> Moving On
>  by Manitive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	So, there I was, standing in front of the mirror in my bathroom, a loaded 44. Magnum Colt Anaconda in my right hand, barrel shakily pressed against my temple. Slowly raising the pressure with my index finger on the trigger and staring into my own blue eyes, I see the cause of my misery replaying in them. Sadness filling my heart, I'm reminded of 'them'.

"Who are 'them'?" you may ask yourself. 

Well, to answer that, let me introduce myself; I'm William Wright, 28 years old, was married to a beautiful woman named Sandra, who's just one year younger than me, and father of Laura, my 6 years old sweetie. When I turned 26, I moved out from a shabby-looking flat in Florida to build my family an own house in Wyoming, USA. Nothing but mountains and forests in a perimeter of around 25 kilometers. I often went hiking with my family, which made me become pretty fit, and went to the gym on weekends. I even had a great job as a software engineer in a small town about 20 minutes away from my home.

So now that you know that 'them' are my wife and daughter, can I continue with my story?

Life was great, it really was. 
Well, until that one fucking day.

I still remember it as if it just happened yesterday.





It was a beautiful summer day.

I was sitting in my favorite armchair outside on the terrace, eyeing the sunset with worry.

"Where are they? They should've been home 1 hour ago!" I said to myself, letting my hand travel through my short, light brown hair. Deciding that I had waited long enough for them, I stood up and made my way to the garage to drive along the streets and search for them. Opening the garage gate, I went to the driver's side door of my 1970 Chevelle SS 454. I've bought this car as a wreck from a scrapyard, and in a span of 3 years, restored it back to its former self, which I was, and still am, quite proud of. 

Yes, it was expensive, but totally worth it.

Checking my pockets for my keys and my cell phone, a iPhone, which I luckily both had on me, I opened the door to my car and sat myself in it. Pulling out the car key, I pushed it into the ignition lock and turned the key. Shortly afterwards, I heard the engine coming to life. Closing the door, I drove out of the garage and away from our property onto the street. Deciding, that checking the road in the direction of town would be the best thing to do, I turned left.

While I was driving, I thought of reasons why they could be late. 'Maybe they just got stuck in traffic? No, that's not possible, we never got any problems with traffic here, and even if, Sandra would surely call me, right?'
After a while of losing myself in my mind, I saw a mix of red and blue rapidly blinking lights ahead of me. 

Raising the pressure on the gas pedal and gaining speed rapidly, I assumed the worst. 
I wasn't wrong with my assumption.
As I came closer to those lights, I saw what they belonged to. There, on the side stripe were two police cars and ambulances.
The road was closed in both ways, so I decided to get out of my car and walk the rest of the distance.

Finally arriving at the crash site, I spotted two officers standing behind the ambulance, talking to each other, with their backs turned to me. Concluding that they probably knew what happened, and more importantly, who was involved in the accident, I jogged over to them, my heartbeat steadily increasing.

"Officers, what happened here?" I asked them, breathing heavily as I came near enough, interrupting their conversation. Both turned to take a look at me, giving me sad looks.

"That car you see over there by the tree-" one of the officers said while pointing to... 'Wait, is that the car of my wife?' "-and the passengers, a woman and a little girl, had an accident involving a deer."

"We think that the woman, trying not to hit the deer, steered the car onto the side stripe of the road, but somehow lost control and then drove right into that tree." He continued.

"Do you...do you know any names?" I asked, tears building in the corner of my eyes.

"Yes, the woman was called Sandra Wright, and the girl Laura Wright." he answered. "Both died of an internal bleeding in the ambulances." That's when I lost it. I fell down onto my knees, tears rolling down my cheeks in streams. 

"No..Nononono, this can't be real, this has to be a dream..." I stated sobbingly. "They can't be dead, they can't be dead, THEYCAN'TBEDEAD!"

"I'm sorry, I take it that you knew them good?" the other officer asked me with sympathy clearly showing in his voice, patting my left shoulder.

"Sandra is my wife, Laura is my...Laura is my sweet little daughter" I answered, looking up at the officers. Both looked shocked after my statement, now clearly knowing why I was being so emotional.

"I'm really sorry, I really am." he said. "If there is anything we can do for you, just ask."

"Can I see them?" I almost immediately responded.

After nodding their heads, they told me to follow them. They lead me to one of the ambulances, opening the backdoors and letting me jump inside. There, lying on a stretcher in front of me is Sandra. An unmoving Sandra. 

"Hey honey." I whispered, making my way to my wife, stopping at her left side. Slowly taking one of her hands, cupping it in between of mine, I discovered that they were cold. She wasn't breathing either. Then I heard what sounded like droplets of rain hitting the roof of the ambulance, turning the mood even sadder.

"Honey, please stop joking now, this isn't funny!" I said, tears coming back into my eyes. 

After what felt like hours, she still hasn't moved nor breathed. Then realization hit me.
'She's...she's gone. No, not only she is gone, my daughter is too and I couldn't even say goodbye.'

Then I lost it again.





All that happened a year ago, and I still couldn't get over it. People told me, that I should move on, but that was easier said than done.

Doubts were filling my head as I increased the pressure on the trigger, and a particular song started playing in my mind. 'Would Sandra want this to happen? Most definitely not, she'd hate me for just giving up my life.'
'But I want to be with them...I just want to see them again, talk to them, and in order to accomplish that, I need to...'
Pulling on the hammer and pressing the barrel tighter against my temple, I prepared myself for salvation...





Meanwhile in Equestria

"Go Rainbow Dash! You can do it!" cheered Scootaloo, hopping up in the air.

"Squirt, I know I can, but please stop being so loud, or the bees are going to sting me." Rainbow Dash mumbled.

"Ya know, she's right sugarcube" Applejack mumbled, looking at Scootaloo from the corner of her eyes.

"But that doesn't make sense at all! Bees don't have ears, they have tympanic organs spread across their body, which allow them to sense 		vibrations!" Twilight explained, letting that nerdy side of hers shine through.

"Yeah Twilight, they can sense vibrations. What happens when we speak?" Rainbow Dash said, clearly annoyed that Applejack just won't give up.

"Oh yeah...right...hehe, sorry."  Twilight apologized. "But why exactly are you both doing this again?"

"Tah determine who's the braver one of us!" Applejack answered, eyes narrowing at Rainbow's. "And that's clearly me!"

"Girls, if you don't stop this, we're going to be here until midnight, if not longer." Twilight responded before Rainbow Dash could've retorted. Slowly nodding their heads simultaneously at each other, they turned them towards Twilight.

"Can ya/you get those bees off of me?" They asked in unison.

"Sure thing girls! I could use a spell I read about in that one Book to lure them away from you." The smiling lavender-colored Princess said, channeling magic through her horn. "Hopefully I've got it right."

That last sentence made the other three look pretty nervous, and that justifiably so. That definitely wouldn't have been the first time Twilight failed a spell, nor the first time she confused it with another one.
Twilight, thinking that she channeled enough Magic energy, then let loose a small beam of energy, which ended up creating a lavender aura-dome around Applejack and Rainbow. But the dome started becoming bigger and bigger, and after some time, even the shocked Scootaloo and Twilight were engulfed too.

"That definitely isn't supposed to happen!" Twilight exclaimed loudly, her eyes widening in horror. She desperately tried to stop the dome, but ultimately failed to do so.
Shortly afterwards, everything in this magic dome started becoming darker. Time seemed to slow down, and after what felt like hours to them ...

BOOM





Back on Earth

Looking for what could've been the last time into my own face, I said my last silent prayers and slowly pressed the trigger.

BOOM

I lost my grip on the stock of the weapon, letting it fall to the ground. I immediately got onto the bathroom floor, waiting for the shockwave to come. 

But it never came.

"What the fuck just happened?" I silently asked myself, picking up my gun from the floor "That sounded like a fucking bomb!"

Curiosity overcoming my fear, I exited the bathroom and made my way to my bedroom and opened the door leading to the balcony, to see what happened. 'I should have a good enough view from here at the surrounding area' I thought. Staring out, I saw nothing out of the ordinary, just the sun slowly hiding behind the horizon. Well, there was nothing out of the ordinary until I saw 4 strange purple, weakly glowing orbs falling down from the sky into different parts of the forest.

"So...those green bastards finally found us or what?" I mumbled, chuckling dryly. I ran a hand through my unkempt hair.

I decided that I should investigate what those orbs were, so I walked downstairs, took my hunting jacket from the coat hook and put it on.
Exiting the building through the backdoor, I started jogging into the direction of the one that landed the closest to my home.
After about 5 minutes I spotted a little clearing. I cautiously made my way up to the clearing with my gun in the right hand while scanning my surroundings for any dangers. Being so caught up in it, I tripped over something big in front of me, making me lose the grip on my gun and fall face first to the ground.

Cursing my luck, I slowly rolled onto my back. My face hurt pretty bad, but that's to be expected after taking a face full of dirt. Looking over to the object that I tripped over I discovered that it wasn't a object but rather a...an orange furry something. Quickly scrambling up to my feet, I moved closer to it.
Now standing right above it, I saw that it's not only orange, but purple too. Slowly outstretching my hand to touch it, I discovered that it indeed wasn't an object. It felt like it was breathing, and its fur felt quite soft. Suddenly it started stirring, making me jump up in the air and move back a couple of feet.





Scootaloo, coming back to her senses, tried to upright herself, but a searing pain in her right front leg prevented her from actually getting back to her hooves. Ruffling her wings, she looked around the clearing for any sign of the others but found neither of them.
'Where are they?' She thought to herself, fear rising steadily 'And what the buck happened?'



Snap 





Snap 

"Oh fuck..."

The strange pony filly with wings, as I discovered, turned its head instantly into my direction, making me stop dead in my tracks.
My plan, which consisted of me silently sneaking behind it and then snatching it up in my arms to stop it from running away, was destroyed in a matter of seconds.
That's when I also discovered, that it definitely isn't a normal orange and purple colored filly. Not that colored fillies are normal at all, but It's eyes are way too big...and they are purple. Oh, yeah, and that there's that teeny tiny wing detail. IT HAD FUCKING WINGS!

The fillies eyes got even bigger as she lay eyes on me.

"He...hey there little one." I said in a caring tone, slowly moving closer to it, but making sure to stay low so I won't intimidate it. With every step I made, it visibly grew more scared.

"I'm not going to hurt you, calm down." I continued as I was close enough to touch the filly, but instead chose to kneel beside it. Interestingly enough, it didn't try to move away from me, but kept staring into my eyes. Then, placing my right hand onto its mane, I started petting the little filly.

"There, see? I won't hurt you little one." I whispered.



"I'm not little." I heard.

Okay, either my mind was playing tricks on me, or that filly had just spoken to me. Withdrawing my hand from her mane, I instantly backed up from her, staring at her like she was an alien. Well, in a way she was, but you get the point. Anyways, she then opened her mou...er, I mean muzzle, and what came out next, changed pretty much everything I believed in.

"What? You look like you'd seen a ghost." she said.



"Hello? Is everything alright?" she asked.

Realizing that I sat the whole time she was speaking with my mouth open and my hands on my head, I chose to speak to her.

"This...this has to be a dream!" I exclaimed quietly.

smooth, first contact with an alien and then something like that.

"What do you mean?" she asked, eyeing me. "And who-eh, what are you?"

"I...This can't be real" I again exclaimed, but a bit louder this time, still looking at the speaking filly in front of me.

"Helloooo? You there?" she again asked.

"Huh? Oh...sorry, it's just THAT YOU SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO TALK!" I shouted, making the filly flinch. "You're a pony, you shouldn't be able to talk!"

"W..h...y shouldn't I ?" she quietly asked me, fear evident in her voice

"Because you're a animal!" I retorted. "And animals aren't able to speak!"

"..." 

A single tear rolled down her cheek, making me feel guilty for my sudden outburst. Realizing I need to act like a grown-up, not like some psycho, I decided that shouting wasn't going to help us in the slightest. Crawling back up to her, I again started petting her mane with my right hand.

"I'm sorry, it's just...I've never seen anything like you." I explained. "Do you have a name?"

"My name's Scootaloo." she stated, sobbing heavily "I...I want to go home!"

"Hey now, don't be sad, I'll get you home." I said, wiping the tears from her cheeks with my other hand "C'mon Scootaloo, stand up, or do you want me to carry you?"

"I can't...my leg hurts."

"Which one?" I asked, stopping petting her. Pointing to her left front one, I then asked "This one?" to which she just shook her head. Moving on, I then pointed to the right front leg, asking her again, to which she nodded. "Well, that's certainly going to be a problem."
I then moved both of my hand onto her front leg, trying to feel if any bones were broken. Luckily, nothing seemed broken, so I assumed that it just was bruised. 

"I think your 'knee' is just bruised, but it still needs to be treated, and I don't have any first-aid things on me, so I need to carry you to my home, is that alright with you?" I asked.

"Um...Yes, that's okay, Mister...?"

"Oh, right, sorry, I'm William." I said with a small smile.

Cautiously grabbing her around her barrel, I tried lifting her up, only to discover that she was fairly light. In fact, I think I could carry her easily to my house and back to this spot 2 times. Picking up my gun, that I had dropped earlier, and stashing it into one of my pockets, I started walking.

"Soooo, Scootaloo was it, right? Where are you from?" I asked curiously, walking into the direction of my home with her in my arms.

"I'm from Equestria, Ponyville to be exact." she said, moving a bit in my arms.

"Ponyville? Equestria?...O-kay?" Never heard of something like that.

"Where are we?" she then asked.

"Wyoming, United States of America."

"Wy...What?" 

"You know? North America? United States of America? Nothing rings?"

"Oh pony feathers, I need to find Rainbow Dash and the others!" she said totally ignoring my question, squirming in my arms "I totally forgot about them! What if they are in trouble? What if they are hurt like me? What if..."

"Heyheyhey, stop worrying! Who's Rainbow Dash and the 'others'?" I interrupted, nearly losing my grip on her because of her squirming so much.

"They are ponies like me, and I need to find them!" Scootaloo explained, struggling to get out of my arms.

"First of, you can't go anywhere with your injury, and secondly, It's slowly getting dark, and searching in the dark is senseless. We can search for them in the morning." I told her, finally arriving at the back door of my house. 

"O...Okay, but it's important that we find them!" she said, stopping her struggling

Opening the door to my home, and closing it behind me, I started walking into the living room. Laying Scootaloo with her back down onto the couch, I told her not to move, and that I'm going to get the first-aid kit and a pack of ice from the kitchen. After grabbing both things, I went back to the living room and knelt myself beside her on the ground. Placing the ice on her 'knee', I then asked her a bit about her home. The things she told me seemed to be taken right out of a child's book. I mean, a whole country with inhabitants that are miniature horses, which are colored in every color imaginable, with some of them having horns to do magic and others having wings to fly, does sound a bit ridiculous, doesn't it? Okay, at least that wing part seemed to be true since she had a pair herself.
After some time of being lost in the conversation, I didn't notice that the ice has long melted, but not enough to actually hinder the use of bandages.

Opening the first-aid kit that I had placed on the tea table next to me, I took out an elastic bandage and started wrapping it around her knee to stabilize it. After finishing that, I asked her if she wanted to sleep in the guest room, but discovered, that she already was sleeping. Not wanting to wake her up, I decided that she could sleep on the couch, which was big enough for her to sleep on anyways. I then went upstairs to the guest room to get her a blanket and a pillow. Once I had those two things, I headed to the living room again and, carefully lifting her head a bit, moved the pillow under her head and threw the blanket over her body.

Done with that, I decided to call it a day and headed to my bedroom upstairs. 
Arriving there I undressed myself, pulled out the gun from my pants pocket, stashed it away into the closet and then jumped into bed, hitting it with a loud groan. 'Today was...interesting, to say the least' I thought as I stared up at the ceiling.
Thoughts drifting back to everything that happened today, I couldn't help myself but become curious about what tomorrow will have in store for me. Eyelids slowly growing heavy, I finally drifted off into a not-so-peaceful slumber.


> Chapter Two
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight woke up to the sound of chirping birds.

"What...what happened?" She asked, weakly climbing back up onto her hooves, eyes still closed. "And why does my head hurt so much?"
Opening her eyes, she curiously eyed her surroundings. It looked like she was in a clearing of a pine forest. Alone. 

"Okay Twilight, think...What happened and where are you..." She said to herself, trying to recall her memories, holding her right front hoof to her temple, slowly rubbing it in a circular motion. "I woke up this morning, ate my breakfast, then went grocery shopping, met Rainbow Dash on the way and she asked me to...be a referee at her competition against Applejack!"

"That still doesn't explain why I'm here, and I somehow can't remember anything after that, soo..." Removing her hoof from her head, she cast a little memory spell. Feeling a slight pressure building on her temples, memories started flooding her head, and she instantly recalled what had transpired earlier that day. Not only did she fail at casting such an easy spell, but she also somehow accidentally confused it with an inter-dimensional traveling spell!

And what's even worse is the fact that she didn't even know how she had cast that spell!

"Buck! Now that's certainly going to be a problem..." She muttered angrily under her breath. "Anyways, I need to find the others first, but how am I going to do that?"

