> Host Of Souls
>  by SapphireWings999
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter I: A Royal Union
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This day was going to be perfect.  Several months had passed since I had first visited Equestria and discovered my destiny as an Alicorn prince after defeating a powerful and deadly evil.  Upon returning to my home world, I proposed to my longtime girlfriend, Savannah, and she said yes.  Now, on this beautiful March day, we were finally getting married; nothing could possibly ruin this moment.

Well, one thing could.  Only a few months after proposing to Savannah, my doctor had diagnosed me with terminal lung cancer.  While I’d never smoked a day in my life and my parents hadn’t either, they both came from families who had.  Both my grandmothers had been smoking since they were teens and one of them had passed away from Stage 4 lung cancer about a year and a half earlier.  Studies done in the past few years showed that those who smoked would end up passing on similar health problems to not only their children but their grandchildren also.  Combine that with my constant exposure to secondhand smoke from both of my grandmas and my uncle and my diagnosis was hardly surprising to my doctor.  Still I’d never expected to get it this young.

He’d only given me about a year left to live and, by this point, time was half up.  I had tried to break up with Savannah to spare her any heartache over the fact that she and I would only be together for several months more, but, when she found out about my diagnosis, she was obstinate to stand by me.  She said that she wouldn’t be able to call herself a good girlfriend, or even wife, if she just left me because of something like cancer.  I had to compliment her on her integrity, one of the qualities I first noticed in her, and so we went forward with our plans.

I hadn’t told anyone else about my diagnosis yet.  I just wasn’t sure how or even when to tell them; no time ever seemed right to break the news to them.  I had to drop out of community college last year to focus more time on planning the wedding, I had to find a new job after the amusement park closed for the season, my grandmother on my mom’s side was visiting for a few months in the fall, and, on top of that, I had just celebrated my 23rd birthday back in December.  Hardly anything to celebrate as it would pretty much be the last birthday I ever had.  In all honesty, my life was too hectic for me to tell anyone about my condition; there were no calmer moments for me to just explain it to them.

But in this moment, standing in front of the mirror adjusting my favorite royal blue tie and clearing an itch I had in my throat, I couldn’t let any of this bother me.  This was a time of celebration and I wasn’t going to spend it wallowing in self-pity.  I ran a comb through my neatly trimmed, new wave style, ebony hair to make sure it was flawless.  I had adopted the new wave style of hair several months earlier because I loved how it had almost a Japanese Anime feel to it and I intended to wear it that way for as long as I could.

Looking at my watch, I saw that it was about time to head in.  Getting into position, I waited for the music to start and entered the cathedral’s sanctuary, making the long walk down the aisle towards the future that awaited me.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


I stood at the altar next to my best man, Steve, in the presence of both me and Savannah’s families and a small handful of select friends.  My face was stoic as I waited for the grand appearance of my bride, all the while thinking of how we would spend the remaining days of my short life together and how I couldn’t have chosen a better girl to be my wife.  In that sense, I was a pretty lucky man.

Finally, the wedding march began to play and everyone’s attention turned to the entrance of the sanctuary where Savannah was starting her long walk towards me.  She was like a picturesque vision in her mermaid cut wedding dress with long train flowing behind her.  She wore a veil, but I could still see the joy on her face at the sight of me as I smiled back at her.  In that moment, at the sight of her grace and poise as she approached the altar, I was immediately reminded of an angel.

Reaching the front of the congregation, the two of us turned to face the pastor once the music ended and silence fell over the room.

“Dearly beloved,” the pastor started, “we are gathered here today in the sight of God to witness the union of David and Savannah in holy matrimony.  It is stated in the book of Mark chapter 10 verses 7-9 that ‘“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”  So they are no longer two but one flesh.  What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate’.  Marriage is a blessed arrangement that joins two souls in a bond that cannot easily be undone and these two young people have shown their dedication to one another as we watch them take the first step of their new life together today.”

With that, the pastor then looked at me and Savannah before continuing.

“David, do you take Savannah to be your lawfully wedded wife to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live?”

“Ah do,” I replied, confidently.

“And Savannah, do you take David to be your lawfully wedded husband to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” Savannah answered back with the same level of confidence.

I had already known that Savannah was going to remain faithfully by my side through whatever happened, but this was the final confirmation that she was truly in it for the long haul and this only served to boost my confidence.

“Now do you have the rings?” the pastor asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded with a smile before turning to the ring bearer, my little brother, Matthew, and motioning for him to come forward.

Approaching us quietly, he held out the two rings that Savannah and I picked up off of the cushion they were resting on before turning to each other and placing them on the other’s left hand ring finger.

“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.  You may kiss the bride,” the pastor finished.

Removing the veil to reveal Savannah’s eyes like sapphires sparkling back at me, I placed my hand on the back of her neck, gently pulling her near me, and we kissed each other as the entire congregation erupted in cheers for us in this one happy moment.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


A short while later, all of us were gathered at the reception being held at the Elks Lodge.  Congratulations were abundant from everyone there as we ate, conversed, and danced the night away.  After dancing the Cupid Shuffle, I had to sit down to rest for a while.  I was soon joined by Savannah.

“Whataya think you’re doing just sitting around like that?” she asked playfully.

“Ah’m jus restin’ fer a bit,” I replied. “Ya know how tha Cupid Shuffle takes a lot outta me.”

“Yeah.  You sure do throw yourself pretty hard into it don’t you?”

“Well what can Ah say?  It’s one o’ ma favorite dances.”

“Mine too.  That and Gangnam Style.  Just don’t forget we have our special song in a few minutes.”

“Ah’ll be rested n’ ready fer it.”

“K.  I’m gonna get a refill of punch.”

“See ya later, Cupcake.”

She smiled back at me as she headed over to the refreshment table.  I felt another cough coming on and grabbed a nearby napkin to cough into.  After my hacking fit, I pulled the napkin away to reveal a splotch of red staining the white paper cloth.

“David,” I heard a familiar male voice call out.

Quickly, I wiped my lip and pocketed the stained napkin before anyone could see it.  Turning in the direction of the voice, I saw that it was my old college buddy, Tyler.

“Tyler,” I greeted back as I stood up to hug him. “How ya doin?”

“Pretty O.K.  How bout you?”

“Ya know, same ole same ole.  How’s college treatin’ ya?”

“It’s a bitch as usual.  I just keep reminding myself ‘One more semester after this and I graduate.’  Helps keep me pushing along,” he answered while taking a sip of punch.

“How’s yer girl doin?  Ah don’ see her here tonight.  What happened?”

“Yeah.  She was busy with work.  Couldn’t get out of it or else she would’ve come.  She told me to give you and Savannah her regards.”

“Well ya can tell her that we both ‘preciate her sayin’ that nex’ time ya see her.”

“K. and congrats again.”

“Thanks, brah.”

“Anytime.”

I soon noticed that the other song was ending in a short while and that our song would be on right after that.

“Well listen, Tyler, Ah gotta go find Savannah.  Our song’s bout ta come on n’ neither of us wanna miss it.”

“K.  I’ll catch ya sometime later.”

“Sure thing.”

And with that, I turned and walked away, looking for Savannah through the crowd.  Finally, I spotted her and waved her over.

“Perfect timing,” Savannah stated as she reached me. “I had just finished my punch.”

“Ah know right?” I chuckled. “So… shall we dance?”

“Yes.  Let’s,” she replied as our song began.

She placed her hands on my shoulders as I placed mine on her waist and we danced to Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle’s cover of A Whole New World from Aladdin.  It had always been a favorite of ours ever since we were both kids and so we had come to the conclusion, early in our relationship, that when we got married we’d have to dance to this song.

This moment was absolutely perfect.  No words were spoken between us, but there didn’t need to be.  We just stared into each other’s eyes as the song played in the background with everyone else watching us.  In our own silence, we both knew what the other was thinking and we were just filled with bliss.  With the song reaching its climax, we paused where we stood and pulled each other close to engage in a kiss as the many onlookers roared in approval.

As we pulled apart, I extended two fingers to stroke some hair away from Savannah’s face as our eyes locked.

“I wish this moment would never end,” Savannah whispered to me.

“You n’ me both kid,” was all I could reply, silently.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


A few hours and a long car drive later, me and Savannah arrived at the Beach Villa motel in Old Orchard Beach, Maine where we would spend our honeymoon.  After getting checked in, we headed straight for our room to unpack everything and get settled in for the night.

“Wow,” Savannah remarked. “It feels soo good to be back here again.”

“Tell me about it,” I answered as I started unpacking my clothes.

“We haven’t been here since the weekend that you proposed to me.”

“It certainly has been a while now since then.”

It was in that moment that I remembered my visit to Equestria before we last came here.  Pulling out the necklace Rarity gave me that I had kept hidden under my white dress shirt, I realized that I had to tell Savannah the truth.  No.  Not just tell her.  Show her.

“Hey, honey?” I started.

“Yes, David?” she replied. “What is it?”

“Ya remember that weekend when Ah told ya bout that dream Ah had?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, “the one about how you had visited Equestria and saved it from an evil hag.”

“Yeah that one.  Well… Ah dunno how ta tell ya this… but… it wasn’t really… a dream.”

Savannah looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“What do you mean?”

“Well… yer prob’ly gonna think Ah’m crazy, but… it actually happened.  Ah… Ah really visited Equestria.”

Savannah looked at me completely dumbfounded and speechless.

“H- How is that even possible?” she finally managed to utter, silently.

“Ah dunno,” I started taking my necklace off, “but this necklace was given ta me by Rarity n’ Princess Twilight herself enchanted it so that Ah could return ta Equestria whenever Ah please.  Look.  It even has an engravin’ on tha back.”

Still shocked Savannah approached to get a closer look at the necklace.  She then gazed upon the engraving on the back of the pendant.

“Equestrian son/The victory won/Return to thy home,” Savannah read out loud.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Before I could answer, a loud thunder crack sounded out as a blinding flash of light revealed a portal in the middle of the floor.  Soo great was its pull on us that our feet slid against the carpet as we were sucked in.

“David?  What’s happening?” Savannah questioned nervously.

“You’ll find out soon.  Jus’ remain calm.”

She then clung to me as we fell forward into the vortex.  As we plunged through a swirl of rainbow, our bodies began to stretch out and distort like rubber before our skin began to peel, revealing pastel skin beneath.  Savannah began to panic and scream as the transformation took place and I’ll admit that even I found it slightly disturbing, but all of those fearful thoughts vanished from my mind swiftly.  For as I felt my pony ears take form atop my head in place of my human ones and my great, feathered wings sprouted from my back, I knew that one thing was certain:  The prince was returning home.
> Chapter II:  The Celebrated Return (Edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Pinkie Pie was running around gathering supplies for another party.  In her mad rush, she accidentally ran into Applejack.

"Whoa Nelly!" Applejack started. "Slow down there, Pinkie.  What's tha hurry?"

"Sorry, AJ," Pinkie replied. "I've just got soo much to do for my next party.  The refreshments are mostly ready, but I've still gotta get plates and balloons and streamers and party hats and confetti, not to mention all the invitations and goody bags for everypony attending.  Speaking of which, do you have the Fizzy Apple Cider and apple pies I requested?"

"Me 'n Big Macintosh jus' finished bringin 'em over ta Sugarcube Corner 'bout 5 minutes ago.  What party ya throwin this time?"

"I have no idea.  I just have this strange feeling that something really super-duper monumental is about to happen that'll require a party.  In fact, I've already lost too much time as it is.  Gotta go.  Bye."

And with a bright pink streak, she was gone.  Applejack shook her head while smiling to herself.  In all the years that she had known Pinkie, she knew all too well that it was best not to question her logic.  To call her an enigma was the understatement of the millenium and everypony knew it.  Turning to walk away, she spotted her friend, Fluttershy, hovering in her general direction, but apparently lost in thought.

"Howdy, Fluttershy."

"Oh um... hi Applejack," Fluttershy greeted, snapped out of her daze. "How are you?"

"Pretty good.  Jus dealin with the normal, ev'ryday eccentricities o' Pinkie Pie.  How bout you?  Is ev'rythin O.K.?  Ya seemed ta be lost in thought fer a moment."

"Oh it's nothing really."

Applejack wasn't convinced.

"C'mon, Fluttershy.  Talk ta me.  What's botherin ya?"

"Well it's just that... I miss David.  It's been almost a month now since he was last here and, as a friend, I'm concerned for him.  I'm scared that he might not return."

Applejack nodded understandably.

"Yeah.  Ah can understand that.  Ah miss 'im too as Ah'm sure a lot of other ponies do, but ya gotta remember that, before he left, he made a Pinkie Promise that he'd return here.  Not only that, but he'd also bring his girlfriend, Savannah, with 'im.  Ah may not have known Dayvid fer an extremely long time, but what Ah do know, in tha short time that Ah did, is that he's a pony... er... man of his word.  He will come back eventually, we jus need ta be patient 'n trust 'im."

"I guess you're right.  Worrying about him won't do me any good.  I need to choose to trust his word that he'll return and bring Savannah with him."

"That's tha spirit!" Applejack stated, enthusiastically. "Jus stay positive 'n it'll be nothin but clear skies from here on out."

No sooner did the words escape her lips than storm clouds started to roll in.  The unusual thing about these clouds was that they were a very dark blue instead of the normal grey.  Suddenly, violent lightning lashed forth from them, startling Fluttershy and causing her to run and hide.  Many other ponies seemed terrified of this freak storm also as Applejack took action.

"Ev'rypony, head fer shelter!" she called out.

No pony had to be told twice as they all ducked for cover.  Some ponies wondered if this was the end times as they had never seen a storm of this magnitude.  Hurricane level winds picked up heavily as lightning from the north, south, east, and west converged on one central point in the Town Square.  The flash was blinding for several seconds until the light died down to reveal two forms within its field: two human forms.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


Within the blinding light field were me and Savannah, our eyes still trying to adjust as the light died down.

"Ugh," I groaned as I rubbed my eyes. "Savannah?  Are ya there?"

"Yeah," she answered back, "though it's not like I can see anything."

"Hmm.  No kiddin.  Ma eyes are still adjustin too."

"What just happened?"

"Well let's jus say we're not in Maine anymore."

"Ha ha.  Very funny, wiseass.  You wanna tell me what's really goin on here?"

"O.K.  O.K.  Ah'll be seri-"

I froze midsentence.  My eyes had finally adjusted fully and I caught my first glimpse of Savannah.  The last time I had been to Equestria, I had never seen what an actual human looked like in this world.  I had never even seen my own reflection.  The closest I had ever came to seeing another human was when the hag I defeated was stripped of her power and reverted back to Crystal before I condemned her to Tartarus and even then I didn't remember any of it on account of being under a trance at the time.  I think Pinkie Pie had to tell me about what had transpired at a later time.  But now, seeing Savannah before me, her appearance was very much like that of an Anime character.  This made sense to me; the appearance of the ponies around here was somewhat Anime-esque so it would only be fitting that people would have a similar look to them.

"What?" Savannah asked, nervously. "What's wrong?"

"Uh... nothin'.  It's jus that ya look... slightly different than usual."

"Different?  How?"

"Well ya have a very Anime appearance to you.  Ya actually remind me a lot o' that blonde chick from Attack On Titan."

"Annie?"

"No no.  Tha other blonde.  Tha one that was always referred ta as 'goddess' by tha others."

"Oh you mean Krista."

"Yes.  That's tha one."

"Well that's always a nice compar-"

She froze midsentence as she looked over at me which led me to believe that her vision had returned also.  She stood there in stunned silence for several seconds before speaking.

"Umm... David?  Why do you have... blue pony ears on your head and blue angel wings sticking out of your back?" she asked, uncomfortably.

"Oh these wings are actually Alicorn wings 'n that's a long story."

"Alicorn?" she questioned, before nervously looking around. "Wait a minute.  Where the heck are we?"

"Well, ya might not believe this but we're actually in Equestria."

"Equestria?"

"Ponyville ta be more specific."

Savannah paused for a moment to slowly take in her new surroundings.  The more she saw, the more her expression gradually changed from one of puzzlement and anxiety to one of relief and wonder.  Soon, though, a confused look returned to her face.

"But if this is Ponyville, where is everybody?  This looks more like a ghost town."

"Trust me, when Ah first came here, it didn't look too much different than it does now.  Well except that it was much darker here, it was colder, 'n a lot o' tha buildings were damaged.  Ma guess is that they were startled by how we arrived here without knowin it was us comin.  Once they know it's me, they'll calm down' n come on out,"

I then took several steps forward while calling out to anypony who would listen.

"Hey guys?  Guys?  Ya can come on out now.  It's me, Dayvid.  Ah've returned jus like Ah promised Ah would."

At the mention of my name, the sound of my voice, or possibly a combination of the two, several ponies poked their heads out.  The first of them was Fluttershy, who was hiding underneath a nearby fruit wagon.  At the sight of me, she let out a loud gasp as her eyes lit up.

"David!!!" she beamed as she came flying towards me faster than I had ever seen her fly before.

"Flutters!!!" I greeted enthusiastically, arms wide open in a welcoming hug. "How's one o' ma closest friends in all Equestria?"

"I'm doing great now that you're back," she replied, accepting the hug. "I've really missed you."

"So have Ah.  Ah've missed all o' ya these past several months."

"Wait.  Several months?" Fluttershy asked, slightly confused.

"Yeah.  It's been several months in ma world since Ah las visited here.  Why?  How long has it been here in Ponyville?"

"It hasn't even been one month yet here."

"Wow," Savannah stated. "That's really weird.  Maybe there's some difference in time between Earth and Equestria."

At Savannah's comment, Fluttershy looked over at her and her eyes lit up.

"Hello," she greeted, extending a hoof. "You must be David's girlfriend, Savannah.  He's told me soo much about you.  I'm Fluttershy."

"Thanks and I know your name," Savannah smiled back while accepting her hoof. "David's mentioned you in passing before."

"Thanks.  So how long have you been David's girlfriend?"

"Well I'm actually not his girlfriend anymore.  Just earlier today, the two of us got married so I'm actually his wife now."

"Oh my!" Fluttershy answered, excitedly. "That's great news.  So you're a princess now?"

"Yes it is great ne-... wait.  Princess?" Savannah asked, clearly confused.

"Why yes.  David here is an Alicorn prince and he married you so, by marriage, that makes you a princess."

"Umm... O.K.?  This is news to me."

"Ah'll explain it to ya later," I stated.

"Dayvid!" I heard a familiar Southern accent greet as I turned to see Applejack heading towards us. "It's great ta see ya again."

"AJ!  Nice ta see ya too."

"How'd things work out with yer sister?"

"Great.  We got ta spend some time together before she left 'n now she's doin great down south.  She 'n her boyfriend are actually gonna be gettin married in a few months' time."

"Glad ta hear it," Applejack replied, turning to tip her Stetson to Savannah, "'n you mus be Savannah, Dayvid's girlfriend.  Ah'm Applejack."

"Actually, AJ, speakin o' gettin married, me 'n Savannah here jus got married earlier today."

Applejack let out an impressed whistle.

"Well good fer you, Sugarcube."

"Thanks," Savannah and I replied in unison.

"FLYING ATTACK HUG!!!" I suddenly heard a high pitched, energetic voice shout from somewhere above me.

Looking up, we all saw Pinkie Pie diving out of the sky straight for us.  All of us screamed and scattered as she fell closer.  Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough and got tackled by her as we tumbled for a while before finally coming to a stop with her on top of me, hooves around my torso in a tight hug.  I was hyperventilating soo hard as my entire life had just flashed before my eyes.  Finally, through gasps, I spoke.

"Dammit... Pinkie!  You... nearly... gave me... a heart attack!"

"Silly goose, I'd never give you a heart attack," Pinkie replied, playfully. "I've done this plenty of times before and everypony I've done it on has always been fine."

"Wait.  You've... done this... before!?!"

"Of course I have.  Why wouldn't I?  It's all in good fun." she stated, innocently.

I immediately felt sorry for any previous victims of Pinkie's Flying Attack Hug.

"How did you even get that high up?  Wait a minute.  Never mind.  I really don't wanna know."

"Okey Dokey Lokey.  Anyways, I was just super excited to see you again, Davey."

I couldn't help but smile at hearing her call me "Davey" again.  It had been much too long since then.

"Well it's good ta see ya again too, Pinkie," I stated, hugging her back.

"You came back here."

"O' course Ah did.  Ah Pinkie Promised that Ah'd return didn't Ah?"

"Yes you did," Pinkie smiled back. "Now where's your girlfriend, Savannah?"

"Right over there," I pointed as she stepped out from behind a barrel, "'n she's actually ma wife now."

"Really?!?  This is great.  Before you got here, I had the feeling something big was going to happen so I was preparing to throw another party and, now that you're here, I realize that I can finally throw that 'You saved Equestria from an evil hag and found out you were a pony prince' party that I had mentioned last time you were here.  Of course now it would have to be a 'You saved Equestria from an evil hag, found out you were a pony prince, got married, and returned to Equestria' party-" Pinkie inhaled sharply before continuing. "-Wow that's a mouthful.  This might be the biggest party in the history of Equestria."

I chuckled at her hyperactivity that I had long since missed upon my return home.

"Well sounds like ya've got quite a lot o' work ahead of ya."

"Actually, it's almost ready.  I just need a few more things for the celebration, but I thought I'd drop in to say 'Hi'."

"Quite literally," I joked.

"Yup," she laughed. "Anyways, I'll see you two at the party later on tonight."

And as quick as she came, so she left.

"What was that all about?" Savannah asked as she, Flutters, and AJ approached me.

"Oh that was jus Pinkie bein Pinkie," Applejack stated simply. "Ya'll learn ta get used ta it.  Prob'ly."

Savannah smiled at that last line before turning to me.

