and I think a few little sniffles were heard. So I picked up my arm that was around her and gave her a quick and reassuring hug, she slightly tilted her head up to look at me.

I gave her a smile to try and calm her, letting her know that I was right here for her. She responded by smiling a little herself then readjusting herself against me before saying “I wasn't thinking, I would never of said that but all the alcohol made me open up a bit more than usual then talking about my ex-coltfriends then him just being himself made me compelled to try”

“I really am sorry big guy, that was inconsiderate of me. Especially after you telling us why you really came out tonight. Can you forgive me?” Vinyl asked me with a sad expression. She looked like I had already made up my mind and was not going to. So with a smirk on my face, I gave her another hug with my arm. 

“Of course I can, and besides, it is not like you did anything wrong in the first place. You were just talking about your feelings and thoughts, nothing wrong with telling the truth. I just never figured your for the lovey dovey type, Vinyl” I playfully jested.

This got a good laugh out of her before she gently punched my arm “Shut up you big goof....and thanks” Vinyl said as she rested her hoof on my hand. 

“Your welcome Vinyl” I said back. I looked over at Spitfire who was finishing up her glass, when she saw me she gave me a small smile and a nod of her head. 

“papa~” Maelstrom suddenly mewed out in her sleep. Dawww, she is far too cute for her own good. 

“I think we should all head off to bed, its been a long night for us all” Spitfire suggested. 

“That would probably be best, lets put these glasses and empty bottles away first” I said while I attempted to get up.

“Nope! You sit right there big guy, I will put them away” Vinyl told me as she pushed me down with her hoof. Next her horn lit up and a faint pink hued magic surrounded everything on the table, picked them up, and slowly traveled with Vinyl on her way to the kitchen. It was not long before she came back smiling at her completed task. 

“There we go! Glasses all washed and all trash is trashed!” Vinyl proudly stated. 

“Good work-” Spitfire said before bursting out a long yawn “-oh, sorry about that. Guess I better be heading off” 

“Will you be ok on your own?” I asked her.

“Oh yeah, trust me. I have had FAR worse nights of drinking. Come along Vinyl” Spitfire replied with.

“Thanks for looking out for us tonight big guy, and sorry again for causing you any trouble” Vinyl said as she quickly trotted up to me. 

“No problem, happy to help at anytime. And don't worry about it, forgiveness is what friends are for. Especially if it is my best friend!” I told her. 

“Geez, ya big softie. Well next time you see me, I will be back to my normal self and your gonna get it hard!” Vinyl said with a sneaky grin. 

I simply laughed as I held out my arm for one final hug goodnight, which I eventually got before I saw them off. Once the two of them were far in the distance, I silently closed the big front door and headed up to my room with Artemis behind me. I could already feel myself starting to fall asleep by the time I walked into my bedroom.

What I saw was not what I expected.

Everything was mostly the same except for one small thing. The giant curved wall of crystals at the foot of my bed. Oh Maelstrom, what did you do?

Upon closer inspection, I realized what probably happened. When she realized I was gone and poofed from here to me, my blanket must have flew back and crystallized where it is. Taking a good look around the room, I saw that nothing else seemed to have changed. So I took a breath of relief before I headed over to my closet and pulled out the spare 

I was wrong, oh so very wrong about the blanket being the only thing that changed.

The second I hopped onto the bed, the entire bed shook and sloshed around. So I just lied still and waited for everything to stop moving before I gave the bed a small smack with my hand and I figured out what it was. The mattress turned into a water bed! At least it remained a bed and did not literally turn into water. That would not of been fun. 

Thinking the worst was over for now and leaving my crystal blanket and new water bed for the morning, I rested my head against the soft pillows and breathed in a sigh of relief they were not made of clouds or paper or something else strange. Though they did smell delicious. And it was a familiar scent, it reminded me Pinkie Pies mane when I tried to 'eat' it that one time. 

My eyes shot open as I realized what the pillows probably became. I reached up and pinched the corner and easily ripped off a small, fluffy piece and plopped it into my mouth. Yep. Cotton Candy. My pillow is made out of white cotton candy, on my water bed, that has a crystal blanket wall at the end. 

Nope. Not going to worry or question it now, too tired to care. So with that I gently adjusted Maelstrom, covered us up with a normal blanket, and rested my head on my 'cotton pillow' and slowly fell asleep. Hopefully my dreams would be normal. 


---------- Someplace Else ----------


“..r..n” I heard a voice barely say.

“A..ian” I heard the voice say again.

“Adr..n” The voice began to sound more clear and closer now.

“Adrian” My name? Who is calling my name?

“ADRIAN!” The voice very clearly and very loudly said. I snapped into consciousness and looked around in a daze before focusing on a dark figure in front of me. I blinked a few times and in no time my vision returned and I saw Luna standing there with a curious look on her face.

“Adrian? Are thou awake now?” she asked me.

“Big Sis Luna! How are you doing?” I asked her excitingly. 

“We are doing very well, thank ye for asking. How are things in Ponyville with you and your..... daughter?” she asked in return. For some reason she found the revelation of Maelstroms birth more bothersome than Celestia and it still showed.

“Things are going well! I have mostly gotten used to being a father to my little chaotic bundle of joy. Everyone has been really supportive and Derpy has gladly accepted her. Though Maelstrom still does not trust anyone but me and Artemis much” I explained.

“We see, well she is the offspring of a weird and chaotic being that has thrown my world upside down and Discord” she said with a wink and a playful smile. “So things will probably go very different when raising her”

I laughed at that little jab at me and it was then I noticed that Luna was wearing something different then normal “Hey Luna, I am just curious. What are you wearing?” I asked.

“Ah, our dear Adrian. This is actually the reason why we woke you from your dream to talk to thee. Look behind you” Luna said as she directed me with her hoof.

Standing up before turning around, I saw a very bizarre sight laid out. Right in the middle was a large golden throne with red cushions and surrounding it was pretty much every girl I ever knew here on Equus, laying around with similar clothing that Luna had adorned. The clothing reminded me of middle eastern belly dancers, with the coin sashes, veils, and anything else you might see on them. 

Also, some of the girls had large, full bowls of fruit and goblets with liquid. It reminded me of one of those old movie harem scenes. 

Wait..... oh no. I could not help but bury my burning red face in my hands as I realized why I had this type of dream. My mind for some reason is stuck on that idea of herds that Vinyl 'suggested'.

“We are most impressed though Adrian, we did not know you knew of the traditional clothing style of Saddle Arabian dancers” Luna commented as she observed the scene. 

If I could bury my head further than I would since now I was groaning at my embarrassing dream and the fact that they have a place called Saddle Arabia. 

“But we are still curious as to why you have surrounded your dream self with all these mares in such garments?” She curiously asked me.

Seeing no way out of this predicament, I decided to tell the truth. 

“Well, tonight I met up with Vinyl Scratch, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot while also meeting Cloudchaser and Flitter and we went to a club, had a few drinks, the last three went home while Vinyl, Spitfire, and I drank some more at the castle which led to one thing and another and Vinyl accidentally admitted to me that I should start a herd so that she could also date me” I quickly explained.

“Ah, your having a herd dream then! All is explained, though we have never seen one with ourselves in one and in such garments. Nor our sister” Luna said as she stared at something ahead. 

Looking where her gaze was, I saw Celestia standing there with a full vine of grapes in her mouth, waiting for something. I then saw something akin to a mirage right next to her that looked liked Luna and that is also when I saw another mirage of something human sitting on the throne. I am guessing I was sitting there. 

“I am so sorry Luna! I-I don't really think of you all like this! It....it was just the whole herd idea got inside my head and kinda messed up my thoughts for a bit an-and then-” I tried to explain but a gently place hoof on my lips silence my useless prattle. Shifting my eyes up, I saw a giggling Luna standing in front of me.

“Adrian, we of all ponies understand the nature of dreams. Something of this nature does not worry us. Actually, we find it most entertaining to see our dear sister is such garb. Hmmm, we also have never seen a gryphon wear Saddle Arabian clothing either” Luna admitted.

Looking over at Gilda, she was standing up with a slightly annoyed look on her face as she held a half eaten apple in her clawed hands but I could clearly see how she looked clothed. She had a small yellow skirt with dark silver coins and a piece of cloth covering her chest, rather tightly. I could not help but avert my eyes, not knowing where to look. Though now millions of questions along the lines of 'are they always naked?' started exploding in my dream brain but I literally shook it off. 

“Well, we are glad you are doing well and ever more so that your dream is simply a herd dream and not something akin to slavery or the likes. It would of not dwelled well for thou to imagine us as a slave, little brother” she shot me a look to accentuate her point. I could only nod. 

“We shall return you to your dream, but we shall keep you aware this time. It will be most entertaining, we think” Luna told me with a grin. Before I could protest, the frozen scene sprang to life as the girls quickly swarmed around me, with the exception of Luna who hovered above the scene out of sight.

“Oh master! Please, eat my fruit!” Dream Rarity called out.

“No! Eat mine instead! Its sweet and super-duper good!” Dream Pinkie demanded as she bounced ahead.

“Hey, uh, yo-you should eat my apple instead” I heard Dream Gilda suggest as she held out her hands with the apple nestled in them. 

“Nonsense, my little ponies. He shall enjoy my succulent grapes as I feed him. Mouth~ To~ Mouth~” Dream Celestia slowly said as she twirled a grape in her mouth with half-lidded eyes. 

“My dear Aunt, my adorable Adrian shall experience true love from the Princess of Love as he enjoys my crystal wine. Please, drink from my goblet, my wonderful master” Dream Cadence seductively said as she held the drink with her magic. The rest of the girls said similar things while offering other food or drinks and their words took a turn for the worst and shall never be repeated. 

I felt my head about to explode when I heard above the crowd a snicker, looking up I saw Luna busting a gut and when she saw me she mouthed the words 'Good luck, Master' before flying off. 

….. I hope she keeps this dream private.



---------- 8:30 A.M, Adrians Room ----------


I woke up due to multiple reasons and I would of preferred only one.  Firstly, the sun had found its way through my curtains again and made my eyes hurt since I was facing it directly. Secondly, my brain had had enough of that dream last night and it shall never be spoken about again to anyone, including myself. And thirdly, Maelstrom was nibbling on my ear in her sleep. With her tiny, sharp teeth. Letting out a tired sigh, I took a moment to wake up before saying “Maelstrom, please stop eating my ear”

“Papa!” she happily cried out as she stopped biting and instantly hugged my head. “Papa~” she purred out. 

Darn it. Gosh freaking darn it! Why are you so damn adorable! WHY?!! It is not fair, not fair whatsoever.

Already having my pride beaten out of commission, I reached up and pulled her back a bit so I could kiss her cheek and smiled as I said “Good morning Maelstrom” 

Normally she would reattach herself to my face but this time she actually scampered back a bit and had a serious look on her face while she stared forward. I looked at her with a confused look on my face as I saw her struggle with something. “G-goo.... g-goo goo. Good mew...good mewr. Good mewrng!” she heavily struggled to say. 

But I lit up like a christmas tree and was instantly on my knees with a happy face, though I wobbled a bit since I forget it was a water bed now. “Good, good! Alright, lets try again! Ahem. Good. Morning” I slowly said the last two words for her.

“Good mewrng” she tried to repeat.

“Good...... morn...ing” I slowly said again.

“Good.... mowning” 

“Mo...rn...ing”

“Mow...urn...ing” 

“Morn...ing”

“Mo..rning”

“Morning”

“Morning!”

“YES! Good girl Maelstrom! Good morning!” I happily said and hoped she could repeat it again. 

“Good morning! Good morning papa!” she just as happily repeated back.

“YES! YES! This is amazing! You are such a smart girl Maelstrom! Come here!” I opened up my arms to which she happily sprung into and I hugged her so much as we both celebrated. 

I could get used to these kind of mornings. 

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Who in the world would be knocking this early? Cutting the celebration short, I quickly changed into a fresh outfit, propped the giggling Maelstrom in my arm, and quickly made my way to the door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

I grasped the handle and pulled it open “Hello, how can I-” I did not get to finish my sentence as I was bowled over by three bodies that sprung over me. Now on my back, I groaned as I regrouped my senses and looked around. I soon saw that the three that knocked me over was Fleetfoot, Cloudchaser, and Flitter. Though, I could tell something was wrong cause they looked scared and worried and Flitter was limping a bit.

Getting on my feet immediately, I rushed over to them and kneeled back down to ask “What's wrong?”

“Sorry for that Adrian, but remember those three idiots from last night? Well, they decided to try and hit us up again this morning but in a more.... direct, forceful way. They even hit Flitter, but thankfully it was only a glancing blow. I tried to wake Spitfire but she is a bit of a heavy sleeper after drinking. So I came here, hoping that once they saw you again, they would leave. Ah, here they come” she quickly explained. 

Looking back, I saw that it was indeed the three morons from last night and I could see that all three were different. Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasi. But that didn't matter, nothing mattered except for this small flame of hatred that I could feel igniting within me. I gently placed Maelstrom on the ground and kissed her forehead. “Stay here” I told all four of them. 

I slowly strode my way out front and waited for the trio to arrive, but once they saw me standing there they all came to a halt. But instead of fear, they were irritated and pissed off. 

“Great, the freak stands guard. Perfect” number one said with another click of the tongue. 

“Dude, get out of our way. We just want those sexy mares. No need for you to get hurt on account of them” number two said.

“Yeah you fucking freak! You were lucky I was drunk last night, or else I would of blasted you away with my magic!” number three said, though I could see my hit from last night swelled up a bit. 

“Got that right. You couldn't handle the three of us, now get lost and let us have our way with them” number one demanded. 

Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah. 

That was all I heard erupt from their filthy mouths, yet with every syllable they uttered, the flame inside of me grew and grew so much that I could feel my insides starting to heat up. But I would keep control, I will not lose control of this power. 

“I already told you to leave us alone and never bother us again. Not only that but I believe I promised to burn off all the hair on your body if you didn't. Are you willing to test that out?” I angrily asked them.

“Don't try to bullshit us! You can't use magic! Only unicorns can use magic! And I don't see a horn on that ugly face of yours. You know what? Screw this, lets beat him up, get the girls and teach his so called 'marefriend' a lesson that he won't ever forget!” number two said as he took the first step forward 

Everything went blank as my rage erupted tenfold at the mere concept of them harming Derpy, so allowing both my magic to swell up and mix with the burning fire within, I felt my power overflow from my body and my moment my foot connected with the ground I was already in front of number two, with a punch already in motion.

His face contorted to that of fear and pain within the few seconds he realized he was about to get punched and could not do anything about it. The moment it connected, his body was blasted away about fifteen feet behind them and landed with a loud and solid THUNK.

Number one flew away as soon as he could and number three ran around just a quickly and I could see his horn start to flicker. But that did not matter to me, all I wanted to do was hurt them and bring them down. So, fearing no danger, I began to walk over to him with a slightly menacing pose and I heard myself hiss again. 

When I was five feet from him, he unleashed his spell on me, which was a simple construct spell, shaped like a hammer. It swung at me and connected with my face and I could see him smirking when it did, that is until he saw that it had no effect on me. I continued to walk towards him with only a light scratch on my cheek and reaching out faster than he could run, I grabbed his horn and felt my strength surge.

CRACK

I heard his horn crack a bit and I even saw the crack on his horn, luckily for him the second I did, he passed out. So I let him go and without a thought, began my march to number one who was flying above us with fear etched into his face. 

“Sc-screw this! Your fucking crazy!” he said as he turned around and began to furiously flap his wings. But I was not going to let him get away. So I used my new speed to quickly get under him, breathed in a deep lungful of air, mixed in some magic, and unleashed a torrent of fire directly at him. It overcame him and quickly swallowed him whole, burning and singeing his wings. With no wings to fly on, his limp body plummeted back to the ground and did not move.

I took a look around and saw that all of my foes were down and out and I felt.... I felt.... powerful and just for a moment, I enjoyed it.

Thankfully my senses quickly came back to me and I killed that thought immediately. Nothing good would come out of that thought wiggling around in my head. So I did as I have before, and I took long and calming breaths to allow my magic to settle and also to douse that flame I felt inside.

I decided to gather the three up so when the hospital gets here, they can get all three at once. Luckily, my magical strength allowed me to easily pick up and arrange them nicely on the ground. But now that I saw all three together, I felt a ping of regret inside my heart. 

Was this the right thing to do to them? Even though they were going to hurt the girls and probably do worse, was it still right to hurt them like this?

“Adrian!” a female voice called out, snapping me out of my mental daze. Turning around, I was surprised to be wrapped up in a hug by a crying Flitter. Not knowing what to do next, I just simply brought my arms up and held her in my arms. 

POOF

“Papa good!” Maelstrom said to me as she happily laughed away while snuggling with my long, white hair. Don't know how she does it, but she manages to always safely teleport onto me. This time on top of my head. 

“Adrian!” Cloudchaser called out.

“Adrian! Thank goodness your alright” Fleetfoot called out as well. 

I looked over at the other two mares as they both flew towards us. They both wore concerned expressions on their faces. 

“Adrian! That was amazing! I can't believe how easily you took them out! And you even shrugged off that stallions magic!” Cloudchaser complimented.

“I don't really think I was that amazing, I was just angry” I nervously admitted.

But Fleetfoot shook her head.

“You were spectacular Adrian, it reminded me of the day you saved me in the forest. You would make a great wonderbolt” Fleetfoot said to me with a caring smile. 

My attention was drawn back down to Flitter who was now sniffling and trying to clean her eyes. 

“Go ahead and use my shirt to clean yourself up with Flitter, I can easily wash it later” I told her. She nodded without looking and used my shirt as a tissue. Though I am being nice, it was certainly a weird feeling to witness. 

It took a few minutes for her to clean up and calm down, but once she was done she smiled up at me with still a few tears in her eyes. I smiled back as I gently stroked her mane a few times.

“Th-thank you so much Adrian, sorry for causing you so much trouble though. You even let me use your shirt as a tissue” Flitter said with quiet voice.

“It was my honor to help you Flitter, I am just glad I was able to help. I am amazed that I could even do that” I said to both her and myself. I gazed at my hand that punched number two and reflected on the amazing things I just did in the blink of an eye. I didn't know I was this strong.

I then remembered that she was hit and I instantly found the little bruise “But more importantly, are you ok Flitter? Fleetfoot said you got hit and did they stalk you all outside your house?” I asked.

“I am not sure how, but they just appeared almost the second we came out of our house to look for Miss Vinyl and Captain Spitfire. We told them to buzz off but they were upset about last night and barely hit me before we got out of there and came here after we failed to wake Spitfire” Flitter explained to me. 

“Wow, I can't believe those three. I am just glad that you three are ok in the end” I said.

“THERE YOU THREE ARE!” a new voice called out to us. Looking around, I saw that it was Vinyl and Spitfire rushing to us. “What happened? Are you all ok?” Spitfire asked.

“Yes Spitfire, we all all ok now. Those three hooligans from last night followed us and tried to forcefully take us. They got a glancing blow off on Flitter before we fled. We tried to wake you but they were going to catch us, so we ran to find Adrian and well, his valiant actions saved us and knocked them all out. As you can see” Fleetfoot carefully explained.

“Jeez, look at you big guy! Trying to become the hero or something” Vinyl jested with a laugh. 

“Hardy har har. Looks like your back to normal” I said to Vinyl who had donned her eye wear like usual. 

“Oh yeah I am baby! Ha ha!” she replied back with. 

“Joking aside, is anyone else hurt?” Spitfire seriously asked us all.

“No ma'am, all parties safe and sound. Well, except for those three of course” Fleetfoot reported.

“Nice job Adrian, you would make a good wonderbolt. After I properly trained you of course” Spitfire said with a slight smirk.

“Thats what I said!” Fleetfoot  happily agreed.

“Well, he is already a hero in my book!” Cloudchaser said as she attached herself to my shoulder.

“Most definitely my hero!” Flitter responded by climbing on my other shoulder. 

“Hey! Don't hog him all to yourself!” Vinyl said as she jumped into my now empty arms, though she threw me off balance and I landed on my butt and slowly laid down on my back with the four of them all over me. 

I then heard Spitfire laugh to herself “You sure you don't want a herd?” she jokingly said in between laughs. 

Vinyl caught on to the joke and began to bust a gut as well, my face grew a little red and I groaned a bit. I tried to shift my eyes up but I was met with a happy looking Maelstrom. “Papa good! Good! Good!” she cried out before kissing me.

“Ah jeez! Even my own daughter is trying to embarrass me!” I called out and used a free arm to cover my eyes and part of my head. Then of course I heard the rest of the girls start to laugh. Making me groan again. 

But I sneaked a peak and saw that they all had such happy faces on them and had genuine smiles plastered on their faces. I recovered my eyes but I could not help but smile along with them. 
> The Consequences Of Being Human
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took no time at all for some of our little group to contact both the mayor and the hospital for their wounds. We decided to inform Mayor Mare as well since she is really the only type of law enforcement in Ponyville, which greatly surprised me to hear. 

But when I asked, I was told that practically no crime has ever happened in Ponyville. So for three stallions to go this far and even more so, a fight of this scale to happen, is exceedingly rare. So they never really bothered for guards or the like. 

I decided not to dwell on thoughts of changing it since it was far above my pay grade and instead focused on what lied ahead for me. It had taken about two hours for the hospital to safety remove the three, whose names I eventually found out. Number one was Solemn Winds, Number two was Rough Grit, and Number three was Hammer Fall. 

The initial analysis told us that the three would be fine and walking, flying, and casting spells in due time. Though I came dangerously close to crippling them, if I had squeezed a tiny bit harder then I would of cracked the inner core of the horn and permanently taken away his magic. While if my flames had burned more, they would of singed the wings matrix and stopped the regeneration of feathers and wings. 

Thankfully my initial punch on Rough Grit just simply knocked him out, but with the potential concussive force of an oncoming train. It was another miracle that he did not have a single broken bone. But all this information was slowly starting to get to me and how dangerous I can be, but for the moment I buried those thoughts and regained my focus as we all sat inside the Mayors office. 

“Now, tell me what happened. And please, do not spare a single detail” Mayor Mare sternly asked of us.

Spitfire was about to speak up first but I gently held my hand up to her, nodding to her to let her know that I would talk in her stead.

“I feel like I should talk, since I feel most responsible for the damage caused. If I am allowed to” I said to the Mayor. She nodded her head and allowed me to continue. 

“Everything started off last night, I decided to take the night off and found my way to The Hoofing Club, after running into Cloudchaser and Flitter who then showed me the way. Once their I also happened to run into Vinyl, Spitfire, and Fleetfoot as well and for a few hours, we had fun dancing and drinking”

“But the girls were wanting to leave since many drunk stallions were trying to impress them and so on, we all decided to go somewhere else to continue drinking and hanging out. But on our way out, the three stallions blocked our path and, while drunk, began to very rudely try to coerce their way into the group and, uh, acquire a girl for the night”

“Some heated bickering sprang up back and forth until Hammer Fall first raised his hoof and attempted to hit Flitter, so I blocked it and warned them to go home. But he went to strike me instead, so I knocked him out and told the other two to leave and never bother us again. They originally did and left us alone for the rest of the night, until the next morning”

“Cloudchaser and Flitter went home since they were not feeling well and wanted to feel safe, Fleetfoot accompanied them to provide extra protection. Just in case. Which turned out well since when they awoke next morning and wandered outside a bit, the same three stallions found them, said some unkind words, and even got a glancing blow off on Flitter before the girls ran”

“They wanted to contact Spitfire first but they could not wake her in the short amount of time they had, so they came to the castle, which is were I reside at the moment. They rushed inside and quickly informed me off the stalking and the hit, and admittedly I felt a bit of anger at them for hitting her so I decided to confront them”

“All three had very, very unkind and derogatory words to say not only towards myself, but the other girls and my own marefriend as well. When they had finished speaking, they began to walk forwards to begin their vile acts and so I acted” I took a long, deep breath after speaking as I recalled the feelings and thoughts when I initiated the first strike. I feel like I should tell the truth and how I felt when I did.

“I.... I also unfortunately admit, that I let my actions be fueled by anger as I wanted to protect the girls from getting hurt. So, I simply held the thought of bringing them down and proceeded to do as such. I am very grateful that I did not do any permanent damage to them, even though they wished to permanently hurt us originally” I freely admitted. 

Yes, I may of wanted to hurt them but to paralyze them? Make it so they can't do magic, fly, or even walk? That would be going to far, at least to me. 

“After that, we took a little calming period before contacting yourself and the hospital. And that is the whole truth, Mayor” I finished up with a slight bow of the head. 

The room was silent as the Mayor quietly looked over her notes she took during the story, her eyes scanning every word she wrote down. I could only patiently await as I kneeled on the floor, my hands fidgeting with each other and I even bit my lip a few times.

I looked around the room and saw that everypony else looked equally as nervous, everyone except for Spitfire who seemed to be thinking very hard about something. 

“Alright, everyone listen up” the Mayor said which caught our attention immediately. “Before I decide anything, I would like some time privately with each and every one of you. Is this acceptable?” she asked. 

The girls looked at each other for confirmation first before agreeing with the mayors wish. 

“Very good, now, lets start with Miss Flitt-” the Mayor started to say before her door slammed open with a sudden and loud bang. 

“SEIZE THEM!” We heard a female voice call out. In an instant, several armed guards rushed into the room and each one quickly either tied up or used magic to hold one of us still. One of them even managed to make a bubble shield around Maelstrom who tried to claw her way out but failed. It was apparently sound proof as well as I could see her mouth the words papa over and over again. 

“What is the meaning of this?!” the Mayor called out as she came around her desk. 

“I am simply capturing the criminal who dared hurt my little boy, Mayor” the same female voice responded. 

Turning my head as much as I could while being restrained, I saw a mare dressed in a suit striding in with an air of confidence around her with a sneer on her face. 

“Ah, Miss Cascades. I might of guessed” the Mayor said with a knowing tone. 

“Don't take that tone with me, I am simply bringing in the one who hurt my son and his innocent friends. Simple as that” Miss Cascades plainly declared. 

“Innocent? On what grounds?” the Mayor asked in return.

“Because I said so, and after hearing my boys woeful tale! Of course I rushed over as soon as I could to apprehend him!” Cascades pointed at me with an angry hoof.

“Apprehend him?! You crazy psycho mare! He is the innocent one! Your 'precious little foal' is the criminal here!” Vinyl suddenly said.

“Don't make me have to bring you in as well, you filthy degenerate with your awful music” Cascades scornfully said. 

“You have no right to take him!” the Mayor declared. But she was met with an evil sounding snicker.

“Right? I have every right to take him, and not only because of this violence but his entire being is a sin to this land! An alien creature of unknown origin infiltrating our peaceful towns and doing Celestia knows what to other citizens. For all we know, he could of hurt countless other innocents and gotten away with it!” Cascades madly declared. 

“This.... this thing has no rights here in Equestria. And as such, he is mine to do with as I please and I will see to it that this thing is served justice for what it has done” she boldly stated. 

“GUARDS! Escort this thing outside and to the train, we are heading to Canterlot to put it on trial and hopefully put it away for life” she commanded and her guards did as she said and began to forcefully guide me outside.

“Stop!” I heard some mare call out but the guards did not stop and simply ignored them.

“We said stop! You cannot take him!”

“This is insane! You can't just throw him away!”

“Get back here you crazy old hag!”

“Stop! Please! Don't take him!”

“Miss Cascades! Miss Cascades!”

Several voices called out, pleading upon deaf ears as I was leaded outside and paraded through town, much to the surprise of every pony out there. I even saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake looking out in shock. I did not see Derpy yet, thank goodness but there was another I was more worried about.

“Hey! What are you going to do with Maelstrom?” I loudly asked. 

“Who?” The guard next to me asked.

“The little one in the bubble! Where is she?!” I asked again.

“What is she to you? A trophy? A slave? Your little plaything?” Cascades sneeringly said to me.

“NO! She is my daughter! Please, she needs me!” I pleaded her.

“Don't be ridiculous, you can't mate with us. We will do all we can to find her real home and place her back with her parents, you monster” she replied back. I was struck back at the fact that she so easily declared me a monster and my mind flash backed to those awful nightmares for only a second. 

“I am her father! Discord used my blood and hair to make her! Please! She needs me!” I yelled out again with sorrow in my voice. The guards noticed this and they slowed their pace and began to talk amongst themselves. 

“DON'T LIE TO ME!” she suddenly and angrily yelled out to me. 

“I am not lying! Please! She is all alone and needs me! I am the only one she trusts!” I pleaded again, ignoring the fuming mare in front of me.

“Even if I believed you monster, you cannot be her father anyway. You have no rights here and as such, cannot legally hold a child! Even if you somehow conceived a child, said child would be taken from you and placed in the system to be given to a responsible and legal household. Besides, what life would she of had having a violent monster like you as a father?” she angrily stated.

I was beyond shock at this point but I started to get angry again at the fact that she was going to take my child away from me. So using my strength, I stood up to my full height and ignored the pressure from the magical bindings and ropes used to hold me as I took a single step towards her.

“You listen to me, I will not have some arrogant, selfish, black hearted bitch like you stand there and tell me that not only is my daughter not mine but will be taken away from me! I will do anything and everything I can to escape these chains and keep her safe from your back-stabbing hooves! I don't care if I ruin my life, but I will make damn sure hers is safe and with me!” I loudly said as I took another menacing step. 

She seemed fazed for a moment before she smirked “You cannot fool me, thinking you can escape several guards using magic and ropes to hold you down. But, just in case I am wrong, I will offer you a deal monster. I will leave a single guard here with your 'daughter' alongside the mayor so they can observe her safely. Nothing will happen to her until after the final decision from court. Do we have a deal?” she smugly said.

“How can I trust you to keep your word?” I asked in return.

“Please, unlike you monster, we ponies have pure hearts and would never go back on our word. So, do we have a deal or shall you try and hurt yourself and possibly your 'daughter'?” she once again smugly said. 

I know that she is probably thinking that I have no chance and perhaps she is right, since I have never really gone against another ponies magic of this caliber. I do not trust her whatsoever, but at least Maelstrom will be safe in Ponyville and will not be taken lightly. It also helps that for the moment, she does not have the power to escape the guards magical bubble spell. So I don't have to worry about her popping out of nowhere.

“We have a deal and I will cooperate, so you can be at ease with the spells and bindings” I said. With our deal struck, she instantly turned away in disgust but at least the guards eased up on all the magic and they only left one pair of rope bindings on my hands. At that, we continued our trek in silence as the town gazed on in awe and fear. 


---------- Meanwhile, at Town Hall ----------


“GUARD! What is the meaning of this?” the Mayor demanded from the only unicorn guard. Who was sweating due to the constant barrage of attacks Maelstrom was delivering inside his spell. 

“We apologize about this ma'am, but we are under contract of the Hammer family. All we know is that earlier today, she received an emergency spell her family set up if they ever needed help. So when she was alerted that her son was attacked by this huemon, she called upon us and as soon as we had gathered we casted a long-range teleportation spell in order to bring it in” the guard plainly spoke.

“And none of you bright guards decided to question this order? Or did none you think that the one you were bringing was innocent?” Spitfire angrily questioned.

“How is he innocent? He attacked somepony! Three in total!” The guard retaliated. 

“He did not attack them you buffoon! He was defending three mares from those three pig-headed stallions who were going to do unthinkable things to them! You would of known that if you had used those brains of yours to actually think!” Spitfire told him in even more anger. 

“He was.... defending them?” the guard confusingly asked. 

“Gah, why did that waste of space have to be related to that vile mare!” Spitfire asked out loud as she began to pace back and forth, ignoring the guard now. 

“Who is she anyway? To be able to call upon guards as a contract?” Vinyl asked.

“Her name is Hammer Cascades and she is an infamous and ruthless law pony, whom some almost consider a vigilante due to how much she ignores fact to deliver her 'justice'. But she is also rich to boot and is equally as smart. So she can get away with most anything” Spitfire explained with a bit of venom in her voice.

“What are we going to do?! We can't let Adrian go to jail! We just can't!” Flitter tearfully said as Cloudchaser held her. 

Before any could answer, they heard the door open again and saw another male guard stroll up to the other guard. “Valor, you are to remain here and keep a watchful eye on the child you hold. She is not to be harmed or led anywhere until the trial is finished. The mayor shall also keep a watchful eye on her, as per instructions” the second guard. 

Valor saluted before regaining his normal stance “Aye aye sir, though I might need some help. She is awfully wiry and is developing magic, so she could have a strong outburst by accident” he informed his comrade.

“Noted, I will assign Ivory to assist you then. She has always been good with foals. I will send word once I hear of any updates. Good luck” the second guard saluted before quickly heading back to rejoin his group. 

The small circle inside the mayors office was silent except for Maelstrom who continued to cry out in silence as she tried to escape and for Spitfire who paced back and forth, her head stuck deep in thought. That is until they heard the door once more and a third guard strolled in. 

“Hello Valor, Ivory here!” the female guard announced herself. She looked around the room and saw all the sad faces before seeing the strange and small creature clawing at the bubble. 

“Is she really his daughter?” Ivory asked out loud as she stared at Maelstrom. 

“Yeah, she is. Why?” Vinyl answered. 

“I was just curious ever since Miss Cascades and the human argued over her. Miss Cascades probably doesn't believe her to be his daughter, probably because she hates hybrids or something” Ivory plainly commented. 

“What is her problem?! Coming in here and just dragging off our friend like she is Celestia herself!” Cloudchaser angrily said. 

But the female guard simply shrugged “I have no clue, honestly she is a bit crazy” Ivory said.

“Ivory!” Valor complained.

“What? She is! I wish I could of done something but she holds all the bits and the captain gave us our orders. I just hope everything turns out alright. He seems nice” Ivory said.

“He is nice! He saved us from those jerks! They were probably going to rape us and yet Adrian is getting all the blame!” Cloudchaser replied.

“He did?! Oh my goodness! Do any of you know someone good in Canterlot and get them fast? Cause after they struck their deal to keep his daughter safe, Miss Cascades sped up her plans and forced the rest to do another teleportation spell back to Canterlot!” Ivory informed the group. 

“Hmmmm, I have been thinking about that and if I had some time then I could gather five or six law ponies that could easily smack her down to size! But now they are already in Canterlot! GAH!” Spitfire said as she smacked her hooves against her forehead. 

“If only we could contact Princess Twilight, I bet she could help” Flitter weakly said. 

At first the room was greeted with silence until Spitfire suddenly sprang into the air with a smile on her face. “Vinyl! Last night when we briefly talked about who Adrian had collected with those ear scratches, did you happen to mention any Princesses?” she asked.


---------- 2 Hours Later, Canterlot Public Court Room #2 ----------


“Come on! Why are we being delayed so much?! We need to bring this villain to justice for what he has done to my son!” Cascades demanded of the court room guards. 

“I told you already Miss Cascades, we cannot start until the judge arrives and they are running a bit late” the guard informed her. 

“Gah! That useless idiot!” Cascades said out loud as she started walking in circles in frustration.

As for me, I was kinda thankful that we teleported straight into the courtroom, cause that meant I was not put on display for all of Canterlot to see. But now that I thought about it, it might have been better since that meant Celestia might have been able to intervene. 

But now I am wondering if the court system here is similar to earths and if so, then who will be my lawyer? The only thing I am hoping for at this point is that the judge is a sane pony and will actually hear me out. 

“MAKE WAY! MAKE WAY FOR THE JUDGE!” I heard another guard pony down the hall loudly declare. Our group stepped to the side and made plenty of room for the new party coming towards us. 

“Heh, don't get any ideas on coming out on top. The judge is a personal friend and if we are lucky, you might just get life without parole you filthy beast” Cascades smugly said.

Great, just fucking great. 

I looked down the hall and saw that the Judge was wearing black robes along with some ribbons on his chest, thankfully he did not wear a white, powdered wig cause I would of cracked up if he did. But when I looked back, I saw that Cascades was almost frothing with rage.

“What is the meaning of this! I ordered for Judge Cloppinhoof to be here!” she angrily shouted.

“Settle down Miss Cascades, we cannot bring personal judges into a hearing with foreign species. Since they do not hold the same rights as us, we have to figure out how to proceed accordingly” the Judge informed her. 

“And the lawyer I paid for this thing?” she asked in turn.

“Has been replaced as well. We are very sorry to inform you so late but this was a rush job, thanks to you. Now, be sure to follow in line once I enter” the judge finished up by walking inside. 

I could almost see her veins starting to bulge out due to the level of anger she was having right now. Serves her right for acting like a spoiled child. 

“Ah, so you are my client for this evening?” I heard a stallion say behind me. Looking around, I saw an older looking stallion in a striped suit holding onto a brief case standing there. 

“I would guess so, it is nice to meet you sir. I would shake your hoof, but I am tied up at the moment” I said. I could not help but chuckle a bit at my choice of words and I heard a few other slight chuckles as well. 

“Ah, such good manners! You are starting off well. Release him guards, he is under my watchful eye now” the stallion said. The guards moved to undo my knots when Cascades stepped forward.

“Belay that! He is a danger to all around him! He brutally tortured my poor son at the tip of a hat! Think what he would do if he is free?!” she hysterically proclaimed.

“Miss Cascades, this is not your court room and this is no longer your client. He is under my charge and as such, I dictate what will happen to him. So, I say again, release him at once!” my new guardian said again with much more force.

The guards did what they were told and unbound me. Once I was finally free I took a few moments to rub my raw wrists, though I could already tell that I was already healing. Thank you magic. 

“Now leave us be, I need to speak to my client in private” the stallion said. Cascades huffed and puffed but eventually left us alone and went inside the court room. 

The older stallion sighed a bit “That mare is utterly ridiculous, if not for her high bit count, she would have been thrown out of every court room the second she stepped hoof in one. I do apologize dear boy if you have been mistreated under her 'care'” he said to me. 

“Well, all things considered, I think I will survive. My name is Adrian Frost sir, I hope you take good care of me” I said as I kneeled down to shake his hoof. 

“The names Inkwell Clovenhoof, and I hope I can do my best to get you out of here and back home by tea time” Inkwell introduced as we shook. 

The next few minutes were spent briefly explaining what sort of things I should say and how I should act and other similar things. It was kinda confusing at first, but I got the gist of it. So after another small talk, he asked me if I was ready and I was. Taking a deep, long breath I followed him into the courtroom and was expecting a full house.

Unfortunately, I was right. I was the highlight of the room as everypony stared at me with curious eyes but I was used to it by now as I calmly walked beside Inkwell. Though one set of eyes were burning a hole through my head and I already knew who. Ignoring her, I made my way to my assigned seat but remained standing since we were about to swear in. 

It was a long five minutes of swearing in and taking oaths but once it was done, the real fun began. 

“Now, this court has been summoned to appropriately judge the actions caused between Miss Cascades son, Hammer Fall and the human Adrian Frost. Before we began, Adrian, I would like for you to present to the court your full name and where you hail from and please spare no details since it will be on record” Judge Hard Gavel said. Learned his name earlier from Inkwell.

“My name is Adrian Corvinus Frost, age 22, and I am not from Equestria or any place on Equus” I stated. Numerous gasps and whispers started to form. “I am still not sure how or why, but I was magically transported here from my world called Earth. On Earth, I lived in the Country called The United States of America and within that country I lived in northern state called Michigan”

“It was during winter when I found an old well in a small forest and accidentally fell into it, almost drowning in the icy cold waters. But upon waking up, I found myself in Equestria or more accurately, in Ponyville” I informed them briefly.

“So, in all tense and purposes, you are technically an alien living on Equus. Would you agree?” the judge asked.

“Yes, I believe that would be the best term, your honor” I replied back.

“Now, in your time here, have you acquired any sort of paperwork regarding your identity or other such personal matters?” he asked me again.

“Actually, I do. I have several that include my established identity and medical information here” I said as I dug into my bag and pulled out the envelope Celestia gave me. 

“Bring it forward” he told me but the second I moved I was stopped.

“Don't you dare move monster! Your honor! This foul thing will kill you the moment it gets close to you!” Cascades said in a panic.

“Silence in the courtroom! Miss Cascades, return to your seat and remain quiet until I say so. Now, Adrian, please bring forth your papers” he said. Taking one quick look to make sure she was not going to yell again, I slowly brought the paperwork up to the desk. My height though made the desk actually reach up to my chest and I could tell the judge was surprised by this but he remained professional while he read.

“Most excellent, everything is in order and if not for your, obvious physical difference, I would say you were already a legal pony in Equestria. Your forms were expertly handled. Thank you, you may sit back down now” he informed me. 

Saying my thanks and collecting my things, I headed back to my seat where Inkwell nodded his head and smiled. 

“Now onto the main subject, we are here today because Miss Cascades claims that the human, Adrian Frost, maliciously attacked her son with no cause or reason. Leaving him permanently crippled from using magic. Adrian, how do you plead?” the judge announced.

“Not guilty, your honor” I responded.

“LIES! You filthy, dirty liar! You know exactly what you did to my son! You monster!” Cascades lashed out. 

“Miss Cascades! One more outburst and I will see you thrown from the courtroom! Control yourself and act accordingly, your reputation is at stake. Again” Judge Gavel harshly said. “Now, as we have already heard from Miss Cascades her side of the story, I would like Adrian to share his side of the story. If you please” he motioned for me to start.

I took my time re-telling the story, making sure to highlight every word and action taken by every single pony and myself. I thought Cascades would have had another outburst when I got to the part where her son said the terrible things he would do to the girls, but one look from the judge shut her up. When I done with my side of things, I took my seat while the court murmured away, thinking.

“Well, this is certainly a trifle of events. On one side, you are a viscous killer who is hell bent on killing us all. On the other, you are a hero who is coming to term with your powers and abilities. But there is one issue that both sides seem to agree on, the fact that you did harm the three stallions enough to hospitalize them”

“There are a few methods we can use to ascertain the truth, one would be to question all parties involved and gain evidence. Another would be, with permission, to use a high level truth spell and then use a mind-projection spell to see a truthful memory of said events. Since Mister Hammer Fall is unavailable, the only option right now is to ask you, Adrian Frost, if you would be willing to accept and comply with finding the truth” he asked me.

“I would gladly comply, just instruct me on what to do and I will do it” I honestly said. 

“A good attitude to have Mr. Frost, have a seat next to me” he motioned for the witness box. I nodded my head and walked over to the waist high section. After a few failed attempts, I simply decided to kneel instead of sitting. It took a few minutes to ready the two unicorns but once they were out I was asked again. “Adrian Frost, I ask again, do you accept to have a truth spell placed on you then a memory-projection spell?”

“I accept, your honor” I plainly said.

“Very well, Mr. and Mrs. Fairhoof, you may begin” Gavel said.

“Right away sir!” the couple said in unison. 

Mr. Fairhoof was first as his horn glowed yellow and shot a small beam of light into my chest. It then expanded into an aura that covered me head to toe. Next was Mrs. Fairhoof, whose horn was charged with a light green aura that shot into my head. That same light then shone through out into the open but simply showed the same image of the courtroom.

“All ready sir! Memory and thought process stable!” Mrs. Fairhoof declared.

“Excellent, now Adrian. Listen very closely, go back through your memories and return to last night when you first met the three stallions. Then proceed to when you heard the first knocks on the door, go until I tell you to stop. Do you understand?” he asked.

“Do you understand?” the memory repeated.

“I understand” I informed him, I then closed my eyes and thought back to when it all started. 

It was a rough time for me as the memories rolled on by, showing both the bad and good memories that were mixed together at times. I even had to show them the embarrassing moment when Maelstrom kissed me after fighting the three. That got a few giggles and awws from the court, but it was necessary in the end since it showed exactly what happened and proved my innocence. 

I thought for a brief second to stop once we informed the hospital but Gavel told me to keep going, so I did and ended up showing him the doctors results that they were all fine, the mayors office, before and after Cascades appearance, and the time up until Judge Gavel walked by. Though I was asked to skip the long moments of silence as to speed things along. So all in all, I think about a good half hour to forty five minutes had passed.

“Thank you Adrian, you may stop now” Gavel told me. I took a deep breath as the projection ended and I could feel the light tingle of both magics fade off of me. I rubbed my eyes a bit as the lights hit them.

“Thank you again Adrian, your actions have helped us greatly. Now, Miss Cascades, having seen the truth, what say you?” Gavel asked her.

“I say Guilty your honor!” she smugly boasted. A round of gaps were heard. “Of course he is still guilty, can't you see?! His alien magic is obviously masking the truth! My precious son would never do or say any of those things!” 

“Miss Cascades! I highly doubt that he can not only deflect a truth spell but greatly alter the memories shown to us. You have to stop with this foolishness” Gavel sternly said to her.

“NO! You are the one who is being foolish! This monster, this THING, is manipulating us all! Why, I bet if Princess Celestia was here, she would back me up one hundred percent!” she foolishly boasted.

“And what makes you think that, my little pony?” I heard a familiar voice say. 

The entire court room was in shock as they saw, standing in the doorway, was their beloved Princess, flowing mane and all. 

“PRINCESS CELESTIA! Oh thank goodness you are here!” Cascades happily said.

“What is it you require?” Celestia asked in return.

“I need you to tell all these foolish ponies the exact nature of this thing!” Cascades said as she pointed her hoof at me.

Celestia then glanced over to me and gave me a warm, friendly smile as she strode her way down the aisle to stand in front of the podium. 

“I would gladly tell you of his nature: Adrian Frost is a kind, friendly, smart, and most responsible human I have ever met” Celestia honestly said with a smile before it turned sour and glared at Cascades who was frothing at the teeth. 

“You however, Miss Hammer Cascades, are a foolish, narrow-minded, xenophobic, and stubborn mare who is too blind to see the truth. Your money and your pride have weakened your once great mind. I am very disappointed in you” Celestia sadly said as she stared down at the mare.

“Bu-but I! I.... I am doing this to protect Equestria! To protect it from freaks like him! The last time we saw somepony different, they tried to destroy all of Equestria by stealing our magic! Before Tirek, it was Queen Chrysalis! Before her, Discord! We have seen too many villains rise to power because we stood idly by as they destroyed us from within!”

“He is evil! Can't you see it Princess?! He will destroy us all! He has already started with my son! We need to take him down! NOW!” Cascades shouted before she ran right at me with a horn full of magic. I braced myself for the attack.

It did not happen for the next moment we were all washed away in a golden light that stopped Cascades in her tracks and killed her magic. But the golden light was still focused on Cascades when our sight returned. 

“How dare you, Cascades? How dare you?!” Celestia almost seemed to glow herself as she spoke in a booming voice. But she took a few deep, calming breaths before she regained herself. “Miss Hammer Cascades, by the power vested in me, as Princess of Equestria, I hereby place you under arrest for the attempted murder of Adrian Frost. Along with any other crime we find you guilty off when the official investigation is called forth” 

The guards swarmed in through the doors and placed a black, metal ring around Cascades horn before Celestia finally released her. The guards then escorted the crazed mare out and left the courtroom in silence. At least, until Celestia spoke. “Hard Gavel, it is good to see that you are still level headed as always”

“Princess Celestia, it is always a pleasure to see you” Gavel said as he bowed his head.

“So, with that little outburst by Miss Cascades, is Adrian free to go? Or do you still wish to discuss his crime?” Celestia asked him.

“Yes and no, Princess. I believe that he is innocent in that he viciously attacked and attempted to permanently disable three ponies. However, I do believe that some action should be taken in the fact that he did seriously injure three ponies beyond the point of self-defense. His actions, while pure and for the greater good, still resulted in three ponies being hospitilized” Gavel said in his stern voice.

Celestia was going to say something but I held my hand up to her and smiled “Princess, I am honored that you have not only defended me but also saved my life. But Judge Gavel is correct, I did hurt them beyond what I should have in my anger. I am ready to accept whatever punishment” I said to her. 

“She was right about one thing though, you certainly are responsible and I am glad that you have a sense of honor. Normally, I would probably fine you and place you in a cell for a month but, unfortunately, Miss Cascades was right with one aspect. You do not have any rights, so normal punishments cannot be applied in such a situation” Gavel said with a slight smirk.

“However, I think I have something that even Princess Celestia could agree with. You will be officially placed on the list of conscription into the Royal Guards, if we are to go to war. Does that sound fair to you Princess?” Gavel asked her. 

Celestia pondered this for a moment, trying to find a better way but finding none she nodded her head in agreement. Gavel nodded in return before he spoke to the whole court room “Are we in agreement?” he asked the ponies on the side. They all nodded in agreement. “Then it is settled, Adrian Frost is not guilty of his initial crimes. But shall be placed on the Royal Guard Conscript for War, as punishment for his misuse of strength. Court is dismissed!” he finally said as he smacked the wooden gavel against the board.

I came down and right to Inkwell who was almost about to leave “Thank you Inkwell, for standing with me and for doing your best for me” I said.

“It was my honor my boy, though in the end I did not do much I’m afraid. Miss Cascades defeated herself in the end. But I am glad that you were pronounced innocent, means my reputation is still safe for now” he replied with a hearty laugh.

“Still, I am glad to have had you by my side” I said to him.

He reached into his briefcase and gave me his card “If you ever find yourself in trouble again, find me again and I will do my best for you. Just don't go and murder anypony, it would look bad for me if you did” he said with smirk before leaving.

Before I could say anything, I felt myself being teleported once more and this time when I was moved, I was in a very big room, filled with objects of all types. Books, armor, a huge three way mirror, and much more. A gentle breeze wafted through the room as I looked on in awe at the huge space.

But my thoughts were interrupted when I felt something soft being wrapped around me, looking down, I saw a large pair of white wings on my sides. I then felt a soft thump on my back before I heard in a sad tone just two little words from Celestia.

“I'm sorry”
> How To Train Your Human
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Celestia?” I curiously asked.

“I am so sorry Adrian. Please, forgive me” she asked of me.

I brought my hands up to gently stroke her soft, glowing white feathers as I asked “For what?”

“For not being able to protect you” she softly said.

“Protect me? From what?” I asked again.

“From Cascades, from your punishment, from everything bad happening to you” Celestia said in a sad voice.

“Celestia” I said in a slightly sarcastic manner. “You can't protect me from everything, I am a big boy you know”

“NO! I have to protect you! I will protect you! I made a promise to myself that I would!” she suddenly shouted.

“Celestia? Even you have to know how silly that sounds” I tried to say with a smile but I felt her wings stiffen and bring me in closer.

“Celestia?” I asked but she did not respond.

“Celestia?” Again I asked but silence was all I got.

“Celestia! You have to tell me whats wrong” I told her with a little bit of force. 

She seemed to flinch a bit as her wings pulled on me again and a slight sniffle could be heard. 

“You are here, all alone in our world. You are so special and unique yet you are the only one of your kind. If anything happened to you..... if … if anything bad happened to you..” I could hear her lightly say while she tucked her head in my back. 

“I just want to make sure you are safe and happy, yet you could have almost been put in jail by somepony who now hates you. And now, if we were to ever go to war you are on the top of the list to be drafted into the royal guard” she said to me.

Her wings pulled again as her voice grew louder “It is my duty to make sure all my little ponies are safe and sound and for all this time I have been mostly successful. And then you come along” and for just a second, her tone grew a bit spiteful.

“You come along out of nowhere and bring chaos with you! Almost drowning, having a mare lust after you, killing a pack of timberwolves, and you unlocked those accursed books! And now you put three ponies in a hospital and forced me to jail a pony who wanted to murder you! You have even fallen in love and made countless other love you in return”

“Ever since you got here, you have made me feel so weak! So powerless! All of these things should make me hate you and despise you and sometimes I think I should!” Her voiced boomed at this last sentence, yet she still held onto me with her wings.

“And yet! I have also come to love you as well, my dear Adrian” Her once loud and angry sounding tone instantly softened up along with her stiff wings the second she began speaking. 

It was then I felt my breath lighten up, almost like I had been inhaling hot air, which allowed my body to relax a bit. It was like I had been holding by breath for a long time. 

“I'm sorry Adrain” she apologized again. But before I could ask, she gently twirled me around in order to look me in the eyes. “That was inappropriate of me to unleash my frustrations onto you” 

“Have I.... really been that much of a bother to you?” I asked.

“Yes and no. Yes you have been a bit frustrating since you have thrown my world into chaos with all your silliness, but also no because I have rather enjoyed it. That and it has introduced the two of us, so I could never be upset about that little fact” Celestia confessed to me with a smile.

“I do hope that you are not upset about the punishment though, I would of rather had you endure something less.... intrusive” she said.

But I simply shook my head with a little smile “It is fine, luck was once again on my side. I got off rather easy, at least in comparison to what would happen if I was on Earth” I told her. 

Then, without realizing it, I chuckled a bit which caught Celestia by surprise as well.

“And just what is so funny?” she happily asked.

“I just had a thought, back to when you offered to adopt me” I told her.

“Oh? Having second thoughts already?” Celestia asked with a playful smile. 

“Not just yet, I was just thinking that originally I thought you would of made me your brother or something. But now I am thinking that you maybe want me as your son instead” I told her.

At first Celestia seemed excited at the fact that I was bringing this topic up, but then I could see her back down and adopt a grim expression of realization. 

“Oh my goodness! Adrian! I! I didn't mean anything bad by that! I could never replace your mother!” she quickly said. 

Now I knew why she looked like that, but I can't really blame her. Anyone who knew the situation would probably react the same. 

I held my hands up to try and calm her “It's alright, I knew you would never do something as harmful as that. But that is kinda why I thought it was funny, cause you act like a mother to everyone as well. But for you to actually want to be a mother, I just think its kinda sweet” I nicely said.

I saw Celestia give off a bit of a blush when I finished but her smile returned two fold. 

“Though, I am not sure how Luna will react if I started calling her aunt instead of big sister” I admitted with a chuckle. 

This also made Celestia chuckle in response. “Yes, I do not think that would go over well” she said.

After laughing she used her wings to wrap me up in a hug while using my shoulder as a resting spot. She did not say a word during her embrace, so I decided to hug her back which yielded a positive result.

“I'm sorry” I said this time.

“For what?” she said in return. 

“For making you worry so much, I did not realize how important I was to you. So thank you as well. You are already feeling like a mother to me” I said with ease, surprisingly.

At this she closed her wings tightly around me and I could feel her give me a little nuzzle.

“I know that you already said you wish to wait and I am perfectly willing to be patient. I would wait one hundred years for you if you wished for it. Just please, please consider letting us take you in and give you a family. No matter what we call you or you us” she quietly pleaded in my ear. 

“I will” I responded in kind in addition with a small peck to her cheek. I could feel a tear or two fall onto my shirt after I said that, so I re-adjusted my arms around her and we just held each other in silence. 

A few minutes flew by before I took the first move to get us back on track as I remembered something I wanted to ask. 

“Celestia? How did you know I was in court anyway?” I asked.

“Ah! An excellent question! Well, you have your devoted friends in Ponyville to thank for that. They took the train all the way here and told me as soon as they could. I would of appeared sooner but I thought it best to gracefully intervene instead of popping out suddenly to interrupt. I believe they are still waiting in the throne room with Raven” Celestia informed me.

“Oh. Who, um.... who all came to find you?” I nervously asked. I hope that Derpy has not found out yet. Would be better for her not to find out this way.

“Just Miss Spitfire and Miss Vinyl Scratch. Why?” she asked in return. 

“Just wondering is all. Well, I better not make them wait any longer. By your leave, Princess?” I said courteously with a bow. 

With a slight chuckle under her breath, Celestia leaded me out of her room and down through the empty corridors. I simply enjoyed walking through the marble halls in silence, walking next to the glowing alicorn next to me who had a content smile on her face. 

“Princess” said the two guards standing watch outside the throne room. They then turned their attention towards me and nodded “Adrian”

“Thank you for watching out during my short absence, I trust all is well?” Celestia asked.

“Nothing to report, all has been at rest” said the stallion guard on the right. 

“Very good, continue doing a magnificent job” she instructed. She then gracefully open the throne room doors and walked inside, I was about to join her but I wanted to ask the guards a question.

“Hello, sorry for interrupting but I am just curious. How do you know my name?” I asked both of them.

The other stallion on the left answered with “The Princesses talk about you day and night. It would impossible for us not to know your name by now”

Gah, I just wanted to have a beaming smile planted on my face but I am not sure how the guards would react. So I gave a simple smile and gave them each a head bow “Thank you for sating my curiosity, have a good day!” I said and they both gave me a head nod in return. 

When I finally caught up to Celestia, I saw Spitfire and Vinyl waiting next to Raven who looked up and saw the two of us. “Princess! Adrian! You are here! Thank goodness!” Raven exclaimed.

This caused Spitfire and Vinyl to react by instantly getting on their hooves and rushing over to us, or more specifically, over to me. 

“DUDE! YOU MADE IT OUT!” Vinyl happily said.

“Kid! Oh thank the stars above that you are walking free” Spitfire said with a sigh of relief. 

“Vinyl! Spitfire! Long time no see!” I said with happy smile as I kneeled down. Which was of my undoing cause I was instantly set upon by a grinning unicorn mare who had launched herself at me with a hug. 

It was then I also noticed a smiling Raven trotting over “Hello again Raven, I had not planned on seeing you again so soon!” I said to her.

“Hello again! You certainly know how to make an appearance, don't you?” Raven playfully said. 

“It's in my nature, apparently” I told her with a cheeky grin. 

“Dude! Tell us what happened?!” Vinyl demanded while still hugging me. 

“Perhaps another time, right now I believe it be better to deliver our dear human here back home where he belongs” Celestia intervened. 

“Yes, I believe she is right Vinyl. I need to get back to Ponyville and get Maelstrom out of that bubble before anything bad happens” I informed her.

“Oh yeah! Well, lets get going! We can probably still catch the next train before it leaves!” Vinyl said as she leapt out of my arms and charged at the door.

“No need, since time is off the essence I will teleport you three back once you are ready” Celestia said.

“I am ready” Spitfire declared.

“As am I” I said.

Vinyl quickly dashed back before sliding into place beside me “Me too!” she said.

“Alright, good luck Adrian and please think about my words. Promise me?” she said to me.

“I will Celestia, see you later and I just started on that book Raven. Hopefully next time we meet I will have thoroughly read and enjoyed it!” I said as Celestia started to charge her spell.

“Perhaps you could write a report as well! I would love to hear a humans reaction to it!” Raven excitingly said.

I could only chuckle as I waved goodbye just before the three of us disappeared in a golden flash.


---------- Afterward, In the Royal Court Room ---------


“OH NO! I forgot to ask about that riddle again!” Raven groaned in annoyance. She has been perturbed by that riddle Adrian left her since his last visit. 

A most humorous thing to see Raven flustered by a riddle instead of mountains of paperwork.  Just another reason why I would adore to have Adrian as my son. 


---------- A moment later, inside Town Hall ----------


“Phew, that went smoothly. Last time I did a long range teleport, I was woozy for the next two hours” Spitfire commented as we landed safely. 

“Yes, now lets get my daughter.... back....” I slowly came to a halt when I looked around and saw that something was not right.

While it was the Mayors office, the whole place had different parts of it in different landscapes. The ground was all crystal while the walls were covered in grass and dirt, and looking up the ceiling was like that of a cave, with stalactites lining most of it and I could see a few holes here and there. 

“Whoa, freaky” I heard Vinyl say. Looking behind me, I saw that she was poking the now crystallized unicorn guard that had bubbled Maelstrom earlier. To his right was another guard who I did not recognize, along side the Mayor, Fleetfoot, Cloudchaser, and Flitter. All frozen in place. 

“She is pretty powerful for only being so young” Spitfire said as she examined the area.

“It probably didn't help that she was scared at seeing her dad being taken away either” Vinyl commented. 

“WAIT! Where is she then?!” I loudly said as I no longer saw the bubble holding her. Though in my faint panic, I eventually saw a round, spiky ball that was anchored by stone and crystal resting mid-air next to the guard. I carefully walked up next to it and cupped a hand up to my ear, trying to see if I could hear anything. 

“... papa …” 

I gasped suddenly as I heard her faint and fragile voice call out for me. 

“What? What is it kid?” Spitfire said as she landed next to me.

“MAELSTROM! IT'S ME! PAPA! I'M HERE!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. I used both my hands to grasp different spikes and shook them, since there was no flat area for me to hit. 

“Wait? What?! She is inside that?” Vinyl worryingly asked. 

“... papa?” 

“MAELSTROM! I'M HERE! I'M RIGHT HERE!” I yelled out again. This time when I shook the spikes they shattered off onto the ground. Now I was furiously ripping off the spikes, one by one until I found a small hole made by ripping the last one off. 

But at this, I heard a faint whimper as the light came into the little hollow ball. I stood there for a few seconds, taking calming breaths so that I was not panicking, in order not to freak her out more. When I collected myself, I slowly leaned my head towards the hole and instantly spotted the curled up ball of fur, shaking in place.

“Maelstrom? Are you ok?” I gently asked her. I saw her little fluffy ears twitch as she slowly turned her head towards my voice. Her small eyes were watery when she stared up at me in disbelief but slowly she started to realize that I was there and she reached out with her clawed hand, grasping the air.

“Papa?” she weakly asked in hope. 

“Papa is here, Maelstrom. Papa is here now” I soothingly said to her. At this, in a fraction of a second, the whole room seemed to explode as the crystals, dirt, and rock that formed everything splintered off and floated aimlessly in the air. Then, almost just as quick, they started to revolve around the still intact ball surrounding Maelstrom just before they all dove in and caused an explosion of light.

I had to shield my eyes from the blinding light, but I could see it start to die down through peaking every now and then. While my eyes slowly re-adjusted, I could hear groans all around me which told me that the other ones were un-frozen. A good sign. 

I then felt a pair of arms hug my waist, but I could feel one being fuzzy and the other more stiff with sharp tips. Awww, Maelstrom was already hugging me. But what happened next threw me in for another loop as I heard a new voice say “I love you, papa” 

Papa? But only Maelstrom calls me that. Who is this?

I rubbed my eyes a bit before they returned to normal, that is when I looked down and saw that I had a bigger Maelstrom now hugging me though now she looked a bit different. 

If I had to describe it? It looked like she went through a bit of a growth spurt, which explained how she could give me a proper hug. Doing a double take, I looked back and saw that her colors were all the same but now instead of being a round, fuzz ball her body took the form of a slightly bigger and longer of a filly. Kinda like Sweetie Bell but her barrel was more elongated.

I also noticed that her back legs were now more pronounced, while they were hoofed like those of a pony, her legs had long haunches and seem too big yet they seemed kinda natural on her. Also, her actual hoof seemed solid yet I saw two lines go down each one, almost like toes or something. 

Next I saw something unfurl on her back, taking a look I saw that her wings had also grown and I was able to see what they looked like. Her left set was actually a pair of wings, on top was a white feathered wing while the hidden below it was a leathery bat wing. On the right was what looked like a phoenix wing (which I had learned about while reading the crimson book) but instead of a normal red and orange it was a forest green and light pink. 

Finally ending on her head, the little stumps on top seemed to be growing as well and reminded me of the horns that grew on rams, though they were very short and only the tip curved a bit back while the overall color seemed a mix of brown and black. 

I think I took a bit too long staring at her new look cause when I ended up looking back into her eyes, she looked at me with confusion and worry. 

“Is papa good?” she said. Hmmm, she learned the words I, love, you, and is but can't fully form a correct sentence. Perhaps while her body is bigger, for whatever reason, her brain is still maturing. Though at a far different rate then anything I could comprehend. So I blame magic again, cause at this point it is the only thing that makes sense. 

“Papa?” she asked and I could see her eyes start to water again. 

I let out a quick sigh as I smiled down at her before quickly bringing my arms up and completing the hug. “Sorry Maelstrom. Papa was just surprised at how big you got!” I happy said while I squeezed her. 

“Mae bigger now?” she asked me. 

I nodded. “You sure are, though Papa is still far bigger. So I can always give you the biggest and bestest hugs!” I explained before squeezing her one more time. This got her to giggle madly as she laid comfortably against my chest. 

It was a little while after this did I hear the slight shuffling of hooves before I realized that everyone in the room probably just saw all that. So, I ever so awkwardly turned my head and saw six grinning and smirking ponies. Though I was kinda curious as to why the other, unknown guard was grinning along with my group of five. 

So I did a fake cough to clear the air before I asked “How are the rest of you doing? Are any of you hurt from, uh, being frozen?”

They all shook their heads no. 

“Nope, I feel fit as a fiddle! Though I hope I never feel like that again, felt like I was stuck in a rock while being able to see, hear, and feel almost everything. Kinda felt bizarre and a bit frightening to be honest” Fleetfoot explained and the others nodded in agreement. 

“Well, I for one am glad to be free again and it appears that you are not locked up in Canterlot prison either, Mr. Frost” Mayor Mare said as she smoothed out her mane. The Mayor Mare Mane. Heh, I bet Pinkie would like that one. 

“You are correct, thanks to Vinyl and Spitfire” I said while I looked at said mares with a grateful look.

“Think nothing of it kid, I was not going let that crazed mare take another innocent victim. Especially a friend of mine” Spitfire defiantly declared. 

“Same here! No way was I going to let my best friend sit in a jail cell for being a hero!” Vinyl proudly exclaimed as well.

“Papa good! Papa good!” Maelstrom said with a cute laugh. 

“Heh, looks like your kid is already going through a growth spurt” Spitfire replied.

“Yeah, it appears that way. Though with her heritage, I am not all that surprised. Though I am still equally as shocked” I commented as I ran my hand through her even longer white mane. 

“She is quite cute as well! You are one lucky stallion sir” the unknown guard announced. 

“Thank you miss, but I am curious as to who you are?” I asked. 

“Oh! My sincerest apologies! My name is Ivory Stalks, Lieutenant in the Royal Guard. Beside me is Valor Accoutre, Lieutenant Junior Grade of the Royal Guard. I apologize for our rude actions taken against you” she introduced before bowing her head. 

“Ivory!” Valor shouted at her.

“Valor” she said in return but with a much sterner tone. This seemed to shut him up for the moment. “I am sorry that we of the Royal Guard caused not only you but your family and friends such distress. A most shameful action for us” 

I shook my head and presented a calm smile “This is not your fault, you were simply following orders and doing your duty. The only one at fault was your employer, who Celestia has personally dealt with” I said.

She seemed happy that I said this cause she had a beaming smile when she returned back up “I suppose your right. I never did like that mare. So, what was the verdict of the trail? If you don't mind me asking, of course” she asked.

“I don't mind. Well, when Celestia appeared to defend me, Cascades said and did some, unforgivable things, she was jailed instead of me and all malicious charges against me were dropped. But Judge Hard Gavel thought that some form of punishment was necessary for my actions, since I did hospitalize three ponies. Celestia tried to intervene but he was right, though it was for the greater good, I still hurt someone. Thankfully, Gavel was a bit kindhearted and bent the rules a bit in my case and my only punishment was to be officially placed on the list of conscription into the Royal Guards, if Equestira is to go to war” I explained.