"Maybe that one spell Princess Celestia taught me a while ago will work?" Lightning up her horn again, she tried to remember what the Princess taught her. 



"Think of the pony you want to find, what connects you, and why you need to find him or her. Then, try to dam up the magic that's going to flow in your horn, and when you feel the magic slowly starting to fade, you stop damming up. But be aware, this spell takes a lot of energy, so you're probably going to feel really tired after casting it."



'Applejack, Element of Honesty, one of my best friends. I need to find her and the other two and then get home.' She thought, closing both her eyes. Seconds later, she felt the magic flowing in her horn, so she dammed it up there, and started resisting the pressure that was building up in her horn, which made her develop a headache.

After what felt like hours to her, but in reality were only mere minutes, of standing there in that clearing, with a nearly unbearable headache, the magic started slowly fading away from her horn, which lowered the pressure that had accumulated itself, whereupon Twilight stopped resisting it. Shortly afterward, her headache instantly vanished and a little purple orb of magic formed in front of the tip of her horn. Twilight opened her eyes and let loose of the orb, which then floated away from her, deeper into the forest. Concluding, that it'll probably lead her to Applejack, she tiredly trotted after the purple orb.




Some time later

Twilight walked for quite some time, and it already started becoming dark. "I seriously hope they are okay..." she mumbled worriedly, still following the orb "If something happened to them, I won't be able to forgive myself." Twilight, being lost in her thoughts, didn't see that the ball of purple magic suddenly had disappeared. She also didn't see the orange pony shaped figure lying on the ground in front of her. Well, that is until she tripped over it and fell face first into the dirt.

"Ow... What the hay did I trip over?" she quietly asked herself, slowly standing back up. Moving one of her front hooves to her face, she started carefully rubbing it and then turned around to take a look at the cause of her pain. Her vision a bit blurry, she first thought it was just a strangely orange colored stone. But after focusing her eyes on the stone she spotted what looked like a light brown stetson hat on top of a blonde colored something. That was when she realized that the orange stone wasn't actually a stone, but a pony. Applejack. Removing her hoof from her head, she quickly trotted over to Applejack's side and started gently shaking her. 

"Hey, Applejack, wake up!" Twilight said, to which Applejack started slowly regaining consciousness.

"Huh...? Who's that?" Applejack asked tiredly, regaining back control over her body. Shakily getting back up on all four hooves, she looked back at Twilight. "Oh, hey there Twilight, wha' happened?" she slurred, turning around to face her.

"Uh...Well, you see...I kinda bucked up a spell, and now we're in another dimension" she hesitantly told her, looking at the ground and rubbing her right front hoof on her left leg up and down. "And mayyybe I don't know how I did that exactly..." Everything around them suddenly fell quiet, too quiet for Twilights liking. "I'm sorry...I really am..." she apologized as she looked up right into Applejacks unblinking eyes.

"I understand if you hate me now, but ple-"

"Apology accepted." Applejack said with a small smile on her face.

"Wait, what?"

"Apology accepted" she repeated, taking a few steps forward and hugging Twilight tightly.

"But...but why?" Twilight asked in a quiet tone so that Applejack barely heard her.

"Twilight, let's be serious here, Ah kinda knew something like this would happen as you said 'Hopefully Ah've got it right', so I'm not mad at ya, sugarcube. " She kindly told her, to which Twilight blushed in shame. "And Ah mean, this maybe ain't so bad. Adventures are always fun!" After that, Applejack let go of Twilight, who then again apologized. After telling her for the tenth time that everything was okay, she calmed slightly.

"So, Twilight, how did ya find me?" Applejack asked, sitting herself on her haunches, looking up at the night sky.

"I used a locating spell that Princes Celestia taught me before I became a princess."

"So at least that one worked like ya wanted to?" She asked with a smirk, causing Twilight to squeak in embarrassment. "Sorry, just had to. Ya know Ah don't blame ya."

"Did yah already search fer the others?"

"No, you're the first one. Hopefully the others are okay too..."

"Ah'm sure they are" Applejack replied, standing back up onto all four hooves."Ah think we should start searchin' fer the oth-" Applejack got cut off by what sounded like flapping wings above her. Both she and Twilight instantly looked up into the air and saw a blue blur approaching them fast. Too fast for their liking. Before the blur could slam into them, they quickly jumped out of the way. It crashed through some treetops, lowering its speed a bit.

To Applejack and Twilight, seconds felt like minutes as the blue blur came closer to the ground, but before it could impact, Twilight quickly reacted. Something in her guts just told her to do something. Lightning up her horn, she tried to stop it from slamming into the ground, but only succeeded in slowing it down a bit more. 


CRASH


Twilight and Applejack, too stunned to move, tried to see what impacted the ground, but couldn't see anything because of all the dust covering the area around it. Seconds later the dust cleared, and what they saw made them both worry. There, on the ground, all bruised and with blood flowing from some fresh cuts scattered over her body, lay Rainbow Dash. An unconscious Rainbow Dash.
Both of them immediately galloped over to her.

"Applejack, we need to get her some medical attention! NOW!" Twilight cried, looking at her friend, a lavender-colored aura already coating her horn.

"Can't ya just heal her?!" Applejack asked her, worriedly eyeing the unconscious form of her friend.

"I've never really practiced healing magic, and I don't know any spells that could fix this!" She answered, still shouting. Lifting Rainbow up in her magic, she started walking off into a random direction, Applejack directly behind her, but was stopped by a coughing fit that came from her now not-so-unconscious friend.

"Who-?" Rainbow started groggily, but was unable to end her sentence as a loud yelp of pain escaped her.

"Ssh, be quiet Rainbow, it's me, Twilight, and Applejack's here too. We gonna get you fixed up, just be quiet." Twilight whispered, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Only because of her, Rainbow Dash was injured. If she hadn't bucked up that spell, Rainbow wouldn't have been injured.

"Twilight...wha... what happened?" She asked, clearly in a lot of pain.

"I'll tell you later, first we need to get you somewhere and fix you up." Twilight answered, a lonely tear running down her cheek

"I *cough* I saw a building to the north of here *cough* maybe a mile away..." She whispered through one of her coughing fit.

"We'll get you there, I swear by Celestia." Twilight responded, instantly turning to the north, and started galloping into that direction, Applejack hot on her hooves.

"Now Twilight, don't ya think that's a bit rash decided?" Applejack asked through her breath "Maybe the ponies there ain't friendly. If they are even ponies. What if they're dangerous?"

"Then we're going to deal with them." Twilight simply stated.





It was a beautiful day. 

The sun was shining, birds were chirping and the smell of freshly grilled steak was filling the air.

Looking up to the little playground I had built years ago for Laura, my little daughter, I saw her playing around without a care in the world, climbing up the slide, and sliding it down, repeating this over and over again.

A smile forming on my lips, I closed my eyes yet again and leaned myself back into my seat, enjoying the warm summer air on my face. 

"Hey there..."

KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK

I was abruptly awakened by the sound of something hard knocking rapidly at the back door that leads outside, downstairs.
Groaning loudly, I quickly rolled myself out of my bed and pulled on the clothes I wore before I went to bed, excluding the hunting jacket. Looking at the wall clock above my bed, I saw that it was 11 p.m.

KNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCK

"Who the fuck is that?" I sighed, rubbing my eyes. Exiting my bedroom, I tiredly walked downstairs and then headed into the direction of the backdoor, but shortly stopped in the living room where I saw Scootaloo still sleeping peacefully. 'How can she still be asleep? Kinda reminds me of Laura, she was a heavy sleeper too...' A series of quick knocks reminded me that I had a door to check, so I quickly pushed my thoughts aside and started walking again. Finally arriving at the door, I set my right hand on the door handle and pushed it down, cracking the door open.

"Okay, who the fuck-" I started, but quickly stopped as I looked down onto...three ponies. The one standing to the left had purple fur and an indigo mane and tail, which had a streak of purple and pink running through them. But what fascinated me more was the fact that it had a horn on its head and a pair of wings.

The other pony beside the purple one had orange colored fur and a blonde mane and tail. Both its mane and tail were tied into a ponytail, and on top of its head sat a light brown stetson hat like the cowboys in western films would often wear. It definitely looked more like a normal pony since it had neither wings nor a horn like the other one.

I then spotted the last of the three ponies. This one was...rather interesting to say the least. Its messy mane and tail had streaks of various colors running through it, strongly resembling those of a rainbow, and its fur was cyan colored. It also had a pair of wings. But what shocked me the most, was that it looked seriously injured. It had cuts all over its body and some bruises here and there.

"Please...please help her..." I heard someone whisper, making me look into the direction of the sound. The purple pony looked straight into my eyes, her bottom lip quivering. Acting quickly and without thinking twice, I scooped the injured pony up in my arms, and walked into the living room, both other ponies directly behind me.

Arriving in the living room, I walked to the tea table, cleared it of everything that was on it, safe for the first-aid kit, that was still on it from the treatment that I gave Scootaloo earlier. Placing the rainbow and cyan colored pony onto her left side on the table, I quickly checked that side for any severe injuries. Luckily, I found nothing but cuts, but some were a bit deeper than others and some of them were a bit dirty. Standing up, I ran into the kitchen to get some water to clean the cuts. 

After filling up an empty bottle with warm water at the sink, I went back into the living room and kneeled myself besides the injured pony, and then poured the warm water over the cuts, washing away some dirt and blood in the process.

"What happened?" I asked, pulling out a bottle of wound disinfectant from the first-aid kit, opening the lid and applying it to her wounds.

"I...I don't know...She just crashed into the ground right in front of us..." the purple pony said with a faint smile. "And...thanks."

"For what?" I asked, looking over at her, brows furrowed.

"For...for helping her." she answered, a genuine smile on her face "I mean, you don't even know her, and you probably have never seen anything quite like...us." I gave her a small smile and then continued with applying plasters onto the bigger and 'deeper' cuts.

"Um, yeah, actually..." I said, pointing with my index finger at the couch behind her and the other pony. They both turned their heads in that direction and then gave a gasp. 

"Scootaloo?"  Both asked in unison. "Where did you find her? And why does she have a bandage around her leg?" The purple one asked

"Well, I found her injured in a clearing not so far away from here and, to answer your other question, that 'knee' of hers is probably bruised, so I bandaged it up." I answered them, placing the last plaster onto a rather deep cut. I then turned the pony over, so that I could start tending to her left side. "Wait, does that mean you guys are the others she talked about?" Right after the last word left my mouth, Scootaloo started stirring, slowly waking up.

"Huh? Who's there?" Scootaloo tiredly asked, rubbing her eyes with her hooves. Her eyes widened as she removed them from her eyes and saw both of the other ponies standing there. Somehow finding the strength to jump down from the couch and limp over to them, she looked them over as to see if they were real. She smiled at them, but the smile quickly vanished as she saw their sad faces. "What's going on?" she then asked, to which the other two just stepped out of the way.

"Rainbow Dash...?" She began limping over to the table and stopped opposite of me. 

"Scootaloo, she's gonna be okay, her wounds are not that severe." I assured her, but that didn't help at stopping the tears that were already flowing down her cheeks.

"You know what squirt? He's right. I'm gonna be fine."

"RAINBOW!" All three of them yelled at once as the cyan mare spoke up, seemingly returning from the dead. I flinched from their collective screams, but otherwise continued to tend to the pony's wounds. The purple and the orange pony immediately got back to her side and started asking her if she was feeling well. 

"Huh? Those are just some scrat-" She started, but was cut off by me applying some wound disinfectant on one particularly nasty looking cut, making her shriek in pain, but she just tried to hide it with a cough. Didn't work out that well.

"Yeah, just scratches."  I said, applying a big plaster, ignoring the angry looks I got from the others. "Sure doesn't sound like it."

"Dude, not cool!" She angrily told me, turning her head into my direction, but as she lay eyes on me, her pupils dilated. "Woooow."

"What?" I asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Dude...You're like the coolest thing I've ever seen!" She exclaimed, her mouth agape, staring at me.

"O-kay?" I answered unsurely, stopping one hoof that was starting to reach out for me mid-way. "Thank you, I guess?"

I nervously coughed into my hands, making her stop staring at me instantly.

"Well, anyways, I think that was the last cut." I said awkwardly, putting the disinfectant back into the first-aid kit, closing it. Standing up, I picked up the kit from the table and walked back into the kitchen. After storing the first-aid kit back to where it belonged, I headed back into the living room, where Rainbow, as I learned, already was up on her hooves. She kinda looked funny with all the plasters on her body

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" I asked them, suppressing a chuckle because of how ridiculous that cyan mare looked. All of them then looked into my direction nervously. Well, all of them, except for Scootaloo, who just looked at me with a big smile.

"Well...ya see, we kinda...we kinda need a place tah stay fer the night...-" The orange one started explaining in a southern accent, fidgeting nervously with her hooves, but I quickly cut her off.

"You can stay here. Upstairs is one guest room with 2 single beds, and then there's my bedroom with one single queen-sized double bed. I'll take the couch." I told her with a gentle smile on my face.

"Nah, It's good, Ah'll take the couch, an' the other three could share the guest room."

"I insist that you guys take the beds, the couch is way too uncomfortable for you."

They looked at each other, all except Scootaloo, who still looked at me like a child would at a bag full of candy, and then nodded.

"Okay, if ya really insist on it..." She said, sighing in defeat.

"I do." I simply said, nodding my head once. "Come on, follow me."

Walking to the staircase with all four of them behind me, I started asking them some questions, like what they are, where they are from and what those tattoos on their haunches stand for (Not that I've been staring at their backs, of course). The purple one answered my first question with 'We are ponies', to which I stopped and turned my head around, giving her a look that said 'No shit Sherlock'. She then blushed and added that her race is called 'alicorn', which is a mix between a unicorn and a pegasus, the race of the orange pony is called earth pony, and the one of Rainbow and Scootaloo is called pegasus. The next question she answered was the tattoo one, to which she just chuckled and said that those are their cutie marks, which determine what's their special talent. 
But the last question was the most interesting one. She told me, that they got teleported here by accident. Here, into another dimension. With magic.

Yeah, you could imagine what happened after she told me that.

So, yeah, I hadn't stopped laughing until we arrived at the door to my bedroom. Still chuckling a bit, I opened the door and walked inside, the other four still directly behind me, glaring at me a bit annoyed. 

"Here we are, magic ponies!" I said, raising my arms high into the air. "Bathroom is next door to this room, if you need to use it."

"Bucking.Awesome." Rainbow simply stated. "I'll take that bed!"

"Me too!" Scootaloo said, both of them limping/jumping up onto the bed. 

"Then it's decided." I said, a small smile touching my lips at the display, letting my arms down. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure all four of them and me could've easily fit in that bed, but that just wouldn't be appropriate. We've only just met.

"Come on you two" I started, turning around to face the purple and the orange pony. I found them standing in the doorway, staring at something to their right. "Let's go." But they still didn't move, so I moved over to them and waved a hand in front of their faces. Their reaction was immediate, as they turned their heads to face me. 

"Oh, sorry, its just...Who are they?" The purple pony asked me, pointing with her right front hoof to a cupboard to her right, on which was a single photo. A...photo...of me...Laura and Sandra. My happy gaze immediately turned sad and I was reminded of the day it all happened, making a single tear roll down my cheek. Everything came crashing down onto me, and I suddenly felt heavy, in fact, I felt so heavy, that I fell down onto my knees. I then started sobbing silently, looking at the floor. 'Why did god let something like this happen to them? Why them? Why not me? What did they do to deserve something like that?' I thought 'Everything was fine, until that one fucking day. Heh, One week later, I even lost my job, because the company I worked at left fucking town.'

Scootaloo and Rainbow jumped down from the bed and walked over to me. Rainbow then placed a hoof on my shoulder, barely reaching it, making me snap out of my thoughts and turn my face around to face her. 

"You don't have to tell us." She whispered to me, a look of sympathy on her face.

"She's right, ya don't have to." I heard someone behind me say. I nodded once, wiped my tears away and then stood up again. I still felt quite heavy, but not as heavy as I did before. I turned into the direction of the door again, and motioned the other two to follow me.
They did so without saying a word. As we arrived at the guest room's door, I opened it and walked in, turning on the light switch with one hand in the process.

"So yeah, It's not as great as the other bedroom, but it gets the job done." I said coldly, turning around to look at them I then added "Bathroom's opposite of here. I'm gonna go sleep now, good night." I walked around them into the hallway.

"I'm sorry." I heard, making me stop and turn to look at the source of the voice. It came from the purple one, who now had its head hanging in shame, making me sigh. It kinda made me angry that I was acting like such a dick.

"You don't have to apologize...If anyone should, it's me. So, I'm sorry." I apologized genuinely "I just acted like a dick, and you did nothing wrong. You just asked a question." I once more started walking but was again stopped by a voice.

"Ya know, ya didn't tell us yar name and we didn't tell ya ours"

"And another reason for me to be sorry." I again apologized, turning around and outstretching one arm, offering her a handshake "My name's William, what's yours?"