"I had no idea you were this popular around here."

"Yeah.  Sorry bout that.  Ah guess Ah forgot ta mention it," I replied, meekly.

Suddenly, we saw a rainbow streak shoot across the sky before stopping right above us to reveal Rainbow Dash.

"What happened?  I saw the lightning storm.  What's going on around here? We're not supposed to have a storm here for another-" she paused as soon as she saw me. "Twin!!!"

"Hey, Rainbow!!!" I answered back as she flew in to hug me. "Great ta see ya too."

We hugged briefly before pulling apart.

"Was that lightning storm you just now?"

"Yup.  Ah've returned 'n Ah brought ma wife, Savannah, with me."

"You two got married?  That's Awesome!" she replied before turning to Savannah. "Nice ta meet ya.  I'm the one and only Rainbow Dash, #1 flier in all of Equestria and future Wonderbolt."

"Very nice to meet you too," Savannah smiled while shaking Rainbow's hoof. "From what David says, the two of you have a lot in common."

"Yup," Rainbow stated, pulling me to her side while hovering. "We call each other twins because we're soo much alike.  We're extremely loyal, we're both speed demons, we even have the same color ears and wings, except his wings are much larger than mine, but that's what happens when you're an Alicorn... or part Alicorn in this case.  Heheh.  Anyways, how about the fact that you two just traveled here in a lightning storm?  I mean, talk about Awesome!"

"Well it only makes sense," I started. "When Ah first came here, there was a lightnin' storm happenin at ma house.  Lightnin' appears ta be part o' ma mode o' transportation ta Equestria."

"What in the name of Celestia is going on here?" a familiar Mid-Atlantic accent demanded. "You better not be trying anything foolish again, Rainbow Dash.  That last fiasco of yours had us stuck-"

I turned around to see Rarity, frozen in her tracks at the sight of me, mouth gaping open in stunned silence.  Finally, after nearly half a minute, she spoke.

"David, darling, it's great to see you again."

"Likewise, Rare," I replied as I took her hoof and kissed it.

"Such manners.  Somepony here certainly knows how to treat a lady," she smiled before turning to Savannah. "Speaking of a lady, you must be Savannah, David's special somepo- umm... someone."

"And you must be Rarity," Savannah smiled back. "David told me all about your little gift that you gave him the last time he was here."

"Right right.  The necklace.  Of course, it wasn't entirely my doing.  Fluttershy told me how Green, Blue, and Red were David's favorite colors and my other friend, Spike, gave me the gemstones to use in the necklace.  It was originally meant to be a little something to remember us by when we thought that there was no way for him to return to Equestria, but then Princess Twilight found a spell that would allow him to return here and she placed it on the necklace, making it a... talisman of sorts and now he's back and has brought you, his girlfriend, with him."

"Actually, Rarity, David and I are married now.  We got married just earlier today."

"You did!?!" Rarity beamed. "Well congratulations to both of you.  So how do you like being a princess?"

"Umm... well I..."

"Wait.  You mean he never told you?"

"Umm... no.  All I had gotten from Fluttershy was that, somehow, David's actually an Alicorn prince but that was it."

Rarity gasped.

"David, how could you?  Keeping something of this immensity a secret from her this whole time?"

"Ah'm sorry, but Ah had a lot o' stuff goin on in ma life," I explained "From work ta family ta the weddin, there was never a good time ta tell her."

"Well you have to tell her.  Now is as good a time as any."

"Don' worry.  Ah'll explain it ta her at tha party tonight."

"What party?" Rainbow asked.

"Pinkie's throwing a party to celebrate David's return to Equestria amongst other things," Savannah stated.

"Me 'n Big Mac have already brought tha Fizzy Apple Cider 'n apple pies," AJ remarked.

"She dropped in a bit ago to say 'Hi' before continuing to get the party set up."

"Yeah.  Dropped in on top o' me," I joked.

"Oh my!" Rarity answered. "She didn't do the Flying Attack Hug on you, did she?"

"Yup."

"Somepony needs to talk some sense into her.  Anyways, the party sounds like it'll be delightful and I wouldn't miss it for all of Equestria."

"I wonder where Twilight is?" Fluttershy finally spoke up.

As if to answer, three shadows fell on the ground.  Looking up, we saw Celestia, Luna, and Twilight flying towards us.  All of us moved to provide room for them as they came in for a landing.

"Princesses," I greeted. "It's great ta see you three again."

"It is great to see you again too," Celestia replied with a smile.

"We have long since awaited your return, Prince David," Luna stated.

"Definitely and now that day has finally come," Twilight answered, smiling as she noticed Savannah, "and you must be his girlfriend, Savannah, or is it wife now?"

"The latter," Savannah replied.

"That's great!  David told me all about his plans to propose to you once he returned to your world and this whole time I was wondering whether or not you two would be married by the time he came back."

"Wait.  You knew about this the whole time?" Rarity questioned.

"Yes.  David told me to keep it secret because he didn't want to get anypony's hopes up on the off-chance they didn't end up getting married."

Suddenly, a shower of paper came down on us.  Upon observation, we discovered that they were all invitations.  I opened one of them up and read it.

"'Fillies and Gentlecolts, you are all invited to a party for Prince David and his wife Princess Savannah to be held at Sugarcube Corner tonight at 8:00 sharp.  Be sure to bring lots of fun and happiness with you as we celebrate this super-duper special occasion.  See everypony there.'  Wow.  Pinkie must've gotten these invitations done in record time."

"Well that doesn't surprise me," Twilight replied. "What does surprise me is how she was able to get them to rain down like this, but I know it's better not to question it."

"Definitely," Savannah agreed.

"Well I'd better get ready for the party," Rarity stated.

"Me too," Rainbow confirmed.

"Definitely," Fluttershy answered.

"Count me in," AJ replied.

"I'll be there," Twilight stated before turning to Celestia and Luna. "Will you two be attending also?"

"Of course," Celestia answered.

"We would not miss it," Luna smiled.

"Great," I replied. "See y'all there."

And so we all went our separate ways as we got ready for the party happening later that night.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


Later on, the entire populace of Ponyville was at Sugarcube Corner celebrating as were Savannah and I.  As we were getting refreshments, I was recounting to her the truth about my ancestry.

"So, wait a minute.  Let me see if I've got this right.  So you're telling me that one of your ancestors was an Alicorn princess who wound up in our world as a human over 2,000 years ago in Earth time, having many descendants up until the present day with you and, because you're one of her descendants, you are in truth an Alicorn prince?" Savannah asked as she grabbed a cupcake.

"Yup.  Pretty crazy, huh?" I replied, grabbing a slice of pie and some cookies.

"Wow.  That's quite a lot to swallow."

"Ah know.  Even Ah had a hard time believin it when Star Swirl Tha Bearded first told me."

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"Ah dunno, but if it helps Ah didn' tell anyone else bout it.  Not even ma own family.  They'd prob'ly think Ah was crazy 'n tha las thing Ah needed was ta wind up in that mental ward again.  In retrospect, that's prob'ly tha reason Ah didn' mention anythin' bout it.  It's been four years since that incident 'n Ah swore ta maself Ah'd never go back there again," I stated as I poured myself a mug of Fizzy Apple Cider.

Savannah then placed a hand on my shoulder and started rubbing it.

"We could've figured it out together," she whispered in my ear. "I've been by your side for nearly four years now just like you've been by my side and we vowed to stick by each other for better or for worse.  Any problem that we come across, we'll face together."

"Ah guess yer right," I answered, taking a sip of Cider before my eyes shot wide open. "Woo-wee!!!  Savannah you gotta try this!"

"O.K.," she replied, accepting the mug from me.

Taking a sip from my mug, her eyes shot open in a similar fashion.

"Wow!!!  That's got some zing and kick to it!"

"Ah know, right?  Ya know what it actually reminds me of?"

"What?"

"Angry Orchard Hard Cider.  It makes me think o' that one time we were at Old Orchard Beach with family 'n ma cousin's boyfriend first introduced me to it."

"But isn't that alcoholic?"

"Yeah.  Why?"

"Because I'm only 18.  That's three years off from the legal age to consume alcohol."

"Aww c'mon.  Ya know yer closer ta 19 then anythin else 'n besides things are different here in Ponyville.  Look around ya."

Savannah looked to see many young colts and fillies with their own mugs of cider.  Even the CMC were at a table enjoying the tangy, fizzy beverage.

"Jus think about it like we're livin in Bible times or the Middle Ages when even little kids consumed alcohol."

"O.K.," she answered, handing me my mug back. "I think I'm gonna go get my own mug."

"Ah hear ya.  Ah jus might go back fer seconds maself."

While I was walking across the floor of this court of confectioneries, I ran into Twilight and Spike.

"Hey, Twi.  Hey, Spike," I greeted.

"Hey, David," they replied in unison.

"So how've you two been doin lately?"

"Pretty good," Spike answered. "Me and Twilight just got back from an alternate dimension several days ago where she was a human like you and I was a dog."

"Speaking of which," Twilight started, "just before you got here, I had been reading a letter from a friend of mine who lives in that dimension."

"Oh?  Who's that?" I asked as I took another sip of cider, even though I had a pretty good idea who it was.

"Her name is Sunset Shimmer.  She was a former Unicorn student of Princess Celestia's and even tried to take over Equestria once, but now she's reformed and we even became close friends during my last visit."

"Sounds like she mus' be a pretty cool girl.  Ah wonder if Ah'll ever get ta meet her?" I pondered while eating a cookie.

"Who knows?  Maybe," Spike responded.

"Hey, David," a voice that was clearly female sounded behind me.

Turning around, I was greeted by a white unicorn with a blue mane similar in style to Rainbow's and purple tinted shades.

"Oh hey, Vinyl," I greeted back.

"As the DJ here, I thought I'd check in with you to see if you had any requests."

"Hmm... Ah'm guessin ya don' have Billie Jean or Thriller or anythin like that?"

"Nope," Vinyl shook her head. "Never heard of them."

"Then Ah guess ya could play whatever has a nice beat ta it," I stated, slightly apathetically, taking a bite of pie.

"O.K. then," she replied, walking away.

"Is everything O.K.?" Twilight asked, concerned. "You don't seem as enthusiastic as you normally are."

"Oh yeah," I answered after finishing my snacks and throwing away the plate. "There's jus been a lot o things on ma mind.  It's been such a long time in ma world since Ah was las here 'n, with all that was goin on in ma life, Ah almost wasn' sure if Ah'd see ya girls again."

Especially with terminal cancer, I thought to myself.

"Well we're still glad to have you back anyways," Twilight smiled, "and that's all that matters.  Plus it was nice to finally meet Savannah."

"Someone mention my name?" a familiar voice asked.

Turning, I saw Savannah approaching with a mug of cider and a plate of snacks.

"Hey baby," I smiled before kissing her.

"Hey.  Twilight, nice to see you again," she stated before looking over at Spike. "And you must be Spike."

"Yes ma'am," the baby dragon replied with a smile on his face.

Noticing Savannah's plate loaded with cookies, cupcakes, and pie, I thought she might need some help and remembered something that might give her an extra hand.

"Hey, Savannah?" I asked. "Wanna see one o' tha perks ta bein part Alicorn?"

"Umm... sure?" she replied, somewhat unsure.

Holding my free hand, palm up, towards her, one of the cookies became surrounded by an Emerald aura as it levitated much to Savannah's amazement.  I then held my hand up, palm facing forward, as the cookie floated over to Savannah's mouth.

"That was amazing.  Thank you," she stated enthusiastically, taking a bite out of the levitating delicacy before continuing. "So what were you guys talking about?"

"Oh, jus travelin ta alternate dimensions 'n stuff that'd been happenin in our lives," I answered back.

"And I was just about to suggest that you two stay at my castle during your stay here in Ponyville," Twilight stated.

"Oh no.  We couldn't possibly ask ya ta do that, Twi."

"Why not?  You stayed at my castle last time you were here so one more guest this time around won't hurt.  It's not even a problem."

"O.K.  Fine.  Ya win," I answered in defeat with a tiny smile on my face.

"Great.  I'll see you two there later on tonight.  Enjoy the party."

"We will," me and Savannah replied in unison as Twilight and Spike walked away.

Looking around, I noticed Princess Luna sitting with her sister at one of the tables.

"Hey let's go see Celestia 'n Luna," I suggested to Savannah.

"Sure," she agreed.

And so we made our way over to the two sisters, who were quick to notice us upon our approach.

"David.  Savannah.  It is nice to see you two," Celestia greeted with a smile.

"Likewise," the two of us answered.

"So Luna," I started, "Ah jus wanted ta thank ya again fer that shootin star ya sent ma las night here."

"It was my pleasure," she replied, pleasantly.

"Wait.  What shooting star?" Savannah questioned.

"Well las time Ah was here, Ah was given a way ta return ta our world, but, as a result, Ah'd never be able ta return here.  So ma las night here, Ah couldn't sleep thinkin about all tha friends Ah made here that Ah'd never be able ta see again.  As Ah was lookin out tha window, a shootin star streaked across tha sky so Ah made a wish.  Ah wished that Ah'd be able ta find a way ta return here before it was too late.  Nex day, Twi came ta me with tha spell that allowed travel between dimensions 'n placed it on tha necklace Rarity gave me.  That's what allowed me ta return here with ya in tha first place."

"Wow.  I had never heard that before."

"So, Savannah, did David tell you all about his ancestry?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Savannah bowed before her. "David explained everything to me."

Celestia smiled at her.

"Please.  There's no need for formalities.  You're a princess now."

"Oops.  Sorry."

"No need to apologize."

"Sorry," she replied with a meek, nervous smile. "I guess I'm gonna have to get used to being called 'princess' now."

"Hey.  Take it from me," I remarked. "It's been months since Ah was las here 'n Ah still haven't fully adjusted ta bein called 'prince' quite yet."

"I guess not."

Suddenly, Pinkie's voice sounded over a microphone.

"O.K. everypony.  It's time to get on the dance floor and shake your 'hoove thang.'"

And with that, Vinyl Scratch dropped the bass, resulting in every pony taking to the dancefloor to bust a move.  Me and Savannah joined in, letting the music take over as we all danced on into the night.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


Later that night at Twilight's castle, me and Savannah were getting settled in for the night in our room.

"Wow.  That was intense," Savannah stated. "Pinkie sure knows how to throw a party."

"Tell me about it," I replied as I took off my T-Shirt, that I had changed into back in Old Orchard Beach. "How bout that food also.  Ah think Ah'm gonna be full fer a week.  Not ta mention tha fact that we technically had two parties within tha past 24 hours."

"You were dancing up a storm out there tonight.  I was almost wondering if you even have cancer."

"That's tha strange thing.  Ever since we came here, Ah feel soo much better now.  Tha best Ah've felt in months."

"That's good to hear," Savannah answered, while disrobing, "So whataya say we finish this night off the right way?"

"You read ma mind," I smiled back as I took off my sweatpants and boxers.

Savannah then looked over at something on my thigh.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing to my thigh. "Is that... a Cutie Mark?"

On my thigh lay the image of a sword with two wings as the crossguard and a Unicorn head as the grip.  I had noticed it ever since returning to my world, but was oblivious as to when it had appeared there first.  My guess was it showed up after my defeat of the hag.

"Yes.  Ah believe it is."

"What does it mean?"

"Ah dunno.  Ah've come ta think of it as a Guardian mark, a symbol of bravery," I replied before trying to change the subject. "But let's not think about it.  Let's jus think about you 'n me... alone in this room... with nothin else ta do."

She smiled as I led her over to our bed where she lay down before I climbed on top of her and pulled the blanket over us.

"Please be gentle though," she stated. "This is my first time."

"Don' worry.  It's mine too."

She then reached up and pulled me near her to engage in a kiss.  Soon kissing turned to even more as I reached for her thighs and she placed her hands on my back.  This moment was pure bliss that I had never known before.  In this moment, everything was perfect.  That is until my wings shot straight up in what many refer to as a "wing boner", sending the blanket we were under flying up into the air.

"Well this is awkward," I replied.

"Maybe, but not quite as awkward as it would be if you had went full on pony when we arrived.  I mean can you imagine us doing this like that?" she laughed.

"Ha ha.  Real funny.  Laugh at tha pony boy," I chuckled. "Plus who even knows if Ah'd be tha same size as you."

"In all honesty, size really doesn't matter to me."

My smiling soon changed to frustration as I reached my hands behind me in an attempt to fold my wings up.  This proved to be a struggle as they were stiff and refused to cooperate.

"Can't... tuck ma... wings... in all tha way."

"Here," Savannah rolled over on top of me. "Try with me on top."

We then proceeded with our love making only for my wings to erect themselves again and, just like a spring, the previously compressed wings shot the two of us up in the air before crashing back on the bed.  Finally, Savannah spoke.

"You know what?  I think it was better the other way."

"Ah agree.  We should probably lose tha blanket until we're actually ready fer bed."

And so after some modifications, we consummated our relationship, our bodies entangled in a passionate embrace as all of our troubles just slipped away in that beautiful moment of intercourse, that solitary instance of heavenly bliss indescribable.
> Chapter III:  A Mysterious Ailment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, I woke up to see Savannah still asleep next to me, her blonde bangs gently covering her still closed eyes.  I smiled as I reached over to gently brush them aside.  She smiled back in her sleep as I did so.

"Hey beautiful," I greeted softly.

Savannah stirred for a brief moment before she opened her eyes, but upon seeing me her expression changed to one of panic.

"Aaah!" she screamed, backing away from me.

"What is it?  What's wrong?" I asked nervously.

"Y-y-your f-f-f-face!" she stuttered through her fear.

"What about it?" I replied as I reached a hand to my face.

But upon touching my face, I immediately felt something was wrong.  Not counting my mustache, I felt short hair completely covering it and my mouth felt slightly longer, almost like it was a muzzle.

"What tha- What's goin on?" I questioned.

Suddenly, I felt something against my right leg.  Something long and hairy.  Throwing the blankets back, I saw a long pony's tail wrapped around my leg.  To my horror, I realized that it was my pony tail.

"Aaaaaaaah!" I screamed as I fell out of bed, trying to back away from this additional appendage. "What the fuck is happening to me!?!"

I then felt a pain in both hands as I watched in horror as they curled up and hardened into hooves.  Looking over at Savannah, the same look of shock and terror was evident on her face.

"Savannah, you gotta help me," I pleaded. "Go get Twilight.  She'll fix this.  Please help me, Sava*neigh*"

I immediately clasped my hooves over my mouth.  At that moment it became evident that my very humanity was slipping away from me.  I was slowly becoming nothing more than a dumb animal.  This was no different than that creepy Pleasure Island scene from Pinocchio that terrified me soo often as a kid.  I struggled to stand up, but my feet also hardened into hooves forcing me to go down on all fours.  Savannah could only stare at me in wide-eyed horror with her hands over her mouth as my cries gave way to whinnies of confusion and fear.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


I immediately woke up in a cold sweat, gasping for breath.  My hands immediately went up to my face to make sure it was normal before pulling the blankets back to reassure me that I hadn't grown any extra appendages.  With this new realization, I was able to breathe much easier.  I then felt the bed shift as Savannah turned towards me, eyes fluttering open.

"Good morning, baby," she greeted with concern evident in her voice. "Is everything O.K.?"

"Yeah.  Ah'm fine," I replied. "Jus had a nightmare."

"What was it about?"

"Well ya know how, las night, ya mentioned how weird it would be if Ah had gone full on pony when we were havin sex?"

"Yeah?"

"Well Ah was actually transformin into a pony, but not like Twilight, Fluttershy, or Applejack who can actually talk.  Ah was turnin into a dumb animal, devoid of any sentience or intelligence."

"Oh my!" Savannah answered in shock. "It sounds just like- "

"Fuckin Pinocchio."

"I know, right?"

"God," I sighed. "All these years later 'n it still freaks tha shit out o' me."

"Well I'm sorry you had that nightmare and I'm sorry if my comment last night might have contributed to it," she stated as she rubbed my bare shoulders with both hands in a comforting massage.

"It's O.K."

After a short while, we picked our clothes off the floor from the previous night and put them on.

"Whataya say we go get some breakfast now?" Savannah asked.

"Sounds like a great idea.  Ya know what Ah could really go for right now?"

"What?"

"Some Golden Delicious Apples from Sweet Apple Acres."

"Isn't that a long walk from here though?"

"Who said we were gonna walk?" I questioned, spreading out my wings to catch the sunlight pouring in through the balcony. "Ah can jus fly us there."

Savannah had a look of uncertainty on her face.

"I'm not sure about this."

"Aww c'mon, Savannah.  Ya'll really enjoy tha view.  'N Ah promise Ah won't drop ya.  Not with these bad boys," I stated, flexing my biceps.

Savannah giggled at my little display before replying.

"O.K. then.  So how does this work?"

"Well first," I started, while walking behind her, "Ah wrap ma arms beneath yours 'n hold onto yer chest."

I placed my arms under her armpits and wrapped them tightly around her chest.

"Then what?"

"Then we fly."

I then started flapping my wings, gracefully lifting us off of the balcony.  My hands could feel Savannah's heart racing rapidly in her chest as a smile crept across her face.

"Quite a different experience, huh?" I asked.

"Sure is."

"But ya ain't seen nothin yet."

And with those words, the two of us took to the sky as we headed over to Sweet Apple Acres, unaware of what we would discover there.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


Before long, me and Savannah arrived at Sweet Apple Acres.  Coming in for a landing, we looked around at the orchard.  Something wasn't right; everything was much too quiet.

"That's weird," I stated. "Knowin AJ, she'd normally be up buckin apples by this time or somethin like that."

"But if she's not doing that then where is she?" Savannah questioned.

"Ah dunno.  Maybe we should take a look around."