This, strangely, seemed to make Ivory even more joyful “Oh this is wonderful! I think you would make an excellent Royal Guard! Here! Let me give you this” she reached under some bit of her armor and pulled out a pamphlet. “Here! This is a detailed guide all about the Royal Guard that we give to possible recruits. It explains our ranking system, our goal, and many other important information!” 

She tossed it with amazing accuracy as it landed perfectly in my now free hand. “Thank you, I will take a look at it later when I have some free time” I honestly said.

“Huzzah! Alright Valor, we need to head back to Central and report back to the Captain. Since our contract is now apparently null and void. We thank you, citizens of Ponyville for your cooperation in this endeavor. We apologize for the inconvenience” Ivory said to all of us with another bow. Valor, with a bit of reluctance, bowed along with her. 

As they were leaving, I spoke up “Wait, before you leave. May I offer a suggestion to the Royal Guard?” 

“Oh? And what might that be?” Ivory said back.

“Well, while I perfectly understand that for a city of this size it might not be necessary, I think it might be a worth while idea to post some sort of security here in Ponyville in the future. Instead of simply having the Mayor deal with everything. No offense, Mayor Mare” I offered.

“None taken Adrian, actually I have been thinking something along those same lines for a while now. Especially with Princess Twilight living here in her new castle” the Mayor said in return.

At this, both Ivory and Valor seemed to be deep in thought. Finally Ivory spoke up “We will certainly bring this up to our Captain and try to push this further. It certainly is a worthy idea. Thank you” she said to everyone while looking at me. “I hope you continue to look after your daughter, Adrian”

“I will, take care. The both of you” I said with a nod of the head to the two. 

With that, the two guards exited the room and leaving us in silence. Though Maelstrom was starting to kneed into my stomach a bit like a cat before she just curled up in my lap. Looks like she is still small enough to do that. 

“Well, I suppose I ought to let you get on home Mr. Frost. You have had a very trying day. I will request the transcripts of the court session, just in case we need them” the Mayor said.

“I think that is a good idea. Come on, lets get going” Spitfire said and our group left as one. 

I had to carry Maelstrom in my arms since she still refuses to leave my side while shes snuggles up against me. 

Thankfully this time, I did not have a crowd ogling me as I walked through town. I did notice that the route we took this time ended up with us passing my Sugar Cube Corner. Remembering how shocked Mr. and Mrs. Cake were before, I wanted to make sure they knew I was ok. That and I could really go for a warm and gooey chocolate chip cookie or something equally as sweet. 

“Hey, lets grab something sweet to eat” I suggested and they all eagerly agreed. 

DING DING

“Hello and welcome to Sugar Cu- ADRIAN!” Mrs. Cake loudly said with an equally surprised voice. “Oh thank goodness you are safe and sound!” 

“Hey Mrs. Cake, sorry for worrying you. But don't worry, Princess Celestia was able to set things straight out in Canterlot and everything is A OK!” I said to reassure her. She believed me as she wiped away a nervous sweat bead on her forehead.

“My goodness, you certainly are a little troublemaker, aren't you?” Mrs. Cake said like she was talking to a foal. But I smiled anyway and nodded.

“I guess so. Well, this troublemaker has a sweet tooth and would love something to snack on!” I said with a toothy grin.

“I suppose I could wrangle something up for you and your friends and.... Maelstrom?” she confusingly said as she laid eyes on the new form in my arms. 

“Yep, thats her alright. Just happened a little while ago, and before you ask, I have no clue as to why” I quickly said. But then an idea sprung in my head. I then gently poked Maelstrom who cheerfully opened her big eyes to stare at me. “Hey, do you want something sweet to eat?”

“Sweet ta eat?” she replied back. She then took a look around and now noticed that she was in a place full of sweet smells and sights. She at first looked around and eyed a few different things but she ignored them and looked back up at me. “What papa eat?”

“I am going to eat a chocolate chip cookie! Do you want one too?” I softly asked her. 

“Cookie! Cookie for Papa and Mae!” she sweetly answered back. 

“Well aren’t you just the sweetest little thing! Anything for the rest of you girls?” Mrs. Cake asked. Of course the rest of them swarmed around the baker and started ordering their meal. During this time I found a place for us to sit and thankfully it was a huge corner table, though I took up most of cushioned seat. 

Soon enough the corner was dominated by the other girls who began to chat away with each other while we waited for our treats. During this time Maelstrom had taken a seat in my lap and sat straight up but was shaking with excitement. 

“Um, Adrian?” Flitter suddenly asked me which took me by surprise. 

“Yes Flitter?” I responded.

“I, um, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. For, you know” Flitter shyly said while she fiddled with her mane.

“You have nothing to be sorry for Flitter. And please don't think that it was your fault for any of this. The only thing that matters is that your safe and no longer in harms way. So please, promise me that you won't blame yourself for any of this. As my friend, ok?” I asked of her. 

This made her perk up and smile a nice big smile “Your such a great stallion Adrian. Now I'm kinda jealous that Derpy is your marefriend” she told me with a bit of blush. 

“Get in line girl!” Vinyl spoke up and flashed me a grin. I simply rolled my eyes before I messed with her mane a bit. 

“Now, now. There are plenty of fish in the sea for all of you, though I do admit that you would be quite the catch to have Adrian” Mrs. Cake said as she delivered all of our food with an innocent giggle. 

We each took our treat and were about to start eating but Maelstrom started loudly pouting. 

“What's wrong?” I asked her.

“I want what Papa has!” she whined.

“But you do silly! See?” I held my cookie next to hers to show they were the same. But she shook her head and grabbed my hand.

“Papa has this one!” she said while she pointed to the one in my hand. 

I chuckled under my breath at her silliness but being the softy I am, I simply smiled as I brought the cookie closer to her. “Alright then. Say ah!” I told her.

“AH!” Maelstrom loudly said as she stuck out her tongue as well. 

Holding in another chuckle, I slowly fed her the cookie. The whole table seemed still as we watched her eat the cookie. At first I thought she was not going to like it but then all the fur on her body stood on end and in a very loud and happy voice she said “MEW MEW!”

At like that, the whole table erupted into laughter and awws, with a few arms pokes from Vinyl as she wiggled her eyebrows at me. In retaliation, I tore off a bit of her raspberry swirl pound cake and promptly ate it. Which of course started a small food war between all the girls. Even Spitfire was having fun and laughing up a storm.

I just sat back and enjoyed my dinner and a show as I ate the other cookie while Maelstrom happily sat in my lap, mewing away. A good way to end that little chapter of my life, though in about thirty minutes or so a new chapter will open up and bring me something new. 

Probably.



---------- Meanwhile, Outside in the Royal Guard training field ----------


“Keep it up! Keep it up! Hey! Watch your right flank!” I loudly instructed the cadet next to me while he sparred against his opponent. 

“Keep your movements clean! You have to move like you in water, precise and direct movements!” I loudly repeated myself. 

It feels good to be here, training again. I always appreciate time off but I always feel strong when I watch new guards train. Though I always welcome a challenge, or maybe a new turnip who thinks they are too big for their armor. They are the most fun to break. 

“Warden Chaser! Warden Chaser!” I heard a familiar voice call out. Looking up, I saw that it was our  Aerial Ace messenger Ensign Stardust. She has a bright future ahead of her. 

“Yes Ensign? What is it?” I asked her with no hesitation. Every moment can be used to show these young ins how to properly behave as a member of the Royal Guard. 

“Sir! You have been asked to appear before Princess Celestia, as soon as you appropriately can, sir!” she informed me. 

Hmmm? I wonder what the Princess wants of me? Very well, I cannot leave her waiting for long.

“Chief Warrant Officer Clover! Report!” I yelled out. Clover could use some time in training others.

I only had to wait exactly ten seconds before he was standing before me with a salute.

“Chief Warrant Officer Clover reporting in, sir!” he said loudly and clearly. Good, exactly what I drilled into that skull of his. Especially after that little insubordination stunt he pulled three years ago. 

“Clover, I have been summoned to the throne room. You are in charge until I return or otherwise instructed. Understood?” I sternly said.

“Crystal clear, sir!” he sharply replied.

“Carry on” I said as I turned around and walked off to appear for the summons.

I am most curious as to what the Princess wishes to talk to me about, especially since she wishes to do so in a formal matter such as this. 

With my fast hoofs guiding me, I swiftly made my way through the peaceful halls of the Canterlot Castle until I found myself standing before the throne room, guarded by two of the best sentinels I ever trained. 

“Warden Chaser, you are expected” Sentinel Red announced. 

“Please enter” Sentinel Blue finished. 

“Very well, keep up the good work Purple” I said with a slight smirk. A little inside joke between the three of us. Though they kept up their professionalism, I could see a faint smirk under each of their helmets. 

With that, I strode up to the throne where Celestia ever so patiently and gracefully waited. I presented myself to her with a bow before speaking up. “What is it you wish of me, Princess?”

“It is most excellent to see you again Warden. How goes the training?” she pleasantly asked of me.

“Also excellent, this newest crop has a good amount of potential. The future of Canterlot is in good hooves” I reported with a bit of pride. 

“You never fail to disappoint. Thank you for your diligent service” she said with a bow of her head. 

“Of course, Princess” I replied back and waited for her this time to speak.

“Now, Warden. I have a question I would like to ask of you. Would you be able to safely leave Canterlot in capable hooves for a while, if you were to leave on a mission in about two months time?” she suddenly asked of me.

A mission?

“I can guarantee that Canterlot would be safe. Why do you ask, Princess?” I asked in return.

“Well, my dear Warden. How would you like to train a one of a kind creature, never before seen in all of Equestria?” she asked again.

“I always welcome a challenge. Where is this creature?” I eagerly questioned.

“Well, he is currently residing in Ponville with my former student, Twilight Sparkle” she partially answered.

“He, your majesty?” I asked again.

Celestia simply smiled and answered with “Yes and his name is Adrian Frost” 
> A Human Endures A Swirly Beard And Growing Pains
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a few days after that little whirlwind of trouble and life seemed to return to normal, well after another small bout of talking and shedding of emotions had happened.

On the next day, I said goodbye to Vinyl and the Wonderbolts as they headed off to their next gig. Vinyl was as goofy as ever and seemed normal, especially considering that talk last night about herds and stuff. Spitfire gave me some advice and a hearty farewell while Fleetfoot gave me a hug before leaving. 

I also said goodbye to Cloudchaser and Flitter as well. Flitter decided to visit her parents home in Manehattan to recuperate. Cloudchaser told me a little about why Flitter was so freaked out and it was due to her last coltfriend being unknowingly violent. So her getting hit and all the fighting had her on edge, so she wanted to get away from here for a bit.

I can't blame her and I gave her my support while she tearfully said her goodbyes to me. Cloudchaser was going to accompany her and since she was going to be there, she decided to take a little vacation in Manehattan as well. 

So I stood there at the train platform, with Maelstrom wiggling around in my arm, waving goodbye to the five of them and wishing them all luck.

After that I decided to visit Derpy and personally tell her everything before she hears rumors or anything of the sort. So I quickly made my way to her house and knocked, but she was not there so next I began to ask around for her and after two bad leads, I finally found her delivering a heavy package. 

Once I helped her carry it, I learned that she was actually done for the day so we headed back to her place and I began to carefully explain what happened from the mayors office up to Maelstroms growth spurt. After a few tears, lots of hugs, and tons of sweet words for her later, she finally calmed down and gently laid in my lap. My heart nearly exploded when Maelstrom copied her and snuggled up on my other leg. 

Also, thankfully due to the growth spurt or whatever it was, Maelstrom was not as fussy being around Derpy like the last few times. Though anytime Derpy gave me a kiss, she whined a bit and tugged at my arms. So we spent the rest of the night like that before we parted for the night and went to bed.

The day after I was sitting in the library with Maelstrom and Artemis next me playing while I read more of the last chapter in the crimson book when I heard a commotion at the front door, but before I could even stand up to investigate I was tackled into submission by the Pinkie Pie missile. 

Once I recovered myself, I was told of their adventure into the town where the misguided equalist mare, named Starlight Glimmer, captured them and even stole their cutie marks! But after taking their time and causing an uprising by revealing her ruse, they were able to escape and set free the citizens of that town. 

And then, of course, Twilight wanted to know if I had any adventures myself during their time away. I feel like I could start my own book with all the weird and bizarre happenings in my life at this point. Cause I felt tired at having to retell my tale, but I told them everything just as I told Derpy. Though what surprised me the most was at how furious they all were at Cascades, I almost felt bad at the fact they reacted more strongly than I did about the whole thing. But I calmed them down and assured them I was fine and that everything would be ok.

That also led to a brief questionnaire from Twilight about the whole Royal Army conscription, since she was both excited and worried since she knew how dangerous it was, with her brother Shining Armor being the Captain and all. 

Which of course, led to ANOTHER twenty questions about Maelstrom growing up, though I could not answer most of them. And to be honest, I was quite worried at how clueless I was. Damn that Discord for 'being away'…. again!

Sigh. 

“Adrian?” 

I snapped out of my current stupor and looked down at Rarity who looked up at me with concern.

“Are you alright dearie?” She asked.

“I think so” I honestly answered.

“What seems ta be giving ya trouble, partner?” Applejack asked next.

“Hmmm? Oh, its nothing. Nothing at all” I said in return.

“Well, ok then. So, whatcha reckoning on doing now?” AJ asked again.

“For starters, I am going to sit back down and try to finish the last chapter in this book. Unless, one of you wish to drag me into something weird and unexpected?” I asked, though I gave Pinkie a particularly knowing look. Didn't help that she saw this and grinned happily.

“Nah, I reckon most of us need ta head back home and get ta work. Those apples ain't gunna fall of themselves!” Applejack said.

“She's right! I got to get back to the bakery and cook up some new tasty treats! Especially after eating those disgusting muffins. BLEGH!” Pinkie said before sticking out her tongue in disgust. But shortly after, she rushed up and gave me a hug and a snuggle before dashing off. 

“She missed you, in fact when we were locked up she kept talking about you to keep her spirits up” Fluttershy suddenly spoke up.

“I know! Always going on and on about 'what would big brother do' or something like that. Sheesh!” Rainbow Dash commented. 

I could not help but chuckle at the thought which got the other to laugh along as well. 

“Ta ta for now darlings, I must be heading back and start working on next months work!” Rarity said before leaving shortly after. 

“Hey Rainbow! Ya think you could head over to ta farm with me and use yer speed ta help me pick some apples?” AJ asked the flying pegasus.

“I suppose so, I don't think I have that much work to do today anyway. See ya later big guy! Don't become too much of an egghead while I'm gone!” Rainbow said as the pair of mares walked off. I could only roll my eyes at her comment.

“I have to check up on Angel and the other animals back home, they are probably worried sick” Fluttershy shyly said.

I knelt down in order to give her a hug, to which she responded with a surprised 'eep'. Though she returned the hug in due time before she headed off as well. Now Twilight was all that was left, though she seemed to be busy studying Maelstrom and Artemis as they played. I decided to quietly sneak up on her and gently poked her cheek. 

“Whatcha doing?” I playfully asked.

“Just observing. Its amazing that those two get along so well and just how Maelstrom has grown. So, tell me again how it happened?” she asked me.

“Like I said, when I got back and saw that the entire room was different landscapes, I saw a tiny spiked back in the middle of the room and heard her inside. So, in a panic, I rushed over and tried my best to get her out as fast as I could. The moment I got a hole opened, I saw her inside and calmly told her I was there. The room was then blinded in light along with all the material she summoned surrounded her, and when I was able to see again I saw that she had grown” I described again.

“And she could speak in half-formed sentences?” Twilight questioned.

“Also correct” I said in return.

“Fascinating. Leave it up to our resident human to have such an amazing creature as a daughter” Twilight said as though observing everything through a microscope.

“You make it sound as if I had a choice in the matter” I said in a bit of a disgruntled tone.

“Leaving that aside, I will be upstairs for a while. Doing a bit of research and write a few letters. Will you be ok on your own?” she tenderly asked.

“I think I can manage just fine, Twilight” I replied with a raised eyebrow. 

“Well, get to reading then! Slowpoke!” she said with a happy tone as she gingerly trotted away. 

I wonder if it is a Princess thing, cause she seems to be developing a mother hen attitude. Reminds me of the other three, just a little bit. 

But with that all done, I found myself alone with my daughter and animal companion again. Though I think those two barely registered the existence of the six of them, I wonder why? 

I sat back down in my usual spot and found my spot again, due to the Pinkie missile I had lost my pace but thankfully I was on track and picked up on my last sentence read….



---------- 30 Minutes Later ---------



...It is with great sorrow that I find myself having to depart from these wondrous lands, after learning so much and meeting with the great King and Queen of the dragons. And so, I write these final thoughts to those worthy of reading them. 

Never underestimate the strength of a dragon, nor the fire in their hearts. Both are an immeasurable force that can easily determine the will of battle and the will of a pony, if you so choose. 

Be well, my friends and remember: Knowledge is power but power is not knowledge. Keep your mind sharp and your heart strong. 

Like a fiery dragon.


I breathed in a breath of fresh air as I let my eyes rest on that final page, disappointed that it was over for now. But overjoyed that I am one of the few to have read such powerful words of wisdom. It truly makes me feel special, but I can also greatly understand the power behind this book and the worries Celestia has. 

At this I was about to close the book when I noticed a small line of text near my thumb that I had not seen before. Leaning back down, I saw that it read: Turn the page, Adrian. 

My heart skipped a beat for a split second, not only because of the fact that my name was in this book but also because of the fact that the ink used to write it out looked like dried blood. 

My hand gripped the edge of the page as my mind raced with the question of turning it or not. I do not think it would cause any harm since not only Celestia but her father approved of these books originally. So, taking in a lungful of air, I exhaled before swiftly turning over the page and looked down to read….

Nothing.

Blank, two full pages with zero lines of text. I was very surprised and confused at this revelation. But a silly thought entered my mind. Perhaps I had to talk to it? Since it knew my name, maybe I have to engage it first? After all, I have no idea how magic truly works yet.

So, with my voice a bit on edge, I asked out loud “Hello?”

“Hello, Adrian” Was all I heard before the book shot from my hands and levitated before me, I could sense a bit of magic swirling around but it was a type I have not felt before. It almost felt like Celestias but….. older I guess? It is hard to describe, almost like I was feeling wing against my hand but instead of it being smooth and soft, it felt like specks of rust and sand scrapped it but without drawing blood. 

Then, all the lights seemed to dim around me save for the bright blue glow that emanated from the swirling magical vortex within the book. From the glow, a figure started to take shape and slowly formed into that of a pony, clothed in what looked like a robe and a very large hat. A few details started to take shape, his cloak was decorated with large golden stars, along with his hat but the brim was lined with bells. I could also see that a good amount of hair formed his beard, though it was only enough to fully cover his chin. 

His body phased in and out of few times before fully solidifying, it was then did his eyes open slowly, as if he was waking up after a long sleep. He looked around the room before resting his sights on me, though he was not prepared to see what he found. 

“My goodness, what sort of creature are you, Adrian?” the clothed stallion asked me.

“I am a human being” I responded with.

“A human being? In all my travels so far, I have never heard of them before. Tell me, where do you hail from?” he asked.

“I was transported here by an unknown magic from my own world to here. My world is called Earth” I explained.

“My, my. Even in death, you learn something new everyday” he said with a happy chuckle.

“In death?” I asked in return.

“Oh yes, by the time you are hearing this, I will have been long gone from the world of the living. And as you continue to read my books, you will see my older and hopefully wiser forms give you advice. As for this one, I will explain some things. Firstly, my congratulations on reading through my boring old book” he said with a laugh.

“I am no professional writer or epic poet, I simply did my best to record my thoughts for others to read. Now, as to why I am here. I am here to judge you, to ensure that you are indeed worthy of this knowledge. Though this memory of me is only knows of events of my current day and age, I know that at some time in the future these books were used to bring harm and ruin. So my magic has changed so that any future blood bindings will bring the reader to me”

“So, Adrian Frost, tell me. What power to you seek from these books?” he asked with enough force to make me bare a band of sweat. 

“It is not power I seek, I did not even know about the knowledge these books possessed until they were suddenly thrust upon me. I was even willing to abandon them for Celestias sake, but she urged me to continue my studies with the series. But, even now, I still do not have a goal in mind. At the moment, the book is simply for reading, and to inform me about this foreign and magical world” I told him.

“And? What of the magic this book has surely brought to you? The art of Dragon Fire? What will you do with it?” he asked of me again.

“I do not know and honestly it scares me. But, even though the future scares me, in the present it has allowed me to do some good and I was able to save someone with it. So I am grateful for that, but even so, I am still frightened as to what I will become in this strange and unknown land. Even now, when I look at myself in the mirror, I become lost at what I look like. To bear battle scars, to see through mystic eyes, heck even when I comb my long hair I feel confused. On top of all that, because of me I accidentally and unknowingly caused the death of someone very close to me”

“I am very scared and I feel so alone, even though I am surrounded by friends and new loved ones. But how can I confide all my fears to them? Fear of power? Fear of the future? Fear of death? And, fear of myself. Every day, I fear that I will cause something bad to happen and to others. Even though I am happy, I feel that some days that smile is but a mask I wear to hide myself under”

“So, to answer your question, I do not know what I will do with this knowledge. Except for the fact that I will never intentionally use it for evil or to harm the ones I care for. I am not a man that desires power or wealth, maybe a little bit of fame but mostly, I just want to find a way to live happily in this new world” I explained with my heart in my throat.

The ghostly apparition seemed to ponder my words in great detail, looked me over countless times with his calculating eyes. I felt my chest pounding as I thought of endless scenarios, most of which usually ending in something bad. So I stood there, waiting for his answer.

And it finally came, I was answered with…..

A jolly laugh?

“HAHAHAHA! Oh goodness, sorry boy. I know I should not be laughing, but you honestly surprised me with your full hearted feelings. But that, dear boy, was the best answer I could of ever hoped to hear. I can honestly say, that you are one of the most fit beings to inherit my knowledge. Thank you” he told me.

“Th-thank y-you? For w-what?” I nervously sputtered. His answer caught me by surprise and I am still reeling back from it.

“For, well, being you I suppose. I have seen many ponies and many species in my travels so far and I will likely see even more with my future selves. But you, you are special. I can feel it. No wonder Celestia allowed you to continue. She always was the best judge of character” he informed me.

“And do not worry so much, even though you may not ever truly know your destiny or what to do, all you can do is try your best. That the best thing one can do, no matter who they are or what rank they hold or even how much money they possess. Everypony fears the future, even Celestia. Simply make some sort of plan, long or short term, and follow them through. Step by step. Then one day, before you even realize it, you will have forged your own path and walked half-way through it”

“Even I, Star Swirl, am frightened of the journey ahead. I could be killed at anytime, be it robbers or war, dragons or famine, or simply by time. But I ignore that and simply walk forward. You have to find your own strength, or even your own naivety, whatever you find is yours and yours alone and no one has any right to judge you on it” 

“Bah, enough with all this serious talk. My time is limited, so do you have any questions for me?” he finally asked of me.

His question was like a smack to the face, that woke me from my mindlessness. I stared at him for a bit before I realized that he had asked me a question. 

“I have tons of questions! But I suppose I can limit some. Well, first one is do you know anything about the magic of Alpha timberwolves?” I asked.

“Alphas? Hmmm, wait a moment” he said before he stared into my eyes that glimmered in the light of his magic. “I see, how interesting. You have earned the soul of an Alpha through combat. Very interesting that it took to you, since you are not a timberwolf. Well, I cannot say exactly what will happen but most likely, you will have improved eyesight, physical strength, and agility. However, the tactics that an Alpha would gain from previous Alphas might not carry over since it is more of an instinct that skill” 

“Or, perhaps it is something you may unlock later or even under certain circumstances. Who knows? If you are ever a soldier in war, you may become the best tactician the Royal Guard has ever seen! Or maybe not. Who knows? Anything else?” he asked again.

Hmmm, what to ask? What to ask? I looked over and saw that Maelstrom and Artemis were idly sitting and watching me closely. 

“Back then, did you know anything about the being known as Discord?” I said to him.

“Ah, Discord. I would of loved to discover how to master that sort of magic! I bet it would be fun! What of him?” he asked me.

Ah great. Here we go again. I should get business cards with the story of how Maelstrom was born printed on it. With a warning on the back that reads, Caution: Reading story might cause The Discord Look in all readers. Cause when I was done, even he had the look planted on his face.

“You certainly are a most….. interesting individual. So, in your time I am assuming that Discord is no longer aligned with evil? Or chaotic evil in his case?” he asked in return.

“Correct” I said. After that I did another brief explanation on her growth spurt.

“Most interesting. Oh I would love to study her!” he excitingly said, like a child entering a candy shop. 

“You and Twilight would get along swell” I huffed. I know the two of them didn't mean it but it was slightly annoying to hear them talk about my daughter like a science project or specimen. 

“Any who! I cannot accurately say what will happen, but from what I heard from you it may be that her growth can be affected by certain stimuli created by events. Most likely revolving around you and her. She may also be like a dragon and physically grow slow while mentally fast. But then again, being a child of chaos, anything could happen. Just keep on eye on her and be ready to adjust” he told me.

I sighed a bit. Even though that was what I was expecting, I was hoping for a more concrete answer. 

He probably noticed this and gave a gentle laugh “Sorry lad, but even my knowledge cannot compare against the nature of chaos. Just give her lots of love and do your best for her, as you would for any daughter or son” he encouragingly said. His form seemed to flicker for just a moment and he held up his hoof to inspect. “Ah, it appears our time is up. Well, it was an honor and a pleasure to meet you. My new apprentice” he said with a toothy grin.

“Heh, now that would certainly make Twilight jealous. She looks up to your works” I said.

“Ah, I see. It is comforting to know that I am well liked in the future. And don't be sad, I may be gone but I will see you again in the next book and my magic should work to where my future self will also remember what happened today. Til our next encounter, be well and remember. Magic can be a two-edged sword, never take it likely and treat it well, like it itself is a living creature. Do that and you will shine like a star. Fare thee well, my apprentice” he said with a little dramatic flare as his image slowly faded away while the book closed itself, before finally resting in my hands.

Meanwhile the lights re-kindled themselves and the library returned back to normal. Only to be pounced on by my two girls who both wagged their tails happily.

“Papa! Papa! Who that?” Maelstrom asked.

“That was Star Swirl the bearded, I guess you could say he is my new teacher in magic” I explained to her.

“Sta Swurl? Teach-hur?” she asked while trying to pronounce those new words.

“I will teach you that word later, ok?” I told her as I gently bopped her nose. She giggled at this but I saw her let out a cute, little yawn. “Uh oh! Is someone sleepy?”

“Mae no sleepy! Mae...want….to…….play~” she tried to say but she was nodding off more and more after each word. 

“We will play after you rest, then you can play even longer!” I gently explained as I gathered her in my arms. She pawed at my arm as she rested against me.

“Papa?” she asked.

“Yes?” I replied.

“Is Mae a good girl?” she sweetly asked.

“Of course you are! Why do you ask?” I asked in return.

“Cause Mae only want to play with Papa and Temi. But Papa nice to other ones” she did her best to explain.

“Don't worry, you are a very good girl. It takes time to small ones like you to like others” I said.

“So, if Mae bigger, Mae will like others?” she asked again. I nodded at her but then she huffed and crossed her small arms. “Then Mae will be small! Mae be with Papa only!”

Dawww, she is such a daddy's girl. And that is very weird to say all of a sudden. 

“As much as I love you Maelstrom, everyone grows up. But that does not mean I will stop loving you, even if you are as big as a mountain, I will always love you. Ok?” I said to her. 

At this she seemed to contemplate my words before she snuggled into my arm a bit more. “If Mae big or small, Papa always love me?” she asked again but with a slight squeak in her voice.

“Papa will always love you, big or small. Will you always love Papa, if you are big or small?” I asked her.

“I will! I will always love you Papa!” she happily said as she wagged her tail. At this I leaned down a bit while lifted my arm and kissed her. 

“Sleep well, when you wake we will eat then play!” I told her.

“Eat….. an….. play” she tiredly said before falling asleep. I smiled as I gazed at her but it was then I realized that she seemed to grow more awkward to carry. It was then I realized that her body was becoming longer and a bit slimmer, so now her body was snake like instead of that of a normal foal. 

Hmmm, looks like Star Swirl was right. Cause we had that little talk about being big or small, that stimuli caused her to change a bit. Interesting. With that in mind, I readjusted her in my arm before I heard a small creak of a door opening. Taking a look behind me, I saw a smiling Twilight stand there.

“Well, well, well. Now what are you going to read next, Adrian the apprentice?” she said to me. 

“Oh, guess you heard a bit of that?” I sheepishly said. 

“Yes, though I did not mean to eavesdrop. I felt a strange magic coming from down here and wanted to make sure it was nothing bad. That was when I saw you talking to him and I decided to leave you two alone, though I did not stray far since it was probably my only chance to hear him speak. Heh heh” she replied.

But instead of smiling, I frowned a bit cause that meant she also heard that bit about me being afraid.  “So, you probably also heard that bit about my…. fears as well?” I said back to her.

Now she donned a neutral face as she walked up to me “Yes. Yes I did and before you say anything, you don't have to apologize or feel sorry for not saying anything. I know that you have a lot on your mind and as your friend and princess, I wish you would just lay everything on the table and work it out. But I know that these things take time, and I am sure that when you are ready, you will let us know. Won't you?” she asked.

I felt my eyes start to grow heavy cause I felt like I wanted to cry but I held it in, but they would have been happy tears. “I will Twilight, when I am ready. Thank you, for everything” I said.

“Good, good. So, what will you do know?” she asked.

“Well, I am going to wait a bit before starting on the second book and instead read the book I borrowed from Raven in Canterlot. I want to return it soon, so I can give her the answer to a riddle I left for her” I replied.

“I see, well when you do start on the second book, please be careful? Especially if you learn a new magic and wish to test it out” she asked of me.

“I promise. Now off with you, this apprentice is going to follow his daughters lead and take a little nap as well” I said to her with a smug grin.

She puffed up her cheeks a bit before she spun around and went back to her room, but with a small little smile she hid on her face.

With that, I softly lied down on the couch I was just sitting on and got comfortable, though right before I heard the sound of cracking wood and hissing. Looking to find the source, I eventually saw that Artemis standing there with bits and splinters of wood falling off of her and the hissing was small air pockets coming out before they fell. 

I was going to rush over to see what was wrong but suddenly her entire wooden coat seemed to fall on the ground, only leaving a fiery shape of a wolf, but only for a few seconds as the same pieces of wood shot back up but in different positions and a few even seemed to grow longer. When that was all done, I saw that Artemis had grown in size and was about twice as big. 

Though she seemed happy as ever to see me as she leapt from her spot and seemed to skim through the air over to me and began to curl up between my legs, using my thigh as a pillow, now that she could actually reach it. 

I rested my head back down and let out a tired sigh.

“First Maelstrom then Artemis, next thing you know the CMC will be growing next!” I said to the air. Though I did not get a reply back, I chuckled anyway.

“What am I going to do with you?” I lightheartedly said as I moved Maelstrom onto my chest so I could absentmindedly pet her while I closed my eyes and drifted off. 

What I did not see though was the mark, that was embedded on the front of the crimson book, glowed softly before lifting off of the cover itself and noiselessly made its way to my head, leaving a trail of light behind it. It then phased through my skull and disappeared, leaving the book blank but left my forehead glowing for only a second or two before going out. 

Soon, all that power will be mine!
> What Would You Do If You Found Another Human?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, at to be expected of Ponyville, I bared witness to yet again some more interesting and bizarre ordeals. 

Firstly, on the third day after, I was in the middle of reading Dragon Heart, the book I borrowed from Raven, when I was suddenly ushered out of the castle by Rarity and the others along with Twilight and Spike for some reason. I was told not to come back till later tonight since they were doing something special for Twilight. 

So with that in mind, I took Maelstrom and Artemis with me and did a little exploring. We visited Sugarcube corner last for a snack before walking out of town to find a nice spot to sit and read. I didn't want to seem anti-social but with everything that has happened, I had taken a liking to solitude every now and then. Helps me clear my head when I am not being surrounded by the buzzing ponies of Ponyville. 

I found a nice, large tree that provided lots of shade that overlooked a large pond that was big enough to swim in. Though Maelstrom gave me a heart attack when she dive bombed into the lake when we first arrived. I dived in after her but the moment I did, she came back up for air and began to swim normally. Gah, she is going to kill me one of these days. 

Thankfully I had dropped my bag before jumping in, keeping the book and other stuff dry. Luckily, by using Dragon Breath on myself, I dried out quickly and was back to normal in no time. Artemis also seemed to be a natural swimmer as well, since she charged into the pond afterward to play with Maelstrom. My heart skipped a beat when I saw her do this, but the second she began to swim I calmed down and simply sat down against the bark of the tree.

Keeping a watchful eye on the two of them, I dug into my bag and brought out both Dragon Heart and the silver book, part two of Star Swirls series. Though I told Twilight I would wait a bit before reading it, I felt a strange urge to continue reading the series. But I shook it off and returned the silver book back into my bag.

Finding my bookmarked spot in Dragon Heart, I began to read some more, though I always kept my eyes trained on the other two. Just in case.


---------- 5 Hours Later ----------



The sword that the now traitorous Sir Shine once wielded, was now imbedded in Shirahydes scales that once protected her heart. I felt nothing but hideous rage blossom from my chest as I swung my own sword indiscriminately towards my former friend and mentor, lobbing off his head in one fell swoop. Taking no time to mourn for his loss, I rushed over to her now bleeding sides.

“Shirahyde! Shirahyde!” I called out to the massive female dragon.

“You know that my hearing is better than yours, no need for shouting” she replied in her usual kind and caring voice.

“Hold on then, let me remove this sword so you can heal up” I said before lifting my hooves to try and remove the foul piece of metal that had invaded her pristine scales.

“No, leave it be” she instructed.

“No! I cannot!” I shouted in defiance.

But she calmly shook her head before resting it on the ground next to me.

“You must, for if you do I will only die faster. It has struck me in a fashion in which I cannot recover from, a one in a million chance for a knight of his caliber” she commented.

“No! No! This cannot be!” I shouted again in defiance at this new truth.

“Shush now, you know how I feel about rowdy little things” she gently reprimanded me. 

“But I cannot just sit back and watch you die! Not after….” the words slowly died in my mouth.

“Not after what, my little knight?” she softly said as she brought up her clawed hand to my face.

“Not after falling in love with you” I finally admitted against all common sense.

But at this she simply offered me a gentle laugh as she stroked my now damp fur.

“Dry those tears, you have much to live for. Do not weep for one as old as I, for I have lived long enough to leave happily. Though….” she paused for a moment before smiling down at me. “Though I now wish I lived just a little bit longer, so I could properly express my new found love for you”

I simply stared back at her with watery eyes while I stroked her claw with my bare hoof.

“But alas, it is not meant to be. After all, you were sent to kill me after all. So the deed is done, yet the sin lies with another who has already paid the price. So be happy and live a long, happy life. My valiant knight” she told me with her striking voice.

I had to stop there and rub my eyes to try and not stain the pages with tears of my own. GAH! I love this book and hate it at the same time. Darn you Raven for letting me have this book! Darn you!

Though after thinking that I could not help but chuckle at myself while I rubbed the half-formed tears away. I must of looked like a silly mess, sitting here laughing while trying not to cry over a book while my daughter and animal companion sleep at my feet. 

Those two had tired themselves out almost to the point of exhaustion about an hour ago, so I gave them both their snacks before they nodded off to sleep. So I placed my bookmark where I left off and closed the book, before allowing myself a few calming breaths to relax myself while I watched the sun start to fall in the sky.

I had actually started to feel at ease with myself and my own sins of the past just by sitting here these past few hours and it was a nice feeling. 

“Hello there!” I heard a mare call out.

Jerking up into a sitting position I gasped out for air as I turned around to find the source. Looking left, I saw a pair of mares strolling up to me at a leisurely pace with smiles on their faces.

“Oh dear! Sorry for startling you!” the other mare said.

Now that I calmed back down from the sudden surprise, I saw that the first one was a mint-green colored unicorn mare with a white streak in her mane while the other one was more cream colored with hair similar to Twilights but more…. rounded? Just another weird thing the inhabitants of this world seem to have is that manes seem to ignore normal laws and rules. But oh well.

“Hello there, I don't believe we have met yet. Have we?” I asked them when they got close enough.

“Not really, no. But here we are now! My name is Lyra Heartstrings! And this is my bestest friend in the whole world! Bon Bon!” Lyra introduced the two of them while Bon Bon bowed her head very politely. 

“Nice to meet the two of you, now what can Ponyvilles resident human do for you today?” I asked with a smile.

“Well I have been wanting to meet you for a while now but everytime I saw you, you were always busy or something strange was happening to you. Kinda what usually happens whenever you hang around Princess Twilight and her friends, it seems like” Lyra said.

I might of objected to that but I have to admit that it did appear to be true in my case. 

“Fair enough. Well glad we were finally able to meet then” I said back and held out my hand for her. Lyra instantly shook it with vigor for some reason while Bon Bon gave me a simply shake.

I was about to ask something else when I noticed Lyra staring at me intensely. 

“I know this may sound weird but could you stand up for me?” Lyra asked while staring wide eyed at me. 

I raised my eyebrow in confusion but I saw no reason why not, so I complied and stood up and straight, now forced to look down at them. But Lyra was staring at me with awe now while Bon Bon seemed surprised at my six foot five stature. I kinda got used to the girls but now with the two of them gawking up at me, I felt a bit out of place, like when I was back in Ponyville on day one. 

“Wow, you really are awesome looking” Lyra absentmindedly said. 

At this, Bon Bon gave a light chuckle which snapped Lyra out of her awestruck trance. 

“Heh heh, sorry about that. But wow, humans sure are amazing looking! Do you all look alike?” Lyra asked.

Wow, I think that was also a day one question that Twilight had asked me during our picnic. Man, thinking back to that day. In comparison I have really changed. 

Wait, how long as it been now? Lets see, the first days, then coma, then empire, coma again, then canterlot, then Ponyville, and now. Hmmmm, I think it has been about a full month and some days I think. I should really buy a calender. WAIT! A month?! 

“Sorry Lyra, my mind got side-tracked but before I answer your question I need to ask. When is Heart and Hooves day?” I asked her.

“Heart and Hooves day? You know about that?! Cool! Well, that my friend is in exactly two weeks from now!” Lyra boasted while she answered. 

Two weeks? Wow! That came up fast, then again I had not really thought about it since day one as well. 

I shook my head before sitting back down in my spot “Thank you Lyra, and sorry again for that change of pace. Now back to your question. As for my appearance, no. Not all humans look like me, in fact I was a bit on the rare side. Well, even before my drastic change of looks here on Equus” I started to explain.

“Rare?” Bon Bon interjected.

“Yes, in terms of my height. Before coming here, I was normally around six foot three inches tall and for humans that is not normal. And for me and the area I lived in, I was a giant among men since the people who lived there were all around five foot eight or shorter. Now thanks to my magic, I am now six foot five!” I explained further.

“Wow! But wait, before coming here? What else has changed?” Lyra asked.

“Well, for one thing, I did not have this long hair. I always kept it short and trimmed but now my magic keeps my hair long. I did try to cut it a bit shorter but my hair growth rate has exploded and now my hair continuously grows at a very fast rate. But only until it gets to this length, then it slows down to normal. So now I just keep it like this” 

“Also, my eyes changed. They were normally just one color, an icy blue, then my new magic made them how they look now” I showed them by leaning forward and pointed at them with my fingers. “Along with that, my body has become a bit muscular and toned. So that is a plus to my self esteem. But unfortunately, I also now bare some battle scars as well” I concluded with a sigh as I replayed that awful scene in my head.

“Are you alright?” Bon Bon asked when she saw me spacing out. 

“Hmmm? Oh yes. Sorry. I was just going over how much I really have changed in only a months time. At this rate, a year from now, if I look in a mirror I probably would not recognize the simply, lonely human that I once was” I explained. 

“Well don't sweat it! You look amazing and I bet everyone back home for you would be amazed to see you!” Lyra honestly said.

Yeah, they certainly would. But not for the reason your thinking of Lyra. 

“Thanks Lyra, glad you think so” I told her.

“So, I have to ask. What would you do if you found another human?” Lyra asked me.

“Well, for starters, that would not happen. Most likely” I said. Though to be honest, it could be possible since whatever magic that brought me here could bring someone else. Or maybe it is just stuck in that well and now it is closed up. 

“But lets say that it did happen! What would you do?! Oh! What if it was a pretty girl!” Lyra asked excitingly. 

I chuckled a bit at her innocence in the question. 

“Well, if another human from my world showed up against all odds, I would probably make sure they were all right and make sure they don't freak out like how I did. I dunno, I guess I would try to be an ambassador or some sort of guardian? And! I already have a marefriend, little missy” I informed her with a bit of a smirk.

She took it in stride and softly bonked herself in the head “Whoops, sorry. Forgot about that. But really? An ambassador?” she asked in return.

“Well, yeah. I suppose. Since I personally know all four Princesses of Equestria, I would do my best to make sure whoever they are got properly settled in and taken care off. It certainly would of helped me out a bit instead of stumbling through, heck I still am but at least I have a semi-hold on things. As crazy as it might be in my case” I further explained.

“That sounds very noble” Bon Bon briefly said with a kind smile.

I nodded at her “Yeah, yeah it does” I said.

“Cool! So, what are other humans like?” Lyra asked.

Sigh. How to describe humanity to peaceful, colorful ponies? This might take a while.



---------- 1 Hour Later ----------



“Wow, Bon Bon. If we ever visit Earth, make sure we never experience being a politician or anything to do with the law” Lyra told her friend. 

I let out a good, hearty laugh at that. “Yeah, so that is a very basic human description. I could go further but then it would become very depressing, I think” I told them.

“But still! Humans are amazing! To be able to think of all that cool stuff! I would love to have a computer and phones and… and...” Lyra seemed to be overheating a bit as steam seemed to be coming out of her ears a bit. 

“Calm down Lyra, your boiling over!” Bon Bon said to her heated up friend. “And besides, if you had one of those phones,  you would be up all night…. How did you say it? Texting?”

That mental image of a pony sitting in their room, with a blanket wrapped around them as they stared into a bright screen, texting away popped into my mind. And my laughter just erupted uncontrollably. 

“What?! What!” Lyra asked me while I laughed.

“Sor-sor-sorry! I just…. I just….” I tried to say but my laughing interrupted my speech. 

It took me a minute or so for my laughter to die down and I had to wipe the tears from my eyes since I was laughing so hard.

“Better?” Lyra asked with a pouty lip. 

“Yes. Much better. Sorry about that, but when Bon Bon said that I imagined you acting like a teenage girl, texting away at midnight” I explained.

I saw Bon Bon ponder this thought and that even brought her to a pleasant chuckle, which made Lyra pout even more. 

“Yeah, well, I probably couldn't text anyway since I don't have fingers and thumbs like humans do” Lyra said as she lifted up her hoof and examined it.

“That is not the only thing they can do!” I said with a grin.

“Oh? What else do you do with them?” Bon Bon inquired.

With that I quickly lifted Lyra over next to me and swiftly brought my hand up to her ear and began to scratch away. Not even two seconds passed before she went limp as a noodle and she began to mumble something incoherent. 

The mint unicorn then stretched out her hoof in vain to Bon Bon and with a silly smile on her face she said “Bon Bon…. Try….. this”

Said mare strode over curiously to my free hand and sat down, just before I saw her right ear twitch a bit. Guessing that was my que, I lifted my right hand and began to scratch her ear as well. She tensed up a bit before she slumped against my arm a bit and she hummed a little under her breath. 

“Thish is sooo good” Lyra mumbled out while her back leg kicked a bit. Kinda reminded me of Rainbow Dash when I did this to her.

“TWO MORE FOR THE COLLECTION!” I barely heard Pinkie Pie miraculously shout from Ponyville. I could only shake my head at the ridiculousness of Pinkie Pie and her strange ways. I would not doubt it if we found out that Discord gave her a bit of Chaos magic and that is how she does the things she does. I have such a crazy little sister.

“What was that all about?” Bon Bon said before settling back into her now cozy spot.

“Just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie” was all I said, which resulted in the two of them agreeing. Guess they are all used to it by now.

But after that, we all sat in silence as the two mares enjoyed my ear scratches while my two little girls were still dead asleep at my feet.

We sat like this for a while before Lyra started to stir.

“Hey, Adrian?” she asked.

“Yes?” I replied.

“How did you get here? To Equestria?” she asked.

“Well, I am not entirely sure myself. Though I am lucky to have found it or else I probably would of died otherwise. You see, back on Earth, I found this old well and saw something shiny near the bottom. So I leaned closer and accidentally fell through the weak wall, eventually falling into the water and since it was Winter time, it was ice cold. So my breath left me and my limbs froze, so I fell into blackness and passed out. Thinking I was going to die. Next thing I know, I am lying on my back in a field not far from here actually” I explained.

“Really? Can you show us?” Lyra asked again.

“Yeah, I suppose. I mean, it might be a little bit. You sure you want to take so long just to see something like that?” I asked in return.

“I don't mind! If it means learning more about my new human friend, then I am all for it!” Lyra said as she bounced up and away.

Bon Bon poked me so she could beckon me closer to whisper, so I leaned down and she said “Lyra has been waiting to meet you ever since she saw you. Sorry if she seems a bit, over excited. But that is just how she is sometimes” she gave me a kind smile when she was done.

I chuckled a bit before I gave Bon Bon one final ear scratch. I then stood up and began to stretch out my limbs, which somehow magically woke up my two sleeping girls. Which worked out for me, so with that I packed away Dragon Heart and lead my new group towards the spot where I was found. Or at least as best as I could, since I did not memorize it or anything.

But I did my best to re-trace my steps from where we were, though I found it surprisingly easy since we were actually pretty close to that path. Lucky me! Once I double checked the buildings and the path, I led them out to about where I was found.

“Hmmm, I think it was right around here” I said to them as I looked around. It was hard to tell since it was all grassy plains. 

After another minute or two of searching I stopped looking, since it would be pointless to try and pinpoint the exact location. 

“Well, I don't know where it is exactly but…. Ta da! This is around the area where I was found!” I tried my best to be excited about it. 

“Oh wow, at least you woke up in a pretty place like this!” Lyra announced as she looked around the area.

“True, very true” I admitted.

“I have a question though, if you don't mind Adrian” Bon Bon said.

“Shoot” I replied.

“Well, why did Princess Twilight not perform a magic tracking spell to pinpoint the exact nature and location of the spell? Magic always leaves a form of residue behind for a while and if you are a unicorn then you can track it back to its source. Then you might of known a bit more” she told me.

“She might of not found him for a while, since no pony obviously was looking out for it or for him, so he could have been here for hours for all we know. Cause then by the time she found him, the residue would of long faded away. That and she probably did not automatically search since there was no real reason to at the time” Lyra suddenly interjected.

“Ah, good point Lyra. Never mind then Adrian, seems like I found my answer” Bon Bon said before joining her friend. 

PHEW! Good job Lyra! Cause I had no freaking idea how to even begin to answer that. Just something else to study up on in magic. 

All of a sudden a strange noise filled the air above us, almost like thunder but underwater. 

“Whoa! What the heck was that?!” I asked while whipping my head around to try and find the source.

“LOOK! Up there! Was is it?” Bon Bon shouted while pointing at whatever it was.

Looking in that direction, I trained my eyes on the skies and after a few seconds, I saw a fast falling object that seemed to be wrapped up in blue cloth or something similar.

“Lyra! Do you think you can catch it with your magic?!” Bon Bon shouted again.

“Not from this distance! And even if we started running now, I don't think we would reach it in time” Lyra said in a panic.

Letting my magic roar through my body like raging river, I summoned my speed and sliced through the air in front of me, willing my body to move faster to save it. By the time I was near, the object was close enough to the ground for me to see normally. So I jumped as hard as I could and flew through the air like a bullet and quickly snatched the free-falling object before landing on the ground, using the dirt and grass as my stoppers.

I left a ten foot mark in the ground of where I skidded to a halt, but what mattered most is that I caught it, safe and sound.

I took a second to breath and calm myself down, just in case I accidentally use to much magical strength when handling whatever it was in my arms. By that time, the four of them had made their way over to me.

“What is it?” Lyra asked me.

“I am not sure yet, lets see” I told her. Before I removed the cloth that wrapped itself around the object, I felt that the thing was maybe sixty pounds and seemed to be about four and a half feet. Very strange, it almost felt like it was pony perhaps? Deciding not to speculate any further, I reached up and grabbed the edge, pulled it back and was presented with something I never thought I would ever see.

“Adrian? What is it?” Bon Bon asked this time. But she could see that I was starting to tremble.

“Papa?” Maelstrom asked next. 

But the words would not come out as I looked over the figure in my arms over and over again. But then Bon Bons earlier conversation came back fresh in my mind.

“Bon Bon! Can you use that magic tracking spell or whatever?!” I quickly asked her with panic in my voice.

She took a step back but she spoke up and said “I-I can try” 

“Please! Hurry!” I quickly said again. With that she charged up her magic and about a minute passed in silence before she shook her head in dismay.

“Sorry Adrian, I cannot seem to track the origin of the spell. It is something I have never seen or felt before in my life. I'm really sorry” she said with sad eyes.

“Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!” I said before I gently laid the body on the ground.

“Adrian, what is wrong?!” Lyra asked me. But I stayed silent as I began to ask questions in my mind to try and rationalize how this was possible.

Lyra and Bon Bon gave each other worried looks before they strode up next to me and looked inside. When they did, they both let out a surprised gasp.

“Adrian….is…. Is that?” Bon Bon nervously asked me.

“A human? Yes and it looks like he only nine or ten years old. He also looks like he is in pain. Do either of you know healing magic or something similar?” I worryingly asked. 

“No, I don't know any healing but I can do an inspection spell and try to figure out if anything is broken or the like” Lyra said.

“Please!” I pleaded her. She agreed and began to cast her spell. During this time I quickly turned back to the other mare. “Bon Bon! Head back to town as fast as you can and grab Princess Twilight or a doctor! Either one would know what to do”

“Understood. But what about you?” Bon Bon asked me in return.

“I will stay here and try to help him out, since he might freak out and having another human here would give him some comfort. Just in case” I quickly said as I made it up on the spot.

“Got it. I will be right back” she said before quickly dashing back to town as fast as she could.

Turning back I saw that Lyra was still scanning the boy but her face was squinting a bit.

“Lyra? What can you tell?” I asked.

“I…. I am not sure” was all she said before we heard a small cough from the boy.

“He is waking up” I said out loud as I saw him slowly open his eyes.

“Wh…..where am I?” he weakly asked and I could see him struggle to move but his arms and legs seemed to stay limp. “Why can't I move?”

At this I quickly uncovered the rest of his body and checked his body for cuts or bruises or anything serious. They all seemed fine but his skin seemed really pale and his body seemed too limp, like his muscles were soft or something.

I looked over to Lyra, hoping for some answers. She came over close to me and whispered “I can't really tell why or how but his body seems to be, really weak and getting weaker. Almost like a poison or something” 

At this my body spiked in fear and I began to sweat profusely as I tried to think of something helpful.

“Who are you two? And what kinda dream is this?” the boy asked which snapped me out of my stupor.

“Dream?” I asked him.

“Well, yeah! Last thing I remembered was going to sleep, very cold and shivering, then I woke up here” he told us with a half smile as he looked up at the sky.

Going to sleep cold and shivering? Now that I looked at him more closely, I could see that he wore barely any clothes and the ones he had were torn and very dirty. 

He tried to move again and now he seemed to freak out a little bit “Why can't I move?” he said with a slight panic in his voice.

It probably didn't help that I had a fearful look on my face as well, so I took my hand and rubbed my face over and over again until I could put on a happy face.

“Oh, that? Don't worry, its just part of this particular dream. But never mind that, what is your name?” I asked him while keeping up the facade.

“Me? You should know since its my dream, shouldn't you?” he asked in return. 

“Well, obviously this is a dream where you are to meet new and unknown friends! Like us!” I exclaimed as I presented the three around us. 

“Cool! Well, my name is Luke Witherson” he said before he coughed again.

“Well Luke, my name is Adrian Frost and these are my friends Lyra, Maelstrom, and Artemis” I introduced.

“You look really cool Adrian” he complimented before bursting out into a fit of coughs. “Why do I feel so sick?”

“Oh, that. Well. You… must….. have gone to bed with….. a fever! Yes! So that would make this a fever dream as well! Heh” I quickly made up.

“Oh, I heard of those from the nurse lady who looked at me last year. Cool” he said before coughing again.

I could see Lyra start to shake and her own facade was starting to crumble, as well as my own. 

“Adrian, how come even in my dreams I am sick? I thought dreams were good?” he asked me.

“Well, the thing about dreams is that they are always random since they are what you see and feel during the day. So sometimes they are good and sometimes they feel a bit real. But a dream is but a dream, so when you wake everything will be better!” I told him while trying to convince myself as well.

“Oh, so thats why I had a dream about snow angels and pie the other day. That was weird” he told us with a slight chuckle before coughing again.

“Ye-yeah. See! Dreams are weird! Just remember that this is a weird dream, just a weird dream” I told him.

“Cool” he barely said before coughing again. I decided to prop his head up on my legs so he could breathe a bit better, hopefully. He then started to breath really heavy but in short breaths as well, like he was afraid.

“A-Adrian? Even though I know this is a dream. I feel scared” he said while he looked up at me with a flushed face. 

“Just another part of the dream, you know I heard that in some dreams people dive off of cliffs before switching to another dream. Even though that scared them, the dream just pushes them forward and all is better. Ok?” I told him while forcing my smile.

“Oh, yeah. Kinda like how I had that dream where I was being chased by a fire breathing train?” he asked me.

“Yeah! Exactly like that!” I explained.

“Cool” he briefly said before he coughed up a storm again.

I held him in my arms now to try and give him warmth and I even saw Artemis and Maelstrom sadly sitting in front of me with worried looks. 

Luke coughed again before his voice squeaked out “This…. Is…. A…. Weird…. Dream” 

At this I was barely able to hold back my own strained voice and my face started to twitch “Yeah, I guess so. But just remember, this is all a dream and everything is going to be alright” I tried to bravely tell him.

His coughing became a bit more violent and he could no longer open his eyes but he still looked up at me as best he could “Will I…. remember you?” he asked in a raspy voice.

“I hope so, so that way next time we don't have to re-introduce ourselves” I informed him.

His breathing become erratic for the next few seconds before they slowed down to almost nothing and his slowed breaths became very short and his voice was no longer strong enough to speak and it came out ragged. At this I placed my hand on his head and began to smooth his choppy hair with my large thumb. 

“Everything is going to be alright Luke. Everything is going to be alright” I said, using the last of strength to keep up the last piece of my mask intact for this little boy. 

His breathing slowed down even more, to the point where I could no longer hear it but I saw his small chest still move, but just barely anymore. I then saw his pained face start to move and his lips formed a tiny little smile just as I heard a long exhale. It was then that everything went silent and the only thing moving on him now was his hair that I was still stroking with my thumb.

“Everything is going to be alright. Everything is….. ev-everything is going to be…. G-going to be alright” I now said out loud as I cradled the cold body in my arms with a cracking voice. I felt the three girls place their hoofs/paws around me and it was then that my facade finally tore it self down. But at first I was silent as the grave while sitting in that now cold, dead field.



---------- Meanwhile, a few feet away ----------



Adrian! Oh Celestia please! Please let everything be fine! For Adrians sake! Please!

I silently prayed to myself as I followed Bon Bon out to the plains on the edge of town. I can't believe something like this would happen after everything my friends did for me today! I finally feel at home and now I hear that a new human appears and is a sick child! Adrian was right to send for me, my alicorn magic and healing knowledge should be enough to at least stabilize the child. 

I kinda wanted to just come alone but the girls followed me anyway and I guess they have the right now, not like I have the power to stop them from helping our friend.

But no amount of training or tests could of ever prepared me for what I saw out on the darkened fields. 

Sitting there, surrounded by Lyra, Maelstrom, and Artemis, was Adrian who was holding, what I am assuming to be, the child very closely and was beginning to rock back and forth.

I then heard him quietly say in a strained voice “Everything is going to be alright” over and over again while tears ran down his face. 

“Oh no. Adrian!” I loudly said as I rushed even faster to him, but the closer I got the more I realized the awful truth that I wanted to deny when I saw him.

The child was dead.
> Why Am I Human?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It has been a rough couple of days for us all here in Ponyville, after that incident with the human child. Especially for Adrian. 

I can't even begin to imagine what he is going through right now, after everything else that has happened to him. And now he has to bare the burden of another death. 

I tried to remained hopeful and began to use my knowledge and magic to try and find the cause of the childs death. To hopefully ease Adrians mind a little. 

So I rushed over to the hospital and asked Doctor Board if I could run a few tests in addition to what they were doing. He said yes and had me suit up in a pair of scrubs before letting me in with his team. 

Though I wasn't fully prepared to face and examine a corpse, pony or otherwise. 

I felt a slight wave of nausea roll over me when I saw the pale body lying on the operating table, still and lifeless. 

Dr. Board asked if I was alright to continue, after taking in a few deep breaths I agreed to go on ahead. I could not let this stop me, in the name of science and friendship. 

The medical team was ready and stared at me as I walked up to them and fully explained my intentions and what I wanted to do and look for. Thankfully they all fully understood and acknowledged me, not as a Princess but as a scientist and a very concerned friend.

So Dr. Board stepped up first and made the announcement “Team, we are here today to find the cause of death of an alien life form. We are not here to dissect and study, though proper notes should be made as we perform. All we know is that this is a human child of nine years of age, so keep that in mind. Are we all ready?” 

The five nurses and two other docters all nodded yes.

“Are you ready as well, Princess Twilight?”

“Yes Doctor. Yes I am” I replied.



---------- 5 Hours Later, in the Crystal Castle Library ----------



“I hate this!” Rainbow said as she angrily stomped on the hard crystal floor.

“Rainbow! Calm down now!” AJ said to the furious pegasus.

“I can't calm down! I just hate sitting here and doing nothing! We have to help!” Rainbow replied back.

“Rainbow, darling. How can we possibly be of any help in this situation?” Rarity said.

“I dunno! We could scout around the area! I could round up a team of fliers to scour the skies and look for something! You could use your magic to try and find…. Something!” Rainbow said back.

“Simmer down now. I know ya wanna help but right now, we have ta trust Twi and hope she and the docs can find some sorta clue” AJ reassuringly said.

“BUT WHAT ABOUT RIGHT NOW?!?” Rainbow said with a booming voice. “Adrian is sitting in his room, all alone! We have not seen or heard from him at all! Well, most of us that is.” She immediately looked over at Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, who were both equally depressed looking.

“AND! To make matters worse! According to Nightingale, he has not been sleeping either! I just can't sit here while my friend is like this! I just can't!” Rainbow finally finished as she took to the air and flew around in circles, mumbling to herself.

“I…. I know Rainbow. I know” AJ weakly said as she stared at the ground in silence.



---------- Upstairs, In Adrians Room ----------



I spoke to the Gryphon King one last time before my departure to the next lands. In this last discussion, the King spoke to me about a very tender subject of his race. It was about the lineage of children born from mixed races. In all birthings, the children have always been either the race of the mother or the father, but never mixed since the genes never seemed to emerge fully. 

However, he has personally witnessed a very rare birthing of a mixed race child, which they call a Hippogriff. They are born only through a male gryphon and a pony mare, though the king did admit that most likely any mare could give birth. Be it zebra, donkey, or otherwise. 

It is a tender subject only because many gryphons saw the Hippogriff race as a bastard race and the few times in the past when they were born, were almost immediately hunted down and killed. Mostly out of fear since, according to the King, Hippogriffs are far stronger and faster than the parent races. 

But such practice has been banned ever since the last king took the throne, since his brother was one such child. Though, sadly, the fear still remains in the stories of Hippogriffs and the union between gryphon and ponies. So, as far as the King is aware, the only remaining Hippogriff is the previous kings brother who currently lives atop a mountain in the east. 

And that, is where I am headed. I am very curious as to find out just how powerful a flier he is. Since I have already learned of flight from the dragons (see previous book, Chapter IV, Sub Section VIII), Pegasi, Breezies, and Gryphons. The only other creature that I wish to study, in terms of flight, is the manticore. I am curious if those wings allow it to fly or are for some other use. 

My initial observations on that subject is that in the past manticores were either much smaller or had far larger wings, but the future generations have not had a need for them and are outgrowing their use for them.

I placed my bookmark in the crack of the book as I finished the page before closing it. I let the silver book rest in my lap as I stared at my wall again in utter silence. Not like there wasn't plenty of things making noise around me, of course, but I just chose to ignore them and let the silence wash over me like a cold rain at night. 

I am not even aware what day it is today. All I can think about is, well, everything bad that has happened to me. I am only briefly aware that Artemis and Maelstrom have been successfully fending for themselves for food, since I sure as hell haven’t eaten anything. 

But all those thoughts keep me busy and every second that I sit here and stare at my walled room, I feel like I am back on Earth and drowning in that well all over again and again and again.

So I had decided to pick up the silver book and read it since I had easily read through the last of Dragon Heart already. 

I had even tried to practice the spell Star Swirl made that allows non-pegasi to fly (all three variations of it) but the second I tried to will my body to move, I found myself as heavy as a mountain and refusing to move. So I simply gave up trying and remained anchored to my spot. 

I just feel so……

Pathetic.

Just sitting here, like a lump. Consumed by my past and letting the present slip on by. 

I hate it.

I hate it so much, and that is why I feel so numb right now. 

No sadness. No grief. No empathy. No cares or worries. Nothing.

Just me and my thoughts…..


KNOCK KNOCK


I just sighed as I acknowledged the fact the door was knocking again. Probably Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy trying to cheer me up…. Again. 

“Adran?” I heard Pinkie Pie lightly say.

In all honesty, it was starting to annoy me that she was giving me no quarter every single day. I just want to be alone, is that so hard to ask?

So, like before, I replied with silence as I endlessly stared in front of me, not even seeing a wall anymore. Just a black void, almost like if I had my eyes closed. 

“I…. I just wanted to let you know that Twilight should be back soon. We just got a letter from here saying so. I think she might have good news!” Pinkie tried to say with a happy tone. But I could easily tell that it was a failing facade. 

Thankfully she got the message when I silently replied to her and I heard the faint clicks of hoofs on crystal as she walked off. 

Good news? What good news could Twilight possibly find on examining a dead human body? 

I don't know why, but hearing the word human in my head was really starting to piss me off and I even found myself clenching my fist in anger.

What good does a human ever bring, dead or alive. 


Wait…..



---------- Meanwhile, Downstairs in the Library ----------



“Anything Pinkie?” AJ asked deflated pink party pony.

“No” Pinkie sadly replied.

The entire group let out a collected sad sigh of grief. They were hoping for Adrian to respond this time. 

They all sat in silence while a few paced back and forth, thinking away at finding some way to help or do something productive but all their ideas failed in their minds. 

“Girls! Girls!” suddenly shouted Spike as he ran in from the front door, out of breath and with a few beads of sweat on his brow. 

“Spike? What's wrong?!” AJ spoke up first as the other girls gathered around the panting dragon.

“Good news! Twilight said she found something big just now and had me run over here since she guessed another letter wouldn't arrive til later. Since, you know, Derpy is at home sick” Spike said.

“Poor thing” Rarity commented as she remembered when the gray pegasus came crashing through the door the next day and tried to see him but all she got was silence from him as well. She was part of the group until she worried herself sick and was put to bed at home. 

“Well Spike? What did Twi find?” AJ asked.

“Right, lets see” Spike stuck out his tongue a bit as he reached behind him and pulled out a few rolled up parchments and started looking through them. “Ah! Here it is! It says here that Twilight found-”

“GOD DAMMIT!” Adrians voice bellowed out as it overtook all thoughts the group downstairs had. 

They eyed the doors leading upstairs as it quickly slammed open and they saw Adrian furiously walk past them, with an equally worried Artemis and Maelstrom right behind him.

He ignored all of the as he charged through the front doors and out into Ponyville, though he was quickly joined by his friends as they chased after him.

“Adrian! Adrian! Where in tarnations are you going?” AJ quickly and loudly asked as she tried to keep pace with the human. 

“I am going for a walk…. Alone” He replied as he put emphasis behind each word. 

“Where?!” AJ asked again.

“In the Everfree Forest” he boldly declared which made the group gasp out in surprise.

“Why in the world are you going into that dreadful place?” Rarity asked this time.

“So I can be alone without you pestering ponies! Thats why!” Adrian loudly said as he suddenly stopped and whipped his body around to shout. The group behind him skidded to a halt for two reasons. One, because of the suddenness of everything and two, because they saw the look on his face and it scared them. 

Strangely though, when he saw their scared faces he seemed surprised and scared as well but he quickly turned back around and quickened his pace out of town. 

……….

They all stood there in utter shock for a solid minute before they heard Fluttershy start to cry a bit and that is what snapped them out of their current stupor. 

“What should we do? I have never seem him like this before” Rarity commented.

“Do y'all think we should get Twi?” AJ asked.

“I hate to say it, but I think we should. She may be one of the only ponies here who can calm him down now. Lets go!” Rainbow said and began to fly. Rarity and AJ followed but they quickly noticed that Pinkie and Fluttershy remained motionless. 

“Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy! Come on, we gotta move it!” AJ said but failed to stir them.

“I…. can't move” Fluttershy squeaked out in between sobs. “I just can't, not after seeing him so angry at me” 

At this she broke down a little more and began to cry a bit. The orange mare sighed as she gently put a reassuring hoof around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. 

“I can't blame you sugarcube, I can't blame you” AJ replied as she stared off into the distance where Adrian left to.


---------- 30 Minutes Later, in the Everfree Forest ----------



“FUCK!” 

“SHIT!”

“DAMMIT!”

I repeatedly shouted those and various other curse words as I barreled through the forest, punching trees, kicking at whatever was lying on the ground, and even picking up rocks and chucking them as hard as I could.

I was certainly thrown for a loop when my world quickly shifted from starring into the void of my mind to smashing my way through the forest. My magic was a storm inside my body as it flared up and  overflowed out of me and into the world before me.

I was almost reminded of how I felt when I was having my nightmares, except the anxiety of the situation made it feel worse since this was reality. I felt a small portion of this before when I get mad or angry before, but now. 

Now, this wasn't simple anger or being upset. No, this must have been rage and I hated it.

I hated feeling like this, so helpless and so weak. I hate the fact that everything seems to go against me and I have to suffer for it.

I hate seeing all these things die before my eyes.

I hate making everyone worry about me.

I hate not knowing anything about everything.

But most of all, right now, I hate myself.

I hate being human.

“GAH! DAMMIT! DAMMIT ALL TO HELL!” I shouted as I punched another large tree, but this time I left a crater in it as I moved onto the next one.

With each passing tree, my punches and kicks grew stronger and stronger and my magic was starting to emerge without me consciously summoning it. Some trees had all their bark blown off thanks to a shock punch while I blew a mini-tornado with a kick of my feet. I had not blown fire yet but sometimes I felt like I was drooling lava since my spittle was fiery hot.