"Ah'm Applejack" the orange pony said, outstretching her front left leg. I grabbed her hoof and shook it. After that, I offered the purple pony one, which she, after a second of hesitation, accepted. 

"My name's Twilight Sparkle, but please just call me Twilight." She said, placing her hoof into my palm, letting me shake it. "And you have to seriously answer me some questions about you, your species and this world tomorrow!"

"I think I can do that." I said with a small smile, letting go of her hoof. After that, I again wished them a good night and went downstairs to the living room. After quickly unclothing myself completely, save for my boxers of course, I threw myself onto the couch and pulled the blanket that was still lying there from before over my body, covering myself up. I then slowly slipped back into the dreamworld, too tired to even consider thinking about what happened.

	
> Chapter Three
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was a beautiful day.

The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and the smell of freshly grilled steak was filling the air.

Looking up to the little playground I had built years ago for Laura, my little daughter, I spotted her playing around without a care in the world, climbing up the slide, and sliding it down, repeating this over and over again.

A smile forming on my lips, I closed my eyes and leaned myself back into my seat, enjoying the warm summer air on my face.

"Hey there." Someone whispered into my right ear. No, not just someone, Sandra.

"Hey honey." I said with a small smile, turning my head around and giving her a small peck on her lips.

"Dinner's ready." She said.

"Yeah, I'm coming." I replied after a long second of staring into her beautiful blue eyes. Those eyes were one huge think I oh-so-loved about her, one big reason why I fell in love with her.  

"Laura! Dinner's ready!" She called, breaking me out of my stupor.

"I'm coming!" Laura calls back.

"Come on honey, let's-"





The smell of something burning was filling my nose, making me somehow wake up.

I jumped from the couch and sniffed the air. Following the smell, I discovered that it was coming from the kitchen, to which I quickly ran. Arriving there, my heart skipped a beat out of fear. Black smoke covered the ceiling, and in front of the source of the smoke, the stove, stood a stunned Twilight. 

At least nothing was burning.

Acting quickly, I ran over to the stove to turn it off, but discovered that it already was. After that, I lifted the empty pan, where the smoke was emitting from, up in the air and chucked it into the sink next to the stove. 

"I'm sorry!" Twilight, finally snapping out of her shocked state, started said. What came out next was a flood of words, but I quickly interrupted her before she was going to go completely apeshit.

"Twilight, I'm not mad at you." I simply stated, cutting her frantic explanation off. Opening the only window in the room, I added "...Though I'd like to know how you set an empty pan afire."

"Well...You see, I kinda couldn't figure out how your stove worked, so I used a spell to heat the pan up."

I blinked. Hard.

"Twilight, I'm being serious here, how did you do that?" I asked her again, obviously not believing her.

"I already told you! I used a spell to heat the pan up, since I couldn't figure out how to use your stove!" She told me, a bit irritated that I wouldn't believe her. 

"So, you're trying to tell me, that you used a spell, like, the magic kind of spell, to heat up that pan?" I asked her, turning my head around to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes."

I stared at her for exactly five seconds. "Yep, you're a crazy pony."

"What? Why?" She pouted.

"You're trying to tell me that you used magic." I said, emphasizing the word 'magic'. I then turned my head back around and walked to the sink. Turning the faucet on, I grabbed some dish soap and a sponge out of the cabinet above me and started cleaning the pan. 
Not that I could clean much, of course. 

"Could you please take out five plates and glasses out of that cabinet and place them on the table? And some silverware too?" I asked her, pointing at the cabinet to my right, trying to get her from staring at me.

"Uh, sure." Twilight answered, moving to my right side. Shortly after that, I heard the door of the cabinet opening...Wait, what? How?

"Okay, how did you just do that without hands?" I asked her curiously, looking at her from the corner of my eyes.

"Magic." She answered with a smile.

"Twilight, could you please stop joking?" I asked, a bit annoyed that she just wouldn't stop joking with me. I dried the pan, put it back on the stove and walked in front of it.

"I'm serious! Look!" She angrily said, making me turn my head into her direction. My mouth hung open, and my eyes widened at the display of five plates floating out of the cabinet in the direction of the table, landing perfectly stacked on it, and shortly after that, even the glasses followed suit. Not believing my eyes, I pinched myself, but quickly discovered that I wasn't dreaming and what I saw was, in fact, real.

Magic. She was using magic.

"Hey, are you okay?" Twilight asked worriedly.

"Haha...Huh? Oh yeah, I'm just fine-" I said, stretching out the 'fine' a bit "-just a tad creeped out by the fact that I just saw a purple colored pony with a pair of wings and a horn on its head using magic, which shouldn't be possible at all. And you?"

"I'm...fine?"

"Did you really just use magic?" I asked her with an expressionless look on my face.

"Yes."

"Like, real magic?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, you know what? I'll just take that as it is. Shouldn't really have surprised me that you can use magic." I simply stated. "I mean, you're a purple pony unicorn thingy, of course you could also do magic."

"O-kay?"

I then turned my attention back to the task at hand; preparing breakfast for the five of us. I tried to get the thought of someone actually using magic out of my head by thinking what to prepare for breakfast.

Since they probably wouldn't eat any meat, if they were anything like the ponies here, I decided that pancakes would be a better option. And, I mean, I still would've had some apples for them that they could've eaten if they couldn't eat pancakes either.  

Finishing up the last pancake, I stacked them onto a big plate I grabbed out of a cabinet earlier and placed them onto the dining table in the center of the room, where I saw Twilight awkwardly trying to make herself comfortable in one of the chairs. Suppressing a chuckle, I turned around and went to the fridge to grab a bottle of my favorite syrup, maple syrup. 

After grabbing the syrup, and a bottle of milk, out of it, I placed them into the middle of the dining table. Done with that, I sat myself opposite of Twilight, who had been staring at me the whole time, which made me a bit uncomfortable. Maybe it was for the fact, that I was still only clothed in my boxer shorts? Nah, she was naked too, so that couldn't have bee-

Actually, that could've been the reason. Still, I didn't like the way she was staring at me. "Uh Twilight? Could you please stop staring?"

"Huh? Oh, heheh, sorry..." she apologized, a little blush forming on her cheeks.

"It's okay, I mean, you don't see someone as good looking as me every day..." I teased, flexing my right biceps and moving my eyebrows up and down suggestively, to which Twilight just blushed more and averted her eyes. Right after that, I heard the sound of clopping hooves entering the kitchen, making me drop my little act and look to the doorway, where I saw a tired Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo entering, with Applejack directly behind them.

"Good mornin' y'all!" Applejack greeted cheerily, making her way over to the chair besides Twilight. 'Yep, she's the morning person...'

"Good morning..." Both Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo mumbled so quietly, I could barely hear them. '...and they aren't' I thought to myself. They went over to the chairs to my left and right, Scootaloo taking the one to my left and Rainbow Dash the one to my right.

"Good morning girls!" Twilight said, still a bit red in the face, but that quickly wore down. 

"Yeah, good morning." I said, eyeing Scootaloo, who was struggling to get up the chair, but failed to do so because of her injury. "Need any help?" I asked her, to which she nodded once. I picked her up around her barrel and sat her on the chair, whereupon she gave me a thankful smile, which I returned with a small smile of my own. I then grabbed the stack of empty plates and placed them in front of each occupied chair, mine included, and after that did the same with the glasses.

"Dig in!" I said, grabbing two pancakes from the plate I stacked them on earlier, placing them on my plate. It was then that I noticed the lack of silverware on the table, to which I just mentally shrugged. 'Not like they could use it anyways, and I could just use my hands'. Grabbing the bottle of maple syrup, I opened the lid and poured some of that sugary golden goodness onto my pancakes, and began eating with my hands. 'Maybe I should've washed them before?' I asked myself, stopping my eating momentarily, looking at my hands that were covered in syrup. '...Nah, fuck it, can do that later.' So I started eating again, not noticing the pancakes that were floating through the air and then landed on the plates of my guests.

"So, William,-" I heard someone say, making me look up into the direction of the voice, which I found out came from Twilight. "-what can you tell me about your world?"

"It's not bad." I simply stated, finishing up my first pancake, starting on the second.

"Can you elaborate?"

"Uhm, there wasn't any big war in a while, technology's improving every day, general lifespan is increasing because we make advances in the field of medicine, and so on. Though we're having problems with the environment for several reasons, and there're some problems involving certain countries, groups and politicians... That's just to name a few of them." I managed to explain between my eating, finishing the second pancake, already feeling sated.

"How many countries does this planet have?" She asked as I licked my syrup-covered fingers clean.

"Uhm, I'm not quite sure, but it should be something around 200."

"Wow,  that's...quite a lot... And when was the last big war?"

"Uh...that depends on how you define 'big'... But I'd say 71 years ago would be the last 'big' war, the Second World War." I told her, leaning myself back into my chair, patting my belly once.

"The second?" She raised one eyebrow. "How many casualties?" 

"There isn't an exact number, but it was something between 60 and 85 million people, if I remember correctly." I said, which in turn made all of them look at me with an open mouth. I think Twilight actually lost a bit of her food there.

"Girls, why are you looking at me like that?" I asked them with a raised eyebrow. 

"Did ya just say sixty to eighty-five million?" Applejack asked me in horror, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah, why?"

"Dude, 60-85 million? That's like, double the population of our whole home planet! You're telling us that like it's nothing!" Rainbow Dash said in shock, to which I just dryly chuckled. "Just how many of you are there??!"

I shrugged. "Last I checked we were at around 7.3 billion."

"You can't be serious." Twilight, finally snapping out of it, stated, her ears pinned back.

"I am."

"Just...how many wars have been fought on this world?"

"Too many, way too many." I sighed in frustration. "There are definitely one or two going on at this moment, maybe even more, and that probably over some stupid shit like religion, or a tiny bit of land. That's just how we humans are, we really like starting wars over something small. But don't get me wrong, definitely not every human is like that. Most of them are as peace loving and friendly as I am, but there're always one or two that aren't and somehow get others to follow them." 



I coughed loudly. "Anyways, how's your leg, Scootaloo?." I asked, trying to change the subject, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Huh? Oh, it's already getting better." She told me, shaking her head a little before smiling at me.

"Glad to hear that." I said with a content nod. "And how are you Rainbow Dash?"

"Dude, seriously, just call me Rainbow." She said, looking at me with a small forced smile. "I'm fine, though I'm still a bit sore...And thanks for patching me up yesterday..."

"No problem." I told her, flashing her a genuine smile. "Though you have to thank your friends for taking you here in the first place."

"Yeah, thanks Twilight,-" She said, directing her smile firstly at Twilight and then at Applejack. "-Applejack." Both gave her nods in return, though Twilight looked a bit guilty, her eyes splaying back. For what reason, I didn't know, but whatever it was, it looked like it was troubling her greatly.

"Girls, do you think you could tell me a bit about your home?" I asked, thinking that maybe talking about her home will make Twilight a bit happier.

"Sure!" Twilight said, already sounding a bit happier, her ears going back into a normal position. "Sooo, our country, Equestria, is ruled by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Princess Celestia is responsible for moving the sun, and Princess Luna for the moon."

"Wait, are you trying to tell me, that they're able to move planets? How?" I interrupted.

"Magic, silly!" 

"Yep, still can't get used to the fact that you can use magic..."

"Why? Is there no magic in this world?"

"Nope."

"And who moves the sun and the moon?" Twilight asked, cocking her head to the side.

"And who controls the weather?" Rainbow added.

"Mother Nature." I replied.

"Who's that?" Both asked in unison, making me facepalm, to which Scootaloo and Applejack started snickering.

I facepalmed. "... It happens naturally." I explained through my hand.

"Anyyyways,-" Twilight started confused, probably because of my gesture. "-where was I? Oh yeah, so it's ruled by Princess Celestia and Luna, who are both Alicorns like me,-"

"Wait, does that make you one too?"

"Yes, it does, but please, stop interrupting."

"Sorry, Princess Twilight..." I gave her a sheepish smile and motioned with my right hand for her to continue. 

"And please don't call me that. Just Twilight will do." 

What followed next was nearly half an hour of a presentation about their culture, history, politic, economy and other things. I mean, Twilight even somehow got a chalkboard where she explained various things on. But I gotta say, It was kinda interesting. I learned that Applejack, Twilight, Rainbow, and three other friends of theirs, which names I forgot, were the 'Elements Of Harmony' and saved their country countless times. But, even though it was interesting, I started falling asleep when she started speaking about their economy. 

"...and this is how Princess Celestia saved Equestria from a financial collapse for the second time! Now, moving on to...William?"

ZZZ-Zzzz-ZZzzz-hngGGggh-Ppbhww- zZZzzzZZ....

Yep, not only I fell asleep, the others did too. So, after getting nudged awake by a sad looking Twilight, I felt guilty for falling asleep while she was answering a question I had asked her. Really guilty.

"Shit, Twilight, I'm so so sorry!" I nervously apologized, looking her directly in the eyes.

"William, don't be sorry. I know I can kinda go overboard with teaching things."

"Still, I asked you to tell me." I said, rubbing the back of my head nervously. "Shit, I feel bad now..."

"Actually, Will? I told you about how we are from another dimension, right?"

"Yes, you did, why?" I asked curiously, standing up from my chair, dwarfing Twilight.

"Well...you see, I still don't know how I teleported me and the girls here, and I don't know how long it'll take me to find a way home. So, do you think we could stay here for some time?"

"Yeah, why not?" 'Why not? If someone finds out, you're going to prison!' My brain reasoned, but I gave it no thoughts. I rather enjoyed their company. Something about them just made me feel a little more...happy inside.

"Thanks William!" 

ZZZ-Zzzz-ZZzzz-hngGGggh-Ppbhww- zZZzzzZZ....

"You think we should wake them up?"

"Yeah, and I think I know just how." Twilight answered, a small, evil smirk appearing on her face. "You should maybe cover your ears up..."

I did as she told and she, upon seeing that, opened her mouth.

"HEY GIRLS, WAKE UP!!!" Twilight yelled loudly. The effect was instant. Rainbow, Applejack and Scootaloo immediately jumped up in the air, their eyes widening, hovering there for like five seconds. I seriously have no clue how they did that.

"WHAT THE BUCK WAS THAT?" Rainbow yelled, her wings flared, eyes darting around the kitchen, possibly looking for any signs of danger.

"Ow...my ears..." Scootaloo said, ears tightly pressed against her head.

"Twilight, was that really necessary?" Applejack asked annoyed, massaging her head with her right front hoof.

"Next time, don't fall asleep while I'm explaining something." She said, her smirk growing bigger.

"Yeah, anyways, I need to get into town and do some grocery shopping, if we want to have something to eat for the next days.-" I started, putting on a serious expression. "-So, please, if you don't want to end up being strapped down on a table in a laboratory with scientist examining you, you should stay in the house. Don't open the door to anyone while I'm away!"

"Why would anypony strap us down?" Scootaloo asked puzzled.

"Firstly, ponies here can't speak. Secondly, they have no wings,-" I pointed to Rainbows still extended wings. "-nor do they have horns." I then moved my finger over to Twilights horn. "Humans fear the unknown. Though, now that I think about it, I don't know if anyone could fear you girls. You're just too adorable."

"Yeah, buck you too." Rainbow said, rolling her eyes at me and looking to the side, but that didn't really hide her red-tinted cheeks from my eyes.




One hour later

After cleaning the dishes with the help of Twilight (who simplified the process immensely with her magic), I prepared myself for going into town, which included showering, shaving and clothing properly. After grabbing my wallet and the car key from the nightstand in my bedroom, I walked downstairs into the kitchen, where the others were patiently waiting for me.

"So, if anyone feels hungry, don't hesitate to raid the fridge." Giving the group a little smile, I turned my attention to Twilight. "And please Twilight, don't try to use the stove again. Don't want to see the house in flames when I get home." I told her, my smile turning into a smirk. She blushed and fumbled with her hooves nervously. I walked to the front door and opened it, looking back at the group of ponies I then said "I should be back before afternoon. Remember, don't, under any circumstances, open the door. Later!" Closing the door behind me and locking it, I went to the garage. Opening the gate, I walked to the side of my car and unlocked it, opened the drivers door, and the sat myself into the seat. Pulling the car key out of my pocket, I pushed it into the ignition lock, and turned the key, starting the engine. The sound the engine produced reminded me of that day.





"We think that the woman, trying not to hit the deer, steered the car onto the side stripe of the road, but somehow lost control and then drove right into that tree."

"Do you...do you know any names?"





Shaking my head clear of those bad memories before they could overwhelm me, I drove out of the garage and onto the street that leads into the direction of town.
> Chapter Four
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
Rainbow POV


After William left the house, I went to the couch and threw myself in it, hitting it with a groan. Scootaloo did the same, though Applejack and Twilight opted to sit in front of us, the latter started fidgeting with her front hooves nervously.

"Twilight, when can we go home?" Scootaloo asked, resting her head on the armrest of the couch, looking over to Twilight. Twilight face went a bit pale, as if she dreaded the question.