No sooner had the words escaped my lips than I heard a familiar voice call out my name.  Listening closely, I was able to discern that it was Apple Bloom.

"Dayvid!  Dayvid!" she called out in panic. "Ya gotta come quick!"

Turning in the direction of the voice, I saw the young filly rushing over to me with a look of fear evident on her face.

"Apple Bloom?  What's tha matter?"

"Somethin's wrong with Applejack.  She's not breathin!"

Following Apple Bloom back to the house, she led us up to Applejack's room.  Upon entering, we saw her body lying in the middle of the floor, eyes closed.  Swiftly, I rushed over to her body and started performing CPR on her while Savannah did her best to try to comfort Apple Bloom.  After nearly a minute of trying to resuscitate her, she showed no change.  Checking her pulse, I finally gave up as I cradled her lifeless form in my arms with tears streaming down my face at the loss of a friend.

"She... she can't be dead.  She just... can't," I stated through tears. "She helped bring me closer with my sister.  She was one of my closest friends."

As I wept, I suddenly heard a familiar Southern accent calling to me.

"Dayvid.  Dayvid."

I paused for a moment, incredulous to what I was hearing.  It couldn't be her could it?

"AJ?" I questioned in confusion, drying my tears in the process.

Apple Bloom and Savannah seemed to hear it too.

"Sis?  Is that you?" Apple Bloom called out.

"Where are you?" Savannah asked.

"Ah'm right here," her voice called out.

Turning in the direction of the voice, the three of us saw a small orb of light next to the bed that gave off an orange glow, like a levitating fireball.  Confused by this, we stood there silently for several seconds before I spoke up.

"AJ?  Is... is that... yer spirit?"

"Ya could say that.  Ah got up early this mornin ta get a start on chores like Ah usually do, but then Ah felt this really bad pain like nothin Ah'd ever felt before.  Nex thing Ah knew, ma soul was outta ma body.  Right now, though, Ah feel awful weak 'n cold."

"Well come here.  Ah'll try ta keep ya warm."

And so, AJ's spirit orb levitated over to my cupped hands before settling on them.  I then pulled my hands close to my mouth where I exhaled a heated breath to warm it.  Suddenly, I felt a burning sensation in my right hand as the astral sphere phased into it before traveling up the inside of my arm until it reached my head.  Upon reaching its destination, my mind was suddenly flooded with memories, but they weren't my own.  All these memories were Applejack's from when she first earned her Cutie Mark to meeting Twilight to her first encounter with the Flim Flam Brothers to when Tirek first attacked Ponyville all the way up to meeting me for the first time.  Once the memories stopped, I nearly stumbled backwards.

"Whoa.  Head rush."

"What just happened?" Savannah questioned.

Y'all tell me, I heard Applejack's voice echo in my head. Ah don' even know what Ah'm lookin at.  Ah don' feel cold 'n weak no more, but where am Ah?

"Umm AJ," I started, "Ah think yer inside ma head."

There was a brief moment of total silence before I heard her voice again.

Hold up there, Sugarcube.  Ah need ya ta put yer hand in front o' yer face 'n wiggle yer fingers.

I followed her instructions, holding my hand up and wiggling my fingers.  It wasn't long before I heard her shocked reply.

Nuts 'n chews!  Ah am in yer head!  Ah can see yer fingers right in front o' me 'n even feel 'em movin!  This is real freaky!

"Take it easy, AJ.  It's gonna be O.K.," I stated, reassuringly. "Yer with me now 'n we'll figure this out together."

Savannah and Apple Bloom had been standing there in silence for a good while as they watched me seemingly talking to myself.  Finally, Savannah spoke up.

"Umm David?  Honey?  Who're you talking to?" she asked, concern evident in her tone.

"Ah'm talkin ta Applejack."

"Applejack?  How?" Apple Bloom puzzled. "Where is she?"

"Well umm... ya see... she's kinda...," I struggled with the right words before pressing my index finger up against my head, "she's up here."

"In yer... head?" Apple Bloom replied, apparently skeptical of my claim.

"Look, Ah know it's hard ta believe, but Ah'm pretty positive that her soul has taken up residence in ma body."

"Prove it.  If ma sister's really in there, say somethin only she'd know."

Tell her bout how Ah made a promise ta mom 'n dad on tha day they left that Ah'd look out fer her when she was jus a newborn... 'n... that Ah've kept that promise ever since... even... even on tha day when Ah discovered tha horrible truth... that they'd never be comin back, AJ's voice sounded in my head, getting choked up as she spoke.

As she was telling me this, my mind was bombarded by a flashback that wasn't my own.  It was entirely from Applejack's perspective.  I could see her parents as they were getting ready for a big trip to Dodge Junction.  They paused to stand with their daughter in front of the mirror, proud of the young filly she was and the mare she was growing up to be.  Filly Applejack stood in front of the mirror admiring her newly earned Cutie Mark.  She looked soo adorable just like most fillies would.  Her parents then led her over to a crib where little baby Apple Bloom was bundled up and sleeping peacefully.  Cuteness overload!!!!  Applejack's parents made her promise that she'd look out for her sister til they got back; the slight up and down bob in her line of vision indicated a nod.  The proud stallion and mare hugged and kissed their daughter before doing likewise to an adult pony-sized, but still not quite full grown yet, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith.  The whole family said their goodbyes as the couple left on their long journey.

The flashback then leapt forward several days to Applejack playing with her little sister outside when the mailpony approached her with a solemn look on his face.  Passing a letter to her, she opened it to read the literary contents.  It said that her parents had been killed by a runaway twister only a day out from reaching their destination.  The flashback then got blurry which I could only guess was from the tears filling her eyes.  In that final moment, before I snapped back to reality, I could almost swear that I heard filly Applejack's thoughts at the time.

Don' cha worry, Apple Bloom.  Yer big sister is still here 'n Ah'll never stop lookin out fer ya, I heard the heartbroken filly think through her tears.

And just like that, as quickly as it began, so it ended.  Soo shaken was I by the flashback that it took me several seconds before I could speak again.

"Wait.  They... they died?" I asked, stunned.

Y-yes.

"Who's dead?" Savannah questioned.

I then relayed Applejack's message to Apple Bloom.  Upon hearing these words, her expression changed from a harsh and distrustful one to one of wide-eyed shock.  She then approached me slowly while I knelt down to her level.  Once she was standing in front of me, she burst into tears of joy before lunging at me in a hug which I accepted, softly patting her back.

"Oh sis it is you.  Ah thought Ah had lost ya ferever."

"She wants ya ta know that she'll always be there fer ya 'n whatever happened jus now we'll find a way ta fix it.  Ah promise."

"Ah love ya, Applejack."

"She loves ya too, Sugarcube," I replied with her signature term of endearment.

Apple Bloom pulled away, wiping tears off her face as a small smile appeared.

"So what do we do now?" Savannah asked.

"Maybe we should talk ta Twilight," Apple Bloom piped up. "If anypony can fix a problem, it's her."

"Ah'm not sure it's tha best idea ta always go ta Twilight every time a problem comes up," I tried to discourage, not wanting to bother her.

"But she knows a ton bout strange 'n unusual cases o' magic which this clearly is."

"She does have a point there," Savannah confirmed.

There was no way that I could argue with that.  Twilight was the best suited to help us out with our dilemma.

"Alright then.  Let's go find Twi."

"Wait.  What're we gonna do with Applejack?" Apple Bloom questioned.

"Whataya mean?" I asked, confused. "Ah'm takin her with me."

"No no not that Applejack," she retorted, before pointing to Applejack's lifeless body. "That Applejack.  We can't jus leave her body here.  What if Granny Smith found it?"

"You're right," Savannah agreed. "In her condition, she wouldn't take the sight of her oldest granddaughter lying there completely devoid of life very well."

"Well we've gotta think o' somethin, but what?" I puzzled.

And so the four of us put our three heads together (make of that what you will) trying to come up with a solution to our predicament.  Finally, after half a minute, Applejack's voice startled me.

Ah got it! she exclaimed.

"Aaaah!" I screamed, startling Savannah and Apple Bloom in the process.

"What?  What is it?" Savannah questioned fearfully.

"AJ's got a plan."

Ma wardrobe.  No pony ever goes in there.

I nodded as I walked over to AJ's body and carefully cradled it in my arms before turning to Savannah.

"Savannah, can ya please give me a hand 'n open that wardrobe over there?"

She nodded before walking over to the wardrobe and opening the double doors.  I followed behind her and gently laid Applejack's body amongst her workboots before straightening myself up, coming face to face with a dress that I instantly recognized as her dress from the Grand Galloping Gala.

"Nice dress," I remarked.

Thanks.

I then closed the doors on the lifeless form inside and stepped away.

"Are you sure no one'll go in there?" Savannah asked me.

"Of course Ah'm sure.  As a girl yerself, wouldn' cha expect others ta respect yer privacy?"

Savannah paused for a moment before answering.

"This is true."

Me, Savannah, and Apple Bloom then walked over to the bedroom door and opened it only to be greeted by Granny Smith.

"Aaaaaah!" we all screamed in unison, startled by the presence of the other, before I finally spoke.

"Oh uh... hi Granny Smith.  We uh... didn'... see ya there," I chuckled nervously.

"Oh Dayvid it's jus you.  Heheh.  Ah jus had ma whole life flash before ma eyes fer a moment," Granny Smith replied pleasantly before turning to Savannah. "'N who might this fine-lookin young filly be?"

Savannah blushed modestly before answering.

"I'm Savannah, David's wife."

Granny Smith appeared to be trying to remember something before that little lightbulb went off in her head.

"Oooh right.  Savannah.  Ma Applejack 'n her little friends used ta go on 'n on bout all tha things Dayvid said bout you.  They were soo much lookin forward ta tha day that they could meet cha face ta face."

"Well I certainly enjoyed getting to meet them."

"Speakin of Applejack, Ah was jus now comin ta look fer her."

"Uhshesnothererightnow!" I spat out a little too quickly as I tried to block the entryway.

"What?"

"Uh... Ah mean... well... what Ah was tryin ta say is that she..." I stuttered before I finally came up with a proper comeback, "... had a personal emergency.  Yeah.  She had a personal emergency 'n had ta leave with little warnin."

Dayvid! I heard Applejack sternly scold.

I ignored the mental consternation as Savannah continued.

"Apple Bloom was just telling us how Applejack had told her about her situation and how she'd try to be back as soon as possible.  Of course it all depends on how soon the issue can be resolved.  Right, Apple Bloom."

"Uh... yeah.  Right," Apple Bloom chuckled. "Ah was actually gonna tell ya earlier, but ya were asleep at tha time so Ah couldn't.  Anyways, she's already left now.  See fer yerself."

And with that, the three of us stepped aside to let Granny Smith enter Applejack's room.

Y'all should be ashamed o' yerselves.

I replied to AJ's protest by flicking my index finger right between my eyebrows.

Ow!  What tha flyin feather was that fer?

"Would ya please jus shut yer cakehole til we leave?" I asked/demanded quietly and impatiently through clenched teeth.

I then heard an annoyed sigh from her, but nothing followed so I returned my attention to Granny Smith who was staring at Applejack's wardrobe.  Mine, Savannah's, and Apple Bloom's insides were tied up in knots at this current predicament.  What if she looked inside and saw Applejack's lifeless body lying there.  Tension was very high in the room before Granny Smith turned to us.

"This here cabinet used ta belong ta ma daughter-in-law.  Ah passed it down ta Applejack after..." her voice trailed off for a second, "... well let's not talk bout that.  Apple Bloom, Ah need some help in tha kitchen if ya'd be willin ta lend yer ole granny a hoof."

"Yes, ma'am," Apple Bloom replied, relieved that Granny Smith hadn't tried opening the wardrobe at all.

"As fer you two young whippersnappers, y'all jus run along now 'n have yer fun."

"Thank you," Savannah warmly answered. "It was nice to meet you Granny Smith."

"Likewise.  Don't be a stranger, y'hear?"

"K.  See ya later Granny Smith," I smiled back as we left.

No sooner had we left the house than Applejack let me have it.

Ah'm real disappointed in ya, Dayvid.  Why did y'all hafta lie ta ma granny like that?

"Aww c'mon, AJ.  Tha way Ah see it, we didn't lie ta her.  At least not entirely."

"What's wrong with AJ?" Savannah asked, oblivious to the internal struggle going on between two minds.

"Oh she's jus buttsore cause o' what we told Granny Smith."

"Really, David?" Savannah scolded. "That seems kinda harsh."

Darn straight it does 'n how exactly is it that y'all didn' lie ta her?

"Well this is a personal emergency, yer soul left yer body with little warnin, we'll try ta get ya back in yer body as soon as possible, 'n it all depends on how soon tha issue can be resolved.  Ya see?  It wasn't lyin, it was jus omittin certain truth, jus like when ya didn' tell yer friends that ya failed ta win any 1st Place ribbons at that rodeo in Canterlot."

Wait.  How'd ya know bout that?

"When yer soul merged with mine, Ah received a flood o' yer memories from throughout yer life.  Yer memories are ma memories."

Ahh.  Listen, pardner, Ah'm sorry that Ah got all trigger happy at ya earlier.

"It's O.K. 'n Ah'm sorry fer bein a smartass 'round ya.  That was uncalled fer.  Now whataya say we go find Twi ta hopefully fix this little problem we have?"

Sounds good ta me.

As we headed off to find Twilight, nervousness came over me.  While I had told Applejack the truth about her memories mixing with mine, I only knew about the rodeo incident from watching the episode back home.  None of these ponies knew that they were part of a TV Show where me and Savannah came from and I intended to keep it that way, but now, with Applejack in my mind, how long would it be before she started going through my own thoughts and discovered that little detail that I had been hiding from them this whole time?  I secretly hoped that it would remain just that: secret, but my fears told me that the truth would be revealed sooner than I expected.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


Before long, me and Savannah were back in Ponyville.  As we were walking along towards Twilight's castle, I paused for a moment as I noticed the charred remains of a tree that I didn't remember seeing last time I was there.

That used ta be tha library where Twi first lived when she came ta Ponyville, Applejack explained. When Tirek went on a rampage through here, it didn' survive.  We don' talk bout it 'round her.  She's takin it pretty hard.

"Ah'll bet," I replied.

No sooner did the words leave my lips then my stomach growled as loud as a manticore.

"Whoa.  Nice one David," Savannah laughed.

"Thanks," I chuckled back. "Ah guess Ah forgot how hungry Ah was when we were at Sweet Apple Acres."

Ah'm starvin somethin awful too.

"So whataya say tha three of us get somethin ta eat first?"

"I'm all for it."

Definitely, Sugarcube.  One thing Ah was always taught was never work on an empty stomach.

"Hey.  Speakin o' Sugarcube, why don' we get somethin from Sugarcube Corner?"

"That's a great idea."

Good thinkin, Dayvid.

And so, diverging slightly from our original destination, we made a quick stop at Sugarcube Corner for breakfast.  Upon walking through the front door, we were immediately greeted by Pinkie Pie.

"Hi hi!!!" she welcomed, enthusiastically. "Welcome back, lovebirds.  Couldn't stay away from here for too long could ya?  So what can I do for you two?"

"Hi Pinkie," Savannah smiled back. "We were just stopping in to pick up some breakfast."

"Maybe muffins?" I suggested.

"Ooo that's a perfect idea!" Pinkie beamed. "Personally, I think it's muffins that make the best breakfasts."

"Can't argue with that.  Ah've personally lived by that philosophy fer a few years now back home."

"Goody," Pinkie immediately dashed over to the counter. "So what kind of muffins are you looking for?  We've got chocolate, chocolate chip, double chocolate, blueberry, apple crumble, banana nut, pumpkin, and even today's special, Lemon Muffin Surprise.  That last one is selling out like hotcakes though, or hot muffins in this case," she giggled before finishing. "So whataya think?"

"Hmm... what do you think ya want?" I asked both Savannah and Applejack.

"The blueberry one is sounding really good to me," Savannah answered back.

Ah'm not really too picky.  Whatever ya want is fine by me.

I then proceeded to think over the options.  Banana nut was obviously out because of my allergies, apple crumble was O.K. but not a favorite of mine, and most of the others I liked but had had recently.  Lemon Muffin Surprise was what really caught my attention being the citrus lover that I am.  In that moment, the choice was obvious.

"She'll have a blueberry muffin 'n Ah'll have tha Lemon Muffin Surprise."

"Coming right up," Pinkie stated as she reached into the display to pull them out. "Well this is your lucky day, Davey.  You just got the very last Lemon Muffin Surprise."

She then placed the two muffins in a brown paper bag before passing it off to me.

"Here you are.  Two muffins on the house."

"Oh Pinkie ya don' hafta do that."

"Of course I do.  The Cakes insisted I do it if you two ever came back here."

"Alright then," I smiled back. "Thanks, Pinkie."

"Anytime.  Come again soon."

As we turned to leave, a blur of grey came flying through the door before crashing into the counter.  It was Derpy.  Seeing how hard she landed, I was quick to voice concern.

"Derpy, are you alright?" I questioned as I helped her to her hooves.

"Yup I'm fine.  Thanks for asking," she replied before turning to face Pinkie Pie.

"Welcome to Sugarcube Corner, Derpy," Pinkie greeted. "What would you like?"

"One Lemon Muffin Surprise please."

I froze for a second at the realization that I had already taken the last one.

"I'm sorry, Derpy, but we're all sold out of that," Pinkie answered sadly.

Derpy's ears folded back sadly and her expression quickly dropped upon hearing this.  Filled with sympathy towards her, I looked down at the bag in my hand and knew what needed to be done as I reached inside to pull out the citrus flavored pastry.

"Here, Derpy," I stated, holding it out to her. "Ya can have mine."

Her ears perked back up.

"Really?"

"Sure.  Go on 'n take it."

Her crossed eyes then lit up as she gratefully accepted the muffin and reached up to hug me.

"Oh thank you, Prince David."

"Anytime 'n it's jus 'Dayvid' please," I smiled back at her.

"Sure thing.  See ya later," she replied as she flew away happily eating her muffin.

With Derpy gone, I turned my attention back to Pinkie.

"That was generous of you," she observed.

"Thanks," I answered. "Hey, Pinkie, do ya mind if Ah bother ya fer another blueberry muffin?"

"No problem," she answered back, reaching into the display again and "hoofing" the muffin over to me. "Here ya go."

"Thanks," I replied, accepting the muffin as me and Savannah turned to walk away. "See ya later, Pinkie."

"Have a nice day."


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


Shortly after eating our muffins, on our way to Twilight's castle, we accidentally ran into Twilight herself.  We were all surprised to see the other as me and Savannah hadn't expected her to be out of her castle this early.

"Hey David.  Hey Savannah," she cheerfully greeted. "I had just come from your room where I was planning on checking up on you guys but didn't see you there so I figured I'd try to find the two of you and here you are now.  So did you both sleep well?"

"We slept pretty O.K., but there's something really important we need to talk about," Savannah stated urgently.

Twilight's cheerful expression quickly turned to one of seriousness mixed with concern as we led her into a back alley to avoid attention from other ponies before continuing conversation.

"Why?  What's wrong?  Did something bad happen?" she asked, nervously, once we were out of earshot from everypony.

"Well shortly after wakin up," I explained, "me 'n Savannah went ta Sweet Apple Acres ta see bout gettin some apples fer breakfast, but, when we got there, Apple Bloom directed us ta Applejack's room where she was lyin there not breathin with no pulse either."

"Oh my gosh!" Twilight gasped. "You mean... Applejack's dead?"

"No.  Not dead," Savannah replied. "Her soul was still there.  It had just... left her body for some reason."

"How long ago did this happen and where is her soul now?"

"We first arrived there bout a half hour ago, but Ah don' know how long AJ's soul had been out before then.  As fer where her soul is now, she's up here," I commented, pointing at my cranium.

"What?"

"He kind of absorbed her soul through physical contact with it," Savannah explained. "Me and Apple Bloom witnessed it also."

"Well that's a relief," Twilight sighed. "Souls don't typically survive very long without a host."

"So what do we do?"

"I don't know.  This is all unfamiliar to me.  I'd need to do some research and make observations of one of these moments actually happening."

"Well that's jus great," I remarked, mildly annoyed. "How're we supposed ta find another case like this in Ponyville?"

As if to answer my question, we heard a small noise heading towards us that sounded a lot like hopping.  Turning in the direction of the sound, we saw a small white bunny bolting towards us who I instantly recognized.

"Angel?" I puzzled. "What're you doin here?"

Stopping in front of me, he started pointing in the direction he came from and coughed before falling over.

"Ya've got a really bad cough?"

He shook his head and pointed back again before his whole body started shaking.

"There's an earthquake bout ta hit Ponyville?"

Angel looked at me with an annoyed glance that screamed "Really?" before proceeding to kick my foot.

"Hey!  What was that fer?" I protested, equally annoyed as he was.

He pointed at me and then back at his eyes.

"O.K.  Ah'm watchin you.  What is it ya wanna say?"

Angel pointed in the same direction as previously before pulling his ears down to resemble long flowing hair and smiling sweetly at me with big, doe eyes.

"Fluttershy?"

He nodded before hacking up a storm, shaking violently, and then lying perfectly still, feigning death.  I suddenly realized that something was wrong.

"Fluttershy's in trouble.  We've gotta get ta her cottage now."

"I'm all over it," Twilight stated confidently. "Everypony stay close."

Following Twilight's advice, we remained still as her magic flowed from her horn, enveloping all of us and with a flash we disappeared from the back alley.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


In the blink of an eye, me (along with AJ), Savannah, Twilight, and Angel were in the living room of Fluttershy's cottage.  While me and Twilight were fine, Savannah and Angel seemed a little spaced out.

"Savannah?  You O.K.?" I asked, out of concern.