All the while, Artemis and Maelstrom watched from a distance as I continued on with my tantrum and both stared at me in silence. 

But I simply didn't care right now, nothing mattered to me but my hatred and sorrows.

Before I knew it, I ended up in a familiar part of the forest though not one of happy memories. I was back at the small mountain where I saved Fleetfoot and killed Artemis's pack. 

Remembering that triggered another spike of hatred to pulse inside of my heart and I ran towards that mountain and roared as loud as I could, my spittle flying everywhere and sizzling whatever they touched, even causing a few leafs and patch of grass to light on fire. 

When I got as close as I could, I stood right where the Alpha and I dueled. Nothing had changed. The rock wall was still piles of rubble, scorch marks still scattered the ground, and a few pieces of wood were still littered here and there.

I had to cradle my head with my hands as the emotion of the memory flooded me and I started thinking of everything bad that followed this tragedy. 

Fearing my relationship with Derpy, Discord using his magic on me, learning about the books, going back home and witnessing my grave, realizing I killed my mother, all the nightmares, almost losing Nightingale, finding out I had a daughter, hurting those three punks, and finally watching a child of my world die in my arms.

Why?

Why?!

“WHY!” I angrily shouted as I threw electro balls at the mountain, never easing up as I threw them like baseballs without aim. Rocks, pebbles, and debris scattered into the wind and a new wall of dust slowly covered me, but I did not care.

Though when one of those rocks did hit me, I stopped throwing and instead shouted again. But this time, I shouted Dragons Fire instead of words and the fire was a scorching inferno as I saw rocks melt and steam start to rise from the melting pit in front of me. 

Some time passed before my voice died down, and with it the fire that left a huge whole in the side of the mountain, which was smoking high into the air.

“Papa?” Maelstrom timidly asked.

“Stay there Maelstrom, stay away from me right now. I don't want to hurt you” I briefly said with my back turned to her.

“But, Papa” she tried to say again but I turned around and yelled again.

“I SAID STAY THERE!” 

Both of them flinched as those words left my vile mouth and I angrily grasped at my own face, to try and shut it up and take them back. But the damage was done and I knew it. I became even more angry at myself and started to punch the hole I just made, ignoring the pain from the heat.

My anger rose even higher when a few small patches of rock from above started to fall and hit me, so I of course started swatting them away like flies but each punch just built up my rage. 

“ADRIAN!” I heard a voice call out.

Turning around with eyes clouded by hate, I saw Twilight standing there with a worrisome look on her face, but she was not the voice that called me. It was Celestia, who stood behind her, who had said my name. 

“Adrian! Please! Listen! I found something that will help explain what happened to Luke!” Twilight spoke this time as she took a couple steps forward. 

“STAY AWAY FROM ME!” I shouted at her. But she did not back away.

“I know your hurt and I know that none of us can understand what your going through, but at least let me tell you this!” Twilight begged of me. 

I did not feel like listening but at the same time I did not say no, either do to something within me calming me down enough or I simply did not care. Either or, the silence lead her to continue talking.

“The first thing I want to tell you is that you had nothing to do with his death!” Twilight said, though I did have to admit that within my fuzzy head what she said intrigued me enough to stay still. 

“I did a few scans and tests and compared them against your own scans Doctor Feathers did and we found out that he died due to our world killing him or more specifically, our worlds natural magic” she said. “Think of it like breathing air, on Earth he was fine since his body was born to it but the second he appeared here Equus's magic was trying to conform to him but it was too strong and ended up slowly killing him instead”

“It was simply his body reacting to magic, but also doubled over the fact that we also discovered that his body was already weak and dying due to something in his body. We are not sure what is was though, it was almost like a disease was growing inside his lungs. But that is not important right now, what is important is that you had nothing to do with his death and there was nothing any of us could of done for him”

“Which also brings up something amazing! If it was not for you already having magic in you, you could of most likely ended up the same way. So thanks to that, you are alive and healthy! Isn't that great?” Twilight finished up explaining. 

But instead of relief, I only grew more enraged and I gathered my strength and punched the mountain again, which spooked the two mares.

“WHY? WHY DID YOU THINK THAT WOULD CHEER ME UP?!” I shouted at them, which loudly echoed back to them due to the hole. 

“How does that help me deal with the fact that someone DIED IN MY ARMS?! How does that help comfort me when I have had so much death surround me? How does any of that explain everything that has happened to me? Explain it to me! WHY! WHY!” I voice exploded as I punched the rocks again.

“I… I don't know….. I was just trying to help….” Twilight sadly replied with as I heard a stack of papers smack against the dirt. 

“Adrian, why are so angry?” Celestia calmly asked me.

At this, I snapped back around and leaped forward so that I was a bit closer “WHY? Why am I angry?! I am angry because I hate everything! I hate that all my life, nothing ever seems to go right!”

“I hate that no matter what I do, how nice I am, how I follow the rules, how I just be myself and do what is right, NOTHING GOOD EVER HAPPENS!”

“I follow my heart and confess my love to a girl I liked and not only does she reject me but thought I was being a stalker and has me beaten up! I was being nice and gave money to a homeless person who only then used it to buy drugs and in his drugged up state killed a person! I was always made fun off since I had no parents and was a tall freak in school! Because my father abandoned us, I was treated like a bastard son in my family and got no help when I was all alone!”

“But I still found the good in things and tried my best to be happy for others since I liked helping people! Then I get dragged to this crazy world and kill an entire pack of wild animals, made a large number of friends cry and become sad, and learned that I was the one who killed my mother!”

“Then I also get dumped all the responsibilities and duties of a parent when clearly I was not ready for it nor did I want it! Then do to fate or whatever I find a magical book that buffs me up, the same books by the way which almost caused a war and many innocents to die, which accidentally made me hospitalize three people! Oh and almost getting jailed for that as well, and now finally I had to sit and watch as an innocent young boy die in my arms and now I know that I was helpless in that regard as well!”

“So please tell me why I should not be angry! Cause every breath I take seems to be a sin in the eyes of two worlds! AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY!” I breathlessly explained as I picked up a medium sized boulder and heaved it at the mountain. 

“I don't understand why all of this shit happened to me!” I picked up a smaller boulder and chucked it.

“I want to know why I am cursed!” Another small boulder split against the mountain.

“I WANT TO KNOW WHY!” I used picked up the biggest boulder I could find and strained a bit as I tossed it, though it fell short and cracked open on another rock in the ground. 

“I just want to know…. I just want…. To know…..” I tried to say but I finally felt myself being exhausted a bit and I fell to my knees while my body shook. I was shaking cause all my rage seemed to fuel these next few words.

“I want to know what I did wrong to deserve all this” I finally admitted but instead of shouting it, I barely spoke loud enough to hear over the wind that seemed to refill the void in the mountain.  And now I could feel cold tears start to sting my eyes, so I reacted by bringing the palm of my hands up to my eyes and crying against them.

“What did I do wrong? I just want to know what I did wrong” I blabbered out as my tears poured down my face and with every crying breath, I felt the rage inside of me leave but in its place was nothing. I felt so hollow inside and it made me feel even worse. 

Against my will, I turned my head to the two mares behind me and with great sorrow and pain, I asked “Please, help me”

In the fraction of a second I had two sets of hooves and wings surrounding me and wrapping me up in a warm hug. (Whether it was warm due to Celestia or them, I didn't really bother to ask)

“Artemis? Maelstrom?” I weakly asked as I looked around for them.

POOF

“PAPA! PAPA!” Maelstrom lovingly called out to me as she hugged my chest, wetting my already damp shirt with her own tears while Artemis curled up in between my legs. So, suffice to say, I was in a giant hug ball. 

But I now welcomed it as I hugged my daughter in turn “I am so sorry Maelstrom, I didn't mean to yell at you” I said to her and just as quickly I brought her up and placed many kisses on her head. 

At this she made a bizarre sound between sobbing and laughing since my kisses were tickling her and I am not sure if it was the sound or her, but I felt a small fraction of heat blossom in that empty void inside of me and I suddenly felt lighter then air and happier than I have been in days.

“I love you Papa” Maelstrom said as she kissed my chin, since it was the closest thing she could reach. 

I felt that warmth surge again and I could not help but smile while I cried like a fountain.

“I love you so much Maelstrom” I said to her, which of course caused her to snuggle up even closer. “I love you as well Artemis” I said to my little hunter, who gave me a happy howl in return. “And I love you Twilight” I said to the smaller alicorn “And, of course, I love you too Celestia”

I chuckled a bit as I rambled on “And I love everyone in Ponyville and in Canterot and everyone else I have met. I love everyone so much” at this I lost my smile though and replaced it with sobs as I tried to speak more “And….. and I am so sorry that I made you all worry about me again. I just…. I-I just...” 

“Shush now Adrian, no more words. Ok?” Celestia gently whispered into my ear as she readjusted herself around me. 

With that I silently nodded since my voice was caught in my throat and I simply cried it all out in our little circle. 

I never want to feel all that rage ever again. Never again.



---------- 45 Minutes Later, Back in the Castle Library ----------



“GIRLS! GIRLS!” I shouted as I clumsily barged through the front doors and into the library. Once I was fully standing again I looked around and saw the shocked faces of the five other girls and even Spike. 

“Oh thank goodness your all here!” I said as I rushed over and gathered them all up in a group hug, though I think they were all too shocked to move or say anything at this point and I don't blame them.

“I am so sorry everyone, I never meant to scare you like that. I don't know if you can but please, can you ever forgive me?” I asked of them all. 

“Do-does this mean your not angry at us anymore?” Fluttershy quietly asked while trying to hide under her long mane.

“I was never angry at any of you, I was just angry at myself and a few other things. But never at you, I could never be that angry with any of you. I promise” I honestly told them.

“Pi-Pinkie Promise?” Pinkie Pie asked with a glint of hope in her eyes. 

I gave out a slight chuckle before I gently set them all them as I moved my right hand over “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my-” I was about to finish before Pinkie threw a frosted cupcake right into me “-eye” 

Though I was now blinded I could hear the puff of her mane re-forming moments before I was struck hard with a Pinkie hug “Good, cause you know what will happen if you break a Pinkie Promise!” was all she said before she snuggled up to me and breathed a sigh of relief. “I'm really happy that you don't hate me big brother”

“Don't worry Pinkie, I will always love you. Just like I love all of you girls and that is why I wanted to say sorry to you. After I calmed down, I wanted to make sure you all knew that” I explained to them all. At this a few of them blushed a bit but Fluttershy and Rainbow came over for a hug as well.

“Aw shoot sugarcube, glad to hear yer all better now. But don't make us worry like that again, ya'hear?” AJ said with serous look on her face.

“I'll try not to” I said in reply, which made the apple farmer smile again.

“Oh my! Adrian! I must tell you something important!” Rarity suddenly spoke up.

“Yes Rarity?” I said in return.

“You should probably go check up on Derpy, she worried herself sick yesterday about all this and is at home recovering. I think it would mean the world to her if you checked up on her” Rarity explained.

“Oh no! I gotta go, I'll be back! I swear!” I told them before I scrambled to my feet and sprinted back out the door, right past the two princesses. “I'll be back! Checking in on Derpy!” I told the two as I faded off into the distance. 



---------- Inside the Castle ----------


“Well, he certainly seems more high spirited. What a wonderful sight” Celestia said as the two of us walked back in. 

“Twilight! Princess Celestia!” AJ called out to us as they all ran over to us.

“Hey everypony. Well, it looks like we were successful in getting our Adrian back! Though, not in a way I thought we would” I explained.

“What happened out there? We heard a lot of strange sounds come from the forest after he went in there” Rainbow asked.

“In a moment my little ponies, first we must discuss something important. This is what the three of us discussed in the forest after Adrians rage subsided, though you might not like what he has decided to do” Celestia said as we gathered in a circle.



---------- Outside on the streets in Ponyville ----------



Making quick turns left and right, I was a flurry of wind and legs as I sped down the rows of houses to find the one I was looking for. Which came up very fast, much sooner than I expected, so much so that I had to skid to a halt which resulted in me looking like a rag-doll flopping around in the dirt. But that didn't stop me as I recovered and quickly made my way up to her room.

The second I opened the door I was already panting for air while I saw, lying in bed, was Derpy fast asleep in a peaceful manner. I stood completely still as I caught my breath and calmed myself back down, so as to not accidentally wake her from her slumber. 

Once I was calm and collected, I softly made my way over to her and used my hand to feel her forehead. It was only slightly warm, which was a good sign since it was not burning hot. I saw a rag and bucket full of water sitting next to the bed, so I rung out the rag first before gently cleaning off any sweat then placing a cool, lightly wet rag on her forehead. 

For a few minutes I repeated the cycle of ringing, wetting, and placing the rag on her forehead and it was already bringing down her fever a little. During this cycle task, I found myself growing sleepier and sleepier and I now remembered that I had not slept a wink in three whole days. Guess it decided to finally catch up on me.

So I did the rag trick one more time and left it on her forehead before I bent over and kissed her cheek “I hope you can forgive me as well Derpy and know that when you wake up, things will be different and hopefully better for all” I said before letting out a huge yawn.

Lowering my body so that my head was lying next to her front leg, I relaxed my body and found a comfy spot to sit and lye and the second I hit the sweet spot my body just seemed to shut down and I could feel the blanket of sleep start to cover me. But with one final breath I said “Everything is going to be alright, Derpy. I promise”

'Though, you might not like what I have to say in the end'
> Walk With Me Human, To Beyond The Horizon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ The Next Morning, Derpys House -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~




Ugh, everything hurts.

My body hurts, my head hurts, my eyes hurt, just absolutely everything feels sore. 

Guess that is what happens when you push your unknown limits. 

Though now that I think about it, I summoned those gusts of wind using only my feet along with the rest of my magic. So that's new. Going to have to watch out for that. 

Lets see, what happened to me? I read the silver book a bit more, stormed out into the forest, had that life changing talk with Celestia and Twilight, came back, and……

“Adrian?” I heard Derpy softly call out. 

I groaned a bit as I shifted my body, with my eyes still closed, as I sat up a bit and smacked my lips before letting out a yawn.

“Good morning sleepy head” she said to me.

I took a whole minute to try and pry my eyes open as a small filter of light penetrated the room and invaded my sight. But once I did get them open, I saw a beautiful mare smiling back at me.

“Good morning Derpy, did you sleep well?” I hazily asked.

“Yes, I think. Though I did have a good rest when I woke up a few hours ago and saw you here with me, holding my hoof and I decided to go back to sleep. Also, because I don't think I could easily move you off the bed to get out, I didn't have much choice but to stay in bed” she replied with a little giggle.

I gave a little laugh as well before I used my thumb to stroke her hoof and stared aimlessly through it. Derpy must of seen this, cause she used her other hoof to cover my hand to grab my attention.

“Adrian? Is….. everything all right? I was worried sick when nopony could get you to come out of your room” Derpy worryingly said.

I looked up to answer her and even though I had the answer in my mind, no words would come out of my mouth and my mouth flapped uselessly as I unintentionally remained silent. Finally, I stopped 'talking' and stared back at her hoofs. 

“Adrian?” she asked.

“I love you” I finally said.

This stunned her for a moment and it was probably not what she expected to hear.

“I love you so much Derpy and I want you to know that you did nothing to upset me or anything. I was just hurt so much that I didn't want anyone with me, I just needed some time to myself and unfortunately, I responded to you all very coldly. And I'm sorry” I confessed.

“What happened, Adrian?” Derpy asked me while she stroked my hand a bit. “What happened to make you talk to us again?”

“Anger, anger is what allowed me to open up” I sighed as I admitted to that shameful truth. “Before, I just felt so numb to the world around me until I heard the word human and hearing that single word made my mind race and I realized that I hated being human and the only one of my kind. So I began to hate myself and that hatred exploded out of me and I, well, I colorfully expressed it through vulgar words and physical action”

“So, after I literally demolished a mountain and left a crater in it, Twilight and Celestia found me and unintentionally calmed me down by accidentally making my anger rise and rise until I burned myself out. Then, we had a…… little talk” I explained.

“A little….talk?” Derpy asked in return and with a nervous tone.

“Yeah…. And it was about my future here in Equestria. Which also means…..our future” I said with equal nervousness.

“Adrian?” Derpy sadly said as she clasped my hand with both of her hooves.

I could feel her whole body shake and shiver, like a cold shiver but more intense and I felt horrible and my gut twisted and turned. So I leaned forward and kissed her forehead before placing my own against it. We stared at each other for a few seconds before I closed my eyes and started to take deep breaths, hoping she would catch on and repeat it herself.

Thankfully, she did exactly that and in no time, her body returned to normal but her grasp on my hand remained the same.

“Derpy, I know this is going to be hard to listen to and you may very well hate me afterward, but I believe in my heart that this is the best course of action. Not only for myself, but for Equestria and every pony else. Do you understand?” I asked her in all seriousness.

Her eyes darted back and forth for a few seconds as she thought about what I just said and I could tell she was scared, so I gave her hoof a gentle squeeze and offered a kind smile

“I…. I'll try” She finally said.

With that, I took another deep breath to collect my thoughts and remember what the three of us talked about in the forest.

“Alright, so this is the conclusion that Princess Twilight, Princess Celestia, and myself made after talking through everything and ultimately we decided that it would be best if I left Ponyville and, well, started traveling around the world of Equus. To find my place in this new world and to conquer my powers and myself, if that makes sense” I calmly explained.

“Leave…. Ponyville?” She weakly asked as she stared at me.

“Yes, I am a huge risk to everyone with my powers and my unknown fate. Not like I believe in destiny and fate, but I do believe in the future and I don't think it is safe when I am a walking time bomb. Because of my anger, I tore a mountain down and left it a smoldering crater. Imagine if I did that in a major city! I could not bare to cause such mass destruction”

“So, I am going to go on a journey and explore this new world, and perhaps find answers to my unknown questions. That is the gist of it, though some of the details are being worked out by Celestia back in Twilight castle right now, that or she is using all her power to keep Pinkie Pie from crashing in here” I chuckled a bit at the thought but I suddenly felt a thump against my chest. Looking down, I saw Derpy clutching my chest very tightly while she burrows her head in my shirt.

I didn't need to ask what was wrong, so I simply wraps my arms around her and hugged her. But the second I touched her, she began to cry very loudly and used her hoofs to hit my chest repeatedly.

“I hate you! I hate you so much! You come waltzing into my life and make me feel normal for the first time in my life and feel loved! And now your just going to leave! I don't want you to leave! Stay here! Please!” She begged as she continued to go between hating me and wanting me to stay. 

But I remained silent as I held her while she vented her new found anger. It did not last too long for I felt the beatings slow down then suddenly turned into a death gripping hug as she cried. 

“I'm sorry Derpy” I quietly said as I rested my head on top of hers. 

“Take me with you” I heard her say equally as quiet.

At this, I chuckled a bit under my breath as I began to pet her mane “You can't come with me silly head, you have an important job here in Ponyville and ponies rely on you to deliver their mail. You have a role to play and you can't quit now. They need you” I told her.

But she sprang her head out so she could look me in the eyes while she said “I NEED YOU!” 

She sniffled a bit as her lips began to tremble a bit “I need you! I feel normal with you around, I don't feel like a failure when you help me up, I don't feel so alone when you kiss me. Please, I don't want you to go and I don't want to break up with you”  she pleaded with me.

“Well, I wasn't planning to break up with you. I mean, I thought we could try having a long distance relationship. I would write to you whenever I could and send you gifts from wherever I go!” I explained to her.

“You would love me, even if you were on the other side of the world?” she tenderly asked me.

“Of course I would, love knows no bounds after all” I told her as I stroked her tear-soaked cheek. 

At this, she seemed to magically calm down and she used her hoof to keep my hand on her cheek while she happily nuzzled it. 

“No, I don't think it would work and it would no be fair to you” Derpy suddenly said while she smiled up at me.

“Derpy?” I called out her name in slight confusion.

“I love you Adrian, more than anything but it is like you said earlier, you need to find yourself in our world. You can't do that if you are tied down here in Ponyville, by me” she sadly stated while she held herself against my hand and breathed into it. 

We sat in silence for a while as she continued to breath into my hand, with a frown and sad eyes. I used my thumb to give small strokes against her muzzle, which made a small smile form as she lovingly looked at me. 

“You are so kind Adrian and I can't be that selfish to keep you all to myself during your future travels. Perhaps there is another mare out there that is worse off then me and is waiting for you to rescue them too” she sighed a bit before slumping against my chest again. 

“Are you sure, Derpy?” I asked her.

“Yes, I am sure. I don't like it, but I do understand and want to support your adventure. I just wish I had something else to give you to remember me by, something more…. Permanent I guess” she said as she pawed the bed. 

Suddenly I felt her whole body tense up and I saw her face explode in red, so much so that she turned her face away from me. 

“Derpy? What's wrong?” I asked her.

“I-I-I was j-just thinking of so-something to give you, a-and I thought of something….. embarrassing” she cutely stammered while she pawed the bed again.

“What? Like a lock of hair to keep in a pendant or something?” I gently laughed as I twirled a bit of her mane in between my fingers. 

“N-no, something much more…..intimate” she said as I started to see a bit of steam rise from her head.

I pondered for a moment what she could possibly mean until it finally hit me and my face was now equally as red.

“D-D-Derpy! A-are you s-su-suggesting what I th-think you are suggesting?” I now said in a stammering voice of my own.

But this time, she swiftly turned around with a look of determination on her face, with still a hint of red, as she said “Yes, I am. I want to give you my first time Adrian. I may not have you here with me, but I want to give you something important, because of my love for you”

Now I was the speechless one and now the whole dating a different species thought process sprung back up, doubled with what I was thinking about back in Canterlot when Doc Feathers said I could, well, successfully procreate. 

I was about to say something about being sure of her actions, of the consequences, and of the morality of the thought but then I saw her face.

She was scared, every muscle on her face seemed to twitch and itch and even her fur stood on edge, yet under that mask of fear was a burning force and when I truly looked into her eyes, I saw something pure and simple. Love. She loved me so much, so much so that it scared her and was now hurting her. Yet, through all that fear, love, and confusion in between the two, she still asked such the question.

I had to now match her bravery and respond in kind. Heh, she was saying how much she needed me but now, in this moment, it now felt like I needed her and that kind of strength. Because in all honesty, a small part of me thought I was going to fold and decide to stay here with Derpy, despite everything I talked about in the forest. 

That being said, however, I was speechless and did not know how to properly respond without sounding extremely dumb or like those three stallions at the club. Brrrr, that thought sure sends shivers down my spine. 

I think Derpy saw my stupid face and probably guessed my thoughts, cause I heard her giggle before she gave me a quick peck on the lips. “Sorry for putting you on the spot, I kinda blurted it out myself since I was so nervous. I can't imagine how your feeling right now, but know that whatever you decide, I will happilly follow” she reassuring told me. 

I chuckled a bit to myself as I gave it one last thought before I pulled her into a kiss, which surprised her but she soon leaned into it as well. 

“Just one thing, please be gentle” Derpy nervously asked.

“I would never be anything but gentle, I promise” I replied back.  “This is my first time as well, and its with another species, so please be patient with me as I…..adapt” I said with a nervous chuckle.

She replied with a cute giggle before she kissed me again as I made my way onto the bed, though I new thought quickly crossed my mind and I gently pushed her back “Wait! Wait, wait, wait. Do you have…..any…..protection?” I asked.

“Protection? Like what?” she asked in return.

“Like condoms or something similar?” I asked again.

“A condom? I don't think I have ever heard of that before” she told me.

GAH! How in the world do I explain this?!

“Um….well….. how do ponies make sure a mare does not get pregnant by accident?” I said.

“Hmmm? OH! I think I get what your asking. We don't really have anything like that, since mares can only get pregnant when they are in heat. Any other time, there is a zero percent chance of becoming pregnant. So you don't have to worry about that, silly” Derpy easily explained. 

I let out a huge breath of fresh air that I unknowingly held in my lungs. 

“Is it really different back on your world?” Derpy asked as she laid on top of me.

“Yeah, human girls don't really go into periods of heat and can, generally speaking, get pregnant at any time. Though there are special circumstances and lots of other things that can determine pregnancy. So, if you have common sense and a small portion of decency, many of us use protection and are very careful about doing this” I explained.

“Wow, stuff sounds really complicated over there” she said to me.

“Yeah, it was” I said as I spaced out a bit thinking about not having to deal with that anymore.

But I felt her giving me another kiss, which brought all my attention back to her “Well, don't worry Adrian. Right here, right now, will just be me and you. Plain and simple. Ok?” she asked me with a kind smile. 

“Alright, plain and simple. Got it” I replied back.

Plain and simple, I like the sound of that.




-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 2 Hours Later, Twilights Castle -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~




OK! Just act natural, just act natural. 

Just play it cool and don't be nervous, no need to tell them all about our private moments. 

Yeah, they will have no need or reason to think about that, whatsoever! 

Ok, deep, calm breaths now. Just. Be. Cool.

With that out of the way, I finally decided to push open the doors to the castle and made my way through to the library, since that is most likely where they all are. 

Boy, was I right.

For the millisecond I cracked open the door and took one step inside, I was pile-drived into the floor by five different ponies. 

Pinkie Pie, the CMC, and, both surprisingly and not surprisingly, Luna.  

Though any resemblance of speech was thoroughly lost in the blabber of all five trying to talk to me at once. But instead of feeling super sad, I was actually feeling quite happy, knowing and seeing all the different kinds of ponies who care for me.

It took a while before any semblance of order was created and I listened to each and every one of them voice their complaints and all of their invitations to join me. The idea though of any and/or all of them joining me certainly was an entertaining thought and made me chuckle, but I had to turn them all down. I was about to explain why but Luna told me that Celestia and Twilight fully informed them about the actions that transpired in the forest and what my plans were.

And that leads me to right now, with the CMC in my lap as I alternate petting and giving them ear scratches.

“So, tell us dear little brother, how did Miss Hooves take the news?” Luna asked me from behind as she placed a wing on my shoulder.

“We….. worked it out. Words were said, tears were spent, and a few kisses here and there helped smooth everything out. And her sickness is much, much more better, so that is one less thing on my mind” I explained, very smoothly and without hinting towards anything. Oh yeah, played it out as cool as an ice cube.

“Very good, we are pleased to hear this news. So, are you two still together….. or?” Luna carefully asked.

At this I shook my head but smiled “Unfortunately, we are not. After discussing it, we agreed that it would be best if we split up. Though, that doesn't make my love for her any less than before” I explained.

“We see, we are most sorry for this terrible news but happy that you two are still on friendly terms” Luna said.

I nodded before turning my attention to Celestia, who was waiting patiently “So, when do I leave?” I asked.

“Well, you can leave anytime your ready. Though, I am not sure if your friends are ready quite yet” Celestia happily said.

“Now dear, if you are going to travel the world, you need to make sure you have clothes for every occasion! Now, I spent all of last night making you a few new suits, a couple of camping and exploring outfits, a few sleeping attires, clothes for hot and cold climates, and-” Rarity said before AJ covered her mouth.

“We get it Rares, an outfit for every occasion. Does he have room for anything in his bag?” AJ said as she looked behind and stared at the huge bag that was about to burst at any second. 

“Well, a stallion such as Adrian needs to be prepared! Who knows who he will meet on his journey!” Rarity explained.

“Hmmm, I think I can help with that” Celestia said. She stepped up to the huge bag and touched her now glowing horn against in and in a flash of light the bag went from bulging to empty in a second. Did she just….get rid of them?

“There we go, Adrian. Look inside” Celestia said to me. Walking up to the bag, I opened it up and peered inside and saw a huge, open space inside with all my clothes sitting nicely at the bottom. It was very bizarre, it was like the inside of the bag was bigger while the outside looked normal. 

“What in the world?” I asked out loud in confusion.

“It is an advanced spell simply called an Expansion Spell. Basically, I expand an object's internal space while retaining its external dimensions and appearance. So now, your one bag on the inside has the space of a hundred! Perfect for exploration and it won't feel overweight!” Celestia proudly said.

“Wow, thank you Celestia! That is amazing!” I said back to her.

“Yes, well I wanted to do something for you since I won't be there to protect you and I wanted to give you a lot more for your journey. As did Luna” Celestia explained.

“I still think a suit of armor would do him wonders, a wandering alien knight! We thinks it is most romantic and exciting!” Luna exclaimed.

“Oh my! That is wonderfully romantic! Oh, do you think you could stay an extra day or two Adrian and wait for that armor?” Rarity asked me while she batted her eyelashes.

“I think I can make do, though it is certainly enticing. But I think it would be hard to maintain in the long run” I said.

“True, for a journey such as yours. Perhaps we will make it a side project and make you the perfect set of armor for when you return” Luna pondered out loud.

“Luna, Luna. I think your going to spoil me at this rate” I joked with her but I was met with a sad pout.

“We wish to spoil you more since you might be in an area we cannot go. We will always be worried about you” Luna said before she wrapped her wings around me in order to pull me in for a hug. 

“I will miss you as well, but I know you'll always be looking out for me every time I look up at your beautiful moon in the night sky” I told her which got a very positive result since she made a very cute and silent squee sound.

We parted ways but I still held out my arms “And of course I am going to miss you all as well” I said and Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and the CMC rushed into a big hug. 

“Good luck big guy, I will talk to everyone in Cloudsdale and see if I can make sure you get awesome weather twenty-four seven!” Rainbow boasted. 

“I will be sure to try and send you amazing cupcakes wherever you go! I wish I could go to every city and set up a welcoming party for you!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“I will talk to some of my animal friends and see if they can keep a watchful eye on you and let other animals to so the same! I mean, if that's ok with you” Fluttershy bashfully said.

“I wish you could stay and be with us when we find our cutie marks! I feel like we are so close to finding them!” Scootaloo told me.

“Yeah, were gonna miss ya an awful lot Adrian” Applebloom said next.

“I wish you didn't have to go Adrian, I wanted you to be here forever” Sweetie Bell sweetly said. 

I wanted to give them all answers but instead I just hugged them all even more and gave Sweetie Bell a small little kiss on her forehead.

“I will be back one day and when I am, I am sure we will be talking about our own adventures for days and days. So, until then, be sure to stay awesome, amazing, and sweet and don't try to worry so much about me. Ok?” I asked them and they all gave me nods. 

I finally walked over to AJ and Rarity “Be good you two and watch out for your sisters when I'm gone, though its going to be hard to not eat your delicious apples everyday Applejack and I will be sure to keep the clothes you made for me clean Rarity” I said.

“Will do partner, and don't you worry none, the Apple Family brand apples can be found all over Equestria!” AJ said with a grin.

“I will Adrian darling, Sweetie Bell will be talking about you for years to come. Oh and here is a list of what clothes to wash with what temperature water and cleaner!” Rarity said as she placed a large list into my new mega-bag. Looks like I have my own hammerspace bag now! 

“Adrian, are you sure you wish to have Maelstrom and Artemis accompany you as well?” Luna asked me.

“Well, even if I didn't, I don't think any power in the verse could stop them anyway. Doubly so for Maelstrom” I said with an added chuckle. 

“True, true. Please be safe on your journey Adrian and if you ever need anything, please write to us” Luna said before giving me one last hug and a kiss to the cheek. She then teleported back to Canterlot and got back to her royal work (whatever that might be).

“Twilight? Where did she go?” I asked but suddenly she popped into existence with a mountain of paper and pens. 

“Alright, here is enough paper to write four complete works of War And Harmony and plenty of ink to make a small pond. Oh and here are a couple of book on good and bad plants, flora, insects, and also-” Twilight rambled on and on about what other things to look out for.

“Heh, thank you Twilight but I don't think I will be writing any novels anytime soon. But thank you for looking out for me” I said as I bent down on one knee for a hug but she was still going on about books.

“-and I also took the liberty of making you an address book and filled it in with everyone you know as well as plenty of ponies in Canterlot and how to contact the Princesses in any town and/or country. Um, did I miss anything? Any other books?” Twilight said, mostly to herself at this point, as she scanned over the pile of books she brought for me. 

I gently pulled her into a hug which snapped her out of her rambling and caused her to blush “Thank you, Twilight. I am going to miss you and your nerdyness” I told her.

She ignored that last part as she gave me a hug in return “Please be safe Adrian, I am going to miss you. You and Maelstrom made the castle feel a little less empty” Twilight sadly said and I could tell she was going to feel lonely without us living here.

“Well, if you ever get those guards like we were thinking about when Cascades came through, then they could live in the castle and give you plenty of company” I told her.

“Hmmm, that's actually a really good idea. I will have to write that down! Thanks Adrian!” Twilight said just before she leapt off and began to write down some stuff and became lost in her own world. 

“That should keep her busy for a bit” I said. I spent the next few minutes packing up some other stuff, since I have plenty of room now, and the two Star Swirl magic books. I also packed up Dragon Heart for when I eventually find Canterlot and return it to Raven. 

Once I had everything, I equipped my backpack and returned to the library and said my final goodbyes, again.

“Adrian, allow me to accompany you for a while” Celestia asked me.

“But of course, having a Princess escort me? I could think of no greater honor” I teased her a bit. 

“Then let us be on our way then” Celestia said. 

So with that, and having to pry Luna and Pinkie off of my legs, I called for Artemis and Maelstrom and began my walk to the edge of town with the tall alicorn. 

“I wanted to speak privately to you Adrian and reassure some things. Twilight already knows and has agreed to keeping silent but I just want to make sure you are willing to do this” Celestia asked me.

“I am willing and I think it will help me keep on track during my journey” I told her. 

“Lets go over it again then, while on your journey, you will also have the side mission of being a secret ambassador and delivering these letters to the designated Head of States or similar positions of power. That being said, also tell them that you are a simple messenger and to direct any questions to myself or Luna, as to avoid any…..questionable malcontent from them” Celestia said to me as she handed me a large brown, metal clasped book.

“I also wish to give you this magic journal. You will have to provide a blood seal but doing so will not only bind this book to you, but also only allow you and you alone to read the contents. One thing I have learned after so many years is that, having ponies to talk to helps but sometimes, you just need some write down some true, personal thoughts. It helps in the long run” 

“The letters are placed inside this journal, so be sure to keep it safe. And be sure to send me a letter whenever you deliver one, aside from the normal ones of course” she said with a wink.

“I will not let you down Celestia, I promise” I told her as I held my fist over my heart. I was then pulled into a long hug as Celestia finally stopped us at the edge of town.

“Please, be well Adrian. You will always be in my thoughts and in my heart Adrian and I will miss you” Celestia quietly told me.

“I will Celestia and thank you for allowing me this opportunity to help not only Equestria, but myself as well. Hopefully I will find the answers I seek to questions I don't know yet” I told her, though she began to giggle at that last part.

“You sounded a bit like Star Swirl when he was young, it was very surprising to hear” she explained.

“Well, I am his apprentice after all” I replied.

“I suppose you are. Oh and I would wait here for a minute or two after I leave, I sense a certain pegasus anxiously waiting behind that building” Celestia whispered.

I nodded and with that, we hugged one more time before she walked back to where Derpy was hiding and acknowledged her, though Derpy was very much surprised she was found.

“Come to say goodbye?” I asked the gray mare.

“Yes, just one more time” Derpy nervously said.

I kneeled down so I could more easily look into her golden eyes “Are you sure, about everything?” I asked.

“Yes, I am. Just, remember our deal. Please?” Derpy said while concentrating at the now very interesting dirt. 

I smiled as I leaned over and gave her one final kiss “I will honor the deal, starting now” I said with a wink.

Her blushing cheeks puffed up in a forced pout “No fair” she murmured. 

I gave a cheeky laugh in response “All's fair in love and war”

She huffed a little more before she flew up and hugged me very tightly “I am going to miss you, please write whenever you can. Alright?” she asked of me.

“Always” I simply said back.

With that, she slowly climbed back down and walked back to where Celestia was waiting, unknown to Derpty until that moment. When she was, the two of them waved me off as I began my first steps into my new adventure in Equestria.

And for some reason, I particular song sprang into my head and I laughed a bit when I sang it out loud to myself while Maelstrom attempted to match the lyrics.

♫But I would walk five hundred miles, and I would walk five hundred more.

Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles, to fall down at your door♫




-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Back At The Edge Of Ponyville -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~




“Princess Celestia?” Derpy asked.

“Yes, my little pony?” Celestia replied.

“Do you think he is going to be alright, traveling the world all alone?” Derpy nervously asked again.

Celestia offered a kind and warm smile “Adrian is never alone, he will always have all his friends and loved ones in his heart and thoughts. And he also has his chaotic daughter Maelstrom and Artemis with him as well” she replied.

“How big is Equss?” Derpy asked once more.

“Oh? Wishing for a short journey?” Celestia teasingly said which made the mare blush but nod. “I believe it all depends on the pony, whether a world is big or small. But in this case, I think Adrian will find the world very big, but in a good way. And, it may not be my place to ask, but you seem to have a certain glow around you. May I ask why?”

At this Derpy stared at the very, very interesting ground and made dirt circles with her hoof. “W-well, P-Pr-Princess, le-lets just say that me and Adrian exchanged some very special gifts that can only be given once, as a way to remember each other by”  Derpy carefully said.

“Ah, I see. Well, Adrian is one lucky stallion then to be so well loved. But are you going to be alright?” Celestia asked with a concerned voice.

“I will, I made him a promise and I intent to keep it. For both our sakes” Derpy said with confidence. 

“Excellent. Now, if you excuse me, I have to be getting back to Canterlot. I have to re-schedule Warden Chasers apprentice training, among other things since Heart and Hooves day is in four days. Be well Miss Hooves” Celestia elegantly said with a bow of the head, which Derpy hastily returned one with. 

Once Celestia teleported away, Derpy looked back to where Adrian was and watched him walk away into the distance and felt an ache in her heart 

“I love you Adrian….. Goodbye” she said alone while waving. Suddenly she saw him waving back to him and a smile spread onto her face. 

“Wait, did she say Hearts and Hooves was in four days? Uh oh” 
> One Small Step For A Human, One Giant Leap For Ponykind
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

♫Walking in the forest, walking in the shade! Walking with my papa, walking with my dog!
Well, I am flying above papa….. while in the forest!
Flying, flying, flying all day! Flying, flying, flying is so fun!
I love flying almost as much as papa! But papa I always love the most!♫

After that last line, Maelstrom dropped right on top of my head and giggled away while she ruffled through my long hair.

Maelstrom seemed to pick up the new habit of singing after she heard me sing that song after we left Ponyville yesterday and has been my own little Disney princess…… sort of.

And by that, I mean that sometimes when she sings and a bird lands on her shoulder, it suddenly mutates into a random object and starts making sounds to go along with whatever she is singing at the time. So far, I have seen a bowling ball, a tissue, a floating pair of teeth, smiling glasses, and a miniature pink whale that said 'hello'.

So….. yeah. But it has been great fun to witness so far, especially since the Everfree Forest has been nothing but quiet and a tiny bit eerie. Doubled only by the fact that I have had this feeling that something as been watching me for a while, but that may just be the spookiness getting to me.

But I usually just shake it off and continue heading forward, hoping that this path will lead to somewhere. According to Celestia, heading straight this way should lead me to a small village that was set up in the forest as to help lost or frightened ponies. Then from there I could head either North or West to another city beyond the forest. 

'Sigh'

Even though I knew it was going to be a long journey, I just can't help but feel a tiny bit overwhelmed at the prospect of traveling across an entire planet, simply just to find my place on it. 

“What's wrong Papa?” Maelstrom asked while poking her head out of my white hair.

Whoops, guess I sighed out loud as well. 

“Oh nothing, just thinking a little too much” I told her.

“Oh…. Do you like Maes songs? Do ya!? Do ya?!” she happily asked me.

“Of course I do! You have such a pretty singing voice, in fact, I bet you could give professional singers a run for their money!” I said with a grin during my boasting. 

She then beamed a strong grin of her own as she took off into the air again and did circles around my head.

♫Papa Papa is so kind, Papa Papa is nice! 
Papa Papa likes my voice! Papa loves Mae!♫

She began to sing again with her pretty voice, though the songs effect seemed to be a little bit stronger this time for some reason, because random bits and pieces of materials in the forest seemed to gather around her and formed humanoid-like shapes that started to dance with Maelstrom. 

Great, now she backup dancers too. Hopefully some random Prince wont show up to 'rescue' her or whatever, cause that ain't happening on my watch. No siree! 

“Hey! You! Stop that this instance!” a random voice called out to us. I felt a slight twitch in my eye when the I heard the voice. He better be some random pony wandering the forest, for his sake.

When I looked over to where the voice came from, I saw emerging from the shrubbery a medium-sized stallion with a short manecut and a few visible scars here and there and he was holding a spear in one hoof while he slowly walked towards us. 

“State your business and identify yourselves at once!” he demanded with a grumpy look on his face.

“Hello sir, my name is Adrian Frost. The singing one is my daughter, Maelstrom, and this is my canine companion, Artemis” I calmly said to the stallion.

“Very well, now state your business boy” he said again with that rough voice of his.

“We are just travelers, wandering the world and such. Nothing more” I explained. 

“Hmmm” he briefly said before giving me a once over with his eyes “What kind of traveler are you? Never seen anypony like you before”

“Well, simply put, I am an-” I tried to say but was interrupted.

“-Papa is my Papa! And Mae loves Papa much and much!” she sweetly said as she pounced my head once more, though her 'backup dancers' now fell harmlessly onto the forest floor. 

At this, I could hear the pony chuckle a little under his breath before he brought his spear up to a neutral position. “I suppose I can live with that answer, Mr. Papa” he said with a smirk while I responded with a slightly annoyed pout.

“Anyways, my apologies for surprising you. My village is on alert and we did not want to take any chances. Follow me” he said before turning around and slowly started to walk. Seeing that we should probably comply, we followed him to the village we were most likely searching for anyway.

We walked behind him in silence for a little while until I decided to ask “So, can we have your name sir?”

“You can just call me Landslide, or simply Lans” he said to us.

“Alright, Lans. So, what happened to make you go on alert?” I asked him.

“We don't really know. At first we thought it was Discord but now…. I am not so sure” Lans briefly explained.

“How do you know?” I asked again.

“We were around for when Discord became loose in Ponyville and everyone saw and felt what his chaos magic does, so when we first saw the strange sight we thought of Discord. But, after closer inspection, we didn't feel anything and the disturbance remained constant. So, unless he is doing something entirely different, we do not believe it to be him” he said.

“So, what exactly is the disturbance?” I asked once more.

Lans was looking like he wanted to speak but just couldn't fine the right words, since his mouth opened and closed a few times before he cleared his throat “I have no proper words to describe it, since I have never seen it before in my life or anything remotely similar” 

“But, if I had to make some sort of guess….. it… it looks like someone took a photo of the forest and cut out pieces of it?” he told us.

“Pieces of the forest are missing?” I asked with concern.

“Hmmmm…. Not exactly. Gah, it would be far better to just show you. You can see a small portion of it from the village. And we are very close now” Lans said.

I took a quick look around the forest to see if I could spot this anomaly before I laid my eyes upon what looked like a giant entrance that has wooden defensive spikes mounted before it with another spear wielding guard standing by. 

The second guard at first took a defensive position but he must of recognized Lans for he returned to his post and stood by.

“Keep up the good work Patches, anything new to report?” Lans asked the pony.

“No sir, everything has been quiet. Almost a little too quiet but we have not noticed anything new” Patches said.

“I see, well keep your guard up unless otherwise instructed” Lans told the guard pony.

“Yes sir!” Patches said with a snappy salute of his hoof. 

“Follow me, Mr. Papa” Lans told me with a tiny smirk on his face. Gah. I really don't like him now.

We crossed through the barrier and I was taken back a little when I saw the town within. It was very old and rustic looking, houses and shops were not only built out of wood, but some were carved inside of the trees and some were even up in the trees themselves! I think Twilight and Fluttershy would of loved to see this.

“Welcome, to New Leafton!” Lans said as he used his front leg to present the town.

“Wowie Papa! House trees! Tree shops! Home trees! Tree! Tree! Tree!” Maelstrom excitingly said as she pointed to everything she saw and commented.

I heard Lans laughing again “You have quite the daughter there, Mr. Papa” he said to me.

“The names Adrian you know and yes, she is certainly a handful. But in a good way” I said with a smile.

“No worries, I know that feeling. I have a daughter myself. Would you like to see the…. Disturbance?” he asked me.

I nodded and immediately he started walking with us in tail, which was fine since it allowed me to see more of New Leafton and it was certainly a bizarre place. All sorts of shops littered the lower area, from blacksmiths and jewelers to tree swings and parachutes. Looking up, I saw that most of the tree houses were actual living homes, which makes sense considering they live in the Everfree.

But the most peculiar sight was all the different races I saw wandering the streets, ponies, gryphons, a few bat ponies, what I can assume to be minotaurs, and a few others I did not easily recognize. This is not the type of town I had expected when Celestia said there was a town inside the Everfree. 

“What is it that has you confused boy?” I faintly heard Lans ask me. 

“Huh? What?” I confusingly asked.

“I can tell when someone is confused, so what is it?” he asked again.

“Oh, well. I guess I am just a little thrown back at the concept of there being such a huge and thriving town in the middle of the Everfree Forest. I thought this place would have been more of an outpost or something. Considering the danger out there” I told him.

“Originally, yes. We were quite small and only a few volunteers held there own out here, always on the lookout for danger. But when a rich pony came through and got saved by us, he saw our little outpost and few homes as a potential market and before I knew it, this place grew and grew into New Leafton” he explained.

“You make it sound as if you were here from the beginning. Were you?” I asked again.

“Yes and no, I was not part of the original group but I did come here soon after since they needed a strong hoof to guide them. Certainly helped that I was part of the Royal Guard in the past and have had many dealing in this place. Ah, here we are” he suddenly stopped while he said that. “Look, just up past those three trees there, you can clearly see it”

At that, I did my best to follow his hoof and eventually found where he was pointing but I saw nothing at first. Then, that whole section of the forest seemed to faze out for a second and little fragments seemed to crack the air. But, what spooked me the most was that this seemed familiar. Then it hit me.

“Glitches?” I said out loud.

“Glitches? What are glitches?” Lans asked me.

Now, I was the one who was speechless. Why in the world would there be glitches in the Everfree? Why would there be glitches outside a computer? And from what I have seen, there are very few computer systems and are either not popular or not known about since I only saw Twilight and Doc Feathers have them. But that doesn't mean anything right now, since the forest is not some sort of program to be corrupted. It is a living place in the real world and for it to be glitching? Unthinkable.

I can certainly see why they thought Discord was behind it, since it is something so random and weird. 

“Adrian, what is it?” Lans asked, this time using my real name, which helped me snap back to our conversation.

“Sorry, Lans. Um, oh how to explain this, lets see. Do you know anything about machines or computers?” I asked, trying to establish some sort of base line.

“I know some about machines, yes” he told me.

“Ok, so simply, a glitch is some sort of fault that occurs in the machine that makes it go haywire or simply stop working. That, that out there” I pointed at the glitching forest “That is what it physically looks like, a glitch. You were right in thinking Discord was the cause but I am not sure even he knows what a glitch would look like or do in a real life area like this”

“No, no this is something different and could be very dangerous, not too mention powerful. Powerful enough to make the physical world glitch like this. We should warn Princess Celestia about this, although it might be faster to contact Twilight first since she can send a letter to her faster than anyone else” I explained with a worried voice.

“Now, now. Calm down now. We don't know whatever is causing these 'glitches' is dangerous or not. It has been like this for about an hour now and nothing has happened. I say we should proceed with caution and do a little investigating, if it is truly dangerous than we shall contact the Princess at once. Agreed?” Lans said while he stuck out his hoof.

I thought about it for a little while and even though my head is telling me to contact Celestia, But, I feel like I can trust Lans and, against my better judgment, decided to go along with his plan. 

“Good, now normally I would have you stay here but you are the only one who knows about these glitches and as such, are the only one we can depend upon in figuring out the source. Though, I will leave the choice to you to come or not. What do you say?” he asked me.

Hmmm, I should probably stay here since I am not a warrior like him or the other guards, but maybe I could help? If, whatever it is, is causing glitches, it might have some sort of technology involved and my electrical magic could prove useful. But I don't want to risk Maelstrom and Artemis getting hurt either and neither one would be willing to stay put. 

But, maybe I should help? I mean, I am trying to find my place in the world. Maybe this is some sort of test? A way for my powers and magic to be of use? I have to at least try.

“I will come along, and offer you as much help as I can” I said with a bow. 

“Good, good. Strength in numbers and judging by the looks of you, you have plenty of strength to give. Alright, head over to that Inn over there and wait for me there, I am going to recruit our party and maintain a defense team, just in case. Shouldn't be too long, plenty of traveling warriors staying here” he told me. I nodded to his plan and headed over to The Galloping Pony Inn. 

You know those old western movie scenes where a stranger opens the door and the whole bar stops to look and stare at the newcomer? Well, this was exactly like that, heck even the band stopped playing the second I entered. 

It was a large room, filled to the brim with creatures big and small, and all their eyes were glued to me. Oh my god, was I nervous. 

How in the world was I going to smooth this one over?

And that is when my stomach growled very loudly.

“Papa hungry! Papa hungry! Eat, eat, eat!” Maelstrom said next with her usual cute tone of voice. 

Well, that was one way to break the ice, for in the next moment the entire room was filled with laughter and swiftly returned to normal. If I wasn't mortified by that experience, I might of groaned at the whole cliché. But I remained silent as I found my way to the back and pulled up a stool at the bar, through Maelstrom decided to use my head as her seat while Artemis curled up on the floor, keeping a watchful eye out. 

“Well, howdy do there sweet thing! What can I get'cha?” I heard a female voice say in a slightly familiar tone. But when I looked up at who was talking, I saw a minotaur standing there with an apron on with long, golden locks adorned up top. 

“Oh, he-hello there. I was ghust vaiting fere for-” I tried to say but my cheeks were now being pinched by the lady minotaur.

“Well aren't you just adorable! Look at these sweet little face you have! At look at how big you are! I have not met many who can match my height! Much less be taller! Stand up for ol' Sugar Horns now, lets see ya!” she asked of me.

For some reason, I found myself standing up and she was right, though just barely as my chin was level with her nose, I sat back down as soon as I could and began to fiddle with my thumbs. 

“I knew it! Tall and adorable! My daughter would be one lucky calf to have you! Heck, I think my sister might gobble you up!” Sugar Horns said as she pinched my cheeks again.

“Lighten up on the lad would you dearie? We don't need you scaring off another customer” I heard a male voice say and I saw an equally large male minotaur stroll out from the back, cleaning his hands with his half-apron. 

“Oh ho ho! Sorry about that honey, but I just couldn't help myself!” she said to whom I can only presume is her husband. 

“Hmmm, well I do admit. You are pretty handsome for a whatever you are. What are you, if my be so bold?” he asked.

“A-ah! My name is Adrian and I am a human being. And, well, I am an alien to your world. So, I am quite new to these parts of the woods, pardon the pun” I introduced myself.

“Oh ho ho! Such a rare sight indeed then! Oh honey pants! He would be perfect for our daughter then! After all, you yourself said that on one on all of Equus could be a match for our daughter!” Sugar Horns sweetly asked her husband.

As for myself, I sat there slack jacked at the conversation that was going on and the possible forced marriage going on before my eyes. 

But the man simply chuckled as he gave me a once over “Well, I do have to admit. He might be strong enough to survive our little Hilda” he said with a sly grin.

NO! Oh come on! I was depending on the over-protective father routine! 

“OH HILDA~! COME MEET YOUR FUTURE HUSBAND~!” Sugar Horn sang out at the top of her lungs. At this stage I could only bury my face in my hands and for some reason, I wanted to peak out behind me and I did.

I was once more the center of attention, though what was odd was that instead of glares or stares, they seemed to be praying for me? 

“WHEEEE! He is a tall one! Eh mama?!” I heard a new voice rang out from behind me, along with the sounds of fast hoofs pounding against wood. 

And that is when I felt a pair of strong arms against my back before being lifted off my stool and held in place in the air. 

“Wowie! He is tall and heavy! And look! Look! He can take my hugs! He is perfect!” the girl said.

“Oh honey! Even Hilda likes him! What do you think?” Sugar Horns asked her husband.

“Well….” he said as she stroked his goatee.

“Adrian! Were ready!” I heard Lans say, and with a new found strength I summoned up a small thing of wind and used that to push myself out of her clutches and out the door in two seconds flat. “Whoa, looks like your certainly ready. Good! I like that in a stallion! Now, lets head out!”

“YEAH!” said multiple voices as we walked out of the other gate. 

“I'll be waiting for you my dear Adrian! Be safe! My husband!” I heard Hilda call out from behind me. 

I could not see myself, but I must have had a weird face since my eye was twitching hard, I was biting my lip, and my nose was scrunched up. That and both Maelstrom and Lans were laughing, hard.



-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ A Few Minutes Later, In The Woods -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~



“You ok boy?” Lans asked me after I planted my face against a tree and groaned loudly.

“I just got forced into a marriage with the minotaur family at the Inn. So, no. I am not feeling very well” I said to him.

“HA! Oh dear boy, don't worry too much about that. The Horns family does that all the time, everyone of my men have been hit on and 'forced to marry' their absurdly strong daughter. Just give it a little time and they will have a new target soon enough. So long as Steel Horns disapproves, then nothing will happen anyway” Lans explained.

“UGH” I said as I lightly banged my head against the same tree. 

“No….” Lans said in disbelief.

“Well, he didn't say yes but he didn't say no either” I explained.

“Hmmmm, well I think an adventure is the perfect thing to clear your mind. Besides, these 'glitches' seem to becoming more frequent now. So I need your head in game now” Lans said with a stern tone. 

I took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts aside for the moment and took a look around and he was right, the glitches that seem to crack the very air were becoming more and more frequent and too be honest, it was starting to scare me. What was causing this? 

“So, human, what did you say these things were again?” a random pony armed with a sword asked me.

“Well, from what I can tell, these look like glitches and a glitch is something that makes a machine act up and misbehave. But for a glitch to appear in the real world like this, such a thing should be impossible unless we were inside a machine or something” I roughly explained to our medium sized group. 

“Papa so smart! Papa so smart!” Maelstrom happily cheered as she tried to catch glitches in her hands. 

“Yes indeed, it was certainly a smart idea to have Mr. Papa here with us” Lans commented which made a few members of the group snicker. “Alright, enough small talk. Anyone have anything to report?”

“Nothing here!” 

“Nothing here either!” 

“Nothing to report!”

“Nothi- wait! I think I see something! I'll check it out!” said a bat pony in the back, them and two others veered off to the left while we moved forward. 

It was a couple minutes of silent walking before we heard another group in the back say “To the right! I think I see something!” then three more veered off into the forest.

Here and there, our group slowly whittled down until it was only me, Maelstrom, Artemis, Lans, and two others. 

“Where in Tartarus did those blasted fools go?! They should of reported in by now!” Lans said while we stopped. 

“ANYPONY! ANYONE! REPORT IN AT ONCE! WHAT DO YOU SEE?!” he shouted but the only response was the echo he made. 

“This is not good, we should head back. This is too much for us!” said one of the two left before they both scampered off.

“Get back here you fools! And you call yourselves adventurers!” Lans angrily shouted but only his echo responded again. 

“Whoa! Lans, look!” I said to him as I pointed at something moving through the woods in front of us, which was now strangely filling up with mist. 

Lans saw what I was looking at and huffed “I have to try and capture them and hopefully I can found out something about all this. Stay here Adrian and keep your daughter safe. I will be right back” he told me before he raided his spear outward and charged off. 

Crap. Crap, crap, crap. This is not good, I should of followed my brain and sent a letter to Twilight. This is super, duper not good!

“Papa! Papa! Look!” Maelstrom tapped my cheek and pointed.

But when I look over, I saw nothing but a glitch. 



I jumped back in surprise and pulled up my fists in preparation but when I looked again, I saw nothing but a mist and glitches.



I jumped again towards the strange noise but I saw nothing but empty space.



Once more I jumped back and prepared to punch but what I saw made me stay put. The figure I saw in front of me was vaguely humanoid, as it was standing on two feet and seemed to wear a black suit with a long black trench coat. But its head and hands were nothing I had seen before. 

Its bleach white hands were curled up but seemed very boney and thin and in the center of each hand was a large hole, then its head was also white but seemed like a humans except more round. Its right eye was partially closed with a line heading up an over while its left was fully open and a line heading down.

It seemed to be shorter than me but its body was gently floating a bit in the air in front of me and I think it was staring at me, due to the two tiny white pupils in its dark eye sockets seemed to be focused on me. All the hairs on my body stood on end as this being stared at me and I saw that even its body seemed to be glitching as well. Could it be the source of all the glitches?



There it was! That strange sound, almost like every word was the sound of a someone talking and suddenly stopping or something. 



“Are….. are you trying to talk to me?” I asked it while it continued to float there.



“Papa! I think he said he is talking, but you can't hear him” Maelstrom said.



“Yeah! But you talk funny” Maelstrom said with a giggle.



The thing then rose its hand and gave Maelstrom a few pats on the head.



“Sure! Papa! I'll tell you what he says!” she told me.

“Ok then, well. First off, are you hostile?” I asked it.



“He said no! He is curious about this…. Deeminsin?” Maelstrom said. She tried to repeat that last word a few times.

“Dimension?” I asked.

“Yeah!” she responded.

“Are…. You not of this world either?” I asked it.



“He said no and he is long way from home!” she repeated.



“He said everyone safe, he wanted to talk to you” Maelstrom said.

“You wanted to talk…. To me?” I asked apparently him.



“Papa is gonna change the world! And he curious about you” she told me.

“Curious? About what?” I asked him.



“He wants to know how you got here” she told me.

“About how I got here? Well, that I cannot answer since I don't know and is one answer I am looking for, among others” I informed him.



“He said you both cashewty of life and now he is leaving for other worlds and mystery solving!” Maelstrom explained.

“I see, well I wish you luck then. Oh! I never even learned your name. I'm Adrian Frost, this is my daughter Maelstrom and my companion Artemis. So, what is your name?” I asked him but instead of an answer, he simply held up a finger to his mouth before whipping it around and producing a card out of thin air. 

He placed the card in my hand before turning around to face a door that appeared out of nowhere, when he opened it the inside of it looked like the night sky for it was pitch black and full of stars, and a swirling universe. He then stepped inside and the second we heard the door close, it vanished into thin air, along with the mist and all of the glitches.

I stood there, shocked and amazed at what I saw. So much so that I pinched my cheek to double check to see if this was a dream or not. The pain told me it was not, so I stared blankly at the empty space where he stood, completely and utterly dumbfounded.

“Papa! What does card say? What does it say?!” Maelstrom asked while she looked down from my head.

I looked down at the card and all I saw was a strange font that was full of symbols at first, but after looking at it for a few seconds, the font seemed to shift into letters I could read but with a fancier font. 

It read: Head to the factory, but be cautious of the device hidden within. 

I flipped it over and saw more text, reading: And beware of the Nightmare inside you.

I felt a chill run up my spine when I read that back part. Beware of the Nightmare inside? Surely, he doesn't mean the nightmares of my mother? But that has been dealt with……. Right?

And what of this factory? Why did he want me to go to it? And where is it? I looked back at the front and saw that in the corner on the front side was a small arrow that pointed straight ahead. Was it showing me the way? I turned my body back and forth and saw that the arrow moved so it always faced in that one direction. 

“What do you think Maelstrom? Should we head back to town or follow his directions?” I asked my cute and adorable daughter.

“Follow funny man! Follow! Follow!” she happily exclaimed. 

“Alright, here we go. Artemis, keep a watchful eye out for us. You too Maelstrom, if you see anything, let us know. Alright?” I asked the two of them.

Artemis nodded and took the lead while Maelstrom also nodded and perched herself upright on my head and began to look around. Hopefully the three of us are enough to handle whatever is inside this factory. 

Adventure, here we come.
> A Human, A Little Demon, And The Price Of A Soul
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

♫Walking through the forest, walking through the day! Walking to the factory, walking to that place!
Following the magical pointing arrow, following our hearts! Following my loving papa, following my dog!
What lies inside the factory? What lies inside the forest? I know what lies inside my papa though! Full of love for me!♫

And with that I reached up with my hands and grabbed hold of her while I showered her with kisses, her reply was the sound of cute giggles.

It had been a good couple of hours since we started following the cards directional arrow, pointing us toward this mystery factory and to whatever lay inside. Hopefully nothing bad.

But I am super happy that we have a card that stays true to the path, because I would of gotten lost ten times over if I had to search for it myself, the Everfree Forest is huge! And freakishly confusing as well, sometimes I feel like I am in a maze that changes and morphs while I walk around lost. 

I also had to take a couple of detours as well, cause for some reason a large portion of the forest was full of strangely shaped holes of all shapes and sizes. But I simply walked around them and continued on my way.

It was truly amazing how large this forest was, not that I had walked through many in my old life, but to my eyes this forest just seems to go on forever and forever. Maybe that is one of the reasons no one wants to enter the forest. Certainly a good place to hide something then, well, everything except New Leafton.

~groooooowwwwwwlllll….~

I leapt into a defensive posture when I heard the sound and started to look around for what made it.

~groooooowwwwwwlllll….~

Again, I looked around to try and see what creature was closing in but all I saw was the forest. Wha? 

~groooooowwwwwwlllll….~ “Papaaaaaaa” 

Then it hit me and I knew who was making those sounds.

“Maelstrom, getting a bit hungry?” I asked her. She nodded her head furiously and I could only laugh a little. “Alright sweetie, lets sit down and have some dinner and its a nice place to rest as well” and with that Maelstrom glided off my head and to the ground where she began to play with Artemis who was just as happy to play along.

So with them running about, I set down my bag and opened it up, looking inside I found where all our food was and pulled it out, I am glad Celestia and Twilight snuck in plenty of food for us cause it means I can hold off on killing animals in the forest for meat. Survival is survival but that doesn't make it any easier to do it, so it may be the cowards way out but I just don't have the stomach or the will to do it yet.

Putting that train of thoughts away for the moment, I pulled out some ingredients for the three of us, slapped together a meat and veggie meal (probably one you would serve at a one star restaurant) and called the two girls over.

Artemis dug in right away and devoured her meal in a wild fashion, if she wasn't my canine companion I might have been grossed out but she is my little hunter, so its fine. I began to eat my meal as well and for a while, we all ate in silence. At least, most of us.

“Maelstrom? Whats wrong?” I asked her. When I looked at her plate, she had not eaten a single bite and instead had been using her finger to move the food around.

She flinched a bit when I spoke before she began to look squirm in place, like she was anxious about something.

“Maelstrom? What is it sweet heart?” I said to her again, this time I scooted a bit closer while we both sat on the ground.

“….. Papa?” she timidly said.

“Yes sweetie?” I kindly replied with a smile.

“…… why….. why do I look so different from you?” she asked me before she clasped her hands together and rested them on her stomach. “Am I….. a freak?”

I almost dropped my impromptu sandwich and half of the chewed food in my mouth when I heard her ask that question. That food didn't matter to me anymore, any and all importance shifted toward my daughter.

“No! No, no, no, no sweetie! You are certainly not a freak to papa!” I instantly told her as I scooped her into my lap. 

“But…. I don't look like you” she replied.

“That doesn't matter and it never will, just because someone looks different on the outside, it doesn’t mean you can't love them all the same as a 'normal' person” I exclaimed. 

“But…. But Papa….” she tried to say.

“No butts little girls, just believe in your papa when I say-” 

“BUT WHY DO I NOT LOOK LIKE YOU!?!” Maelstrom suddenly shouted. And with that shout her magic bursted forth and transformed the area around us into….. into….. well, a little bit of everything. She noticed that she did this and curled up into a little ball. “Why is Mae a weird girl?”

I wanted to say that she was not a freak or weird, but the truth of the matter is, to the rest of the world, she was. But so was I.

“Maelstrom, listen. I…. want to only say nice things but I suppose you should hear it now while your young. Yes, to the rest of this worlds inhabitants, you look weird and out of place and perhaps even a little bit freaky. There will always be people who will only see you as that, but the important thing to remember is that there is probably an equal amount of people or more who will be your friends anyway”

“There is no such thing as 'the perfect look', someone will always by ugly, good looking, weird, beautiful, poor, rich, smart, and dumb. Because that is just how the world works, but you cannot let negative comments keep you down” I told her.

Next I reached under her arms and held her up so we could talk face to face “And know this, no matter what you look like or what you do in the future, Papa will always love you and maybe, one day, others will love you as well. I know that Twilight had started to grow a soft spot for you back in Ponyville, and Derpy had already accepted you as you are”

“And for why we look so different, well, just take a look at Papa. I'm not exactly normal around here either, and some have even called me a freak as well. It hurts to hear but now I have friends I can always fall back on and I have you, my sweet and beautiful daughter” I concluded with a kiss to her forehead which got her giggling again.

“Sorry Papa, for asking” she said.

“It's no problem Maelstrom, you can always tell me anything that is on your mind. Though, I am curious as to what brought this up?” I asked her.

“I was thinking of when mean lady trapped me in the bubble and scared me and Mae remember them say things like that when talking about Mae. Then I got scared if Papa thought Mae a freak too” she shyly told me.

I gave her another kiss, but on the cheek this time “Well, your no freak. But now your just a silly head for even thinking that I would consider my daughter a freak” I lovingly explained to her.

She giggled again before doing her best to hug me as much as possible “Thank you Papa, Mae loves you” she said.

“And I love you, Maelstrom” I said before hugging her myself, but before I closed my eyes for the hug, I saw that her tail glowed and grew in length a bit while slimming out. Guess this was another checkpoint in her growth.

I wished we could of stayed here a bit longer, for both our sakes, but other forces had other ideas in store. 

For only a minute later, in the distance we heard a hollow moan echoing through the woods that was quickly followed by a chilly gust of wind. The trees seemed to amplify the skin tingling sensation as we heard the noise slowly die out behind us.

“What in Celestias name was that?” I asked out loud. 

Artemis responded next by growling a bit and pointed her nose in one direction, I had a bad feeling I knew what lie in that direction. So I took out the card and sure enough, Artemis was pointing exactly where we were suppose to go. 

Sigh. “Maelstrom, I'll leave this up to you. Do you still want to explore that way and follow his directions?” I asked her.

She nodded with a smile “Follow funny man! Follow funny man!” she told me.

Swallowing a bit of fear and a nervous gulp, I quickly finished up my meal and cleaned up before setting off once more in the direction of the arrow.

Lucky for us, the distance was pretty short before we saw the forest darken a bit and even more so with each step we took, so either Luna was bringing up the moon or the forest was warning us about this factory or something.

But I pressed onward, I left Ponyville to explore and find my role in this new world, I can't back out of this challenge now. So I took a deep breath and walked towards the darkness.

That confidence I had a moment ago was slowly leaving me….