"Uhm...you see...-" She began, looking anywhere but me and Scootaloo, which made me, in turn, become a tad bit nervous. "-The problem is...That I don't know how I teleported us here in the first place...I'm sorry, but I don't know how long it'll take me to find a spell to take us home." 

"Twilight...Do you mean, that we're stuck here for Celestia-knows how long? With no place to stay and no clue about this world at all?" I asked, a lump forming in my throat. Not that I was frightened...
Okay, maybe I was a bit frightened. But you would be too if you were in the same situation!

"I spoke with William earlier, and he said that we could stay here until we find a way home..." Twilight answered, looking at the floor in front of her, still not wanting to look us in the eyes. I think she thought that I was angry at her, but I really wasn't. I don't know why, but I just wasn't.

"Now that we're talkin' about 'im, what do ya girls think of 'im?" Applejack asked, trying to change the topic. "Ah personally think there's something he ain't tellin' us. Somethin' that's troublin' him big time."

"Yeah, I think I know what you mean. He seems so...sad. Something in him just seems to be missing. And I think I know what that may be." I said, remembering the times I looked William in the eyes. Something in his eyes just seemed...off. 

"What do you think it is?" Twilight asked, finally looking up to me, though she still seemed to be feeling guilty.

"Do you remember yesterday? In his bedroom? The picture on that cabinet you pointed out to him?"

"Yes, I remember...Oh no, you don't think..." 

"Let's not jump to conclusions!" I interrupted Twilight "Though I'm pretty sure it has to be something involving those two other humans on the picture."

"What do ya think we should do?" Applejack asked.

"I think we should try and talk to him about it. If he doesn't want to talk about it, then we don't."

"Do ya think he's even going ta trust us?" 

"I think so. I mean, he's letting us live in his house..."

"Then it is decided. We're going to ask him about what's wrong when he's home." Twilight decided, nodding once. "And girls, I can't say it enough...I'm sorry..." She again looked at the floor and sadly pawed at it.

"Twilight, don't be too hard on yourself. I forgive you, and I'm sure Scoots and Applejack do too, right?" I comforted her in a calm voice.

"Yeah!" They both answered in unison. I flashed Twilight a small smile as she looked up to me, a single tear building in the corner of her eyes, which she quickly wiped away.

"Anyways, you girls think he'd mind when we look around a bit? There's some pretty cool stuff here."

"I don't know Rainbow, that doesn't seem nice at all." Twilight said, looking uncertain. I knew she wanted to snoop around just as much as I wanted to, if not more. I mean, she was the egghead of us and learning about a new species whose technology is way more advanced than ours is... All she needed was a bit more persuasion.

"C'mon Twilight, just think about all the cool alien stuff that's here!" I told her, suppressing a smirk that tugged at the corner of my mouth. "Laser beams...Spaceships..."

That was all the persuasion Twilight needed. She quickly jumped up onto all her hooves and made her way over to the kitchen.

"Okay, but please...don't damage anything, and put everything back to where it belongs!" She said, already vanishing behind the door frame that leads to the kitchen.

"Ah'll better stay by Twilight's side and see that she doesn't damage anythin'..." Applejack sighed, already trotting after Twilight, leaving me and Scootaloo alone in the living room. "Twilight, wait fer me!"




"Well squirt, what do you think we should check out first?" I asked, turning my head to Scootaloo, who in turn looked at me. She thought for a moment, and then pointed to something behind the tea table. Following her hoof with my eyes, I discovered the object she was pointing at. It was strange, to say the least, and I don't know how I haven't seen it before. It looked like a big and flat square made out of glass, with a black metal surrounding the glass. What interested me the most was the red blinking light at the bottom right corner. 

Jumping up from the couch, I made my way over to the little table the object was standing on. Standing in front of it, I estimated it to be around one and a half meter wide and maybe one meter high. Looking the strange object over for any hint on what it was, I found something that looked like a small button right to the left of the red light, but it was way too small to press it with my hooves. 'How can I...Oh, I know!' I moved my muzzle under the button, so that my nose was positioned right in front of it, and then pressed forward, touching it with my nose. Shortly afterwards, the glass box lightened up, and something appeared in the middle of it.

"Wooow..." Scootaloo exclaimed in awe, her eyes going big.

"What's happen-...By Celestia, this is so cool!" I finally registered what was happening as I heard sounds coming from somewhere beside me. I took two steps back and looked up. What I saw was mind blowing.

This strange object somehow was able to play moving 'pictures' with sound. I don't know how, but it was bucking awesome I tell you. The human that I saw on the glassy surface, a male if I guessed right, wore a similar outfit to the one Daring Do does and even had a whip. I began to slowly back up to the couch, keeping my eyes on the object in front of me the whole time, until I felt my haunches hitting the couch. I then shortly turned my attention away from the object and jumped up on the couch, sitting down beside Scootaloo.

"Rainbow...do you know what that thing is?" She asked me, looking up to me with big eyes.

"Squirt, I have no clue, but it is bucking awesome!" I said, my eyes still fixated on the scene that was unfolding on the glassy surface of the object. The human male, accompanied by another human, stood in front of a small golden statue, which stood on top of a pedestal in the center of a circular room. 'Strange, the scene reminds me of that one time Daring Do tried to get the Sapphire Statue from the pedestal in Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone...'. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of something cracking and crumbling, making me snap out of them. I saw how the human was running away from the pedestal, the golden statue in tightly kept in his grip. He ran through several arrow traps, the arrows narrowly missing him. After that, the location changed to a narrow passageway, which had a deep gap in the middle of it. The other human, that I saw in the beginning, used the whip to get across the gap, and then told the 'human Daring Do' version to throw him the idol, and he'd get the whip in return so that he could get across too. He complied and threw the statue over to him, but the other one just said something strange to him, let the whip fall down to the ground, and escaped through a slowly closing gate.

"Wow, this may be the most awesome thing I've ever seen." I said in awe as I saw how he jumped across the gap and barely reached the other end, holding onto a vine for dear life. After he managed to get up and get through the gate that threatened to trap him in the passageway (he, of course, grabbed his whip before he went through it), he saw the corpse of the human that stole the idol from him and left him to die. Though, I have to say, that scene was making me a bit...uncomfortable. I mean, there were prickles sticking out in several places all over his body, which looked pretty gruesome. He picked up the statue and went on, but as he arrived in another passageway, a big, and bizarrely round boulder appeared behind him, chasing him all the way out of the cave he was in. It went on and I and Scootaloo were quickly lost in the epic adventure that was unfolding in front of us.




Some time later

"That.was.bucking.AWESOME!" I exclaimed thoroughly amazed, jumping up in the air at the last word, but only hovering there for a few seconds. Still couldn't fly properly because of my injuries.

"I have to tell Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom about this!"

"Psssh, I think the next one's starting!" I was right. Right after I said that, the opening scene to the next Indiana Jones movie (as I learned it was called) started playing. That one was named 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'. Saying that I was pumped to see it was a huge understatement. But before I could lose myself in the next awesome adventure, I heard someone calling me out.

"Rainbow! What in tarnation's that thing?" I heard someone say from my right. Turning my head around to face the newcomer, I discovered that it was no other than Applejack, who was now looking at the object in amazement. "Hey Twilight, c'mere, ya've to see this!"

"I hope it's important Applejack! I nearly found out how his fridge-" Twilight, who was walking out of the kitchen, started, but interrupted herself with a loud gasp, her eyes going wide. "By Celestia..."

"Yeah, that thing's awesome, isn't it?" I asked her, feeling proud that I've found out how it worked. "That thing is able to play moving pictures with sound! I think they're called movies! Jump up, let's watch that next one together!" 

Twilight and Applejack willingly obliged and jumped up on the couch, making themselves comfortable on it. Twilight then nudged me in the side, making me look to her. She pointed to the other side of the couch, which made me turn my head in that direction, where a sleeping Scootaloo was lying. 'That explains why she got so quiet all of the sudden.'

"Huh, maybe that was a bit too much for her." I mused, leaning myself back into the strangely comfortable couch, starting to watch the movie again.




Some hours later

"That was AWESOME!" Twilight, Applejack and I loudly exclaimed in unison.

"Wuzzat?..."

"Sorry, we didn't want to wake you up squirt..." I told the now awake Scootaloo, flashing her a sheepish grin.

"Nah, that's...*yawn*...okay" She said, giving me a sleepy smile in return. "Can't sleep all day long after all!"

"Anyways, what should we do now?" I asked, jumping down from the couch, groaning a bit as I hit the ground.

"I don't know, but William should arrive every moment I think." Twilight said, as she and the other two too jumped from the couch.
As if on cue, I heard the lock on the front door unlocking, and shortly afterwards, the door swung open inwards.

"Hey girls, I'm home!" A William that was carrying two full bags of groceries said, flashing us a smile. But as I looked into his eyes, I could clearly see that he tried to hide something with this smile. Something really painful for him. I think I wasn't the only one who noticed that.

"William, ya alright?" Applejack asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" He said, a bit too enthusiastic, making me even warier. Something seemed just off...

"O-kay"

"I see you found out how to turn on my TV." He said, looking over to the 'TV', and then back to us, his smile never faltering.

"Yeah. And I've gotta say, those Indiana Jones movies are bucking awesome!" I said, still amazed from before. He chuckled and went into the kitchen, starting to store away all those things he bought.

"If you like that one, I think I've got some other movies you'd like too." He called from the kitchen, which made my ears perk up instantly.

"There are more?" I asked, my eyes widening a bit.

"Yeah, there're many similar movies to Indiana Jones."

"Humans are bucking awesome." I simply stated as I moved into the kitchen, the others following me.

"..."

"William, you need any help?" Twilight asked, looking up to William, who was storing away some vegetables in the fridge, his back turned to us. It was then that I noticed that he was shaking, and that definitely wasn't because It was cold. 

"William...you okay?" I asked, moving closer to him.

"Huh? Yeah yeah, I'm fine!"

"William, Twilight asked you if you need any help."

"Uh...Yeah, could you hand me the milk Twilight?"

"Of course!" She said, lighting up her horn and levitating the milk out of a bag and over to William, who grabbed the milk out of the air and stored it in the fridge.

"Hey William, would you mind telling us a bit more about you?" I asked, eyeing his shaking body.

"Huh? Eh, why not? But let me store everything in the fridge first." He said, turning his head into my direction, flashing me a small empty smile, devoid of any real emotions.

"Cool, c'mon girls, let's wait in the living room for him. Or do you need help?"

"Nah, I'm good, go on." He said, turning his attention back to the fridge.





After William stored everything to where it belonged, he came to join us on the couch in the living room. I noticed as he sat down beside me, that he wasn't shaking anymore, and he seemed...calmer?

"So, what do you girls want to know about ol' William?"

'His voice seems normal too...too calm...He's definitely trying to hide something...'

"What about you start from the beginning? When were you born, what are your parents like?" Twilight asked, 

"Well, there's nothing much to say about me.-" He said, running a hand through the mane on his head "-I was born on the 11th April 1988, so I'm 28 years old. My mother died giving birth to me, and my father held me responsible for it. I mean, I kinda was..."

Putting a hoof on his shoulder, which in turn made him turn his head to look at me, I gave him a sympathetic look and then said, "William, it wasn't your fault. Stop being so hard on yourself." He flashed me a weak smile, and then continued with his tale, shifting his gaze from me onto his...eh, whatever those appendages on his arms are called again.

"Anyways, as I already said, my father held me responsible it, so he...well, let's just say he didn't treat me that well.-" His gaze turned even sadder, to which Applejack, who was sitting on his left, placed a hoof on his shoulder too. "-He only came home late at night, often walking up into my room, just to tell me how useless I am. After some time I learned to just ignore him, but as he noticed that, he started...punching me..." His voice became quieter at the last two words, but I clearly understood what he said. 

"I hated him with all my heart.-" He started shaking again, and his voice grew emotionless."-One day, my math teacher at primary school noticed the black eye he gave me the night before. He asked me, where I've got that from, if I had any problems with one of my classmates or something like that. I... I told him all of it. How he punched me, how he called me useless...

The teacher reported that to the police, which in turn started an investigation against my father. To get to the point quickly, my father got sentenced to five years in prison and was not allowed to ever contact me again. I was then sent to an 'orphanage', if you could even call it that, in Miami. That's when life started becoming better. I graduated from school with good marks, got a pretty decent job, and then, some years later, when I turned 24, I found...her..."

"Who do you mean by that, if I may ask?" Twilight, who sat to my right, asked me.





William POV


"Who do you mean by that, if I may ask?"

I clenched my fists as the memories of Sandra started coming back to me. But, surprisingly, only good ones came to my mind. The first time I met her in that bar in Miami, how she smiled at me when I asked what a beautiful girl like her was doing in a bar like that. From then on, I met her every day in that same bar again for two weeks. I talked with her, and we became aware that we had a lot of things in common. Then, after some time, she gave me her number, and we met frequently to watch movies at her or my place or just hung out together. Yes, we became good friends.

After half a year, we became more than that.

So, after Laura was born, Sandra and I got married and moved in together. But the flat we had in Miami just wasn't big enough for the three of us, so we decided to move away. I've saved a pretty decent amount of money, and that combined with all the money Sandra saved, allowed us to build our very own house here in Wyoming. This place was perfect for us; big property, beautiful landscape, quiet and remote, but not too remote.

"By 'her' I mean Sandra."

"Who is Sandra?" Twilight asked me, her head cocked to the side.

"Sandra is...no, she was my wife." A single tear rolled down my left cheek, and I clenched my fists tightly, making my fingernails nearly draw blood. But before I could break down into a sobbing mess, I felt something fuzzy and soft nuzzle my uncovered right arm. I looked down to inspect what was touching my arm, only to see that Scootaloo had somehow snuck herself between me and Rainbow, and was now rubbing her cheek against my arm. I felt my heartbeat slowing down and my fists slowly unclenched. Something about her just calmed me down...

"William, you don't have to tell us anymore..." Twilight's voice snapped me back into reality. 

"I don't have to...-" I hesitated a bit "-but maybe it'll help me to tell you about her and my...daughter."
I put on a determined expression as I said that. I have no clue where I've gotten all that confidence from, nor do I have any clue why I thought that telling them about Sandra and Laura will make it any better...But it just seemed like the right thing to do.

So I told them everything. I told them how I met Sandra, I told them about Laura, and I told them of that one day. Surprisingly I didn't shed a single tear throughout the whole time I was telling them. I don't know why, but something deep inside of me told me, that I could trust them. That they would care. I don't know how that stopped me from breaking down either, but it just did.






"...So yeah, that was the last time I saw them." I finished, petting the mane of Scootaloo, who moved to my lap sometime during my sad story. She looked so adorable, so...fragile, when she was curled up in my lap like that. It really distracted me from all the bad memories that kept resurfacing. 

"William...I don't know what to say..." Twilight said, looking really downtrodden. "How did somepony like you even deserve this?"

"I consider myself unlucky." I coldly stated. Right after I said that, I felt hooves embracing me from my left side, then from my right side, and finally from my back. Looking around, I spotted all of the three other mares that were now hugging me. Plus little Scootaloo, who was half-hugging one of my legs. At first, I was confused as to why they were ready to be so close to me. I tensed up at first, but quickly learned to just enjoy the hugs I was getting. 

Unfortunately, that beautiful moment couldn't last forever. 

Their little comforting session was interrupted by my stomach rumbling rather loudly. The girls just chuckled.

"Hehe, sorry..." I apologized, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Guess I'm gonna make dinner for us then?" 

"Now that you're talking about it, I'm feeling pretty hungry too." Rainbow said, and as to confirm that, her stomach rumbled too, making her blush and chuckle nervously. 

"You guys can wait here and watch some TV while I'm preparing dinner, if you want to." Twilight's, Rainbow's and even Applejack's eyes light up, all three of their faces beaming with smiles.

"I'll take that as a yes." I smirked, and then reached for the remote control that lay on the tea table in front of me. Turning on the TV, I switched through several channels, until I found one that was not displaying war, horror or any other kind of overly brutal movies. I found a channel that played a gold old classic, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. "Looks like I've found a good one. Hope you girls like science fiction! I'm gonna prepare dinner now, have fun." They just nodded, already enthralled by the opening scene.

I felt Scootaloo jump down from my lap onto the floor, which allowed me to stand up. I made my way over to the kitchen, but was stopped by someone calling out my name directly behind me.

"William? Can I help you?" I turned around and looked down, seeing Scootaloo looking up at me with big eyes, a hopeful expression on her face. I wasn't exactly sure how she wanted to help me prepare dinner when she had no hands, but I just couldn't say that when she was looking at me like that.

"Uh, sure, why not?" 

I then went into the kitchen, with Scootaloo closely following behind me, pondering on what to cook. 'It has to be something without meat...Maybe a simple vegetable stir-fry? Yeah, that'll do...' Arriving in the kitchen, I took out a pan and a spatula out of one of the cabinets, and some vegetables out of the fridge. Good thing I stocked up on them today.

"William, can I tell you something?" I nearly forgot that I wasn't alone. 

"Yeah, sure." I responded.

"You know..." She started, audibly having trouble speaking out what she has on her mind. "I'm an orphan too."