"Yeah, I'm jus a lil woozy," she slurred as she nearly lost her balance before Twilight caught her with her magic.

"Whoa.  Take it easy there, Princess," Twilight stated. "It's totally normal for many non-magical creatures to feel a little out of it their first time teleporting.  What's important right now is that we find Fluttershy fast so let's split up."

"Good idea.  AJ 'n Ah'll take tha top floor while you two take the bottom," I replied.

"O.K.  Let's do this."

And so, I headed upstairs while Twilight and Savannah checked the other rooms.  It wasn't long before I heard a small, timid, familiar voice from one of the upper rooms.

"Hello?  Is anypony there?  Please.  I feel soo alone and cold," it pleaded.

Ya hear that?

"Ah sure do."

That's gotta be her.

"Hold on, Flutters.  We're comin."

Bolting up the stairs in the direction of the voice, I threw open a door revealing a bedroom with Fluttershy's lifeless body lying on the floor.  Looking around the room, I finally saw a yellow glowing orb, like a miniature sun, about 10 feet from the body.

"David!" she exclaimed, her voice full of relief. "You're here.  I was soo afraid nopony would be coming."

"Don' worry.  Ah'm here now with some help," I replied before turning around to shout downstairs. "SAVANNAH!  TWILIGHT!  GET UP HERE!  WE FOUND HER!"

"What do you mean 'we'?" Fluttershy puzzled.

"It's complicated.  Ah'll explain when tha others get here."

We wouldn't have to wait long as the heavy pounding of hooves and feet were followed by Savannah and Twilight joining us in the bedroom, both with shocked expressions on their faces at the sight of the astral ball.

"Unbelievable," Twilight uttered.

"It's just like what happened to Applejack," Savannah stated.

"Fluttershy, what happened?"

"I don't know," she admitted, sadly, almost trembling. "I just remember feeling really bad pain and then, next thing I knew, I wasn't in my body anymore.  I tried to get back in, but it didn't work and now I just feel really cold and weak."

"Here Flutters," I stated, holding my right hand out in front of me, "come ta ma hand."

"Why?" she questioned nervously. "What will that do?"

"Jus trust me."

"O.K.  Here I go," she answered cautiously as, slowly, her soul sphere floated over to me before settling on my hand.

No sooner had it settled on my hand than it burned it as it phased into it just like AJ's had before.  Wincing in pain, I watched as the yellow glow traveled up my arm before reaching my head where I was immediately greeted with another flood of memories from Fluttershy's past from her days at Summer Flight Camp with Rainbow Dash to meeting Twilight to helping the Cloudsdale flight team with the waterspout to befriending Discord to when she first met me.  Once the memories ceased, I heard her fearful voice in my head.

Wait a minute.  What's happened to me?  What am I looking at?  I feel really weird for some-

Her voice paused after she gasped when I held my hand in front of my eyes followed by a scream from her after a few seconds.  The panic in her voice became increasingly evident.

Wh-wh-what is this?  This can't be happening to me!  I'm in somepony else's body!  No.  It's not even a pony's body either!  I'm... I'm standing upright!

Fluttershy, jus calm down a gosh darn minute.

Wait.  Applejack?  What're you doing here?  How many others are here?  This is really scary!  I don't-

"FLUTTERSHY!" I shouted, immediately silencing her.

In that moment, my sudden outburst had merely been meant to stop my friends' voices in my head so that I could think clearly.  Voices in my head were nothing new.  I could still remember the last time I was here when I had everypony's thoughts echoing in my head, but these moments of hearing voices still brought back to my awareness a memory from even before then that I'd rather forget.

Instantly, two thoughts crossed my mind.  First, this whole "pony soul absorption into my mind" thing wasn't going to just be a one time occurrence.  Just now with Fluttershy made me realize that there would be more of these events to come.  How many more?  I had no idea at the time.  Second, I had maybe been a little too harsh in my attempt to silence Fluttershy.  While I knew that she could indeed show great strength when necessary, right now she was scared and rightfully so.  She now found herself in an alien body she could hardly understand and my yelling did little to calm her down in the fragile state she was in.  With this new realization, I calmed down and adjusted my tone.

"Look, Flutters, Ah'm sorry fer shouting at ya jus now," I calmly and sincerely apologized. "Ah understand yer goin through a hard time right now with this new... development, but listen ta me.  Do Ah sound nervous at all?"

N-no, she finally uttered softly.

"No.  Ah don't," I calmly continued. "Ah admit that Ah have no idea what's goin on right now, none of us do, but Ah promise that Ah'm gonna find out what tha problem is 'n remedy it by any means necessary.  Ah'm not gonna give up on you or AJ or anypony else that this might happen to.  Ah jus need ya ta stay calm through this 'n trust me.  Can Ah count on ya fer that, Flutters?"

Yes.  I trust you, she stated, her voice slightly more confident than before. And I forgive you.

"Thanks," I answered with a smile.

"Umm... David?  I think I might have just realized something," Savannah spoke up.

"What is it?"

"Applejack and Fluttershy are the only ponies that this has happened to so far.  Now, think.  What do they have in common?"

Quickly, Twilight's eyes widened upon realization of what Savannah was implying.

"They're both Element bearers!" she announced.

"Exactly.  Applejack is the Element Of Honesty and Fluttershy is the Element Of Kindness."

"So you think that, whatever this is, it's targeting tha bearers o' tha Elements Of Harmony?" I asked, slowly piecing it together.

"It's a theory at least."

"If only I could see it actually happening so that I might be able to get a better idea of what we're up against," Twilight stated, slightly frustrated, "but how are we supposed to know who's next?  Does this even follow any kind of pattern?"

At that moment, the silence between the five of us only served to prove that none of us had any idea what the fuck was going on or even what to do.  All we knew was that we'd need to find out fast and time was not on our side.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


Later on, we were still at Fluttershy's cottage, trying to figure out the meaning behind this strange epidemic.  I had originally suggested that we return to Twilight's castle where there were plenty of books for us to use to try to solve the dilemma, but Twilight said she'd much rather prefer our current location.  I couldn't help but get the feeling that Twilight was trying to avoid her castle by any means necessary; I just wasn't sure why.  Still I decided not to push the issue any further and chose to respect her wishes.

Anyhoo, we had spent the past few hours trying to figure out why this was happening, searching long and hard for some sort of pattern to the incidents, but we all found ourselves no closer to reaching enlightenment on the issue than when we originally started.

"Ugh," I groaned. "We've been doin this fer hours now 'n Ah think Ah have even less of a clue than Ah did before."

Don't worry, David.  We'll figure it out eventually.

"Thanks, Fluttershy.  Ah'm jus really frustrated right now."

"O.K.  Let's go over this again.  What do we know?" Savannah asked for what must've been the 64th time.

"Applejack was afflicted first and then Fluttershy after her," Twilight replied, wearily.

"And what are their elements?"

"Honesty 'n Kindness.  Ah know already," I stated with frustration evident in my tone.

"So what's the pattern?  Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity?"

"That would follow a pattern of Earth Pony, Pegasus, Unicorn, but that could jus as well mean that Twilight is next bein that she was a Unicorn formerly."

"Yeah that doesn't narrow it down too much," she answered before going onto the next possible option. "Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash?  I don't see any real pattern there.  How about Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie?"

"Ugh this is gettin us nowhere.  We'll never figure it out."

Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Twilight's head.

"Wait a minute," she smiled. "That's it!!!"

"What's it?" me and Savannah questioned in unison.

"Pinkie Pie is the next target."

"How'd ya figure that out?"

"When I first came to Ponyville and needed to defeat Nightmare Moon, I had read up on the Elements Of Harmony known at the time.  The Elements in order were Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Loyalty with Magic being discovered by me later on.  Honesty is Applejack's Element and Kindness is Fluttershy's so the next one is Laughter, Pinkie Pie's Element.  I believe that whatever this thing is, it's targeting the Elements Of Harmony in that order."

"That's brilliant, Twi."

"Definitely.  You know what that means?" Savannah stated.

"I sure do," Twilight answered. "We've gotta get to Sugarcube Corner fast."

"Well what're we waitin fer?" I asked.

"Nothing.  Let's go."


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


Several minutes and a quick run later, we arrived at Sugarcube Corner, bursting through the front door.  The gourmand of sweets seemed to be less busy than earlier with the only noticeable ponies there being Mr. and Mrs. Cake and their twins, Pound and Pumpkin.

"Hey there, Prince David.  Princess Savannah.  Princess Twilight," Mr. Cake greeted cheerfully. "How y'all doin today?"

"Pretty good, thanks," I replied swiftly. "Is Pinkie here by any chance?"

"Oh she's in the back right now," Mrs. Cake answered while feeding the twins their bottles. "Why?  Is everything alright, dear?"

"Oh yeah.  Everything's fine," Savannah lied. "We just needed to check in with her on something."

"Oh.  O.K. then.  Go right on ahead."

"Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Cake," Twilight smiled as we headed to the back of the shop.

Upon entering the back room, we saw Pinkie pulling a tray of cupcakes out of the oven with a "mouth mitt" before setting it down on the counter to cool.  Looking up, she noticed us standing there.

"Oh hey guys," she greeted pleasantly. "What're you doing here?"

"We're here ta protect ya, Pinkie," I answered.

"Protect me?" she puzzled, while grabbing a piping bag. "What do I need protecting from?"

"We don't know, but, whatever it is, it's already attacked Applejack and Fluttershy and we believe you're next," Savannah stated.

Pinkie gasped.

"That's awful.  Are they at least safe now?  Where are they?"

"They're safe," I replied before pointing to my head. "They're actually up here right now."

"What?" she asked. "How can they both be up there?  No offense, Davey, but your head's not big enough to fit an Earth Pony and a Pegasus.  Or even one of them at a time now that I think about it."

"He doesn't mean them physically, Pinkie," Twilight replied. "He means that their souls are in his head.  Their souls mysteriously left their bodies for some strange reason and David has had to absorb them into himself for them to survive."

"Exactly," I continued. "As a result, Ah can see their memories as well as hearin their voices in ma head 'n they, in return, experience everythin Ah'm experiencin."

Pinkie's eyes then lit up upon realizing what was being explained to her.

"Oooh I get it.  So it's like last time you were here except that, instead of just having their thoughts inside your head, you literally have them inside your head."

"If that helps ya understand it better than sure."

"And whatever went after them we believe is coming after you now," Savannah finished.

"Oh no," Pinkie panicked. "How will we even know when it comes when we don't even know what it looks like?"

"Well, from what we've gathered," Twilight started, "a precursor to one of these events is severe pain.  That's at least a start for us."

"That doesn't sound pleasant at all."

"Tell me about it," I answered.

"Don't worry about it though, Pinkie," Savannah assured. "We'll all keep an eye on you in case anything weird happens.  You just go about your business and we'll be nearby."

"O.K.," she answered, nervously, before returning her attention to the piping bag.

Picking it up, she got to work frosting the now-cooled cupcakes as me, Savannah, and Twi (along with Fluttershy and AJ) kept a close and silent vigil on her, prepared for whatever might happen.  For a full minute, there was nothing to report on, but, suddenly, Pinkie dropped the piping bag as she let out a cry of pain that caught all of our attention.

"Pinkie, what's wrong?" I asked, concerned, rushing over to her.

Upon reaching her, I immediately noticed that her eyes were glazed over as she started coughing uncontrollably to the point where I thought she was going to hack up a lung.  This went on for about 10 seconds before she fell to the ground, breaking out in a seizure.

"MR. AND MRS. CAKE!" I shouted out in panic while trying to hold Pinkie's flailing body still so she didn't injure herself. "GET IN HERE NOW!"

Within a few short seconds, I heard their hurried hoofsteps making their way to the back room where we were.  Mrs. Cake's voice followed shortly afterwards.

"Yes, dear?  What's the ma-" her voice halted briefly when she saw Pinkie's spasm, "-oh sweet Celestia!"

Both of the Cakes stood slack-jawed with the twins as I fought to keep Pinkie still before the seizing finally stopped and her body went limp.  Shortly after this, a small, pink, glowing orb, like a ball of bright cotton candy, exited her mouth.  The others were quick to spot it also.

"Wh-wh-what is that?" Mr. Cake questioned, unsurely.

"It's her spirit," I answered. "It's left her body 'n Ah need ta store it in mine fer her ta survive til we can figure this out."

Without hesitation, I reached out and caught Pinkie's astral sphere in both hands, followed by the all too familiar burning sensation as it traveled through my body up to my head.  Immediately, Pinkie's memories flashed through my mind, but unlike the last two times, by the time the Cheese Sandwich memory hit, I was unpleasantly interrupted by a severe headache.  Actually, "headache" is putting it mildly.  This felt like my whole head was on fire while being stabbed.  I cried out in pain as I also heard the voices of AJ, Fluttershy, and Pinkie screaming out in my head.  This torment was unbearable and I begged for it to end.  Finally, after I have no idea how long, the pain ended and I gasped for breath as sweet relief fell over me.

"O.K.  Ah dunno what that was, but Ah hope Ah don't hafta go through that again," I stated as I turned to face the others.

But upon looking at them, they all gasped at the sight of me.  Pound and Pumpkin even burst out crying upon seeing me.  This resulted in Mr. and Mrs. Cake moving the twins back to the front of the shop, away from where I was, to calm them down.

"What?  What's wrong?" I asked, clearly confused and shocked by their reaction.

"Y-your face," Twilight uttered, pointing at me in shock.

"It's... it's..." Savannah stuttered, nervously.

Looking for a mirror (or any reflective surface), I finally found one and, upon looking, horrifically discovered that I now had a pony face complete with one conical horn protruding from my forehead.

"Aaaaaaaah!!!" I screamed as I fell backwards.

Every pony in my head was quick to panic also at this bizarre sight reflected back at me.

D-D-David?  I-i-is that y-you? Fluttershy nervously uttered.

What in tha name of all things Cinnamon Swirl happened to ya!?! Applejack exclaimed, confused.

O.K.  I dunno about you guys, but I'm getting really creeped out right now, Pinkie panicked. What am I even looking at right now?  Who is that?

I then placed my hands up to feel my face, still shocked by this new development.  There was no way that I was dreaming it this time.  Finally, I stuttered as I struggled to come up with some sort of response.

"I-it's me... b-b-but i-i-it can't be me.  I-I-I-I'm not supposed to... to have a... pony face.  What's even happening to me right now!?!" I started panicking.

"David!" Savannah blurted out as she grabbed my arm, snapping me out of my mini freakout, before addressing me in a calmer tone. "Listen to me.  I don't know what's going on with you, but losing your head over it isn't going to help anyone right now.  The best you can do is keep a cool head about it while we try to get this whole mess straightened out.  Understand?"

I slowly nodded back at her before she continued.

"And don't worry.  Just like you're not giving up on your friends, neither am I giving up on you.  We'll fight this issue together."

"That's right," Twilight affirmed, "and, now that I've seen what happened, I'll know what signs to look for in my books on magical maladies.  I'll get right on that tonight.  In the meantime, you two better go check on Rarity.  According to my theory, she's next on the list."

I looked out the window and saw that the sun was beginning to set in the distance.

"It's gettin kinda late," I stated. "Are ya sure she won't mind us botherin her?"

"Of course I'm sure," Twilight smiled back. "I'll bet she'd even be willing to let you two spend the night.  She's very hospitable."

"Well let's get going then," Savannah stated as me, her and Twilight left the bakery and parted ways. "We'll see you tomorrow, Twi."

"See you later."

As we went our separate ways, I couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened to me.  This was just like my nightmare that I had the night before.  It instantly hit me right then and there.  Had my nightmare been a vision of the future?  Did I somehow have prophetic dreams like Joseph and others from ancient times?  All I did know was that my nightmare was very quickly becoming my reality.
> Chapter IV:  Time For Answers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun had just set below the horizon with the moon taking its place in the sky by the time me and Savannah had arrived at the Carousel Boutique where Rarity was.  Walking up to the front door, I knocked lightly upon it before hearing that familiar Mid-Atlantic voice call out from inside.

"Who is it?"

"It's Dayvid 'n Savannah," I answered back.

"Oh of course.  Please do come in."

Opening the door, me and Savannah entered to see Rarity wearing her traditional red rimmed glasses, hard at work by her sewing machine.  The various objects scattered around her led me to believe that she was in a state of what I liked to call "organized chaos" for some important upcoming project.

"Umm... Rare?"

At the sound of my voice, she halted her project in order to turn to me and reply.

"Yes darling?  What can I do fo- Aaaaaaaah!!!!" she reacted at the sight of me.

"Please don't freak out," I begged.

Rarity just stood there, staring at me for several seconds, hardly believing what she was seeing.  Finally she spoke up.

"Mother of Celestia, David!  What in the wide wide world of Equestria happened to you?"

"Well long story short," Savannah started, "our friends have been mysteriously losing their souls and David has had to absorb them into himself for them to survive.  Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie have already been affected."

"But, after Ah absorbed Pinkie's soul, Ah experienced really terrible pain 'n when it was done, Ah found maself with a pony head which is why Ah now look like an Alicorn version of BoJack Horseman," I finished, thinking of a Netflix original show that I had seen advertisements for everywhere online.

"BoJack who?" Rarity questioned, a quizzical look on her face.

"Uh... nothin.  Anyways, Twi is hard at work tryin ta find a solution ta tha problem.  From what we've gathered, whatever this thing is, we believe that it's targetin tha bearers o' tha Elements Of Harmony 'n we also believe that yer next on tha list."

"Oh my!  That sounds absolutely dreadful."

"Tell me about it," Savannah replied.

"All that matters now is that we're here ta prevent anythin bad from happenin to ya," I stated.

"Well it is rather late, in fact I had just sent Spike away a short while ago.  The little dear was helping me out soo much earlier that he worked himself into exhaustion before I sent him home to rest.  However, I guess you two can spend the night here, just so that you'll be close by if I need help," Rarity answered before turning towards the stairs. "Sweetie Belle?"

"Coming Rarity," we heard the little filly's voice call back, before hearing her tiny hoofsteps descending the stairs.

Before long, Sweetie Belle was downstairs among us, but upon seeing me, she immediately panicked.

"Aaaaaaaah!!!!" she screamed as she swiftly ran to hide behind her big sister. "R-R-Rarity, wha-what is th-th-that?!?"

"Sweetie.  Sweetie.  Calm down," I replied quickly, trying to soothe her. "It's me, Dayvid.  Remember?  We first met in tha Everfree Forest when you 'n yer friends were attacked by Timber Wolves."

Sweetie Belle's wide-eyed panic and terror immediately gave way to wide-eyed puzzlement and confusion.  She paused for several seconds and squinted her eyes at me briefly before replying.

"D-David?"

"Yes.  It's me, Sweetie," I smiled back.

"What happened to you?"

"That's a long story," Rarity answered. "All you need to know is that David and Savannah are going to be spending the night here."

"You mean like a sleepover?" the marshmallow white filly beamed.

"Yeah," Savannah replied with a smile. "Exactly like a sleepover."

"Anyways, I'm really busy with trying to finish up an important order right now so if you could be a dear and show them to the guest rooms while I wrap up this project, it would be very much appreciated," Rarity finished.

"Sure thing, Rarity," Sweetie Belle answered before turning to the two of us. "Right this way you two."

And so Sweetie Belle led us up the stairs and down a short hallway to where the guest rooms were.

"Will you be needing one guest room or two?" she questioned.

"One should be fine, Sweetie," Savannah replied, pleasantly.

I immediately cleared my throat rather loudly in protest.

"What?" Savannah asked me.

"Savannah, can Ah talk ta ya privately fer a second?"

"Umm... sure?"

"Sweetie, if ya don't mind, we need ta have a little 'grown up' talk."

"About what?" Sweetie puzzled, naively.

"Ya'll understand when yer older."

"O.K.," she answered, walking away disappointedly.

Once she was out of earshot, Savannah was the first to speak up.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Ah don' think it's a good idea fer us ta sleep together."

"Why not?"

"Cuz it wouldn' jus be tha two of us," I stated, pointing to my head. "Tha whole experience would jus be really awkward with them."

What're you talking about? Pinkie asked.

Are you talking about us? Fluttershy questioned.

"Uh nothing you guys need ta be worried about," I answered quickly with a nervous chuckle before returning my attention to Savannah. "Ya know what Ah mean?"

"Yes.  I understand," she replied, somewhat sadly, turning her face downwards and away. "I just wish that we could get this issue fixed fast so that we could be together again."

I reached out a hand to gently tilt her chin up to face me as I looked her square in the eyes.

"Hey.  Ah'm not goin anywhere," I stated, softly.

The two of us then embraced, holding each other close for as long as we felt we needed to.  It wasn't long before I got a reaction from the mares in my head.

Awww, AJ, Flutters, and Pinkie remarked at our display of affection.

I couldn't help but smile at their delight.  Finally, we parted as I turned back towards a bored looking Sweetie Belle minding her own business at the opposite end of the hall.

"We'll take two rooms, Sweetie Belle."

She perked up upon hearing my voice directed at her.

"O.K.," she answered back, quickly dashing over towards us. "There are two rooms right across from each other where you guys are standing.  You should find everything perfectly fine in there.  Be sure to let me or Rarity know if you need anything."

"Thanks, Sweetie," Savannah replied as we turned to enter our rooms. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight you two," Sweetie Belle stated with a smile as she turned to walk away.

"And goodnight to you too, honey," Savannah directed at me.

"Goodnight, muffin," I answered back.

And with that the two of us went to our separate rooms.  It wasn't long before the others started speaking up in my head.

So why weren't ya sharin a room with Savannah? Applejack spoke up. I mean, she is yer wife ya know.

"Honestly AJ, that's not really tha type o' discussion Ah'd want ta get inta right now, especially not with a certain somepony around."