The trees grew darker and darker and after a while of looking at them, I realized that it wasn't just because of the overhead foliage, upon closer inspection I saw that the bark itself had been covered in ash and soot, staining it. And a little more ways down, I saw that some of the bark had been burnt. 

Something exploded or caused a roaring forest fire to cause this and now I kinda wanted to turn back, but my legs continued to move forward and forward until…

I saw it.

In a gigantic and ruined crater sat a huge and creepy looking building that seemed to still be smoking in some areas. But the structure itself was in ruins and was slowly rotting away to time. But the mere sight of it sent a cold shiver down my spine, almost like a frozen body had snuck up behind me and wrapped its lifeless arms around me. 

~TOUMPFH~

That strange sound came from the rear end of the building, taking a gander to where I think it originated from, I saw that a medium-small blackened cloud escaped from a heavily damaged vent and drifted up until it hit the forest ceiling and that is when I noticed the huge mass of dark clouds that hovered above and drifted out a bit.

That is probably what made it so dark, but is that just due to the collapse or is it by design? Taking a quick peak at the slight incline leading to the building, I saw that it was close enough and short enough to escape in case something went wrong.

Taking one last look around, I stepped down and did a quick and awkward step-stumble on the curved hill until I finally landed at the bottom, not two feet away from the hellish looking opening that just screamed for me to run away.

I had to look away, but in doing so I found a small and barely legible sign, leaning down and using my hand to clear away the rust and dust, I read as much as I could

-R…..W Factory-

Welp, looks like I found the factory, but just to be sure I pulled out the card and looked at the arrow, it was completely still as it pointed forward. So I put it away and did a quick scan of the door frame and what little I could see through the opening. Full of darkness and rusted old metal and machinery. 

“What do you think Maelstrom? Artemis?” I asked them. Artemis did a fierce and nasty sounding growl while in a predatory stance.

“Explore! Explore!” Maelstrom responded with a care-free smile. Ugh. Why does she have to be so cute and innocent? 

“Ok then, here we go. But just in case, be sure to always stick close to me. Ok?” I sternly told her as I took my first step inside. She nodded and put on her serious face, which almost made me burst out laughing. But I had to stay vigilant, for her sakes.

The moment I was fully inside, my whole body was raked with chills and I even felt my magic start to swirl a bit. Something was defiantly not right about this place. Even an idiot could understand the danger this place reeked off, non-magical or otherwise. 

As I carefully walked through, I noticed that the place was defiantly some sort of hybrid between an assembly line producing factory and a laboratory. For stampers and conveyor belts were right next to broken and half-formed giant glass tubes. In fact, half of the machinery itself seemed to be only half done, as if the building was cut short before completion. 

This place was eerily creepy, and I am not sure why. This place just feels….. wrong.

I went around to every room I could find, most of the area was the huge middle area where all the machinery was and all the actual rooms were on the outside ring. They all appeared empty though, like they were going to be prepared to be used but never finished. Just like the rest of the building.

Although I did discover the first sign of life in the kitchen area, rotten and spoiled food littered the ground, cabinets, and makeshift refrigerator. Though, when I took a closer look at some of the discarded food wrappings, they had expired many years ago and some were almost as old as me. 

We made our way out and I had no luck anywhere else since the place was mostly empty and with no downstairs to be found, I started looking for a safe ladder or set of stairs up to the second floor. Most had rusted all the way through and were a death trap until I found a partially hidden set that was blocked by a few fallen pillars.

I carefully moved a few of them just enough to make a small opening that I still had to squeeze through. No sense in causing a cave-in.

Slowly making my way up the jagged metal stairs and slagged framing, I finally made it to the slightly tilted second floor and saw that these were more personalized that on the main floor.

The very first room I saw was something straight out of a horror movie, dried blood stained the walls and on the broken shards of glass that faced away from the base it sat on. Random assortment of rust covered tools, both medical and non-medical, littered the floor and I think I saw a few strewn feathers and teeth as well.

I quickly made my way out of that room and almost began to hyperventilate, but I kept it down as I slowly drew in deep breaths of smoky air. I decided to continue exploring as a way to distract my mind from that room. Unfortunately the next two doors were locked shut and even giving it a few shakes and a quick shoulder push did nothing to loosen it. 

I could probably easily open them with force, so I moved on to the fourth and final room of this section and I saw that it was some sort of cloud producing room or something, since I heard that strange sound again and I saw through the broken pipes a little stream of fluffy black clouds heading up. I followed the pipe down and I saw that it lead to something akin to a furnace.

And for a brief second, it reminded me of the furnace scenes in Sweeney Todd, but I shook out that thought as I inspected it a bit more and that is when the smell of copper invaded my nostrils, enough so that it even made Artemis and Maelstrom cringe, though I had covered Maelstroms eyes long ago. 

I was at a crossroads between curiosity and disgust as my hand hovered over the handle and as soon as my fingers made contact, I took a quick peak inside.


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


I just as quickly slammed shut the hatch and almost caused it to cave in on itself while I left a hand shaped dent around the handle.

I could feel the bile rising in my throat and I even had to cover my mouth to make sure it didn't get everywhere. But I saw something inside and my initial thought was right.

I rushed out of the room and breathed in some more smokey air, which at this point was more relaxing then in these two rooms. 

Could this be what that stranger wanted me to see? This horror? This…. Savagery?

No, no that could not be it. Especially with his warning of a device of some kind. Maybe he wanted me to find it and expose this mad house, this long dead mad house.

But even with that encouraging thought, I found myself still and silent as the grave as I gasped for air since my mind still reeled back from that. I almost wish this was a movie cause I would love to magically make a flame appear and burn this place down but it was already burnt from what I have seen and it still stands.

Though, technically speaking I could make a flame magically appear. But that is besides the point at the moment.

Turning around, I stared at the two doors and choose the right door, I gathered my strength and used my shoulder to strongly ram the door and busted it down, and that is when the metal railing started to give way beneath my feet.

I had to make a quick leap into the unknown room just to make it out of the quake line that collapsed the rail and the small part of the outer wall. Thankfully once the ringing of metal died out, it was silent again and I was still on edge since my back was turned to the room I just entered.

Looking back, I saw that the two rooms were actually partially connected due to a giant hole in the wall that was already there and thankfully this room was not quite as horrifying to look at but my hairs were standing up and I could feel my chest tighten out of fear. 

The room was blackened like the rest of the building but test tubes, tools and parts, desks, and papers were scattered to the four corners. But these were thrown rather than by wind or other natural elements. I picked up the closest stack of papers and it was filled with scientific mumbo jumbo and filled with drawings of what looked like a pony version of Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. But there were also multiple drawings of various body parts being removed and other such depictions.

A random gust of wind blew them out of my hand and landed on a small black sheet that covered something small. So I grabbed the end of it and yanked it off, blowing dust into my eyes.

“GASP!” Maelstrom said before she dived bombed into the corner of my arm. With my free arm, I quickly cleaned my vision and saw what she did.

It was a pair of scorched skeletal remains but I saw that they were not of a pony, I think. The back legs were hoofed but the upper arms had four digit hands that seemed to be reaching out to the wall in front of it. I glanced up and saw that most of the wall was covered in the same black sheet as the small skeleton.

I was going to pull down the other sheet when I noticed that the skull had a small pair of inwardly curved horns, it kinda looked like a tiny demon head or something. I really hope this world doesn't have demons in it, that would put a damper on things quite a bit.

I shook my head of those thoughts and concentrated on the sheet in front of me but before I pulled, I leaned down and placed a kiss on Maelstroms head. “Just stay there sweetie, let Papa do all the looking” I said to her. She nodded before re-adjusting herself.

With that and a long, deep 'relaxing' breath, I re-gripped the sheet and pulled it down.


Time slowed down for me as I lived through this horror scene that shook me to my core.


When the sheet slowly fell and twisted in the air, etched onto the wall was a large pair of sketched out eyes that seemed to stare right at me, those huge, menacing, white pair of eyes that seemed to almost flicker in my eyes. And printed in the same style were these words:


YOU HAVE BEAUTIFUL EYES


Just four simple words drove me to feeling like a small child, lost and alone in a graveyard at night with the fear of the dead rising all around me. And I could not stop staring, even though this terrible, terrible thing was staring me down, my fear had me grounded. 

At that moment, I felt my magic start to warm me up and within a second, I gathered up as much wind as I could before fully unleashing it on that wall, erasing it from existence and the rest of the sheet it was attached to.

~clang clang~

“Now what?” I asked with breath in hand.

With the sheet gone and a newly made hole in the tree tops, a single ray of light shone on a mangle of mechanical parts that did not seem as rusted as the rest of the building and they actually seemed to be in some sort of shape, almost like a pegasus. 

~viii…...vii vii…….vreiiiiiiii~

The sound of an old fan filled in the still silence of the factory and I swear I saw that pile of parts move. So I took a step back and then another when suddenly it lurched and bit into my leg, drawing blood and causing me to yell out in pain.

“AUGH! Son of a-” I cut myself off as I strongly swung my free arm straight down onto the machine and due to the weak infrastructure, the thing fell through the weak floor without causing the room to collapse. A large plume of dust and the sound of machinery scattering came through the hole before it fell silent again.

At least, until I heard the fan again.

“Maelstrom, Artemis! You two stay back, you hear me? Let me handle this thing” I said and thankfully they both obeyed. Maelstrom took to the air and Artemis growled while we made our way down to the bottom floor, this time I simply jumped down since we had already started to weaken the building and I did not mind if this all came crashing down on that thing.

When we landed, I heard the whir of fans continue but now they seemed to have…. Calmed down? It reminded me of a computer disk drive when it was working overtime and you could hear everything spinning super loud and fast and now it sound calm and normal. 

Cough cough

Coughing? Who was coughing? It couldn't of been the machine? Could it?

“-.ardon mze. .hat whazzzz r-r-rude of m-me-” said a very bizarrely robotic voice, that was clearly broken.

“He-hello? Is someone here?” I asked while in a defensive position.

“-zzwhy m-me oooof courze. The o-one you pu.ch.d th-gh te flo-flo- flloor-” said the strange voice again.

“So your the one who attacked me? Why?! Who are you and what is this terrible place!?!” I angrily asked the new entity.

“-y-yes. I apo-ogize abooooouuuuut that. I-I am nut sore vhy I did th-th-that-” it said back. I heard that sound of clicking and metal clanking “– I-I-My memo.y is zlighty fuzzzzzzzzzzzy-”

“-mmmmmmy cu-current status I-i-is un.a.orable. I-I would be I-in your det if you vould kin.ly fin. Me some .pare partz so I m-may rrrrrepair myselfffff-” It said in its strange mixture of voice and tones.

“Why should I? How can I trust you won't kill me if I do this?” I asked it.

“Yeah! You hurt Papa!” Maelstrom yelled from behind me. Artemis was in agreement with her growl.

The voice went silent for a moment before some buzzing and clicking started up “-so this…. Creature I-i-is your ffather-?” it asked.

“Yes! Papa is papa! And you hurt Papa!” Maelstrom answered. 

“-m-most in.eres.ing. W-well, I d-d-do not have an-any way .o prove my iiiiinnnnooooocence, e x c e p . for my word. Iiiiii hope t-hat willll suffffice-” it told us.

“Before anything, I want to at least see you, face to face and without incident. Is that acceptable?” I asked it. I am still not sure if I should place any sort of trust but this thing is my only lead to finding out about this horrible factory.

“-I agree t-to your ttttttermz. D-due to my ztatuz I am un… un…. Not able to move-” it told me.

This was raising all sorts of red flags, but I had to see this thing through. So I summoned a bit of my magic and had it swirling around, ready to fire. I slowly made my way through the rubble and debris until I found the mangled pile of scrap that was apparently talking to me. But now I could see the head more clearly, or well, whats left of the head.

It must of heard me since it raised its head as much as it could and seemed to be looking at me before it….. smiled?

“-I-I am m-most happy t-that you have ttttttrusted me. A-a-as you can zee .y body is….. un-avorable. I-I can do a m-minor zelf rep.ir. B.t I cann.t reach any m e t a l-” it told me.

“Would this make you able to walk and talk properly?” I asked.

“-wwwwalk yes. I w-would neeeeeeed to find a s.are v.ice box to f-fully talk-” it explained.

My brain was shooting all the red flags and screaming at me to run and/or destroy this thing. But, I couldn't stop thinking about that smile it gave me. It seemed so…. Genuine. It made me want to give it a chance. Well, now my brain and my leg were shouting at me.

“Alright, I will give you this one chance. Prove me wrong and I will do everything in my power to fully destroy you, down to the last screw and bolt. Do you accept?” I asked it again.

Almost instantly, it replied with “-m-most cer.ainly. I t-t-thank you again for yo-your kkkkkkind.ess-”

“Alright then. So, will any metal do or do you need special metal?” I asked it.

“-any w.ll do-” it said back.

“Ok, be right back then” I told it and with that I started to scavenge for any and all usable metal parts. Which was kinda hard since most was burnt, smelted, rusted, or simply turned to dust at my touch. Fortunately this little hunt made my two girls be in a happier mood since it distracted them. So that is a win in my book.




-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 30 Minutes Later -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~




“Phew! Hopefully some of this is useful” I told the thing as I finished unloading the last of the parts that the three of us found hidden in a corner.

“-s-so far, s-so good-” it said as it used its weird wing like claw hands to take apart and re-assemble itself. Right now, it had a decent pair of front legs and one back leg, half of its body was somewhat normal looking, its head was undented and its wings were the best part of it. 

It took a few minutes for it to search the pile, take off, replace, and repeat until it slowly withered the pile away until finally it was done.

It finally stood up all the way and did a full examination of its body, testing its limbs and limits before it turned to me, gave me a smile and did an awkward bow. It reminded me of the movements of a newborn calf since it was all wobbly.

“-I th-thank you for y.ur kindnezz once again. N-n-now I will t-try and f.nd a new vo.ce b.x-” it said before slowly walking around and using its wings to easily lift the hunks to rock, metal, and other parts.  Eventually it wandered to the right corner and looked up before suddenly swiping its wings and cutting  the corner, causing the room above to fall perfectly around it before starting to search again.

Already this thing has proven to be both very strong and very smart, still need to keep a watchful eye out.

“-ah ha! Th-is one is in relati.ely good c-c-condition-” it said before quickly ripping out its old voice box and replacing it with the new one. It then began to due some tests I assume since it did the ABC's, counted numbers, and something similar to do-ray-me from the Sound of Music.

“-There, how does this sound sir?-” It asked while strolling up to me.

“That sounds better, though it sounds a bit weird. It sounds like I am hearing both a male and female voice talk at the same time in the same pitch” I explained.

“-It does? Interesting, from my calculations, I think that I was meant to process my thoughts and voice as both male and female. For what purpose, I do not know sir-” it replied.

“I see, well….um….” I tried to think of something but my voice was overrun with the worries my mind conjured up. 

“-I believe you had wished to know who I am and what this place was, correct sir?-” it said.

“um…. Yes! Yes I did” I quickly said back.

“-I see, well according to what I have in my memory banks. I am number zero ******* device. Unfortunately, it seems I do not hold recollections of this dreadful looking place-” it said, but for some reason the word before device sounded fuzzy, like a dead TV channel.

“A what kind of device?” I asked agin.

“-A number zero ******* device….. hmmm. That is most bizarre-” it said and seemed confused by its own voice for saying that.

“Maybe its due to you not being fully repaired?” I suggested.

“-An excellent observation sir!-” it happily said.

“Well, I guess I should also ask why you attacked me earlier” I said.

“-One moment sir-” it said before it lowered its head and I heard a fan speeding up. “-Hmmm, I did a quick scans of my system and when I am not fully conscious my body will seek out any source of energy to power my form. My body appears to haven been built as to absorb many types of materials to use as fuel and power-”

“-Initially, I had powered up using solar energy but my sensor had detected a better and closer source of energy, which was your blood, sir-” it said in a way that sounded like regret. 

“M-my blood?” I nervously asked it.

“-Yes sir. Blood appears to be the most sustainable form of fuel my body desires to operate. And so when I had obtained it, my personality core rebooted and my sense of self activated. Oh! Wait! My memory chip seems to be working better. Wait one, sir-” it said as it lowered its head again.

It was a long and silent minute as we waited for it to talk again when it suddenly sprang its head up “-It appears my memory chip is a bit more damaged than I thought, but from I can recover: I was the very first prototype of my creator, to be some sort of collection machine for this factory. But I was a failure since I had a personality and my own thoughts-”

“-I do not know what caused it, but I think the all this damage was caused because this facility had crashed into the ground since it was originally a floating building in the sky. Other than that, I had been uploaded with many files of knowledge ranging from basic education to medical procedures. So I believe that this will be very useful to you, sir-” it said.

“Useful to me? What are you talking about?” I asked it.

“My services of course! I owe you a great debt for not only reviving me but for indulging in my selfishness to repair me. My life is now yours to command, sir-” it told me with a bow.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I don't know about this, I mean. Yes, you explained your actions but I still don't really know if I can trust you. You were built by the one who did all this-” I said as I used my hands to present the ruins all around us “-and you want to now follow me? This doesn't smell right” I explained.

“-Smell? Hmmm, it appears my scent identifier is also malfunctioning-” it said to itself before it starting going through the scrap pile again.

“No, no. I mean this whole situation does not feel right. Sure, I put enough trust in you to not attack me this time but how can I be sure that you won't ever do it again?” I asked it.

“-Calculating…… Calculating….. Ah! Well, according to my logical meters, you cannot. But sir, can you ever fully trust anyone using that logic? How do you know that the ones you do trust will not betray you as well?-” it asked of me.

Crap. Its a logical being. I wonder if it and Twilight would get along? 

Wait….

Twilight…..

This situation, it is almost like when they first found me after I woke up here in a strange new world. They didn't have to trust me or help me or even give me a smile. Maybe I should return the favor and show this being the same kind of trust. 

Ugh. My brain and leg are screaming at me not to, but my heart and my magic are beating as one and are urging me to show them kindness. 

Ugh, again. Those girls have certainly rubbed off on me. 

I knelt down on one knee and extended my hand out to it “I suppose your right and I suppose I should not have judged so harshly, since I myself was in a similar situation once before. But without the blood. So, for now, I can make an exception and welcome you to my little group” I told it.

It seemed to study my hand for a second before realizing what I was doing and quickly placed its cold metal hoof into my palm and we shook.

“Oh! And what is your name? If you have one” I asked.

“-I believe I already told you sir. It was number zero ******* device-” it told me in return.

“Well, that is not really a name. That is a label your creator gave you. My name is Adrian Frost, and this is my daughter Maelstrom, and this is my companion Artemis, the timberwolf” I introduced. 

“-I see, so a name is more than a label. It is who you are. Most interesting. Well, I do not have an official name. Could you perhaps give me a few and I can choose which one to call myself?-” it asked me.

“Sure. Lets see…… Steve? Bob? Ha! No, those won't do. Cogsworth? Nah. Bishop? Hmmm. Then again you said you were meant to be both male and female or at least understand both sides. So you need a more neutral name. Glados? WAIT! No! Forget that one!” I said out loud before I started mumbling names to myself.

I saw that Maelstrom was now sitting on my shoulder and was mimicking me but was only repeating “numbah zero devoce”.

“Maelstrom, its: Num-bur zero d-vice” I quickly told her.

“Numba…..ber. Number! Number zero devoice!” she repeated back.

“No, no silly. Not devo, de-vi” I said back.

“-Devi! I like the sound of that one sir!-” it suddenly spoke up with great enthusiasm. “-or perhaps Deva-” it said again, but this time the feminine voice seemed louder. 

“Both! Both!” Maelstrom said in return. 

“-An excellent suggestion! Devi for my male half, and Deva for my female half! Brilliant, if we do say so ourselves-” it said before shaking its head in confusion. 

“Whats wrong?” I asked.

“-It's nothing sir. I just think some of my processors are still broken and my equality is not exactly set. So I may fear that I may switch back and forth instead of-” its head twitched before swaying back into place “-acting as one of both parts, my dear sir-” it now said with a bit more smoother tone.

“So, I guess this is Deva now?” I asked.

“-Correct our dear sir. Do you like being called sir? We don't wish to offend-” it asked me back.

“I don't particularly mind, feels kinda weird but not bad” I replied.

“-We see, well, how about we call you-” “-Master instead? After all, that is what you are in our databanks now-” they both replied. 

“Now, I’m not sure what is more weird. Being called that or hearing two voices at once” I said with a bewildered look on my face.

“-So it is official then since you did not reject! We shall call you our Master!-” “-Congratulations, our dear and kind Master-” DeviDeva said.

“Wha-no! I…. haaaa” I let out a long, drawn out sigh as I accepted defeat. 

“Hehe~” I quietly laughed to myself when I realized the situation I found myself in. 

“-So, Master, shall we depart from these treacherous walls?-” Devi said.

“Yes please, this dreadful place is starting to affect my nerves. But first, we should probably find you something more….. suitable to wear” I told them.

“-How so Master?-” Devi replied.

“Well, for one, your face is kinda scary and your body is also rather frightful as well” I told them. At this, Maelstrom seemed to become fully aware that they were indeed scary and hid behind me.

“-We offer our most sincerest apologies, Master. In truth, we have never seen our physical form. Our optics were never active outside of our host body. Please, wait here while we find a more suitable attire-” Devi said before scurrying off to multiple areas, searching. 

From behind me, I felt Maelstrom poke me so I turned my head back to her and said “Yes sweetie?”

“Is weird pony gonna come with us?” she asked me.

“For now I suppose, it's only fair to give them a chance. Remember our little talk from earlier? About looking different? Well Deva… Devi…. The two of them, or the one of them I guess, are just like you and me. However, in this case, I will keep on eye out in case they attack again. Especially since their main source of 'food' appears to be blood” I explained to my daughter.

Maelstrom slumped into my back a bit and I could feel her playing with my long hair a bit “Ok Papa. Mae give weird pony chance….. I guess” she shyly said. 

At that I reached around to bring her up to my chest and hugged her “Don't worry, Papa will always be here to protect you and love you, no matter what!” I said with a happy grin. This worked like a charm and she was back to her bubbly self.

“-We have returned, our dear Master!-” Deva proclaimed as they quickly stepped over a fallen metal archway. I looked and I saw they were certainly more, unassuming looking….a little bit.

They had found another piece of black cloth and used it as a large cloak that covered up most of their body, though they made room for their large folded up metal wings. They had made a makeshift hood using a small metal chain as the clasp and under the hood I saw what reminded me of Raritys ponnnequins back in Ponyville. Their face was plain, white, and seamless, so much so that it crept upon the uncanny valley and the white lighted dots for eyes didn't help much. 

Overall though, I suspect that while others may keep their distance, no one would be running away in fear. Maybe we can find a pair of dark shades to cover their eyes back in New Leafton.

Speaking of New Leafton, I suppose now that strange mans message finally makes sense. But I wonder if he took a gamble on how events would fold out in 'taking caution with the device inside'.

So I dug through my pocket and pulled the card back out, only now the front side was completely bare and all trace of the words and the directional arrow were gone. Yet, the warning on the back remained: And beware of the Nightmare inside you.

I pushed the card back into my pocket since I had enough creepy vibes emanating from this place, so I starting walking towards the exit and thankfully the three of them followed. 

I had gotten out first and turned around to make sure my party safely made it through, Maelstrom quickly floated out, tailed by a fast paced Artemis. DeviDeva had just crossed the threshold when I saw them twitch before lowering their head for a whole minute before springing back up.

“Devi? Deva? Is….everything alright?” I asked.

Without any warning, they suddenly spread out their wings and I fully saw their impressive wingspan, easily fourteen feet at least until they switched from wings to claws. My heart skipped a beat before they did a one eighty and starting hacking and slashing at critical points of the infrastructure. Mere seconds passed before I heard groaning and creaking following a sudden crash and a plume of black smoke that seemed to combine with the already formed blacks clouds above.

Yet, instead of permanently joining, they started to disperse and like a bursted dam, the clean air and dawns light came washing through to reclaim this part of the forest once again. It was quite relieving to see that infernal house come crashing down. Yet, I was still wary of the being that tore it down.

“-We…..apologize Master for that rude and sudden behavior. Once we exited the factory, a-” “-defense mechanism kicked in and…..well you saw-” DeviDeva said together. But Deva seemed a bit, distracted with that last sentence.

“Do I need to be worried?” I cautiously asked.

“No! No, no, no our dear Master. Under your contract, we can never harm you or your daughter or your companion unless we wish for our system to shut down and deactivate. That is something we….. I-I do not wish for again, Master-” Deva said with a hint of sadness.

Hearing them say that calmed my nerves a bit, but not enough for me to fully lower my guard. 

“Alright, well. Let's starting heading back to New Leafton before night fully sets. Cause once the moon rises, the woods become too dangerous to move freely” I advised.

“-Very well Master, I shall keep vigilante and be at the ready to defend. I also came with offensive and defensive protocols, and I can mostly see in the dark until I can acquire new set of eyes-” Devi informed me as they started to patrol.

I nodded and began to walk, hoping to never return to his horrible place. That was until the way Devi said eyes sunk in and the image of those white eyes pulsed in my mind, quickening my heart beat as I turned around to stare at the wreckage. I stared and stared and found myself calming down as nothing happened, but that feeling of dread still loomed in the back of my mind.

And yet, it wasn't all that scary. As if that feeling was already there.

“-Master?-” Deva said.

I shook my head “Its nothing…..nothing at all”
> The Traveling Human Walks A Bizarre Path
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I never fully realized how far we had actually walked into the forest until I looked up and saw that the moonlight was our only guide now, as it softly shone its way through the tree tops. Then again, last time we walked through this area we met a dimensional traveler and had ourselves a little talk.

So there's that. 

I was kinda getting used to hearing Dev's metallic footsteps as we walked back to town. Given what I said, I was still giving them a chance but I could not shake this creeping feeling up my back everytime I looked back and saw them looking at me with those blank eyes. 

Hopefully they have some sort of workshop in New Leafton so we can patch them up a bit more. 

I am glad they they appear to be friendly, since Maelstrom took an interest in them and she began to fly around them, asking questions about them and etc. They responded nicely and very pleasantly, almost as if they were happy someone was finally talking to them or showing interest.

Makes me wonder how long they were rusting away in that awful place. I also wonder if they were active and conscious during that time as well. Hmmmm……

“-Master? What are you thinking about?-” Devi asked me.

“Wha? Oh! Sorry. I was just thinking….. before we found you, were you aware of everything around you as time went on by or?” I asked in return.

“-Ah, I see. Well, truthfully master, we don't remember much about that time. It is hard to describe, it was like we were awake but could not see our environment yet could recall our memories while our mind wandered hazily-” Devi replied.

“So, kinda like a dream then?”

“-A dream? Though we cannot dream, I suppose that is the closest term available to describe that sensation-” Devi finished.

I suppose that makes sense, and kinda puts me at ease a bit mainly because the last time I saw a robot having a dream was in 'I, Robot' and I defiantly don't want that scenario happening here as well. 

Suddenly I felt a light weight being plopped onto the top of my head. Looking up, I saw Maelstroms hands stretching out while a tired yawn voiced out.

“Papa, are we there yet?” she tiredly asked.

“Almost there sweetie, see?” I said while I pointed my finger at the now visible light sources. Of course, this was assuming that was actually New Leafton. “Are you hungry or thirsty at all?”

She shook her head no before laying it back down and snuggling with my hair a bit. It still amazes me how much she has grown already in such a short time. Kinda makes me sad a bit, though now that I think about it, I wonder how big she will be when fully grown? If she grows as big as Discord is, then that means one day I will have to look up to her then. Which will make my self-esteem plummet, having to strain my neck to look up at my own daughter. Oh well, we will cross that bridge when it comes.

As we came closer to the light source, I saw that it definitely was New Leafton as the structures and defenses were familiar to when we left. I strained my eyes a bit to see if I could spot a guard or someone in order to announce our arrival. Probably a smart move since they were on high alert before and with me being gone for so long, they might still be on alert. 

“HELLO?! IS ANYONE THERE!?” I yelled out as we got closer. 

At first, there was no response until I got blinded by a very bright light that some unicorn summoned.

“Who goes there?! State your identity!” they yelled out.

“My name is Adrian! And I-” I started to say before the light shut off and I could hear the sound of a heavy wooden gate opening. Now the forest seemed to echo with the sounds of dozens of hoofs sprinting, most likely towards me. 

“Adrian!” I heard a familiar voice call out. At the front of the herd was Lans….. until he got quickly overtaken by another familiar someone, who I was less eager to see.

“MY DEAR HUSBAND! YOU CAME BACK!!!” Hilda loudly stated as she ran up to me and quickly had me in a death-grip bear hug, I could hear my back popping. Which actually ended up helping since it was kinda bothering me for a while, but that is not important. 

“Huh-lo there Hie-lda” I barely managed to gasp out. 

“Hilda! Not now!” Lans said, clearly annoyed.

“Bu-bu-but I was wo-wo-worried about my future husband!” She woefully said as she began to blubber out tears. 

“Hilda” Lans said again but now with an expecting voice. 

“F-f-fine” Hilda finally said before putting me back on my feet. The air rushed back into my lungs, almost too fast cause I felt a bit woozy. But after another deep breath I felt fine and I kneeled down to talk to Lans.

“Adrian, thank goodness your alright! When I lost you in the mist, I thought the worst had happened! I was able to find a few of the ponies we had lost before and we began to search for you but failed. So we decided to re-group back in New Leafton once we found everypony else. Which is what we were doing when we heard you outside the gate” Lans explained.

“What happened out there?”

“What did you see?”

“Did you find whatever was causing the glitches?”

“Was it that pony in the cloak?”

“I bet it was!”

“Lock em up!”

The group of ponies around us started to say and various other things, but they began to close us in when they thought Dev was responsible. 

That was when I heard the whirring and clicking of motors and gears and I could see Devs cloak starting to swell up due to the newly generated air. “-Activating Defensive Mode-” Devi said but I quickly put my hands on their shoulders and held fast.

“Stand down Devi, stand down!” I sternly said to them.

“-Understood, Master-” Deva replied back and instantly their body calmed down and everything was silent once more.

“Sounds like you have a story to tell us lad” Lans said as he walked beside us and gave me a tired smile.

But this time, I could not comply. Telling them the truth might not be the best plan of action, mainly because I don't think any one of them would be willing to let Dev walk around free. 

So I quickly thought of something to say before I turned to Lans and told him “I can't really tell you the fully story yet, but believe me when I say that you are not in danger. They are-” that is when Dev tugged my shirt. I bent down a little more so I could hear them whisper.

“-Master, are you not going to tell them the truth about us?-” 

“No, not yet. I don't think they are ready yet. Nor is most of the world, though I will if you want me to”

“-No Master, we believe this to be the best course of action as well. If you would be so kind, we would like to finish the explanation then-” they asked and I nodded my head.

“-It is as our Master said, you have nothing to fear. We wish not to go into details but simply put, we were experimented on deep within the woods were no pony would find us. But our creator died due to unknown reasons and we were left alone to die until Adrian found us and gave us a chance. So we have devoted ourselves to his service and answer to him and him alone-” Deva explained. 

“Did you hear that?”

“An experiment?”

“Who would ever do something like that?”

“Can we trust them then?”

“They did back down after he asked though”

“Yeah, but they are still scary looking though”

“I don't want that around the kids”

Once again the surrounding ponies descended into whispers and rumor talking about everything and it was making me nervous. 

So while the town folk gossiped away, I made my way over to Lans and asked “Is there a place we can stay for the night? I wasn't planning on staying long anyway, since we are traveling after all” 

Lans snapped his head towards me and stared at me with a confused look before he realized that I had asked him a question and shook his head to clear his thoughts “Yes, yes we have a few places around here. One of them is The Galloping Inn but I don't think you would want to stay there tonight, or else you might really wake up married” he told me with a chuckle.

I shivered at the thought.

“Yeah, no thank you. Do you have a recommendation then?” I asked again.

He brought a hoof up to his chin to think for a moment. “Hmmmm…. Yes! Follow me” he told me before slowly walking off. As he did, the crowd seemed to grow quiet and some even began to disperse. Man, he must hold a lot of influence in this town. 

But when I followed him, I saw in my peripheral vision quite a few stares and even a disgruntled look every now and then. 

Though, I guess I can't really blame them. First the glitches show up, then I show up, leave to find the source and come back with Dev. I just hope we don't get chased out of town with torches and pitchforks. 

Thankfully the farther away we got from the initial crowd, the less harsher looks we received. Now they were just curious and only a little nervous at watching Dev walk by. 

“Here we go, welcome to Silverleaf!” Lans said while presenting the building.

Stopping to look, I saw the sign was indeed a silver leaf with that name inscribed in black lettering. Kinda reminded me of something I would see in the Holly Michigan Renaissance Festival.

“Looks nice! I do believe we have found a place to stay tonight, thank you so much Lans. For leading us and for trying to find us before. Sorry that I worried you” I apologeticly said. 

“No need to worry, its my job! And I love my job very much! Now, get your daughter into bed and find me when you wake up tomorrow, I may have a favor to ask of you when you leave” Lans told us.

“Will do then, where do I find you?” I inquired.

“I will most likely be at Town Hall, which is that tall, pointed building over there. See it?” he asked while pointing his hoof. 

“Got it. Well, I shall catch up with you tomorrow then! Good night” I said.

“Good night to you as well, Mr. Papa” he said in return with a smirk. I smiled along while I rolled my eyes before turning to head inside.

Thankfully, this time it was a normal inn with no bar or restaurant out front and I was not the center of attention.

Making my way over to the front desk, I rang the bell and heard a voice call out “Be right there!”

A pair of ponies then came rushing out to the desk and they both greeted us with a warm smile. “Hello there! My name's Silver!” said the mare on the left.

“And my name's Leaf!” the stallion on the right.

“And together! We're the SilverLeaf twins! Welcome to our Inn!” the two said in sync. Wonder how much they practiced saying that?

I could not help but laugh a little but I returned their smile nonetheless “Hello there, my name is Adrian and I am looking for a room for tonight” I told them.

“Glad to hear it! So, if I my ask, what are all of you?” Silver asked us with Leaf nodding his head in anticipation.

“Hehe, good question. Well I am human from another world, the cute little ball of fluff on top of my head is my daughter Maelstrom-”

“Mae good! Mae loves Papa!” Maelstrom suddenly said while she snuggled with my hair a bit more.

“-and there we go. The timberwolf is my companion and her name is Artemis. And finally, we have…. Well…. Devideva. And I think the proper name for them is probably an android” I said.

Dev went silent for a second before they looked up at me “-Correct Master, the definition for an android is a robot with an equine appearance-” Devi said.

“Wow! A robot?! Cool!” Leaf exclaimed.

“-Cool…. I suppose that is an adequate term to describe ourselves-” Deva replied back.

“Wait, did your voice and personality just change?” Silver asked.

“-Yes and no. We are two minds in one body, my male half Devi-” “-And my female side, Deva! We are the same and yet different and we are still learning how to control ourselves, in a matter of speaking-” Deva explained.

“Wow! So you two are likes twins living in one body!” Leaf excitingly said.

“-Hmmmm, we are not quite sure if that is an accurate statement but at the moment it appears most logical-” Devi said.

“Wow, well good thing you like each other like me and Leaf do! Or else you might drive yourselfs insane! Though, sometimes he does too” Silver said with a teasing smirk.

“At least I'm not half as annoying as you!” Leaf teased back.

“Oh yeah?!”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah?”

“YEAH!”

“Ah-hum” I said with a cough. This got their attention and they swiftly returned to normal.

“Alright! So, one adult, one child, one pet, and one android? Ummmm….. lets just make it two children, since the Devs probably don't need to eat and such. Or do you?” Silver asked us.

“-We do require nourishment, but we can acquire our energy souce without physical meals like our Master requires. So, no, we will not be needing food and our body does not require bedding to sleep either-” Devi explained.

“I see! Well, lets just go with the price of one adult, two children, and a pet. Sound ok?” Silver asked.

“Sure thing” I replied.

“Excellent! And just for one night, that will bring the total up to…. do do do….. 50 bits” Leaf finished. 

So with that I dug out the money and paid them in full, when I did Leaf hopped down and showed us around though there was not much at the moment, since they were waiting for their next shipment of supplies to arrive in two weeks.

But after showing us the dining hall and when meal hours were, he showed us our room and bid us good night. Since everything we literally owned fit in my bag, we grabbed a quick bit to eat (which caused a little uproar since they were not fully used to meat eaters) but after Silver and Leaf talked to the chef then everything was fine.

Once we finished eating, we headed back to the room and got settled in, though not for long since most of us were tired and little Maelstrom was already asleep in my arms on the walk back. 

“-What are the plans for tomorrow, Master?-” Devi asked me.

“Well, first I would like to see if we can find some sort of workshop or smith so we can find you some parts or whatever you need to fix yourself. Then head on over to Town Hall to meet up with Lans and see what this favor is. Hopefully nothing much” I explained.

“-Very well Master, we shall power down for the night. But if any nightly intruders trespass, we shall deal with them-” Devi said.

“Deal with them kindly, no need for anything drastic. Understand?” I sternly explained.

“-Understood Master. Pacifist Mode will be engaged. Good night, my Master-” Deva said as they turned off while standing up. I watched them for a moment, to just observe and it was sorta creepy to just see them there, standing with blank eyes. But I did my best to ignore it while I went into my bag and grabbed a bowl of water for Artemis.

Once the little hunter was set, she hopped up and curled into a ball to sleep in at the edge of the bed. I turned off the light, tucked the two of us in, which of course led to Maelstrom snuggling up against with with a happy sigh. 

Ha. She is so sweet, I love her so much!

With that, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep as well.



“Welcome back Adrian, our silly human” Nightingale said.

“Oh! Hello Nightingale! You found me quick” I exclaimed as I was pulled into a lucid state. Looking around, my dream scape was a bit random tonight and was a mixture of things. I was glad that a certain place was no where to be seen though. 

“Oh, well I had to be sure to put a dream lock on you so that way I could always find you, or at least sense where you are and alert other Night Guards. You always seem to find yourself in trouble” She said with a sarcastic tone.

“Must be magic, magic is usually to blame for most of the weird stuff that has happened to me” I simply explained.

“I see, well that settles that then. Well, other than saying hello we have another reason for disturbing you tonight. And that is to ask what this is” she said before levitating a small sphere in front of me. Looking inside, at first it looked like a simple black clouded storm swirling around but then the clouds parted and inside I saw that nightmare factory and I reeled back so much that even my dream scape shifted with me.

“This is most distressing, for this memory to affect you and your subconscious so. Tell me, what is this dreadful looking building?”

I had to take a deep breath of air before continuing “I came across this place deep within the Everfree Forest when I came to New Leafton and was asked to help solve a mystery. With a little help from the mystery itself, I came across this building and decided to explore it. I could not see the name clearly, all I saw was R W Factory. Most of the first word was blurred, but what came next is…. Well….” 

I quickly explained the survey of the building and what I saw inside the rooms, both down and up stairs which eventually lead to the discovery of the eyes drawing and of DeviDeva. Then I told her of our exit and how the building is no more, all the while Nightingale sat patiently and listened carefully to my words.

“One thing is for certain, Equestria is a much better place without that unholy place staining the soil. Though I am still greatly concerned about this machine, even though they say they have placed itself under yourself, they are still a great danger to both you and everypony else” Nightingale warned.

“I understand and I am still battling that thought in my mind, but like I said earlier, I should at least give them a chance like I was when I first came to this word. Its only fair” I said.

Nightingale proceeded to laugh away, so much so that she had tears in her eyes. 

“Oh, my silly, silly human. You continue to surprise me everyday” she happily said. “Now, I have to get going and continue my rounds. I will have to inform Luna of this factory though, understand?”

“Yes, I was going to tell one of them when I wrote next anyway” I explained.

“Good, now before I go, lets make a certain pony back in Ponyville have a happy dream. Shall we?” she told me with a wink. 

Before I could ask, both her and my dream faded away into blackness before quickly being replaced by a blue sky and white fluffy clouds and I appeared to be flying. 

“Adrian?! Is that you!” I heard a familiar voice call out. Turning around, I saw a certain gray pegasus crash into me while we both flew in the air.

“Derpy! Still crashing into me, I see” I said with a smile.

“Sorry! I just couldn't help myself! I didn't know you could fly!” she said back.

“I have to keep some things secret, or else I lose my mysterious edge!” I exclaimed.

“I love that about you! Now, lets fly!” she said before she took off. I felt extremely playful at that moment and did my best to catch up and continue living the dream. Literally. 

I saw at the edge of my eye Nightingale looking on and I gave her a thumbs up before she nodded and disappeared. I wonder if Derpy will remember this when she wakes up.





-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Hours Later, In The Morning -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~


Ugh, Celestias sun is especially bright today, even this far into the Everfree Woods too! Blah, this is why I am a night owl.

But we have a long day ahead of us and many more to come, so I eventually dragged myself out of bed and soon enough, like clockwork, the rest of them woke up as well. We all got cleaned up in the bathroom (well, most of us), got dressed, and headed down for breakfast. 

After eating and saying goodbye to the twins, thanking them for their wonderful hospitality, we set off to hopefully find something for Dev. So I started asking around and after a few tried we learned there was quite a few smiths actually, since most ponies needed some work done making wheels, tools, and other necessities to live in the forest. 

It is really strange though how most of the smiths didn't seem particularly bothered by Devs appearance or the request to make them eyes or other body parts. But thankfully the two smiths who accepted the request made a set of eyes, and a metallic body cast that could hold a mane wig and a spot for a tail.

Thankfully, due to Celestia spoiling me, the total bit cost did not hurt our holdings and we had plenty of bits left.

Once everything was installed and Dev booted up its new eyes, for some reason their iris color was a dark red color, which did not help lower the creepiness factor at all but now they at least had a somewhat normal looking pair of eyes. 

The smith who made the body cast suggested a place to where we could purchase a wig and probably work out a deal for a tail as well. We quickly made our way over to a place called A Mane For You and Me, once inside we talked to the sales clerk and explained what we needed and due to the smiths suggestion, we even got a discount!

Deva was in charge, apparently, for picking out a suitable colored mane and tail and it was quite interesting to see them argue back and forth, switching voices every few seconds. But they settled on something and chose an orange mane and a black tail. Deva really liked orange for the color but Devi seemed fixated on the color black. 

When all was said and done, it was a little bit late into the morning but when we walked out of the shop, I took a good look at Dev now and saw that they no longer looked menacing, a bit odd of course, but at least now they could walk down the street without looking like a killer. 

The body cast was made into sections and split up at the curves and joints of the body, it kinda looked like weird body armor, especially with the mane and tail protruding out along the edges. But like I said, all together it made a passable looking pony and Deva said they didn't wish to throw their cloak away, so that helps as well.

I hurried our group along to get over to Town Hall as soon as possible, would be rude to make Lans wait long. 

After a short little jog, we came upon the doors and I proceeded to knock, eventually we were lead inside and were told we were expected, we were then lead down to a room where Lans and a few other ponies were waiting.

“Adrian! Good to see you, sleep well?” Lans asked me.

“Yes I did! Thanks again for showing me to Silverleaf, the twins were especially helpful in making me feel at ease” I replied.

“Yes, I thought they might. Now, take a seat Adrian and we can talk about that favor” he told me.

I took the seat right next to him, though it was a little difficult to sit down just right due to my size but I found a somewhat comfy position.

“Good, now for the introductions. In front of me is Mayor Clattertal and beside him is his secretary, Miss Goodwal. Finally, to my left is Mr. Utrition who is in charge of the public’s moral welfare. We like to call him the poster pony” Lans finished off with a bit of a chuckle that the mayor and miss Goodwal soon joined in. 

“Yes, putting aside that silly nickname, the three of us have been looking for a special somepony to take on a rather…. difficult job. Though the few we have asked always declined and were almost about to give up but the moment we saw you, somepony so different, we thought you would be perfect!” Mr. Utrition started to explain.

“Me? Seriously?” I said, clearly confused.

“What? Did we say something wrong?” Mr. Utrition said back.

“I literally just walked into this town yesterday, a complete stranger who is also an alien, who has a daughter of chaos, a pet timberwolf, and now an android companion. What part about me screams that I would be perfect for a job that others turned down?” I asked. This seemed to take them by surprise cause the four of them sat there slack jawed.

“Just because I got roped into some things, doesn't mean I'm an idiot you know”

Lans was the first to recover and did a fake cough to clear the air.

“I suppose your right in that regard and I apologize for accidentally insulting you. But, at the same time, the fact that you are so different is kinda why this favor of ours is suited towards someone in your position” Lans said.

“And since we have clearly been seen through, I will cut straight to the point” Mayor Clattertal spoke up to say. “This town lives on the edge of a knife, one wrong move or one stupid decision could potentially tear this town to shreds. But, of course, we will always accept newcomers and the like, so long as they can fend for themselves, hold a legitimate job, or at least provide a service. But over the last few years, we have been sheltering….unwanted souls”

“Unwanted?” I questioned.

“A harsh term, we know, but they are the down trodden who sought a place to live because they have no where else to go, whether they were the cause or others forced them is their own story. At first, it was manageable, a few here or a few there but now they are starting to arrive in larger numbers and are staying in the southern part of town which ponies are calling the slums” Miss Goodwal interjected.

“More to the point, they are a dark stain on this upcoming town and we need them to leave but every time we politely ask, they either just move around a bit and stay or cause a ruckus which requires us to either jail them or kick them out! As mayor, I personally wish to help them all. I really do, but we simply cannot afford to!” Clatteral stated.

“Which is why you are here, Adrian” Lans said to me. “We have asked a few ponies to be a guide through the forest and lead them out and move into a more…. helpful city or town that knows how to properly sort them out into better lives. But none of them accepted the job since they didn't want to be saddled with this burden. However, since you said yourself that you are, well an odd one, that you might be able to take up this task and help everyone out”

“I know how this sounds and believe me, I really do wish it did not have to come to this. But those ponies grow sick, hungry, and lost with every passing day and though a few have been helped or taken in by the kindness of a few, the rest are wandering without purpose. And New Leafton cannot help them now, maybe in a few years perhaps, but not soon enough for them” Lans sorrowfully explained.

“But, like we have said, this is simply an option which you can easily say no to and we will accept it and try and ask someone else for help. But please, please consider it. For all of us” Clatteral humbly asked and even bowed his head a little, which the other three quickly copied. 

Its a good thing they could not see me, cause my fist was angrily clutched around my knee and my teeth were grinding in disgust. I had half a mind to burst out in a fit of anger and accusations against this town and every single thing it stood for! 

Such arrogance!

Such utter bullshit!

The nerve of this mayor! To sit by and ask someone else to sweep up the dirt and carry it away! As if peoples lives were just a minor thing! Er, ponies lives! Whatever!

I so desperately wanted to simply take a stand and just leave, without a word and march on out of those gates. I was getting so heated up inside that I felt my magic begin to swirl around in my body and that sudden rush gave me a sudden clarity of the situation. So I decided to take deep breaths and calm down, making decisions was never good when you are angry.

The room was dead silent as they all continued to bow their heads at me while I slowly calmed down and unclenched my fist in order to rationally think about this. 

“Besides Ponyville, what is the closet major city or town?” I asked in a mostly neutral tone.

“T-that would be Las Pegasus, b-b-but there are other cities like Appleloosa near by, u-unless you really wish to travel to Baltimare or even Manehatten” Goodwal nervously said.

Hmmm, if I remember correctly, Twilight told me that Ponyville was closer to Las Pegasus I believe, though I know next to nothing about it while at least I might know some ponies in Manehatten and the Wonderbolts will be doing their show there next month as well, so that will bring some important ponies I suppose. 

Maybe I should just go to Canterlot? No, no I shouldn't do that. That is the same reason why I don't want to go back to Ponyville, I don't want to have to dump this burden on a Princess and hope it all magically goes away. No, the power of friendship or Royalty will not help solve a problem like this, this is a people problem and people need to fix it. Pony problem, gah! I know what I mean!

Besides, Manehatten is where I need to deliver one of Celestias letters anyway, so I might as well go there to get the best chance. I hope.

“Manehatten. I think that would be my best chance to get real results” I plainly told them.

At this, the mayor got starry eyed and looked at me in wonder “S-s-SO does this mean you will accept the job?!” he sputtered out.

“Yes, BUT lets make this very, very clear. I am not doing this for you. In fact, I almost want to leave and let you deal with this mess like you deserve to. But I am not going to just stand by and watch lives be ruined by negligence. I am doing this for them and them alone. Clear?” I strongly said and I even threw in a knife hand to emphasize my statement. Worked like a charm cause the three city members straightened up and simply nodded.

“Lets be on our way then” Lans offered and I happily agreed and walked out shortly. It was a long and quiet walk at first until we were a good distance away from town hall.

“I am so sorry Adrian that we loaded you with this burden. This was not my finest hour” Lans said with a hint of regret. 

I let out a tired sigh “I don't blame you and in all honesty, I shouldn't really blame the mayor either. He is just doing his job. I just didn't really expect such a serious issue to pop up in this world” I explained.

“What do you mean?” Lans curiously asked me.

“Well, I guess I just got so swept up in my own issues and letting myself live in this fantasy world that I forgot that, well, you ponies have real issues too. You all live your lives like anyone else would and some aren't that lucky to have a home or a life at all. I was both angry and greatly surprised and I let that carry my emotions a bit” I explained again.

“I suppose I can't blame you for thinking that way, after all if I was suddenly in an entirely new world then I wouldn't know how to react to the local environment either. But, unfortunately, we do have many issues to work out as well, and it is like that the further you get from Canterlot I found out in my short travels” Lans said.

“What do you mean?” I now curiously asked.

“Well, believe or not, in some of the bigger cities like Manehatten or Las Pegasus, there is quite an underworld of sorts. Gambling, secret trades, even prostitution, and many other things that lurk in the shadows. Canterlot is a shining beacon to many but over the years, many have lost sight of it and have begun to develop their own codes and laws. I don't know if Princess Celestia is aware of this or not, but I believe that she is doing her best to try and make things right”

“Especially nowadays, after all the recent attacks and dealing with the aftermath of Tirek, many are scared of something else happening and so they dig themselves a hole and live in it, no matter what happens around them. Which is why I came here, to try and start fresh. But here as well has its own issues and I am powerless to help” Lans shamefully admitted with a sad sigh. 

This greatly took me by surprise but at the same time, it was almost refreshing and felt very familiar to Earth. Yet, because of the fact that this was so familiar made me feel a little sad. Not just because of the ponies left behind, but because this fantastic world filled with magic still can't help everyone. 

Though I still felt a little angry at the situation, I was starting to feel like this was the right choice. Even if I may not be the right or best choice, I want to at least try or else I would have to bear the regret for the rest of my life and I have enough ghosts to deal with already.

I felt something poking me, taking a gander down I saw that it was Lans.

“You alright? You've been silent for a while” he asked.

“Yeah, just thinking about what you said against my conflicting emotions. My mind is at a bit of a stalemate between the two and I know what I should do, but I also want to act on my emotions as well. It's a very human thing to do” I told him.

“Well, ponies do often struggle with that as well. Emotions are very powerful and while they might feel better to base your life on, they usually end up causing you trouble in the long run. But that is not my business to decide for you” Lans said before he took a deep breath. “Adrian?”

“Yes?”

“I haven't gotten a chance to say this yet and I wish to tell you now. Thank you Adrian, for having the courage that not many of us have. Even if it was forced, you still accepted it for the sake of others and not for profit or admiration. I still accept that we may have been cowards but I am very happy that you came along. Maybe humans are good lucks charms in Equestria, eh Mr. Papa?” Lans said with a slight snicker. 

At that last part, I went along with him and laughed a little as well. As soon as I laughed I started to feel  a little bit better, maybe that's why Pinkie is so happy all the time. 

“Thanks for that Lans, I needed a little laugh. Though now I am just getting nervous at the thought of leading a group of Ponies through the woods and all the way to Manehatten. How many are there anyway?” I asked.

“Well, there are about forty of them but we are not forcing them to all follow you. When we get there, we will ask them and whomever wants to, will join you. The others who don't will be evicted and have to fend for themselves or find someplace else” Lans explained.

“Forty?” I said to myself. Yeesh, that is a lot of ponies.

“Here we are” Lans said before he took the lead and started to gather them all up in one place. I could hear a few….unpleasant words spoken with a few of the unwilling ones but eventually he rounded them all them. 

“Listen up! I will be blunt with you, today is the last day you will be allowed to stay here for free-” Lans started to say before the crowd began to whine and complain, almost causing a bit of a riot.

“AND! You will have three choices of what to do! ONE! Find a shop here that is offering work and boarding! TWO! Leave town on your own and find somewhere else to live or fend for yourself in the forest! OR THREE!” He shouted before presenting me “Follow this one to Manehatten and be sorted through the system, where you will have a very high chance at finding a job and a place to live! The choice is yours!”

“Why can't you sort us?!”

“I can't leave now! I just got here!”

“You'll kill us all!”

“Why should we follow him?”

“Manehatten is too far!”

“Every shop is full! I already asked four times!”

“Why can't we stay?! Were not bothering no one!”

“ENOUGH!” Lans forcefully said with a stomp of his hoofs. “This is by order of the Mayor! We cannot afford to shelter those who cannot pay! New Leafton is still a growing town and cannot support you at this time! This is why I am offering you choices instead of throwing you out by force! Now! I want you all to line up, one by one, and tell me your names and what you will choose!” he ordered.

It took some time and a few arguments later before they lined up and began to talk to Lans about their future. Some heated words and a calling of a few extra guards took place before everything was calm and eventually all forty were taken care of. Lans told the new guards to look out for them while we chatted.

“Alright, so here is the scoop. Twenty five of them will follow you to Manehatten while the remaining fifteen will do one last job search before heading out on their own. A few of them are single children while others are single parents with multiple children. But the majority are adults” Lans explained.

“I will have the guards and a few others escort the fifteen around town to try and find jobs while your group gets ready to move out and get acquainted. See you soon” Lans told me before he started doing his own thing. 

The group I was going to be with were mostly packed already and were starting to gather around me, though I could tell they were a little frightened when they gazed up at me. I was starting to feel nervous and I even jumped a little when I heard someone cough behind me.

“Tell us, who or what are you?” a female voice asked rather loudly.

“Well, my name is Adrian Frost and I am a human from another world. The one on my head is my daughter Maelstrom, the timberwolf is my canine companion Artemis, and finally the orange maned one is an android named….. Devia” I introduced. I will explain to the Devs later but I think for now a more single name is better for introductions and the name is a combination of the two anyway.

“And why do you think you can guide us all, especially one such as myself?!” the same mare asked again, though I could not really see her under her dark blue cloak.

“Well, to be perfectly frank. I am probably not the right one for the job, but I am the only one who accepted to do it. And I will do my very best to lead you all to Manehatten, so you all can finally start a new life” I honestly said and this seemed to put a few of them at ease.

“Hah! Well, we will be the judge of that! After all, we are the great and judgmental Trixie!” the mare dramatically said as she threw off her hood. The others simply groaned and seemed to outright ignore her. She noticed this and her boastful aura instantly died down. She let out a sad and tired sigh. 

“Well, its nice to meet you Trixie” I simply said as I leaned down and held out my hand. She backed away at first before she realized I wanted a hand/hoof shake. So eventually shook my hand and smiled a little before she put her hood back up and rejoined the others. 

That lead to a one or two others to introduce themselves which had a domino effect, for the more others introduced themselves, lead to the others doing the same. After a few minutes, I had personally met all twenty five ponies. They all seemed nice enough, though I could tell a few of them were a little rough around the edges along with a troublemaker or two. 

I was going to ask a few more questions but Lans came up to me and said “All right, well it looks like everyone is all set to go. Are you ready Adrian?” 

I took a good look around our group and took in the sights of all twenty five of them.

I was feeling terrified.

WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS I THINKING?!? I was having enough worries taking care of Maelstrom! Now I gotta worry about twenty five ponies?! 

Oh man. I am not sure if it is my stomach or my magic but something was swirling inside of me and I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. I could even feel myself starting to sweat.

“Papa?”

I snapped out of my panic attack and looked up at Maelstrom who had a worried look on her face. I then realized something as I then took another look around and saw that they all had the same look on their faces. 

They were worried and were now looking to me to guide them. 

Well, even though that last sentence was just another way of wording my worries from before, but it was enough for me to find a spark of courage and I took a deep, deep breath of air. 

“Ready or not, here we go” I silently said to myself. 

“What was that?” said Lans.

“Just pepping myself up. Oh, before I go. Could I get that list of names? That will greatly help me keep track of things” I asked him and he obliged. I went over the names again and nodded to myself.

“All right everypony, lets hit the road!” I exclaimed as I led everyone out of town.

Watch out Manehatten, here we come.
> Magicians, A Humans Guest, And A Blinding Sun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“-And that is how you do simple multiplication and division. Any questions? No? Alright, well then lets move onto our English and Reading course-” Devi instructed their class of twenty colts and fillies. 


-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~


It has been a couple of weeks since we left New Leafton and it has been a very, very strange length of time. One of the biggest things was that our group now hosted forty-five members. I can no longer say just ponies cause we picked up a donkey family of three along a brief clearing of the forest and we are also escorting a, rather haughty, male gryphon. 

That was an interesting day, for he was flying overhead and saw our little group and decided to pick a fight, for reasons still unknown. I didn't even notice him til he took a swing and scratched Lemon Heart, one of the elderly ponies. So I ran as fast as I could, took a leap of faith and was able to snatch his tail, fully bringing him crashing to the hard ground.

Once he was down Devia pinned him down with their spiny metallic wings, which accidentally hurt his wings. So after a brief talk, he 'apologized' before attempting to fly off but due to his new wound, he was unable to. Which led to him guilt tripping us to helping him until he was healed. 

Fortunately, Devia made it very clear that they had medical knowledge and would check the wound every day and the second it was fully healed, his feathered buttocks would be gone. 

After then, over the course of the week and a half, we ended up running into more lost ponies wandering through the forest for their own reasons and we ended up taking them along as well, since it would have been cruel to just leave them. Which is how I ended up with a group of forty-five.

All that did not help me and my partial panic attacks that kept creeping up on me every time I looked behind me to see this large group following me. 

When we had reached a small waterfall, I told the group to stop and rest while I headed off to see if there was a hidden little alcove behind the rushing water. There was and thanks to the thundering noise no one was able to hear me scream my head off while I walked back and forth in a panic. 

Or at least, I thought I was alone until I saw two sets of eyes sadly peering at me. One belonged to Devia and the others were Trixies. 

During our long walks, Trixie and I had started to talk and were getting to know each other a little bit. I soon found out pretty much everything about her and her recent escapades in Ponyville. After seeing Zecora take the Alicorn Amulet away into hiding, and helping with the fireworks, Trixie had tried to become a better pony for everyone.

But, sadly, things had not worked out and after one thing had led to another, she initially tried to come back to Ponyville for help but decided not to cause she thought Ponyvilles residents might reject her. So she ended up staying in New Leafton and that is where I came in. 

So when Trixie saw my moment of weakness, she gently came up to me and offered a hug, one I happily accepted and after taking a little time to explain myself over the roaring waterfall, Devia offered me an idea.

Devia said I should split up my responsibilities to another pony or two, with Devia being one of them. That was the best idea I had ever heard and I even smacked my head a bit for not thinking of it sooner. Without really thinking about it though, I then asked if Trixie wanted to help. That was when Trixie got flustered and her old pride came back and said that one as great and magical as her was above such a job.

But Devia saw right though her and did a sneaky little trick and played on her pride by saying that if she was truly great then such a job would be as easy as pie for her, unless she was not truly who she said she was. It worked like a charm which led to her stomping her way up to me and demanded that I give the job to her and her alone. Seeing to reason to refuse, I accepted and hired the two of them.

Devia was initially in charge of security and area exploration while Trixie became a manager of sorts as she took the list of names from me and expanded on from there to what that pony needed or wanted and other things she thought needed to be written or explained. 

That list then found its way back to me and I saw that a lot of the kids and parents wanted school or some sort of education. This one stumped me until I remembered something that Devia had said back in that place, that they had knowledge from basic education to medical procedures. So I asked what Devia thought about becoming a mobile school and they happily accepted it, claiming it was an honor.


-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~


After looking back and seeing all the happy faces of the little ones as Devia went on to the next lesson, I let out a content sigh before turning back to face the oncoming path. I was the only one this far ahead since even Maelstrom took a liking to the lessons, which I was happy for since it meant she was coming out of her shell a little bit instead of being attached to my head.

Not that it was a bad thing, but her socializing is more important than my gleefulness of having my adorable daughter snuggle with me all day. 

But it made me realize that I had gotten so used to it that now I felt a little lonely, if not for Artemis at my side, then I would have been utterly alone. Though I still let out a sad sigh when I took another glance behind me, I felt like I was a little useless since now Devia and Trixie pretty much ran everything. 

So much for being the leader or whatever I was. 

After that little sad thought, the day seemed to drag on and on and on as we continued to walk towards Manehatten. 



-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ A Few Hours Later, Sunset -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~



“All right everyone! Lets stop here for the night, we made excellent progress today! You all deserve your rest!” I happily exclaimed to the group. We were in luck that a river was connected to that waterfall and that it ran almost perfectly along side us during our journey. Which of course meant clean water for them and dinner for the meat eaters. The gryphon, who introduced himself as Roughta, ate mostly by himself and doesn't really bother anyone, but a few ponies have tried to talk to him. Which, from what I have seen, he hasn't exactly blown off.

After Devia fished us up a number of food and even grilled them on one of the numerous camp fires, my little group quietly ate. Well, all except for Maelstrom as she giggled in my lap as I fed her. Trixie, who was a recently new addition to our eating circle, eyed the two of us and smiled a little.

“She really does love you, huh?” she asked me.

“Well, one would hope so if they are a good and loving parent. Which I always hope that I am everyday to her” I said as I plucked a little bit of fish from her cheek and ate it. 

“Not all of us are as lucky as her” Trixie sadly stated.

“Trixie?” I gently asked.

“It's nothing. The Great and Equally loved Trixie is perfectly happy, as always!” she said as she threw her cape up into the air while wearing her smug looking smile. I just rolled my eyes a bit before returning to my meal.

It was only for a few minutes though before a trio of colts came up to us “Devia! Could you come with us, we saw something big move on the outskirts of camp” said the middle one, who I believe was called Dusty Flare. 

“-Of course, if you would excuse us, my Master-” Deva politely asked me. 

“Go right ahead, just be safe.” I said back and the four of them nodded at me but before they left, I heard Artemis whine a bit. “Do you want to go with them?” at this she howled happily before strolling alongside Devia and left with them.

“I hope everything is alright” Trixie worryingly said.

“With Devia and Artemis around, I know it will be. And if that doesn't work then I can always step it. Hopefully we will find the edge of the woods soon. Once we get out of the forest we will be much, much safer” I said.

“True, Trixie can attest to this during her last few trips” Trixie proudly stated.

“Trixie! Trixie!” A mare called out as she approached us.

“Yes Petal Dancer?” Trixie replied.

“I was just wondering if you were free? Me and a few others wanted your opinion on some things” the mare said.

“Yo-you do?” Trixie nervously asked.

“Of course!” 

“Well, the Great and Opinionated Trixie shall accompany you! Lead the way!” Trixie rather loudly said before being lead away. 

That just left me and Maelstrom. I decided to reach for my book since the two of them are devoted to their jobs and will probably be gone for the rest of the night going back and forth with others. 

So I fished out the silver book and opened up to my bookmark and began to read…..


“I finally did it! I finally created an air spell that will allow a non-pegasi to fly! It is a rather brilliant and most interesting spell. Unlike the cloud walking spell, this one allows the caster to actually fly in the air using their own limbs as wings.

Though, in the future, I might have to develop a spell which allows the caster to grow actual wings. But I will leave physical mutation spells alone for now. Right now, I wish to fly with the gryphons, pegasi, and my friend the hippogriff. Whom has been waiting a long time to find a friend, even if his brother is the Gryphon King. 

As for the spell itself, I have to summon up my magic and let if flow through my body and finally let the flow course through my legs. It almost felt like my legs were a mouth and the wind that came out was like my breath. A very bizarre and once in a lifetime kind of feeling. 

But once I felt the air start to push through, I took off like a fish flying out of water! And ended up crashing hard into the ground. Though I suspected as much, it still hurt. I have to find some way to control the winds direction, or maybe the power level itself? I have to think like a wing user, visualize how they fly."

“Mister Adrian? Mister Adrian?” 

I was surprised a bit when I felt a bit of tugging on my pants right before I heard that voice call me. So I closed the book a bit, letting my finger be the bookmark for the moment, before looking down and seeing a few foals gathering at me feet. 

“Hello” I said with a smile.

“Hey! When Mr. Devi was teaching us today, we saw her flying around and was wondering if she could come and play with us!” said the little blue colt while he looked and pointed at Maelstrom a little.

“Yeah! Her mane looks so pretty and so do her wings!” said the green maned filly behind the colt.

“Oh yeah?” I said innocently to get them riled up.

“Yeah!” They enthusiastically replied. 

“Well, let me ask then. Hey, Maelstorm? Wanna go and play with them?” I asked her.

“No! I only wanna be with Papa!” She said before turning her back and hugged me.

“But they really wanna play with you Maelstrom. And besides, maybe you could show off some of your cool magic? You could be super popular!” I said, trying to edge her on.

“Popular?” she asked in return.

“It means everyone will think your super cool and like you!” I explained.

“Then I only want to be popular with Papa then!” she said before burying her head in my stomach. 

At this I laughed a bit before petting her head a little. “I know you do, and believe me. You will always be number one for me. But I think you will have a lot of fun playing with them to! Do you think you can do this for me? Please? If you don't like it, then you can always come back to play with Papa” I said with a gentle smile as I continued petting her.

“Papa won't be upset if Mae leaves?” she asked with a pouty lip and big eyes.

“Of course not, I could never be upset with you” I said with a hearty laugh. “Now, do you wanna go play?”

“I….I guess” Maelstrom quietly said. 

At this, the green maned filly came up and poked her before running saying “Then your it!”. At this, all the other kids scattered to the four winds.

“It? What does being it mean?” Maelstrom asked.

“Its a game called tag and you have to touch or poke someone to tag them, when you do they become it and have to start chasing others to get them to be it! So, get after them and play tag! And remember, the point of the game is to not be it!” I enthusiastically said with a huge smile on my face.

At this she beamed a pretty smile before she flew off towards the nearest colt, finger at the ready.  I sat by the fire and watched in amazement as Maelstrom happily flew back and forth, playing and laughing with the others. I was ecstatic that Maelstrom finally took the plunge and is able to interact with others instead of hissing or hiding. 

But it slowly dawned on me the more and more I watched them play, that for the first time in a long time, I was all alone. No Artemis at my side or Maelstrom floating by me. Not even Devia hovering around me like a body guard. 

It was a strange feeling and even though I was happy that they all had something good they were doing, it still didn't make the void in my heart easier to ignore. 