"I've never got to know my parents... I was told that they abandoned me, because I wouldn't be able to fly ever...because my wings were too underdeveloped..." She continued, sniveling a bit, which made me turn around and drop to my knees. I then motioned her to come over into my arms with my left hand, so I could hug her. She did just that. 

"Scootaloo, I'm sorry to hear that." I whispered into her ear, genuinely feeling sad for the little filly. I knew how hard it's to grow up without parents. Well, okay, I at least got to know one of them...Didn't help that he was a dick though. I tightened my grip on her a bit as I heard her sobbing a bit louder, and moved my other hand to pet her head.

"William?..."

"Yes Scoots?" Huh, the first time I called her that. She didn't seem to mind, though.

"Do you want...."

"Yeees?"

"Do you want...to be my fa...father?"

Okay, now that shocked me a bit. I mean, it doesn't happen every day that a orange and purple colored pony with wings, that can speak, and acts like a human, asks you to be her father. And I've known her for just what? two days? 'She really must like me...But the question is, am I ready for something like that? Would we even be able to see each other again, when Twilight finds a way back to their dimension? Would I...'

"I'm sorry...that was just a stupid thought...Forget it..." She interrupted my thoughts.

"Nonono Scoots, it's just... a lot to take in right now..." I cut her off, before she could doubt herself further. It's not like I didn't want to be her father, but she really asked it out of the blue. Why did I want to be her father? That, I can't answer you exactly. It may be the fact, that she kinda reminded me of Laura... Or that she was an orphan like me... But nonetheless, what I would say next to her, might change her life either in a positive way or a bad way. "Might I ask you why me?"

"I dunno... You just... You're an orphan like me, you're kind, helpful, and even though you went through so much... You were never mean to any of us...-" she started, growing more confident with every word "-I mean, you patched me and Rainbow up, and that without wanting anything in return. You offered us a place to stay until we find a way back home. You even..."

"Scootaloo." I called her out, breaking the hug to look her straight in the eyes, which were wet from the tears that were traveling down her cheeks. "You know what? Let's give it a try." I was very confident, that this could work out between the two of us. When people would learn about me adopting a talking pony, they would surely call me 'insane' or something like that, but in this very moment, I couldn't care less.
The way she looked at me... It broke my heart, that someone like her had no one that would listen to her when hard times were coming, or when she needed help. Maybe I could fill that gap.

"You serious?"

"Yes Scoots, I am." Her sad gaze turned immediately into a happy one, and she then leaped into my body, embracing my midsection as best as her small body would allow her to. I returned her hug, my heart pounding like crazy. It was pounding like crazy, because of how happy I felt.

Happy, for the first time, in quite a while.





After we finished eating dinner (Apparently they really liked Star Wars, since they couldn't stop talking about it), cleaning dishes, which again was simplified with Twilight's abilities, and spreading the word that Scootaloo wanted me to be her father (apparently only Rainbow knew that Scoots was an orphan), which the others, to my surprise, approved of, we decided that heading to bed would be a good thing to do. It was getting quite later, after all.

"So yeah, have a goodnight girls!" I said, already on my way to the couch. But I was stopped midway by Rainbow calling me out.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"Err, to the couch?"

"Nonono mister, you're going to sleep in bed."

"But what about..."

"There's enough room for all five of us." She deadpanned, which made me chuckle nervously.

"She's right sugarcube, but don't worry, Twillight an' me are still sleeping in the guest room. Wouldn't want ta get the bed to cramped after all." Applejack said.

"Ergh...Fine..." I sighed defeated.

"C'mon dad!"

I smiled at Scootaloo, who was already bolting up the stairs, with the others shortly behind her. I chuckled once, and then walked after them, already longing for the comfort of my bed.

> Chapter Five
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the first time since Sandra and Laura passed, I could actually sleep peacefully. No Nightmares and no bad memories, that wanted to disturb my sleep, appeared. Instead, I dreamed about how life will develop from now on, since I'm now a father again.
Not of a human child, but of a pegasus filly. 

And I couldn't have been happier.





"Hey Dad, wake up!"

Groaning, I opened my eyes and looked down my body, where the voice that woke me up was coming from. There, perched upon my chest, was Scootaloo, looking up to me with those big eyes of hers, a small smile plastered on her face. My heart skipped a beat because of how adorable my daughter looked.

"Hey there." I said, shooting her a small smile of my own. Freeing my hand from under the blanket, I moved it behind one of her ears and started scratching there, to which she cooed in delight. Apparently, she really liked getting scratched there.

"Where's Rainbow?" I asked her, only at that moment noticing the lack of the blue-colored mare.

"She went down to prepare breakfast earlier." She said, her eyes closed and a content expression on her face.

"Oh, okay." 

So I lay there, Scootaloo still upon my chest, just enjoying the moment.
But when realization hit me, I quickly jumped up, making Scoots fall off of me in the process, and sprinted through the doorway, heading for the staircase. 'If she's anything like Twilight, I should better hurry' I thought, moving down the staircase as fast as my feet would allow me to, nearly face planting the floor on the last step, just barely avoiding it.

As I stood just right in front of the kitchen, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and entered it. However, my nostrils weren't hit with the smell of something burning, but, to my surprise, with the smell of pancakes. Opening my eyes, I took a look around and saw that Rainbow was already seated at the table, which had a lot of pancakes stacked on top of a plate placed in the center of it.

"Okay, I don't know how you turned on the stove, since you have no hands and all, but how did you find out how it works?" I asked curiously, announcing my presence to her, which made her look up to me. 

"Well, it's not really that different from Equestrian ones. Just a bit more complicated." She answered, shrugging once.

"Heh, and here I am, thinking that your try at cooking might end up like Twilight's yesterday. Didn't take you for the cooking type either."

"What happened yesterday?"

"Twilight couldn't figure out how the stove worked, so she used a heating spell or something like that to heat up the pan. She ended up lighting it on fire."

Rainbow's mouth curved upwards into a smile, and then she started giggling. That giggling turned into a full blown laughter as I joined her. Now that I thought about it, that must have been pretty funny to look at. A half naked, panicked human standing in front of a burning, empty pan, with a purple alicorn next to him. I started chuckling harder.

"Watcha laughing about?" A voice behind me asked. I turned around, still chuckling like an idiot, and saw Scootaloo looking up to me with those big eyes of hers, a puzzled look on her face. It took me a second to get my chuckling under control.

"Nothing Scoots." I said, still grinning like an idiot. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Uhh, yeah?"

"Can you please go and wake Applejack and Twilight up and tell 'em that breakfast's ready?"

"Sure dad!" Still a bit weird to hear her calling me that, but I gave her a thankful smile nonetheless.





Breakfast was rather uneventful.

...

Okay, maybe something slightly awkward happened. 
You see, we were sitting at the table, munching on the pancakes Rainbow prepared (Which, by the way, were pretty good), just enjoying a comfortable silence. That is, until...

"Hey William?" Twilight asked, making me look up to her, a half-finished pancake in one of my hands. 

Yep, I didn't use silverware. Don't judge me, they didn't either! 

Okay, yeah, they're ponies, but anyways...

"Huh?" 

"Uhm...you're a male right?"

I answered her question with a slow nod, not really liking were this was going.
"Then...why...why do you have, uhm, teats?" She asked, pointing a hoof at my upper chest. Rainbow and Applejack started snickering, trying to hide their grins behind their hooves, but failing miserably at that. 

I choked on the piece of pancake that I was chewing on earlier, coughing violently. I wasn't excepting that she would ask something like that, at all. 'Yeah, good job Twilight. Ask me something like that while we're eating breakfast, and a little gir-...Eh, filly, is present.'

"Has *cough* to do something with evolution *cough*, I think." I managed to explain between my coughing fit. Scoots looked up to me, a confused expression on her face, and then opened her mouth...

'Nonononono...'

"What are teats?" She innocently asked.

'Oh fucking great! Good fucking job Twilight!'

Twilight opened her mouth to answer her question, but I gave her a look that said 'Don't you dare', making her quickly shut it again. I then looked down to Scoots, giving her a forced smile. "I'll tell you later."





After breakfast, Rainbow, Scootaloo and Applejack went upstairs to wash themselves, leaving me and Twilight alone in the kitchen to clean the dishes.

"Hey William...?"

"Yes Twilight?" I asked, storing away the last plate that I had just cleaned, looking down to her. I was still a bit mad at her, but as I saw how sad she looked, I felt bad for being so rude. The whole time we were cleaning the dishes, I ignored her, and to be serious, that may have been a bit too much. I mean, she just asked me a question, after all. 

Okay, that question may have been a bit, uh, embarrassing, and could've been asked when Scoots wasn't around, but I still felt bad.

"I just wan-"

"No, Twilight, I'm the one who needs to apologize. I've been acting like a child, and for that, I'm really sorry. I just kinda overreacted..." I firmly interrupted her, not giving her the chance to apologize for something she shouldn't be sorry for.

"But..."

"No buts." I said.

After that was done, I told Twilight that I'm going to go upstairs and see if the others were already done with taking their turns in the bath (And maybe cloth myself). Turned out that no one actually was done with washing themselves, since they couldn't actually turn on the shower, as Applejack, that I met on the floor upstairs, told me. I apologized to her, but she said it was okay, and she needed to talk to Twilight anyways, so she'd take a shower after that. After apologizing to her again, I continued to my bedroom to finally put on some clothes, and as I arrived in it, I saw Rainbow lying on her belly upon the bed we shared, her front legs tucked underneath her body, resting her head on the bed sheets. But what surprised me was the fact that Scoots was cuddled up against Rainbow's side, curled up like a cat.

"You know, I'm not gonna let any of you sleep in bed tonight, when you don't clean yourselves." I jokingly said, after the encounter knowing full well that they wouldn't be able to turn on the shower with them being so small and not having hands. Their ears swiveled into my direction, and shortly afterwards, their heads followed suit. Rainbow gave me an annoyed look, but that only lasted until her eyes traveled down from my face to my chest, and a small blush appeared on her cheeks. 

"But...I don't want to..." Scoots mumbled, a adorable little pout forming on her face, which I had a hard time resisting. But I stood my ground, looking at her with a determined expression. Well, as determined as the current situation would allow me to, with Rainbow still staring at my chest like it was on fire. "Fine..."

"Rainbow, can she go first?"

"Wha...Uh, yeah, yeah she can go first!" 

I moved over to the bed, scooped her up in my arms, to which she made an adorable squee sound, and then walked out of the bedroom into the bathroom next doors as fast as possible (Rainbow's constant staring creeped me the fuck out) , putting her down onto the floor there. I moved over to the shower, opened the sliding door, and then turned it on. After that was done, I turned around to walk out of the bathroom, passing Scoots on the way. But right when I was about to close the door behind me, she called me out.

"Dad?"

"Yes?" I opened the door again to look at her.

"Could you..." She began, nervously scraping at the tile floor with her right front hoof, looking down to it. "Could you, you know, help me washing...?"

"Uh, can't you do that yourself?" I asked, running my right hand through my short hair, my left hand still clutched around the doorknob.

"I can't reach my back..."

"And how should I help you washing when you're inside the shower?" I asked her, pointing out her mistake.

She thought about it for a moment, but what came out next shocked me a bit. "You could join me?" 

'Yeeaaah...nope.'

"Yeah, join us! I'm in too!" A voice from behind me said. A voice that I easily recognized as the one of Rainbow. 'Oh god no...'

"Oh, hey there Rainbow." I said nonchalantly, momentarily turning my head into the direction of Rainbow, flashing her a small smile. I then stepped back inside the bathroom to allow her entry. She moved up besides Scoots, looking at me the whole time, that little blush from before still on her face.

"Oh hey look, Rainbow's here! She can help you! Tell me when you guys are done!" I tried to walk out of the bathroom as fast as possible, but before I could even reach the door frame, I was stopped by the voice of Rainbow.

"Oh come on dude! Why won't you join us?"

"Because firstly, I don't want to be cramped naked inside of a shower with two ponies, one of them being my daughter,-" I started, lifting my hand up in front of my face, raising my thumb. "-and secondly, there's no need for that when you're here to help her washing." I finished, raising my index finger shortly, and then lowering my whole hand again.
Well, maybe that part about being 'cramped inside the shower' wasn't right at all. Another pony the size of Rainbow would've easily fit into the shower with us, and we still would've had enough place to comfortably move around in the shower.

"Dude, are we wearing any clothes?"

"..."

"Yeah, we're not." She deadpanned. "You know, families in our world would often shower together to help them wash each other, and Scoots and you are family, aren't you?"

"But...You're not family!" I exclaimed a bit too loud, thinking that I found a solution to get out of this. Well, that is until Rainbow opened her mouth again.

"Well, Scootaloo's my adopted sister. So technically..." 'Oh fucking...'

"Pleaaaase Dad, just this once?" 

I looked back to them, seeing how Scoots was looking up at me with those purple orbs of hers, a pleading pout on her face, but I could resist that. But I definitely couldn't resist when Rainbow joined her, looking up at me with her magenta eyes, a really adorable look on her face, despite her being relatively tomboyish.
The longer I looked at them, the faster my defenses crumbled. 'Would it really be so bad? I mean, like she already said, they're naked all the time, and if she's telling me the truth about that family thing, that wouldn't be weird at all, right?'
Sighing in defeat, I gave both of them a single nod, and their pouts turned into smiles instantly.

I walked over to the shower with both of them following me, and as I was standing in front of it, I motioned for them to turn around with my hands, which they, to my surprise, understood. I quickly pulled of my boxers, exposing myself to the steam filled air, and jumped into the shower, facing the wall, feeling the warm water cascading down my body, caressing my muscles. But that didn't really help at slowing down my heartbeat.

"Okay, you can come in now!" I said, and as I heard two pair of hooves simultaneously landing on the showerfloor, my heartbeat increased into possibly unhealthy heights. I awkwardly closed the sliding door from my position, my arms bending in ways I never thought would be possible.

Was I nervous?

Uh, maybe a bit.

Why?

Maybe because I was naked inside the shower with two ponies, one of them seemingly interested in seeing me naked? (I definitely do not mean my daughter)

Why do you say 'seemingly interested in seeing me naked'?

...You'll see...

"Hey William, what's so interesting about that wall?"

"Shut up Rainbow..."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"O-kay." Rainbow said. "Now turn around so you can start washing us. I bet that your...your... uhm, what are those things that are attached to your arms called again?"

"Hands. They are called hands."

"Yeah, I bet your hands are perfect for doing that!"

I turned around hesitantly, covering my most private part of my body with my hands, looking anywhere but at Rainbow or my daughter.

"You know, you can't wash us when you keep your hands there."

'Fuck fuck fuck...This is so wrong... I should've said no... Damn these ponies and their big, adorable eyes!'
My cheeks flushed a bright red as I lowered my hands, exposing myself to Rainbow and Scoots.

WOOOOOSH

I immediately directed my gaze downwards, where I saw Rainbow looking at my crotch, a bright red blush on her face, her wings fully outstretched. The worst things was, that she was at the perfect height to directly look at it. An awkward silence was filling the air, neither me nor Rainbow daring to say anything. Only the sound of water hitting the shower floor could be heard.

Luckily, Scoots was getting impatient.

"Can we start? I don't want to stay in the shower for ever..." She mumbled, looking to her right at Rainbow, apparently not noticing how awkward the current situation was. This finally helped to get Rainbow from staring at my crotch, but her blush only got stronger as she noticed me looking at her. She strained to get her wings down, to which I raised an eyebrow, my blush disappearing from my face, being replaced with an confused look. 'What's going on with her wings?'

"Rainbow, what's up with your wings?" I asked her curiously.

"Hehe, noth...nothing!" She chuckled nervously, making me raise my eyebrow even higher. I shrugged once, deciding to just drop it and ask Twilight about it later. 'If she doesn't want to tell me, Twilight surely does.' I thought, a small chuckle escaping my lips at the image of Twilight doing another power-point presentation.

A frustrated sounding humph pulled me out of my mind, reminding me that I still had a job that needed to be done. I kneeled myself down, gesturing Scoots to come closer with one of my hands. She complied, now standing right under the shower head, the warm water running down her body, dampening her orange fur. I grabbed a bottle of shampoo from the shower shelf above me, opened the lid, and poured a generous amount of it on my right palm. I shoved Scoots a bit to the side, so that she wasn't standing under the spray of water anymore, and then started rubbing the shampoo into her mane. 

After I made sure that I didn't miss a spot, I moved my hand down from her mane onto her back, and from then on started rubbing in the shampoo into the orange fur that covered her body, making her coo in delight, though I did mind to avoid her more private places. All that took me quite some time, but the sight of her body covered in suds made it worth it. A small chuckle escaped my throat as I admired my work.

"Aaaand done!" I said, giving her face, that was covered in suds too, a smile. She returned my smile with a bubbly one of her own, closed her eyes, and then moved under the shower head again, washing her body free of suds. 

"My turn!" Rainbow, whose wings were still spread out, said eagerly, shoving Scoots away from her spot after everything was washed off, nearly knocking her to the ground with one of her wings. She took the place under the shower head with a content expression on her face.