That "certain somepony" that I was referring to was Pinkie.  Applejack I already figured had a good understanding of sex from when she thought me and Fluttershy had slept together my first night in Equestria and Flutters seemed to have equal knowledge on the subject from that same episode, but Pinkie Pie I wasn't entirely sure about.  Her naivete and childlike nature led me to believe that she was completely oblivious to the concept of sex, not to mention the fact that Fluttershy is a full year older than her, ergo more mature than her.  I had no idea what the proper etiquette was for discussing the topic in Equestria and I really didn't want to attempt something like that right now.  Thankfully, Pinkie Pie chimed in to change the subject.

So what was with you calling Savannah "muffin" just a short while ago?

"It was jus a little nickname Ah used ta call her by back when we were datin.  It had been a while since Ah had last called her that, but then it jus sorta came back ta me after we stopped by Sugarcube Corner this mornin fer breakfast."

I personally think it's a cute nickname for her, Fluttershy piped up.

"Thanks, Flutters," I smiled.

You're welcome, she replied.

It wasn't long after she spoke that I heard her yawn in my head.  Immediately, I had a flashback to when I first came to Equestria and Fluttershy spent the night in my room because she was scared.  I thought about the following morning when I had woken her up and she yawned soo adorably that I thought my heart was going to explode... twice.  I smiled at that memory before finally speaking up.

"Ah think it's time that all of us got some rest."

Ah agree, AJ answered.

Good idea, Pinkie stated.

Definitely, Flutters agreed groggily.

I then went over to the small bed in the center of the room, starting to take my clothes off beginning with my shirt before I paused.

"Wait a minute.  I can't sleep without clothes on."

Why not, Sugarcube?

"Cuz Ah don' have fur like you guys ta cover up the more... uh... sensitive regions.  Ah honestly don' think ya'd want ta see all this... skin.  Jus trust me on this."

But I already saw you when you were wearing nothing but your shorts your first night here, Fluttershy answered.

I realized that she was right.  There really wasn't that much of a difference between now and then.  And so, I undressed down to my boxer shorts and settled into bed which was a little difficult seeing as it was built for a pony instead of a much taller human.  Finally, I just gave into the realization that my legs would be hanging over the edge slightly and just placed my glasses on the nearby nightstand before closing my eyes.

"Goodnight, girls."

Goodnight, the trio silently replied as we all drifted off to sleep.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


The next morning, I was woken up by rapid knocking on my door and a small voice, that I quickly recognized as Sweetie Belle, calling to me frantically.

"David!  David!  You've gotta come quick!  Something's wrong with Rarity!"

Snapped awake instantaneously, I leaped from my bed, put on my glasses, slipped on my clothes, and dashed over to the door, flinging it open to see Sweetie Belle standing there with an unsettled look on her face.

"Where is she?" I questioned.

"In her bedroom down the hall."

"O.K.  Ah'll go in there ta check on her.  You jus get Savannah 'n tell her ta come there also.  K?" I replied, attempting to put her at ease.

"O.K.," she answered, before turning to the door across from me.

Swiftly, I made my way to the opposite end of the hall, listening closely for Rarity's voice in any of the rooms.  Finally, I heard her familiar accent calling out from one of the rooms.

"Hello?  Can anypony explain to me what in the name of Celestia is going on?"

Entering the room, I saw Rarity's body collapsed in front of her mirror, a robe wrapped around it.  I could only assume that she had just recently gotten out of the shower before the incident had happened.  But finally, hovering right above her bed, I noticed a small glowing orb of the purest white, clear as crystal.

"Oh David.  Thank goodness you're here.  I have no idea what happened.  I was just going through my morning routine like I normally do when I felt this dreadful pain and then found myself outside of my body."

"Don' worry, Rare.  Ah'm here now 'n we'll figure out how ta solve this dilemma."

It wasn't long before I was joined by Savannah and Sweetie Belle, the former was quick to notice Rarity's soul sphere.

"Look.  It's Rarity's spirit," she stated.

"Huh.  I hadn't noticed that when I was here," Sweetie replied sheepishly.

"Rare, do ya think ya can make it over ta my hand?" I asked, holding my right hand out in front of me.

"I believe so, but why?"

"Jus trust me.  It's fer yer own good."

"Alright darling.  If you say so."

And so, her astral ball levitated over to my hand before settling on it.  I let out a cry of pain as it burned my hand while phasing into it and travelling up my arm.  Sweetie Belle was quick to voice concern.

"Are you O.K., David?  What's happening?"

"Ah'm fine.  Ah'm jus absorbing her soul inta ma body," I explained. "It's tha only way that she'll survive until we can figure out what's goin on."

This seemed to be enough for Sweetie Belle as Rarity's spirit made its way to my head, flooding my mind with her memories from when she first discovered her special talent to when she met Twilight to her time in Canterlot with Fancy Pants and the other high class ponies to when Spike gave her his Fire Ruby to first meeting me in the Everfree Forest.  It wasn't long before I heard her voice in my head.

What was that? she asked quizzically. What am I even looking at right now?  Am... am I standing upright?  Wait a minute.  This couldn't possibly mean that...

I then turned to look at myself in the mirror.  Upon seeing my reflection, Rarity immediately panicked.

Sweet Celestia and Luna!  I'm... I'm in a... a MALE BODY!!!!  Somepony please tell me this is all just a bad dream.

"Ah wish Ah could, Rare, but this is reality unfortunately," I answered back.

No no no this can't be real!  Of all the things that could possibly happen to me, this is The!  Worst!  Possible!  Thing!

Oh come on, Rarity, Pinkie tried to reassure, it can't really be that bad.

But you don't understand.  What other pony in Ponyville has such an extensive knowledge of fashion?

Well yer tha only one Ah can think of, Applejack replied, though Fluttershy does have some freaky knowledge of sewin, but what does that hafta do with tha price of cider at tha Ponyville fair?

I'm just saying that there's no way I can function and create high fashion in this strange awkward body with long flimsy limbs, she stated, before realizing what she said. No offense, David.

"None taken," I answered, "but, Rarity, this isn't goin ta be a permanent thing.  Twilight is already hard at work tryin ta find a solution.  She's probably already figured it out by this point."

"Which is why we should head on over to her place to find out," Savannah finished, picking up on what I was talking about.

Alright then, she agreed. Lead the way.

As we turned to leave, I paused in front of Sweetie Belle.

"Are ya sure ya'll be fine by yerself?" I questioned.

"Definitely.  I can just hang out with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo no problem," the young filly replied before changing to a more serious tone. "Just... please take care of my sister."

"Ya have ma word," I answered, kneeling down to her level to look her square in the eyes.

"Thanks, David," she smiled as she leaped up to hug me, which I accepted, gently patting her on the back in the process.

After the hug, me and Savannah left in search of Twilight, hoping to find answers to this bizarre conundrum.  However, nothing could prepare us for the shocking truth and cause behind it.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


A short while later, the two of us were walking through town heading towards Twilight's castle.  On our way there, several ponies stopped and stared at me in shock before turning and whispering amongst themselves.  It was kind of unsettling for me.  I obviously knew that they were commenting on the fact that I now had a pony face, if they could even recognize me at all.  It then got me thinking how many ponies actually knew it was me and how many others thought I was somepony else.

But my thoughts were soon interrupted when I saw Twilight in a full fledged gallop towards me and Savannah.  She quickly spotted us as she drew nearer.

"David.  Savannah," Twilight called out, gasping for breath as she came to a halt in front of us, her mane and tail in a frizzy mess with bags under her eyes.

"Twi?" I asked, taking in the sight of her. "Did ya stay up all last night tryin ta find out what our problem was?"

"Yeah," she stated wearily. "Why?"

"Uh.  No reason."

"Anyways, I think I might have found out what might be causing this strange occurrence to happen."

"What is it?" Savannah questioned.

"I was reading one of the books that Princess Celestia had sent me and it recounted the story of an old enemy that she and her sister once faced, one whom I'm sure you are very much familiar with."

"Crystal?" I puzzled. "What's she got ta do with this?"

"The book told of how she had attempted to learn dark magic after she was corrupted.  One of the spells she was learning was a spell that could extract a pony's soul from their body and transfer it to her.  Each soul houses a portion of Equestrian magic that is very powerful.  She had hoped that the more souls she absorbed the greater her magic would become to the point where she'd be able to alter Equestria however she wanted to, conform it to her own twisted vision and design.

"My friends told me that when you defeated her, you drained her power.  My only guess is that you absorbed the same dark magic that she used to have and it's making a resurgence."

"But that don't make any sense.  How could Ah have dark magic inside me 'n not know about it?  Ah went nearly 9 months in ma world without anythin weird happenin."

Twilight seemed to ponder this for a brief period before an idea came to her mind and she spoke up.

"But your world doesn't have magic does it?  So maybe this dark magic inside of you manifested in some other form like a disease."

At first, I was skeptical of Twilight's claim before remembering something: my cancer.  The more I thought about it, everything seemed to fall into place.  I was diagnosed with it shortly after returning from Equestria, when I returned to Equestria, I felt like the cancer had vanished entirely, and this whole situation didn't even start until after I had already come back.  Just to be sure, I decided to confer with Twilight.

"Durin tha time between when Ah was last here 'n right now, Ah was diagnosed with cancer.  Does that count?"

Twilight looked at me with a quizzical stare.

"What's... 'cancer'?"

I never thought that I would have to explain cancer to one of these ponies.  Just thinking about it and how it had taken my grandmother less than two years ago made me cringe, but there was no avoiding telling her now so I figured that I could only tell her based off of my personal experience with the disease.

"Cancer is something that you ponies should be thankful doesn't exist anywhere in Equestria," I started. "It's a terrible disease that as of right now has no cure.  It's a disease that slowly eats away at you over time.  It constantly takes and takes and takes and takes until you're nothing but a hollow shell of your former self.  It stays with you til the day you die, however soon that may come," I sighed before finishing. "It's cancer that took my own grandma back home."

It was then that I saw a sight that I would never forget: Twilight had a look of complete shock and horror on her face, even more so than when Tirek destroyed the library.  A revelation like this I could only imagine must've been absolutely horrifying and I could only picture AJ, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity having similar reactions in my head.  I could've sworn that I even heard Flutters gasp and silently weep at my description of it as Twilight just stood there in stunned silence for almost a minute before speaking.

"Oh my Celestia!  David, I'm soo sorry."

"It's O.K.  Ya weren't aware of it."

"But, anyways," she continued, clearing her throat and trying to regain her composure, "yes.  I believe that your... cancer... could've been a manifestation of the dark magic and now it's targeting the Element bearers because of your connection to us."

"Well that explains why you guys are having your souls extracted from your bodies," Savannah stated, "but how does this connect with David getting a pony face?"

"Honestly," Twilight answered, slightly embarrassed, "I don't know.  I couldn't find anything in any of my books that would explain it."

Savannah then looked up before pointing at the sky.

"David!  Twilight!  Look!" she shouted, desperately.

Turning our heads up to where she was pointing, we both saw something small falling from the sky off in the distance.  After squinting to get a better look, I suddenly realized it was Rainbow Dash.  With little time to react, I shot out towards the falling mare like a bullet from a shotgun, flying at full speed to try to catch her.  Even though I was getting closer to her with great speed, it was quite obvious that I wasn't going to be fast enough to catch her before her body hit the ground, possibly shattering her bones.

Under a lot of pressure, I tried something that I had never done before: I attempted to use my magic to stop Rainbow's descent from a distance.  Focusing all my energy and experiencing tremendous stress, I concentrated the magic from my hands and horn on her plummeting body and, much to my relief, managed to stop her mere feet from colliding with the ground.  I exhaled slowly and calmly as I gently lowered Rainbow's body onto the soft grass.  I soon heard Savannah and Twilight running up to join me.

"David are you O.K.?" Savannah questioned out of concern.

"Yeah.  Ah'm fine," I replied. "'N so is Rainbow's body."

"That was some pretty quick reflexes and thinking," Twilight remarked, an impressed smile on her face.

"Tell me about it," the three of us heard a familiar voice call out.

"Rainbow?" I puzzled. "Is that you?"

"Where are you Rainbow?" Savannah asked as the three of us started looking around for the voice's origin.

"I'm up here," Rainbow answered.

At the sound of her voice, the three of us looked upwards.  Although hard to see at first against the blue sky, we soon noticed a small cyan ball of light as it softly descended into our presence, the appearance of which was almost like a drop of the sky itself.  It wasn't long before the soul orb landed amongst us that Rainbow spoke again.

"Whoa!  David?  What up with the pony face?"

"It's a long story honestly," I stated, "but what Ah can tell ya is that tha same thing that happened ta you has already happened ta Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, 'n Pinkie 'n, jus like with them, Ah need ta house yer soul in ma mind in order fer it ta survive til we can get this mess fixed."

"O.K.  Whataya need me to do?"

"Jus come ta ma hand," I replied, holding out my right hand.

With no hesitation, Rainbow's astral sphere levitated over to my outstretched hand before settling on it as the familiar burning sensation set in with the orb phasing into my hand.  Shortly after travelling up to my head, I was again flooded with flashbacks, but only briefly for, just as the memory of filly Rainbow Dash racing the bullies hit, I was struck with another stabbing, burning feeling like when I absorbed Pinkie Pie's soul, although, instead of my head, this time it was my entire spine as the five mares in my head voiced their shared anguish with me.  I collapsed onto the grass, screaming and writhing in pain as Twilight and Savannah watched me in horror.  Finally, after a minute, when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, the pain ceased entirely as I gasped for breath after having been put through such torment.  Savannah then helped me to my feet before voicing her worry.

"Are you O.K., David?"

"Yeah," I answered between breaths. "Yeah Ah think... Ah'm better now."

"Uh David?" Twilight started, looking behind me in shock. "You've got a... a..."

"A what?" I asked, turning to see what she was looking at.

Immediately, I was shocked at what I saw for, at the base of my spine, there was now a long, furry pony tail waving back at me.

"Aaaaaaaah!!!" I screamed out as I leapt backwards, falling over in the process.

With a fearful look on my face, I attempted to back away from this alien appendage, but there's no escaping your own tail.

"What the... what the hell is going on with me!?!" I panicked. "It's getting even worse!!!  I'm... I'm turning into a dumb animal!!!"

"David," Savannah spoke up, "I promise you, you're not turning into a dumb animal."

Yeah, Davey, Pinkie chimed in. You're one of the most intelligent humans I know.  Actually you're one of the only humans I know.

He don't mean that kinda dumb, Pinkie, AJ stated, before pausing briefly to correct herself. Well O.K. he kinda does, but dumb can also refer ta somepony who lacks tha 'bility ta speak or somepony who lacks sentience.

Oh darling there's absolutely no reason for you to get your tail all in a twist over something like this, Rarity spoke up, before realizing her poor choice of words. Umm... no offense.

I agree with Rarity, Fluttershy chimed in. You need to remain calm through this just like you've been telling me and her and everypony else that this has happened to.

"Yer right," I finally replied. "But still, how're we supposed ta find out what's happening ta me?"

After a short while of thinking, Twilight was finally struck with an idea.

"Zecora!  She knows even more about mysterious illnesses than I do.  You two go see Zecora.  I'll head back to the castle.  I need Spike to transcribe an urgent letter to Princess Celestia about our current situation."

"Good idea, Twi," I answered.

Savannah, however, was quick to object.

"No.  Twilight, if the same thing that happened to the others happens to you at the castle, David will never be able to make it there from the Everfree Forest in time much less know it's even happened in time.  It's best if you stay close by him while he goes to Zecora's to be on the safe side.  I can have Spike take a letter for the princess."

"Are ya sure bout this, Savannah?"

"Yes, David.  I'll be fine," she reassured.

"Alright then.  I guess it's decided," Twilight stated. "Let's get going to Zecora's."

And so we parted ways, Savannah on her mission and me and Twilight on ours, all of us unaware of just how complicated things were about to become.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


A long walk later, me and Twi were at Zecora's hut.  We both explained to her what we knew so far before she started examining me closely, checking my teeth, eyes, and tail.  After a brief while, she headed over to one of her cabinets full of elixirs and potions.

"I have never experienced a case like yours.  Whatever's causing this transformation is an unnatural force," she spoke, pulling out a flask of green liquid and bringing it to me. "Here is a brew I made earlier this week.  Drink it and it may provide the answers you seek."

Popping the cork off of the top, I took a whiff of the elixir.  The odor was very fruity, but also smelt of several spices.

"Welp, bottoms up," I stated, before shooting it back.

The potion tasted of wild berries with an added kick from the spices.  Those that I could make out were oregano, garlic, rosemary, and cayenne which added some heat to the bizarre concoction.  There was also a very strong earthy tone to it that I couldn't quite nail down.  After finishing it, I looked at Twilight and Zecora not sure what to expect.

"Well Ah don' feel any different than Ah-"

"Aaaaaaaah!!!" Twilight blurted out at the sight of me.

"What is it?  What's wrong?"

"The pupils of your eyes have changed to slits," Zecora started, a look of shock on her face also, "like those of a snake from the deepest of pits."

"What?  How can-"

Before I could finish speaking, I lost control of myself.  My eyes suddenly stared forward in a wide gaze as an evil smile crept across my face.  Twilight was quick to voice concern.

"David?" she asked, uneasily. "What's happening?"

No sooner had the words escaped her lips than I spoke, but not in my voice.  The voice that came from my mouth was one with a raspy quality to it, the voice of one I never thought I'd hear again.

"David?  No this isn't David.  This voice belongs to his old enemy who he thought he had defeated."

"Crystal!" Twilight spoke with venom.

"I don't answer to my slave name.  It's not even my real name.  Only a name that your Princess Celestia gave to me when I first came here.  My real name is long forgotten nor do I wish to remember it.  When David absorbed my dark magic, he also absorbed my dark nature, my venom, my cruelty and slowly it's been eating away at him, corrupting him.  What's been happening to your pathetic friends is only a side effect of that.  He has a connection to all six of you and it is that connection that has doomed you all.

"As for his slow transformation, there was another unexpected side effect.  Because his ancestry includes the weakling genes of ponies, a pony he's been turning into slowly as he absorbs your souls.  Soon after he's fully turned, his corruption will be complete.  He'll be trapped in that form and remain evil for as long as he lives, never able to return back to his world, never able to have a life with the one he loves.  Not to mention you and your little bitches for friends will be trapped in his mind forever, tormented by his evil nature."

"You're wrong.  I've already arranged for word to be sent to Princess Celestia about this.  True she and Luna are attending to business in the Crystal Empire with Cadence, but once she finds out what's going on, she'll be able to purge you from David and return things to normal," she replied with a confident smile on her face.

"Actually it's you who are mistaken.  Can't send a letter to the princess if there's no way for it to be delivered."

"What do you mean?" Twilight puzzled. "Spike can just send my message with his fire breath."

"Not if there's a little bit of... magical interference."

Twilight looked at me with shock.

"That's right.  Can't have Spike or any of you sorry excuses for life interfering with my plans for revenge.  I arranged for this to happen as another little side effect for David.  That letter isn't going anywhere and by the time that pathetic whore Celestia finds out, it'll be too late."

"You'll never get away with- OWWW!"

Twilight's protest was interrupted by severe pain from her before she started hacking constantly.  That same raspy voice just kept talking.

"Let me guess.  You were going to say that I won't get away with this?  Well for your information, I already have.  David's body will serve as my new vessel and there's no way you or him or anyone else of your pitiful race can prevent it."

As those last words of Crystal's escaped my lips, Twilight broke out in a seizure while I returned to my normal mind.  Immediately, I held Twi's body still to prevent her from injuring herself for an entire minute before she went limp and a glowing violet orb, like pure amethyst, exited her mouth.  Without hesitation, I captured the soul sphere in my hands before it phased into one of them, travelling up my arm to my head.  My mind was immediately flooded with flashbacks from filly Twilight being chosen as Celestia's personal protege to defeating Nightmare Moon with her new friends to her ascension as Alicorn Princess to her journey into the parallel world of Equestria Girls to my last night in Equestria when we sat and talked for a while.

With the onslaught of flashbacks done, I looked over at Zecora unsure of what to say.  Thankfully, she was quick to speak up.

"The potion you drank allowed us to see the root cause of your malady," she explained. "If what Crystal said is to be believed, you must make your way to Celestia with great speed.  Only she can purge this darkness inside so Crystal's control over you will be denied, but you must be careful and not hesitate to act or you'll encounter a terrible fate.  As a pony in Equestria you will remain and by this terrible darkness your soul will be claimed.  Also your friends will be trapped in your mind permanently til the end of your time."

"Ah've gotta get back ta Savannah 'n tell her how important this situation is," I shouted out as I ran for the door. "Thanks fer yer help Zecora."

And with those final words, I ran back to Ponyville as fast as my legs could carry me, knowing there wasn't a moment to lose.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


Not long after I got out of the Everfree Forest, I flew the rest of the way to Twilight's castle where Savannah was.  Because of this, I was able to arrive much sooner than I ever would've on foot.  After a short while of perusing the castle looking for Savannah, I finally found her in the main throne room with Spike, who was looking absolutely exhausted.  Both of them were quick to notice me.

"Hey Dav- aaah!" Savannah started upon seeing me.

"What happened to your eyes?" Spike asked. "Your pupils are slitted."

"Well Ah went ta-... wait a minute.  Why were ya only commenting on ma eyes?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ah'm jus sayin that you don't seem at all shocked bout tha fact that Ah have a pony face 'n tail."

"Well Twilight had already told me about your pony face last night when she came home.  She was up all night trying to find out what was going on with you, but I was too tired from helping Rarity so I went straight to bed after Twilight told me what happened to you.  So anyways, what happened to your eyes?"