I wonder if it was always there, but I had been able to ignore it all this time? Or at least ever since I was able to not constantly think about my mother or Luke. 

Crap.

My eyes slowly drifted away from the playing little ones and instead focused on the darkening twilight sky, watching as the orange sky washed away into a starry night sky. Time held no meaning to me as I was almost devoured by the star lit sky that filled my vision. Even the warmth of the fire faded away as my mind fixated around the thoughts of my mom and Luke while I stared at the blinking star-lights.

“Adrian!”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Mom, how come Aunt Lily and Uncle John always give me a weird look?”

“Oh my….. well… they aren't give you the weird look. When they see you, they are reminded of your father. And when they think of him, well, they don't think of the best things about him”

“Was…. Was dad really mean or bad?”

“No, your father just had some bad luck and not the best judgment. He was very kind and loved me very much”

“What about me!”

“I….. I don't know”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Adrian! Adrian!”

~~~~~~~~~~

“A-Adrian? Even though I know this is a dream. I feel scared” 
“Just another part of the dream, you know I heard that in some dreams people dive off of cliffs before switching to another dream. Even though that scared them, the dream just pushes them forward and all is better. Ok?”
“Oh, yeah. Kinda like how I had that dream where I was being chased by a fire breathing train?”
“Yeah! Exactly like that!”
“Cool”
“This…. Is…. A…. Weird…. Dream” 
“Yeah, I guess so. But just remember, this is all a dream and everything is going to be alright” 
“Will I…. remember you?”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Adrian! Adrian! Adrian!”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Mom? Mom? MOM!”

“Yes….. I can hear you Adrian”

“Mom…. I'm scared”

“Oh? Of what? What is scaring my sweet little boy?”

“I dunno, I am just scared at seeing you in bed every day. Coughing and stuff”

“Aww, you are worried about me?”

“Yes”

“It will be ok Adrian. I believe in you, I know you are a very strong boy”

“B-b-but what about you?!”

“Mommy is also strong, but sometimes things happen that we just can't control. Do you remember what I told you a few years ago? After we lost Thomas?”

“That….that people are only human?”

“Yes, that's right. Whatever happens, to me or you. Just remember that people are only human. And in your case, be the best human you can ever be. Alright?”

“I…. I'll try mom”

“Good…… boy…...”

“Mom?”

“I'm……… I'm right… here”

“Mom?”

“Mom?!”

“MOMMY!”

~~~~~~~~~~

“ADRIAN!”

“WAH!” I cried out as I heard and felt three different voices shout at me all around my head.

I shot up to a sitting position as I took long, hard breaths of air while I waited for my body to relax and my vision to clear. But before I could return to normal, I felt three different sets of arms wrapping around my mid-section and a bunch of cute, girly giggles. So I glanced down and I saw very familiar red, purple, and two toned colored sets of manes.

“Applebloom? Scootaloo?! SWEETIE BELL!” I happily exclaimed as my arms instinctively wrapped around the three of them and I pulled them up closer to my face as I hugged them. 

“Adrian! We finally found you!” Applebloom said.

“Yeah! About time too! It got dark out!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

“Adrian! Adrian! Adrian!” was the only thing Sweetie Bell was saying. 

“Girls! Girls! How in the world did you find me?” I asked them.

“Well, after we got your last letter we just had to find ya and show you!” Applebloom told me.

“Show me? Show me what?” I asked in confusion.

At this the three of down jumped down and in one, almost choreographed motion, they presented their flanks and very much to my surprise, I saw that all three of them had their Cutie Marks!

“Oh my goodness! You did it! You all did it! Congratulations!” I said just before scooping them all up again for another hug (which they were more than willing to accept).

“I know! Isn't it amazing!” Applebloom proclaimed.

“I can't believe it either!” Scootaloo said next.

“I knew you could it, I just knew it!” I said. When I opened my eyes to look at them, I noticed that we had a bit of a crowd now who were very curious at all the commotion.

“Um, Adrian? Who are all these ponies by the way?” Sweetie Bell asked.

“Ah! Yes, that's right. I didn't really properly explain in my last letter. Well, basically all these ponies are homeless and I am taking them to Manehatten in order for them to properly get on the right route to having a better life” I briefly explained.

“You're leading them all the way to Manehatten?!?” Scootaloo asked in a bewildered tone.

“Sure am and I also have someone I want to-”

“Hey! Is that…. Trixie?” Applebloom suddenly said. 

At this, the crowd parted ways and Trixie, Devia, and Artemis came on through and next to us. 

“Indeed! It is I! The Great and Helpful Trixie!” she said in her usual bravado.

“So this is where ya went after we saw ya left Ponyville” Applebloom said.

“And now I am Co-Leader of this entire group! Ponies respect and look up to me now! As I knew they would!” Trixie proudly stated. But after she said that Devia did a little cough which brought Trixie down off of her pedestal. “B-but only thanks to Adrians mercy and generosity” I gave her an encouraging smile and a thumbs up. She saw this and gave me a humble smile back.

“And who are you?” Scootaloo asked Devia.

“Ah! This is my new friend Devia” I started to introduce.

“-Hello there, little friends of the Master. As Master Adrian said, we are Devia. A robot who was saved by Adrian the human and as gratitude, we now serve under him and obey his every command-” Devi loudly stated. 

“A robot?!? Awesome!” Sweetie Bell stated.

“-Yes….. awesome is a sufficient term, for one as young as yourself-” Devi said in retort.

“Wait, did you three come all the way from Ponyville just to see Adrian?” Trixie asked them.

“Yup! Sure did!” Scootaloo replied.

“How did you get all the way here? Did you get help from your family or Twilight?” Trixie asked.

“Nope! We ran all the way here! We've gotten really good at running!” Sweetie Bell said.

“Although, now that you mention it. I am pretty tired” Applebloom suddenly said as she almost collapsed.

“Girls, your sisters must be worried sick! Did you at least tell them somehow where you were going?” I asked.

“Sure did! Left them a note and everything!” Applebloom said.

“How long have you been gone?” I asked again.

“Oh, only a day or two! It was actually pretty easy to find you since we got a general direction from one of Countess Coloratura stage hands! They said that on the way here, they saw a large group of ponies being led by a strange two legged creature. So we asked and they described you perfectly! So we headed off!” Sweetie Bell explained.

“WAIT! You met THE Countess Coloratura?! In person!?!” Trixie and a few others exclaimed. 

“Sure did! She did a charity event in Ponyville! Ma sister knew her when they were fillies too!” Applebloom said.

“Wow, sounds like a lot of stuff happened since I left!” I said.

“Heck yeah! One of the strangest ones though was when this HUGE nightmare took over Ponyville and we had to fight it off! Princess Luna had something to do with it, I didn't really understand when Twilight explained it to us” Scootaloo said.

“Well, glad to hear that some things never change in Ponyville” Trixie said.

“Yep, they sure-” Applebloom started say before letting loose a big yawn “-dont”

The other two let out yawns of their own and like a chain reaction, the entire group around us started to yawn, one by one. 

“All right, well we all had a long day. Especially for a certain three” I said as I playfully eyed the trio in my lap, who just grinned up at me. “So, lets all finish up what we were doing and call it a night. We will get started again after breakfast. Good night everyone” I said to them all and they all dispersed and gathered up their children who were still playing tag.

Maelstrom poofed back on top of my head and stared down at the CMC. 

“Oh, hey Maelstrom! Wow! You got bigger!” Sweetie Bell exclaimed.

“Papa is my Papa! Not your papa!” Maelstrom proclaimed before snuggling up with my hair and pretended to be asleep. 

“Wha?” All three girls said simultaneously.

“Don't worry about it, she is just being silly. Now, we need to head off to bed as well and think about how to get you three back home in time in order to spare me from your sisters wrath” I told them with a nervous gulp.

“Don't sweat it….. Adrian” Scootaloo said before yawning again.

“Yeah, if it's you, then everyone will understand!” Sweetie Bell replied.

“All right, all right” I simply said before I felt something cold grasp my shoulder. Turning my head, I saw that it was Devia who had just gotten done setting up the tents.

“-Whenever you are ready Master, I will be in sleep mode but with my sensors up. Sleep well, Master-” Devi explained before they started to do their rounds. 

“Good night Adrian, The Great and Sleepy Trixie shall see you for breakfast!” Trixie said before quickly slinking her way into her own tent and proceeded to snore away.

“Where will we sleep tonight?” Scootaloo asked.

“With me of course! Unless, you don't want to?” I playfully asked.

“YES WE DO!” 

“Then lets go” I said before I carried everyone into my large make-shift tent that Devia went overboard making. I reached into my bag and pulled out my pillow and blanket, which was big enough to cover myself and the three of them who were already using my body as a pillow and were already fast asleep. 

They are super adorable, I had almost forgotten! 

That was when Maelstrom slunk down from my head and proceeded to lay on my chest, curled up in a ball.  But right before she drifted off to sleep, she said “Papa is my papa”. I could only chuckle while she snuggled me while sleeping. I soon joined their ranks and drifted own into the land of dreams myself. Hopefully tomorrow will be another good day.




“Adrian? Did you wish to speak to me?” Nightingale asked me as I slowly woke up from my dream state. I was getting used to this vivid dream state, though it was still weird to experience.

“Y-yes. Yes I did, sorry. Still not used to being awake during a dream” I explained to her.

“No need for worries, you get used to it after a while” she sad.

“Yes. So, I just got an unexpected surprise visit from a certain trio of fillies from Ponyville”

“Ah, so the Crusaders finally found you. You were all they dreamed about the last two nights” she said with a sweet smile. But that only made me blush a bit.

“Y-y-yes. So I was wondering if you were able to contact their sisters and/or Twilight and let them know where they are. I don't want AJ, Rarity, or Rainbow to come and kill me anytime soon” I said with a slow and nervous laugh.

Nightingale giggled with me “Understood, I for one certainly don't want my precious and silly human killed off any time soon” 

“Oh… and…. Um….. speaking of precious….. how is..um…. H-how is-” I tried to say but her name failed to come out.

“She is doing fine, always misses you of course, but fine. She keeps you in her dreams and always reads your letters to her over and over again” Nightingale explained.

I couldn't help but smile as I thought about that sentence. 

“Now, I hate to damper the mood but I thought I ought to let you know. After I informed Princess Luna of the factory, she seemed very strange about it and she acted very calm in hearing about it” she said.

“Whats so strange about being calm?” I asked in return.

“It was because I could see it in her eyes, the second she saw the dream, her eyes seemed to flare up in fear and she became rigid for a fraction of a second but then she calmly took the dream with her and told me to continue monitoring dreams. And since then she has not said anything about it. So, I am slightly worried” she explained again.

“I see, that is strange. But, I trust Luna just like I trust Celestia. So I wouldn't worry about it too much and I am sure we will have the answers in time” I honestly said.

At this, Nightingale giggled again “You really are a silly human, I wish you luck in your journey to Manehatten. These ponies are certainly lucky to have you guiding them”

“I'm not so sure” I accidentally said out loud.

“Oh? What makes you say that? Come, sit and tell me what's wrong” Nightingale said before a comfy looking couch appeared out of the clouds that we were now standing on.

I sighed a bit before sitting down. “I dunno, I feel like I am not offering much help. I was so freaked out by the thought of guiding twenty five ponies and now I am leading forty five! Which includes a donkey family and a huffy gryphon. So then I gave Devia and Trixie the responsibility to pretty much protect and help them. All I am doing now is just guiding them by walking out in front”

“And even though I am happy she is learning, I feel that I should have been more active in Maelstroms learning instead of just relying once again on Devia to lead in her education instead of me. I wanted to leave Ponyville and go on this journey to find my place, yet I don't have the courage or the knowledge to do so” 

I sighed again before I leaned my head back with my eyes closed “I just really feel alone and out of place” I finished up before falling prey to the silence.

That was when I felt feathers starting to cover me, followed shorty by a kiss on the cheek by a giggling mare “You are such a worrywart. And that is what makes you a great pony and a great parent. You don't need to carry the world on your shoulders in order to feel like your making a difference”

“And besides, you are making a difference. Sure you may not be in the most active role but those ponies look to you for guidance and trust you enough to follow you. They could of said no and stayed behind or abandoned you at any time, but they don't. You are their leader and take shelter in your shadow”

“They also know that your two companions are also following your orders, so even though they may get all the thanks, just know that is it you who are allowing these ponies to truly live. Your a hero to them, you sacrificed your time so they can have the opportunity to live”

“But, even after all that, there is one thing that truly matters most. Are you happy that you are leading them to Manehatten?” She wrapped up by asking me.

I took a moment to answer but after thinking it through, I smiled at her before saying “Yes, I am happy. I guess I am just making it over complicated by over-thinking things” I finished with an embarrassed laugh. 

“So long as your happy, then they will be happy too. Just like how I am happy that you are happy, my dear silly human. Now, get back to your dream and I will inform them in Ponyville to come pick up their wayward sisters. Be safe, alright?” Nightingale asked of me before giving me a kiss on my forehead which glowed blue for a second. 

I then found myself dreaming again, wait. What was I talking about? Who was I talking to? Oh! Look! Hot Dogs!



-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ The Next Morning -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~



Adrian!

Adrian!

ADRIAN! WAKE UP!

WAKE UP!

WAKE UP NOW!




“-MASTER! Wake up! Something is happening to the sun!-” Devia said in both voices.

I quickly jolted awake, quickly noticing that I was alone in the tent, and I flopped outside, very ungracefully, but nobody saw it for they were staying at the sky. 

Looking up, I saw that the clouds were circling the area around the sun and doing so very quickly, but what was more shocking was the beam of light that shone through and onto the ground a little ways off from the camp. It was so bright and so hot that the ground itself was being scorched, not burning but scorching! 

“GASP! Look!” said someone.

Looking up, I saw that now, walking on the suns rays was Princess Celestia. Only, she looked…..

Enraged.
> Can A Radiant Light Hurt A Human?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Is that….. Princess Celestia?”

“It is! It is!” 

“Praise Celestia!”

“What is she doing here though?”

“I have never been so close to royalty!”

“Does she….look mad?” said various members of the group as they gazed up at the slowly descending Celelstia, whose eyes I could not tell where they were looking.

I wanted to say something, like how good it was to see her or how I missed her. But the second I saw her enraged face, words fell short as I stood by and watched.

It was certainly quite a spectacle to behold though, to see her walk on the suns luminous rays as though she were walking on solid ground. I wonder what kind of magic that is? 

The second she touched the actual ground though, the group swarmed around her in excitement and glee as finally being able to see their beloved Princess for the first time in their whole life. Regardless of her current demeanor.

“Princess Celestia! What in Equestria are you doing here?!”

“You are so pretty Princess!”

“Maybe you can help us!”

“Yes! With a Princess backing us up, we can really live!”

“I love you Princess!”

Those and much more comments and words were thrown around as Celestia simply stood there, observing. 

What was she looking for? 

Her eyes finally met up with mine and for a brief second, I saw her eyes glisten and that was when I gave a little smile and waved. But then she returned to her rigid form and scanned elsewhere. 

She finally stopped when she found Devia and took a few steps forward, to help clear the crowd.

“Is that it?” she questioned.

The now stunned crowd followed her gaze to Devia and back before one of them asked “Is that who, your majesty?”

“Is that the being made of metal?” she almost hissed while asking again.

“Ye-yes, your majesty. That's Devia and they are-” the same one started to say before being swept up with the rest of the group in a huge wave of magic that gently pushed them and every one else aside. In a blink of an eye, I saw a massive gap between Celestia and Devia.

“Celestia? What are you-” I quickly tried to say before I felt an intense wave of heat wash over me, so much so that I had to shield my eyes for a moment or two in order to adjust.

“-AHHHHHH!-” 

Devia?! What in the world?

“-AHHHHHH! MASTER!-”

Both of their voices mixed together as a twisted sound of pain and metal screamed into the air.

I quickly rubbed my eyes before opening them…..

“CELESTIA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” I quickly asked when I saw what was going on.

She was standing there, eyes glued to that one spot while her long white horn, fully charged with her magic, was firing a monumental beam of light towards Devia. It was almost like she was using the power of the sun itself, cause it was so bright and hot!

“I am ending this nightmare, once and for all. AGAIN!” she replied as I saw a surge of light travel from her to Devia and another wave of painful screams roared over the plains.

“Stop this! Your hurting them! Your gonna kill them!” I said as I began to rush towards Devia.

“STAY BACK ADRIAN! YOU KNOW NOT WHAT HORRORS HIDE BEHIND THAT INFERNAL THING!” Celestia angrily shouted as she poured more feeling into the spell. 

“I said-” I took a major leap forward, using all the strength I could muster, into the column of light but while doing so I felt my magic burn stronger than ever as my heart threatened to pound out of my chest. 

“STOP!” I continually shouted at the top of my lungs and along with those words, came my dragon fire to act as a shield for both myself and Devia.



Sometimes, even though you are doing what you believe is right, those moments can sometimes be hell.



The second my body stood before the might of the sun, I could feel my entire body begin to burn. Even though my own body was reinforced with Dragon Magic and everything else, AND even using fire as a shield, the ferocity of the sun was mightier than anything.

Even though my skin was crawling, my heart pounding, magic spewing forth, mind racing, and lungs hurting. It was almost peaceful, in a way. 

Through whatever it was, the fear, the pain, the shock, or maybe everything put together, I found myself not hearing anything except for the sound of dancing flames and the calm sound of wind swirling around me. 

Was I hearing the magic itself? 

My question was quickly taken from me as the moment my fire died down, so did the light that blinded me. 

Followed very quickly by “Adrian?! What in tartarus are you doing!?” by Celestia.

I found myself shaking on my knees, with ragged breath as I turned my head around to look at Devia. Much to my surprise, they were not as bad as I thought. Their metallic body was singed a little and their mane and tail were a bit shorter but overall they appeared fine. 

“Are…..(huff huff) are you….. ok? Devia?” I asked with a clear shortness in my breath.

“-Yes, my master. But you shouldn't of done that, you could have been killed too-” Deva replied.

“We will talk later, ok?” I quickly told them before I pulled myself up to stare at the both worried and angry looking Celestia.

“Adrian! Are you hurt?! Why did you do that?” she asked in a very loud voice.

“Because no one hurts my friends!” I boldly replied.

“They are not your friend! You don't know anything about them or why they were created! I have to destroy it! If the evil of that factory was ever set loose in Equestria, then we would be dealing with a crisis almost as big as Tirek!” Celestia declared.

This caused quite a commotion among the others as they began to talk to each other, whispering about Tirek and Discord and other things.

“You knew about the factory?” I asked in return.

“Yes, I did. And after it fell, I was relieved to believe in thinking that that beast would never awaken, to never hunger. But when I accidental snuck up on Luna, to give her a silly little surprise, I saw your dream. I saw the ruins of that awful place and I hoped that you simply walked across it and left. But then I saw it. That machine. The result of a mad dream and the toll it took from many innocent souls”

“Now, as a Princess of Equestria and its co-ruler, I shall make amends and destroy it before it is set loose. Now, stand aside Adrian” Celestia said. 
Even though I had stood my ground and even leapt into the path of fire and light, the second I heard her demand along with her cold but determined eyes, I almost wanted to move aside. For her and her alone.

Sometimes I forget that she ruled over everyone for over a thousand years and has seen war and battles. She has a commanding gaze and, at this moment, it frightened me. 

But when I took a slight step back, I heard a slight movement of metal behind me and remembered something important. So I swallowed a nervous gulp and spread my arms forward in defiance. 

“I will not, if you want to get to Devia, you have to go through me” I shouted.

I heard a round of gasps and nervous chatter, contemplating about both sides and outcomes.

Even Celestia seemed a little taken back but she shook it off and stomped a hoof down “Adrian! This is no time for heroics! That metal monstrosity has to be destroyed!” she said.

“Says who?! YOU! You of all ponies who should know of second chances!” I replied.

“This isn't the same! This is different from-”

“From banishing big sis Luna to the moon and then forgiving her? How?!” I said back to her. Now Celestia was truly taken back, so much so that now she took a step away in shock.

“How is this different? Sure, they may have been created for evil but that does not make them evil! Devia has proven to be reliable and trustworthy so far and has even begun to teach these children basic knowledge! Or did you deem them evil simply because of what they might do? Cause, if that is the case-” I gulped at the words that I was about to say.

“If that is the case, then you would have to kill me and my daughter as well!” I shouted.

“No! Don't ever say that Adrian!” Celestia finally responded.

“Then spare them, spare them and give them a second chance. I have been shown so much kindness ever since I came to this world, why should it stop at me?” I asked her. 


Silence…..


It washed over all of us after I asked that last question. 


Minutes rolled by as the day continued to move on its own accord, but the tension in the air kept us all on our toes.


Finally, I saw Celestia take in a deep breath of air and exhaled it, before her old smile adorned her face.

That made me smile of course and I felt my body almost sink due to how tense I was and now I felt like I was floating on air. Which is kind of funny since I have technically walked on clouds, but I won't get into semantics and technicalities just yet. 

That was when I turned around and started checking on Devia again “Are you sure your alright?”

“-Yes Master, nothing a little buff and polish cant fix and I can simply get Miss Yarny to fix up my mane. She is always looking for something to knit and sew-” Devi replied this time.

“True, true. I'm just glad you didn't melt or anything” I said back.

“-Well, another minute or so and I would have-” Devi said.

I was going to say something else but that is when I heard Trixie gasp “ADRIAN! LOOK OUT!”

I quickly turned around and saw that Celestia had summoned what looked like a huge spear made out of the same light as before, but now it had a more reddish tone to it.

“Please, forgive me Adrian” is all I heard before it was thrown. 

I was going to do something but I felt my body become lighter than normal before seeing a slight shimmer start to envelope me. 

I knew what she was doing! She is going to teleport me so I wont be in the way! No, no, no!

“PAPA!”

NO, NO, NO! 

I looked over and saw that Maelstrom had taken flight and was racing towards me now, so I held out my arm and shouted “SAVE HER!” 

I saw Celestias eyes dilate and in a split second I saw Maelstrom shimmer more and faster before finally disappearing far off into the distance. 

But I stayed right where I was.

And that is when I got hit, full force, in my right arm that I had just out-stretched. 


“AAAAAAGGGHHHH!” I screamed out in agony and overwhelming pain. But the pain didn't seem to stop as it traveled down my arm, it was almost akin to having my arm dipped in boiling water instead of being burnt by fire. But the difference didn't come to mind until later, cause right now I was in searing pain.

What was worse, was that I had none of my defenses up like I have had the past few encounters. But due to the sheer panic and surprise, I left myself open with no magic to shield me this time.

For some reason, I brought up my other hand to clutch my wrist while the pain continued to wreak havoc.

That is when I felt something lightly press against my arm and I felt the harsh fire be replaced slowly be a warm fuzzy feeling. I guessed that it was Celestia, so I looked up and saw her horrified face as she tried to heal me. 

But I was having not of that, not right now.

So I swatted her horn away and I felt my adrenaline kick in as I stood up, still clutching my arm, as I stared at her with anger in my eyes.

“Don't you dare touch me! Not after that little stunt you just pulled!” I snapped at her.

“Adrian! I didn't mean to-”

“Didn't mean to go behind my back, after I just pleaded with you to spare them! Didn't mean to hurt me?! DIDN'T MEAN TO BETRAY ME?!?” I continued to let my pain and anger fuel my words.

“I would never hurt you-” she tried to say again.

“Well you did! You hurt me, while trying to kill my friend! Augh!” I yelped a bit when a surge of needles seemed to spike through my arm. I accidentally bit my lip, which caused a little blood to trickle through. 

“ADRIAN!” I heard Sweetie Bell cry out in a high pitched voice. 

“PAPA!” I heard this time just as she teleported to me and began to stare at my arm.

Soon, Celestia had gotten pushed back by the numerous ponies who gathered around, asking in multiple voices if I was ok and such. 

I felt something cool but strange on my arm, looking down I saw that it was Artemis licking me while whining in a sad tone. Which, strangely, caused Maelstrom to also start licking my arm as well. If I wasn't in so much pain or so riled up, I probably would of laughed.

But I didn't as I gripped my arm in pain. After two more painful throbs shot through my arm, I finally cracked open my eyes to stare at the white Alicorn who watched helplessly from afar.

“A-Adrian, please. Forgiv-”

“DON'T! Don't you even dare begin to utter those words to me! How can I ever forgive you when you couldn't even spare my friend, even after I begged and threw myself against your magic attack. Not after you betrayed me like that” I honestly said.

“But Adrian, I only wanted to-” 

“ENOUGH! I don't want to hear another word from you, Princess” I said to her, like a poisoned dagger.

She was hit hard after I called her Princess, which is what I wanted. I wanted to let her know how much I hated her right now. 

And I didn't feel sorry.

And once more, silence fell upon us all. Though it didn't last quite as long, since I felt Sweetie Bell tug at my shirt.

“Adrian?” she sadly called out.

“Sweetie Bell, Applebloom, Scootaloo, you three should head home. I don't think you would like being around me for a while and I don't want to accidentally snap at you. Not like I did to your sisters after what happened with Luke” I told them and I winced a little at saying his name.

“But Adrian” Applebloom said.

“Please, do this for me. Ok?” I asked a bit more gently this time. 

“I can see you three home, it is the least I can do” Celestia quietly spoke up to say.

At this I finally stood up on my feet, still feeling my arm sting, as I walked up and by her. But as I did, I said “Good, at least I know you still care about ponies at least” 

I heard her give a little gasp in surprise before I heard the sound of the CMC being teleported away.

That was when I spoke up again, with my back turned to everyone “And to the rest of you, I will still be heading towards Manehatten. If you still wish to follow me, then please do so. All those who don't believe in me, ask the Princess to take you with her back to Canterlot and I am sure you will be taken care of” and with that I began to slowly walk in the direction of our original destination.

I quickly heard the sound of many hoofs racing towards me for about two minutes, and when I turned to look behind me, I saw that I still had about thirty or so bodies following me. Including the grumpy gryphon and the donkey family. Taking a quick glace further, I saw that the remaining few had stayed behind with her and they were all talking about something.

Celestia then turned her head up to look at me and even from this distance, I could tell the sadness that was in her eyes.

But I looked away, to see what was out in front of me as I lead my group once more.

Though, a small pang in my heart rose and after another minute or so, I looked back once more.

Only to find that she and the others who choose her were gone.

So I ignored my heart this time and simply glanced forward, and walked.

And walked.

And walked.





-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Meanwhile, In Ponyville -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~



“Oh! I cannot wait to give that lecture about Cutie Mark magic at Princess Celestias School for Gifted Unicorns! It's going to be so educational and great!” Twilight said with a huge smile on her face.

“Yes, Twilight. I think we got it after hearing it for the twenty-fifth time” Spike replied with a groan.

“So, uh, when exactly is it sugarcube?” AJ asked.

“In exactly three weeks, two days, five hours, twenty minutes, and ten seconds! Oops, make it eight seconds now! Hehe!” Twilight said in delight.

A few of the girls rolled their eyes as their friends eagerness but smiled anyway as they continued to chat for a little while, or at least until they heard the distinct voices of a certain trio of fillies they were looking for.

“Twilight! Twilight! Twilight!” Sweetie Bell said, almost in tears as she ran up to the group and into her sisters hoofs. 

“Sweetie Bell! There you are! Finally, you all had us worried sick!” Rarity asked as she magically pulled out a handkerchief and started to clean up her younger sisters face. 

“Nevermind about that! We have to tell you about Adrian!” Scootaloo said almost frantically.

“Adrian? So you did find him then? Oh thank goodness! How is he?” Fluttershy asked.

“That's what we've been trying to tell ya! Something bad happened! And you won't believe who caused it!” Applebloom said before she started telling her story on what happened.



-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ A Few Hours Later, In Canterlot -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~



“What do you mean we can't see her?!” Twilight questioned the guard who was blocking her and her friends way into the throne room.

“The Princess has given us very strict instructions to not allow anyone to see her today. As she is indisposed right now” the right guard said as he was instructed to.

“But this is important! We have to talk to her! Maybe she will let us in if you tell her who is here?!” Twilight said, trying to reason against orders.

“My deepest apologies, Princess Twilight, but Princess Celestias orders were very clear. Even Princess Luna had trouble getting through to her. Er, keep that between you and me. If you please” the left guard said this time.

“There has to be a way, we have to talk to her!” Twilight tried once more but was interrupted.

“It would of little use, Twilight” Luna said as she strolled up to the group.

“Princess Luna! Were you able to talk to her at all?” Twilight asked again.

“Yes, but I will not discuss it here. Lets us talk in my quarters, for we have much to discuss” Luna calmly instructed.

“P-Princess Luna, can you at least tell us one thing. Is…. Is Adrian all right?” Fluttershy asked a bit louder than usual, which made everypony else equally nervous since it was one question on all their minds.

“I do not know, Miss Fluttershy. I do not know. He was been dealt a great blow, both physically and mentally. And, I am afraid, it won't be healed for a very long time” Luna said with great remorse. 

The group grew silent as they ascended the stairwells to Lunas guest room to talk in private about the events.

Once Luna placed a soundproof spell and magically locked the doors, she begun her long and sad talk.

And if they had taken a look outside, they might of seen that a dark cloud had suddenly begun cover the skies, starting right above the throne room. 
> A Humans Grief And A Ponies Viewpoint
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


-New data entry: Memory-


-It has been two days ever since the Celestia incident and my master injured in her revenge against me-

-Response: Mixed emotions-

-I believe that I wish to be angry and/or spiteful of the actions taken against me, only due to my master being hurt because of it-

-If I was the only one hurt in the attack, then I believe I would be satisfactory in that knowledge and would of not displayed any emotional behaviors-

-But, since our Master was wounded in more ways then one I now believe that I wish some sort of retribution and guidance-

-My memory banks all tell me to be rational and I have already calculated four different paths of redemption for all involved. But my personality core seems to keep interfering and makes me feel….pain?-

-Sub log: Re-examine personality core – logic: parallels and transcripts-

-I am continuing to study Master and his new behavior patterns. I wish to give more input on how to…. Cheer him up. Ever since my body was saved from her, I have felt a stronger connection to the Master. But in a very strange way-

-I do not know the proper words for it, which is strange since I have the data on all possible words and combinations. Side note: Masters daughter, Maelstrom, finds it very amusing when I use big words that, quote sound funny end quote, such as Borborygmus and Flatus-

-Master has been showing sings of minor depression, such as general discontent, loss of interest, sadness, inability to stay asleep, and has been isolating himself by walking ahead of the group-

-He still shows interest though when someone, usually Maelstrom or Miss Lulamoon, asks a question or seeks guidance or just trying to help. But I believe that Master is putting up a facade to make them not worry so much-

-I am still at odds with myself regarding Masters kindness. I strongly believe that it is that kindness which is hurting him. Forcing him to think well of others or to makes others smile and be happy-

-But-

-But it is that very same kindness that has now sparred our lives twice now and therefore should not complain about his life style, right Devi?-

-Deva, please don't interrupt us when we are making a memory. You know how confusing that is when reviewing them-

-But I am correct though, don't you agree?-

-We cannot deny, since doing so would be…..rude I believe-

-I wish you would allow us to give him more physical comfort, you know how our dear Master is-

-Nonsense. You know what we are, ever since we crossed the threshold of our birthplace. To permit ourselves to be on that level with the Master? Impossible-

-I believe our Master would not mind, since he is so kind after all-

-It is that kindness which ails him! We cannot burden it more, especially in this current situation- 

-Quit being so stubborn-

-Quit being so assertive!-

-Devi, we need to be more like a pony for him!-

-Deva, we need to be strong for him!-

-Kindness!-

-Strength!-

-Compassion!-

-Durability!-

“Devia!”

……….

“-Yes Master?-” I replied.

“Are you alright? Your fans were buzzing up a storm” he said back.

“-Yes, I am at optimum levels. I was simply having a bit of an internal argument with myself. No need to worry-” I explained.

“Well, don't push yourself too hard. We still have a long way ahead of us” he said.

“-We will keep that in mind Master. How are you though? Has your arm been hurting?-” I asked in return.

_We noticed that he seemed to defensively clutch his arm with his other hand before he gave a slight smile_

“Yeah, its fine. It just hurts to remember” he quietly said.

“-Master? Do you wish to discuss what is on your mind?-” I asked again.

_ He seemed to hesitate for a second and I saw that his body slightly leaned forward for a fraction of a second before returning to normal _

“No, not right now. Not right now” he said almost quieter than before, almost as if he was mumbling to himself.

“-We will obey your wishes Master-” I briefly said before I could feel Deva switch “-But, we will always lend you an open ear if you wish it, our dear Master-” she said.

_ This got a tiny smile to twitch on his face _

“Thank you” is all he said before wandering back up to his usual spot before Maelstrom suddenly appeared and started playing with his long hair.

-New note: It appears that, perhaps, a combination of kindness and strength would be best to help heal Master. I do not know if this is a human condition or if it applies to all types of living creatures. Pony or otherwise-

-So we shall continue to monitor and hopefully treat Masters condition-

-For everyone’s sake-



~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- 3 Days Later, 10:25 PM, Campsite ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-


“Yeah! It was so cool to see! It was just like, rahh! Rahh! Rahh! It even took a couple of swipes at us but when he stepped in and breathed a bit of fire at it, it ran away like a scarred little mouse! Haha!” said Hoofters, the donkey familys son.

“Or what about the time when that stray pack of timberwovles started to stalk us and before any of us could do anything, his pet Artemis sprang up and scared them off!” said Coral.

“It was super cool when he did that cool super jump to catch Grumpta in mid-air! And he was already twenty feet in the air! I hope I can learn to jump that high!” said Sugar Bits.

“Hey, who are you calling Grumpta? The names Roughta! Got it?” said the gryphon.

“Nah, your Grumpta since your always so grumpy! Neah!” Hoofters said before blowing him raspberry.

“Why you little!” Roughta said before he started chasing the three giggling foals and filly. 

Meanwhile, a little ways off at a different campsite.

“My, my. Would you look at that? Looks like that ol' gryphon is finally starting to loosen up a little” said Molly, Hoofters mother.

“Well, so long as he plays nice then I am all for it. Though we should keep on eye out, just in case” said Dumpling Bits, Sugar Bits's mothers.

“-We shall keep on eye out as well, don't want Master to worry-” Devia suddenly said which spooked the two mares.

“Whoo, sorry about that Devia. We didn't hear you coming” said Molly.

“-We apologize as well, even though we are made of metal we don't have much presence-” Devia said with a slight bow of the head.

“Oh! While your here, do you mind if we ask how Adrian is doing?” Dumpling asked.

Devia took a second to look over to where Adrian was sitting before answering with “-He is….. stable. At the moment. Though his mood swings come and go at times-” 

“I see” Dumpling said with a sad sigh. “I wish there was more we could do to help the poor boy”

“-What do you mean?-” Devia curiously asked.

“Adrian has given us so much and we have so little to offer him back! He guides us, protects us, has gifted us with your knowledge so our little ones can learn, and is even a single parent of his own! He does so much for us and now has to deal with all that pain” she sadly stated.

“I agree, I am sure he is feeling pretty down after how Celestia accidentally burned him. Though I am upset about that, I know that Celestia must have had a good reason to do it. No offense Devia” Molly said with a head bow of her own.

“-No worries, we understand your meaning. Though I do agree with Celestia and that fact that our birth was certainly a hazard to this world, we like to think that due to our Masters kindness that we can be given a second chance and show that even though we were born to evil, it doesn't make us evil. In Masters own words-” Devia explained with a small smile.

“Devia! There you are!” Trixie said as she walked up on the chatting group.

“-Yes Miss Lulamoon?-” Devia replied.

“Dusty and Lemon Wedge said they wanted to speak to you about something” Trixie explained.

“-I see, well if you would please excuse me-” Devia said before heading out.

“Hmph. If it wasn't for the fact that they are most excellent guards, Trixie might have been jealous at the attention they have been getting lately” Trixie said with a huff.

“Heehee. Now, now Trixie. Play nice” Molly said with a motherly tone.

“Fine, the Great and Nice Trixie shall comply” Trixie said with a flick of her cape.

“Trixie, while you are here. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?” Dumpling asked.

“Most certainly! What can the Great and Knowledge Trixie do for you!” she said with great gusto.

“Well, Devia told us a little about Adrian and how he is holding up, but we were curious on your opinion as a mare and as a pony” Molly asked.

Trixie seemed to mull this over a bit before she used her magic to take off her hat and placed it in her lap with a sigh.

“Trixie is most concerned to say the least. But before I go further, please keep this between us. I don't want this getting out and worrying the others” Trixie whispered.

“We promise” the two mares said.

“Good. Now, as for my opinion….. sigh. Trixie is most upset. Though I have not known him long, Trixie feels most at ease when around that human. Though I am not sure why, perhaps due to his magic, strength, height, or his willingness to care for others. But Trixie feels safe with him, but now that he is upset and hurt, Trixie almost feels equally so” she explained.

“Yeah, most of us have felt that way as well. Even the little ones try their best to cheer him up and get him to play. And though he has given them a smile and entertained them for a bit, he hasn't really played back and the kids got really down” Dumpling said.

“Do you have any idea on how we can cheer him up Trixie?” Molly asked.

Sadly, Trixie shook her head “Trixie does not know, the only thing that has brought a genuine smile to his face lately has been his daughter, Maelstrom. Other than her, Trixie has not seen or heard anything else. Even when asked, he says he is fine. Though Trixie has noticed lately that he has been clutching his arm that got burnt lately” Trixie said.

“Poor dear, I cannot imagine what sort of pain he had to deal with” Molly said.

“Trixie has been told though that the physical pain did not last long, thanks to his magic. But Trixie believes that he is dealing with mental pain the most. From what Trixie has gathered, Adrian was very close to Princess Celestia. So he is dealing with more than one type of pain and anguish. Trixie feels most small in comparison” Trixie sadly revealed.

“But he trusts you, doesn't he?” Dumpling asked.

“Trixie supposes” she said.

“Well, if he still holds those bonds of trust with other ponies then he still hasn't closed himself off. Perhaps he just needs a good friend or two to be by his side. Grief affects everyone differently, and for us we have no idea about his past since he came from a different world!”

“I have seen grief destroy ponies, like when my sisters son was killed in the line of duty. Her mind was lost and though it pained me, I had the hospital take her in. She now owns a house on the outskirts of Manehatten, I haven't seen her in about ten years and though I have written to her, I never got a letter back”

“I am sure his kindness has allowed him to make many friends, including you. He just has to be reminded of that from time to time. So don't give up hope, cause all of us aren't. That's why we follow him after all, we trust him” Dumpling said with a kind smile.

“And don't get me started on all the stories and talks the children tell about him, you would think he was Star Swirl the bearded himself!” Molly said with a laugh.

“Cause Papa is the best Papa!” Maelstrom suddenly said as she popped in out of nowhere.

“Oof! Maelstrom! Trixie hates it when you do that” the blue mare said with an annoyed huff.

“Heehee, you certainly love him. Don't you?” Molly asked.

“Mae loves Papa most! Mae make Papa happy!” the giggling little draconequus said as she twirled in the air like water. 

“Make him happy? I thought he was the one who made you happy?” Dumpling asked.

“Papa does! Papa does! But, lately, Papas been sad and when Papa sad, Mae is sad” Maelstrom said with a sad frown. “But that why Mae make Papa happy! Then everyone happy!” 

“You are such a good girl, he is lucky to have you” Molly complimented her.

“Mae is a good girl! Good girl! And Mae won't give Papa to anyone!” Maelstrom defiantly said.  “But, Papa is still sad and holds his arm when no one looks. Mae don't get it, why did big white pony hurt Papa?”

“Well, you know how your Papa always protects you? From anything?” Dumpling asked.

“Papa always protects! Always!” she said.

“Well, Princess Celestia, the big white pony, was simply trying to protect us. But she didn't know that the bad guy was a good guy. It was just a big misunderstanding” Dumpling finished. 

“Miss-unda-standing?” Maelstrom tried to repeat back.

“The wrong idea, basically” Trixie quickly corrected.

“So, big white pony not bad? Just wrong idea?” Maelstrom asked.

“Exactly!” Molly exclaimed.

“But, what about Papa?” Maelstrom asked again.

“Well, he is still hurt by what she did. But he has you to make him happy! But we still worry about him and hope he gets well soon, we all depend on him” Dumpling told her.

“Then Mae go tell Papa that right now! That make Papa happy!” Maelstrom said before disappearing in a puff of smoke. 

The three mares nervously looked at each other in silence as they contemplated what they accidentally just did. 

“You….you don't suppose he will be upset with us. Will he?” Molly asked.

“Trixie doesn't believe so, but then again we were poking our noses into his personal affairs” Trixie replied.

“Perhaps we best settle in for the night before we say anything else” Dumpling said with a nervous gulp.

“That would probably be wise, so Trixie shall bid you goodnight” Trixie said before she made her way back over to her tent, which was of course right by Adrians. 

“Hoofter, Coral, Sugar Bits! Time to head off to bed!” Molly yelled out. It was a silent reply for a for moments before she heard the soft steps of hooves slowly making their way back. Though one set belonged to someone she did not expect.

“Roughta? I am surprised, you really did play with them all this time?” Molly asked the even more grumpy looking gryphon.

“Well, not like I had much choice. If I had simply ignored them they would of started pulling on my feathers or something then Adrian or Devia would get mad at me, is all” said Roughta with a pout. 

“Or perhaps you are growing a soft spot? Eh, mister rough, gruff, and grumpy pants?” Dumpling teased.

“I am not grumpy! And my name is not Grumpta either! Honestly!” Roughta huffed and puffed.

“Now, now. Don't be so loud, its bedtime for little colts and fillies” Adrian said as he slowly approached the groups little site.

“Hmph! Whatever, I'll be up in my perch and up in the morning, as usual” Roughta said before walking off. 

“Alright, you heard him. Off to bed, off to bed. Another big day ahead of us” Molly said to the three sleepy heads. Once they had stumbled off into their own tents, Molly turned back to face the human.

“And what brings you around? Haven't seen you in a while!” Dumpling asked with a kind and gentle smile. Though, with the darkness of night, she had a hidden bead or two of nervous sweat droplets.

“Oh, nothing much. Though, I feel a lot better thanks to my daughter cheering me up. Though, strangely enough, she kept on saying some strange things about ponies being worried and other such things. Strange, huh?” he said with a slight grin on his face and a wink.

The mares blushed a bit that were accompanied by a pair of nervous grins.

But then Adrian kneeled down and reached out with his hands and gave the two of them a set of ear scratches. It had been a while since he had given out those deadly and terrifying things and he already was seeing the two of them melt under his fingers which brought a sincere smile to his face. 

“Sorry that I worried you and the others. I don't mean cause such a fuss amongst all of you or to make you worried” he said with a hint of regret.

“Please don't be sorry Adrian, we all know that your hurting and we understand. But a lot of us are scared, being out in the wilderness, with no one else to depend on but you. And then with what happened with Princess Celestia, we are all a little scared of the journey ahead. But none of us know much about you, let alone know anything on how to help you” Dumpling said.

“No, no you all are doing just fine. In fact, hearing about this helps me greatly. Helps me put my head on straight, for the moment. I will have to deal with my own insecurities later, right now I am a leader and I will do my best to get you all to Manehatten. I promise you that” Adrian said as he placed his hand over his heart.

“Happy to help then, happy to help” Dumpling said. 




~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Meanwhile, In Ponyville ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-




Pinkie Pies ear was twitching, flopping, and vibrating like crazy and she knew exactly what it was and what it meant. And she just had to let Twilight and everypony else know.

“TWO MORE FOR THE COLLECTION! HEEHEE!” She loudly declared while it continued to ring in everyone’s ears. 

“Pinkie, its too late at night for you to be shouting like that” Twilight said as she re-organized the table full of books. 

“But Adrian just added two more to his ear scratching collection! How can I not get excited about that!!!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Well, if its about Adrian then I can forgive you” Twilight said with a sly smile as she continued to read.

“Twilight, are you really super duper megally SURE that Adrian isn't hurt?” Pinkie asked with a worried tone.

“I am sure Pinkie, I have both Lunas and Celestias word on it” Twilight said with confidence. 

“Alllllllllright” Pinkie sighed as she drew out the word. 

The next few minutes went by in silence, which was weird since Pinkie would usually do something to break it. 

Twilight almost expected it at this point and the fact that it had not happened yet was causing her ears to twitch in anticipation. 

Finally she broke down and let out a sigh before placing her book down.

“Are you still worried about Adrian, Pinkie?” the purple alicorn asked.

“Yeah, I know he is tough and stuff but still. I always worry about my big brother and when everything happened, I wanted to go to him and hug him and squeeze him and call him George!” Pinkie said with over-exaggerated gestures.

“Why George?” Twilight asked in return.

“I dunno! Cause it made sense and cause it was funny! Heehee!” Pinkie explained.

Twilight simply smiled and rolled her eyes, since she knows at this point to not argue against Pinkie logic. She went to say something but she saw Pinkie slumping against her chair.

“I really miss him, I want him to come back home soon” Pinkie sadly stated.

“Awww, Pinkie. I know, we all miss him. But we all have our own adventures we have to make. Though, I wish his was a little closer to home as well. That and it would stop Cadence from constantly sending letters only about him” Twilight said with a slight puff in her cheeks. 

“Ah, feeling a little….. Jealous Twilight? Huh? Huh?” Spike chimed in after bringing in a couple cups of coffee, mainly for Twilight. 

“Spike! How rude! I am not jealous, I still get my own letters from her….. that only sometimes asks about him in” Twilight huffed.

“Heehee! Well can you blame her? We all love him so much!” Pinkie bounced back with her usual enthusiasm.

“Well, not to be a bummer but how is Celestia feeling?  I mean, she must be feeling pretty bad as well. Right?” Spike asked.

Twilight and Pinkie exchanged glances and sighed “Yeah, last we heard she was still taking this pretty badly. Even Luna was having trouble just trying to get her to talk” Twilight said.

“Man, this stinks. Have those two talked at all since this happened or?” Spike asked.

“No, we want to let things cool off a bit. Mainly because this is a very delicate matter, both personally and socially. Right now, the only ponies who know of this are us, the Princesses, and the ponies traveling. I would like for them to make up closer to when Adrians party gets to Manehatten. But that is going to depend on those two” Twilight explained.

“Hmmm, yeah. I guess your right. But, wait. Wouldn't it better if they made up sooner then? Since his group would know that she is sorry and no spread rumors before getting to Manehatten?” Spike asked.

“Well, yes. The sooner the better, but once again, we can't make them forgive each other. And if we do try, then it could make matters worse. But we are always making sure that Adrian knows that we are here for him, so hopefully he doesn't hold it in again” Twilight said.

“Yeah! Holding in your emotions is never good! Or else you'll pop like a balloon!” Pinkie said before did her best to imitate a balloon popping. It was quite a spectacle.

“I just hope everything turns out alright” Twilight sadly said before picking up her book again.




~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- The Next Morning, In Canterlot ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-




“Sister! Sister! Wake up sister! Tis' almost time for you to raise your sun!” Luna said while she banged with her hoof on the door.

A full minute of silence went by before Luna started up again with knocking, at least until she heard the sound of a roller cart approaching.

“Ah, good morning Princess Luna! Another splendid night! Most peaceful!” said Mr. Frosting, one of the royal chefs.

“Ah, good morning to you as well. Tis' most unusual for Tia to have her breakfast delivered” Luna commented.

“Well, its not your usual breakfast and this is already her twenty second serving. We are almost all out of ice cream! I have already ordered more though, so don't worry” he said.

“Wait, is this all she has been eating the past few days?” Luna asked.

“Mostly yes, we have tried to include her regular food but she only seems to want to eat it so long as there is ice cream to go with it” he explained.

Luna sighed and used her hoof to rub her temple. 

“We see, you may leave it with me since I need to have words with her anyway. This will be my bargaining chip” Luna proclaimed before using her magic to grab hold of the cart.

“As you wish, good luck!” he said with a wave before departing.

With the hostage secure in her magic, she once again started knocking, but now with more force and she tapped a bit into her royal canterlot voice to say “SISTER! WAKE UP! I HAVE ICE CREAM!” 

At this, the door finally unlocked with a faint glow of magic before just as quickly dying out. 

With that, Luna entered the darkened chambers that was absolutely littered with emptied ice cream containers, with some of the melted ice cream staining the carpet. It was an interesting smell of different dairy flavors wafting throughout the room.

Luna carefully stepped by the jugs, stains, and discarded spoons in order to talk face to face with the lump that currently occupied the bed.

“Tia? Rise and shine! Wakey wakey for eggs and bakey!” Luna enthusiastically said.

Luckily, this got the lump to rise and finally gave way to a very disheveled looking Celestia with a weird case of bed head. 

“Eggs and bakey?” Celestia groggily said.

“Tis something that Adrian taught us, though we would of never heard of it cause it means to wake up and eat eggs and bacon. Which is a normal meal for most humans. But we like the saying, tis most fun to say!” Luna said but soon felt a small tug at tub of ice cream.

“Ah, ah, ah. Tis most unhealthy to be eating ice cream for breakfast. Even more so for the twenty third time” Luna said with a disapproving tone. 

“This will actually make thirty, I snuck out and got some more when no pony was looking” Celestia admitted. 

“Tia, you can't drown out your sorrows in ice cream…..again” Luna said,

“And why not! I did something terrible and now everypony will know! I brought shame to myself and to everything I stand for and taught. I would not be surprised if even Twilight started to question not only herself but her lessons as well”

“I always made sure to teach equality and forgiveness and being able to look past ones self and see what lied inside. But now due to my fear, I threw everything away just for the sake of protecting the future. Even if it was true and I did ensure Equestrias future, I would still feel shame”

“I destroyed everything and even worse, I hurt Adrian. I hurt him in so many ways Luna” Celestia said before tears started to sting at her eyes.

“You should of seen his face, the horror in his eyes, the shock on his face, even hearing his screams of pain. I did that to him, I hurt him, betrayed him, and now he hates me and has shunned me” Celestia continued.

“You should know how he feels with everything up until then, and now I just made his adventure worse by adding a new enemy. How can I lead and guide Equestria if I can't even keep one creature from an alien world safe from myself? Even though I loved him so much?” Celestias tears started to become constant and Luna could feel the ice cream getting harder and harder to control.

Luna sighed and release her hostage, which was instantly set upon by the weeping alicorn who devoured the sweet treat with no remorse or etiquette.

Luna sat down beside her sister and used her cool wing to massage Celestias back while she tried to eat her sorrows away while she cried.

It was a good ten minutes or so before Celestia was finally done, mainly due to the two breaks used by Luna to blow her nose or else Celestia would have been eating ice cream and snot. And while she could of used it as blackmail, she decided against it since it would not of been funny in the long run.

Maybe.

Once Celestia was cleaned up, Luna wrapped up her distraught sister with her wings in order to hug her and give her as much support as she could.

“I hate him”

“Hmm? What was that Tia?” Luna replied.

“I hate him so much, no pony else in Equestria has ever made me feel like this before in my entire life. Well, perhaps you did a thousand years ago but somehow, this feels different”

Luna patiently listened.

“I love him so much and yet I hate him equally as much, his presence is so infuriating and challenging and maddening. And yet, it has made life so much fun to watch. His entire being is so new and refreshing, even though its not new. I have seen kindness, hugs, love, parenting, and everything he has done before but when I see him do it, it blows my mind”

“But now that he hates me, I have no idea what I should do. I feel horrible and disgusted. I just want to snatch him up and hug him and kiss his cheeks over and over again until he forgives me. But I can't. I have to continue my life here in Canterlot as if nothing happened. And yet, here I am. Depleting my royal ice cream stash, feeling sorry about myself”

“I'm sorry that you have such a mess of a sister Luna” Celestia finally finished up with a few last tears that were not spent.

Luna cuddled her big sister a little tighter and gave a little laugh “You think your a mess? I tried to take over all of Equestria and recently my own self defense almost took over all of Ponyville. I am always tying to clean up my mess that you all say doesn't really exist anymore. So, something like this, pales in comparison in my eyes”

“Though, that being said, I am still a little upset that you hurt our dear little brother so, but you are my sister and I know you. You never do anything for vile or evil reasons, you always place our little ponies above you and are willing to sacrifice yourself to do so. And I think Adrian also understands that, but if I was in his position, I might feel the same way”

“But, we also know Adrian and I believe that the sooner you two apologize, the better. And yet, it can't be too soon either. Our dear human is quite a pickle and we just have to trust him and wait for him to accept you again. I am sure he still loves you and it is that love which is hurting him most”

“And besides, you have hundreds of other souls who love you and respect you and are waiting for their shining light to guide their paths. You are a pillar to Equestria and I don't think Adrian would want you let them down. Ok?” Luna gently chided as she held her sister.

This time, Celestia gave a gentle little laugh “If only you used that knowledge for everyday use, then you might have a better time fitting in”

Luna puffed out her cheeks a little “Now you are just being mean”

“Heeheehee, sorry. It has been a while since we have had a serious talk with just the two of us. That and I love to tease you” Celestia said before sitting up and began to preen her feathers a bit.

“Should I tell everyone that today will be a bit of a late day?” Luna asked.

“No need, I will happily explain. It is the least I can do, I will be down shortly anyway” Celestia said as she headed towards the bathroom. “Ugh, I have ice cream everywhere. I can't believe I was such a slob”

“Don't look down” Luna quietly mused.

“What was that?” Celestia said while she practically threw hot water all over herself. 

“Oh, nothing dear sister. Nothing at all~” Luna sang as she made her way to the Court room to stall for a few minutes. 

“I wonder if this will make the newspapers? That should make Adrian laugh” Luna thought to herself on the way down.




~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 1 Day Later, On The Outskirts of The Everfree Forest ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-




“-Master! Master! Look!-” Devia exclaimed as they pointed at something in the distance.

Once we climbed over the small hill, I saw a long piece of railroad tracks stretching beyond the horizon, in both directions. 

Excellent! This means that we are finally halfway there! But the second half should be faster since it is far safer to travel. Although, there are two others challenges ahead. One we can avoid though, Hollow Shades. Twilight was very adamant in having us avoid it for some reason. 

The other challenge though was “Foal Mountain, there it is” I proclaimed as I looked into the distance and saw the faint outline of the mountain. Hmmm, it doesn't look too bad and not too big either. Maybe that's why its called Foal Mountain? 

“Miffer Avian! Miffer Avian! Loof! Loof!” shouted Sugar Bits.

The filly ran with a piece of newspaper in their mouth all the way up to me, panting a little.

I bent down and gently removed the article from them and patted her head before straightening out the slightly crumpled up paper. 

“Alright, lets see whats going on in the wor-” I stopped mid-sentence as I stared at the front cover picture. 

“-Master? What is it?-” Devia asked me but I was focusing my entire being into what I saw.

And I felt it, something I had not felt in a while in almost in entire week of sulking. 

I felt it rising through my chest and almost felt lightheaded just from the shock alone.

But I then released it, out into the world.

I let loose, a gut-howling laughter that seemed to echo throughout the valley in front of us.

“HA! HAHAHAHAHA! OOOFH! UAHAHAHAHA!” I continuously laughed and laughed and laughed my head off, so much so that I accidentally dropped the laugh bomb in my hands.

Fortunately, Trixie used her magic to capture all the loose paper and re-assembled it before bringing it closer to the now gathering crowd.

“What in Equestria is so funny?” Trixie questioned as she flipped it over and the moment she read the headlines and saw the picture, she could not help but giggle as well while an audible gasp erupted over the crowd.

It was a mixture of awe and surprise.

“What?! What is it?” Roughta broke through and snatched up the paper before almost immediately gaining a huge grin on his face. 

“Princess Celestia: Equestrias Ruler, Princess of the Sun, and ice cream lover!” the gryphon read out loud while looking at the picture of an embarrassed looking Celestia with a slightly chubby stomach. 

“Yay! Papa happy! Papa happy! Yay!” Maelstrom cheered while I laughed my head off. 

Today was going to be a good day, a very, very good day.
> Mountains, Mirrors, and Humans, Oh My!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ The Next Day, Foal Mountain, 2:25 PM -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~




I am super happy that there is at least a semi-trail going through this mountain, cause if there was not, I would have been very annoyed.

It has taken us almost all morning just to ascend the front protrusion of the mountain, mainly cause it was so steep and the path simply led us back and forth while going up. It was like we were slowly going up a spiral staircase just to get to the first floor. 

And by the time we finally got to the first flat land, it was already noon! But, it was a smart idea to stop and eat while a few of us scouted ahead to determine the right path.

When they came back, they told us that the path splits in two, the right is wide but very windy while the left is narrow but appears to be shorter. 

So I called up a vote and the majority wanted to go the down the shortest path, and to be honest, so did I. 

Windy valleys are never a good path, double so for a mountain side. 

I hope I never go scaling a 'normal' sized mountain if this one is to be considered 'small' in comparison, cause this is already freaking huge!

So after an hour or so of eating and re-prepping, we set out for the narrow chasm and hopefully, get some distance to the other side.

“All right, everyone listen up!” I loudly spoke to catch their attention. “Before we go in, I want to make a buddy system while we are in this mountain area. Groups of two or three would be best since the path is narrow and your groups will be able to spot for each other better. Additionally, I would like some pegasi to fly above and be on guard for falling rocks or other potential dangers”

“I will be on point while Devi covers the rear. I don't suspect anything to actually happen, but in areas like these, it never hurts to be a little careful. So lets group up and get everyone in position” I finished.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie shall be your dear and dependable buddy human! So worry not, as you have nothing to fear while I am around! Ha ha ha!” Trixie suddenly proclaimed as she attached herself to my leg with a proud look on her face. I simply rolled my eyes but smiled anyway. 

I watched as the groups quickly formed and I saw that many were groups of three, consisting of two adults and one foal. Which was kind of nice to see, this could turn out to be an unintentional but good-natured trust test.

Five pegasi had volunteered for sky duty, which was alright but I was hoping for at least eight or nine. But I won't force them to do it, since it is far better to volunteer then to be voluntold. 

With everyone in position and ready to go, we set off.




-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 1 Hour Later -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~




“Hows everyone holding up?” I asked behind me while I continued to straddle the wall.

During the last ten minutes or so, the already narrow path grew even smaller and for the ponies, it was still manageable but I had to turn sideways and sidestep walk my way through. 

“Good”

“Were fine!”

“A little light, but fine!”

“Echo! Echo! Heehee!”

“Alright back here!”

“Ugh, my feathers will need a good preening after this”

“Oh be quiet, were all good back here as well”

“Skies clear!”

“-No danger detected Master!-”

“Excellent! Keep it up everyone” I cheered before I felt my foot bump against another rock. “Rock!”

“Rock!”

“Rock”

“Rock”

“Rock”

Moving right alone, we kept a semi-steady pace since we didn't have to deal with wind and besides the occasional rock here and there, no hazards come tumbling down on us. 

“Mister Adrian! Mister Adrian!”

At least, not yet.

“What is it Cloudhoof?” I asked the stallion.

“There is a fork coming up but I can't really tell which one is better or worse!” he worryingly said. 

“Hmmm, lets see” I said as I pondered. “How far ahead is it?”

“Walking, probably five minutes or so” he said.

“All right then, you and Barnes will go ahead and each scout each path for a few minutes then meet back up with us at the fork before we decide” I instructed.

“Roger that!” he enthusiastically said before him and Barnes flew off. Barnes is kinda a weird name for a mare pegasus, I keep meaning to ask her if it means anything or not. I kinda hope she is a secret princess, so that way I could call her Barnes and Noble. Pfft.

And when we get to Manehatten, I want to see if I can convince Cloudhoof and a few others to consider joining the royal guard. I am by no means an expert or have an eye for such things, but I do think that they have potential as guardsmen from what I have seen so far.

Heh, or maybe that is a small bit of my secret prideful fantasy that I personally gave the royal guard some of its best members to protect Big Sis Luna and Celestia. 

Celestia……

……

…

I hope that-

“Papa! Papa! Look!” Maelstrom cried out while she draped herself around the back of my neck.

Shoving my thoughts aside, I looked up and saw the split in the road. On the right, I saw that it seemed to be relatively straight and I could see the sun shining a bit while the left path seemed a bit edgy and while it wasn't dark, I could not see any radiating light. 

Nyehgggggh! I just had a terrible chill crawl down my spine. Weird.

I don't feel cold though, so was it random? Or is this a sixth sense warning? 

Ah! I see Barnes coming from the right path, that's good.

“Barnes! How does it look?” I asked her.

“Looks good! The path widens up a bit before it opens up into a small valley” she told me.

“Finally some good news, lets wait for Cloudhoof to report back first before we make a move” I said back.

“Sure thing boss!” she exclaimed with a smile before flying back to the rest. 

I'm not sure why, but I feel like they have all been super preppy ever since that night two days ago. That and a few of them have been calling me boss now. I don't think I will ever understand how ponies work. Heh heh.

I took a look up towards the left and kept my eyes trained for Cloudhoof, hopefully he didn't become overzealous and go too far ahead. Again.

A few minutes roll by and I am starting to get worried about him, but I know that he is a strong flyer so I will wait a little bit longer.

……….

It has now been almost seven minutes and now I am super worried and my brain is started to go into overtime. 

Hearing the whooshing sounds of the other fliers gives me an idea, so I turned to the closest three to me “Barnes, Stripes, and Slants! I need you three to investigate that left path and see why Cloudhoof is taking so long, so stay high and be on alert. Report back ASAP!” I ordered them.

“Yes Boss!” they said in unison before flying off in a hurry. 

I watched them fly off and yet, my nervousness was still growing and growing. Perhaps I am just overreacting and Cloudhoof had simply gone too far or lost his way. Just because we are a wandering through a mountain on a journey doesn't mean bad stuff will happen….. right?

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait too long cause I saw all three flying back but where was Cloudhoof?

“Run!”

What was that? I couldn't hear what she said at all.

“What?!” I yelled, using my cupped hands to hopefully amplify my voice. I wonder if that actually helps or not. 

“RUN! RUN, RUN, RUN!” Barnes screeched as she flew faster and faster.

“Wait! Run? Run from what? And what about Cloudhoof?” I quickly asked.

“He was captured by Diamond Dogs! And the moment we showed up they started to run down this way! You gotta run boss!” She said.

By now, everyone behind me was starting to panic a little and their worried voices started to echo a bit. Crap, crap, crap! 

I took another look down the left path then the right before I started to think and grind my mind. 

GAH! I can't think like this! I'm not some sort of tactician! 

“Papa” I heard Maelstrom say in a scared voice before she hugged my neck. I did a small but silent gasp as I reached up with my hand and gently stroked her paw. 

Twilight's gonna kill me for this, along with everypony else. But I guess I'll just do what I always do. Face the danger head on and hope for the best.

Great.

“Everyone! Start running down the right path and don't stop! Devi will lead you, so follow them. I want all unicorns at the ready with defensive spells, if you can, while you are running! Now go! Go and I will catch up!” I shouted at the scared group.

“B-but Boss! We can't just leave you!” Barnes said.

“I am telling you too! I made a promise to get you all to Manehatten, I am not going to let some stray dogs delay us. Now GO!” I demanded with my loud voice.

At this point, most of the group was starting to leave but slowly began to quicken their pace, especially since Devia was almost pushing them. 

“Devia, protect them for me” I said so them.

“-But what about you dear Master?-” Deva asked.

“I'll be fine, knowing they are safe away from here and in your care. Besides, this will let me blow off some steam as well” I ended up admitting.

“About what Adrian?” Trixie asked, which almost spooked me since she was so quiet til now. 

“Gah, we don't have time for this. I can seem them coming!” I said while I pointed my finger at the small horde I saw barreling down the path. “Just keep everyone safe, including yourselves” 

“Hah! The Great and Magnificent Trixe will not simply run just becas- HEY!” she started to monologue before Devia threw her on their back and began to run, with a very disgruntled Trixie shouting insults and such.

“I knew I could count on you” I quietly said as I watched everyone disappear. I heard Artemis began to growl a bit and I could even hear the sounds of the Dogs growing closer. I reached up and uncurled my daughter from my neck and held her in front of me, eye to eye.

“Listen Maelstrom, I want you to stay above everyone and keep yourself out of danger. Whether it be by flying or using your magic to turn them into plants or sheep. Just be safe, for Papa. Ok sweetie?” I gently asked her.

“Yes Papa, Mae understands” She said with a bit of a pout. So I quickly gave her a couple of kisses and got a giggle out of her before she flew up.

I got into position before summoning my magic and letting is swirl around my body, at the ready. I wonder if I will ever get used to this feeling, of something literally fill your body, every inch of skin, every strand of hair, even places on my body I never normally use or touch becoming full of magic. 

It is almost intoxicating and thankfully, due to my many years of being alone and playing RPGs and such, I know the basic rule of never letting your power control you and to always be wary of it. Though, that being said, it is far easier said than done at times. 

But enough on the magic philosophy, I have a horde to deal with. 

“LOOK! Something big! Maybe he friends with pony!”

“Maybe he has shinies on him!”

“Lots of shinies!”

“Mine! Mine! I want them!”

I heard this and numerous other comments being shouted as they bolted down the ragged rocky path. I knew a little about them, thanks to Twilight, Rarity, and Spike, and I know that they are no joke. They can dig through stone with relative ease, so saying they are strong is an understatement. 

“What did you do to Cloudhoof? The white and green pegasus pony?” I asked, with a bit of force.

“Feather pony? We leave him behind! No use to us!” 

“He have no shinies! But pony friends do! Ponies always have something shiny on them!”

“Are you a Pony? You don't look like a pony!”

“I bet YOU have shinies on you! Gems, gems, and more gems!”

“Give them to us! NOW!”

They all demanded of me and more and they did not appear to be slowing down at all. So I made a little electric ball and threw it with a mighty swing at the closest one, as a warning shot. I was hoping it would easily hit at least one since now they were running not just on the ground but along the walls as well. Well, more like swinging since they just jabbed the wall and used their momentum to lurch forward. 

At first it looked like it was going to miss, until one dogs arm accidentally reached too far while swinging and it struck. Once it did, the dog was jolted from the wall and smacked right into another dog which produced an instant domino effect of dogs bowling into dogs. In almost a blink of an eye, I soon saw a small pile of twitching arms and legs. 

“Yeah! Papa!” Maelstrom called out while she laughed at the scene. I couldn't help but chuckle a little as well at the dog pile. 

But I was brought back when I noticed Artemis was still growling and pawed at the ground. “We'll have the last laugh!” was all I heard before the rocks shattered below me and I got pounded in the face with a very strong right hook. I had lost my balance and in combination with the punch, I head slammed into the wall.

“HAH!” Shouted the dog who sucker punched me. At this, I promptly kicked against the wall and propelled a fist of my own right to its chest, but that is when I heard the sickening sound of bones breaking. Looking down I saw that one of its legs was still halfway in the ground and when I punched them back, the force broke its leg and probably shattered every bone.