"Rainbow! Be more careful! You could've pushed her over!" I scolded, making sure to look at her angrily. Too bad her eyes were closed, and she couldn't see that. 'What's going on with her? She's acting pretty weird...'

"Oh shit, I'm sorry Squirt..." She apologized, her eyes opening for a second, but closing as soon as she felt droplets of water running down her cheeks.

"Nah, it's okay Rainbow." Scoots said. She then looked up at me. "Hey Dad, can you open the door? I want to get out."

"Yeah, sure. Grab a towel from the towel rack besides the sink. I don't want you to catch a cold, so dry yourself!" I said as I stood up and opened the sliding door. She gave me a nod and then jumped out. I closed the door behind her, which only left me and Rainbow in the shower. 

"You know, you're a really good father..." Rainbow said from behind me, startling me a bit. "Never let her down. Please."

"Uh, thanks..." I said, a bad memory momentarily coming back to my head, but I quickly shook it off. "And I won't. I'll do everything for her. Though..."

"What?"

"You know that you girls are from another dimension, right?" I asked, sadness clearly evident in my voice.

"Yes?"

"What...What if you went back to your home?" I asked, straining to get even the words out. The thought of leaving Scoots alone again hit me hard. Really hard.

"Twilight will figure something out."

"And what if she doesn't?" I looked into her eyes, my face showing my concerns about that.

"Trust me, she will." I lost myself in her beautiful magenta eyes, which just showed how dead certain she was about this. Those beautiful eyes of hers made all my worries instantly vanish. They assured me, that everything will be fine in the end...





"So, you want to get cleaned, or are you just going to stand there all day staring me in the eyes?" She asked me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Way to kill the mood, Rainbow..."





The rest of our little cleaning session went over pretty quickly and without any further occurrences. Rainbow stayed silent the whole time I was cleaning her, occasionally cooing in delight... Though I think I caught her taking glimpses at my groin at times. 
But maybe I was just imagining things? I mean, she definitely couldn't have been attracted to me, right?
Well, anyways, after me and Rainbow thoroughly cleaned ourselves, and I covered my waist with a towel, we went downstairs to the living room, where we met my daughter, Applejack and Twilight who were sitting on the couch, watching TV. I didn't know how they turned it on, but I couldn't care less.

I mean, if I would've asked them, their response would probably be 'Magic'...

"Hey there, whatcha girls watching?" I asked, announcing my presence to them. But as they turned around and I saw their distraught faces, I knew something was wrong. "Oh shit..."

And you know what the worst thing about that situation was?

I still wasn't wearing any clothes!
> Chapter Six
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Hey there, whatcha girls watching?" I asked, announcing my presence to them. But as they turned around and I saw their distraught faces, I knew something was wrong. "Oh shit..."





I looked into their eyes, a hint of fear evident in them. Well, not all of them showed fear. Scootaloo's showed more...curiosity...and...uncertainty? 

What was the cause of their fear, or in Scootaloo's case, uncertainty?

"Girls, what's up?" I asked, taking a step forwards carefully, one hand still holding the towel around my waist in place. But as they saw me coming closer, Twilight and Applejack huddled closer together on the couch, leaving Scootaloo to sit by herself. Because of their reactions, I was able to identify the cause of their fear. It was because of me. I was what they were fearing.

But why?

"Girls, please tell me what's up." I said, my mind running through the reasons of why they could be fearing me. 'It has do something with what they saw on TV, I'm pretty sure. They were acting normal at breakfast...'

"Do you... eat meat?" I heard someone ask, and to my surprise, it wasn't Twilight, nor was it Applejack. It was Scootaloo. But It seemed more like a... curious question. She wasn't fearing me, or maybe she just wasn't showing it.

I groaned audibly. 'Great, and I thought I could tell them later. That explains why Applejack and Twilight are fearing me. They probably think I'm going to eat them or some stupid shit like that... Fucking great!' 
'But why isn't Scoots fearing me? I'd think that she'd be at least as scared as the other two, if not even more?'
'Does she really trust me that much?' I felt a pressure building up in the front of my head, which I could only identify as the start of a headache. I lifted both of my hand up to my temples and started massaging them, groaned again, and then took a moment to think about how I could touch the subject the best way.




"Yes, but I do not only eat meat. Humans are omnivores, and we could, technically speaking, live without meat." I said, my voice calm and measured as to not give them anymore reasons to fear me. "And if you think, that I'm going to eat any of you...Girls, that just silly." I sighed, and feeling that the pressure on my forehead has finally subsided, moved my hand away from my temples. But as I again looked into both Applejack and Twilight faces, I saw that their opinion of me still hasn't changed much. My body started shaking again. I was nervous. Why?


I feared the thought of losing the only real friends I've had in a long, long time. 

I feared the though of losing their trust.

I feared the thought of losing a daughter again. 

I feared the thought of being alone again.

Since they appeared out of nowhere, my life actually became worth living again. They, in a way, saved me from killing myself. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to write about all this. I could even talk to them about my past without actually breaking down into a sobbing mess!
And most importantly, they cared about me. Even though I knew them for only a few days at that moment, I could tell that they truly cared about me. 

These ponies are the complete opposites of the most humans. Peace-loving, caring, friendly, trusting and understanding.


'What will I do when I lose them?' My heart started beating so fast that I feared I was going to have a heart attack.

"Girls, you know, I agree with Will here. If he wanted to eat us, he surely would've done so already." Rainbow said, her tone just radiating confidence, moving up to my left side. I was really thankful that she came to my help right then, or else I probably would've passed out. And, I strongly doubt Applejack and Twilight would've believed me without her support. "And he seems like a too nice guy to even do something like that!"

"But...but he eats meat Rainbow!" Applejack said, frantically waving a hoof into my general direction, looking at her friend in horror.

"Yeah, so what? Griffons eat meat too, don't they?  Hay, some of our pets do eat meat, so what's the big deal?"

"But they don't eat sentient beins'..." 'Uh... What?'

"Okay, what the actual fuck?" I asked, both of my eyebrows raised, looking at Applejack in a mix of shock and disbelief, my fears disappearing for just a moment. "Since when are animals like, let's say cows, sentient?"

"Wait, they aren't in this dimension?" Twilight asked, her eyes widening a bit. She freed herself out of Applejack's grip and looked over to me, mild curiosity evident in her eyes.

"Uhhh...no?" I said, giving her a unsure look. I couldn't actually believe her at first, but then I remembered that I was talking to a pony that could feel, think and speak like me. My mind started drifting away, strange and...terrible things filling my head. One highly disturbing (and absurd) thought was me sitting at a table, my whole body covered in blood and guts, a sinister smile on my face, biting into a steak, which was screaming loudly in agony, trying to wiggle out of between my teeth. I shuddered once.

Yeah, I know, really strange. I mean, how should a steak be able to wiggle, let alone scream? That's just silly!




"Anyways... Stop looking at Will like he's some kind of monster. You guys surely know that he wouldn't be able to eat us! He's too nice for that!" I instantly snapped out of my thoughts as I heard Rainbow speaking up again. I also noticed that Rainbow called me 'Will'. For the second time. Not that I minded! 
I liked that nickname she gave me, though I didn't know why she suddenly was calling me that. I looked down to her, flashed her a smile of gratitude and moved a hand behind her ear, giving her scratches there, to which she leaned herself a bit into the side of my leg. "See what I mean?" She purred.

"Yeah, you ponies are way too adorable to even think about doing something like that!" I said as confidently as I could given the current situation. I stopped scratching Rainbows ear, to which she gave an unsatisfied sigh and pouted up at me cutely. I smirked a little and then pointed at Rainbow to prove my point. "See that? Way too adorable!"

I could feel that Rainbow definitely wasn't someone that liked to be called adorable.

But it helped at getting the tension out of the room. Scootaloo, Applejack and Twilight giggled cutely, much to Rainbow's dismay, who was blushing like crazy, but then looked up at me with a look that just screamed 'I'm gonna get you for that'. But Twilight and Applejack's smiling faces turned into sad ones as they looked at me again, possibly only then realizing that they literally called me a monster by the way they were acting.

"I told you guys that he would never do something like that!" Scootaloo said as all three of them jumped down from the couch and trotted up in front of me. She then gave one of my legs a surprisingly strong hug, and after she was sure that she squeezed the life out of my left leg, she let go of it and took a few step backwards. 'I'm so glad that my daughter actually believed in me...'

"Ah'm...We're sorry William... We didn't want ta hurt ya feelings..." Applejack said, lowering her trademark light brown stetson hat with one of her hooves, covering up her face partially and Twilight hung her head in shame, both of them not daring to look me in the eyes.
I was really surprised that they were actually trusting me again. 

I mean, they just found out that I eat meat, and they are herbivores. That means they are, at least in my world, prey. And I'd be a predator.

Now, even though they 'accused' me of being a monster, I can't stand seeing them, my friends, sad.
I bent down a bit so I could reach their heads easily, and then lifted up Applejack's hat with my left and Twilight's head with my right hand so that they had nowhere to look but my face. They both hesitantly looked me in the eyes, guilt showing in theirs.  

"Girls, you were just being cautious... But next time, please just ask me before you judge too quickly." I said, which made their eyes widen in shock, probably because I just forgave them like it was nothing. And well, it kind of was.

Okay, they literally called me a monster by the way they were acting, and they were kind of mean, but that was for a good reason. Like I already said, they are herbivores, I'm a omnivore. They probably weren't accustomed to interacting with a species that eats meat.

"Apology accepted." I gave both of them scratches behind their ears for good measure, which made Twilight release a little snicker, which quickly turned into a coo of delight. Applejack, probably trying to withstand the urge to do that, shut her mouth tightly, but not even someone that is as strong as her can withstand the power of the almighty hands for long!  That was a fight I intended to win! 





"Hmmm..."

"Hah! I won!" I exclaimed, lifting my hand away from Applejack's ear for a short fist pump, a smirk tugging at the corner of my mouth.

"Yeah, okay, ya won..." She shamefully admitted, making my smirk grow even bigger. Apparently she didn't like losing. That made winning even better.






"What did you girls even see that made you become aware of my diet to begin with?" I asked curiously, breaking the comfortable silence. I looked over at the TV screen, which was showing an advertisement for a fast-food... "Nevermind, I think I know."

I lifted my hand that was still scratching behind Twilight's ear back up, much to her disappointment, so that I could stand upright again. My back started hurting, and I didn't want to have a backache later that day. I was about to ask something, but then Applejack snorted once and started giggling like crazy, and Twilight's lips escaped a 'Wow'.

Seconds after Applejack started, Scootaloo joined her, collapsing onto the ground, twitching like she was having a seizure (I would've been pretty concerned for her, if it wasn't for her giggling like that), making me raise an eyebrow. I looked over to the TV to see if the channel was playing a comedy show, but saw nothing like that. Instead, it was just the same advertisement from before. 'Jeez, how long does that one go?'

"What's so funny?" I asked, a confused look on my face. My calves were grazed by something that felt like feathers, making me instantly look down to them, where I saw blue feathers touching them. Those blue feathers were connected to a cyan wing, which in turn was connected to Rainbow's body. Looking her body over, I saw that her wings were again stiff as a board, and a deep red blush was present on her face, her eyes directed at something to her right. I followed the trail of her eyes, and saw that she was looking at my groin. Or more exactly, my uncovered groin.

I have no clue how I didn't feel the towel falling down onto the floor, nor why I didn't see that it wasn't there anymore when I looked down to my calves, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that I was standing naked as the day I was born in a room filled with four ponies. Four female ponies.

I looked back into Rainbow's face, then over to the twitching forms of Applejack and Scootaloo, and finally over to Twilight, who was now fully exploring my lower body, especially my groin, with her eyes.

"Gosh fucking dammit." I sighed, a blush spreading across my face. Not giving the others anymore time to 'inspect' my body (Especially Twilight, as I didn't want her to ask anything weird again), I quickly snatched up the towel from the floor, covered my groin as best as I could, and ran upstairs, the giggling from Scootaloo and Applejack turning into full blown laughter.

"That's what I get for walking around partially naked all day..." I mumbled to myself as I entered the bedroom, closing the door behind me, running a hand through my hair. I sighed again, went over to the wardrobe, opened it, and took out a plain white T-shirt, black cargo pants, boxer-shorts and a pair of socks. 





I hesitantly went downstairs again, the memories of that embarrassing situation still lingering around in my head. I still couldn't believe that that happened to me. 'God must really hate me...'



I arrived in the living room and immediately spotted Scootaloo and Rainbow on the couch, lying in the same position as they did earlier that morning in the bedroom; Scootaloo was curled up on Rainbow's side, who was lying down on her belly, her front legs tucked underneath her body. Upon closer inspection I found out that they seemed to be sleeping, if the snoring that was coming from their direction was anything to go by. Didn't really surprise me, I was gone for quite some time after all. Not because I don't know how to cloth myself, but because I was too embarrassed to actually go down immediately after I clothed myself. 

I mean, you'd be embarrassed too if you showed the ones you just recently accepted as your friends, and your daughter, your wiener. Well, Twilight at least didn't seem to mind. She was examining my whole lower body after all, but she's an egghead, so that was to be excepted. I wouldn't have been surprised if she was going to ask me anything about 'human mating rituals' later that day.

'Speaking of Twilight, I think I should go and see what she's doing. I don't want my house to explode or something like that.'
I took one last glance at my daughter and Rainbow, and then made my way into the kitchen. Upon entering it, I saw Twilight and Applejack,  sitting at the dining table. Both of them looked kinda sad, though Applejack tried to hide it as best as she could. 

Let's just say she really didn't succeed at that.

Anyways, I was kinda curious why they were so sad. I mean, it couldn't have been because of earlier. I told them that it was okay, and they were just being cautious.

"Hey girls, what's up?" I asked as I moved up to the table and sat myself on the chair besides Applejack. They both gave me a smile, but I saw right through those. Something was troubling them. 

I speak out of experience, after all.

"Don't give me the 'Nothing, everything's fine!' answer. I can see that something's troubling you." I said as I saw their mouths opening to possibly give me the answer I was expecting. Seemed like I was with my right assumption, because they closed their mouths again and let the smiles drop from their faces. "You know, I've told you what was troubling me yesterday, so I expect you two to do the same."



"It's just...*sigh* I miss Spike and my other friends..." Twilight said, her voice quivering a bit. I didn't know anything about this 'Spike' guy, and only a bit about her other friends, but apparently she really missed them. Her face took on a sad expression, and I felt really sorry for her. I wished I could help her at finding a way home, but there's the small problem that humans don't have much knowledge of magic.
"I haven't seen them for four days or so, and I already miss them so much... They're probably worried sick about us, and I just can't tell them 'We're okay, everything's fine!' with them being in another dimension..."

"And then there's the problem that I have no bucking clue what spell I used to get us here in the first place!" She exclaimed in frustration, throwing up one of her front legs in the air. "What if I never find a way home? What if the princesses don't even know how to get us home? Well, if they even find us, that is! And what if-"

"Twilight, stop." I firmly interrupted her making her look me into my eyes, a bit of anger showing in hers. I couldn't tell if that anger came from me interrupting or because of her actually feeling angry with herself. My voice then took on a more sympathetic tone. "All those 'What if' questions are going to make you crazy. I'm sure you'll find a way home, and even if you don't, the princesses surely will. I mean, if what you told me about them is true, they are literally gods."

She sighed again, but apparently understood that worrying wouldn't help her. She nodded once, and I gave her a gentle smile, which she returned with one of her own as best as she could given the worries she had at that moment. 

"Applejack, you okay?" I asked, but I got no answer. Looking to my right, I saw her looking at the table, not making any sounds. I moved a hand onto her shoulder and shook her gently once. Her answer to that was a single tear hitting the surface of the table. I was about to ask her what's wrong, but before I could do that, something odd happened.

The doorbell rang.

Okay, that it rang wasn't odd per se, but that someone would visit me was. I really had no friends except the ones that were currently living with me, and then there's the fact that I was the only human in a perimeter of maybe ten or more kilometers, so a 'knock-a-door-run' game from some kids was really unlikely.

It rang again, making me finally snap out of my thoughts.

"Twilight, Applejack.-" I started, a serious expression on my face "-fetch Scoots and Rainbow, and go upstairs into my bedroom. Don't open the door, regardless of what you hear. I'll get you when they're away."

"But who-..."

"I don't know Twilight, but you and the other girls are in danger, regardless of who it is." I answered before she could even form the question she was about to ask. Seeing how serious I was, she nodded once, hopped down from the chair and hurriedly trotted out of the kitchen, Applejack closely behind her. I stood up, ran a hand through my hair, and walked into the living room, thinking of who could be the one at my door.

I was so lost in my thoughts, that I didn't even realize that I was standing at the front door, my shaking right hand gripping the door handle tightly. That is until another ring pulled me out of them. Taking one last look back into the living room and letting out a sight of relief upon seeing that no one was there, I put on a perfect fake smile and opened the door. I was greeted with the sight of two police officers standing in front of me. My smile dropped.

'Can this day get any worse?'
	