"Oh right.  Well, Ah went ta visit Zecora with Twilight ta find out what was happenin ta me," I explained, "n let's jus say it ain't good."

"What could be soo bad about having slit pupils?  I think they look cool."

"Well, Spike, do ya remember that hag that Ah defeated tha last time Ah was here?"

"Yeah."

"Well when Ah defeated her, Ah absorbed her power inta me 'n, along with it, her evil nature."

Savannah and Spike gasped in unison.

"But how does that explain why you're turning into a pony?" Savannah questioned.

"Because Ah have pony ancestry.  As Ah've been absorbing tha souls of our friends, they've been slowly turning me inta one o' them.  As if that wasn't bad enough, Ah'm also becomin more 'n more corrupt in tha process.  Tha more of a pony Ah become, tha darker Ah turn.  Once ma transformation is complete, ma soul will be claimed by tha darkness, Ah'll be stuck as a pony, our friends will be trapped in ma mind, 'n you 'n Ah will never be able ta be together.  Ah'll be stuck here in Equestria fer tha rest o' ma days."

"Well how are we going to stop this?  I've tried to have Spike send this letter to Princess Celestia, but it keeps coming back."

"I've tried sending it soo many times I've lost count," the baby dragon stated wearily.

"That's magical interference caused by tha hag's spirit," I explained. "Both Celestia 'n Luna are attending ta business in tha Crystal Empire so who knows when they'd be back.  Ah'm gonna have ta go straight to them so that Celestia can purge this darkness from me 'n return our friends to their bodies before it's too late."

"But, David, without Twilight here, who's gonna run Ponyville?"

The thought had never occurred to me that somepony else would need to run Ponyville in Twilight's absence, but now I realized that I had no idea how long this journey would take or what other obstacles Crystal's spirit might've thrown in my way.  After brief pondering, I heard Twilight's voice speak up.

Why doesn't Savannah take over for me?

"Are ya sure bout that Twi?"

Of course I'm sure.  She's someone we both trust and she's a princess.  Who else would be better suited for keeping things under control while we're gone?

Ah agree with Twi, AJ stated.

Same, Rainbow Dash agreed.

Me too, Fluttershy replied.

Definitely, Rarity answered.

Me six, Pinkie piped up.

With a slight chuckle, I turned to face Savannah.

"Savannah, the girls 'n Ah were talking 'n we think it's in tha best interest fer Ponyville if you hold down tha fort til we get back."

Savannah looked at me with stunned disbelief written all over her face.

"Me?" she questioned, sounding unsure of herself. "Why me?  I'm only 18 and I have no experience running a whole town."

"Because Twi trusts you enough as a princess with running Ponyville in her absence 'n most importantly Ah trust you.  Ever since we met, Ah've watched you become more confident 'n more 'take charge' over certain things.  Would you have been able ta put out a successful debut album without yer confidence?"

"Probably not," she admitted.

"So if you were able ta do that as a teenager, Ah'm pretty sure you can handle a small town fer a short period while we're gone.  You've jus gotta believe it fer yerself."

Savannah hesitated for several seconds before answering.

"Alright then.  I'm confident I can do this now."

"That's ma girl," I stated as I pulled her into a comforting hug and ran my fingers through her silky, golden hair. "'N don' worry.  This whole mess will be over before ya know it 'n we'll be able ta start our life together.  Ah promise."

Savannah smiled at the thought of this before we pulled apart after half a minute.

"I'll tell everypony about the situation that has arisen.  You should start heading to the Crystal Empire as soon as possible."

"I recommend taking the train," Spike spoke up.

"That's a good idea, Spike," I started, "but how will Ah pay fer train fare?"

"Hold on one sec."

Spike then ran off to who even knows where while Savannah and I just waited for his return.

"Whataya think he's doing?" Savannah puzzled.

I only shrugged in response.  It wasn't long after my shrug that we heard tiny dragon footsteps running towards us.  Sure enough, Spike came rushing in with a blue gemstone the size of my hand.

"You can just use this Sapphire to cover train fare," he stated.

"Are ya sure bout this Spike?" I asked. "Ah don' wanna bother ya."

"Nah it's no problem at all.  I always keep plenty of gems around in case of emergencies.  Go on.  Take it."

Reluctantly, I reached out to grab the gem before pocketing it.

"Thanks, Spike."

"Well then I guess we'd better go our separate ways," Savannah replied.

And so we parted.  Savannah to explain the situation to the townsponies and me to head for the train station.  I could only hope that I'd make it to Princess Celestia before it was too late.
> Chapter V:  The Long Journey Into The North
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

And so, after a short trip to the station and an equally short wait boarding the train, me and the girls were finally off to the Crystal Empire.  As I sat in one of the train cars, I received plenty of weird looks from the ponies travelling with me.  I tried not to think about it though as I kept my mind focused on getting to our destination and getting our problem rectified as quickly as possible.

"You girls doin' O.K. up there?" I asked.

Yes, they all replied.

Thanks for asking, Twilight stated, pleasantly.

"Yer welcome.  So how long does a train ride ta tha Crystal Empire typically take?"

Only about a few hours.  We should be there before you know it.

No sooner did Twilight speak then the train came to a screeching halt.

Wait a minute.  Why did we stop? Rainbow questioned.

"Ah dunno, Rainbow.  Maybe we should go out 'n check."

And with that, I exited the train car to investigate, as did many other ponies.  Upon making my way to the train engine, I discovered that a bridge that we had arrived at had been destroyed.  I then sought answers from the train conductor on how long it would take for the bridge to be fixed.  He said it would take a few days at which point many of the mares in my head started to object.

Oh that's just great, Rainbow protested. How're we gonna get to the Crystal Empire now?

Does this mean we're not gonna make it there at all? Fluttershy asked nervously.

That would not be very cool, Pinkie spoke up.

Girls, just try to calm down, Twilight stated.

How can we be calm at a time like this? Rarity questioned.

Do y'all even hear yerselves? AJ asked. Y'all are gettin worked up over nothin.

And with that, all six mares broke out into arguing in my head.  All these voices had me feeling like I was about to get a migraine from the constant noise and bickering that was going on.  Finally, when I couldn't take it anymore, I placed my thumb over my index finger, held it in front of my forehead, and flicked my index finger against it.

Ow! all six of them objected.

"Sorry, girls.  Ah jus needed a moment of silence ta think this all through."

So, with the silence I had been looking for, I began to think over our current predicament and how it could be resolved.  After a brief minute of mulling it over in my head, I thought of something.

"Twi, if Ah were ta jus fly ta tha Crystal Empire from here, do ya think Ah could make it there in time?"

I'm honestly not sure, but it would be faster than it would take for them to fix this bridge.

"Then it looks like it's been decided.  Ah'm flyin to tha Crystal Empire."

But, David, Fluttershy stated, timidly, We don't even know if you'll make it there in time.

"If it means that Ah'll be able ta be with Savannah again if Ah succeed, that's a risk Ah'm willin ta take.  Ah'll either fly ta tha Crystal Empire 'n make it or lose ma soul ta tha darkness tryin."

Well what're ya waitin for? Rainbow spoke up.

"Nothin.  Let's go."

And with a mighty thrust of my wings, I shot up into the sky and began what would be my long flight into the north, all the while praying that this brief hindrance wouldn't be my undoing.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


Flying in the direction of the Crystal Empire was relatively easy as all I had to do was just follow the train tracks as they went north.  Even without the train tracks, I could've probably figured it out by myself.  Back home, I have a very innate sense of direction.  One time when I was all done with a semester at my community college, the only bus leaving from the campus was not the bus that I normally take to get home, but I took that bus up until a certain point where I then got off and walked to the next stop where my normal bus comes by, just as it was pulling up, and I made it home perfectly fine that day.

As time wore on, I tried to keep up conversation with the girls as they also tried to keep up conversation with me.

"So, Twi, how's this girl Sunset Shimmer doin since ya last heard from her?"

She's doing pretty good.  Not really too much to report aside from her being the new frontrunner of this band called the Rainbooms.  She does lead vocals and guitar for them.

"Ah wish Ah could've been in a band.  I actually auditioned for a band one time."

Really? Rainbow asked, her curiosity now piqued. How'd that go?

"Well it was a few years ago when ma mom brought me ta this bar where a band o' 30 somethin's were lookin fer a lead vocalist.  They gave me a list o' some songs ta practice ahead o' time 'n by tha time o' tha audition Ah had bout four different songs memorized.  So we ran through them a few times over tha course of a few hours 'n they said they were impressed by ma dedication in tha sense that most people who came ta audition only bothered ta learn one song whereas Ah learned four.  Aside from that though, Ah never heard anythin from them again after that.  Ah don' know if they found someone else ta be their lead singer or if they jus disbanded."

That's too bad, Flutters stated. I'm sure you would've been great in that band.

"Thanks, Flutters."

David, did you ever tell any of the girls about how you used to be an actor? Twilight questioned.

You used to be an actor!?! Rarity beamed. David, darling, why didn't you say so sooner?  Now you just have to tell us all about it.

You should tell them about the Halloween show you did with the Michael Jackson performance at the end.

Hallowhat? Pinkie questioned.

Michael who? Applejack puzzled.

"O.K.  O.K.," I finally gave in. "Fer those of you who didn't know, Halloween is basically ma home world's version o' Nightmare Night 'n Michael Jackson was a very popular performer.  He was famously known as 'The King Of Pop' 'n had numerous hit singles over tha course of his career.  He sadly died about six years ago.  Two years after his passing, Ah was in a Halloween musical at ma local theater where Ah played a vampire nerd named Oscar."

Hahahahahaha.  You played a vampire nerd? Pinkie laughed. That's funny.

"Yes.  It was a pretty funny role ta play 'n Ah had a lot o fun with it, but ma favorite part was at tha very end when Ah got ta break out inta 'Thriller', one o' Michael Jackson's biggest hits.  Ah had such a great time singin that as everybody else was dancing around me.  After one o tha shows, an elderly man came up ta me 'n said, 'Michael Jackson still lives in you'.  Ah was completely shocked ta receive a compliment like that.  Never before had Ah gotten that kind of praise fer a performance.  It was very humbling."

If this Michael Jackson was as great as you said he was, then I'm sure you must've done him proud, Rainbow replied.

Couldn't agree more, Rare followed up.

"Thanks you two."

Was there anything else you acted in?  Surely that one musical can't have been your only performance.

"Well, Rare, Ah was also in another musical 'n five variety shows."

And what exactly is a "variety show"?

"Well it's kind of a mashup of many different things.  There's skits, monologues, jokes, dance numbers, 'n singing.  Some people prefer ta sing alone while others prefer ta sing in a group.  Ah sang solo fer each 'n every one of 'em."

You sang by yourself at all five variety shows? Fluttershy wondered in amazement. You must've been very brave and committed in order to sing in every single show like that.

"Eh.  It just came naturally ta me.  Ah've been singin ever since Ah was- OWWW!!!!"

I was cut off by that all too familiar burning/stabbing feeling I had experienced before.  This time, though, it was in my arms from my shoulders all the way down to my fingertips.  The other mares cried out in agony with me as I watched my hands curl up and harden into hooves.

Pop.  Pop.

As my hands became hooves, the two rings I had been wearing popped off of where my fingers had once been and started plummeting towards the ground.

"Ma rings!!!!"

I then went into a nosedive towards the falling rings, gaining great speed on them.  Using my telekinesis from my horn, I managed to stop their descent and catch them.  I then landed on the ground and held my rings in my hooves wondering how I would go about carrying them with me.

What's soo significant bout those rings? AJ questioned.

"One of these is ma wedding ring from when me 'n Savannah got married.  Tha other used ta belong ta ma grandmother before she passed away from cancer.  It's one o tha few things Ah have left from her.  Tha only problem Ah have now is how'm Ah supposed ta carry them with me?"

You could just wear them on your horn, Twilight suggested.

"Hmm.  Now that Ah think about it, it might work," I answered, using my magic to place both rings on my horn.

Sure enough, both rings fit perfectly.

"There.  That's better.  Ah think Ah'm gonna walk fer a bit ta give ma wings some time ta rest."

As I walked along, I could only imagine how strange I would look to any other ponies.  I now had a pony head, pony tail, and pony forelegs, not to mention my wings and horn.  The only parts of me that were still human were my torso and my legs.  This weird blend would probably seem very odd to anypony who might have seen me walking on hind legs even longer than my forelegs.  Suddenly, Pinkie's voice snapped me back to reality.

What's this? she asked.

"What's what?" I asked back. "What're ya talkin abo-"

Before I could finish, a memory came back to me, though not through my own will.  The memory was of me, sitting at home on my bed, watching episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.  Episode after episode flashed through my mind as I realized my worst fear had come to fruition: one of the ponies (Pinkie Pie in this case) had managed to get into my personal memories and now had access to them.

"Hey hey hey!  Those are my personal memories!" I protested. "Stay out of there!"

But we're in em so it's personal ta us too, Applejack came back, defensively.

Why are we in your memories from before you even met us? Rainbow Dash lashed out.

David? Twilight asked firmly. Is there something you wanna tell us?

I had known this was gonna happen sooner or later; I guess I had always hoped that it would be much later.  But now there was no avoiding it; I had to come clean and tell them how I had known about them in the first place.

"Alright," I uttered, still walking, eyes fixed ahead. "In tha world Ah come from, each 'n every one of you are part of a kid's TV show called My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.  It basically chronicles yer everyday adventures startin from when Twi first moved ta Ponyville ta prevent Nightmare Moon's return up until y'all defeated Lord Tirek.  There were even two movies made revolvin around Twi's visits to the alternate dimension where everyone's human.  That was how Ah first found out bout you guys a little over a year ago."

After a brief period of total silence, Fluttershy finally spoke up.

W-why didn't you say anything about this?

"In all honesty, Flutters,... Ah don' know.  Ah jus... never knew how ta tell any o' ya until now.  Not ta mention it's not necessarily tha easiest thing ta tell somepony that there's a TV show based around their everyday life in another dimension."

I guess you're right.  That would be rather difficult to tell anypony, Rarity admitted.

So... does that mean that... none of us are actually real? Pinkie questioned, nervously. Are we all just... figments of someone else's imagination?

I imagined Pinkie's mane and tail deflating and ears folding back sadly at the thought of something like this.  Thankfully, I knew how to remedy this.

"No no of course not," I replied, softly. "Yer all real.  Yer real ta tha audience who watches yer show, yer real ta tha writers who transcribe yer adventures, yer real ta me.  It's because of all y'all that Ah've become a better person.  Y'all do exist in this dimension.  There are just special people where Ah'm from who're allowed ta see glimpses inta yer dimension 'n share those stories with tha world.  Ah like ta think of these people as Authors: people who observe many things, both wonderful and terrible, happenin in ma world as well as others 'n chronicle them fer others ta experience fer themselves"

Wow, Rainbow uttered. That's... that's quite a lot to take in at once.

"Well how bout Ah take yer mind off of it with a song?"

Oooh oooh oooh.  I love songs, Pinkie piped up.

How about we hear a song you did for the theater? Rarity suggested.

"Good idea, Rare," I stated as I stopped walking. "Ma legs are gettin tired so Ah think Ah'll let ma wings take over.  As fer the song, this one is a Backstreet Boys classic called As Long As You Love Me."

And so, as I took to the sky, I began to sing the upbeat tune as we all let our troubles slip away in that one brief moment of happiness.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


About a half hour later, I was making decent progress as I continued my flight towards the Crystal Empire.  Over that time, I had been singing song after song from my home world to keep the mares in my head entertained from Michael Jackson's Thriller to Journey's Don't Stop Believing to Keith Urban's Put You In A Song to Owl City's When Can I See You Again to the song Up All Night from one of my new favorite TV Shows, Empire.  With each song I did, they all seemed genuinely impressed by my vocal talent.

Wow, David, Fluttershy marveled after I had finished Florida Georgia Line's Stay, you have a really great singing voice.

I'll say, Rainbow added. Had you ever tried to pursue that as a career back home?

"Well, Rainbow, it's funny that you should mention that.  Several years ago back home, Ah actually tried auditionin fer this reality competition show called American Idol where tha point o' tha show is ta find tha next greatest singer in all America."

Really? Twilight asked, amazed. How far did you make it?

"Up ta tha celebrity judges.  Before Ah even got there, there were three rounds of auditions Ah had ta go through.  In tha first round, Ah auditioned with a group of four other contestants 'n Ah was the only one in that group ta make it through.  As if that wasn't enough, later on when Ah auditioned in front o' tha four executive producers o' tha show, Ah needed three yeses ta make it through ta tha celebrity judges.  Ah got three exactly."

Applejack let out an impressed whistle at that statement before I continued.

"Ah consider maself lucky ta have made it as far as Ah did, especially when ya take inta account that Ah started out as one o several thousand originally 'n made it to a point that only a few hundred ever do."

Have you ever thought of going back and trying again? Rarity questioned. Surely something like this can't have just completely lost your interest.

"Oh all tha time definitely.  It's been on ma radar fer a while now, it's jus that tha past few years Ah've been really busy with a lotta stuff.  College, ma job, Savannah.  Life has a way of slipping right by ya before ya even know it.  Maybe Ah'll try again this year once Ah get back home... that is if Ah ever get back home."

I then started to lose confidence that I'd make it to the Crystal Empire in time.  Applejack was quick to offer reassurance.

Don'cha worry Sugarcube.  Ya'll make it ta Celestia, have this problem fixed, 'n be back with Savannah before ya know it.

I smiled as I started to reply.

"Thanks A-"

My reply was interrupted though as I accidentally crashed into something/someone.  My focus had not been on where I was going and this collision was a byproduct of that.  I started rubbing my aching forehead with my hoof.

"I am soo sorry," I apologized instantly, not seeing who I had crashed into as my eyes were closed. "I didn't mean to-"

"Why don't you watch where you're going, dweeb?" a familiar voice condemned.

Wait a minute, Rainbow started, I know that voice.

Meep! Fluttershy let out nervously.

I knew who that voice was also.  It was the voice of one who I hadn't seen or heard since Season 1, but the voice was unmistakable.  Sure enough, as I opened my eyes and looked towards the direction of my accuser, I saw that it was Gilda the Gryphon, rubbing her own forehead.

"You!" I responded with venom in my tone. "What're you doing here?"

"That's none of your beeswax," she answered just as malicously. "What're you doing here?"

"That's none of your beeswax so I guess we're both going to be disappointed."

After Gilda had finished rubbing her forehead and got a good look at me, she looked dumbfounded as I figured she might at the sight of this weird Human/Alicorn hybrid hovering in front of her.

"What the flying feather are you supposed to be?"

"That's really not of any concern to you, but I happen to be a human descendant of an Alicorn Princess from thousands of years ago who wound up in my home world as a human and had many descendants over those millennia leading up to me in the present.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have someplace very important to be," I replied, trying to fly past her.

"What's the hurry?" Gilda asked as she blocked me. "I thought we were just getting to know each other... or am I not good enough for you?"

"That's not what it's like at all," I answered, getting slightly annoyed as I tried to pass her again, "I just don't have a lot of time to waste right now and I need to get somewhere very quickly."

"Oh is that all I am to you?" Gilda questioned, offended. "A waste of time?  Gilda's not good enough or cool enough for you to hang out with?"

"Enough please, Gilda," I stated as I flew away from her, hoping and praying that I could get out of this situation before I did something I'd regret.

"No no no.  I get it," Gilda lashed back. "All you ponies are the same.  Just a bunch of lame-o's who think that you're better than others.  None of us are ever good enough for you ponies to even bother with.  Well you know what?!?  You and your friends are no better off than a Changeling!"

That was it.  My slit eyes were full of fury as I turned back towards Gilda.

"I SAID ENOUGH!!!!!!!!" I screamed with spite evident in my tone.

But at that moment, something happened that I didn't intend: A powerful blast of dark magic shot out from my horn and struck Gilda on her chest, resulting in a bloody wound appearing there as if she'd been slashed with a sword.  A look of horror immediately crossed my face as I watched her body plummet towards the ground.  Thinking fast, I dove after her and caught her with my normal magic before lowering her to the ground.  Her breathing was heavy and labored as I focused my energy on trying to heal her.  Within a short while, her wound was healed, but she gazed at me with a horrified look on her face.

"Monster!" she screamed as she fled from me. "MONSTER!"

As she flew away, I turned back in the direction that I was originally heading as I replayed the whole horrific scenario in my head.  I began to fear that the darkness was taking control of me much faster than I'd originally anticipated and my faith that I'd make it to Celestia in time was fading fast.
> Chapter VI:  Pondering The Past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I kept on flying until I lost track of how long I'd been flying for.  All I did know was that my wings were getting exhausted as I decided to walk for a bit, giving them some rest.

David, what's wrong? Twilight asked out of concern.

After what had just happened with Gilda, I had remained completely quiet for the entire time I was travelling.  Even when the others voiced their concerns for me, I stayed silent.

Is everything O.K.? Fluttershy questioned, nervously.

He hasn't talked in hours, Rainbow spoke. What's eatin ya bud?

I knew that I couldn't avoid the voices in my head for much longer, but I kept on putting off answering them for as long as I could.  I was a world-class procrastinator in that sense.

C'mon, Dayvid, ya can't jus keep avoidin us like this, Applejack stated.

Don't keep it bottled up inside, darling.  Let us help you, Rarity encouraged.

Yeah, Davey.  Tell us why you're being soo quiet all of a sudden, Pinkie piped up.

Finally, I broke my silence by answering them.

"Alright.  Do you guys really wanna know why Ah've been this quiet since... ya know?"

Yes, the six mares simultaneously answered in my head.

"O.K.  What y'all gotta realize is that what Ah'm about ta tell ya Ah've shared with very few others.  Only some o' ma relatives, a few o' ma friends, 'n Savannah know about this."