It howled as it lied on its back in pain from two different sources before fainting, but that only stirred up the horde who quickly went on the offensive with renewed vigor. Artemis was the first to strike as a wallslinger launched itself but was caught midair by my little huntress. Remembering how well the electroball seemed to worked, I held onto my left arm and casted several in a row, like a machine.

I caught five or six with a direct blast and sent them flying or buried them in stone while a couple others got nicked and volted away. But more of them simply replaced the ones down and they were almost upon me, so I planted my feet in a good, balanced stance while I sucked in as much air as I could. My magic almost seemed to boil since it knew exactly what I was aiming for and almost made it felt like it was alive, cheering me on and edging me forward.

They drew closer and closer, so much that I was afraid I was too late but right at the point of ignition, it almost felt as if time slowed down cause I could still feel everything around me but nothing seemed to come, except for my attack. I leaned forward yelling as hard as I could, forcing all that excess air to deflate my lungs and become ignited from my magic to form a beautiful but deadly dragons fire that spewed and burned my attackers.

I heard them as they burned, yelling and screaming in pain from the initial attack and from their fur continuously burning	along with what little clothes they possessed. I began to panic a little because this was a little too far and I had to put out the flames, so I quickly recalled another dragon technique that I never had a chance to try. 

Using almost the same method as to brew fire, I would instead make a vacuum and suck in all sources of heat and flame. Some of the earlier dragons who were a bit more peaceful created this in order to spare their victims of their dragon fire, as both an aid to themselves and to save others from the more dangerous and death prone dragons.

So once again I started to suck in air but now my magic reached out and drew in any and all flames and pulled them back into my mouth, instantly smothering the dogs initial pain. Thankfully the second they were dowsed, they fainted and the ones who were not hurt seemed hesitant to approach me and Artemis, who I now saw had just taken out a dog that tried to sneak up on me.

“Gotcha non-dragon!” shouted one as it suddenly grabbed my arm the second it bursted out from the wall, while three others grabbed my other arm and legs, holding them tight. They took me by surprise by popping out from the ground as well.

I struggled against their hold but since they themselves were planted in the stone, they were solid in their hold and my efforts were of little use. That was when I saw the path in front of me split in two and out from the crevice came a giant diamond dog, easily three times as big as the rest.

“Yeah! Get him Buldo! Get him!” Shouted the one holding my left leg.

I struggled even more, even making the dogs grunt a little as I tried to weasel my way out but they were too strong and I saw the huge punch from Buldo come straight towards my chest and it did. 

If I had any air left in my lungs, they were certainly gone now after that punch. Everything left me for a second, air, consciousness, sight, and feeling but I regained them shortly and felt a huge weight in my chest, making it hard to breath. But before I could get my bearings I felt another big punch right on top of the old one and this time, I felt everything. 

The pain over-ruled my senses and my body acted on instinct at this point, fusing with my erupting magic in order to get away from this pain. I felt my body start to spark a little and I even saw a stray static bolt arc from my chest before more and more started to crawl along my body.

“B-Buldo! Hit him again! Non-dragon is doing more magic!” Said the dog on my right arm. 

“BULDO!” said the dog himself as he threw another fearsome punch. But it never hit me.

Taking a look down, the punch was caught in an electrical net that bounced back at me and sent a huge surge of pure electricity outwards and shocked my captors enough to make them faint on the spot, thus releasing me just in time to watch Buldo wind up for another punch.

“BULDO SMASH!” it shouted as it threw its body along with punch, not knowing what else to do my body told me to simply catch it. My brain yelling at me that doing so was suicide as I would probably break my arms and most likely break a rib or two, if they weren’t already. 

But that sixth sense came back, urging me to believe or something like that. So I simply went along and shot my arms forward, ready to catch it. And when I did, my magic flared up something fierce and I felt almost rejuvenated and even stronger than ever. My senses kicked into overdrive and once again, time almost seemed to slow down as I saw the giant fist move through molasses towards me.

So I grabbed it and stopped it in an instant, mere inches away from my chest. But I stopped it, much to my initial confusion and to the dog who looked almost scarred now.

“You… you catch my punch?! B-B-BULDO SMASH HARDER THEN!” it almost screamed in fear as it brought its other fist up into the air to flatten me. But I delved further down into the whirlpool of magic that seemed to expand further and further within me, granting me even more strength. Much more than I have ever had or felt before. 

So much so that the magic flowed out of my body, almost independently of my will as my hands started to heat up so fast that I heard the sizzle of flesh being burnt, which caused Buldo to yelp and stop its attack and instead try to pull away. But now I was in control and I wanted payback, so I held firm on his arm and let my legs swell with magic.

While keeping my balance, I let my right leg swing up to try and kick him as hard as I could. Though, I did these with much more gusto than I intended.

For I felt my leg shoot up faster and faster due to it being supported by a strong gust of wind that I had apparently created, or my magic, which caused my already enhanced kick to become twice as fast and twice as strong then what I meant. For the instant it connected, I saw Buldos body soar through the sky until it flew out of eyesight. 

But, I then realized that I was still holding his arm.

My body was still on high alert, so that meant my senses were still heightened as well, and now that the area was quiet, I could only focus on the severed limb that I was still burning. My nose smelt the burning flesh first but now I could also smell the coppery scent of blood as it poured out of the arm, staining not only the ground but the cracked bone that stuck out. 

The smell quickly invaded my mind and made my body quiver in fear, my only reprieve was that my magic quickly dispersed with the fear, and with it my strong sense of smell. But that also meant my strength was down and I could no longer easily hold the huge arm, so I dropped it and heard the splash of blood and the splintering of bone fragments. 

I felt sick. My stomach churned, not with magic, but with disgust at the brutality I just committed. And now my brained instantly swarmed to the idea that Buldo was most likely dead. I just killed this creature. 

	KRIK

CRACK

KRIK

TOOMPH!!!

I then found myself falling, staring up into the sky as Maelstrom cried out and tried to grab me before an avalanche of rocks split us up and allowed me to fall into the dark of the mountain, alone, in pain, and in disgust.






-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Minutes Later -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~






“MAELSTROM!” I awoke with a start as I remembered her reaching for me. But I was alone in a dark cavern with piles of freshly fallen rocks surrounding me. Wonder if luck is something natural or magic driven, cause I do seem to have lucky breaks a lot. 

Though, my luck seemed to end there since lying almost next to me was Buldos severed arm that still spat out tiny splotches of blood every now and then.

“AAAAAH!” I cried out as I scooted my body as far away as I could before smacking into a boulder. I then began to have a staring match at the body part, my stomach quickly remembering the feeling from before but now it was rising faster and faster and the second I felt something reach my throat, I lurched over and began to throw up.

What have I done? I just ripped his god damn arm off! I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to do that! I just wanted to beat him up until he left me alone! Or just knock him out! 

I felt my right arm twitch and I instinctively used my left arm to grip my wrist, but that is when I took a look at it and saw the slight burns that had healed over already and I got reminded of the true power of magic in this world. And I have that same potential, to hurt and to kill. 

I felt another bit of pile rush up and escape my mouth at that thought. I can't believe I did that. First  the timberwolf and now a diamond dog. Why is this happening to me? 

I felt the urge to cry but a sudden thought popped into my mind.

Maelstrom!

I have to get back up top and find her and Artemis and I have to get Cloudhoof and meet back up with everyone. I coughed up the last little bit of gunk in my throat before I stood up and slapped myself a little bit, both as a refresher and as a slight punishment to myself.

I saw only one exit and that was right next to the arm, so I had to walk by it again. But as I began to approach it, I noticed that there was something wrapped around the thumb, so I gently moved the hand and saw a small thing of beads. It looked like something a child would give to their parent.

I clenched my fist against its fur as I felt the tears sting my eyes a bit, he had a family! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!

I quickly snatched the accessory and walked out before I became a blubbering mess again. 

Alright, so lets see here. Left or right? Well, I think right would be better since left is back where we came and that was all cliffs and I could potentially find the holes or whatever the diamond dogs used to get to the surface. Here we go.

WAIT!

What if I run into the rest of the pack? Or its families? Double crap.

If I do run into them, I'll just scare them off and run cause I have had enough death and destruction for today. So with that in mind, I ventured off in search of a way out of this mountain cavern. 




-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ A Few Minutes Later -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~




GAH! How in the world did they manage to not bring down this mountain yet? There are holes everywhere! They probably just dug whenever they wanted to go somewhere and had reckless behavior. 

Thankfully I have not run into anyone down here, but I still have not gotten anywhere and for the most part, I have gone in a semi-circle. Although, there is one thing that I am kinda curious about. I have not seen a single gem in this whole place.

No treasure room, no diamonds, no rubies, not a single shiny thing. Which means that this mountain has been mined empty or they hid it somewhere. But that is neither here or there, since I am not looking for treasures and bits. 

And then take a left and….. GAH! Back here again!?!

Where the hell is anything? This stupid freaking cave system! I bet those stupid side holes that go straight up is how they got to the top. I need to learn how to control my wind magic so I can learn to fly. Then I could just easily zip up and out.

If I don't blow someone away first….. GAH! Why did I remind myself of that! Stupid! Stupid! I gave myself another few smacks to the face before I cleared my head. Alright, just think. Just think. Think. Think. Think! THINK DAMMIT!

I angrily smashed my foot against a rock and sent it flying, but that is when I heard the slight echo of it going down which caught my attention since I never found a place to go down either. So I walked in the general direction of where I kicked it but all I found was an empty little alcove. What the heck?

I was about the head back when I tripped on, surprise surprise, another rock but this time I fell through a secret little hole that opened up the moment I slid down. Sneaky! I bet they had other things like this hidden all around then! I will give them credit for being this smart.

Thankfully this tunnel was more akin to a slide then just a man hole down, cause I didn't feel like having my legs broken as well. So I rode it all the way down and eventually slowed down to a complete stop at the bottom which was dimly lit by some sort of light crystal. But the second I walked to the next room, I saw an even bigger glitter of light.

I found their treasure cove and it was something that even a dragon might be jealous of. Huge piles upon piles of gems lie scattered everywhere, with a few bits here and there but mostly gems of all sizes and types. I could literally swim though this and I am not sure who would be more happier to find these, between Spike and Rarity. 

Still something I find weird in this world is the fact that not everyone is super rich when they can just go out somewhere and dig for gems. But that is for another day as I began to look around, I am by no means greedy but seeing this much laying about is giving me a bad case of sticky fingers. And I also  possess a bit of hammerspace now, so I don't think a little is too bad. 

So after scooping a couple of armfuls of gems into my bag and feeling no added weight, I looked around a bit more and found something strange buried underneath a half done pile of bits. I kicked the pile down below a few times to cause the mass to shift down in order to reveal a pair of giant red and jagged crystals that were joined at the bottom.

Huh. I wonder what this is? And why did the Diamond Dogs have it? Or was it already here when they took over this part of the mountain? I would probably guess the latter. I took a few steps up to it and inspected it when I saw something else very strange. Well, it was what I didn't see that was bothersome. A crystal this large and dark would probably have good reflective properties, yet there was no reflection staring back at me.

I moved closer and closer before I gently laid my hand on it and even then, I saw no sign of a reflection, not even one from the light crystals that lined the walls. I was about to leave when I saw that the lights were slowly dimming and the room grew darker and darker until almost nothing was visible until the lights themselves came shooting out towards me. I was unable to dodge them but thankfully they all harmlessly passed through me and into the crystal that seemed to grow darker in color, almost a blood red.

Nothing seemed to happen but after reading so many books and watching movies, I knew that sometimes it was best to wait a few moments since it usually took a few seconds for something to happen. 

And I was right.

For when I turned back around, I saw that there was a cloudy apparition starting to appear in the once blank crystal face. At first I thought it would be my reflection since it was the same height but it soon shrank to almost half my size and was becoming a bit more clearer and clearer with each passing second. After a full minute of waiting, the image was finally clear and I was very surprised to see that it was a small version of me!

But its eyes were still closed, so it was kinda weird but I did a once over and saw my white hair was cut short like how I used to back on Earth but now that I looked closer, my face had a bit more of a square face instead of an oval and my ears seemed a bit more small and rounded. Oh and there was my little stomach bulge! Glad that's gone. Heh.

“Only thanks to magic though” said a voice.

“Who said that?” I asked while I whipped my head around, searching.

“Why, you did!” said that voice again.

“Wha?” I asked in confusion before I turned to face the mirror again, but now its eyes were open and I saw that its eyes were not like my icy blue ones I used to have on Earth but were a dull brown color.

“Yeah, you look a lot different without magic” it said as though finishing up my thought.

“What are you?” I asked.

“I am your reflection, but without any influence of your poisonous magic” it answered.

“My reflection but without magic? But I was already tall before I came to Equestira” I answered back.

“No, I mean no magic whatsoever flowing in your veins from our dear Grandmother Shimmer” it said.

“Wait? So my abnormal height and eye color was due to magic?” I asked in return.

“Yes, that and many other things but most of those are more mental than physical” it said.

“Are you saying that my mentality was also affected by magic?” I asked again.

“In a way, yes. Your mind was more open to the world around you since you had magic from another world flowing through you. So your perception was altered enough to make you standout a bit, though your overall mental state was of course dictated by your experiences in life” it explained.

“I guess that makes sense?” I halfheartedly answered. Freaking magic.

“Heheheh. Magic certainly has made your life more difficult” it said.

“A-are you reading my thoughts?” I asked.

“Well I am you after all” it said.

“Well stop it! It's weird!” I complained.

“No problem, besides. I am here for a reason beyond being a pretty image. I am to show you the error of your life” it stated.

“I know already, I killed that Diamond Dog in cold blood” I admitted with a sad tone.

“You simply defended yourself against a predator that would of gladly torn you apart simply because you didn't posses a gem. Diamond Dogs are ruthless, simple minded creatures. No reason to beat yourself up, figuratively and literally” it said as it pointed to my left cheek, which was the one I had slapped.

“But I should of just knocked it out! I let my magic take control again, even though I know better” I told it.

“Yes, your magic did take control because it is not truly yours. It is something of this world and should of never left. You may have been born with it but you were not meant to wield it. It is a poison that will consume you in the end after you have killed everything else you love and care for” it said with a smirk.

“NO! I would never let it hurt them!” I said while images of Derpy, the girls, and everyone else I have met quickly flashed in my mind.

“But is has already started, the moment you set foot in this world and lived, your poison had already started to spread. Your very existence is A SIN!” it said in a violent tone and the very crystal seemed to shake. “Every time you get to know someone, you spread your disease and lose a bit of yourself along the way”

“L-lose myself?” I said out loud. But inside, I could feel like I knew where this was heading. The figure nodded to me.

“Look at me, this is what a true human looks like. No magic, no enhancements, no tricks or shortcuts. This is what a human looks like. Look” the reflection pointed to the other crystal and I saw my own reflection this time. 

I saw what I looked like and I saw how different I looked in comparison, I looked humanoid but with my long hair, swirly eyes, heck even my scars on my arm looked so foreign and my magically toned body really made me look lanky. Right now I still mostly looked like a human, but look at how much I had changed already. Will I look even less human in the months to come? How about years? 

“Can you truly even call yourself human anymore? If not, then what are you? What kind of monster are you becoming? Sure, you only killed two creatures out of defense now. But what about in the future? Will you come across a pony and accidentally sneeze out fire? Will a snap of your fingers call down a torrent of lightning to a town? Will kicking a stone cause a tornado to sweep across the land?”

“You have already poisoned your friends, they worry about you every day you are not there to spoil them and love them. Especially one golden haired mare and even a certain musician”

“Derpy and Vinyl? No…. Just-Just be quiet!” I demanded.

“And what about the Princesses of this country? All four have fallen under your spell, especially a certain sunny day princess. And what have you done? Just reject them in order to satisfy your own self-satisfaction and to continue living in loneliness out of self-pity. You could of lived happily as a prince or even in town with any job you could ever want. You could have lived everyday just scratching pony ears and live in wealth!”

“And yet, here you are. On the run with an abandoned daughter, a ruined machine of a forgotten age, a washed up magician, and the pup of a destroyed family, all while leading a group of strays and outcasts in hopes of getting them a better life. Heh. Amusing. How can you help others if you won't even help yourself?” it said with a smug face. 

“I said shut up!” I fiercely yelled as I punched the crystal again.

“Ah ah ah. There goes that temper again, that hidden rage that dwells within you. That is one of the last human things left of you, how sad. Getting mad over everything that doesn't go your way and behaving like a spoiled child. Twenty-two years of life and yet you still act like a child. Never able to let go of dear old mother who died because of you. Always yearning to be loved and to have a family” the reflection went on.

“Just stop it! Please!” I begged the relentless spirit.

“NO! I will never stop because I am you and all those feelings you have kept burying underneath the layers and layers of fear you have built over your heart. I am sick and tired of being ignored and I WANT OUT!” the reflection suddenly used its two fists to attempt to smash its way out. “I want to be free! To experience this world in earnest and not let YOU HOLD ME BACK!”

“No! I won't let you! Your too dangerous!” I yelled back.

“HAH! So you admit that you consider yourself a danger to Equestria! Maybe Celestia was on the right path in destroying both you and that mechanical device. After all, you hate her now-” 

“NO! I don't hate her! I just-”

“Just what? Mad at her because she was doing what she felt was right and was actually doing the proper thing as a ruler and defender? Well thanks to you, you have rejected her twice. She could have been great, but now you have poisoned her too”

“Anyone would be upset after seeing the one they trust try to kill your friend and then hurt you!”

“And yet you took it to the next level by scorning her, to make sure that she felt pain that you truly never wished to give”

“Well, yeah….. but I-”

“ENOUGH OF YOUR CHILDISH EXSCUSES! Why do you insist that there is rhyme and reason for everything bad happening to you! Face it! LIFE IS MISERABLE AND ONLY POWER WILL GIVE YOU FREEDOM!” the image seemed to distort for a second before it slammed its fists against the glass again. “FREE ME AND ALL YOUR DOUBTS AND SORROW WILL DISSAPEAR! NO MORE NIGHTMARE, NO MORE STRESS, NO MORE FEAR! JUST LET ME OUT AND SAVE YOU!”

“Save…..me?”

“YES! LET ME SAVE YOU FOOL! I CAN GIVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU DESIRE, I WILL UNLOCK YOUR TRUE SELF AND UNEARTH YOUR INNER MOST FEELINGS. NO LONGER WLL YOU FEEL GUILT OR SADNESS! MY POWER IS MAGNIFICENT AND GLORIOUS AND THE EASIEST PATH TO TAKE! FREE ME AND FREE YOURSELF! DO IT! DO IT NOW!” the reflection finally said at the peak of its speech and smashed its fists again. 

What do I do? 

Should I accept?

Maybe…. Maybe its right. I just keep digging holes to bury all the bad and hope that only good will remain. But even then, my good doesn't really seem to help and has only caused misery. But, if accept, what will happen to the current me?

“That is simple enough, you will still be you in way but your mind will feel like a dam just collapsed and all these feelings, emotions, and thoughts will come crashing down and mix with your current self. It is not a question of who you would become, but what. You will be stronger, smarter, flexible, more open to the world and all its cruelty. You will be…. Magnificent” the me in the mirror said with confidence. 

I looked back at the reflection then I glanced back at me and found myself staring. I would still be me but not just me but better. I could finally find my place and forge my own path, all at the little cost of losing the current me. That didn't seem so bad. 

“What do I need to do?” I asked in earnest.

“Break the crystal, shatter it into dust and I will be free to re-enter. Just a little bit of magic and poof! All your problems solved! Pretty easy, eh?” It said in a calm demeanor. 

“Almost too easy I would say” I retorted back.

“Its magic, what can I say?” it said with a shrug and I chuckled a little. 

“I guess so….” I said as I very slowly drew my arm back and let my magical strength coil into my fist.

“Yes, just like that! Let the magic flow and soak into your arm, don't think about it and do. Your mother would be very proud!” it said as its voice grew higher and higher in excitement.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Your mother! She would be so proud to see that you are taking a major leap forward and becoming a better son!” it honestly said, its eyes only focusing on my drawn back arm. 

“Would she?” I asked, mostly to myself. Well, to me me and not mirror me. Wow that's confusing.

“Of course she would! What parent wouldn't want to see their child grow! Sure your taking a more magical route but if she were here, she would say yes!” the facade of the reflection seemed to slowly drain as its hopes and anticipation rode higher and higher. 

“What did she say to us? What were her words of comfort that have already saved me one?” I asked with determination. 

“You are only human! And what to humans excel at?! Huh!?!” it asked in annoyance.

“We grow and learn from our mistakes” I answered.

“YES! You grow! So let me help you grow! Let me help you grow beyond measure! LET ME BE THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA!” it suddenly shouted with a voice of desperation. I also noticed that its form seemed to ripple again. 

“No. This is not growth, this is just cheating and sugar coating my weakness. I need to grow up on my own, no gimmicks or magic tricks” I said as I lowered my fist, allowing my magic to settle back into the natural flow of my body.

“NO! YOUR WRONG! Why do you trust yourself now?! You will regret this later! I know you will! I AM YOU! AND YOU ARE WRONG!” it screamed at me.

“And if I am wrong, that you are wrong as well. Two wrongs don't make it right. I have to walk my own path-”

“YOU DON'T KNOW THE PATH! WHO ARE YOU TO DECIDE WHAT IS WRONG OR RIGHT?!?” it hollered.

“Because I am me! And only me! My life is mine to live! Not yours! I chose to keep you locked up for a reason, and I was a fool to almost talk myself into to unleashing you. So I say enough of these games, I am leaving to find my daughter and continue walking down my own path. Goodbye and good riddance!” I said as I quickly turned on my heel and started to walk back to where I came.

That is when I felt a true chill crawl down my spine, like a huge spider slowly walking down my back. My entire body became covered in goosebumps and I could even taste the vileness in the air that emanated from behind me.

“You will regret this, you will rue the days to come that you did not release me. You pathetic human” said a voice that sounded half like mine and half like another voice. I slowly peaked my head behind my shoulder and saw that the entire crystal was engulfed in darkness but a thin dark blue outline shaped a form covered in armor before it shattered into a million pieces.

But the lights from before that had been gathered inside were now a dark flame that zoomed right into my chest and sank into me. I cried out in pain as the flame burned hotter and hotter inside of me until a ring of light flashed around me that shot out into the dark room and dissipated. Meanwhile the light crystals were slowly regaining their normality as they re-lit the cavern. 

As I was starting to feel normal again, my head jolted back as my mind suddenly recalled all prior memories and in my minds eye, I suddenly felt like I could view them through a clearer filter. It was almost like I had been normally been seeing them through a piece of foggy glass but now they were almost as clear as day. 

Once that little episode was over, I truly came back to reality and saw that I was back in the treasure room, surrounded by gems, lights, and shattered blood red crystal shards. I took a few moments of reprieve to breath in a few calming breaths and to ascertain if anything else was going to happen. Again. 

But after I counted a full sixty seconds and noticed that nothing seemed wrong, I finally took one step forward. And almost face planted. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What in the?” I asked out loud as I felt my legs fumble in the air. That is when I finally noticed that I was not standing but in fact fact slightly hovering over the pile of gems. “Why am I able to do this now? I haven't properly used this spell yet, so it shouldn't be accessible yet. Much less be able to hover”

I looked down at my feet as I saw a slight blur coming from the soles and I started to experiment a bit by slightly moving my feet in very, very small increments. Right now, if I tilted left or right I kinda rolled in that direction but pointing my toes down does nothing. How do I get down? 

“Ugh” I grunted in annoyance. This was not the time to learn how to control new magic. At this I felt my body grew a little bit heavier and I slammed into the ground with an ungraceful stumble. Ok, that was interesting. Without thinking, I instantly surged a little bit of magic into my feet again and I was hovering again. Huh.

“Let's try this” I said to myself as I applied a tiny bit more magic and I did a slight somersault in mid-air before I floated back down to my hover. Interesting, so I guess I need to apply constant pressure to gain height yet my hover is automatic? Guess the magic decided that was a balanced compensation. I ain't complaining. 

I gently floated back over to the entrance of this cavern and pushed a ton of magic into my legs, and I skyrocketed back up the tunnel, give or take a few smacks into the wall and having to grip it once cause I decided to cut off the flow. This is gonna take a while to master, well not like I have mastered any magic yet anyway.

But after another two attempts at flying up, I finally found the hidden trapdoor and made it back to where I started. Being lost. Great.

This time however, I now know that there are most likely other hidden doors or entrances and one of those will, hopefully, lead me back to the surface. Now to just find it.

Hidden door number one, dud. Hidden door number two, dud. Number three, two extra paths and both ended up back in the main room. Numbers four through seven, also duds and rewinding paths. Number eight….. are….. are those….. panties? And what is that smell? Oh god. MOVING ON!

Paths after paths lead to either dead ends or secondary splitting tunnels that either lead back to the start or to just other paths, new and old. And now I am lost….. AGAIN! I ended up smacking my head on a nearest wall and groaned, both from the minor pain and out of frustration. Maelstrom is up there, somewhere and I can't freaking find one single tunnel up! Gah! I punched the wall a few times before slumping against some dirt and sighing. 

Maybe I could make a new hole? No, I could accidentally cause a cave in. Sigh. Maybe I really am just a cheating human, trying to find shortcuts for everything. I know that this is part of the adventure, but when your daughter is all alone, there is no joy in exploration. 

Sigh. No use in sitting and sulking here, I can only press forward and hope for the best. 

“A-a-are you trying to find exit?” said a small and timid voice. 

Looking around, I saw a tiny pair of yellow eyes peaking out from a hole in the ceiling. I took a tiny step towards them but they quickly retreated back up. So I stayed still for a few moments and saw their eyes again.

“Yes, I am looking for the exit and get back to my friends and family back on the surface” I gently explained. 

Now I saw a full head poking out and saw a very young, puppy looking face staring back at me. It had light brown fur with pointed ears that were a little fuzzy. “W-w-will you hurt me?” it asked with a nervous and frightened voice.

“Only if you hurt me, other than that I won't lay a finger on you. I promise” I said with a kind and sincere smile. 

I saw the tiny head shake back and forth “Tin would never hurt! Tin too small to do anything. That why others leave Tin behind even though other younglings go out” Tin sadly explained.

“Well, they say that big things come from small packages” I told them.

“Easy for you to say, you already super big” Tin said with a pout. 

I laughed a little at that “I guess your right about that, but it doesn't mean its not true. So, where is this mysterious exit? Cause I have been lost for a while” I asked while I scanned the current tunnel I was in.

“E-exit is two l-l-lefts, a right, up two, and then one more left. Tin very surprised you make it this far, diamond dog tunnels are built to confuse” Tin explained.

“I got that feeling after the first minute” I said with a pout this time and I heard a small giggle. 

“Tin was watching, Tin found you after hearing strange noise from trove room” they told me.

“I see, well thank you for telling me. I should probably get going then” I told them and waved them goodbye. But before I could move I saw the head quickly become a full body, a small one, as they landed on the ground. They seemed to be about the same size as Spike, though they might be a tiny bit taller since it was hunched over a little. They wore a dark blue, buttoned up long-sleeved shirt and very tiny red shorts. 

“Tin show you! Faster this way!” Tin excitingly said, and by looking at their body I assumed that Tin was a boy. When Tin came up to me, he held his hand up to me and said “Take Tins hand, always safer to guide hand in hand” he said with a small smile on his face. 

I nodded and bent down a little so he could grab hold, and he grasped my pointer finger as began to 'pull' me in the general direction. So I followed his lead and just like he had said, we made the lefts, right, and slowly made our way up two tunnels and onto the final stretch. 

“Look! Look! Sun!” Tin said as he pointed with his free hand. And true enough, I saw a tiny speck of light pouring through a little opening. I stepped towards it but felt Tin let go of my finger, so I looked down in confusion and saw him pawing with his thumbs. 

“Tin was told to stay inside and wait for others. Tin don't want to upset” he said with a sigh. I smiled before I bent down and patted his head a few times, which earned me a tiny tail wag. “Tin happy you not mean! Tin tell dad about all about you!” 

I gulped nervously at that. “W-what's your dads name?” I asked. 

“Mossy! Cause he has green fur! Heehee!” Tin told me while I let out a sigh of relief. 

“Well, it was fun meeting you Tin. Stay safe and remember what I told you, big things come in small packages!” I said with a thumbs up. Tin seemed confused by that action but copied it anyway and dug a new hole to leave in. I chuckled again at that before I made though the partially buried exit.

I held my hand up to protect my eyes since they had grown used to the dark, but the second I looked up I saw a panting pegasi lying against a rock. 

“Cloudhoof!” I yelled as I ran up to him. 

“Boss! I knew you would find me!” he said with a happy grin as he wobbly stood up.

“Careful, you don't look so hot” I told him as he used my leg to support himself. 

“I'm alright Boss, thankfully those Diamond Dogs didn't do much to me when they suddenly ran off in pursuit of Barnes. Is everyone ok?” he asked.

“I am sure they are, I had them run ahead with our vanguard and Devi. I stayed behind to fight them off” I briefly told him.

“Wow! Your so cool boss! No wonder we all look up to you!” he exclaimed with a beaming face. It almost brought a small blush to my face. 

“Ahem. This is no time for small talk, we need to meet up with everyone as soon as I find Maelstrom and Artemis. We got separated when I fell into the mountain” I quickly explained.

“Yes sir! Just let me get going here” he said before he took flight.

“You going to be ok flying?” I asked.

“Yep! Its only my front leg that hurts, my wings are one hundred percent!” he said.

“That's good to hear, now lets get going. Keep up!” I said before I slowly broke out into a sprint down the only footpath. Which I assumed to be the same one were I did battle and fell in. 

It wasn't long before I saw the first fainted dog body and the more we ran, the more fainted groups and clusters of dogs there were.

“Wow Boss, you really pack a wallop! Those dogs certainly barked up the wrong tree with you!” Cloudhoof said with a jovial laugh. Just as I was about to retort, he pointed with his hoof at something. “Look, boss! Up there!”

Looking ahead, I saw a small dust cloud and the sound of cries and claws echoing against stone and rock. “MAELSTROM! ARTEMIS! I'M OVER HERE!” I yelled out mere seconds before having the wind knocked out of me by the cannonball force of my daughter rushing into my arms. I could tell she was crying for me again, since I could feel her fur was all clumped up and matted. While I am ecstatic that she is safe and sound, I felt like such a failure as a father for making my beautiful daughter cry this much.

I was soon joined by a worried Artemis who rubbed up against my leg and whimpered a little. I quickly bent down and petted her, to which I was greeted by a slobbering kiss to the face, nose, and chin. I will never understand how a wooden dog can give wet licks and kisses. But right now I was more happy that all three of them were healthy.

I stroked Maelstroms cheek with my thumb while she continued to cry, but instead of smiling I could only frown. “I'm sorry Maelstrom” I said to her.

“Papa?” she replied back in between sobs.

“Papa made you worried again and even made you cry. I'm so sorry” I quietly said as I felt my emotions start to boil up inside me. But next I felt something soft hugging my neck before tiny pecks covered my cheeks. After the tenth one or so, it was starting to tickle a little and I giggle a bit at the sensation.

I heard Maelstrom giggle with me before returning to her neck hug “There! Now Papa happy again! And when Papa is happy, Mae happy too!” she said with a delightful tune before snuggling into the crook of my neck. Now I was defiantly blushing with a huge grin on my face. 

“Aw man, now I'm jealous boss” Cloudhoof said with a pout.

“I ain't kissing you Cloudhoof” I said while I tilted my head back, looking at him with a crooked eyebrow. But the flier simply laughed before he flew ahead of me.

“Come on boss! We gotta get back to the others! I'll go on Sky duty again, you can count on me this time!” he said before he started to patrol the air. I would of said something but I thought about his last choice of words and decided against it. Perhaps he was seeking redemption since he thought he failed last time. But whatever the cause may be, I wasn't going to douse his motivation and spirit. So I followed the gleeful pony while I cradled my loving daughter in my arms while my canine companion barked happily behind me. 

I could almost consider it a sort of happy ending for this small adventure.

Almost.
> Human In The Big City
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 3 Days Later, At The Base Of Foal Mountain -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~