> Chapter Seven
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Good day sir." The left one of them started, offering me a handshake. He had a well trimmed beard, short, black colored hair and blue eyes. His name sounded strangely familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place where I've heard it before. I took his hand and shook it once, trying to hide the fact that mine was shaking violently. "I'm Officer Jackson, and this is my partner Officer Clark."

"Good day officers, name's William Wright." I calmly said while shaking the hand of Officer Clark, keeping eye contact with both of them the whole time, a curious expression on my face. I didn't want to give them any reasons to be suspicious of me, so I hid my fears as best as I could, which, frankly, wasn't really good, but they didn't seem to notice. "What can I do for you?"

"Can we come in? We've got some questions that we'd like to ask you." Officer Jackson said. 'Oh shit...' "It's not going to take long."

"Uh..." I started, taking a moment to go through what would happen when I would turn them down. 'They'd either come back later with a search warrant, suspecting that I'm hiding something -Which I actually do- or they would just enter anyways. Wait, are they actually allowed to enter without my consent?' "Sure, come in."

I stepped aside, they gave me thankful smiles and then entered the living room. I gestured for them to take a seat at the couch, and after they did just that, I took one opposite of them, behind the tea table, on the chair. 

No, the chair wasn't there before. I moved it there so I could actually see their faces when they were talking to me.

Maybe that wasn't the best idea.

"So, what questions do you want to ask me? Am I in trouble?" I asked, nervously fidgeting with my hands. 

"No, you're not in trouble-" Officer Clark assured me, making me calm down just slightly. 'At least they have no reason to search my house.' "-though we'd like to ask you some question regarding something strange that happened around three days ago."

'God fucking damnit' I groaned inwardly, already knowing where this was going. My heart threatened to jump out of my chest.

Why?

There were four aliens, which I was hiding from the government, just above my and the officer's heads. Oh, and they were asking me If I knew anything about how they came here. 

That's why.

"We've got reports from some local residents that there was something that sounded like a big explosion around three days ago. They said that the source of the noise came from near your house, but we haven't found anything that indicates that there was an explosion. No craters, no smoke, no fires. There wasn't even a shockwave." Officer Jackson told me, confirming my fears of what I thought they were there for. "We asked the air force if they did any low level flights with their jets, but they told us that they haven't. The residents also assured us that it definitely wasn't gunfire. The noise was too loud for that."

"We've also got a report from a hiker that he saw strange, purple lights falling down from the sky." Officer Clark continued, his tone showing his doubts about that story. "You could think that aliens finally found our world, hehehe." 

"Do you know anything that might help us? Have you seen or heard anything strange?" Officer Jackson asked me, flashing his partner an annoyed look, who stopped giggling upon seeing that.

"Uh..." 'Fuckfuckfuckfuck' I gulped nervously before answering. "Can't say that I have, officers."





"O-kay." Officer Clark said, breaking the really uncomfortable silence, narrowing his eyes at me. He knew I was hiding something. Well, anyone that had at least some common sense, or wasn't blind, could've seen that I was hiding something. I was sweating like I had just run a marathon, and that overly-big fake smile didn't help either.

I wasn't a great liar.  

"Well, that's too sad." He said, both officers standing up from the couch simultaneously and walking up to the door, with me shortly behind. I opened the door for them, and they gave me one last suspicious look, before turning around and exiting my house. "Goodbye Mr. Wright. If you know anything, please do call us."

"Yeah, will do! Goodbye!" I closed the door with a loud thump after they were out of my sight, and then gave a loud sigh. 

"That could've gone better..." I mumbled as I slowly slumped down onto the floor. "Much better..."







Outside of William's house


"Is it just me, or was that guy way too nervous?" Officer Clark asked as he opened the driver's door of the police car and sat himself in it.

"He knows something we don't." Officer Jackson said, nodding once. "And he definitely won't tell us."

"Then let's keep him in our sights." 






Back in the house


I heard the car finally leaving the property.

I knew that I fucked up, and I could tell that that definitely wasn't the last conversation I was going to have with those two officers. 
The four ponies I so desperately tried to hide from other humans, were in danger. Because I fucked up.

"For fucks sake!" I said loudly, hitting the floor with my fists once, both in anger and frustration. 

I was angry with myself for being a bad liar.

I was frustrated because I couldn't even protect the ones that I love. With something as simple as a lie. 



Yes, I did love those four ponies. 
They were my only friends at that time, even though they weren't even human. Hell, they were probably the best friends I've ever had.

You see, as you already know, my childhood was really hard. You know that I got punched and verbally abused by my 'father' daily. 

But I also never had any real friends.

Sure, a few called me their 'friends', but that was mostly out of pity. I never could've depended on them when things got hard for me.
Oh yeah, and I got bullied, too. Some people thought it would be funny to bully the kid that lost his mother and had a father that didn't love him.

And now, guess who never stood up for me when I was being bullied.

Yeah, right, those so-called 'friends'.



Tears threatened to well up in my eyes as I thought about all those times I got bullied. How those 'friends' just stood by and watched as I got pushed, or worse, punched. I unclenched my fists and lifted my open palms in front of my face, looking at them like they would give me the answer to why fate had been so cruel to me. 

But the answer -surprise, surprise- never came. 

"My whole life's a mess..." I buried my face in my hands, a few tears slowly running down my cheeks.
I was so lost in self-pity, that I didn't even notice that I wasn't alone anymore, until I felt something hard touching my thighs, followed by something big and soft climbing up into my lap. I lifted my hands away from my face and looked down my body, where I saw that Rainbow now joined me, lying curled up in my lap, her head resting upon my chest. She looked up at me with those big, beautiful magenta eyes of hers. 

All those bad thoughts. They just slipped away the instant I looked into her eyes.

"Rainbow, why are you here?" I asked her, faking an annoyed tone, wiping away the tears. In reality, I was really glad she came right then, or else I probably would've broken down into a sobbing mess. Again. "Didn't I tell you and the others to stay up in the bedroom?"

"Well, I couldn't just let my new...f-friend...be alone with some strange other humans, so I watched over this whole conversation." I didn't even notice how she stuttered at the word 'friend', since I had other things to worry about. 'How did she do that without me, or the officers, noticing?'

"So you saw...?" I asked, the guilt from before slowly creeping back into my mind.

"Yes." She said, her tone firm but gentle at the same time. "But you have no reason to feel guilty. From what I saw, you tried your best. And you know...I, and the others too, really appreciate it..."

"You did so incredibly much to help us since we arrived here... You patched me and the little Squirt up, fed and gave us a place to live without thinking twice. You even adopted Scoots as your daughter!" I opened my mouth to form a retort, but upon seeing that, Rainbow quickly interrupted me.

"So don't you dare feel guilty, or angry with yourself for not being able to lie good!" She said, nuzzling my chest with her muzzle, cutting me off effectively. "You're the only one we can count on, besides ourselves, in this world... and I'm glad it's you."

She whispered the last part, but I was still able to hear it. I was curious about what she meant by that, but I just pushed the urge to ask her what she meant by that away, and concentrated on the moment. I concentrated, to form a good response to what she just told me.






"You know... You girls do mean the world to me." I said, breaking the comfortable silence. She stopped her nuzzling, and looked up to me again with her beautiful, big, magenta eyes. "Did I tell you what I was about to do before you and the others arrived?"

"No, you didn't..."

"I was about to end my life." Her eyes widened, and a small gasp escaped her lips. "I was about to end my life, because I couldn't move on from my old life. I wasn't able to let go of my past. But you and the other three...saved me. In more ways than one."

"Wha...Ho...what?" 'Heh, I think I broke her.'

"First off, your arrival actually made me drop the thing I was going to end my life with,-" I started explaining, taking a short break to chuckle once. "-and second of all, you made my life actually be worth living. I've only known you and the other girls for three days, or something like that, and you're already the best friends I've ever had."

"And then...then there's the fact, that you 'cured' me from my depressions about that whole...you know..." I gulped as some bad memories resurfaced, but I was beyond sobbing about what happened a year ago, at that moment, so I was able to push them aside.

I definitely wasn't beyond losing them.

But I wasn't openly crying every time someone mentioned them, at least.

I was pulled back to earth by the sound of hooves approaching me and Rainbow. Looking up into the direction the foot-...ergh, hoofsteps, were coming from, I saw that the other three girls finally (maybe?) decided join mine and Rainbow's cheesy conversation. I also saw that they looked at me with sympathetic faces. 'Well, that at least saves me the trouble of telling them later.'

"Lemme guess, you heard that?" I asked, and their answer to that were just nods. Twilight and Applejack took spots to my right and left side, and Scootaloo jumped up onto my thighs, effectively restraining me from moving my legs. "What is it with you ponies and eavesdropping? Or getting all cuddly and stuff?"

"Uh, not that I'm complaining about that second part..." I quickly added, even though it was kinda weird...

Eh, what am I saying? It felt right.

So goddamn right.





"So, who was that?" Twilight asked after a short while of silence, looking at me with a curious expression. "And what did they want to know?"

I took a deep breath before answering, "The police, and to answer your second question; they wanted to know something about what happened three days ago. You know, the day you guys arrived? Apparently some others heard your arrival."

"So...they know about us?" Applejack asked, a hint of worry evident in her tone.

"No, they don't." I assured her, to which she gave a relieved sigh. "Though...Let's say I'm a bad liar, and maybe the two officers became a bit suspicious of me. They're probably going to come back with a search warrant, or something like that, just because I can't tell a good lie."

"Ya know, Ah'm not a good liar either. Element of Honesty' an' all that." Applejack told me, flashing me a small smirk. 

"Will, we've just been through that. Don't you feel guilty just because you're not a good liar." Rainbow said, embracing my chest with her front hooves as best as she could. "Being a good liar is nothing to be proud of anyways."

"Agreed." Twilight chimed in, nodding her head once.






Well, sitting there on the ground, with those four adorable ponies around and on me, was really neat, but my stomach decided that it was about time to get something to eat. It made its needs known with a loud grumbling sound. I blushed and chuckled out of embarrassment.

"Well, looks like somepony's hungry." Twilight said, snickering upon seeing my red-tinted cheeks. But her fun was short-lived, as her own stomach grumbled violently, to which she too started blushing. "Hehe, well..."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go and prepare lunch." I said, glancing at the wall clock which showed that it was already 1 p.m. Before I even had to ask them, Rainbow and Scootaloo climbed off of me, giving me back the ability to move my body. "You can go and watch TV in the meantime, if you want to."

"Yesyesyesyes." Scootaloo, and to my surprise, Twilight, cheered in a childish manner, bouncing around me. I gave Twilight an amused look, to which she stopped mid-air, blushed and chuckled nervously. 'I seriously have to ask them how they're bypassing the laws of physics.'

"Uhh, I mean...Yay?" 





After we had lunch, which consisted mostly out of vegetables, since they were not really comfortable with me eating meat while they were in the same room, we decided to do a little movie day, with popcorn, potato chips and soda. 

Well, that 'little' movie day lasted late into the night.

They really wanted to watch the rest of the Star Wars movies, after I told them that there were more. Apparently they were really into that whole science fiction thing, especially Rainbow and Twilight, the latter couldn't even stop talking about how awesome and advanced the technology that was shown in the movies was. 

But everything good had to come to an end, as did our movie day. It was getting late, after all.





"Soo *yawn*, Imma go to bed, I'm tired." I said as the credits of the last movie started rolling. I stood up from the couch, stretched my body once to which a few joints popped. I sighed in relief and turned around, only to see that everyone, aside from Twilight, was asleep. All of them were curled up like cats, their chests slowly moving up and down in sync with their breaths. I had no clue when they fell asleep, but I couldn't care less at that moment. I just wanted to go to bed, to finally drift off into sleep myself. 

"Yeah, me too *yawn*" Twilight said, nodding her head tiredly in confirmation. "Can you take Rainbow and Scootaloo with you? *yawn* I'll take Applejack with me."

"How you gonna do that?" Twilight didn't say anything. She just rolled off the couch, hitting the floor with a soft thump as her hooves impacted on it. After a moment of silence, her horn was coated in a lavender aura, making me realize how she was going to accomplish lifting up Applejack. I watched in tired awe as Applejack was slowly lifted up into the air with seemingly no effort on Twilight's part. Twilight floated her behind her, and then turned around to face me again.

"Good night *yawn* William." She said, flashing me a very tired smile, which I returned in kind.

"Good night and sweet dreams, Twilight." 

After Twilight left, I sat myself down on the couch again, taking a moment to think about how lucky I've been the past few days. 'Not only did I make new friends, I also found something that makes my life be worth living.' I thought, looking down to my side at Rainbow and Scootaloo, a genuinely happy smile on my face. I moved a hand up to Scootaloo's face to brush a strand of hair out of it, and then moved that hand to pet her mane. 'I have a new daughter...' I moved my hands away and stood up again. 'Enough of all that cheesy stuff, I'm tired.'


I scooped Rainbow and Scootaloo up in my arms, being careful to not disturb their sleep and wake them up. After I somewhat awkwardly had them secured in my arms, I made my way up upstairs, through the hallway and finally stood in front of the bedroom's door. I pushed the door open, entered the room and gently laid the two ponies in my arms onto the mattress, smiling at seeing them both mumbling incoherently in their sleep. 'They really have a lot in common...'

I quickly unclothed myself, already longing for the comfort of my bed, and carefully joined the two other occupants, draping a blanket over my body, shielding myself from the cold air. I replayed the day's events one last time before my eyelids grew tired and sleep finally overtook my mind.





> Chapter Eight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Complete and utter darkness.

"♫Ohh Will-iam.♫" I spun around into the direction of the creepy voice. Darkness.

"♫I'm coming to get youu.♫" The voice spoke up again, but this time it came from all direction. 

I was afraid.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I shouted, my whole body trembling.

"Oh, you know me. You know me really good." I felt something touching my right shoulder, making me jump to the left on instinct. "As for what I want...I promise that you'll find out soon enough."

Then everything started spinning...











I woke up to the sound of chirping birds and the fucking sun hitting me right in my face.

I groaned once and tried to roll over onto my belly to block out the light, but quickly found out that something on my chest was restricting me from doing so. Something fuzzy and warm. 

I looked down my body and groaned again. 

Orange and cyan fur. That was all I saw and needed to see to realize one thing; There wasn't just one, but two ponies lying on my chest!
And I had no clue how they've gotten there! They were lying to my left when I dozed off, so they had to move up there by themselves.
What surprised me the most was that Rainbow actually laid there too. I knew that me and the girls were getting closer to each other, but that she would actually consider sleeping on top of me?

I didn't actually mind that they were lying there. It was kinda cute to see those two sleeping so peacefully, their chests moving with every breath they took. Oh, and they made a good blanket! Their fur felt really good on my skin... 

Weirdo.

If it wouldn't have been for the damn sun trying to tell me that it was about time to get up, I definitely could've drifted back into sleep just by watching them.

Again, weirdo.

Fortunately, the two occupants of my chest were slowly coming back to the land of the living, if their stirring was anything to go by.
I really didn't want to wake them up, so I gladly accepted that nature did that for me. 

At least I think they woke up because of that big, bright, goddamn orb and those fucking birds.

Seriously, fuck those birds.

"Girls, you awake?" I asked, noticing that their stirring was getting stronger. They responded with yawns and nods, but still remained perched upon my chest, no one of the two moving too much. As I already said, I would've just went back to sleep, if the sun wouldn't have been such an asshole. "Could you move so I can get up?" I could feel their heads shaking simultaneously, making me sigh in frustration. I lay there for a few seconds, pondering on whether I should actually try to get back to sleep or just push them off. But then a evil idea occurred to me. 

An idea even worse than pushing them off!

I could move my arms and my hands.

And their bellies were exposed enough to try something really evil.

A devious smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth as I moved my hands slowly up to their bellies. 'Now I just need to hope that ponies are ticklish.'

Right as I began tickling their fuzzy bellies with my fingers, they started laughing and squirming uncontrollably, falling off my chest and with that out of my reach in the process.

'Yeeep, ticklish as fuck.'

"Daaad, why did you do that?" Scoots asked, breathing heavily, both she and Rainbow shooting me angry glares.

"Well, I had to get you off of me somehow..." I explained, shrugging my shoulders in a way that said 'I had no other choice'. 

"Ah, so that how it is?" Rainbow said, a smirk forming on her face that could easily match mine. She turned her head to Scootaloo and whispered something into her ear. Scootaloo nodded once and then looked at me with a big grin plastered onto her face. I knew what their plan was, but I just couldn't bring myself to escape.

Mainly because I was too tired to do that.

Scootaloo jumped up onto my chest again, effectively restraining me from moving to escape my fate. The only thing I could do was look as Rainbow plucked one feather with her mouth out of her left wing, trapping it between her teeth. At that moment I knew that I started a war that I definitely couldn't win.

In hindsight, I'm pretty sure I could've escaped, since Scootaloo was fairly light and I still could move my arms... But... I just kinda forgot...

Don't ask me how I forgot.

"Hafff som' ohf yor own medishine!" Rainbow said through the cyan feather that was trapped between her teeth. I could only watch in horror (and maybe a bit of awe) as she leaped up in the air and started hovering above my face. I've never seen her, or Twilight for that matter, putting those wings to use, and I had to admit it, it looked really fucking awesome.