You can trust us, Twilight replied, pleasantly.

"Alright then.  Back about four years ago, Ah heard voices in ma head."

I know what that's like, Pinkie spoke up. I hear voices in my head all the time.

I paused for a second before remembering that this was most likely just part of the status quo with Pinkie and continued.

"Well this is kinda different from that Pinkie.  Tha voices that Ah heard told me ta do things... terrible things ta maself 'n others.  It was those voices that almost brought me ta kill maself numerous times.  One time, tha voices told me ta... harm a large group full o' complete innocents or else Ah'd die..." I paused briefly, so terrified of these memories that I was almost unsure if I could bring myself to say the following words, "a group o' ma own friends."

You didn't... do it... did you? Fluttershy's voice trembled.

"Ah almost did, but Ah was stopped before Ah could go through with it.  Cops apprehended me, contacted ma parents, 'n Ah was brought to a hospital where Ah was diagnosed with Schizophrenia."

What's... skit-so-what's it? Rainbow puzzled.

"Schizophrenia is a mental disorder.  Ya know how there are times when ya might suffer from an illness or somethin like that?"

Yes, all six replied.

"Well, Schizophrenia is an illness o' tha brain.  It causes a person ta be unable ta discern fantasy from reality.  Tha voices in ma head weren't real, but Ah didn't know that at tha time."

If it's only an illness, why don't you just get it cured? Pinkie asked.

Pinkie! Twilight protested.

"No it's alright Twi.  In answer ta yer question, Pinkie, illnesses o' tha brain don't have an actual cure.  Medicine can be taken ta keep it under control, but tha problem still remains.  After Ah was diagnosed, Ah was put in tha psychiatric ward fer 'bout a month with all tha other nutcases.  Ah'll never forget how absolutely alone Ah felt fer tha whole time Ah was stuck in there.  Ah hardly knew anyone there, hardly anyone visited aside from family, 'n tha whole time Ah was there, Ah was strugglin ta hold on ta ma sanity."

	Why didn't you tell any of us about this before? Rarity questioned.

"Because it's somethin that Ah've been tryin ta avoid talking bout.  Ah don't really bring it up much with anyone because Ah don't want any of 'em ta think any differently o' me.  Unfortunately, after Ah had harmed Gilda back there, those bad memories came flooding back ta me.  What if... what if Ah'm jus revertin back ta that same ole evil person again?  Ah promised maself Ah wouldn't go back there again which was why Ah never told anyone back home bout how Ah came here las time fer fear that they'd send me back."

There was a brief moment of silence after I spoke before Twilight finally answered back.

Look, David, I'm not going to act like I know what you're going through right now because I don't, none of us do, but what I do know is that you can't just keep something like that bottled up like this because it's not healthy.  You need to open up to others so that you're not stuck having to deal with this alone.  Also you need to realize that those memories are behind you and they no longer make up who you are.  Someone I know once said, "My past does not define me cuz my past is not today".  The exact same principle applies to you.

Also, don't say things like that you're evil.  You are a genuinely good person, Flutters affirmed. I should know, being the Element Of Kindness.  Never doubt for a second that there's goodness inside you.  Plus, just like you've been there for us, we'll all be there for you no matter what comes our way.

Definitely, Rainbow replied.

You bet, AJ answered.

Of course, Rarity stated.

Absotively, Pinkie beamed.

"Thanks guys," I smiled. "Hey.  Whataya guys say I sing a couple more songs to pass the time?"

Sounds great! all six of them replied in unison.

And so, with newfound vigor and confidence, and a song on my lips, I took to the sky again, determined now more than ever that I'd make it to the Crystal Empire on time.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


Several minutes had passed by the time that my wings got tired and I decided to once again let them rest while I walked.  I had just finished singing the song "Goodbye" by Miley Cyrus when one of the mares finally spoke up.

I really liked that song.  Who's it by? Fluttershy questioned.

"That song was done by a female singer named Miley Cyrus."

Is she one o yer favorites when it comes ta singers? AJ asked.

"She's O.K.  Before Ah met Savannah, Ah had such a huge crush on her."

At that moment, I immediately had a flashback to the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, particularly Miley's performance with Robin Thicke where she twerked up against him.

What is that? Rainbow questioned accusingly, undoubtedly referring to my flashback.

"Uh nothin.  Nothin at all," I nervously laughed, trying to banish the thought from my head.

David.  Was that Miley? Twi spoke up.

I paused for several seconds before responding.

"Yes.  Yes it was."

What in the name of Celestia was she doing? Rarity reacted, disgustedly. It looked extremely undignified.

"Well, Rare, one o tha sad truths about ma world is that celebrities often do really bizarre things jus ta stay relevant in tha public eye.  Miley was no different.  In tha eyes of a celebrity, they're willin ta do anythin good or bad as long as it gets people talkin.  Tha funny thing is, though, even after she did somethin like that, Ah still like her as a person."

How? Rainbow asked, in a mixture of confusion and anger. What is there to possibly still like about her?

"Ah'll try ta show ya."

At that moment, I conjured up a memory I had of the following year's Video Music Awards.  In that memory, I saw Jimmy Fallon announcing Miley Cyrus as winner of the Video Of The Year award.

Oh great, Rainbow scoffed. She won an award.  Whoop dee doo.

"Jus keep watching."

As the memory continued, Miley and a male friend of hers who looked about the same age as me stood up and hugged each other, but instead of her going up to accept the award, she let him go up to get it.

Wait a minute.  Who's this guy? Pinkie puzzled.

"His name is Jesse n he's homeless."

My memory then showed Jesse giving his acceptance speech, discussing the 1.6 million homeless youth across America and telling how people could help make a difference in their lives.

"Do ya guys see now?  She could've just as easily made her win all about her, but instead decided ta use her celebrity title n her influence ta bring awareness to a very real issue in ma country.  When Ah saw this, Ah couldn't help but think o Savannah n how she might've ended up being just another one o those homeless young people had Ah not helped her out n supported her career choice."

Wow.  I never would've thought of that before, Rainbow admitted.

"One o tha things Ah've always tried ta do is look fer tha good in others.  Not that that's been easy all tha time, but at least Ah try all tha while knowin that er'body makes mistakes once in a while.  Ah sure know that Ah'm far from perfect."

Me mentioning my lack of perfection brought up a memory of me as a teenager at a friend's birthday party from before I had met Savannah where I was dancing with said friend.  And when I say "dancing" I mean more along the lines of the two of us grinding up against each other.  However, I banished the thought from my mind just as quickly as it had entered it before any of the mares in my head could comment on it.  I didn't need any of that for them to dwell on.

"But enough about that, let's talk about something different."

Ooo ooo I know!  Let's talk about Twilight's new castle! Pinkie piped up.

"Sure, Pinkie," I smiled.

As I took flight once again, we started discussing possible reasons as to why the castle had appeared and what it's purpose might be.  However, as we pondered, I was completely unprepared for who I would come across next.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


About a half hour had passed since we first started talking about Twilight's castle and none of us could come to an agreement about it.  Rainbow was convinced that there was nothing more to it than the fact that it had just appeared, but the rest of us felt like there must've been some purpose to it.  Now what that purpose might be, none of us had a clue.

As I continued on towards the Crystal Empire, I could definitely notice the change in temperature, slight though it was, and I wasn't the only one.

Brr, Rarity shivered. It certainly is feeling a mite chillier than it did earlier.

Tell me about it, Rainbow remarked.

But that just means we're getting closer to the Crystal Empire, Twi chimed in, confidently. At this rate, we should be there before nightfall.

That is good news, Fluttershy spoke up.

"Definitely," I replied with a smile, before turning back to face the direction from whence I came. "It won't be long now Savannah.  We'll be together again soon."

But no sooner did I turn back to face the direction I was heading in then I saw three dark shapes flying towards me.  It wasn't long before I realized that they were dragons and not just any dragons, these were the teenage dragons that Spike had encountered more than two seasons ago.

Oh no! Rarity stated, her tone full of disgust. It's those same uncouth barbarians that my poor widdle Spikey Wikey came across last time.

Meep! Flutters squeaked in terror.

What do those bozos think they're doing here? Rainbow questioned, her own tone equally full of disgust.

"Ah dunno, Rainbow, but Ah'm not in a mood ta ask 'em.  Not now, not ever."

I then soared even higher up into the clouds in the hopes of avoiding them.  I couldn't help but smile as I glided above the clouds with the setting sun shining on my sapphire feathers, certain that I had avoided the teen dragons.  But my smile quickly disappeared as the three of them rose from the clouds and cut me off.  I tried to stop, but instead ended up crashing into all of them, sending all of us plummeting towards the ground.  I managed to break free of the entanglement and gently lowered myself down while the rest of them crashed hard on the ground, causing a small tremor in the process.  It wasn't long after this when the red one, the leader (who I knew had a name, but said name had long since escaped my memory), lashed out at me.

"Hey!" he protested. "Why don't you watch where you're going?"

"Excuse you?" I replied, sharply. "Who was it that flew right into my path when I was trying to pass?  Cuz I'm pretty sure it was you guys."

"Us dragons don't move out of the way for anyone," the purple one with a beak and long bangs covering his eyes retorted. "Everyone else moves out of the way for us."

"We especially don't move out of the way for namby pamby ponies like you," the lead dragon finished.

"I'm not a pony.  At least not entirely," I replied. "Look at my hind legs."

They then took a good long look at my normal human legs before speaking again.

"What kind of legs are those supposed to be?" the husky bluish-grey dragon asked, mockingly.

"I know right?" the purple one laughed "They look like you just put on stilts.  Are you sure you're not part giraffe?"

I let out an audible snort that was undeniably equine sounding as I was starting to get pissed off at them.  Finally, I answered.

"I'll have you know that these legs are my normal human legs.  I was born as a human, but found out that I was also a descendant of a pony princess from long ago."

"Hahaha," the leader scoffed. "I'll bet that whatever these 'humans' are they're just as pathetic as ponies are."

"We are not pathetic!  There have been many great humans where I come from.  Leaders, scientists, and even soldiers who have worked hard for the betterment of ourselves as a species and a brighter future.  We work together to build each other up, just like these ponies that you mock.  That's the difference between us and you.  All you ever do is worry about your own personal needs and yes there are some of us who only look after ourselves, but hey no one's perfect.  And you know what?  I happen to be proud of my ancestry, both the human and pony sides, because both sides contain something important.  In my world, it's called 'humanity', meaning that there's the potential for one to show kindness and compassion towards others."

Way to go, David, Rainbow cheered.

That's right, Davey, Pinkie piped up. You tell those big meanies off.

Darn straight, AJ encouraged.

"Oh yeah?  Well let's see how your 'humanity' as you call it helps you get out of this situation.  Get him boys."

And with little warning, the slender purple dragon and the more rotund bluish grey dragon dove towards me in an attempted tackle.  However, I was too quick for them and did a back flip out of their way so that they just dove face first into the dirt.  Before they could have time to recover, I took off like a rocket, trying to put some distance between myself and them.  Looking back, I saw all three of them flying after me, but the distance between us never seemed to get any smaller.  It was then that I knew I was making great speed.

But then, at the most inopportune time it could've possibly chosen, I experienced another round of sharp shooting pain, this time centered around my torso.  As every nerve ending in that area screamed out, as did I and the six mares in my head, I ended up going into a crash landing, lying there unable to move on account of the paralyzing agony I was enduring as my torso shrank to the size of a regular pony's and the three dragons caught up to me, turned me on my back, grabbed my fore hooves and hind legs, and pinned me in position with the leader standing over me.

"What's your humanity gonna do for you now, freak?" he spoke mockingly. "All your 'kindness and compassion' you spoke about have done nothing for you.  They're just another way of saying 'weakness'.  Now, the three of us are gonna have some fun with you by having a little cookout," he then chuckled, sinisterly. "What do you have to say to that?"

I felt very fearful at first, then I felt a small flame of anger deep inside me starting to grow even larger by the second.  Suddenly, it became like a raging wildfire of fury as raspy words came from my mouth that I had no control over.

"Go to Tartarus you beasts!!!" I hissed venomously.

No sooner had the words escaped my lips when my horn glowed a mixture of ebony, mauve, and crimson, resulting in all three dragons being levitated off of me up into the air where their bodies began to bend and contort to uncomfortable positions.  They were now my puppets for me to do whatever I wanted with them.  The mares were quick to speak up, trying to shake me out of this rage filled trance that I was under.

David, what're you doing!?! Rarity questioned, nervously.

David, stop! Twi shouted. You don't have to do this!

I heard their voices, but I was soo wrapped up in my dark fit of hatred that I just drowned them out.  My slit pupil eyes were fixed on the dragons in a cold and yet, at the same time, burning stare, my teeth were clenched tightly, and my lips were curled back in a defiant sneer as I watched their looks of horror at this loss of bodily control.  It pleased me to see the looks of terror on their faces (their faces that were gasping for breath as a result of me suffocating them with my dark magic) as I bent their bodies to my will.  I smiled wickedly as I began to see trickles of blood streaming down from their eyes.

DAVID!!!  PLEASE JUST STOP!!! Fluttershy cried out at the top of her lungs in desperation.

That was all it took.  Hearing that voice, soo full of fear that it was literally trembling, screaming out in my mind snapped me out of my trance and dropped the teen dragons to the ground.  Me and the dragons looked at each other with fear in our eyes, them because they were terrified of me and me because I was terrified of what I had just done and that the darkness was only taking control of me faster, all while I heard soft weeping from Flutters.  The dragons quickly fled away from me as I stood there completely shocked; this was the closest I had ever come to killing anyone and it shook me to my core.  Finally, after a lengthy moment of silence, I spoke in a trembling whisper.

"I'm... I'm soo sorry, Flutters.  I'm sorry... all of you.  I pray... I pray that you never have to see me like this again."

And, with tears running down my face, I turned north and flew as fast as I could towards the Crystal Empire.  It wasn't long before I ran into a blizzard.  The icy wind beat against me, forcing me to fight it as I was determined to make it there before the day was over.  Unfortunately, in an attempt to fly far above the stormy gusts and dark, foreboding clouds, I strained soo hard that my right wing tightened up in a cramp, forcing me to proceed on foot.  I continued to fight the frigid gales as I took step after tiring step north, losing track of how long I had been walking.  Finally, I couldn't walk anymore and collapsed, exhausted, in the snow.

My eyes started to flutter shut as weariness came over me.  The last thing I remembered was someone dragging me through the snow, but I was too weak to care as all the world just slipped away and I blacked out.
> Chapter VII:  Fears Of The Future
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some time later, I opened my eyes to find myself in an unknown place.  Looking around, I saw nothing but blinding white light everywhere.  I raised my hoof to shield my eyes from my bright surroundings only to discover that it wasn't a hoof anymore.  It was a hand.  It was the same with my other one.  I put both hands to my face and felt that I no longer had a muzzle.  As I looked over myself, I suddenly realized that I was human again.  How I had returned to my human form I didn't know, but I wasn't about to question it.

As I turned to my right, I could make out the shape of someone off in the distance.  As I approached, I quickly realized that it was Savannah, her back turned to me.  Realizing it was her only caused me to run even more quickly towards her out of eagerness as I called out her name.

"Savannah!!!"

Upon hearing her name, she turned towards me with a smile as I reached her.  It was in that moment that I realized that she was holding something in her arms: a baby.

"Say hello to our new daughter," she replied.

As she passed the infant off to me, I got my first good look at our daughter.  Her baby blue eyes sparkled like the ocean, her hair was a bright shade of scarlet, and, as she looked up at me, she gave me the biggest smile.  There was no denying how absolutely beautiful she was and I was filled with immense pride as I held this little one in my arms.

Savannah and I looked at each other, both with smiles written across our faces.  But my smile soon disappeared on account of what I saw lurking directly behind Savannah.  Rising up behind her was a dark shadowy figure who only seemed to spread darkness to our once bright surroundings like a stain or virus.  His face wasn't visible, but what was visible was the scythe he carried in his right hand.  The scythe itself was terrifying in design with the snath composed of a human backbone topped off with a human skull from which the long blade protruded from its open mouth.

"SAVANNAH, LOOK OUT!!!" I screamed in terror.

She turned around just in time to see the sinister figure, but not fast enough to do anything else as it swung its scythe at her, impaling her torso so that she instantly crumpled over, blood pooling out from her delicate, broken frame.  Our daughter immediately started crying at the unfolding events as this grim reaper turned his attention towards me and her.  Knowing what he was thinking, even though he spoke no words nor could I read any expression from him, I swiftly shielded the infant from him.

"No!" I shouted, angrily. "You can't have her!  It's already bad enough you took my wife from me!"

But to my horror, I discovered that my daughter was vanishing from my arms.  I tried to hold on to her, but was only grasping at nothingness.

"No no no no NO!!!" I screamed in desperation as she completely disappeared.

In that moment, I collapsed to my knees in despair, all alone in the darkness, weary and petrified as I stared into the face of this evil specter, scythe raised at the ready.  I closed my eyes as I waited for him to strike me down.  But, suddenly, I heard what sounded like a powerful blast.  Upon opening my eyes, I saw that the reaper was gone and in his place there stood Princess Luna, who I instantly realized must've destroyed him.

"Princess Luna!!!" I called out in relief, rising to my feet.

"Greetings, David," she replied back.

"What're you doin here?  Is... is this... a dream?"

"Indeed and yet I get the feeling that this does not please you."

"Well... no.  Not particularly"

"And why is that?"

"Well... because... as of recently, it seems like any bad dream that I've had ends up becoming reality."

"So you believe that these dreams you've been having are... visions of what's to come?"

"Yeah.  I mean, in one of the last dreams I had, I dreamt that I was turnin into a pony like you, except that I couldn't talk anymore.  I... I was just another dumb animal.  Now, ever since I had that dream, I'm slowly turnin into a pony."

"But you're still able to speak."

"Well... yeah."

Luna then put a hoof to her chin in contemplation before speaking again.

"Had it ever occurred to you that your own worrying might be contributing to your dreams manifesting themselves in real life?"

"No.  Why would that be a factor?"

"Dreams are very rarely what they seem.  Even your dream that you had those few nights ago didn't come true entirely.  You're still able to talk just like anypony else right?"

"Yes."

"Fearing what happens in dreams only allows it to manifest in your mind, becoming your reality in the process.  The more you're able to let go of that fear the less hold it has over you or even your fate.  Do you understand?"

"Umm... kind of?" I replied unsurely.

"Very well," she answered back, sensing my uncertainty. "I'll try to give you an example."

Almost instantly, the darkness that me and Luna had been standing in was illuminated by six pillars of light that surrounded us.  Within all six pillars were six shadows that were human in shape, but the identity of each shadow was a mystery to me.

"Who're they?" I questioned.

"They are your closest and most loyal friends," Luna answered. "They would do anything for you just as you would do anything for them.  Never once have they abandoned you nor would they ever intend to."

As she finished speaking, all six shadows began moving further away from me.

"Wait what're they doing?" I asked in a panic. "You just said that they'd never abandon me."

"They're not.  They're only leaving you because you pushed them away.  You didn't want them around you."

"No," I answered back firmly, refusing to believe what had just now been told to me. "If these friends are as close to me as you say they are, I'd never shut them out."

Luna smiled before continuing.

"This is precisely what I was trying to prove.  You're full of certainty that you'd never push your friends away.  This is a good thing.  If you keep believing that, it'll manifest into reality and they'll remain with you, but if you lose faith in them, you'll only drive them away, possibly when you need them the most.  Though I pray that the latter never happens."

I stood there pondering what Luna had just told me.  Finally, believing I had a full understanding of what she said, I replied.

"Alright then.  I'll hold on to that thought.  I won't drive my friends from me."

"That's good to hear."

"But... how will I know who those friends are?"

"Oh I have a feeling you'll know when the time is right.  Now I need to let my sister know where you are so that we can bring you to the Crystal Empire quickly."

As she spoke, I suddenly remembered my poem about the night that I had been meaning to share with her.

"Wait, Luna.  Before you go, would you like to hear a poem that I wrote in college about the night?"

"I would love to," she smiled back at me.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


As I started to awaken from the thick fog of sleep, I noticed that I felt unusually warm.  I also felt thick fur pressed up against me.  As I came to my senses, I realized that I was surrounded by a herd of caribou, who themselves seemed to be waking up.  As I stood to my feet, a young female caribou took notice of me.

"Oh good.  You're awake," she spoke.

"Umm... hi?" I replied with uncertainty in my tone. "Do Ah know you?"

"No.  But we all know about you.  You're Prince David.  Your legend has spread far across Equestria even to the northern most regions."

"Ya can actually jus call me Dayvid.  But how did ya know it was me?  Ah mean Ah don't look anything like how Ah used to."

"Well several aspects of you stand out.  In particular, your large wings, your black hair and mustache, your glasses, your long legs, your hazel colored eyes, and the fact that you're wearing clothes, not to mention your accent is unmistakable."

As she mentioned my clothes, I looked down at them and noticed that my T-Shirt was now too big for my much smaller pony torso.  I could only imagine what my boxers and sweatpants would look like on me if my legs changed into pony legs.  As I was pondering this, one of the mares in my head spoke up.

Ask her what her name is, Twilight suggested.

"What's yer name?"

"I'm Willow Leaf, daughter of the chief of our herd.  He noticed you collapsed in the middle of a blizzard and brought you to us so you wouldn't catch frostbite.  We used our bodies to shield and warm you from the cold."

"Well Ah really appreciate that, but how would you stay warm?"

"We have very thick coats that help insulate us.  It was honestly no trouble at all."

"Willow," one of the older caribou called out as he approached us, "Is our guest doing alright?"

"Yes father."

"Wait a minute.  That's yer dad?" I questioned.