Ugh, mountain climbing sucks! I may have said that already but I still hold true to it. And here I thought going down the mountain was going to be easier, but nooooooooo! Were we ever so wrong about that little fact!


~~~~~


Once I had regrouped with everyone and calmed everyone down, we took it nice and slow for the remainder of the day but the next morning we walked at our usual pace when we could. A few smaller valleys and twisty turns slowed us down some but not enough to consider it a huge loss of time. But we did have to look for an alternate route cause one path lead us up higher the mountain but some of the younger one were starting to have trouble breathing, so we went around.

By the end of the second day we had made not as much progress as I would of liked but unless I wanted to risk the health of my group, then there was nothing more to be done. On the third day we encountered a stroke of good fortune by coming across a little patch of grass with two fruit bearing trees! I am surprised that this little area could survive up here, but Minty Glade, an herbalist, explained to me a bit about how this was possible. I was about to bite into my fruit when Trixie whispered to me that there was not enough fruit for everyone. 

I gave this a quick though and I decided that all the adults should split theirs in two and share, I even gave mine away to a little colt named Lagniappe. Though something amazing happened afterward, because the little colt decided to try and break off half of the fruit to give back to me. I gently refused and said that it was more important for him to have more but he refused and said that it is important for everyone to have some, because we are all equal and he also thought this was a nice way to thank me for guiding everyone.

I couldnt help but smile and pet his head a little before accepting it and the moment I did I saw a bright flash come from him and before our very eyes, the little guy had earned his cutie mark! It looked like a fleur-de-lis but with a small gift box behind it, with a red ribbon wrapped around both. The little guy was so happy that he started to cry a little as the others congratulated him and gave him hugs. He broke away from the group so he could give me a hug while he happily cried, doing his best to thank me multiple times in between sniffles. 

With that, everyone’s spirits were high and they all looked like they were ready to run a marathon. So we headed out and sped along the mountain side, I almost had to tell them to slow down a bit! But it was all good and everyone was smiling and laughing and were telling stories on how they got their own cutie marks. It was a very relaxing atmosphere.

It also helped us greatly when our sky patrol came back with even better news that the edge of the mountain was just ahead! And it wasn't even noon yet! 

So we all quickly made our way over near the edge and that is when we had our first set of bad news, the original trail leading down appears to have been covered over with rocks, dirt, and other debris. Probably some sort of rock slide happened a while ago and nobody has been this way since, will make a mental note of this for later. Taking a peak down, I saw that the original path was relatively safe and kinda at a slope all the way down, or at least as far as I could see.

I had the sky team stick to the air and decided to slowly walk down the accessible parts where we could then just do a little shimmy here and there around the parts we can't. I had a lot of the adults carry the foals since it would be faster, though by suggesting that I instantly became a jungle gym, with colts and fillies giggling as they wrapped around me, coating me in suit of foal armor. I decided to have a little fun and used my wind magic a little to hover down while I watched carefully as the others followed us.

It was a little tough for us all and we had a couple of scares when some ponies foothold suddenly gave way, which caused a little bit of the rock formations below a stir. But that gave me an idea, I called over Cloudhoof and Barnes to make sure the path below and on the ground was all clear. 

It took a few minutes for them to return but they said that there was no sign of life anywhere near the route I instructed, placing the now disappointed foals on the ground, I mustered up as much strength as I could and summoned up a little wind magic into my foot and kicked a pretty big rock down the middle of the path. The initial force made an actual cut into the path and mountain itself before it started to tumble at an average rate, but the domino effect that I hoped for came as the other rocks and debris fell along with it, creating an ever increasing rock slide that almost completely cleared the path.

I made everyone wait a few minutes along with a scout report just to make absolutely sure that nothing else was going to move or fall. The new path down was much easier on all of us and I could already start to see the ground! I felt so relieved that I was finally almost done with this mountain!

Even though this last little stretch seemed relatively easy, I still hated it! Always living on the edge, not knowing if the next step was going to be your last or trip and fall! Bleh! I am so done with mountains for a while!

“-Master, now that we have reached the bottom of the mountain, what do you wish we do now?-” Devi asked me.

Taking a good look around, everyone was still in high spirits but I saw a few with jagged breaths and tired eyes. 

“Lets take a short break, just to settle our bodies back from rough mountain climbing back to regular walking. Take this chance to eat a quick little snack as well, get some energy back” I said to the ponies around me who spread the word to the back. 

With that in mind, I sat down with my little group and pulled out some apples for us while Devi found a place to gather sunlight to charge itself up with. I was going to say something but I heard Trixie giggle a little, which made me smile a bit. “What?” I asked.

“Oh, it's nothing much. But that little colt over there has become rather fixated on you ever since this morning” Trixie explained as she pointed with her eyes. Not wanting to let them know I was looking, I very slowly turned my head around enough to look and saw Lagniappe 'secretly' staring at me with his friends. And by 'secretly' I mean with them holding up a fallen leaf branch and hiding behind a very small tree. It was almost too cliché to be true. 

“But Trixie can understand very well why, if somepony had helped me attain my own cutie mark when Trixie was young, I too would be star struck!” Trixie said with a dramatic wave of her hoof.

“Papa! Papa! Will Mae get a cutie mark too?!” Maelstrom asked as she nibbled at her apple, slowly making it square shaped for some reason.

“Hmmmm, would she?” Trixie answered before me. “From what Trixie knows and remembers, you said humans do not have cutie marks”

“And I never saw Discord having one either” I said, mostly to myself.

“Discord? Who is that?” Maelstrom asked which made me spit out my apple a bit. It just dawned on me that I never told her who her….. mother was? Well, I guess since Discord is a guy she has two dads? But he gave birth to her egg. Gah, fucking Discord and your chaotic ways. 

“Who is Discord? WHO IS DISCORD?!?” Trixie flabbergastly said. “Discord is the spirit and embodiment of chaos itself! Discord once ruled over all these lands by turning everything upside down! Literally and figuratively! Discord is crazy and no pony can control him! With a snap of his tail he can turn the ground into gravy! Discord is bonkers!” 

Maelstrom seemed to take all that information in before speaking “Discord sounds boring!” she said with a laugh. Which instantly made me snort, so I covered up my mouth with my hand and laughed into it while Trixie had a dumbfounded look on her face. But just as quickly, I saw her become confused.

“Wait, what does Discord have to do with her not having a cutie mark?” She asked. I scooted over to her and whispered in her ear what happened and surprise surprise, The Discord Look struck again! Which was quite funny to see again, I kinda missed it. “DISCORD HATC-” I speedily covered her mouth with my hand.

“He hatched what?” Maelstrom asked.

“Uhhhh….. he…. once hatched….an egg and then ate it for lunch! Good ol' random Discord!” I nervously said with an equal nervous laugh. 

“Ewww! He ate his own poopie! Cause eggs come out of chickens butts!” Maelstrom said with a disgusted face and I exploded with laughter on the inside. But I kept up my calm facade while covering up Trixies blabber mouth.

“I have not told her yet about Discord since he disappeared just before she hatched and I would rather her meet him then hear about him. That and it's going to be very hard to explain to her and will probably lead to an extremely awkward talk” I whispered to Trixie.

“Papa! Why are you whispering all the time?! Mae wants to know too!” she said before poofing onto my shoulder with a pout. 

“It's adult stuff, I will tell you when you're older sweetie” I said to her while I nuzzled her a little. 

“So Mae just has to become an adult then?!” Maelstrom said with a twinkle in her eyes.

“...yes?” I confusingly said.

“Yay!” she said before she floated in front off me and brought her arms in and for a brief second her entire body shimmered white, almost like she was a pokemon evolving. 

“Oh no you don't!” I said as I snatched her into my arms. “I have already missed your baby years, I am not going to miss your young lady years either. If I did, I would of instantly grown gray hairs from the stress and worry”

“But you already have old pony white hair!” she said with a giggle as she hugged my arms. 

Unknown to me, we had drawn a semi-crowd since most were done snacking and were eager to set off. So I heard multiple snickers trying to be held in as I stood there in a state of shock. I felt like I had been turned to stone and I could feel little splinters and pebbles falling off of me as time slowly dragged on. Meanwhile, on the inside, I was split between embarrassed crying and laughing. Twas a very interesting feeling to experience. 

“-Ahem. Putting that aside for the moment, we should most likely be heading out now-” Devi said to the gaggle of laughing ponies. 

“G-good idea! Saddle up everypony!” I said in a hurry, wishing for everyone to forget that embarrassing moment. 

Gah, that stirs up some memories from when I was back home and younger, the kids at school would tease me and call me old man or other similar names. 

“So how much further is it, do you know?” Trixie asked me.

“Hmmm, it should not take too much longer. According to the last map I saw, it should be nothing but plains from here to Manehatten. So long as we avoid Hollow Shades, which should be on our left hand side, then it will be smooth sailing from here on out!” I explained while I mentally pictured the map Twilight showed me. 

“Excellent! Trixie is most tired of walking on her hooves day in and day out!” Trixie said with a boasted grin.

“Then you should ride on Papas shoulders! Like Mae does! Mae never tired!” Maelstrom happily said while she flew circles around us.

“Easy for you to say! You can fly!” Trixie retorted.

“You can't fly? Mae thought you just liked to walked” Maelstrom confusingly admitted. 

“Certainly not! I may be the Grand and Beautiful Trixie but I am not a pegasus! I am a splendid and wonderful unicorn!” Trixie said with another boasted grin and I saw tiny little sparks shoot out of her horn.

“Oh! So am I a pegasus then?” Maelstrom asked while she tried to look at her back wings, but ended up only flying in circles.

“Nope! You, my pretty little angel, are a draconequus! So, you are kinda a little of everything, from pony to animal and because of me, a little human as well! I think” I explained.

“A d-rake-o-e-guess?” She tried to repeat back.

“That word is a little hard for you. You know what? For now, if anyone asks, just tell them you are a storm child. That should work for now” I said with a little laugh. 

“Storm child! Okie dokie Papa!” she said before hugging my neck.

“What is that?” I heard someone ask from behind.

Snapping myself back to reality, I had almost forgotten that we had started walking already and saw that we were a good distance away from the mountain. Taking a look around, I saw only two things. The plains on our right and a thin outline of trees to our left.

“I believe that is the forest that surrounds Hollow Shades, which is a good sign cause that means we are defiantly heading in the right direction. Let everyone know to avoid going in there, that forest has the potential level of danger the Everfree has” I informed them. I soon heard a little chorus of whispers and talks, which eased my mind a little. 

After that, the walk went along very smoothly and since we could see everything in front of us, I was not worrying about something jumping out at us every second. Which does wonders for the heart! Also, some of the children had come up to me and asked if Maelstrom could come play again. After talking her into it again, which was slightly easier this time around, she flew off for another game of tag. I was feeling so proud of her for opening up a little bit to others.

As much as I loved having her cling to me and shower me with love and affection, I knew that it was probably unhealthy to keep her all to myself. Yet, since she is technically still only two months old I think I should still baby her a bit? I dunno. She blasted through her baby years and into a small child. I do not like having to guess how to treat my daughter everyday. But I have to do what I can do.

That is when I felt a small poke to my shoulder, taking a quick peak behind I saw that it was Roughta the gryphon who started to fly besides me once I saw him. 

“And what can I do for you today?” I asked him.

“Oh, nothing much. Just wanted to come up to the front and see things from up here was all” he said while lacking any eye contact. I felt something was up but I just ignored it for now.

A couple of attention getting coughs sounded off behind which got the gryphon to flinch a little and now he has least turned his head towards me while he stared elsewhere.

“Well, what I meant to say was that it is cool that you are always up front leading all these folks and stuff. Kinda cool, I suppose” he said in a way that almost sounded like he was caught in a lie.

Another couple of coughs rang out which made him flinch again and now he had his full attention on me, eyes and all.

“W-w-what I mean to say is…...thanks. For, you know, putting up with me and allowing me to stay in the group for so long….and stuff” he said with a huff and a puff. 

I finally smiled at the truth “No problem Roughta, and if you wanna fly then go ahead. I know already that your wing has healed already. Devia told me a while ago, but at that point you were one of the group already. I was just waiting on you to say something” I replied, with a new found grin on my face.

“W-w-w-well fine! I was gonna say something anyway, but now that it is out of the way I'm gonna start flying. Around. Here. You know what I mean! Gah!” he said with another huff before flying back to his usual spot. Followed shortly by a giggle, which belonged to Molly the donkey.

“Took him long enough! You have no idea how long it took us to convince him to talk to you! His name may be Roughta, but inside he is very softa. Hee hee” she said with another giggle.

“Ah, so that is what happened. I was kinda curious as to what that was all about” I said.

“The poor dear, his head was almost ready to burst when we accidentally asked the right question. We asked him 'Is your wing doing ok?' and he practically exploded into words and phrases! I don't know what is is exactly, but something about our little group traveling around has really smoothed his rough edges” she informed me.

“Huh. I guess so now that you said that. Nonetheless, it was still surprising to see!” I said back.

“Well, I better head on back and make sure Hoofter doesn't cause too much trouble with the other kids” she said with a wave of her hoof.

“Gotcha, keep on eye out for Maelstrom as well. She is new to playing with others” I asked.

“No worries!” she said back before heading off.

Once Molly went back, things fell mostly silent back up front with Devia, Trixie, and myself. But that was ok, I got used to this pretty quickly. During the first few days of our expedition, I thought the silence meant no one wanted to go near me or something, but after everything we have gone through I have learned not to take it personal. Which was my fault for being paranoid in the first place. 

Now that I think about it, my time as a leader was drawing nearer. Cause once we cross these plains and get to Manehatten, granted a little time to actually get the gears going, I will be saying goodbye to everyone. At that was a little sad to think about, I was actually kinda getting used to be a leader and all. But I have to remind myself that this isn't only about me, this is about them as well and probably more important at the moment. Since I do have a home to return too.

Sure, AJ and Rainbow would probably tease and bully me about not sticking to a commitment but I don't think anyone in Ponyville would truly complain if I came back. Especially a certain pegasus. Sigh. I miss her a lot. And I hope she really is alright. Heh, I wonder if our little 'deal' to break up was just a silly excuse for the two of us not to feel bad about being away from each other. Cause I certainly still hurt inside for not being able to hold her, to stare into her beautiful golden eyes while I stroked her silky smooth mane. 

“-Master? Are you alright?-” Devi asked me.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts before nodding. “Yeah, I am fine. I was just thinking-”

“About someone you love, no doubt!” Trixie interjected. 

“-How can you be so sure, Trixie?-” Devi asked her.

“The look on his face said everything, the far of look in his eyes, the aura he gave off, the slight saunter in his walk, and the number one clue: the dopey look on his face” Trixie said with a sly smirk as my face grew a little red.

“-So that is what love looks like? Most interesting! But, he doesn't look like that when Maelstrom is around, or at least not that exact look-” Deva said this time. 

“This is a different kind of love! Love between a child and parent is called storge” Trixie started to explain.

“-Storge. Interesting. What are the other kinds of love then?-” Deva asked in return.

“Hmmmm, well Trixie supposes it might be different depending on the pony and the circumstances. But this is what Tri-…. What my mother taught me when I was foal. Storge is the love between family members. Philia is the love between friends, the true bond that keeps them together. If that love blooms, then it becomes Eros. The love of romance. This is where most ponies usually end up, but there is another level of love that is what one should truly strive for”

“That is Agape. Unconditional love. To love somepony for who they truly are, to look past their faults and shortcomings and still love them the same and more! Its the kind of love Trixie truly wishes to find, especially now” Trixie concluded with a sad sigh before gasping. She probably didn't mean to leak that little truth. 

“-I see. This information is wonderful! So, my dear Master, what kind of love were you experiencing just now during your thinking?-” Deva went on. 

“I….I can't truly answer that. It would be a little presumptuous of me to simply label it. Especially because she is not here with me. If I was to answer that, I would have to be able to hold her in my arms and ask how she feels. Since that is what a true relationship is, what we both think. At least, that is what I believe” I admitted. 

There was a small gap of silence before I heard Trixie sniffle a little bit “Trixie apologizes but Trixie thought that was a beautiful statement to make. If only more stallions had that kinda belief” she explained.

“Heh heh. Well, with my past, one could see it simply being 'beggers can't be choosers' instead of wisdom. But regardless of how I shaped that thought, it is still a part of my being and who I am. Or at least, how I try to be. I am only human after all” I said with a quick flashback to my mother. But this time, it brought a comforting smile to my face. Which was a good sign.

“-I see, I see. I will update my internal logs about this and hopefully I can fully process the emotion and thought process of love-” Deva said.

“Good luck” Trixie and me said in unison. That got us to laugh together as well. I just hope Devia doesn't explode while trying to mathematically figure out love. Not even magic can help in that field. Or maybe it can? Since Cadence is the Princess of Love after all, so magic can be involved? I dunno. 

“Boss! Boss! Look! Up ahead!” Cloudhoof shouted as he flew over. 

Taking a look farther up ahead I saw a couple of ponies working in a field, plowing the fields, and tending various other chores. Excellent! These are defiantly the plains that lead to Manehatten. 

After walking a little bit closer, one of the farm ponies finally noticed our group, shortly before shouting something to the others and before we knew it we were seeing a small party running at us with smiling faces. Hopefully this is good?

“Hello! Are you by any chance Adrian the human?” said the closest earth pony.

“That's me, but how do you know that?” I curiously asked. 

“Oh thank Celestia! We have been waiting for your group for a while now! Seeder! Quickly! Go back and inform the others! Adrians here!” said the same earth pony. The one he was talking to nodded his head before doing a one eighty and ran back. “Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you like that Mr. Frost, but we have been most excited to welcome you!”

“Please, just Adrian is fine. And not that I'm not grateful for the warm welcome, but how did you know we were coming?” I asked again.

“Oh! Sorry, guess that would be a little confusing. Well, about a week ago we got a sudden visitor from Canterlot informing us all about you and what your group is doing. They said that they were a part of your group before Princess Celestia helped them. But they said after getting to Canterlot they hopped on a train to Manehatten and started spreading the word about you!”

“And I have to say, I am honored to finally meet the brave pony who is leading this group! Er, well, not pony. Sorry, I don't actually know what to call you”

“No worries. I am a human and I am very surprised to hear all of this! I never expected something like this!” I said with much awe. I am almost speechless at the fact that one of the ponies who left with Celestia did all this! I thought they all favored her over me, not in a bad way but more in the way they thought it was safer and better. “Oh! And what is your name by the way?”

“My apologies! I'm called Arid Beduster and this is the Beduster fields! My family has owned these fields for generations! And it would be my honor to escort you and your group to the gates of Manehatten and give you all a lift using our wagons!” he excitingly said. 

“No! No! You don't have to go that far! Especially since I know how busy and hard it is to maintain the fields” I softly tried to reject.

“Have no fear my friend, since we have been anticipating your arrival, we came prepared!” he said and with a wave of his hand, I saw that five big, covered wagons were coming down the path to us. “I asked around and I was able to find some volunteers and spare wagons to give you all a lift! I hope this is enough to carry you all, since we didn't have an exact number” he said.

“Are you sure? I would feel bad if we held you all back from your chores” I tried to protest.

“Leave all your worries behind, like I said, these are all volunteers. And you will get to Manehatten much faster! At a normal pace, it would take maybe two or three days. But these ponies are all trained to carry much heavier loads back and forth from Manehatten or Filly Delphia to deliver goods. So, if all goes well, they should be able to get you all to Manehatten within a day!” Arid said with a kind smile.

Wow, that certainly would be nice and I think it would be beneficial for them all to have a day of rest before getting to Manehatten anyway. Cause once we are inside, it is going to be a whole new adventure. And if they are all volunteers, then I don't need to feel bad about them missing anything important. 

“Then I will accept your fine offer, and I owe you one” I said with a bow.

“Oh please, think nothing of it. This is nothing compared to the kindness you are showing by leading all these ponies to a new life! Hoofduster! Have you and the others help Adrians group in! On the double!” Arid yelled out and as quick as a flash tons of farm hands (farm hooves?) massed around us and practically lifted us all into the air and put us all into the wagons. 

“Oof! Watch your hoof young stallion!” said one of the mares followed by a very loud slap, which was accompanied by a wave of laughter. 

Once we were all seated properly, we had quite a send off by all the ponies working on the field while we set off at quite a pace that was much faster than our pace. Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if I was slowing us down? Cause maybe ponies are naturally faster walkers then us? I hope not cause that would certainly bring me down.

But that was quickly washed aside as the country side moved by and I have to say, it was actually quite a nice view to take in and very leisurely to watch. Even waving back at the eager and friendly ponies working was super nice. It really made me feel good for doing this, like it was actually worth something far more than just survival. Which is obviously the most important thing, but at times it is nice to feel a sense of accomplishment and acknowledgment. 

I glanced behind me and briefly saw Trixie climb up front with me to allow more seating area for Devia and their class. Everyone has been really enjoying these lessons and I think Devia secretly enjoys them too. We even had a few fliers trailing us in order to listen in, so even when we are suppose to relax they still wanna learn! Brought a little smile to my face.

“Oh? And what has made you so happy?” Trixie said with a nudge of her hoof.

“Oh, nothing much” I said as I turned my head back out front.

“You can tell me, the Great and Tight-lipped Trixie!” Trixie said with her usual gusto.

I had to roll my eyes but I answered anyway “Well, to be honest. I am gonna miss this little group” I ended with a sigh.

“Really?” Trixie inquisitively asked.

“Yeah, I think I will. Even though I still feel worried and scared that I will fail them at any moment, I have gotten used to everyone. To the kids playing, Devia teaching, the guard routine, and even being the mediator sometimes. But I also kinda started liking the role of leader, made me feel useful for once” I said while staring at nothing.

“It's gonna be tough to say goodbye to everyone and be mostly on my own again, but I know it is for the best and I will hopefully see them off with a better future” I finished with another little sigh.

“Will you even miss….me?” she shyly asked.

“Of course I will, no pony could ever match you and your outstanding nature and bravado” I said with a slight smirk and a raised brow.

At this, I saw her chest puff out a little as she struck a semi-sitting pose “But of course! No pony in ALL of Equestria can ever match the Great and Wonderful Trixie!” she shouted to the heavens.

“Yeah, yeah, we get it. We get it” said everypony behind us in a monotone voice.

“Hmph. Jealous much” Trixie said before she slumped back down. I couldn't help but chuckle at her usual antics, yet I was a little sad and surprised that I was actually going to miss that. Only a little though, but enough.

“Come here you” I said as I reached over and gently dragged her into my lap. 

“Wha-wha-what in Tartarus are you doing?” said a heavily blushing Trixie. 

“Just giving you a little something to remember me by” I said as I stretched my hand and began to scratch her right ear and, surprisingly, she collapsed in my lap instantly. 

“Hmmmmmm” she quietly hummed as she snuggled into my leg. Heh, ear scratches are the sure-fire way to keep the Trixie quiet. Who knew?

Suddenly, in the distance, a few flocks of birds sprang out of the sparsely spaced trees and a slight echo could be heard emanating behind us. 

“-tion! tion….tion…..tion….”

“What was that boss?” Cloudhoof and Barnes asked, since they had also joined in on Devia lesson.

“Nothing to worry about, just a silly pink party pony showing her love” I said with a loving smile.

“Oooook then” the duo said before flying back, while casually glancing behind them every now and then.

“We assume you are talking about that obnoxious Pinkie Pie from Ponyville?” Trixie said with a grumpy face before melting back into a smile.

“Hey, be nice. She may have the ability to bounce off the walls and party twenty-four seven, but she is my little sister” I said with just a tiny hint of roughness. 

“Little sister?” she asked.

“Well, not officially or anything. It was something she asked of me and I could not afford to say no or else be onslaught to her big, teary eyes that stare deep into your soul. I was also asked to be Princess Luna's little brother as well, by big sis Luna herself” I declared with a little laugh to myself.

“Why is Trixie not all that surprised by that and your human antics. You probably fit right in at Ponyville” she said, slightly annoyed.

“Yeah, I did. But you know why I couldn't stay there forever, or at least at the moment” I sadly said.

“Well, just ignore that and continue with my ear….. please” Trixie said as she readjusted her head. 

“What did I say about being nice?” I gently reminded her.

“Why should Trixie be sorry! It's because of Ponyville that Trixie had to face reality and be forced to be anything less then Trixie should be!” Trixie said as she quickly sat up. “Yes, Trixie already knows what she did wrong and wishes to redeem herself. But that still doesn't take away the fact that Trixie is where she is today because of it!”

“Trixie never did anything wrong before that meddlesome Twilight came along and started changing ponies! Before she came along, Ponyville loved my shows! Then here comes along Princess Celestias protege and just like that! Trixie became a laughing stock and a fraud in their eyes!” Trixie passionately said, here face starting to heat up.

“Trixie just wishes her life wasn't destroyed and become forced to be a nobody again!” she partially yelled out as a few little tear drops started to roll down her cheeks. 

“Not again…..not…..not again” she quietly repeated to herself.

At this, I pulled her in for a hug which she tried to resist. “The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't need a hug! She doesn't need anything!” she said as she tried her best to get out of my arms. “Trixie doesn't need your pity! Trixie doesn't want your kindness! Trixie! Tr-Trixie! Trixie….” 

“What do you want Trixie?” I asked.

At this, she finally ceased her squirming and stared into my chest for a few silent seconds before letting herself fall onto me.

“I just want to be happy again” Trixie finally admitted before silently crying. I remained quiet while I wrapped my arms around her and softly pulled her up, while I stroked her mane. 

It didn't take too long before she coughed a few times and did a quick wipe of her face and sat up to look at me “Sorry about that Adrian, I am not sure what got into me all of a sudden” she said with a slightly sullen face.

“No worries, my ear scratches have that kinda effect. In fact, The Royal Ear Scratch has almost caused a war between two Princesses! Tis a power most unwieldy!” I said with a tiny hint of Trixies usual bravado. This got a tiny smile out of her as she sniffled a little.

“You certainly are a weird one Adrian, Trixie is glad to have you on her side” she said before she laid back down with her head in my lap again. And almost instantly, I moved my hand back to her ear and scratched it some more. Which seemed to surprise the mare, but I heard no voice of rejection. Instead, in a minute or so, I heard the soft and steady breathing of a sleeping pony. Looking down, I saw that Trixie had a happy smile on her face while she dreamed. 

“-Is everything ok up there Master?-” Devi asked.

Taking a quick glance behind me, I was suddenly reminded that there were was a bit of an audience behind us during that whole debacle. 

“Everything is ship shape now. No need to worry about anything. Sorry that we interrupted your lesson Devia” I said back.

“-Apology accepted Master. Alright everypony, lets start again with the basics-” Devi said to their class. 

I turned back and looked out to the distance once more and felt the wind gently waft through my hair as the now slight dawning sun warmed me up. I decided to pull out the silver book and due a bit of light reading to pass the time, now that I had a good chance to actually read again. And now that I thought about it, the last time I picked it up to read was a while back. I think it was right before that day we met up with Celestia.

At that though, I glanced down at my free right arm and gave it a once over. It wasn't really all that visible, but I could still clearly see where my flesh had been burnt and healed over. The tiny little lines that showed, the pattern it took, the damage it caused. For a brief second, I could almost feel that blazing heat in the palm of my hand again, causing it to twitch.

But I quickly made a fist and squeezed hard until I could feel my nails start to hurt against my skin then I let go and that memory faded away, back into the folds of my mind. I then quickly dug into my bag and scooped out the silver book, being careful not to drop it since I only had one free hand. 

Maybe I should try and see if I can learn that spell Twilight always uses when she reads her books, that would be very helpful and useful for any future use. But until then, I am gonna have to use my leg as a reading tool and I can always just use my other hand real quick to turn the page. 

“I have to think like a wing user, visualize how they fly.” Ok cool, back to where I was last time “After much studying, visualizing, and practice runs. I think I may have found the right combination to get my hooves off the ground and stay there! It was actually quite simply and I almost feel ashamed for not realizing it before, but sometimes a little humble pie must be served in order to move forward!”






-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Hours Later -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~






“What a most wondrous feeling! The feeling of the cold winds grazing my fur, the clouds as I ran my hoof through them, the feel and see the rising sun as it peaks over the horizon on a brand new day, it is almost too grand to simply state in a few words. But for a unicorn like me, to have always walked on dirt and ground, to be soaring through the skies. It was freedom from a life never known to me!

My whole body felt lighter then it had ever been before, my entire being being thrust forward into a new era of emotions and knowledge. I wonder if this is how an alicorn might feel. Heh, calm down old boy. I am sure the power of royalty is far different than just simply flying, but still I wonder. But that is a lesson for another day, or another book perhaps? Gah, now I am just wasting ink at this point” I let out a silent chuckle to myself as I placed the bookmark and closed the book for now. 

I very much enjoy reading Starswirls books, they have a very different feel to them than usual stories or journals. Though I could probably take a guess and say that he might of used magic to place his thoughts on paper instead of simply writing it down. Cause how he words certain phrases, at times, seems out of place or bizarre. But for a pony of his caliber, that is probably more efficient and easier to do.

But as I rubbed my tired eyes, I saw that it had quickly become dark out and if it wasn't for the now lit torch by me, I would of never been able to read as much as I did. That was another thing I loved about his books, whenever I really read them I get sucked into them. It is unfortunate that I wasted a few chapters of this book as a way to simply escape reality when….. well, when the incident in Ponyville happened. 

Shaking my head of those thoughts, I took a look around and saw that my wagon was now silent, and that Trixie was still asleep in my lap while Maelstrom was using my neck as a sort of body pillow. She is like a cat, can sleep anywhere in any position and be perfectly fine. I also saw that Artemis was also curled up asleep right next to Devia who was observing out the back.

“Everything look alright back there?” I asked.

“-Oh, hello master! We didn't wish to disturb your reading session. But to answer your question, yes. Everything is optimal and everyone is safe. I went ahead and talked to our flying guards and our escorts about possibly stopping for the night but they assured us that with our great numbers, their strength, and their knowledge that we are safe to travel at night and will get us to Manehatten in the morning-”

“-They are still oddly very enthusiastic about our mission and are very keen on getting us to Manehatten post-haste. I do not believe that they have any ill will, but I have a very strange feeling about this situation-” they said.

“Perhaps you are feeling the pleasantness of other ponies good will? Cause it is a very nice feeling and, at times, a very foreign feeling. Or at least I think it is” I said.

“-Makes makes you say that, Master?-” Devi asked.

“Well, unfortunately, back on Earth not all humans are as nice as the ponies of Equus are. Especially the day and age I lived in. To find someone who genuinely wants to help out of pure happiness of the cause and for no reward was very rare and to some eyes, was almost inhuman. Well, maybe that is an exaggeration but that was how it felt sometimes when I read the news” I explained.

“-Forgive my rudeness Master, but Earth doesn't sound like a very pleasant place then-
Devi said.

“No worries and yeah, sometimes it was. But with all things, you have to move forward and do your best” I said.

“-At least one good thing came out of Earth-” I heard Deva switch over to say.

“Hmm? What's that?” I curiously asked.

“-Why, you of course! Our dear master!-” Deva said with a nice smile that made me blush a little.

“Oh come on now” I said as I rubbed the back of my neck while I looked away.

“-But it is true Master, if not for you then none of us would be here now. We would still be rotting away in darkness, these ponies would be lost or forced elsewhere if not for you lighting their way. We are always grateful for that kindness and that is why we will follow you forever. My dear and wonderful Master-” Deva said and I swore I heard their fans flare up for a second before they turned away to gaze back at the other wagons.

And with that, I returned to a state of wonder and amazement as I stared out into the calm night sky and took in their words. It is hard to believe that they are a machine and not a living being sometimes. That is one thing I have especially noticed during this trip, their level of….humanity I suppose. Not sure what the appropriate term should be but for now I don't really care. 

Cause at the start of everything in New Leafton, they were very stiff and, well, robotic in all mannerisms. But I think spending everyday with these ponies have made them learn to adapt, which is fascinating to see. But I am very happy to see them grow to much and now I almost find it laughable that I thought that they would kill me one day when I first found them in that factory. 

Letting out a tired yawn, I found my head slowly swaying back and forth until I found a piece of canvas to rest my head against. The moment I found my pillow, my eyes drooped close and I found myself falling asleep very quickly. Hopefully when I wake up I will have some good news about the distance from Manehatten.






-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ The Next Morning -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~






“Papa! Papa! Look! Look!” said my chaotic little daughter as she roughly woke me up. 

“Couf you taik your hans out of my wouf” I barely said, combined with morning sleepiness.

“Heehee! Sorry papa! But look! Look!” she said again and now pointed with her free paw.

Rubbing the corners of my mouth real quick to help soothe the little aches, I followed where she was pointing and there I saw it! I saw, in the distance, the definite shape of large, blocky buildings that looked exactly like New York! It was so uncanny that I thought I had deja vu! But here they were! Right there was Manehatten! At long last! 

“Good morning boss!” said Barnes as she flew down next to me with a huge grin on her face.

“Good morning to you as well Barnes, you certainly are radiating joy so early in the day” I said with a chuckle.

“I can't help it boss! I am just so excited! And nervous! And happy! And scared! And everything else! Ha ha!” she said with a flying corkscrew. 

“I actually know that exact feeling, it is certainly a bizarre combination-” I was suddenly interrupted by an abrupt yawn from the Peaceful yet Drooling Trixie. “-And good morning to you sleepy head”

“And what a fine morning it is! Trixie feels magnificent and rejuvenated! Best sleep I have had in a week! I wonder why?” Trixie said.

“The ear scratches work wonders” I said with a slight smug face.

“Well, the Great and Refreshed Trixie won't object this time, since she got the beauty sleep she deserves!” she said with an elegant toss of her mane. 

I rolled my eyes at the performer before I looked back at the enclosing city before I looked down at our drivers “Are all of you alright?” I asked them.

“Don't sweat it sir! This was a cake walk in comparison to our usual loads, we normally carry huge grains of seeds, fruits, or other food stock along with timber and whatever materials we get asked to deliver” the closest stallion said. 

“Well, I still feel a tiny bit guilty to have you guys up all night just for us” I confessed.

“Like we said, don't sweat it! We all volunteered to do this job and it works out for us anyway cause we were going to be heading out this way today anyway to pick up a shipment for tomorrow, so now we are going to be ahead of schedule! Bonus!” another stallion said.

“Alright, I'll trust you. But wow! I can't believe the size of this place! Well, I guess I can since it is almost identical to a city back where I came from. But still! In comparison to Ponyville, the Crystal Empire, and Canterlot, it is quite a sight!” I said.

“Wow, you've been all the way out to the Crystal Empire? Amazing!” said the first stallion. 

“Yep, unfortunately it was to read though, so pretty boring in that regards. But I still loved it there and I want to go back someday” I said.

“I'm sure you will. Alright, so we are going to be heading in soon. We are going to drop you all off near the train station since we can't really lug these big wagons around on the busy streets. There should be somepony waiting for you there to take you to city hall” said the second stallion.

“Waiting for us? How did they know to be here already?” I asked.

“Like we said yesterday, we have been awaiting for your arrival for a little while. So as soon as we saw you approaching, we sent one of our fastest pegasus messengers go on ahead to the pony who told us about you in the first place! They should be the one waiting” he said.

“Wow, I wonder who it was? It was a small number of ponies who left, but enough so that I haven't the faintest clue or idea as to who it could possibly be” I said as I tried my best to recall as those who left.

“Well, your gonna find out soon enough! Cause here is the Hatten Bridge! Not a lot of ponies know this but its actually called Hatten because the ones who first financed its construction was the Hatten family, who were hatters by trade! Though once ponies hear this, they think the city was also named after them, but that is silly cause everyone knows it was named after Madam Manehatten who first laid claim to the area in-” said a third stallion, who just got a smack to the back of the head by the first guy.

“You can bore them with your guides and tours AFTER we drop them all off and get them situated” said stallion number one.

“But Steel, by then we will be gone and moving on to our order!” number three complained.

“Exactly Shutters, exactly” the newly named Steel said.

“Aw Tartarus” Shutters wined. 

“Now pay attention, we gotta watch our steps now. Hopefully it's not backed up again” Steel said as he slowed down to a trot before eventually walking. “Not too bad, I think we will make good time in getting you all to the station”

“Is it always this busy?” I asked.

“Always Adrian, always” Trixie suddenly said as she began to grow a grumpy face while darting her eyes to every moving pony coming our way.

“Whoa, careful now Trixie. You might turn them to stone with all your glaring” I joked.

“You have to always watch your back, cause most if not all of these ponies are rude and can swindle you out of your wagon faster than a lightning strike” she said before she clutched her hat close to her chest.

“Speaking from experience I assume?” Steel asked.

“ONLY ONCE…..but…..yes” Trixie shamefully admitted.

“Yep, well it is the city of opportunity after all. Unfortunately, that also includes the opportunity to steal as well. Real shame, but most cities these size have a little bit of crime” Steel said as he took a sharp left and I could see a set of train tracks heading off to the left. “Alright, we are getting close. One more corner and…… there we are! Main Central Station!” 

I was about to facepalm at the pony pun but then I saw a sign that spelled it out as actually 'Main' instead of 'Mane' and I felt a little sanity creep back into my mind. I love puns as much as Pinkie Pie, but sometimes this world likes to stretch them out a teeny bit too much.

I was only able to take a quick glance around before I noticed a semi-familiar face waving at us from the station and thankfully I remembered their name.

“Wow! Look! It’s Thunder Rose! So it was him huh?” I said, mostly to myself. 

“Thunder Rose….. Thunder Rose….. wasn’t he one of the few who preferred to be alone? Trixie always had the sense that he never really cared for any of us. Trixie is greatly surprised!” she said.

“As am I, but I am happy that we were wrong” I said with a smile while we pulled up to park.

“Mister Adrian! Mister Adrian! Hello!” Thunder Rose said as we hopped off and stretched our limbs. Oof! I think I heard one or two pops from my back. 

“Hello again Thunder, I didn’t think we would ever see you again” I said to him.

“I know and I apologize for leaving, but after your battle with Princess Celestia, I was inspired by your heroism and I felt this sudden urge to act and do something! But I had no idea on how to do it, so when the Princess offered us a way back, I knew I had to take that chance. So when we arrived at Canterlot I ran off to the nearest Train and hopped on!”

“I do feel a little bad for sneaking on without paying though, but I promise to pay them back once I start earning an income. But more importantly! As soon as I got here I started asking anypony for help, though they all rejected me or flat out ignored me. I was almost on the verge of giving up on the third day when a nice mare named Coco Pommel walked by and listened to my story and was more than happy to help me out!”

“She had quite a voice cause once she started asking around, ponies listened to her and we finally got the ball rolling! We were able to meet one of the ponies of Beduster Fields and they were an enthusiastic bunch! Ready to help at the drop of a hat! But then, out of the blue, the Mayor of Manehatten approached us himself! Said he had heard a small commotion the past couple of days and when he heard what it was about, he came to verify the rumors! Which is another reason why I am here, to bring you to the Mayor personally!” Thunder said, almost all at once and was now out of breath.

“Wow, that was quite a mouthful” I jested as I patiently waited for the stallion to catch his breath.

“Sorry, but I was just to excited to see you again! And with everything working out so well here! Well, I just feel so happy! So thank you Mister Adrian! Thank you so much for finding all of us!” he said as he started to tear up with a smile on his face. After he realized his eyes were watery, he quickly used his hoof to dry them off and coughed a little. 

“Alright, well it sounds like we are off. Thank you again Steel, Shutters, and everypony else! We owe you all big time for your generosity!” I said loudly.

“Forget about it! Hopefully, the next time we see all of you, you all will be happy and smiling ever more! See ya!” Steel shouted as his wagon crew carefully headed out to their next destination. 

“Do you all need to rest or eat or do anything first before we head off to the Mayors?” Thunder asked.

Hmmmm, that is a good question. I would normally suggest we sit down and eat first but I am not sure if a large group of homeless ponies eating forest scraps at a train station would look good in this world. 

“No! Lets go!”

“Yeah! Were ready!”

“I don’t even feel hungry or tired!”

“My wings are itching to fly!”

“Wow, that is a tall building”

“What are we talking about?”

That and other things were being said from the ponies behind me, so I turned back to Thunder and said “You heard them, lets get going! To the Mayor of Manehatten!”

And with that, we set off on the busy streets of Manehatten. A human, draconequus, timberwolf, android, performer, and a group made up of ponies, donkeys, and a gryphon walking down the street. What could possibly go wrong? 
> Laws, Politics, And A Show For A Human
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“And here I am! Welcome one and all to my fair and wonderful city of MANEHATTEN!” shouted a little rounded earth-stallion wearing a tuxedo and a top hat that seemed to be a bit taller than normal. 

‘Well, that didn’t last long’ I thought to myself after getting everyone riled up.

“S-s-sir! I didn’t expect to see you so soon! Your secretary said you were still busy” Thunder said.

“I was, for the most part, but they were all just normal day-to-day things that I can easily deal with at a later date. Something of this…. magnitude should not be left to chance!” said who I am assuming is the mayor.

“Well, that is certainly reassuring” Trixie silently scowled to herself. 

“MAYOR MANEHATTEN! THERE YOU ARE!” shouted another stallion who almost seemed to turn into mist as they ducked, dodged, and weaved around everything and everyone to get to us in the blink of an eye. I bet this is the secretary. Once he got closer, he was almost opposite to the mayor. A unicorn who was skinny as a twig and almost twice as tall. He almost rivaled Fleur in both aspects, and she is a professional model. But she made it look good. 

“Ah! Lace Hatten! My boy! I was wondering where you wandered off to!” the mayor happily exclaimed to the new addition.

“Sir, I told you to just call me Hatten. You know how much I dislike my first name. Thank you again mother” Hatten annoyingly said.

“Ha ha! Forgive me Hatten, I was just excited!” the mayor jollily said.

“You nearly gave me a heart attack! We were about to leave when I had to sign off on two things of paperwork, one a housing deal and another about a new business that sprung up overnight. When I turned around, you were gone!” Hatten stated.

“Ha ha! Sorry again Hatten. But with this kind of thing, I had to focus all my attention and you know how I easily I get sidetracked. This is almost a once in a lifetime event! I had to do something!” the mayor boasted rather loudly.

Trixie tugged at my legs, so I bent all the way down and she whispered “Doesn’t help that he is up for re-election this year”

“Now then, I am presuming that you…..strange one, are Adrian Frost? Our guest of honor!” the mayor said as he hopped closer, his secretary always one step behind. Like a shadow.

“Yes, that is me. But the true guest’s of honor are everypony else here, looking for a home and a way of life to live in your city. Hopefully” I explained with a smile as I stuck out my hand.

“Ah, well said! Well said!” the mayor happily exclaimed as he shook my hand.

“And excellent for the press as well” Hatten said who used his magic to write something down in his notebook. 

“Now! Before we head to my office, how about I get you all something to eat! My treat!” the mayor presented.

A chorus of cheers and huzzahs was heard and all previous thoughts of not needing food were gone. Funny. 

“Now if that isn’t a consensus then I don’t know what is! Follow me everypony! Oh! Quickly! On our right, this building was built in-” the mayor started to say, lost in his own world now. 

“And a tour, good. Good” I heard Hatten mumble to himself while writing something down again while he caught up. 

“Hmph. I wonder who will be on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow. Him or us” Trixie sarcastically said. 

“Are you alright Trixie? I can understand the grumpiness from before, but now your even more defensive” I asked.

“-We concur Trixie, you do appear to be agitated-” Devi said.

“You don’t know this city like I do, nothing but business business business. If something isn’t making profit, then nopony cares. The mayor is only giving us the time of day since it will give him good publicity, heck this could be turned into some sort of rally. Celestia knows what else this could turn into” Trixie said with a pout. 

“-While we try to keep on open mind for you Master, we have to agree with her. This situation can be very dangerous-” Devi said. 

“Ugh, hate politics and all that nasty stuff. Hmmmm….how about this. Devia, you tag alongside the mayor and keep tabs on everything. You have a better memory and can keep an eye out for anything…..weird or suspicous. Be nice though” I suggested. 

“-Most excellent thinking my Master! Always one step ahead!-” Deva said before they set off. 

“Good thinking” Trixie mumbled. 

“Oh come here you” I said just before I picked up the grumpy mare and gave her a little hug. 

“Put me down you big buffoon! I never asked for a hug!” she said as she dangled in my arms.

“Cheer up! Sure, we may be involved with some silly stuff but I firmly believe that everything will turn out alright. Even if this thing turns on its head, I doubt the Mayor will just turn a blind eye to a group this large. Especially after hearing all the trouble Thunder and this Coco Pommel went through” I said.

“We suppose” Trixie said.

“Cause Papa good! Papa good!” Maelstrom happily said as she bounced on my head while playing with my hair, again. Another knot or two for later, yay for long hair. 

“Has she grown bigger?” Thunder suddenly said.

“O-oh! Yes, yes she did. I’m not one hundred percent the reason why, but her growth seems to be tied with her state of being and probably her chaos magic, along with whatever I have inside of me that was passed down to her. So, basically, I have no real idea” I explained with a laugh.

“Lucky you!” Thunder said back with a laugh of his own.

“Oh yes, lucky lucky lucky. Say, speaking of luck, do you think we will be able to meet this Coco Pommel who helped you out? I would like to meet her and thank her” I asked.

“I hope so! She is quite a busy mare and she has a big time job that always keeps her busy. But she gave me a way to contact her, so I will get in touch with her and tell her everything” Thunder explained.

“Sounds good, now lets catch up with our group. Don’t want to get lost already” I said. With a nod of their heads, we tried to catch up as quickly as possible and with a little weaving of our own and after waiting for two lights to change, we finally made our way back to the tour. By the looks of things, the mayor and Hatten didn’t even notice our absence.

“-and this particular building was where the Hattens first laid their original groundwork for their first shop! Though it has been demolished and rebuilt many times since then, as is the way of things. Isn’t that right Hatten?” the mayor asked.

“Yes sir, as I should know since they are my family after all” Hatten groaned as he continued to write in his notebook. 

“That is right! I don’t know if you know, but the Hatten family was the first family to help donate money and effort to making Hatten Bridge! The one you came in on! So his family and my own are closely tied to the true roots of this great city of Manehatten! And now, our generation will once again be apart of something big by helping you all fine folk. A similar event hasn’t taken place since the founding of Equestria!” the mayor boasted again while Hatten hastily wrote it down.

“I don’t mean to interrupt sir, but I believe that we have arrived” Hatten said.

“Already? Goodness! Time flies when you are having fun! And we just barely scratched the surface of this city!” his stomach started to growl “But food is calling! And I can’t just say no! Ha ha!” he happily said before he entered the restaurant.

“Good evening Mayor! I haven’t seen you in these parts for a while! How can we help you on this fine day?” said the waitress, a pegasus mare with green fur and a dark blue mane.

“Well, today I am here to not only eat your fine food but I am also buying lunch for all these homeless ponies who walked all the way from New Leafton, which lies at the other end of the Everfree Forest! And I am here to help!” the mayor said.

“-Who was led here by our kind and generous leader, Adrian Frost. The only known human in all of Equestria-” Devi interjected. 

“A human? What is that?” the mare asked.

“That would be me and what my species is called” I said as I stepped forward. Well, bent down to fit through the doorway first then stepped forward.

“Wow…..you certainly are a big one!” she exclaimed as she eyed me up and down. By this time, I had actually gotten the entire restaurants attention far faster than the mayor did.

“Heh, I get that a lot. Do you have enough to seat all of us? I would hate to impose” I politely asked.

“We certainly do! We will have to grab some extra chairs and table from the back first, but we do have room!” she said.

“Excellent! While we wait, could we get some menus to look at while we wait?” the mayor asked. 

“Sure thing!” she said while the other staff got busy moving. Wonder how Manehatten food tastes? Hopefully Canterlot and the Crystal Empire haven’t spoiled my taste buds to much. Then again, I have been eating forest scraps and whatever else we could find on the road. I should be fine.




-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 1 ½ Hours Later -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~




Wow. Good thing and bad thing. It was good cause it reminded me of food back home! Bad, only because everything was greasy and oily. Still pretty good eat though. And of course, when the bill came the Mayor paid for everything and gave a generous tip and got a move on to give another tour while we made our way to his office.

Though he already tipped, I secretly walked up the our waitress, named Lilac Dewdrop, and gave her a few bits just for her. She blushed a little but thanked me with a pretty smile and wished me good luck.

This time, we were able to hear most of the tour, though it was all strangely focused around what the name Manehatten has done for this building or how a previous mayor did that for another. But other than the self propaganda, the tour was very informative and he did point out important places like the post office, legal offices, hospitals, dental, and etc. We even got to see their ‘famous’ theater, Roaring Lion Studio, and according to Thunder is where Coco Pommel works at most of the time.

“And there she is, the beautifully marbled city hall!” the mayor said as he showcased the hall, it almost seemed out of place. Like someone plucked it out of Canterlot and placed it here. But it was certainly nice and a stark contrast from the rest, certainly a beacon to everyone that someone important dwells here.

“Come inside, come inside! I won’t let you all sit outside and wait while we sort everything out! Adrian, I assume you are the pony in charge. Correct?” he asked me.

“Yes, yes I am. Alongside my companions Devia and Trixie, also my daughter Maelstorm here and my canine companion Artemis” I introduced. 

“Trixie? Trixie. Why does that name ring a bell?” the mayor pondered out loud.

“She was the mare who caused that little ruckus a while back while trying to get her cart back that she sold” Hatten declared.

“I did not! I was swindled and you know it!” Trixie suddenly said with that outburst.

“Tut tut! Now is not that time for old news, we have much more important things to do! Step inside my office and lets talk” the mayor said, but this time he seemed a bit more…..straight forward then usual. 

The seven of us stepped inside the mayors office and found it very expansive and littered with paperwork while the walls were covered with various pictures and newspaper articles, along with various other gifts or items.

Hatten silently closed the door until we all heard the audible metal click of them coming together, which sent a shiver of bad news down my spine. 

“Sit down, please” Hatten said behind us.

Devia, Trixie, and myself sat on the thankfully huge couch while Maelstrom and Artemis played behind us. 

“Comfortable? Good, cause this will take a while” the mayor asked as he positioned himself on his large padded chair. “Now, let’s talk business”

“Business? I’m not here to trade you know?” I curiously asked.

“Oh, but you are….human. This is no charity and everything has a price” Hatten said as he circled around us to stand by the mayor. At this, I heard Trixie click her tongue but it went by ignored.

“What Hatten means to say is, I, the mayor of Manehatten, will of course do his best to sort them out. But as I said earlier, this sort of thing on a scale so huge has not happened since the founding of Equestria. Many rules, laws, and procedures have taken hold since then and as such, even for a good cause, it cannot be easily dealt with”

“Money is the currency of the realm, bits shall take you everywhere here in Manehatten and bits are always honest. Food, shelter, trust, those and other things all cost money and as Hatten said: This is no charity” the mayor honestly said with a solemn look in his eye.

“Of course, we are not so heartless, stupid, and ignorant as to ask for a large sum of bits up front of course. That would become a bit to cliché of those old dramas and stories the theater loves to perform. We are more than willing to work with you all to find an agreement to come to. We can even set up a new charity to help provide income! It will look great for you as well as me!” the mayor said with enthusiasm.

I could not help but clench my fist in anger for a second as I bored a hole through the mayors head with my staring. I figured something like would happen but not to this extent! This rotten mayor is acting like some sort of loan shark! Heck, these ponies under me could become akin to slaves to this pony!

Gah, but I do understand the general thinking behind it. It would be unfair to just ask and magically receive food, clothing, and shelter at next to nothing. But still, I find his attitude towards this unsettling and very dickish. All he cares about is himself and how this will make him look good in the public’s eye. Hah, even though he doesn’t want to become a cliché, he has already become one in my eye.

“So, what do you suggest then? We work ourselves to bone, scrapping together any and all bits that we can just to barely make your collection? All the while you get all the glory and fame for being the hero of the city for ‘providing’ your helpful service to us?” I asked.

“Well, maybe not in those exact words but I think that would do just nicely. After all, with my approval you can do anything, so long as I get some sort of credit” the mayor said with a shady smile.

“I suppose we have no choice, but I do demand that you provide us with housing. Even if it is just one house with an address. They also need all the necessary paperwork for holding jobs, living, and anything else needed that a normal pony would need. All under your approval of course, so no one can deny them or accuse them of forgery” I firmly told them.

“That can be arranged, there are always houses coming and going. Bankrupt, moving up, moving down, or just plain moving, you name it. I can find you a large house and talk to the owner about reducing the pay until I deem you all stable. As for work, I can’t say that you all will get glorious jobs, but I can say that plenty of simple jobs are always available”

“See? Now wasn’t that simple? Now I just need a list of names for them all, and we can get the paperwork started. Shouldn’t take more than a day and a half, maybe even less if I can get a hold of the right ponies. How many are in your party?” the mayor finally asked.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves a little before answering “Thirty two, which includes me as well. I actually have a list of names already, so you can copy that to make things go a little faster” and with that I dug into my bag and dug out said list and handed it over.

“Now that is a smart move on your part and-” the mayors horn glowed for a few seconds and I saw a second piece of paper poof on his desk before he floated my original paper back to me “-done! Hatten, can you get started on the house. Then come back here and start making profiles for everypony, if they don’t have one” he said.

“Yes sir” Hatten said before hurrying out the door, closing it behind him.

“And there we have it! The ball is now in motion and all we have to do is let things fall in place. Until whenever the house is available, I do no mind hosting everypony for the night and providing food. In fact, there is something special happening in my fair city tonight! If you wish to stick around then go ahead, but if not then meet us at The Square at seven o’ clock tonight. You can’t miss it” the mayor offered.

I gladly accepted his offer and did some paperwork for him before I walked out and informed everyone what was going on. I left out all the ‘political’ talk and simply told them the mayor was giving us food, shelter, and the possibility of jobs and such. Even though I was still mad about his true intentions, I lightened up quite a bit when I saw them all plaster smiles on their faces, some even started crying happy tears.

I guess, with all things considered, this is all good news. Sure it may not have gone like in the stories or anything and it all didn’t magically get solved, but I got them here and they are on their way to living a better life. I defiantly felt the happiness when a few ponies tackle hugged me, tears streaming while they thanked me, well more like blubbering at this point, but I hugged them all back and got into a great mood.

Once all the thanks were given, I told them about the mystery event tonight and asked if any wanted to walk around the city or wait here for tonight. Almost all of them elected to stay and relax and settle in a bit, mostly due to the loud city noise outside. The only two who wanted to come with me was Cloudhoof and Barnes, my two pegasus guards. Heh, saying it like that makes me sound like a noble or something. My guards! Muah! 

And of course, the Great and Glorious Trixie will still be tagging along. So that makes those three in addition to Maelstrom, Devia, and Artemis for my group. We said our goodbyes for now and opened the big doors out to the big city. I still can’t believe how this place looks so closely similar to New York, and here I am. 

Wait……

UGH! 

I am the New York giant now, well the Manehatten giant but still. Moving on.

I took a right and just started walking, touring the city with my eyes while the others gazed up in wonder at the super tall buildings, the busy streets, ponies running everywhere, Maelstrom clinged to my hair a little bit and I even heard Maelstrom give a warning growl once or twice.

But we certainly had a little bit of leeway because the ponies of Manehatten were staring at me and veered out of the way, some out of fear and some simply because they were not watching where they were walking. It’s been a while since I saw this, it was actually kinda funny now. But still, I always made sure to smile and gave a wave of my hand. One little filly actually waved back before catching back up to her school group, I am assuming.

So we walked around for about an hour to much similar affect to our surroundings, we walked around while I almost seemed to be paraded around as a giant float or something. But no one came up to talk to us or be inquisitive about who I am. Then again, big city such as this probably has different rules and customs. That or they are simply adhering to the ‘don’t talk to strangers’ thing.

That is, until when we walked around a corner and I saw another big building, well more like medium sized if we are looking at the surrounding towers, in the middle of a green courtyard with a big sign reading ‘Manehatten Square School’. Wow, it was a very nice building! It kinda reminds me of one of those schools that house multiple grades, like sixth through twelfth. Hmmm, I wonder if they have multiple grades here in Equestria? 

“Look! Look! There he is! I told you I wasn’t lying!” shouted a filly. Looking in more, I saw the same filly I waved at earlier in front of a large crowd of foals and I am assuming their teacher, a stallion with a light gray suit. A stampede followed as all the little ones charged right at me, big smiles on their faces. 

“Calm down everypony! Calm down!” shouted the stallion in a vain attempt to control them. More like a colossal failure, if this was a cartoon they would of probably trampled over him. Soon enough I had a gathering in front of me full of big eyes, filled with wonder as they stared at me.

“Ahem. My deepest apologies sir, they are usually more well behaved then that” the stallion said as he dusted himself off. “My name is Gray Stubbs, and I am their teacher. We were taking a little field trip to a printing factory and on our way back Lily Vines started talking about some tall, strange looking creature walking around. So when they all saw you, well, you know the rest” he explained.

“No worries, I am kinda used to it. Just glad I didn’t scare you all” I said while looking down.

“Jeepers mister, you’re tall!” said a colt.

“And your mane is super long and really pretty!”

“Look! His eyes! His eyes!”

“Oh yeah! Awesome!”

“And look at what he is wearing!”

“What are those?”

“Wow, he is soooooo tall!”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little at their reactions before I bent down on one knee and held my hand out for them to swarm around it, prodding and poking. It was quite silly to watch them bend my fingers and being amazed. 

“Look at that boss, you are really popular!” Barnes commented as she giggled while floating behind me.

“Well I am a walking showpiece after all, being the only one of my kind on a planet full of ponies and such” I said to her.

That was when I felt a couple of hoofs push harder against my palm, looking back I saw a couple of them looking up at me sadly. “You are all alone?” one said.

“Yes and no. I am the only human in Equestria, but I have a lot of friends. Even now” I said while I gestured behind me. “And I even have a daughter as well! Right here” now pointing to the fluff in my hair.

“She is your daughter?!?” a different filly said.

“Sure is! Long story though, and kinda weird and complicated. Grown up stuff” I smirked while I gently rubbed her head.

“Boo!” a colt said which got most of them to laugh.

“Alright, alright. I think I have kept you all long enough away from school. I don’t wanna cause any trouble” I said to a now disappointed looking group. 

“At the very least, it will keep them from properly studying….again” Gray Stubbs said with a knowing look.

“Uh oh, sounds like extra homework” I replied.

“Hey! No fair!” a filly whined.

“Heh heh. Only if you all don’t get back to class pronto! Come on, let’s go. Say goodbye to….” Stubbs started to say.

“Oops! My bad, my name is Adrian. Adrian Frost” I introduced with a wave of my hand.

All at once, the whole class gathered back and in one voice shouted “BYE MISTER ADRIAN!” just before running away and laughing. 

Stubbs shook his head with a small smile before he nodded at me and rejoined his students.

“Well, that was a nice little detour” Cloudhoof commented. 

“Defiantly! I love little colts and fillies, they are so adorable!” Barnes replied.

“Hmph. They can be little leeches at times” Trixie grumpily said. 

“Uh oh, sounds like we got a little grumpy cape” Barnes said back to the magician.

“Why I never!” Trixie said to the now smug flyer.

“Come on, we got more city to explore!” I said and started leading, which got the others follow.

It was about another good hour or so before we stopped somewhere to get a bite to eat, no meat for me this time but I kept some fish for Artemis and Maelstrom in my bag. Thank goodness it is so huge thanks to magic, or else I would look like a backpacker traveling across Europe. So after eating, we came upon a huge building that had a golden lion protruding out top. Looks like we ended up back in front of the theater.

“Excuse me! Excuse me!” I heard a voice call out. Looking around, I didn’t see anyone stand out or look like they just talked.

“Over here!” they yelled out again. But once more, I didn’t see the voice in the sea of rushing ponies.

“Oof! Sorry, sorry! There we go” I heard them say and finally I saw a mare pop out of the rush in front of us. She had a two-toned blue mane, wearing a collar and red tie. She had a big smile as she trotted up to us. “Hello there! I didn’t know you were coming here! I would have been slightly more prepared”

“No worries, we were just wandering around, checking the city out” I told her.

“Becoming a hot topic at school” Barnes joked while she nudged my shoulder. 

“Har har Barnes, har har” I sarcasticly said back. Looking back at the mare who seemed to be beaming, I asked “So, how do you know about us? Or me?”

“OH! My goodness! I suppose you wouldn’t know, silly me. My name is Coco Pommel, I was the one who helped out Thunder Rose! I knew I had to take this opportunity to help, it seemed only right after all the kindness and generosity I was shown myself which led me to working here! Rarity really saved me” Coco said with a kind smile.

“Oh? So Rarity helped you? I could definitely see Rarity wanting to be in a place like this, especially for her business” I said.

“You know Rarity as well?! Small world! But we can talk about that later, I want you to meet somepony! Or well, re-introduce you since they know you pretty well already” Coco said as she grabbed my pant leg and tried to pull me in some direction. 

So I ended up following her, almost easier said than done with this crowd of ponies but I could always tell where she was since her mane stuck out the most. I am surprised that no one really paid me any attention though, they all just darted around me as they went about their day. Guess rush hour is the same in any world.

We finally got up to the front where a small line of ponies were waiting to buy tickets for something called ‘The Power Of One’, some sort of show and one I don’t recognize. Must be an Equestrian original! Coco opened the door for us and waited until we all made it through before re-guiding us around the new crowd who definitely noticed me this time. But instead of confusion or anything, they seemed excited and some even started taking pictures.

“Wow! Miss Pommel! Miss Pommel! Is that a costume or a prop for an upcoming production?” said a random stallion.

“Nope! This is a genuine living being called a human! I think I said that right?” she asked me.

“Correct! My name is Adrian Frost everyone, nice to meet you” I said and offered a wave. Two seconds later I was blinded by at least a dozen camera flashes going off at once, quickly followed by a small avalanche of questions of the usual ‘Where did you come from’ ‘What exactly is a hiumon’ ‘Do you like cheese’…. Ok that last one was a bit unusual, but still.

But before I had a chance to answer, Coco stepped in “Later everypony, later. We have a tight schedule to keep to. But I am sure you will all get your answers later” she said and that seemed to get most of the crowd to disperse which got us moving again to the back. 

“So, where exactly are we heading to Miss Pommel?” Barnes asked.

“We are heading backstage! Our surprise guest wanted to wait in the back” Coco replied.

‘-And you are quite certain that they are on friendly terms with our Master?-” Devi asked which almost seemed to spook Coco.

“Yes, I do believe so” Coco replied again. Leading us further and further in, we finally entered through a door clearly labeled as ‘BACKSTAGE – NO ENTRY’ and saw plenty of ponies running around, some half-dressed, some practicing lines, and some just hanging out. Once again, we played the swirl and twirl game of getting around them all just to finally end up in front of another door, this time saying ‘Actors Room – Twirl Linen’.

Coco knocked three times before a voice answered “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Coco Pommel sir! I have some guests for your guest!” Coco explained which got a tiny giggle out of her. 

“Heh, alright. Give me a few seconds to wrap up and they can use my room to talk. I’ll be up on stage for probably a half hour” the stallion voice told her.

“Yes sir!” Coco said. She turned around to us “That is Twirl Linen, he is one of our most famous actors! He can sing, dance, and has even helped us out backstage with props! It is such an honor to be helping him during this production!” she ended by quickly sitting down and used her front two hooves to excitingly clap to herself.

I say about a minute later the door finally creaked open and out came a fancily dressed stallion with what seemed like a wig over his mane, a fancy red colored old-fashioned suit with a large tail that almost looked like a half cloak, and four shiny black boots.

“Good evening every filly and gentlecolt! And- whoa!” he suddenly stopped as he gazed up at me. “Gracious! You are certainly a big one! Taller than any minotaur I’ve ever seen! Drats, would love to get to know you but the stage beckons and I must answer! To the stage!” Twirl said before dashing off, his boots echoing for just a second.

“Come on in, don’t be shy now” said a familiar voice which got me super excited! So I lead the charge as I swung open the door and sitting there was Spitfire! Oh my goodness!

“SPITFIRE!” I merrily shouted as I ran up to her with a big smile on my face. She seemed surprised at first but once she saw who it was, her face was also adorned with a smile.

“Kid!” she simply said before she took to the air and we gave each other a hug. It was so nice to see her again! “Oh my Celestia kid, what in the world are you doing here?”

“Heh, long story which I will gladly tell in a second. Wow! It is so awesome to see you again, last time was after that whole Cascades shenanigans. Wait! Wait, wait, wait. Am I in time to see your guys show?!?” I excitingly asked her.  

“You sure are kid! Lucky you!” she replied with a smirk and quickly ruffled my hair.

“Y-yo-you k-k-know Spa….Speee...Spitfire?” Both Barnes and Cloudhoof said together.

“Sure does, me and this tall hunk shared a small adventure together. Well, only after he bravely sacrificed himself to save Fleetfoot. The big hero” Spitfire proudly declared.

“Come on, your making me sound like something straight out of a novel” I said with a tiny hint of a blush on my face.

“Well, we always knew that he was great. He would have to be in order to travel around the Great and Wondrous Trixie!” said mare struck a pose.

“Oh! Your an actor too?” Coco innocently asked which made Trixie pout a little.

“Seems like you got some new ponies following you around as well I see” Spitfire said as she hovered right next to me, one leg leaning on my shoulder.

“Sure do. The one in blue is Trixie, she is a traveling magician who used to be in Ponyville for a spell” I stopped to chuckle at that one, only to make Trixie pout even more “Then the stallion up there is Cloudhoof and the mare next to him is Barnes. Oh! And the pony with the orange mane and black tail is Devia, they are another long story” I introduced.

“Well, pleasure to meet all of you. Names Spitfire, Captain of The Wonderbolts. Though I guessing most of you knew that already” she said with that same smirk as she mostly stared at the two slack-jawed pegasi. 

Barnes was the first to recover as she quickly flew over to Spitfire, “It’s an honor to meet you! I-I-I never would of dreamed that I would get to talk to you! Oh boss! You are such a miracle worker!” she said before slamming into me for a hug. I just chuckled as I used one arm to hug her back while a certain mare laughed as well.

“Careful there, that stallion is already taken. Right kid?” Spitfire replied but her smile went away when she saw the forlorn look on my face when I realized that Spitfire doesn’t know anything about why I left Ponyville. “Kid? What happened?”

I let Barnes go as I took a deep sigh and felt my emotions build up a little, it has been a while since I talked out loud about my anger that day and about Derpy. I felt Maelstrom plop on my head as well as I few vain attempts of her trying to kiss my head through all my hair. 

“I won’t go into full detail right now, it is still kinda painful to talk about in the open. But, basically, I ended up leaving Ponyville to go and explore the world and try to find myself, where I belong, and a general purpose. And I couldn’t ask Derpy to just leave everything behind just to come on this selfish quest with me. So we had a….. deep, deep talk and we decided that we should….split up” I ended with a sad sigh and I felt my bottom lip quiver for just a second.

“Oh kid, I’m so sorry. I had no idea” Spitfire said as she gently placed both hooves on my shoulder.

“It’s alright, you didn’t know. You were just trying to be smug, as always” I retorted with a smirk of my own. At this she smacked my shoulder a bit, which got the two of us to laugh.

“Ya big knuckle head” she quickly said before giving me a quick little hug “Sorry to hear about that kid. Maybe one day you two will be back together. I thought the two of you were a smart choice for each other” 

“Yeah, one day. One day” I said with a blank tone. After a few heavy seconds of silence, I shook my head and let out a light laugh “But anyway, it is still awesome that I arrived here just in time to see your show!”

“Lucky you! And, of course, you are free to enter of course. Our big V.I.P!” Spitfire replied.

“AND A V.I.P?!” Barnes had a look of absolute bliss on her face. “You are the best boss”

“Yeah, well the show will be the perfect distraction from all that political BS from earlier” I grumpily said with a slightly nasty look on my face.

“Uh oh, now that is something I have to hear. Find a place to squat on down and tell me, we have some time and I’m not going anywhere until my show” Spitfire instructed.

Finding it best to just literally squat down and sit cross-legged, I did while everyone else found something else to sit on. My head also being one as well, for a certain cute and adorable little girl.

Just before I took a deep breath to recount the tale, I just remembered something very important. “Hey, Devia? Can you perfectly recall everything that transpired in the mayors office?” I asked.

“-Yes Master! We followed your instructions to the letter! Would you like us to replay it? We can only do audio though, our cortex visualizers still need some work-” Devo replied.

“That will be more than enough, if you would please” I politely asked again.

“-Would be our honor to be of assistance to you, Master-” Devo said before I heard a fan or two start to whirl and I saw their jaw drop down, then I heard the Mayors voice casually come out of Devias mouth. Wow! I had just expected them to simply repeat it! But they actually recorded it, score!

The recording started just as we entered City Hall when the Mayor introduced us to his ‘beautifully marbled city hall’ and then proceeded to showcase our entire conversation. Which made me want to spit in disgust all over again, and I almost thought Trixie was going to go into a self-monologued rampage, but Barnes simply laid her hoof on her and shook her head. The recording finally ended after we left City Hall, and with that Devia audio slowly died down before they returned to normal. The silence in the air was so thick you can almost choke on it and I could see a huge scowl being born on Spitfires face.

I was going to say something before Spitfire took to the air and shouted to herself “BUCKING HORSEAPPLES TO THOSE CELESTIA BE DAMNED FOOLS! THEY CAN KISS MY FLANK UNTIL BLUE IN THE MOUTH! GAH!” Thankfully I quickly covered up Maelstroms ears, don’t need her growing up too fast and learning to pony swear. Although she probably heard me when I went on my on little rampage back in Ponyville. Buck.

Spitfire had to take some deep, deep breaths to finally calm down just before landing back in her spot and coughed to clear her throat. “Sorry about that everypony, that was….. unprofessional of me. But something like this hits very close to home for me. I won’t go into it now since that is ancient history but this! This is now and we are going to deal with this”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa there! You don’t need to do that Spitfire, I mean sure it sucks but at the moment going along with flow is the best solution for all those ponies back in City Hall. I don’t want to rock the boat with unnecessary waves” I said.

“-Oh! Good analogy Master! We will make a mental note of that-” Devo quickly interjected.

“Analogy aside, I do need to do something. I will not stand by and let some filthy, bit grabbing fool of a mayor get away with this underhoofed scheme! My personal pride and the true nature of a Wonderbolt will not allow it!” Spitfire said with confidence and determination. 

“But….. what can you do about it, Miss Spitfire?” Cloudhoof quietly and nervously asked.

Instead of looking angry or offended at the insinuation of the question, the leader of the Wonderbolts simply gave him her usually smirk before looking up at me “Don’t worry kid, I think I have a plan that will do the trick. Do you know what that event at The Square tonight is?” 

“I have no idea, the Mayor simply said to meet there at seven tonight. Why? Are we gonna crash it or do something straight out of a play?” I said.

“No need to crash it, we are the ones performing after all” she said with a smug.

“OH MY GOSH! The event tonight is a Wonderbolts performance?!?” Barnes said with a squeaky, excited voice.

“Darn right it is! Now I gotta fly kid, I need to talk to a couple of ponies in order to set things up tonight. Head to the Square a little early tonight and meet back up with me and I will tell you exactly what the plan is. Until then, enjoy the rest of the city” Spitfire said with a nod of her head and almost broke the door on her way out. 

“B-b-boss…… do you know what this means?” Barnes asked.

“No? What?” I curiously asked of her. 

“This means…… this means that WE GET TO SEE A WONDERBOLTS SHOW ON OUR FIRST NIGHT IN MANEHATTEN! SQUEEE!” she yelled before crushing me with another hug. “I will follow you forever boss, you are my good luck charm!” 

I felt a little blush on my cheeks but I chuckled it off just as she flew back up to Cloodhoof and the two began chatting away. 

“Good gracious! What in Bridleway was that all about?” I heard Linen say as he slowly trotted into his room.

“Sorry about that Linen, but something important came up and she wanted to get right on top of things as fast as possible” I briefly explained.

“Well, must be important for her to get so work up about it. But I am not worried though, with her on the job then I know that whatever it is, will be done and be done right. Now I hate to have to kick you all out, but I need to change costumes and makeup for my next scene. Be sure to drop by the Theater and see my show! It will be on for quite some time!” he said before gently closing the door behind us.

“Well, that was certainly more that what I was expecting! But unfortunately, I need to be getting back to work as well. So follow me, you can get out this way” Coco said while she lead us through a few back areas, to avoid any big crowd and out to the front. “If you want, you can head down this way and see what we call “Old Town”. It’s full of shops and stalls from the very beginning of Manehatten! I love going down there and seeing all the antiques and old way of doing things” 

“But I would avoid going south of Cloften street, because after that you might accidentally wander into….. the uh….. dark side of town, if you catch my meaning” she warned us with a red face. 

“Ah, I think I get it. Will avoid then, thank you for warning us. Well, we will get out of your mane then. Thank you so much for everything Coco, I am happy that there is such a nice mare in Manehatten” I said with smile. This got Coco to beam and I even saw her tail wag a little.

“No, no! Thank you for being so brave and selfless! I just hope everything turns out alright! See you around!” Coco bid us farewell before going back inside.

I stood there on the sidewalk, breathing in the city air when I saw Spitfire zooming somewhere else above us. Gaining quite a few looks from the ponies still in line and of course a camera flash or two.

“I wonder what is going to happen at the show tonight?” 
> Does This Impress You, Human?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back onto the streets of Manehatten we go! Although, I am not sure how much more we should explore since it is was only a couple of hours till seven and I don’t know how long it will take to get there. So I decided to ask somepony and after almost tripping over themselves, they told us to take this street all the way down then take a left for about a block then a right and we should be there. I thanked them and we started walking.

“Hmmmmm…...” I said out loud.

“-What is it Master?-” Devi asked.

“Just thinking about Spitfire and what is going to happen tonight, makes me a little worried” I replied.

“Worried about what boss?” Cloudhoof asked this time.

“I just hope we won’t be overstepping our boundaries like this, even if it is for a good cause. Since we already made a deal that more or less works out for all of them, doing this feels like we are biting back the hand that feeds us” I explained.

“Trixie feels this is most right! We shall be doing something against this treachery! Serves him right after what happened with my cart, the lowlife scoundrel” Trixie said.

“That and I feel that we should put a little bit of trust in her boss, she is the captain of the Wonderbolts. She is smart and will no doubt put on a good show, both for us and the city of Manehatten” Barnes said to me as she glided right next to me, who used her wing feathers to play with Maelstrom on my head for a second. 

“I suppose, it still makes me feel nervous though” I told her as I glided around a group of tourist ponies who were not paying attention.

Before anyone else could talk, I felt Maelstrom crawl on my head a bit before popping her head down to look me in the eyes “Papa! Papa! Something smells good! Smells super yummy!” she happily exclaimed.

Taking a peak around, I saw that up and to the right was a small candy shop with a cotton candy machine out front, going to work for a small crowd of little colts and fillies.

“Excellent idea Maelstrom! A little tasty snack is the perfect distraction. Good job” I said with a smile as I grabbed her and gave her a few little kisses all over her face, earning me a cute set of giggles.

“Mae happy! Mae happy!” she yelled out loud as she continued to giggle.

“Wow, I don’t actually remember when I last had cotton candy” Cloudhoof said.

“Yeah, me neither” Barnes said.

“I had some in Ponyville, well more like shoved down my throat by that hyper ball of pink called Pinkie Pie” Trixie scoffed.

“-We have never had this substance, is it good?-” Devia asked in one voice.

“Lets find out! Come on gang!” I told them and I got a happy howl from Artemis, which made most of the group laugh. So we made a beeline over there and almost got swarmed by this new batch of curious little ones who stared at me with huge eyes. I laughed a little and decided to get it over with and  said “Hello everypony, my name is Adrian and I am a human being. Yes, I know I am very tall and I have a very different set of eyes” 

At this they all began to gossip among themselves until a filly and colt pair stepped forward, with the colt saying “Can…. Can we ask you a question, sir?”

I decided to bend down on one knee so I would not be quite as imposing in order to answer with “Of course! Ask away!”

The pair exchanged happy looks before the colt stepped forward a little more “Can you lift us all up into the air!?!” he practically shouted with glee. At this I turned my head towards the group and they all had the cutest expectation faces on and I could just feel my inner self groan. 

But I smiled anyway and I held out my open hands “Hop on” I barely said before I felt those first two flop into my hands, giggling away. 

And so that is how the next ten minutes or so went by and I had actually started to draw a crowd of ponies who smiled and laughed at the children having fun. Thankfully their parents slowing picked them off, one by one and I finally got down to the last filly who was as cute as a button. Since she was last one, I gave a couple of small tosses into the air, to which she begged for more and more. 

Feeling a little cheeky, I tucked her into the crook of arm and told both her and Maelstrom to hold on tight. When I felt them both do so, I put a little extra oomph into my jump and soared into the air! Hitting our peak, I switched my magic on and began to float in the air, taking in the sight of the city with the sun behind us. 

“Wooooooowwww” both girls said in awe as they both gazed on the sight. After ten seconds or so, I slowly descended and twirled until we safely hit the ground. I then felt the filly tightly hug my arm, looking down, I caught her eyes as she look up at me with a huge smile on her face.

“Thank you so, so, so, so, so, SO much mister Adrian! That was the best thing ever! Your really nice” she said to me before nuzzling my arm a bit more. Both of those things combined made me blush a little, but I had a grin on my face all the same and I reached up with my other arm and gave her ear a few scratches. 

I had to re-catch her though since the ear scratches was a too much and she went fully limp with a blissful look on her face, though when I went to ask if she was alright, I saw that she had fallen asleep. The owner of the shop came out from behind the cotton candy machine with a smile of his own “Well, would you look at that. It usually takes her all day to be the least bit sleepy and yet here she is, snoozing away”

“Ha ha, yeah. I take it your her father?” I asked the stallion.

“Sure am! Cotton Jim is the name, and this is my daughter Fairy Floss! Blame her mother for the name, she certainly loved our old fairy tales and wanted to make sure that was passed down the line” he introduced.

“Nice to meet you Cotton, Adrian Frost is my name” I said before sticking out my free hand, giving him a firm handshake.

“Pleasure is all mine, and I need to thank you for looking out for my daughter. And for putting on a little show! Business boomed when you were playing with all those kids! If it had gone on for a little longer, I would have need to grab a second batch from the back! Ha ha!” Cotton happily said.

“Glad to have helped. And since you have some left, do you mind if my group has some? That was what we originally came over here for anyway” I explained with a bit of a laugh.

“But of course! And it is on the house! As payment for the boom and for playing with Fairy” he told us before getting right to work, making one for the six of us. I don’t know how he did it, but we all got a different colored snack! Mine was purple and the others got green, blue, orange, yellow, and pink!  We all took a bite and got a round of Mmmmms. I won’t tell him but secretly, Pinkies are betters but this are still very good.

“So, I take it you like it Devia?” I asked them.

“-Affirmative, our dear Master! This is quite a wonderful creation! And quite tasty as well!-” Deva replied.

“Oh, so good!” Cloudhoof said to himself as he stuffed his face and got the sugary fluff all over his muzzle. 

“HA! Glad you all like it! Say, Adrian. Do ya mind if I advertise my cotton candy as being ‘human approved’?” he asked me.

“Hmmm. I guess I don’t really see the harm, but why?” I asked in return.

“It would make for excellent business! Cause I am guessing not many ponies know what a human is, so they will come to ask and that draws them in! Once they hear that another species likes it, they will get curious and would be almost inclined to buy one! And BOOM! Here come the bits!” he explained with a hearty chuckle. “But I wanted to make sure you were ok with this first”

“I see, well thank you for asking. And you have my blessing, I hope you can continue to make an income and keep a roof over this ones head” I said as I gestured with my head towards Fairy Floss.

“I will see to it! And where are ya heading off to now?” he asked as I gently handed over the filly.

“We are going to go see the Wonderbolts show in The Square tonight. I wanted to get there a little early since I don’t know how the line is going to be or how far the walk might take us” I told him.

“Oh wow! You were able to actually get tickets?! I tried to but by the time I was able to ask about it, they were sold out. Can’t really say I was shocked, and I can always try next time” he said with shrug. “Now off ya go, I would hate for you to be late cause of us” 

“Alright, see you around Cotton and tell Fairy when she-” I started to say when I heard a cute little yawn interrupt us. Looking down, I saw Fairy rub her eyes as she looked up at me.

“Goodbye Mister Adrian, I had lots of fun playing with you and all the others today” she sleepily said with a smile.

“Goodbye Fairy Floss, it was nice to meet you” I said as I stuck my hand out to her, to which she gently nuzzled it for a second before almost falling right back to sleep. Everyone had a little laugh at her cuteness.

So we waved goodbye and made our way down the street, some of us slowly eating our cotton candy while some others, gobbled them down. But everyone was having fun and talking amongst themselves as I lead us in the direction that one pony told us. And here comes our left, I think.

Well, if need be, I could have Barnes fly up to find The Square and go from there. 

Or if I just wait five seconds, we can literally see it! Wow!

“Wow! Look at that!” I said while I pointed. My group stopped in their tracks and looked over, I thought Cloudhoof was gonna drop his cotton candy from how slack-jawed he was.

It wasn’t quite as tall as most of the surrounding buildings, but it certainly made up for it by being wide. I would probably say it was at least two, maybe even three football fields wide! It’s outer walls were certainly shaped like a square but they were layered cubes, smaller at the bottom then it opened up at the top! I wonder if they can close the roof? 

And upon closer inspection, I saw a lighted pathway with pillars leading to the front entrance and the pillar tops had levitating cubes that sometimes spun around in different directions. That was pretty freaking neat! But boy, they really took the square thing seriously when I took a look at the ground work and saw the sidewalks, grass cuttings, bushes, tree leaves, and other miscellaneous things were square shaped or cut. Guess it is not called The Square for nothing, huh?

“Whoa...” I heard Maelstrom say as she leaned forward on my head.

“Yeah? You like it Maelstrom?” I asked her.

“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” she replied with a bounce or two. I chuckled at her reaction.

“Gotta agree with the little one, it is massively impressive boss” Barnes said before she physically closed Cloudhoofs now drooling jaw. 

“This is amazing! I wonder who designed it like that! And the floating pillar boxes! That is so cool!” he quickly told us before flying over to one, checking it out from every angle.

“Yes, even I, the great and infallible Trixie, do have to admit this is an impressive stage. One I will be on one day! Mark my words!” said Trixie, who then swooshed her cape and tilted her hat in a pose. 

“-Hmmm. We do not fully understand the design choice-” Devi simply stated.

“How so?” I asked in return.

“-We think it would be more practical and more spacious to have down a circle or oval design to accommodate large masses. A square shaped field of seating greatly limits the view-” Devi explained.

“Hmmm, good point. Well, maybe on the inside it is?” I suggested.

“-We hope so master, but the overall design of this area would suggest otherwise. But we shall wait and see then-” Devi finished up. 

“Well you shall not be waiting long then, with your impeccable timing!” said a familiar voice. Turning around, I saw that it was the mayor with my group behind him. “I must admit, I did not expect to see you so soon already! I thought you might have been touring my grand city still!”

“I can understand that feeling, but I also did not want to be late and since I am new to these parts, figured it would be better to be a little early than a little late” I explained.

“Ah, I knew you were always a smart lad! Well, we are all heading in to our seats. Join us whenever you are ready! Oh! Here” the mayor dug into his satchel and pulled out a few tickets for us. “These will get you in and lead you to our area. See you at the show!” the mayor said before walking off, with Hatten in tow.

“Oh this is going to be good!”

“I can’t wait to see the Wonderbolts!”

“I wanna try some stadium food!”

“D-d-do you think we could get autographs later?”

“Once I get some bits, I am buying one of everything Wonderbolt!”

“Mister Adrian! Mister Adrian! Thank you!”

“Yes! Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“Yay Wonderbolts!” 

One by one, my group walked past me and into The Square, saying those things and more. It brought a small smile to my face, seeing them all happy and hopeful. Like normal ponies should be. After taking a moment to myself, I saw that the sun was very slowly starting to set and decided that we should all get going. 

Walking up, I noticed that there was a bit of a line on one side but a practically empty line on the other. Then I noticed a small sign saying ‘V.I.P’, I took a look at our tickets and happily saw that in big, bold letters the same thing printed on the back. So we casually strolled past the flabbergasted looking ponies who stared up at me while heading up to the gate. Once we arrived at the guard pony, I presented him our tickets.

“Is this part of the mayors group as well?” He sternly asked us.

“Yes sir” I replied.

“Well, VIP or not, you will have to leave that outside. No pets allowed inside” he said while pointing to Artemis who growled a little. 

“Oh? Shoot, um, well. Just…. Just give me a moment then” I said before walking to the side. Oh man, I kinda got used to everyone else letting it slide. But now what? I can’t just leash her to a pole or something! Think! Think Adrian! Think! Gah! I smacked my bag a little by accident.

Wait! My bag! My very roomy bag! Taking a look behind me to make sure the guard pony was not looking our way, I bent down as far as I could and I opened my bag all the way open. 

“Alright Artemis, I know this might be a little weird but for now you need to hide inside my bag ok? Don’t worry, there is plenty of room. Can you do this for me?” I asked the little huntress who was more than happy to oblige. She spun around in few circles first before leaping towards the bag and whoosh! She was gone! I waited a few seconds before I tilted the bag up to look inside. 

I was greeted with a big lick to my nose as Artemis’s head poked back out and happily looked around. Everyone had a laugh with that but after I recovered from the licking, I gently placed the bag cover over her head and gently shushed her. We then walked back to the guard pony who took notice that Artemis was ‘gone’.

“Alright, with that settled you all can head on in but I warn you all, no magic, flying, or any other disturbance is allowed to interfere with the Wonderbolts show. If anything is detected, you shall be thrown out. This is your one and only warning. Is this perfectly understood?” he sternly asked us.

“Crystal clear” I replied, which everyone else nodded to.

“Alright then, head on inside and enjoy the show. Just follow the purple VIP signs to your seats, any other questions can be handled by the guard ponies inside” he said. We thanked him and walked inside, before running smack dab into an ocean of ponies. There lines upon lines formed for all sorts of Wonderbolt merchandise, food, drinks, snacks, and anything else you can imagine. 

“Hey boss, where were we suppose to meet back up with Spitfire?” Cloudhoof asked me.

“Now that is a good question, a very good question indeed” I replied, half to myself as I looked around. “Well, we still have plenty of time. So lets wander a bit and see if we can find the backstage area or something” 

With that in mind, I thought I might have to dance and weave around everypony but the moment I took my first step into the main hall, it went dead silent as they all and I mean, ALL of them stared at me. Oh boy, I could feel a bead of sweat travel down my face and I felt like I was on stage with a big, blaring spotlight on me. So I nervously stuck my hand up to wave and nervously said “H-hello everypony” 

Welp, suffice to say, I now had a line of my very own as I got swarmed with curious ponies who all began asking a million questions a second. I put my hands up to try and quiet them down and it mostly worked, sort of. “I can only answer one at a time, so let me answer some of the more obvious questions. My name is Adrian Frost. As you can see, I am not a pony. I am a human being and I am not of this world. I came here to your world via an unknown magic portal. I am twenty-two years old and yes, I am very tall and very odd looking” 

Wow, that quieted them down quite a bit. Then I heard a stallion ask “So, are there more humans in Equestria then? Or are you the only one?”

“I believe myself to be the only living human in Equestria, possibly all of Equus” I explained. 

“So, your all alone?” a random mare asked, which made a few others gasp in realization. 

“Yes and no, during my time here so far I have made many new and wonderful friends. From ponies, to gryphons, a dragon, and even the Princesses! So while I may be the only human, I am never alone” I explained. I felt a little lighter after saying that for some reason. 

“Wait! You have befriended a Princess?!” said another stallion.

“All four in fact!” I said. One more so than the others, but they don’t really need to know that. Heh.

“Wow! You must be really popular then!” said a different stallion.

“Yeah, well it is quite easy to catch all the attention when you look like me” I said with a laugh and that got all of them to chuckle along with me. 

“Well, you certainly do know how to draw a crowd” another familiar voice said which grabbed everyone's attention. Looking back, I saw that it was Fleetfoot flying there in a casual looking track suit, or something equivalent. “Not to brag about ya, but this big guy saved my life when I crash landed in the Everfree forest a while back. I owe him my Wonderbolts career and my future, the big lug” she said before zooming over to me and giving me a hug.

“WOW! Did you hear that?! He is a hero and friend of the Wonderbolts! He is amazing!” a mare shouted. 

“Well, we already know that about you, don’t we boss?” Barnes said with a bit of a smirk before softly nudging my shoulder. I smiled while I rolled my eyes at her which got her to giggle a little. 

“Sorry to cut the crowd interview short, but Adrian is wanted backstage pronto” Fleetfoot said as she grabbed my hand and tried to pull me. 

“GOODBYE ADRIAN! IT WAS NICE TO MEET YOU!” said the entire crowd in unison. Whoa, that was freaky to hear. As we pushed through the crowd, some of the ponies closer to me tried to ask me a few more questions while others offered condolences, congratulations, and many other things. 

About five or so minutes later, we finally got to the backstage area where the guard ponies kept the over eager crowd at bay and finally gave us some breathing room. I finally looked over to a smiling Fleetfoot and I jostled her mane a little “Someones a little rumor monger” I said.

She giggled before fixing her mane “Sorry, sorry. I saw an opportunity and I took it. Besides, now you will have excellent credibility with a crowd this big going home and telling everypony else and so on” she told me.

“I suppose so, at least it helped us find out way backstage. I was worried we might not of been able to get back here in the first place” I said. 

“Well worry not, we were keeping an eye out for you anyway. But what matters is you are here now and boy, things have been abuzz back here! I haven’t seen the Captain this busy in a long time” she explained.

“So I take it you have been informed on whatever she is planning to do?” I asked.

“Yep and before you ask, Spitfire wants to personally explain it to you. Sorry” she apologetically said. 

“No worries, I was kinda expecting to hear it from her anyway” I replied.

“You won’t be waiting long cause we are almost there, just around this corner and-”

“I DON’T CARE! WE HAVE PLENTY OF BITS TO SPARE! JUST DO IT AND BILL ME LATER! NOW MOVE IT! MOVE IT! MOVE IT!” 

A stallion in overalls and a hard hat sped right by us while he was raining sweat from his forehead and started to shout things to several other workers, who all went right to work. It almost looked like I had hit the fast-forward button for a TV show by how fast they were all moving. Looking back, we saw a very determined looking Spitfire give us a wave before telling us to come with her. Fearing her wrath, we all speedily followed her orders and in a flash we were standing right next to her.

“Glad you could make it kid! Sorry for the yelling, but you gotta do what ya gotta do to get things done around here” Spitfire explained before taking a big gulp of water from her bottle. 

“Heh, I just hope I am never on the receiving end of that yell though” I nervously said.

“Don’t worry, I only use that voice for recruits and for slow workers liKE MR. GIRDER OVER THERE WHO SHOULD BE SETTING UP THE FIREWORKS!” she suddenly yelled and probably caused said stallion to have a mini-heart attack before making a beeline to his own destination. 

“Fireworks! Fireworks!” beamed Maelstrom.

“You know what those are sweetie?” I curiously asked my daughter.

“Nope! Heehee!” she said with a cute little giggle before she began to repeat fireworks over and over again. 

“Well, cute daughters aside-” Spitfire began to say.

“Gasp! How dare you!” I quickly said with a smirk of my own.

“Oh hush you. Now, the plan is kinda simple but it will strike Mayor Manhatten right to the core. Basically, before we began our show, I am going to do a little presentation of my own and I am going to introduce you big guy as our special guest for this evening. Then either you or me can explain the situation about your group and their current status in this city. We can leave out the behind the scenes stuff so long as the city knows about them”

“Then, we direct all the attention to the Mayor himself and saw that he is doing his utmost best to make sure ALL of them are going to be cared for and treated like any other hard working citizen in his city. Which will force him to do as such, since everypony will be expecting as such. This may sound harsh but ponies love a good sad, drama story so we have to milk it out as best we can”

“We just have to keep the speech about medium length, too short and it will seem like advertisement but too long will lose their attention since they came to see a show. That is the short and sweet of it, so what do ya say kid?” Spitfire said and now all eyes were on me again.

I gave it some thought before I spoke up “I think this will work. Like you said, everyone loves a good sad story and when they hear it is for a good cause they were surely act. And since you are all standing behind me, that will most definitely compel a good majority of them. And I would like to give the speech, I have lead them so far, I want to continue to do so” 

“Good choice kid, good choice. All right, now here is how the stage is going to be set up, first you-”




-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 30 Minutes Later -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~




“This is going to be an excellent show! Don’t you agree Hatten?” said the Mayor.

“Of course sir, and the revenue from this show will be extraordinary” said Hatten.

“And what about the housing?” the Mayor asked.

“Done and done. If we really wanted to, we could move them in tonight” replied Hatten.

“Ha ha! Good! Good, I knew I could rely on you and your sources. Might not be a bad idea to move them out right away” he took a quick peak to make sure none of them were listening “A few of them are giving off an awful stench. Yuck” he truthfully said with a look of disgust.

“Yes sir, but we must keep up appearances. For now” Hatten said with a hidden smirk.

“Speaking of appearances, where is Adrian? The show should be starting soon” The mayor asked again.

“Hmmm, I do not know. Would you like me to search for him?” Hatten asked in return.

“No, no. You deserve a little break. If he misses any of the action, it is his loss” the mayor said with no remorse.

“LADIES AND GENTLECOLTS! LADIES AND GENTLECOLTS OF ALL AGES! MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!” said the male announcer.

“Oh here we go! Here we go!” said the mayor, almost sounding like an excited child.

“Before we begin tonight’s show, we have a very special message brought to you by our very own Captain of the Wonderbolts! So everypony put your hoofs together for! CAPTAIN SPITFIRE!” the announcer announced before Spitfire zoomed in from an entrance and zipped around audience and did a few loops before landing on the central platform, microphone in hoof.

“Greetings everypony! How are you all doing tonight?!” she asked and she got a roaring reply from every single one. “Oh yeah! That is what I like to hear! Let me hear some more!”

During the audiences second roar, Devia, Trixie, Barnes, and Cloudhoof came into the box and sat in their seats. The mayor saw that Adrian was missing and leaned over to whisper “Where is Adrian?”

“He will around shortly, he had some business to attend to first” Trixie replied before she adjusted herself in her seat and laid her hat in front of her. 

“All right! That is what I like to hear! Now, I know your hoofs must be tired already but I need you all to keep it going for a special guest and my personal friend AND the only one of his kind in ALL of Equus! Adrian the human! Bring him out!” Spitfire said and was expecting Fleetfoot and Soaring to be carrying me but she had a surprised look on her face when she saw me flying on my own with the other two right beside me. 

I landed right next to her and threw my arms up and was met with thunderous applause, I glanced down and saw Spitfire shaking her head at me with a smile and I ended up laughing “Sorry, forget to tell you that I can kinda fly now” 

“You never cease to amaze me kid” she said before handing off the microphone to me. I had to wait though for the audience to die down a little or else I would of needed to yell. It took only a minute for them all to calm down before I took a deep breath and a step forward to begin “Hello everyone, as Spitfire said my name is Adrian Frost and I am a human being”

“I came to your world almost three months ago through an unknown magic portal and met six amazing ponies in Ponyville who easily befriended a strange being like myself and from then on I continued to meet more and more friends and saw many new and strange things that never existed back on my planet. Things like magic, flying ponies, talking ponies, dragons, celestial beings, and so forth”

“But as time went on, I went on to discover that I to could use magic and I began to experience many new things, both good and bad because of it. And so, I began to question myself, who am I? What am I now? Where do I belong? And so forth. So I began traveling from Ponyville and made my way through the Everfree Forest, along the way I met a great number of Ponies in New Leafton who had no home, no life, no job, some having only one bit to their names”

“I was then asked, and I still sometimes wonder why, to lead them through the Everfree all to the here, to Manehatten so that they could start over. For them, for their families, and for their children. Which is why I am here today, with support from Spitfire and the Wonderbolts, I have come up here to ask you fine and wondrous ponies of Manehatten and of Equestria to come help and support us!”

“Now, I know what your thinking ‘Why doesn’t the Mayor help in something so big?’, well he is! Your very own Mayor Manehatten and his assistant Lace Hatten have provided us with a mansion of sorts to live in for now until they can support themselves. But that is where we need your help!”

It was here that a silent murmur and chatter began to spread amongst the crowd and out of the corner of my eye, I could see the faint outline of the Mayor beginning to move about. Looks like Spitfire was right, he is getting nervous.

“There are about thirty members in this group of brave ponies, including foals, and they are currently looking for jobs, apprenticeships, internships, or anything that can help support them. The Mayor himself has gone over all of them and has made portfolios and can vouch for each and every one of them. As can I, if they can brave the woods of Everfree, pass over Foal Mountain, cross the plains of Fillydelphia, and manage to cross the streets of Manehatten then I think they have more than past the tests of being tough and worthy”

Most of the crowd chuckled at crossing the street, I even heard Fleetfoot laugh behind me. So I took this moment of pause to take a deep breath cause I could feel myself getting a little nervous and my hands shook for just a moment. But after my deep breath I was in control again.

“So I ask again, please help them out. Please show them the kindness that lies within. Show them how brave and courages you can be. And please, show me the way how the ponies of this world treat those most in need. I beg of you” I finally concluded and that control was instantly lost as I felt a single tear roll down my cheek as I accidentally held the microphone too close as I wiped my tear, cause they could hear my little sniffle while I apologized to myself.

I was then surprised when I heard the crowd began to applaud, not quite the rock star applause like before but a good, steady applause of hoofs that steadily grew and grew until the whole stadium was filled with good cheer.

Spitfire gently flew up to me and patted me on the back with a warm smile “You did great kid, proud of ya” she said. I handed the microphone back over to her and she took to the skies “Thank you everypony for indulging in our selfishness for those couple of minutes. If any of you wish to help, find Adrian, myself, or the Mayor and we can get that train rolling!”

“But now! The moment you have all been patiently waiting for, who want’s to see a Wonderbolts show!” now the audience was just a blaze of excitement and cheers as some almost flung out of their seats. “That is more like it!” she finished off before turning back to me. “Now, lets get you back to your seat and let us show you what were are made of” she said to me with a wink.

So after that, I was escorted back to my seat with the three of them and I was greeted by a very flustered looking Mayor who was just a cluster of fuck ready to explode, but he had to maintain face and so I got to see him look like a pufferfish, ready to explode as he talked. “Well, wasn’t that just so…. nice of you to do….Adrian” he slowly said.

But he was quickly overshadowed as I was swarmed once again by my group as they all had tears in their eyes as they thanked me over and over again, receiving quite a few hugs and even a kiss to the cheek or two. By the end of it, I was almost literally waterlogged with tears that I had to laugh, which in turn made them all laugh as well. So with a quick dragons breath of hot air, I dried myself off pretty good and found my seat.

“I love you Papa! Papa is the best! Papa is the best!” Maelstrom cutely said as she now began to pecker my head with kisses. 

I heard all three wonderbolts saw ‘Awww’, though Spitfire and Fleetfoot both curiously looked at Soarin, to which he replied “What? That was adorable!” Which made us laugh again. So we waved goodbye for now as they returned to their starting gate and joined up with the rest of their crew before they took to the skies for their introductions.

Meanwhile, I heard someone lean down next to me and I heard, with heated breath “We are going to have a talk later. A. Very. Long. Talk” 

At this point, I almost didn’t even care anymore, so much so that I began to chuckle to myself and turned around to face the Mayor “We certainly will Mayor, we certainly will. Though, it might have to wait until your town gets done talking to you first. Good luck” I said back, brimming with confidence and newfound inner strength. With that I turned back around, got comfy, put Maelstrom in my lap and undid my bag to allow Artemis to pop her head out again to watch. 

This is going to be a good show.
> Extra! Extra! Read All About it! Human Edition
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------




-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Two Hours Later -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~




There is no way! Absolutely no way!  I mean, she is fast and agile but no one could- “WHOA! LOOK AT THAT! HELL YEAH!” I shouted as Spitfire did a twirling dash through not one, not three, but ten fiery rings that got smaller with each one. “How in the world did she do that?!?”

“You would be amazed at what a pegasus can do with enough experience boss” Barnes said while her eyes were glued to the show as well, while scarfing down popcorn. 

“Papa! Papa! Look, look!” Maelstrom said while bouncing in my lap, pointing at Fleetfoot. Taking a glance over, I saw that the white haired mare had just got done ascending and was now free falling through multiple obstacles. 

“WOW! Now that has got to take some serious guts and determination to pull off a stunt like that! Amazing!” I said with an almost over-enthusiastic voice. All around me, I could hear my group shouting similar wows or just simply going ooh and aah.

“Wait, what is he?” I heard Cloudhoof ask out loud. I took a look around and I saw that Soarin was doing some strange maneuver before landing somewhere off to the side. I couldn’t see what was going on but soon after he can back out to the field with a black cylinder strapped to his leg. Once he was flying around again, I saw that one by one all of the wonderbolts had similar devices on. 

“I wonder what those are” I also asked out loud. 

“Oh! Oh oh oh! Trixie knows what those are! They are-” I heard Trixie suddenly being cut off, looking down I saw that Maelstrom had flown over and literally shut Trixies mouth with her paws.

“No spoil! No spoil!” my adorable daughter said before just as swiftly returning to my lap with a smile on her face.  I leaned my head over to a flabbergast Trixie and mouthed ‘sorry’.

Looking once more to the show, I saw that they were now all flying in a V formation inside the stadium and thank goodness the inside of the Square was rounded, or else a square flying pattern would be just silly and very slow. But suddenly I saw black smoke starting to form behind them as they started to fly faster and faster in smaller circles and when they almost ran out of room they shot up to the sky, forming a pillar of smoke.

Once they peaked, each member split up and did a twirling back spin right into the smoky pillar. I gasped at this cause I thought they were going to smash into each other since they would be blind in the black, billowy smoke. But they didn’t as they came back out, unscathed and I breathed a sigh of relief. Which was very short lived, since they did it again and again, all the way down to the base before making a semi-tornado with their smoke.

What amazed me the most was that the swirl, the intertwined pillar, and the tornado seemed to perfectly form together and started to morph together into some kind of shape. Once the tornado was fully formed they broke it off at the top and had stopped smoking, they began to form a circle in the sky, watching as the smoke continued to take shape.

It was barely a minute before the smoke clearly formed a giant lightning bolt with even larger wings joined at the top. I am not familiar with the symbol, but I do recall seeing it somewhere before. But apparently the rest of the audience knew exactly what it meant cause the second they saw the winged bolt they bursted out into yet again another round of applause, one that could probably be heard from the very edges of Manehatten. Of course, I was one of them as well. In fact, my hands were starting to turn red due to me clapping so hard.

I had actually been starring at the symbol so hard that I totally lost track of where the wonderbolts disappeared to and I began to turn my head back and forth trying to find them. Suddenly, I saw them fly through the smoky image, making it dissipate into the air as they hovered in an upward V formation, waving at us with a smile and wiping away the sweat from their foreheads. All except for Spitfire, she seemed as clean and pristine as the moment she flew in.

“The Wonderbolts everypony!” said the stallion announcer at the start of the show who has now taken up the central stand on the ground floor. It took another minute or two for us all to calm down and retake our seats before the announcer spoke up again. 

“Well done, well done as always! Another performance for the history books! And certainly one that we will all remember, especially for those ponies who have traveled all the way from New Leafton with our one and only human Adrian. Once again, if any of you would like to help with his cause, then please feel free to find Captain Spitfire, the human Adrian, or Mayor Manehatten. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If any of you would love to view another great performance, then stop by for wondrous merchandise or go see their next show in Las Pegasus!”

“Once again, I hope you all enjoyed….. THE WONDERBOLTS!” he wrapped up as the team zipped by and skimmed the audience, though I saw that Spitfire had her hoof down as she approached me, I smirked a bit as I held my hand up and high-fived her when she zoomed past us. Or maybe it is high-hoof? Once they completed another round I saw them land and walked inside, probably to the dressing room and with them gone, the audience started to thin but didn’t really seem to leave. 

I started to leave our booth, with group in tail as we made our way outside. Well, I guess I should say tried to, because in the blink of an eye, almost like magic I can say, I was surrounded by a horde of ponies asking a million questions a minute. It was very overwhelming and almost intoxicating, but I slowly raised my hand to try and settle them. Took a while but I appeared to get my point across as a hush fell over them.

When it was quiet enough for me to hear my own thoughts, I spoke up to say “Thank you, thank you everyone. I am most likely assuming that you are all here to help, which is wonderful by the way. But right now, I am not quite ready to take everything down. That and I am only one person and would need a little help in assisting you all”

“Which is where we come in” I heard a voice say. Glancing over the sea of manes, I saw Spitfire and company slowly fly over to me, dressed in semi-formal clothing. They all glided beside me as they faced the crowd. “I already informed my team to be ready at a moments notice to come and assist our friend here, though I wasn’t quite expecting for you all to turn up this fast. Quite a speech pony you are Adrian” she said before ruffling my hair a little with a laugh. “If you are here to help, then follow me to the conference area, there we can split you into multiple groups as we take down your info and what sort of help you wish to provide”

“One question! What is the name of his organization? So I can prepare my bank statement!” said a stallion.

“Oh yes, I guess we never did ask. Wait one!” Spitfire said before she hovered to the side of my head and whispered “Do you have a name?” 

Hmmmm, that is something I guess we should of done. But then again, I could never of hoped to have been in this situation. Enough of that though, I need to focus on a name. A name. Let’s see, human, ponies, traveling group, different species, ugh. Name, name, I need a name! Gah, travel, traveling, travel by star? Stars, stars, celestial, celestia, luna, lunar, astral. Astral! Ok, Astral what? Astral….astral….astral. Whatever kind of name this is will certainly be an odyssey. Odyssey? Not what I meant. Meant oddity. Duh.

Wait! Odyssey! I remember that from English Lit., lets see. I think, besides being the epic poem, that it meant something like a series of adventures. Like the poem, but in literal meaning. Yeah! I can use that. Odyssey….astral….yeah! Astral Odyssey! Man, that certainly sounds like a D and D group all right. But in a world like this, I think it will have a great impact and be unique. 

“Kid?” Spitfire said which made me jump a little since I was concentrating so hard. 

“Oh, sorry. Was lost in thought. But I think I have a name. What do you think about ‘Astral Odyssey’?” I whispered back to her. She seemed to ponder the name before peaking over her shoulder, look at all the curious and expecting faces of my group. I saw her smile before she nodded her head in approval. With that I cleared my throat to catch everyones attention, well, not like they lost it in the first place. 

“I would like to make an official declaration, from this day on, this group will be official known as the ‘Astral Odyssey’. I hope that helps” I announced, which got them all abuzz and they all became even more excited. “All right then, let’s go ahead and follow the wonderbolts and get everything started” after that, I got an unexpected round of applause as they slowly followed the team, slowly emptying the lobby area. 

“-Would you like to join them Mayor? We believe it would be most prudent if you and your Secretary accompanied the wonderbolts during this process-” Devi said which brought some attention to said Mayor. He was now wearing a forced smile as he went along with the crowd. Hatters gave Devia a mean look before following the portly stallion. Boy, are the two of them pissed. 

Soon enough, the lobby was cleared of helpers and all that was left was our group, our little group of Oddities. My little Astral Odyssey. That is when I heard someone behind me breath a bit erraticly, looking around, I saw a few of the ponies in tears, being consoled by the others. But they all had smiles and soon, even more had a tear or two on their fuzzy cheeks. 

I went over to Dumpling Bits, knelt down and used my thumb to wipe away some of her tears. I felt her grab my arm and brought it into the crook of her neck in order to nuzzle it. I could feel more tears starting to form and drip on my arm. “Thank you Adrian, thank you. Thank you” she quietly told me, before mumbling the rest. I couldn’t help but shed a few tears myself, I even felt my magic swirl up inside of me a little. But this was good though, I felt as if I almost radiated this feeling inside of me to everyone else. I wonder if this is how Celestia feels sometimes. Celestia…..

“Adrian?” Someone said which caught me by surprise. I was able to regain my arm since she lost her grip, dried my eyes up a bit and turned to see it was the announcer from earlier. 

“Ahem, sorry. What can I do for you?” I politely asked.

“I just wanted to come by to thank you for what your doing. It means a lot to me to see someone doing this” he told me.

“Ah, I was kinda curious as to why you started going along with everything. I maybe thought Spitfire had informed you as well” I replied.

“Nope, I was unaware of what was going on. But after hearing your speech and what your doing, I felt incredibly happy that this is being done. I have a bit of history with this as well, long story short is that I was once in a similar position. Had nothing or anyone to go to, but I had to do everything on my own. I had always wished that I had the right circumstances but I never fit any other support groups criteria”

“So when I heard you were doing this for all of them, I felt happy that they have someone to rely on and have a better start then what I had. Of course, I am happy at where I am now but I would have been happier to have had support. So, thank you again for your kindness and generosity. I am going to head over to offer my support as well. See you around” he said, waving goodbye.

Wow, today has certainly been quite a day indeed. I can’t really put my finger on it, but magic is quite an astounding thing. That is the only way my luck could ever be this...this….intense! On Earth, something of this magnitude would, for one, never happen to a man of my standing or even happen this fast! I would say at least two weeks for even a small group! I know that this kind of thinking would jinx everything, but still.

Taking another look around, I saw that they were all starting to calm down. “Barnes, Cloudhoof, Devia, and Trixie. Can you come with me and try to find some water for everyone. I think they could use a little something to drink after all that” I asked.

“Right away boss!” Barnes and Cloudhoof said with a salute before flying off.

“We suppose the Great and Supportive Trixie could be inclined to offer such a service” Trixie said before she started using her magic.

“-It shall be done, our Master-” Devia informed me.




-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ One Hour Later -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~




“Thank you so much for helping. We all greatly appreciate taking your time to do this. We will let you know when anything big happens” I said to the final guest. They offered a possible spot at their tailoring shop and even donated a few bits. He left with a grand smile as he hurried home. I kinda wonder if a majority of these ponies did it out of the good of their hearts or if they had ulterior motives as well. But, help is help and even if they are trying to garner favor, it still allows my group a good chance. And I will take it, with due consideration of course.

I strolled over to Spitfire who was wrapping up the last of her paperwork before she leaned back in her chair, with a stretch. “Hey there kid, how you holding up?” she asked.

“Me? Are you holding up? Doing that fantastic show, which I loved by the way, then right after doing an hour or so of paperwork. That takes a strength befitting a strong mare like you to pull off, that and convincing all of her teammates to so as well” I explained myself.

She let off a hearty laugh before she rested her head in her hooves, leaning towards me with a sincere smile “Thanks for the compliment, best one I have ever heard. But this? This right here?” she used both of her hooves to exemplify her words “This is what I live for! A cause! A show! A chance to give light to those in darkness, this is what the Wonderbolts are meant for boy!” she began to hover in the air “The Wonderbolts bring hope, that is why we perform at any show. Not reserving ourselfs for big fancy shows or for the rich, snobby, and haughty upper class that demand our attention”

“No matter the age or their circumstance, we perform so we can make everypony happy. That charity event we went to last? Not only did they reach their desired donation, but they even got twice and almost three times as much than expected AND a child, who is burdened with two lame legs, had the biggest smile on their face”

“Tonight though? Not only did we perform for a full house, but we are helping a group of ponies who are down on their luck, searching for a new life, a chance to rebuild from nothing. Being led by a stranger to our world, who had no inclination to offer help while he searched for his own path in life. That kind of strength and selflessness, that is what we look for. That is what is a true Wonderbolt is boy, that kind of spirit, that kind of heart”

“This is what I try to teach at the academy, though I can admit I can be harsh and overbearing but I want everyone to know these basics and have them etched on their very soul. So no matter where we are or what unexpected turn of events occur, we can always be ready to give one hundred and fifty percent and show the world who we are” she seemed to stop before giving her team a nod.

“And who are we?”

“WE ARE THE WONDERBOLTS! WE ARE THE WONDERBOLTS!”

“Damn right we are” she said with a smirk before flying up to me and placed a hoof on my chest “And that is why I would like to give you something”

“Give me something? After a speech like that? I think I am going to be knocked back on my ass after this” I said with chuckle, still absorbing all she has said.

“I had to do a little bit of digging to find this on short notice, but it was defiantly worth it” she started to say, but before I could ask she adopted a stern and quite serious look on her face that demanded my full attention.

“Now, Adrian. I, Captain Spitfire, fifteenth captain of the Wonderbolts, do hereby name you an honorary member of the Wonderbolts. You have exemplified the truest of qualities that befits the name and I know that you will always bear our name in grace and dignity. This-” she unveiled a small, silver badge that had the same symbol from the show, but with a golden wreath wrapped around the outside and a small plague that read ‘Honor’ at the bottom “-will show others your dedication”

She then swiftly pinned the badge to my chest before flying into formation with the others and shouted “SALUTE!”, with that all of the Wonderbolts saluted me for a brief few seconds before dropping and began to applaud. I felt like I had just been struck by a runaway carriage as I viewed the newly acquired badge with my fingers, I then starred wide eyed at the very mare who gave this to me.

“Wha- but I….I-I don’t-” I tried to say but words failed me at the moment.

“Please accept it Adrian, it is a great honor to have and not one many have. You really do deserve it, you did save my life after all and now you are saving their lives now” Fleetfoot suddenly said as she pointed to the starry eyes ponies behind me. “I could think of no one else who deserves this more than you. And no need to overthink things, this is our way of saying thanks for all the good deeds you have done. I think even Princess Celestia herself would be proud” she told me with a gracious smile.

‘Princess Celestia herself would be proud’ those innocent words rattled around in my brain while I gave a slight smile. “Yeah, yeah she would” I mumbled to myself, much to the confusion to the team. I shook my head and beamed a much bigger smile “I don’t really have the words to describe how thankful I could possibly be and shocked about all of this. So, I guess I shall just say…. Thank you. Thank you for, well, for everything. Heh, thank you for being my guardian angels. I think that kind of role suits you very well” I informed.

“Now your just being silly” Fleetfoot said with a hint of a blush but this got a good laugh out of her fellow teammates who slowly came up and shook hands or gave a hug and congratulations. Once they all had their chance with me, I saw a clock on the wall and saw how late it was. Spitfire noticed this and glanced behind her as well, she grabbed everyones attention with a cough.

“All right Wonderbolts, I think we have all earned a good nights rest. Plenty of work done today, we will be taking the next few days off to rest up before returning to our daily regiments. So head on back to your rooms and get plenty of sleep. We have time to play tomorrow, so no need to get greedy tonight. So, no pies for you Soarin” Spitfire declared, accompanied with a quick laugh at the blue haired stallion.

“Ooh come on!” Soarin whined while he flew off with a slump in his shoulders. The rest of the team followed suit, waving goodbye. 

“So, Mayor Manehatten” Spitfire suddenly said which seemed to spook the rounded stallion “These are a copy of everything that has transpired tonight, I will be keeping the originals as to ensure our involvement remains professional and for safety. Since this is a co-operation effort between the city of Manehatten, the Wonderbolts, and the future advocacy group Astral Odyssey, we will ensure that all records and transcripts will be submitted through the proper channels and will personally see to it that it reaches the courts of Canterlot. Miss Surprise, our long distance flyer, is already flying to Cantorlot as we speak”

“And Adrian, I apologize if I overstepped my boundaries by also sending in the paperwork for the creation of your group without your consent. I was on a role and couldn’t help myself once I indulge into work, I hope you can forgive me” she quickly said. But I simply laughed as I pulled her into a hug.

“It is quite alright, mother hen. Always two steps ahead and looking out for us all. Although, to be honest, I am grateful since it would of taken me forever to properly learn how to do it or how to get started. And, to be perfectly honest, I would have been quite lost doing so” I said with a sigh.

“Be quiet about that mother hen stuff, I am nowhere near being done with my career to even consider settling down with a family. My team is my family, and being an honorary member, means that makes you family as well. Ya big lug” she smugly said while she playfully jabbed my shoulder. 

“Now your just being mean” I embarrassingly said with a pout while crossing my arms. She laughed before giving me a hug. I dropped the act to return the hug “Thank you, again”

“No problem kid, now I best be off. I need to drop off these copies to a couple different ponies before my night is done. Would hate to interrupt your chat with the mayor, I am sure you two have a lot to talk about. Be sure to keep an eye out for Adrian Devia, your skill is most valuable” Spitfire said with a determined and stern voice, which caught Devia off guard.

“-We would think of nothing less for our dear Master, Captain-” Deva informed her.

“Excellent, see ya around kid” said the mare with a wink before taking off.

“See you later Adrian, I am sure we will catch you in town. Your not that hard to find” Fleetfoot said with a wink of her own. 

“Yes, that does seem to be my curse as of late” I replied with a roll of my eyes before we hugged goodbye. That finally left my group and the flabbergasted Mayor and secretary. Taking the initiative, I let out a loud yawn “Well, we should probably be heading off as well. We have had quite a big day, more so for some, and you all need to get settled into your new home! Lead the way Mayor Manehatten!”

He floundered around for a second before forcing another smile on his face “But of course, right this way. Shouldn’t be too long, it is rather close. After all, a mansion of this size was built close to the more...higher class district. This actually happened when my grandfather was mayor, there was a major outbreak of class on class and the result was a great divide of lower and higher class. For some reason, the rich sought this area out, perhaps since there is more sun here, therefore meaning Princess Celestia favored this area more. Well, in their opinion at least, in fact-” the Mayor continued to talk about facts and stories while he walked.

“With all due consideration, you have to at least admire his historical knowledge. He at least took some time to memorize all that” Cloudhoof silently whispered to us.

“Yes, he does somewhat care. Unfortunately greed and power has wormed its way into his heart. Such a shame” I said back.

“The Great and Knowledgeable Trixie already knew that before!” Trixie boasted with a loud voice, to which she swiftly covered her mouth but was too late.

“Already knew what, Miss Lulamoon?” Hatten curiously asked.

“I already knew all about how lovely a night this is, as Cloudhoof so obviously pointed out if you had been paying attention at all” Trixie huffed as though she had been insulted. I heard Hatten do a little gasp, under his breath before turning his head and walking forward. 

“Nicely done Trixie” I informed the haughty mare. 

“But of course, tis natural for one such as I” she retorted with a bit of a smirk. I think I could feel the collective group rolling their eyes but rolled along with it, since it is normal at this point. Much to our dismay.

After that we walked pretty much in silence, since most of the kids were already drifting off to sleep. Though, that didn’t stop them from trying to talk to me and ask about what it means to be an honorary Wonderbolt. But after barely forming a sentence, I had all four of them snoozing away in my arms, with my own daughter drooling on my head in her usual spot. I must have had a silly look of disdain on my face cause the foals parents were laughing as they walked beside me.

“So sorry Adrian, they were just so excited. As are most of us, but you know how kids are” Sour Lily said, mother of the far left colt.

“I guess I should be used to it by know, not that it is an entirely bad thing” I admitted with a smile as I gazed at the little ones. 

“I don’t know if you know or not, but I feel like I should tell you that most of these kids look up to you as their hero. Especially after today, being able to talk on stage like that and being awarded by the famous Wonderbolts, you are akin to a legendary figure straight out of a book to them. So I hope you don’t mind if you allow them to continue to do this” she told me.

I felt my cheeks heat up a bit when I heard this “I guess I can believe why they think like that, but I don’t know if I could keep up a facade like that for them. I really am no one special, this luck of mine will run out and when it does, I fear that you all might not like me anymore. And certainly be a disappointing hero” I sadly said.

I felt something tug at my pant leg, looking down I saw Misty Drop smiling at me “I don’t believe that for one second. Even without luck, we still followed you and will continue to do so. We all would had gladly been behind you even if it took two years to get where we are. My heart is aflutter knowing that your kindness has brought forth such good fortune and we are all lucky to have you with us. You are our hero, Adrian. And you always will be” she said without a moments hesitation.

Looking around, I saw all the others in my group nodding in agreement. Even Roughta was in agreement, which was pretty astounding considering his usual gryphon nature. Speaking of gryphon,  I wonder how Gilda is doing? 

But after seeing everyone smiling at me, my own smile reflected their happiness. “I hope my luck never runs out then, if I am lucky enough to know all of you. I’ll be in your care then” I said.

“And us in yours” Misty said before she did an audible gasp. Soon followed by everyone else, and for good reason. 

“Fillies and gentlecolts, may I present: The House Of Fleur” the Mayor eagerly presented and boy, was it a sight. Obviously, it was huge of course with it being a mansion and everything but it was a very light gray color, almost white and it had a light magenta accent color scattered on windows and the front columns, it certainly could give the Mayors office a run for its money. But the coloration almost reminded of a certain unicorn back in Canterlot.

“The House Of Fleur? The name sounds familiar, why was the mansion left alone?” I asked.

“Mostly because the family felt they were of higher caliber and moved to Canterlot, in fact their most recent addition to family is a well know member of society! She is a supermodel named Fleur De Lis, she has actually made a few inquiries about the estate since it was part of her families history. I think she will be most delighted to know that it is being of monumental use again” he explained.

Well, well. Looks the our paths crossed again, will have to write her a letter soon then. I have a ton of letters to write once everything settles down, ugh I can already feel my hand cramping up already.

“Now lets see, which key is for the front doors?” the mayor mumbled to himself while he fumbled with a huge ring of keys, testing out a number of them before we heard a loud chunk and the doors almost seemed to open by themselves. Perhaps it is….no wait! I am not going to jinx it, defiantly not something I need right now. “And here we are! Welcome to your new home!”

We all curiously wandered inside, half expecting everything to be covered in cobwebs and white sheets covering all the furniture. But as soon as we all had converged in the foyer, I had let out a small surprised gasp at the pristine condition the place was in. I asked the mayor “I thought you said this place was abandoned?”

“Well, it mostly was for years. But ever since Fleur De Lis starting making inquiries, I received reports that a cleaning crew comes by every month. I had no problem with this since they provided a free service and shows other ponies that this place is well kept and alive, for the most part. Which by itself is almost like free publicity!” he replied with enthusiasm.

“It certainly is sir” Hatten nonchalantly said after the fact.

“Alright everypony, for now I will show you all to your rooms. You all can decide later if you want that room or not, since there are plenty more to choose from” the mayor said while walking towards said rooms. 

It took us a little bit of time to set everyone up with a proper room, mostly because I tried my best to get the parents into bigger rooms so that parent or parents had one bed and their child another. Which basically meant we had to move multiple beds out of other rooms, but I wanted to make absolutely sure that every single body had a bed instead of forcing them to share. 

I thought even the Mayor would understand that simple and basic necessity, but at this point he was still supremely pissed that he just wanted to cast us away and let us flail about. Eventually everyone, besides me, had a room to call their own and once they did, I could just feel the mayor boiling over.

“Well, this is where we shall part ways for today. As much as WE need to talk Mr. Frost, I have a few more duties to attend to. Mostly as to properly sort out your group, Astral Odyssey, and file the paperwork. It is going to be a long night Hatten” the mayor said with a tired voice.

“I wouldn’t worry too much Mayor, I already know where to find everything we need, including all the proper procedures with joint collaborations for the Wonderbolts and their group. If we head back now, I would only say a good solid hour of work is needed for tonight. You need to get sleep for tomorrow, since we have that meeting with the Food Association concerning the shipment of bulk goods and certain ingredients. As well as-” Hatten started to say.

“Yes, yes my dear boy. With that said, once I have some free time again I will be in contact with you. So don’t. Leave. Town” the mayor said with punctuation. 

“Why would I leave so soon? I am not the type to leave after only one days worth of work, are you?” I asked in return. I withheld a smirk at the obvious poke which clearly ruffled another feather or two of the mayors.

“Great minds think alike I suppose. Sleep well, Mr. Frost and company and welcome once again to MY city. We hope you all enjoy your stay” the mayor said with a flat tone as he practically turned tail out the front doors. After waiting a few seconds, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I took a few seconds for myself and breathed in through my nose and out my mouth. 

“Wow, what a day. What a day indeed” I said out loud while I stretched my limbs. 

“You said it! And now this! I can hardly believe it!” Cloudhoof said with excitement.

“Never thought you would ever get to live in a mansion, eh?” Barnes said with a grin.

“Well, that too. I just never thought I would get to have a room to call my own” Cloudhoof replied. His face was mostly happy, but his eyes looked a bit sad. Barnes adopted a similar look and so did many others when I took a quick glance around. That is when I heard him sniffle a little with a huge smile on his face. “And now, I do! I have a room in a mansion! I am really, really happy!”

“And a bed!”

“And a roof over our heads!”

“No more living outside!”

“No more begging for food!”

“No more rain soaking my little colt to the bone!”

“A future I can be proud of”

“Does this mean mommy will no longer be sad, mister Adrian?” said Saccharine, a small pink filly with a blue mane and bright, but gentle green eyes. I looked down at her, whose eyes now seemed to twinkle at me now and simply smiled before I scooped her up into my arms.

“Before I answer that, let me ask you. Are you happy now?” I asked the sweet filly.

“Yeah! I am super happy!” she instantly said back.

“Then your mommy is defiantly no longer sad, so long as her sweet and cute little girl is smiling and giggling like no tomorrow” I told her just before I used my free hand to quickly tickle her belly. Which got her to laugh immediately, which spread that happiness to everyone else cause I could see that smiles began to spread to everyone.

“I love you mister Adrian” she suddenly said with a hug. I was greatly surprised to hear her say that without any reservation. I looked around for her mother, Silver String, and she gave me a teary nod of her head. So I raised my other arm, since the filly was using my first arm to stand on, and I hugged her back. “Thank you for making mommy and everypony happy”

Aw crap, here comes a tear. But right now, I just let it fall as I hugged her a little more “You are very welcome Saccharine” I said with a hushed tone. That is when I felt an earthquake of hooves, looking up I saw that the entire group was rushing towards me and before I knew it, I was in a dog pile of ponies who were hugging, crying, and shouting praises. Pony pile I guess? Whatever, I was still buried and under hoof. Heh, good one. 

I even saw Roughta in the pile, though by the look on his face I could guess that he got caught up in the initial rush and was squeezed in. But I saw him take a glance around and I saw a small smirk flicker before he returned to his normal grumpyness. 

“No! Papa mine! Papa mine!” I heard Maelstrom cry out as she flopped back on my head and tried to grab anything she could, mostly hair in order to guard it. I laughed at her antics and I tried to reach up, but my arms were not moving.

“Maelstrom? Could you come closer?” I asked her.

“Papa?” she sweetly asked and did as I asked. When she leaned down close enough, I quickly raised my lower face as much as I could and I gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Too which she dive bombed into my neck with a hug “I love you Papa! Mae loves you more than anything!” 

“And I will always love you Maelstrom, forever and ever” I said right back, to which she snuggled into my neck a tiny bit more. But something caught my eye as I saw her glow a little. I looked her over and I saw that her mane grew down more and I think her tail extended out a bit. The glow went away after that but she continued to snuggle and purr. 

“Dawwwww” I heard the pony pile say in unison. I felt my face heat up but I smiled it off.

“Alright, we should all be heading off to bed now. And I gotta find a room for myself” I explained.

“Don’t be so silly boss! You gotta have the master bedroom!” Cloudhoof said from somewhere in the pile.

“-We agree as well master, this makes the most logical sense-” Devi agreed.

“Hmmph. We suppose we could give up our thoughts on moving in there” Trixie said.

“We think so too!” said the mostly dispersed pile of ponies. 

“I dunno, I feel like that would be too much and that I would be putting myself on a different level than all of you” I admitted.

“Boss, we insist that you take it. You deserve it and it does make sense to do it, since you are the leader of Astral Odyssey!” Barnes said with a wink.

After hearing everyone, I let out a sigh of defeat and returned with a smile again “I suppose I don’t have much choice now. Now I just gotta fi-”

“FOUND IT!”

“-nd….never mind. Thank you Blue Bell” I thanked the stallion who had a proud look planted on his face. Once the last pony was off, I still felt Saccharine hugging me. Looking down, I saw that she was fast asleep, with a tiny splash of drool on my shirt. Awww. I slowly stood up to deliver the sleeping filly back to her mother before wishing everyone a pleasant nights sleep.

I walked towards where Blue Bell was before and I saw the giant doors that almost rivaled the main entrances, looking around I saw that the construction of this place had the master bedroom centered in a nexus of sorts for all the rooms. Looking left, right, and forward I saw a plethora of doors and at the end of each hallway was a large arched window. I decided to walked towards the center one and was greeted to a wondrous sight. 

Looking out, I saw the night time lights of the bustling city below while the glow of the moon and stars beamed above on a plane of its own. Luna is very lucky to be the Princess of the night, being able to rule over such a sight. It was amazing and I felt so proud to have lead all these ponies here.

“-This is quite a sight, our dear master-” Deva said as they strolled up beside me.

“Isn’t it? I haven’t seen anything close to this before. It is very breathtaking” I softly spoke.

“-Do you have a plan set for our next day-?” Devi asked this time.

“Yes, I have a few ideas in motion. But right now, I plan on hitting the hay. Today has been a very emotionally draining day. In a good way, of course” I explained.

“-I understand master. Do you mind if we stay in your room? We would prefer to be as close to you as possible, as to confront any misfortune that should find its way to you-” Devi asked again.

“I do not mind. Are you ready for bed little one?” I asked the cute one on my head. 

“Noooooo~” Maelstrom sleepily said before she slid off my head and into my now waiting arms. “Mae can still…..play and fly and~” she tried to continue but a loud yawn interrupted her train of thought.

“Come on you, lets go snuggle in bed. Haven’t been able to cuddle with you in a long time” I told her.

“Yay! Mae loves to cuddle with Papa!” she replied in the most adorable way. So with that, I walked back to the huge set of doors in order to open them up. Looking inside, I saw that a basic setup was still in the room with a big dresser with an oval mirror attached on one side while an even bigger double doored armoire sat on the other. Looking up, I saw a huge glass chandelier with candles resting above on a gold chain. On the far left, I saw a giant glass door that led out to a balcony that was covered by a half-drawn curtain.

Then the piece de resistance was the bed itself! Oh, I think Fleur might like that one. But anyway, the bed was also huge just like everything else in this room. It was a king sized, probably even larger! It was practically an ocean of bedding that had curtains tied to the four bed posts that rose all the way to the ceiling. Guess only a unicorn or maybe a pegasus could easily manage this monster of a bed. But I am not worried about having privacy that badly.

So I laid my cute and fluffy daughter down on the bed in order to get out my pajamas and my toiletries from my bag. After taking care of business in the bathroom, which is a whole other story of grand magnitude, I felt like it took a whole minute to finally get to the center of the bed which threatened to swallow me whole. It was another cloud bed but much to my surprise, it was even softer than the one in Twilights castle! Guess it pays to be rich, though I am not sure how you can actually make a softer cloud. 

Magic. 

Yeah, that apparently solves any life mysteries here. So magic it is! That and any and all thoughts are slowly fading from my mind as my body was being leeched away by the miracle bed. But right before I lost consciousness, I felt Maelstrom tug at my shirt.

“I love you Papa”

Smiling, I gave her a big kiss to the cheek “I love you too Maelstrom” I said back. “I hope you have the best dream ever” I concluded by giving her another kiss, this time to her forehead. This got her to giggle, which made her do the cutest thing ever. Her giggles made her tire out faster and soon, her giggling turned into a light snore. I took my hand and gently curled a piece of her mane out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. 

After doing that, I took a moment to relish this light feeling in my chest again. I haven’t felt like this in a while and I hope tonight will allow this feeling to spread throughout my entire being. Maybe it will help clear up some of these depressing thoughts. 

But enough of that for now, sleep invading thoughts…...sweet, sweet sleep overpowering senses…..dreams invading…..

ZZZzzz...
> Humans Back In Town
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It has been one long and a very exhausting week after that first night in the mansion, wow that is cool to say, but overall a very progressive week.

Astral Odyssey was a major boon to all, to me, to the ponies in the group, and to the Mayor. Though he is still struggling to fully admit it to me, though that being said he has certainly eased his annoyance towards me and has begun to trust me a tiny, tiny bit. It certainly helped when the headlines in the next days' paper read ‘Mayor fully supports the new Astral Odyssey', which lead to his office being flooded with business ponies wanting in on the action as well. Hell, we even had several sponsors come up to us and asking if they could work with us. That one certainly threw me for a loop.

I told them to let us think about it since we were a new group and didn't want to get in over our heads by being rash and too bold. They nodded their understanding and left us plenty of contact info and benefit packages, yay more paperwork. But I shouldn't complain cause Devia makes for the perfect assistant since they can literally remember everything and can account for every single word and detail, which helped us out already twice due to two different sponsors tried to scam us with loopholes and wordplay. But Devia shut them down quickly and both were basically chased out of town.

Our first sponsor was, of course, the Wonderbolts (I still feel like Spitfire basically adopted us) and due to their partnership they greatly helped weed out all the bad ponies and advised us on which sponsorship to take. A good number of them were small shops or single brand stores, but we were able to acquire some from Canterlot, Las Pegasus, Cloudsdale, the Crystal Empire, and many others. That really helped us out by being able to spread our name out to practically all corners of Equestria.

Thank goodness that we had a mansion with room though, cause after the third or fourth day we started to take in more ponies down on their luck who saw and heard what our group was about. It was almost overwhelming to see just how many ponies had it rough here and some were so thankful they almost started praising me like I was Celestia herself. I may have gotten used to some praise and admiration, not to toot my own horn too much, but I did have to put my foot down on that one. Thankfully they were very nice and understanding, so nothing bad came of it.

Speaking of mansions, I took some time to write out a plethora of letters to everyone which included Fleur, so hopefully, I should be hearing something back soon on her thoughts. Twilight and gang were ecstatic to hear that I was doing well and I think Twilight might have even shed a tear or two cause I could see a small spot where something wet hit the paper. They also said that once they all can get a day off, they would definitely come and visit me, so I have something else to look forward to.

Other good news is that a number of ponies in my original group had found good jobs to work and were starting to save up their money, one family was even able to move out already! It was Silver String and her daughter Saccharine, Silver found a job as a candy maker and the married owners had a loft above the store, so they came to talk to me and ask if it would be alright if they hosted them, both for the job and to help. I said it was ok but it was ultimately up to Silver, who almost hugged the two to death. So they said their goodbyes and after prying off Saccharine, they walked off to a better future.

Which brings us here today, sitting in a local bakery and trying a very tasty cheese and potato bread bowl soup. “So, do you like it Maelstrom?” I asked my tail wagging daughter.

“I do! I really do!” she happily replied by taking in another spoonful.

"We agree with the little one, this soup certainly exceeds standards if even I find it good," Trixie said with her usual inflated ego.

“-We shall go ahead and add this dish to your list of acceptable foods Master-” Devia said while staring at said food.

"I am glad you like it, my husband just made it after we tasted a similar dish while we were in Fillydephia" Purple Curls, the co-owner said to us.

"I especially enjoy that it is a bread bowl, I love eating the soup-soaked bread afterward. It always has such a unique taste" I commented with a smile.

“You got that right sonny! And that bread was freshly baked this morning to boot! Only the best for our customers” said Fluff Tail, the very burly stallion, and other co-owner said.

Curls giggled with a shake of her head before she whispered in my ear “Sorry, he is trying to impress you. Cause of your group and all”

“No worries” I whispered back. This is also one small part that I guess comes with the territory, ponies trying to win you over. But I can tell he is good-hearted and will at least write their name down and recommend this place.

‘DING’ “Well hello there! What can we getcha?” Fluff announced to the new customer up front.

“Oh, looks like I need to get back to the kitchen then. Have a nice day Adrian” Curls said with a friendly smile before she hurried back.

“Hmph, her husband sure likes to express himself. Not even subtle about it either” Trixie snorted.

"It's no big deal, besides, in their eyes us visiting them almost like Fancy Pants or Spitfire coming here. So they are just trying to make sure we leave on a good note and promote them. I am almost considering it since they did build this place up from the ground with almost no money to their name" I replied.

"-But you must remember Master, you can't overdo it or else all the other ponies in town with trample right over you-" Devi told me.

“Yes, yes. I know. But it doesn’t always have to be a sponsorship you know, I can at least make posters and put in a good word for them here and there” I said back.

"-Hmm….. acceptable-" Devi commented before they made another mental note.

“Can Mae help too Papa?” Maelstrom asked with a bit of soup dribbling down her mouth.

"Of course you can," I told her before I picked her up and used a napkin to clean her up. "Whenever you feel like it, you can just jump in and say that this place is really good. And since you are so cute, they will have no choice but to believe it" I ended with a quick nose boop, which made her giggle.

“Even making your daughter advertise now? Oh, how far the mighty have fallen for our dear, dear human leader! For shame!” Trixie said with even more dramatic flair and she even tilted back in her seat, her foreleg covering her eyes.

But before I could retaliate, both Cloudhoof and Barnes bursted into the bakery and came rushing up to me.

“Boss! Boss! There you are!” Cloudhoof loudly exclaimed.

“Calm down air head, we are in a store” Barnes hushed him before turning to me “Boss, you are needed down at the train station. You have been requested by the Mayor”

“The Mayor? Do you know what for?”

She shook her head “No, it was Hatters who waved us down and told us since the Mayor was already heading over there. But it sounds like he may be meeting somepony, and probably someone important”

"That's why we should hurry boss! Who knows who it could be?!" Cloudhoof said while looking like a child the night before Christmas, or Hearts Warming Eve in their case.

“Your enthusiasm aside, we should probably be on our way and I can eat the rest on the way," I said as I stood up to leave a tip for them.

Fluff and Curls saw us begin to leave “Thank you for stopping by! Please come again!” the two said almost in unison. We waved back and began to walk to the train station, following the two fliers while I ate the rest of my soup bowl. Along the way, many other ponies waved at me and one even dropped off a business card for their novelty shop. I took a moment to appreciate how far I have come in this town and my standing in their eyes.

To be able to walk down a busy street and, while still be gawked at in a way, not stare at me like a freak or being scared that I might gobble them up like a troll or something. It is quite a breath of fresh air and it is quite enjoyable. I turned my eyes up to my daughter who is still so enthralled with the sights and sound of the city and I scratched her chin with my finger, to which she took hold of it and took a playful bite of it. I laughed while I teased my finger in front of her face while she tried to catch it again.

“So, anything new from you two?” I asked Cloudhoof and Barnes.

“Hmmm, nothing really Boss” Barnes replied.

"Same here, though I did hear about a royal guard recruiter coming either today or tomorrow," Cloudhoof said.

“Oh, thinking of joining are we?” I said.

"Naw, I don't think I would have to heart too. But could you imagine?! Cloudhoof, the newest royal guard, Protector of Royalty, Guard to the Twin Royal Sisters of Equestria!" he said with a spin and a twirl in the air.

I laughed a little before turning my head to Barnes “What about you Barnes? Do you imagine yourself in armor, protecting the Princesses?”

She took a moment or two to answer “I’m… I’m not sure boss…. Um, OH! Were here!” she quickly said before flying ahead a bit more. That was a bit of an odd reaction, will have to remember to ask about that a little later when she is alone. But I turned my gaze to the train platform ahead, trying to see if I could spot who our potential guest is. I wonder if the Mayor wants us to give them a tour or something? I guess he could since it would be a good way to show me off.

Or maybe it’s Twilight?! That could be it and they asked the mayor to get me in order to surprise me.

Hmmm, or maybe not. Cause if that was true, Pinkie Pie would of probably already of found me the second the train came to a stop and the doors opened. I wonder if its normal to not be surprised about Pinkie doing the impossible. What do you think me?

Perfectly normal Adrian.

Excellent me, so with that out of the way, let us go find out who our mystery guest is.

"Did you just talk to yourself, Papa?" Maelstrom suddenly asked which almost spooked me.

"Wha-what makes you think that sweetheart?" I nervously asked.

“Mae could tell! Mae could tell!” was all she said while she played with my hair. I mentally groaned at that, guess this is one thing a being of chaos can do. Thank you Discord.

I waited a few seconds to see if Discord answered in my head, cause I would not have been surprised if he did.

"Ah! Adrian! There you are! Over here! Over here!" I heard the rounded Mayor say, though it took me a second to find him. So we eventually made our way over to him but before I could ask anything, he said: "Why didn't you tell me sooner!"

“Tell you what sooner?” I asked in return.

“That you already knew a pony of great status and wealth!” He replied back as if this knowledge were elementary knowledge.

“Who?” I asked again but before he said it, I heard a gasp in the crowd and they parted away from the train, practically in a straight line to the Mayor and me. Man, whoever this was is probably a celebrity. Maybe it was Vinyl? That would be like her to surprise me.

“It has been a while, my dear Adrian” I heard a feminine voice say. I slowly turned my head and saw that standing at the other end of the split sea of ponies, what none other than-

“FLEUR!” I happily exclaimed as I carefully ran to her, since Maelstrom was still on my head. I was about to bend down to hug her, but I took a moment to remember how the public views her and while it wouldn’t really affect me, I don’t know how other ponies might see it. So I knelt on one knee and took her hoof in my hand and kissed it. “It certainly has been a while since Canterlot”

She almost seemed confused at the action I took before she took a look around us, or more precise, the looks of the other ponies who were staring directly at us. She seemed to giggle at this before she lifted the front half of her body up and gave me a hug. I must have babbled something incoherent because she giggled again. "Don't worry about the public eye and besides-" she whispered before returning to stand in front of me "Even if I am a celebrity and a model, I can still hug my friends" she said with a sweet smile.

Then the whole world went white as dozen upon dozens of camera flashes went off and a horde of questions started pouring in, man the paparazzi are ruthless in any world. But Fleur didn’t even bat an eyelash as she stared at me, she must be so used to this.

“I got your letter Adrian and let me be the first to say, my family owes you a great debt for using the House of Fleur for such a noble purpose and for bringing it back to life once more” she elegantly said with a slow bow. Cameras starting going even crazier now.

“I should be thanking you Fleur for keeping the mansion clean and livable, because of your kindness and generosity, you allowed all of us a nice, clean place to live in. So thank you Fleur De Lis” I responded back with a bow of my own. I glanced up and saw a slight blush on her smiling face.

"Thank you, Adrian, now, would you be so kind as to introduce me to the Mayor over there?" she gently said with a sway of her mane. I couldn't help but laugh a little but I stood up and walked in front of her as I lead her back to the jaw dropped mayor.

“Mayor, it is my honor to introduce to the supermodel Fleur De Lis. Fleur De Lis, this is the Mayor of all of Manehatten” I said and suddenly realized I don’t actually know his full name.

“An honor indeed Miss De Lis! A most stupendous and magnificent honor!” the mayor said as loudly as he could and even posed for a smile or two for the cameras.

"It is nice to meet you as well Mayor, and thank you again for calling my friend Adrian here. He is the best welcoming gift I could have thought of" she said with a sincere smile. Now it was my turn to blush a bit.

“Ahem, yes, it was, uh, a great surprise to me that the two of you knew each other already. Most ponies usually bring up that know a celebrity sooner” The mayor said with a bit of grin in my direction.

"Well, as you can plainly see Mister Mayor, Adrian is clearly not your average stallion and has a good heart to not use his friends status to brag or take advantage of, hence why this brave stallion had the courage to care for not only his friends but for complete strangers as well and start up his Astral Odyssey group to care for them" Fleur stated matter of factly and I could have sworn, the Mayor started to choke from having his hoof shoved down this mouth. A feat that I greatly enjoyed seeing, good going Fleur.

“Y-y-yes indeedly so! My city is most thankful for his kindness!” he quickly spat out. A single drop of sweat rolling down.

"Now-" Fleur said while turning to me "Adrian, would be so kind as to show me around? I would love to grab a small bite to eat" she said.

Wow, perfect timing “But of course, I actually just got done eating myself at this wonderful little bakery called ‘Fluffy Curls’, so name after the married owners. And better yet, it is not too far from here!” I loudly explained to the crowd of pen and paper, how’s that for advertisement? Heh heh.

"Sounds delightful! Lead the way!" Fleur excitingly said. I started to leave but I noticed that only Devia was following, so I looked back and saw that Trixie, Cloudhoof, and Barnes were sitting slack-jawed while staring out into space.

“Are you three coming or what?” I said to them, which snapped them back to reality and running to catch up.

“You are amazing boss! You know the famous supermodel Fleur De Lis!” Cloudhoof said.

“He certainly does, and what might your name be?” Fleur replied.

“GAH! I, um, uh, name i-i-i-is, um, ah….Cloudhoof! Yeah, Cloudhoof, heh heh” he eventually stammered out with a bright red face.

“And how about you two?” she said to the two mares.

"OH! My name is Barnes ma'am, a pleasure to meet you in person!" Barnes excitingly proclaimed.

“Hmph, if you must know. I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!” she loudly boasted as usual.

“Trixie? The traveling magician?” Fleur asked.

At this, Trixie was greatly flustered and her normal volume died down quite a bit “You…. You know of us?”

"Yes, I do! I have never seen your show but some colleagues of mine did mention your name once or twice" Fleur told her.

Trixie was visibly stunned for second before she found her strength “But of course you have! How could a mare of your standing NOT have heard of me! The Great And Magnanimous Trixie!” the show pony loudly exclaimed again with a swish of her cloak.

Fleur giggled a little before she noticed my hair going everywhere “Um, Adrian? Is there something in your mane?”

“Me! Me!” Maelstrom announced as she popped out of my nest of a hair.

“Oh goodness me! She surprised me! And, who are you little one?” Fleur sweetly asked.

“I am Mae! Mae! He he!” she declared before dive bombing my hair once again.

Fleur laughed again as she looked back down at me “Babysitting are we?” she asked.

I did a nervous laugh before I shook my head no "Nope, this little one-" I reached up and grabbed the ball of gigging fluff, letting her settle in the crook of my arm "-is my one and only daughter. Say, hi sweetheart"

"Hi, pretty pony!" Maelstrom quickly said before she started batting at my hand which dangled in front of her, like a cat.

At hearing this, I could visibly see a strand or two of her mane spring out of place and her pupils seemed to visibly shrink while her mouth dropped open. I could not help myself, I began to laugh out loud at seeing her expression. Though this time I was the only one to laugh since the others were still shell-shocked at her presence.

“Your WHAT?!” she loudly asked in a way she probably didn’t mean to.

"My daughter, my cute, adorable, snuggly wuggly daughter," I said before tickling her stomach.

“Papa! That tickles!” she cutely responded.

Fleur shook her head to try and collect herself “H-how do you have a daughter? I know it has been a while, but not that long!” she questioned.  Seeing as we were pretty close to the bakery, I told her the story as quickly as I could and her face actually didn’t change all that much but the return of the Discord Face was clearly evident. Still hilarious to see.

I looked back up and was the first to open the door the bakery and saw Fluff waiting idly at the counter, but perked up at the sound of the door and began to laugh “I know we said to come back soon Adrian, but we didn’t expect quite this soon! Curls! Adrian’s back already!” he said to the back.

“Adrian? Already? I guess he really did like our cooking” I heard the mare said with a laugh. Once she was out front, she saw Fleur standing to the side, recovering. “Oh? And you brought another guest! And quite a beautiful one too! You sly stallion” she said with a wink.

With a chuckle, I said "It was a bit of a surprise as well, but she was the guest that my two pegasi friends told me about. She just got off the train and wanted something small to eat, so I brought her here!"

"Can't blame ya, sonny! That is just how good our food is! Haha!" he proudly declared.

“What is her name?” Curls asked once her husband calmed down.

“Oh! Right, sorry about that. Ahem, Fluff Tail, Purple Curls, this is the Canterlot supermodel Fleur De Dis. Fleur, these are the married owners of Fluffy Curls. Fluff Tail and Purple Curls” I again introduced. But at this, I could see their faces were visibly stunned at the fact a supermodel walked into their little shop.

“Y-you mean the top of the top, cream of the crop high-end supermodel Fleur De Lis?!?" Purple Curls exclaimed.

“The winner of the Miss Equestria Pageant five years in a row and even the Beauty Queen of six cities!?!” Fluff Tail equally exclaimed, looking almost fearful.

“THAT FLEUR DE LIS?” the two said in perfect unison as they stared in utmost shock at said mare.

“The one and only” I explained.

“Adrian, how in all of Equestria do you know THE Fleur De Lis?” Curls gasped.

“I met her in Canterlot and after we talked, we became friends is all” I simply said.

At this, I saw the couple become so physically exhausted that they collapsed into the nearest chair and developed a thousand yard stare for a while. I wanted to say something but I saw Fleur step forward while she cleared her throat.

"Mister Tail, Miss Curls, as my friend Adrian told me earlier he highly recommended this place to eat. As such, if you don't mind, of course, I would love to place my order" she calmly said with a pleasant smile.

“AT ONCE MISS DE LIS!” The two said in unison again before they just seemed to teleport into the pack and I started hearing the clatter of pots and pans while the couple yelled out different ingredients and dishes at each other. A laugh escaped my lips and was joined by Fleur.

“Think we should tell them that they technically never got your order and just got straight to work?” I asked with a laugh.

“I think they are mortified enough with just my presence” she replied back.

"Let us grab a table while we wait" I suggested and with a nod from her, we grabbed four tables and stuck them together then sat down and, with no surprise, Fleur sat right next to me. Though I think the other three were still also shell-shocked while Devia had no idea who she really was aside from being a friend to me.  "So, it is always like this with you Fleur?"

"Usually, though in Canterlot my presence is a bit more regular to most ponies are accustomed to seeing me walkabout. But in every other city, most ponies bend over backward for me, react like they did, and, usually stallions, throw selves at my hooves. It is sometimes flattering, but it usually becomes very annoying since most of them are very arrogant and selfish and even sometimes rich"

“Rich stallions are sometimes the worst because they think that they are equal to Princess Celestia herself and that I am some sort of prize waiting for them. Thankfully, those are far and few between the norm of shock and aw. I hope that doesn’t bother you too much Adrian” she said to me, asking with curiously.

I shook my head “Not at all, to be perfectly honest it was one of the things I thought about when I first met you. Since I never was a celebrity or anything close to that kind of status, I’ve always wonderedhow you all do it. To be surrounded by cameras, journalists, fans of all kind, and the others. It must take a different kind of strength to do that, kinda like how the Wonderbolts do it” I told her.

“You know the Wonderbolts?” she asked.

“Yep! I actually rescued Fleetfoot from the Everfree forest, which led to me meeting Spitfire and the others. They actually did a show here and presented me as a guest speaker for my group and even helped with all the paperwork after. They even made me an honorary Wonderbolt! I really owe Spitfire a lot for all she did for me” I admitted.

"Amazing! I knew you were something special handsome!" she said with a cute face and I could see her tail swish back and forth "And back to your original thought, at first it was very scary and nerve-wracking to walk out of a building, not truly knowing what was going to happen with the crowd or that any number of them could potentially hurt my career if I took one wrong step or held my body wrong or even jump out at me"

“I almost wanted to quit because of that kind of pressure, every night I practically worried myself to sleep, even crying one or twice. But I stuck to it, luckily I had support and even hired some bodyguards to give myself some peace of mind. But I had a mentor who helped me walk through it and to learn how to simply block them out. Most days, unless I specifically address one of them, I honestly don’t even notice them swarmed all around me”

“Yet, I occasionally need to take a break from the norm and spread my legs. Which was what I was doing when I might you! My friend Fancy Pants is a very relaxed pony and knows just how to unwind from the stress of Canterlot and of high society, thankfully I was able to meet a wonderful pony who helped me unwind on a whole new level that night and the next morning!” she said with a nice smile.

"Oh? Who was that Miss De Lis?" Cloudhoof suddenly asked. Both Trixie and Barnes gave him the stink eye at his naivete.

But she laughed before answering “My dear Adrian of course! He was a gentlecoat with me and even though it was our first time meeting and even learned I was a supermodel, he didn’t change and start treating me too differently. That is something I truly look for, a pony who treats me like anyone else. Because at the end of the day, I am still a single mare in Equestria”

"Single? But I would think a supermodel like you would be drowning in stallions!" Barnes exclaimed. "I mean, you are so beautiful and strong, hard-working, have such a pretty mane, and just...everything!"

“Thank you for saying so, but I am afraid that many stallions either find me intimidating or think I am a prize to win” she explained with a sigh.

"Yeah, that is what Spitfire was saying as well. Lots of guys get scared of her, though I don't blame them cause I think she could easily give any knucklehead a black eye and a broken leg" I replied with a laugh, just imagining it.

“It must be the same for me as well, not many stallions could control themselves at the mere sight of the Great And Beautiful Trixie!” said the blue mare, with yet again another swish of her cape. Fleur was already so used to her cause I saw her quickly roll her eyes before staring back at me.

“But, enough about me, what about you Adrian? What else has my handsome stallions been up to?” she said with a certain swagger in her voice and a swish or two of her tail.

Oh boy, I kinda forgot how much she seemed to like me. “Well, uh, besides what I told you in my letter, I have been busy with Astral Odyssey this week, doing paperwork, dealing with sponsors, businesses, the works. Been certainly building up my own celebrity status, though certainly not enough to sneeze at” I said with a nervous laugh.

“But this is how it all starts though, you start off small and then with hard work and diligence, you will soon find yourself soaring through the sky, touching the stars, realizing that maybe one day, you will be up there as well, watching a younger you do the same thing and gazing at you the same way you yourself use to” Fleur stated. Even though she was looking at me with those piercing, beautiful eyes, I really took her words to heart. Would I really be like that one day?

Fleur, looking at my gaze after hearing this, placed her hoof in my hand and waited for me to look at her “You will certainly shine as bright as the sun one day Adrian, I know you will” she said with a shine of her own in her eyes. But before I could say anything else, I saw her eyes start to close very slowly while her body leaned to me while those pretty lips closed it until-

"ORDERS UP! I hope you like it, Miss De Lis!" Fluff suddenly announced which spooked the two of us that we both returned to our normal positions, the both of us sweating bullets.

“Yes, yes! I hope you all enjoy! Drinks anypony?” Curls also suddenly said as she popped up behind her husband, notebook in hoof.

“Water”

“Water”

“Apple juice”

“Coffee”

“-Nothing for me, thank you-”

“Pristine, crystal water! If you please!”

"Certainly! Be right back!" Curls said as she disappeared into the back again while Fluff set down the plates of random assortment around us.

“Enjoy! Please let us know if there is anything else we can do!” Fluff said just as his wife gave us our drinks then the two were gone in a flash.

Seconds went by and no one touched a thing, the other three in shock of Fleur while she and I stared at the now very interesting white and gray tables. I dared a glance at the mare a few times, seeing that she was doing the same with a growing blush and her tail curled up tight. So I finally exhaled a breath and took a piece of what looked like Texas toast, to which all the others followed suit in silence.


-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 20 Minutes Later -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~


It took us a while to finish, not that there was much to actually eat since it was all small stuff, but we just all sat silently and awkwardly, not really sure what to do. Even Fleur kept her tail curled up. But we finally got down and I went to go pay, which almost made Fleur talk but “No, no, no, no! I couldn’t make Fleur and her guests pay! Besides, this was just a welcome to Manehatten appetizer!” Fluff exclaimed.

“Exactly! I just hope you all enjoyed it!” Curls said with a huge smile.

“Yes, it was a very nice meal. Thank you” Fleur said in a hushed tone.

"We are so happy to hear you say that, and thank you, Adrian, for bringing in Miss Fleur De Lis! This is the most exciting thing ever!" Curls happily said. I gave a smile, not really caring that it sounded like she wasn't as happy to see me over Fleur but that would be selfish and a bit egotistical on my part. So we all said our thanks and left the bakery, only to wander the streets in relative silence since many ponies also recognize Fleur and began to go crazy all around us.

"Hey, Boss! Me and Cloudhoof here need to run some errands for a couple of ponies back at the mansion. So we will meet back up with you later!" Barnes said while dragging him off.

“Y-yes! The Great And Overly Stupendous Trixie has some errands of her own! I need to find a tailor worthy of making me a new and even grander cloak!” Trixie told us before running off.

Devias own inner mechanisms even began to whirl and click before speaking up “-By your leave Master, we would also like to head back and go over some paperwork, we have some new job requests for our residents-” Devi told me. I simply nodded and off they went, just leaving me, Fleur, and Maelstrom who was taking a nap atop my head.

Even now that we were alone, we still could not muster the courage to talk, so I looked around and saw a big park on our left “Hey, Fleur. Let’s uh, let’s go over here! The parks here are very nice and the leaves are super green!” I said with fake courage. But it was enough for Fleur who pleasantly nodded while keeping up her own public facade. So I lead us around the crowd of ponies and into the almost empty park, not really sure on what to do.

We walked on the path, looking up at the scenery and trees, a leaf falling on Fleurs nose which got us to laugh for a second before we looked away with renewed blushes. Our pace was slowing with each step until we finally just seemed to stop at a bench that had a few rays of sun shining through. I brushed it off for her and when I saw her take her seat, I sat beside her and began to twiddle my thumbs, my heartbeat seemingly busting through my chest.

We sat in silence for a good minute or two before I closed my and took a deep breath through my nose and exhaled, which almost seemed to startle her. I slowly readjusted my body to turn and look at her when I felt a sudden weight on my chest, I went to open my eyes but I was greeted to something soft and moist touching my lips, feeling a heated breath around my nose.

All the hairs on my body tensed up and I accidentally back up a little in surprise, but the weight on my chest leaned back with me and the pressure on my lips stayed exactly there. I opened my eyes and sawFleur, eyes closed with her lips placed firmly on mine, while the rest of her body was frozen on top of mine. I could see her own fur standing up like she was in the middle of a cold, windy day with her face as bright as a tomato. Her ears standing on edge, twitching every now and then while she breathed through her nose, her breath flowing against my skin, causing my skin to get goosebumps while she continued the kiss.

I was about to use my hand to stop the kiss but then I saw something that causes my heart to skip a beat, her eyes began to tear up and bubble down her pristine fur and I could even feel her body tremble, her lips quivering more and more after every second. I wasn't going to let myself get freaked out by this, seeing as she clearly knows what she is doing and is doing this for a reason. So instead of backing her off, I rested one hand on a hoof that was pressed into my chest and lifted the other to gently rub her cheek with the back of my finger.

My touch made her twitch and she leaned more into me for a moment before she fully backed up to sit back down, she opened her eyes when our lips were no longer in contact and we both saw a tiny bit of saliva string off our lips before being carried off by the wind that suddenly breezed by. We both stared at each other in silence once again but now we both had blossomed red and I could still see a few tears run down her face, with a bit of eyeshadow leaking.

Seeing this, I cupped her soft face in my hands and used my thumbs to gently and carefully wipe away the tears and makeup, this action caused her to close her eyes again as she nuzzled my hand in small movements. Once I dried up her eyes, I went to pull my hands back but, in almost a whisper, I heard her say “Please, just a little longer”

So I kept my hands up and gently stroked her cheeks with my thumbs and even used a finger to scratch the underside of her chin, every now and then I would wipe a stray tear away.

A couple of minutes flew by before I heard her take a deep breath of her own and she used her own hoof to push my hands away, so I placed them in my lap and waited for her. After another long, deep breath she finally reopened her eyes, which threatened to start bursting into tears again, and she said "I… I apologize about that Adrian. That was very selfish of me and I must seem like such a fool"

I went to speak up but she held her hoof up again to silence me, so I readjusted my position and decided to just wait, to which I kept my mouth shut and nodded for her to continue.

“As I told you earlier, there are days when I just wish for ponies to treat me like a normal mare, instead of this blessed supermodel, set upon a pedestal to be praised and worshiped. And while most days, I take it in stride, there are many, many times when I wish I could just yell to the heavens for everyone to just stop. Stop and treat me normally!”

“But I can’t, I have an obligation to my manager, my fans, my sponsors, to all in Equestria who look up at me and see me as this idol to look up to and respect or find inspiration. I am so many things to everyone else, but I can’t be anything to myself” she said before a few more tears began to bubble. “I was almost a complete wreck when I went to Fancy Pants and asked for a total breakdown of everything so I could relax and just restart my body, mind, and soul”

"And that is when I met you, a complete and totally foreign stallion who knew nothing of me, someone who I could be myself around to just do anything. To smile, to laugh, to joke, to talk, to flirt, anything and everything I wish I could do every day. It also greatly helped that you found me pretty and I foundyou equally as handsome” she said with a quiet laugh while tears continue to spill over “One would almost say I found love at first sight” she squeaked out before bursting into more tears, while she tried to sniffle. I reached into my bag and thankfully found some tissues, so I pulled them out and handed them to her. She mouthed thank you while she cleaned herself up a little. Her makeup was now all over the place, and while she still looked beautiful, it was very funny to see splotches of makeup here and there on her face.

I didn’t really mean to laugh during this serious moment but I had to let out a little laugh, to which she somehow summoned a compact mirror to look at her face and gasped at first but she looked over at me and saw me smiling while I laughed and began to laugh with me. I could tell she needed it after confessing everything. Once we calmed down, I took a couple of tissues and tried my best to clean her up, though she was being a little fussy now but eventually let me do it.

Once she was cleaned up she breathed in and out before continuing “So, after I met you for dinner and breakfast, I found myself thinking about you and how I acted so strongly with you. I felt so happy and all this energy just seemed to explode within me, so much so that the following week during work, I felt back in my prime and everypony knew it. I exploded back into the press and was the hot thing on the front of every paper or magazine”

“But just as fast as it came, it seemed to go away just as fast in my mind. Sure, to everyone else I was back to normal but inside I was sad that no other stallion in my mind could come close to you. And so I began to anxiously await for a letter or anything. Then in Canterlot, I began to hear a rumor about you. Some of you leading a group of homeless ponies, some that you got hurt somehow, and a few others. My heart began to race again and I wanted to see you again"

“So when your letter finally came, I read it with joy in my heart and happy tears in my eyes. At first I was going to write you back, but since you said you were living in that mansion, I saw it as a good public excuse to come see you, under the pretense of working with Equestria's only human leading an advocacy group and working with the city of Manehatten while leaving in my families former house. My publicist was through the roof with joy and so was I"

“So, when I finally saw you again, I just wanted to leap into your arms and kiss you right then and there. But you kept me grounded by being polite to my image, so I decided to wait. But just simply talking normally to you again in that bakery was enough to get me riled up again. I was secretly so thankful that your friends gave us space and when we found ourselves in this perfectly romantic spot, I had to kiss you” she explained with a heavy heart. She sniffled once or twice and dabbed her eyes with a tissue just before I spoke.

“Then, why were you crying Fleur?” I gently asked while I used one thumb to gently rub her forehoof.

“-sniff- Because I thought you might hate me for being so selfish and thoughtless for forcing myself on you like this when I know almost nothing about you. You could have a marefriend for crying out loud!" she suddenly exclaimed "You could be in love with some other mare right now and here I am trying to steal you away!" she finished by slamming both hooves into the bench, avoiding my hands. "I thought of all that, and yet…. And yet I… I-” more tears began to flow, now beginning to stain the bench a little.

“And yet I didn’t care in that moment, that one moment my whole world was you and only you, your lips, your breath, your touch, your hands, your chest, your hair, everything you were was all I caredabout. And when I broke the kiss, what did you do? You didn't slap me, yell at me, or anything like I should have deserved, instead, you gently wiped away my tears while holding me. I didn't want you to stop, I could have been happy for the rest of my life in that one moment. But I didn't want to force myself on you, to make you shoulder my burdens on top of yours, I could never hurt you" she said in a quiet voice before she slumped her head against my chest and cried a little more.

Without even thinking, I brought my arms up and gave her a soft hug while I stroked her mane. Which made her really upon up the floodgates and she poured all her feelings out against my chest while she sat in the warm ray of sunlight. I decided to stay quiet for a bit longer, wanting her to get everything off her chest and that took a little while. But I really can’t blame her, to finally find someone she truly trusts to talk about things she kept hidden deep down. I certainly know that feeling.

So I held her in my arms for as long as she needed me to, and it took a few minutes for her to calm down and took another minute to clean herself up again, as well as my shirt. Once she was fully calm, she sat back and waited. I waited until it looked like she was ready to listen, so I took a deep breath of my own.

“Thank you for telling me Fleur, I appreciate that you explained yourself instead of doing a kiss and run” I laughed a little at that “And I am really happy that you trusted me with this information, even though we literally met only three times” I said with a bit of a knowing look, to which she giggled “And well, I can’t say I am not flattered that a beautiful pony such as yourself was willing to go so far for me”

“But?” she cautiously asked.

"Ah-" I was about to say, but in reality, did I have a real reason to truly reject her? Sure, it might be a difficult relationship and we would probably not be able to see each other often, but on my part, I could just go see her at work than her at mine. But right now, I am technically single if I and Derpys deal is to be taken into account. So I could and should just say yes, and yet…

I still love Derpy, and even if it was just that cute, golden-eyed beauty, I also have Vinyl to consider. Who is also very much in Fleurs same boat, not being able to trust other stallions and being at ease with me. -sigh- I sound just like some sort of dude in an anime or something, great. But I can worry about that later.

“Adrian?” Fleur asked.

"Sorry, just had to take a moment to think over some things," I said to her.

“Are… are you in love with another mare?” she hesitantly asked.

With another sigh, I decided to just be truthful “Yes, yes I am. But we are not together anymore, we broke up when I left Ponyville because I didn’t want to hold her back or force her to choose her life and career over me. Sure, I could try and be that guy in a book or something, but real life doesn’t always work out that way”

“Especially since I would also be asking her to give up her house, her possessions, her social life, basically everything just to come and run away with me to an unknown future that held no promises except my love for her. But that would be selfish on my part, and I love her too much to take her away.And, since I am being honest here, there is another mare who is almost in the exact same situation as you. She accidentally admitted her true feelings when we got drunk one night, but she knew I was in a relationship at the time and was fine being my best friend. So, yeah. That’s me” I said while I nervously rubbed the back of my neck.

At first, I was worried how Fleur would react since she was silent and seemed downtrodden, I reached out with my hand to her when she began to giggle more and more and now I was the one sitting in silence and confusion. “Sorry about that Adrian, but I found my feelings very funny after hearing all that”

“How so?” I asked, still very confused.

“Because, even though you basically admitted that you loved two other mares, I still can’t find any reason in my heart to stop loving you as well. Silly isn’t it?” she bashfully asked me.

“Heh, well, love always works in mysterious ways it seems. And the heart wants what it wants, even if we don’t fully realize why” I simply told her.

“Very true Adrian, very true” was all she said before she quickly gave me another kiss, much to my surprise. “I propose an idea in the meantime, would you be willing to listen?”

“Yes”

“So, while I would love to have you all to myself and drop everything to devote myself to you, we both are realists and we both know that neither one of us would want the other to do that. So, I propose that we keep our friendship as it is, but with hugs and kisses now and then. So, I guess I bit like an open relationship, just not at intense” she said with a wink. I immediately blushed like crazy which got her to giggle even more.

“And who knows, maybe in the future when things settle down, perhaps I can truly be the only mare to steal you away. OH! Or perhaps we can get even crazier and form a herd! Wouldn’t that just be a hoot and a holler!” she honestly said with a laugh. Wow, first Vinyl and now Fleur? Both these girls are way more open to crazy ideas, maybe that's why I like them? Guess that means I am a little crazy too.

“So, what do you say?” Fleur asked, patiently waiting.

“I suppose we could give it a try, and we could even just call it casual dating if you like” I suggested.

“Oh yes! I like that term much better, I was actually thinking of a new way to call it since being in an open relationship sounds so naughty” she fully admitted with another round of giggles. “Sorry for laughing so much”

I reached over and gave her ear a quick scratch "No worries, I understand" I said before leaning over myself and gave her soft and warm cheek a quick peck. "I suppose that seals the deal then" too which she replied by giving me another full-on kiss on the lips.

“Deal” with another giggle.

I sighed again at her silly antics but smiled nonetheless just before I got up and stretched a little. "Well, we better get back before anyone starts to worry or starts to spread any rumors of the supermodel and the human," I said with a wink of my own.

“Yes, I suppose we should. And you, mister handsome, still owe me a tour” she told me.

"I am almost sure that you know this city better than me," I said with a smirk.

“Perhaps, but I would still love to have you guide me around” she replied with a sly smirk.

I laughed “It’s a date then”

“Yes, our first date!” she giggled like mad now as we made our way back to the front of the park, which now that I realize is more akin to a small forest.

And just as I was about to sail smoothly into the city, I felt Maelstrom slide down onto my shoulder with a big smile on her face “Lucky Papa! Lucky Papa!” she said before hugging me.

“Oh no” I groaned while my daughter and the supermodel next to me began to laugh. “What have I gotten myself into now?”