"Yes I am," he replied. "I'm Chief Tuktu.  I see you've already met my daughter, Willow Leaf.  The little one behind you is my son, Swift Hooves."

This whole time, I had been unaware of the young calf lingering behind me.  When I turned to face him, he looked me over, I could only guess, out of sheer curiosity.  He prodded at my legs before checking out my pony tail behind and then feeling my shirt, probably because he'd never seen clothes before and didn't know what to make of it.

"Umm can Ah help you?" I spoke up as he was giving me the once over.

Willow couldn't help but giggle as her younger brother investigated this strange hybrid creature that stood before him.

"My brother isn't much for talking, but he's definitely curious," she answered back.

"So, Prince David, what brings you this far north?" Tuktu questioned.

I then recounted all the events that had happened since I had returned to Equestria, how I had brought Savannah with me, how my friends had started losing their souls, how I had been slowly turning into a pony, and how Crystal's darkness was slowly corrupting me, requiring for me to get to Princess Celestia in the Crystal Empire so she could purge the darkness from me and restore my friends' souls to their bodies.

"You're lucky to have someone special in your life," Willow stated at my mention of Savannah. "I hope to find someone like that."

"Ah'm sure you will eventually," I replied. "Jus keep searchin 'n ya'll find someone sooner or later."

"It's a good thing I came across you when I did or else you probably would've died out here," the chief stated.

"Speakin of which," I started, "not that Ah don' appreciate you savin me, but what're you guys doin out here in tha open?  Don'cha guys have a home anywhere nearby?"

"We live as nomads," Willow explained. "We never settle in one particular place for very long.  We're constantly moving."

"Wow.  Ah can't imagine what that'd be like."

Tell me about it, Rainbow agreed.

Neither can I, Fluttershy spoke up. Never having a permanent home?

My attention was soon drawn to an object flying towards us.  As I looked closer, I realized that it was Princess Celestia's royal chariot being pulled by two of her Pegasus guards.  The other caribou moved aside as the chariot came in for a landing, but, upon landing, I soon learned that it wasn't Celestia who stepped out from the chariot but instead a familiar orange Pegasus with a blue mane.

Flash Sentry!!! Twilight called out, enthusiastically.

I couldn't help but smile at this sudden outburst from Twi as I greeted the Crystal Empire's royal guard.

"Hello, Flash," I stated as he approached me. "Nice ta see you again"

"Same here," Flash replied, "although I wish we could've met again under much better circumstances."

"So Ah'm guessin by tha fact that yer here that one o' tha princesses sent ya as a personal escort fer me ta tha Crystal Empire?"

"Precisely."

I then turned to Chief Tuktu and Willow Leaf to say my goodbyes.

"Thanks again fer helpin me out like you did," I stated as I hugged Willow and bowed in respect to Tuktu. "Ah'll never forget you guys."

"Nor us you," Tuktu replied.

"It was an honor and a privilege to meet you, David," Willow answered. "Hopefully we'll see each other again under better conditions."

"Hopefully, yes," I uttered. "Goodbye y'all."

And so with that, me and Flash stepped onto the chariot and were soon off flying towards the Crystal Empire.  As the sun broke through the once stormy clouds, I couldn't help but feel a renewed sense of hope for myself and my friends as we flew ever closer and closer towards our salvation.


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


During the chariot ride to the Crystal Empire, we were pretty silent for the most part.  After a while, though, most likely because I had missed being able to talk to actual beings instead of just the voices in my head, I broke the silence.

"So, Flash, how've ya been doin lately?"

"I've been doing pretty O.K.," he replied "Not much going on up here.  Just business as usual.  So I've heard from Princesses Celestia and Luna that you got married not too long ago."

"Yup.  Ah married ma sweetheart, Savannah.  She's back in Ponyville tendin ta business in Twi's absence until we can get this whole predicament fixed."

"Ah.  So Princess Twilight and her friends are in your head right now?"

"Yes."

"Wow.  That must be... interesting."

"It can be pretty bizarre 'n unusual at times."

I paused for several seconds before an idea crossed my mind and I continued speaking, smiling wickedly in the process.

"Twilight says 'Hi' by tha way."

David!!! Twi shouted, half out of shock and half out of embarrassment. I didn't say anything and you know it.

"Aww c'mon, Twi," I continued, jokingly. "Ya don't have ta hide yer feelings fer him anymore."

David, I swear as Celestia is my witness that you'd better cut that out right now or, when I get back in my own body, you'll be in for a world of pain! she seethed.

"O.K. O.K.," I laughed. "Ah was jus playin around.  No need ta get yer tail in a twist."

Flash chuckled too at my remarks, but I wasn't sure if he was doing so out of genuine enjoyment or out of awkward embarrassment.  Thankfully, I began to see the snowy plains give way to grassy fields as we approached the Crystal Empire, the familiar Aurora Borealis fanning outwards from the castle.  As we came in for a landing, I suddenly had a sharp shooting pain hit both of my legs, causing me to toss around in the chariot before Flash pinned me down to prevent me from falling out.

"Hold on, Prince David," he reassured. "We're almost there."

Me and the mares continued to cry out in pain as my legs shrank down to hind hooves.  By the time we landed, the transformation was complete.  In that one moment, the same thought was running through all of our minds.

"Ah've gotta get ta Princess Celestia fast," I spoke up. "There's not a moment ta lose."

"Do you need me to carry your clothes for you?" Flash asked, for they had since slipped off of my now too small pony frame.

"Yes please.  That'd be very much appreciated."

And so, after Flash gathered up my clothes, we were on our way swiftly towards the castle.  I chose to fly the whole way there as I only wanted to save walking as a last resort since I wasn't accustomed with walking on four hooves.  On the way there, several of the Crystal Ponies glanced my way and started talking amongst themselves.  Some of the mares even giggled a little bit and waved at me.  Not wanting to be rude, I pleasantly smiled and waved back, which only caused them to giggle even more.

"Do Ah look O.K., Flash?" I questioned, slightly nervous that these ponies were laughing because of some possibly embarrassing aspect of me that I wasn't aware of.

"You look fine to me," he replied after giving me a quick glance over.

Before long, we arrived at the castle, whereupon the guards were quick to open the doors after a nod from Flash.  With my wings tired, I decided to let them rest and walk for a bit, which was by no means easy as I literally had two left feet that I was constantly tripping over, but I somehow managed to make my way down the hallway, awkward though it was.

As I was walking down the hall, I came across a mirror set up against one of the walls.  Stepping up to it, I got my very first look at my now completely pony form.  My black mane was done up in the new wave style, my thin black mustache stood out on the end of my muzzle, and my rectangular framed glasses had a bright gleam from the lenses.  Behind my glasses I saw my hazel eyes that now had slit pupils in them.  It was kind of off putting, but I tried not to let it bother me that much.  My singular conical horn protruding from my forehead appeared to be about the same length as Twilight's own horn.  My Cutie Mark of the elaborate sword with the winged crossguard and Unicorn head grip stood out on my now blue and bare flank.  My height, I estimated, was about the same as Twilight or Fluttershy, as I knew for fact that they were the two tallest members of the Mane Six, particularly Twilight after her ascension to Alicorn Princess.

Why, David, you look absolutely stunning, Rarity spoke up. The only thing that doesn't work are those slit pupils, but even that's a minor detail.  You still look great nonetheless.

I agree with Rarity, Fluttershy affirmed. It's too bad that this is only a temporary thing because this is a good look for you.

I smiled at their words as I continued to admire myself.  What really caught my attention though were my wings.  Folded up, they still looked unusually large against my small frame.  I fluffed them a little bit before spreading them out to their fullest span.  Unbelievable!  My wings appeared to be about the same size as Celestia or Luna's, they were incredibly large.

Wow!  Lookin good big guy! Rainbow exclaimed. I mean just look at those huge wings.  I'm definitely jealous.

Rainbow Dash's mentioning about my wings' largeness made me think of the giggling mares that I saw earlier.  Had those mares been commenting on my "wing size"?  The awkwardness of that moment instantly hit me.

"Prince David, come on," Flash called out ahead of me. "We haven't got much time."

My mind returning to my purpose for being here, I swiftly followed Flash til we came to a large set of doors.  The guards posted in front of them opened the doors to reveal the throne room where Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence as well as Prince Shining Armor stood, apparently in anticipation for my arrival.

"Hello, Everypony," I spoke up as me and Flash stepped forward.

"Greetings, David," Celestia and Luna replied, in unison.

"Hello, David," Cadence warmly greeted.

"Hey, bud," Shining Armor answered back.

"Lieutenant, I believe I speak for all of us when I say that we appreciate you escorting David here soo swiftly," Celestia stated to Flash Sentry.

"Indeed," Luna agreed. "By the appearance of him, we were fortunate to get him here before the damage was irreversible."

"Just doing my duty, your Majesties," he replied modestly, kneeling before them in the process.

"So... how does this whole process work?" I questioned.

"There is a purging spell that I learned long ago, but have very seldom ever used.  The spell can be used to repel evil spirits from a host, but it requires two Alicorns to cast it.  For this reason, I was originally unable to use it to purge the entity known as Nightmare Moon from my sister many years ago."

Princess Luna had a look of shame on her face when Celestia brought this up.  Still, she continued.

"Me and my sister will perform the spell on you, but it would be best if Cadence and Shining Armor left the room just to be on the safe side."

"We understand," Cadence answered.

"Definitely," Shining Armor affirmed.

"What about me?" Flash asked. "What can I do?"

"We may need you as backup in case anything starts to go wrong," Luna replied.

"I'm here for whatever you might need of me."

And so Cadence and Shining Armor vacated the room while Celestia and Luna positioned themselves on both sides of me and Flash stood nearby.

"Please lie down on your back," Celestia instructed me.

With no hesitation, I did as I was told.  No sooner did I lie on my back then Celestia nodded to Luna, whose horn proceeded to glow a brilliant azure.  As it glowed, I began to feel my legs and wings being pinned in place by her magic til they were splayed out.

"Wait wha- what- what're- what're- what're you doing?" I stuttered nervously at this sudden restriction.

"This is why it requires two Alicorns," Luna explained. "One powerful enough to hold the subject in place while the other casts the purging spell.  It is merely a safety precaution."

"This is fairly new territory for me," Celestia admitted, "as I've never had to cast this spell on anypony who's had six additional souls within them.  If all goes well, your friends' souls will leave your body and return to their own back in Ponyville.  Are you ready?"

I was beginning to feel pretty nervous about this whole process, which was quickly picked up by the mares in my head.  They offered me encouragement before the process started.

Don't you worry, Davey, Pinkie piped up. Soon this'll all be over and you'll be back with Savannah before you know it.

We'll be with you every step of the way, Twi agreed.

Definitely, Flutters stated.

You can do it, twin, Rainbow affirmed. We're rooting for you.

Darn straight, AJ replied.

You've come this far, darling.  You're almost there, Rare encouraged.

I smiled at the encouragement I was receiving from my friends beforehand.  With newfound confidence, I took a deep breath, and turned my face forward.

"Do it!"
> Chapter VIII:  The Purging (And What Followed)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

No sooner had the words escaped my lips then Celestia's horn began to glow a brilliant golden hue as she charged up her magic.  Once it had reached its fullest power, a beam of light shot out at me from her horn, striking me with the heat of a thousand flames.  My cries of pain swiftly gave way to Crystal's condemning tone, mocking the princesses' attempt to purge her spirit from me.

"You fools," her voice hissed. "You think your pitiful attempts at magic can stop me from fully possessing Prince David?"

"Silence, Crystal!" Celestia shouted. "You have no power here."

"You mean like how you had no power to stop Nightmare Moon from taking over your sister?  You had the Elements Of Harmony, you could've used them to return Luna to her old self, but you instead chose to banish her to the moon for 1,000 years.  You didn't love your sister then and I doubt you love her now."

"You know nothing about love, Crystal," Luna countered. "I know that my sister loves me.  She did not know that the Elements had that kind of power back then.  We have since then forgiven each other."

"But you still haven't forgiven yourself for becoming Nightmare Moon, for not keeping your jealousy towards your sister in check.  I can taste your guilt even now, sweet, rich, and juicy."

Luna seemed to be emotionally affected by Crystal's accusation as her magic seemed to falter in holding me in place.  Flash, however, was quick to catch this and leaped on top of me, pinning me in place before I could even attempt to bolt while making sure to not come into the path of Celestia's magic.

"Enough of your lies," he replied, sternly. "We know more about love than you ever will.  That's what sets us apart from monsters like you."

"And what have you done with your love, Flash Sentry?" Crystal's voice condemned him. "Kept it hidden from Princess Twilight this whole time?  If you truly loved her, you would've shown her by this point."

"Well maybe there's just been other things on my mind lately," he snapped back, "like becoming a member of the royal guard in order to prove to my disabled sister that anything is possible if she tries hard enough."

Celestia focused her magic even harder on me, whereupon we all heard Crystal's cries of pain as I started violently convulsing.

"No!  Impossible!  You!  Can't!  Defeat me!" Crystal's voice hissed in agony.

"Sister hurry!" Luna spoke out of concern as she resumed holding me in place. "We're losing him!"

Finally, after nearly half a minute, six colored orbs came forth from my mouth.  Orange, yellow, pink, white, blue, and purple, they shot out and flew back towards Ponyville.  But that wasn't all that came out from me.  For out of my chest rose a vile ectoplasmic substance the colors of a rainbow tainted by darkness.

With no hesitation, Princess Celestia pushed her power to the limit on this dark matter, resulting in it bursting into flames before dissipating with both an unworldly hiss and even a scream as I finally stopped convulsing, my body laying there completely limp with my eyes closed.  After a few seconds, my pony form changed back to my normal human form, although I still had my wings and pony ears.  My chest rising and lowering with each breath assured them that I was fine.

"It is done.  We'll give him his privacy," Celestia stated as she and her sister turned to leave the room.

"Stay with him until he's awake," Luna instructed Flash, "and be sure to give him his clothes back."

Flash nodded as the two princesses left the room and he stayed by my side.  About a minute later, I opened my eyes and groaned as I raised my hand to rub my forehead, quickly realizing that I was human again... and that I was buck ass naked at the same time.

"Here," Flash stated while tossing my clothes to me. "You might want these back."

I swiftly put on my clothes as well as putting my rings back on both hands, as they had since fallen off of my forehead where my horn had once been, before speaking.

"How did it go?  Are ma friends' souls back where they belong?"

"The whole process was a little rocky part of the way through, but it would appear that your friends' souls have returned to their own bodies.  You can see for yourself once you get back to Ponyville.  Right now, though, I think the princesses are waiting for you."

And so, the two of us exited the throne room and walked back down the long hallway, when I saw the same mirror that I had admired myself in not too long ago.  This time, though, when I looked at myself in it, I finally got to see how I looked as a human.  I definitely looked a lot like an Anime character in the image that was reflected back at me.  In fact, if I took away the wings, the pony ears, the glasses, and the mustache, I would probably look similar to Eren Yeager from Attack On Titan.  My thoughts were soon interrupted by a familiar female voice.

"Well look who's up and about," Celestia remarked as she and Luna approached me. "It must be nice to finally have this whole ordeal behind you."

"You have no idea," I answered back.

"If you're all ready, I can take you back to Ponyville right now.  I'm sure that Savannah will be more than happy to see you again."

I smiled at the mention of Savannah as I also nodded at Celestia.

"Ah'd love that a lot," I spoke up before turning to Flash, "but there's one question Ah have fer Flash before we leave."

"What's that?" Flash questioned.

"Who's yer sister?"


*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *


The chariot ride back to Ponyville was a long one as I sat there telling Celestia and Luna about all that I had experienced in my long journey to the Crystal Empire from Gilda to the teen dragons to the caribou tribe.  I even talked a little bit about what me and the mares in my head had discussed on the way there like my diagnosis with Schizophrenia all those years ago.  They didn't speak much aside from asking the occasional question, seeming particularly interested in what Schizophrenia was as no pony they knew of had ever been diagnosed with it.

Shortly after I had finished explaining it to them, I noticed that we had officially arrived back in Ponyville as we came in for a landing.  Once we landed, I stepped out of the chariot only to be swarmed by a large group of ponies including my own friends.

"Hey, David," Rainbow greeted. "Great to have ya back bud."

"Ah'll say," AJ agreed.

"We're all glad that things are back to normal," Twi chimed in.

"Definitely," Flutters affirmed.

"Of course," Rare stated.

"Thanks you guys," I answered, looking around for Pinkie but not seeing her, "but where's Pinkie?"

"FLYING ATTACK HUG!!!" I heard a high pitched voice scream out from above me.

I was soo startled by this that I jumped several feet up in the air resulting in Pinkie crashing into me and the two of us landing in a heap on the ground.  It wasn't long before I spoke up.

"Really, Pinkie?  Ya had ta do that again?"

"Of course I did silly," she remarked as she embraced me in a hug. "It's all in good fun."

"Honestly, Pinkie Pie," Rarity spoke up, sounding slightly annoyed, "you've got to stop doing that before you scare the living daylights out of somepony."

"No.  It's O.K. Rare," I answered, shrugging it off before hugging Pinkie back and rising to my feet. "So what were you guys up to while Ah was on ma way back here?"

"We were just talking some more about my castle," Twilight stated. "I still can't get over the feeling that there's something I'm missing here."

"And I still say that there was nothing more to it," Rainbow replied. "We defeated Tirek and got the castle.  That's all."

As they all continued their talking, I looked up and saw Savannah standing several feet away.  Making my way through the large gathering of ponies, I rushed to her as she did likewise.  We then embraced each other strongly, neither one of us wanting to let go of the other.

"I'm soo happy that you're finally back and back to normal," Savannah spoke up. "I never doubted you'd make it for a second."

We then leaned in to kiss each other before pulling each other back into our embrace.  I was swift to notice that Savannah's body was trembling against mine.  I quickly spoke up.

"Is everything alright?  Yer tremblin."

She then looked into my eyes before replying.

"I just found out some wonderful news this morning."

"What's that?"

Savannah hesitated briefly before speaking up.

"I'm pregnant."

Hearing this news that Savannah was pregnant made me think of that nightmare that I had had just the other night.  The fears that this was another vision of the future began to creep into my mind.  Still, I managed to hide my fear as I smiled at her while replying.

"That's- that's great news."

"We're finally going to be starting that family we talked about!" Savannah beamed.

No sooner had she spoke then the Mane 6 came over to us.

"Hey you two.  What're you guys talking about?" Twilight questioned.

"Savannah jus found out today that she's pregnant," I replied.

"Oh my!!!  That's great news!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

"That's what Ah said."

"Congratulations you two," Rarity spoke up.

"Nice job you sly devil," Rainbow replied to me, a look of mischief on her face.

"Ooo ooo we should totally throw a party to celebrate," Pinkie piped up.

"That sounds like it would be fun, Pinkie," Savannah answered, "but David and I should really be heading back to our world now."

"But... it seems like you guys just got here," Pinkie stated sadly as her mane and tail deflated and her ears folded back on her head, "and now you're leaving soo soon?"

"Ah'm sorry, Pinkie, but it really is time fer us ta return ta our home," I stated.

"But we will be back eventually," Savannah spoke up.

"Pinkie Promise?" Pinkie questioned.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," me and Savannah recited in unison while going through all the motions.

After that, all eight of us came in for one final group hug before me and Savannah had to leave.

"It was great meeting all of you," Savannah stated.

"Same," Fluttershy answered back.

"We hope you'll both be able to come back again soon," Rarity replied.

"Definitely," Rainbow agreed.

"Ah'm gonna miss you guys," I spoke up.

"So will we," Twi replied.

"We'll all be waitin fer tha next time you two come around," AJ stated.

With the group hug finished, me and Savannah turned to Celestia and Luna and knelt in respect.

"It was nice to finally meet you two," Savannah spoke up.

"Same here," Luna replied with a smile.

"David," Celestia reminded, "whenever you next decide to come back to Equestria, don't hesitate to ask me for anything you might need."

"Ah'll remember that."

And with that, me and Savannah took each others' hands as I read the engraving on my necklace.

"Equestrian son/The victory won/Return to thy home."

As those words escaped my lips, lightning flashed across the sky, striking the ground whereupon a portal appeared.  With a final look back at our friends, we both jumped into the portal and were on our way home as the portal closed behind us.  Celestia and Luna said a brief farewell to the others before taking the chariot back to Canterlot all while the Mane 6 just stood there, almost unsure of what to do.

"So what should we do now?" Rainbow asked.

"I think we should head back to the castle," Twi answered. "I've got a feeling that there's something about it that I might be missing."

Rainbow rolled her eyes in annoyance, but said nothing further before Pinkie replied.

"Well what're we waiting for then?  Let's go."

And so, all six of them headed back to Twilight's castle, all the while never expecting what they'd discover when all of them sat on their respective thrones.
> Epilogue:  Home Again
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

            After returning to our world, me and Savannah enjoyed the rest of our honeymoon before heading back to Massachusetts, where the doctors confirmed that Savannah was indeed pregnant and also that my cancer had gone into remission.  They referred to the latter as a miracle, but I knew what had really happened.  Shortly after our return, Savannah put out her latest album which dominated the charts and I even tried auditioning for the final season of American Idol a few months later.  I didn't make it, but it was at that time that I decided to take up writing as an author instead.  I found a good agent and got my first story finished that fall, ready to be published by next summer.

On Friday, December 18th, our daughter was born and we named her Ariel for her hair was as fiery red as that of one of our favorite Disney Princesses, Ariel.  The name itself seemed particularly fitting in the sense that she was named after a princess and she was, herself, a princess by blood.  Even with this little bundle of joy being brought into our lives though, I couldn't stop thinking about that nightmare that I had.  Day in and day out, I was constantly haunted by it, uncertain of whether to believe it or not.  But that's a story for another time.

To be continued...