"Uh, hehe...Uhm, how about we talk-" I was interrupted as she suddenly brought the feather down onto my nose and started tickling me there, making me giggle like an idiot. But I didn't giggle because I was ticklish there, but rather because she tried to tickle my face. 

I mean, c'mon, the face? Of all the possible places, she chooses my face?

She stopped as soon as she noticed that her actions weren't getting the response she expected.

"Arensh you tiklish?" She asked me, a puzzled look on her face. I just shrugged, but to my dismay, she was really determined to make me pay for tickling her and Scootaloo. "Scoots, move down a bit." She did as Rainbow told her, now exposing the upper part of my chest to the rather chilly air.  "Imma try anothe' spot."

'Shitshitshitshit.'

I started laughing uncontrollably as soon as she started making the first motion with the soft side of the feather across my chest, nearly knocking Scootaloo off of me. Apparently, Rainbow was really satisfied with the way I was laughing, no, suffering.
Ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds and even after a minute she didn't stop attacking my chest with the feather. Tears started running out of my eyes, and my laughter increased in volume with every second that passed. I didn't want to give her the pleasure of begging her to stop, so I took it like a man.

...Well, actually, I was laughing so hard that I couldn't say anything.

But after the two minute mark I was well out of breath, and just couldn't stand it anymore. I thought I was about to pass out, but luckily for me, Rainbow  finally showed some mercy and stopped attacking my chest. 

She landed beside me and laid down, probably feeling content enough to see me out of breath, and Scootaloo moved up to her previous spot on my chest, snuggling into it. My laughter started to slowly die down, and I was able to breath freely again. 




"You're really, really cruel ponies." That were the first words I said after I was able to speak again. 

"You earned that one yourself, dad." Scootaloo said, nuzzling my chest with her muzzle.

"Yeah dude!" Rainbow said, shooting me a victorious grin. "And we totally won!"

I just rolled my eyes and nodded. They were right, after all. 

I did deserve it and they did win. 

Nothing to argue there.

"I guess so..." I admitted, nodding my head in agreement. "Now, can I finally get up?"










The rest of the day went over fairly quickly.
At breakfast, that I prepared, Twilight asked me if I had a room where she could try out some spells and do some experimentation. I told her that she could use the basement, under the condition that she wouldn't blow it up.

Or set it afire...

Or flood it...

Or teleport it into another dimension...

Anyways, she agreed to my terms, saying that she would try her best to prevent something like that from happening, and disappeared down there as soon as she was finished with breakfast, taking a worried looking Applejack with her. I could definitely understand why Applejack was so worried, I mean, Twilight only said that she would try her best to prevent something like that from happening.

I definitely wouldn't have followed her down there if I were in Applejack's position.

Fortunately (for every single one of us), Twilight didn't blow the basement up.

Or set it afire...

Or flood it...

Or teleport it into another dimension...


Scootaloo, Rainbow and I didn't do anything special that day. The two girls watched TV or napped most of the time and I did some chores that were long overdue. Like, picking up all those small purple, cyan and orange feathers from the floor (I swear, that's a real pain in the ass) or cleaning the toilet and the area around it.

I can't get this fucking picture out of my head. I feel like I'm going to puke again. 

Human toilets are definitely not made for ponies. I think I'll never be able to go to a toilet without getting flashbacks.


So, yeah... All in all, nothing really special.









We said our last good nights to Applejack and Twilight, the latter looking really exhausted, and walked out of the guest room into the direction of our shared bedroom. I felt exhausted myself from doing chores all day long, and my body was really longing for some rest.


As soon as we arrived in the bedroom, I unclothed myself and jumped into bed, quickly covering my body with a blanket to shield myself from the rather chilly air. Scootaloo and Rainbow also jumped up onto the bed, but they didn't just lay themselves besides me. Scootaloo laid down between my parted legs, her head resting on my left calf, and Rainbow chose my chest as her sleeping place, curling herself up on it.

Like I already said, I didn't actually mind that they were using my body as a pillow. It was kinda comfortable.

"*yawn* Good night girls..." I drifted off into sleep as soon as the last words left my mouth, my body going numb.









	

"♫Will-iam, wake uuup.♫"

"♫C'mooon William, I'm waiting for youuu.♫"





"*sigh* Fine, if you want to play it like that."






TLAH - SH

I jolted awake instantly, automatically going up into a sitting position on the bed. My eyes darted around the very dimly lit room, scanning it for any intruders. I even stopped breathing to hear more clearly. I was at full alert, ready to protect myself, Scootaloo and Rainbow.

Fortunately, I found none.
Unfortunately, that meant that the possible intruder was somewhere else in the house.

Why was I so sure that there was an intruder?

Well, glass doesn't just break by itself. If that was even what woke me up, that is.

I felt something moving in my lap and looked down. 

"*yawn* Will, what's up?"

"Rainbow, take Scoots and go to the guest room now." I whispered, recognizing Rainbow's voice instantly. "Someone's here..."

"But...wha-"

"We have no time for that!" I whispered, cutting her off before she could even form the question. I lifted her off of my lap and placed her onto all four hooves besides me, then grabbed Scoots and put her down on Rainbow's back, who remained unfazed by the sudden increase of weight.
I got off the bed as quickly as possible, put on the clothes from the day before and went over to the wardrobe. I opened it and searched the top shelves with my hands for the object I hoped I wouldn't need to use. My gun.

"Rainbow, I'm serious this time.-" I said while pulling the cylinder out of the revolver. I counted the rounds. 'Six rounds, that'll do.' "-Don't, under any circumstances, get out of the fucking room until I get you. Understood?"

She looked like she was about to retort, but instead chose to just nod.

"Good." I walked over to the door and opened it a bit, just enough that I could look into the hallway. I was lucky that I forgot to turn off the lights when I went to sleep, or else I probably wouldn't have seen much. 'Seems clear.'. I opened the door completely and walked into the hallway, motioning for Rainbow to follow. I sneaked over to the guest room door and opened it for Rainbow, who still had the sleeping Scootaloo on her back. "Okay, go on. Wake them up and tell them what's going on." 

She again nodded, giving me one last worried look before walking into the room. I immediately closed the door behind her as quietly as I possibly could, and then headed downstairs to face the intruder. 

I took one careful step after another until I arrived in the living room, scanning the room for any dangers from the doorway while being really careful to not make any sounds. 

The only thing I heard was my own shallow breathing and my heartbeat.

And then I spotted him, climbing through a shattered window by the front door, landing on the floor with an almost inaudible thump. 

My heart started beating faster.

I was tempted to just raise my weapon at him and pull the trigger, but something inside my mind prevented me from doing that. 

Fear. I was terrified.

He was standing in the shadows, and the only features I could make out were his glowing eyes. Yellow iris, crimson pupils.

And he was looking right at me.

My heart skipped a beat.

"Ah, William, finally!" He said, clasping his hands together. He slowly moved forwards, out of the shadows, revealing his face in the process.

Everything about his face, and voice, remembered me of someone. 

Someone I thought -and hoped- I would never meet again.

Someone who hated me dearly since the day I was born.

Someone who ruined my whole childhood.

But...his eyes...

"What do you want, 'dad'?" I asked, my tone filled with as much hate as I could muster. But that still didn't hide the fact that I was terrified. 

Not only because of his eyes, but because of him in general. 
He was the person, who ruined my childhood and hurt me mentally as well as physically, after all.

Wait, no, 'person' isn't the right word. I think the term 'monster' suits him better.

"Oh, I'm so happy to finally see you again, 'son'!" He said, masking his hate for me behind a happy facial expression. A nearly perfect fake, but I could still hear out that ironic undertone. He opened his arms in a 'come here and give me a hug' manner "Is that how you welcome your father after so many years? No hugs?"

I was really tempted to just go and punch that arrogant, downright evil cunt, but I had to play it smart. If I would've attacked him like that, I would've lost all advantages I had over him and he had the chance to overwhelm me.

"What.Do.You.Want?" I hissed through my teeth, grinding them together to quell my angers and stop myself from just sprinting forwards and beating the shit out of that fucker.

"How rude you've gotten, 'son'. Didn't I teach you better?" He asked, closing his arms again and putting on a mock-hurt expression.

I didn't respond, just slowly raised the weapon in my right hand and pointed the barrel at him.

"*sigh* Okay, okay, enough beating around the bush." He said, lifting his hands up in the air. "Let's get straight to the point; I've come to end what I didn't all those years back."

Now, I nearly pissed myself when he said that.
Granted, I did have an advantage with that gun, but the tone he used was enough to send shivers down my spine. He said it like it was nothing, and with such determination even though I was in the advantage and he knew that. That, paired with those creepy eyes...

But, besides fear, there was another emotion present. 

Sadness.

You see, the moment I saw his face, I still had the slim hope that he had changed. That he knew what he did all those years ago was wrong. 
Don't get me wrong, I definitely wouldn't have forgiven him for what he did to me, but...'a fault confessed is half redressed'.
When he said that he wanted to end what he didn't all those years back, I was... disappointed, to say the least.

"Y-Yeah? Well, looks like you're not in the spot to do that." I said, trying to sound like I didn't feel threatened. Didn't really succeed at that, though.

"Oh, are you sure?" He asked, looking at me with a big grin. He lowered his hands, closed them for a second and opened them again. He showed me what he had in them. 

6 Rounds. 3 in each hand.

"♫You can't shoot without am-moo.♫" He sang, stashing all six rounds into the pockets of his ragged, dirty pants.

That was it. Not only was he evil, but a lunatic too? And he thought I was dumb?

I aimed right in the center of his chest and pulled the trigger.

click

I looked down to my gun confusion and pulled the trigger again.

click

"What the...?" I said, looking down to my gun in total bewilderment. I shook it twice. 'Did I forget to load it?'

'Wait, no, I'm sure I did load it. Yeah, yeah, I did.'

I was confused beyond belief. 

"What, is your little toy not working?" I heard him whisper into my left ear, making me throw a punch in that direction out of surprise. 

But it didn't connect. He wasn't there.

"Hey, no punching!" He jokingly scolded me. "That could've hurt!"

"Shut the fuck up!" I shouted, now clearly getting frustrated with the way he was toying with me. I was seriously pissed of on how he wasn't even treating me with respect, and that I didn't even know how he unloaded my gun was adding to that.

"How about YOU shut the fuck up?" He said, suddenly appearing right in front of me and delivering a punch right to the center of my chest with such force that I got knocked back a few steps and dropped my gun. I groaned in pain.

That punch brought not only pain, but also some unwanted memories. Memories I drowned a long time ago. I felt my eyes starting to water up, but I was in a dangerous situation. I had to be strong and clear minded in order to win and survive.

I looked up.

He was still standing in front of me, preparing another punch that looked like it was aimed at my head. But I was prepared this time.

Time seemed to slow down as the fist came closer and closer, but right before it could connect with my head, I dodged it professionally and prepared one strong one of my own, aimed right at his stomach.

He didn't see that one coming. 

I hit his stomach hard, making him let out a loud groan out of pain. 

I pulled my hand back and struck again, my fist coming from below and connecting with his jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor. 

A perfect uppercut.

I thought he was finally done for, but then he started chuckling. 
Even though I probably knocked out a few teeth with that last punch, he was chuckling?

I mean, a punch that hard to the jaw should've knocked him out!

"What's so funny?" I snarled, my voice dripping with venom, regarding him with a furious look.

"Hehe, oh, nothing!" He said, flashing me a big, teeth showing smile. Well, what remained of his teeth. I seriously knocked out way more than I thought I had. "I just love a good fight!"

"Yeah, well, the 'fight' is over." I said, looking at him in a mix of confusion and total anger. Hell, a blow to his jaw that strong should've easily knocked him out.

"Nonono, I'm fine." He said, jumping back up onto his feet like it was nothing, shaking his head rapidly.

"You can't be serious..."

I was so shocked by his sudden recovery that I nearly didn't see his left fist coming back in for another punch. I was somehow able to dodge it just in time, even though I wasn't really paying attention.

What I wasn't able to dodge though, was his right fist, coming in for a strike aimed right at my face. 

It connected.

My head shot back violently and I immediately lost balance, falling down onto the floor.
I groaned in pain, covering my face with my hands. My nose hurt like hell, and I was pretty sure that it was broken. I felt warm, thick liquid trailing down from my nose onto my mouth. My whole face felt like it was on fire and my head felt like it was going to explode any moment.

But I knew that I was very vulnerable while lying there.

I jumped up into a standing position as best as I could, given my injuries, and was about to just blindly punch forward, but was stopped my something cold, metallic and circular touching my forehead. I opened my eyes and looked up.

The barrel of my gun.

Apparently I was down long enough that my 'father' was able to pick off the gun from the floor, load it and point it at my head.

"That was a good bit of fun,-" He calmly said, pressing the barrel harder against my forehead. "-but I think that was enough for today."

I knew he was about to press the trigger. 

But I wasn't prepared for death. 

I had friends to take care of. 

Friends to protect. 

Friends that needed my help.

I had a daughter I needed to take care of. 

A daughter, that went through hard times just like me. 

A single tear escaped my eyes just at the thought of losing them.

I didn't want to leave those friends or my new daughter. 

But I couldn't do anything about it.

The person I called 'dad' a long time ago, was going to take them away from me. 

"Why?" I whispered, looking up at him with tear filled eyes. There was no hope anymore. 

I knew he was in control, and I couldn't do anything about that. 

He was going to kill me.

"C'mon, you know why little Will." He said, rolling those crazy eyes. "Because you, little Will, destroyed my life."

"And now I'm going to destroy yours." I could feel how he increased the pressure on the trigger.

'This is it.' I took one last, deep breath, inhaling that wonderful air, and then closed my eyes, waiting for the pain to come.





"Oh no you DON'T!" Screamed the rainbow blur that slammed right into my father, knocking him down to the ground.






> Chapter Nine
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

		"Oh no you DON'T!" Screamed the rainbow blur that slammed right into my father, knocking him down to the ground.

My heart stopped. My breath caught in my throat.

Time slowed down for me as I saw my father slowly falling onto the ground, that blur of colors still latched onto his side. But one thing was really bad; The bullet that was slowly coming into my direction, aimed right at the center of my chest.

Rainbow was just a moment too late to prevent the bullet from leaving the gun barrel.

At least she was able to throw his aim off, which meant that I wouldn't be dying instantly.

Heh, great, isn't it?

My eyes were firmly locked onto the bullet. I saw the bullet's vapor trail...How it was spinning, making its way straight for my chest...
But even though time was slowed down for me, I couldn't move. My body didn't want to.

No matter how hard I tried, my whole body wouldn't budge.

My eyes shifted away from the bullet, to the doorway I was standing when all this started. What I saw was in no way good.

Scootaloo was standing there, looking at me, those big, adorable eyes that are normally just radiating happiness filled with horror. I also saw a single tear mid air, on its way down to the floor.

She was going to see everything.

Tears threatened to spill out of my eyes. I tried to reach out for her. To just feel her one last time before I was going to die. To say goodbye.

Images of Sandra and Laura flashed before my eyes. I couldn't even say goodbye. I couldn't tell them how much I loved them. How much they meant to me. The same thing was going to happen again.

Only that this time I was the one who was going to die.

I felt the bullet penetrating my chest, slowly spinning its way deeper into my chest, right above my heart. My half-raised arm fell down immediately. Pain was the only thing I felt.

Horrible pain.

I don't know why I even felt pain. Maybe because time was -somehow- slowed down for me, but I always though that getting shot wasn't painful. Quite the opposite, I thought it was one of the quickest and supposedly most painless ways to die.

Well, if you get hit in the right spot, that is.

I directed my gaze away from my daughter onto my chest, where I saw a clear, red liquid spurting out of the hole that the bullet made into it. Blood. The bullet reached deeper and deeper, firstly piercing my sternum and then entering my heart, going through it without any effort. After that, I didn't feel anything. No pain, no emotions. The only thing I was awarre of was that the slow motion suddenly stopped.

The last thing that escaped my lips, "No..." 

I dropped down onto my knees, took one last deep breath and then everything went white.

But that wasn't where it ended.

Just seconds later, I saw everything reappearing. The weird thing is, that I wasn't in my own body. I was watching what was transpiring from above.

It's...It's really hard to explain.

I felt nothing. I couldn't feel my arms or my legs, I couldn't feel the pain that was there before... I'm pretty sure that I wasn't even breathing!
The only thing I was able to do was see.

I saw my body lying motionless on the ground, a puddle of blood forming around and underneath it. I also saw how this monster overwhelmed Rainbow and pinched her to the ground, then pointed the gun at her head.

He pressed the trigger without thinking twice.





"NO!" I jolted awake, immediately sitting up on the bed, throwing Rainbow into my lap by doing so. My heart was beating so rapidly that I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I clutched my hands to my sweaty chest, desperately trying to slow down my heartbeat.

'Just a dream...just a dream' I started rocking back and forth, everything that happened in this 'dream' slowly replaying in my head. I knew that something was wrong about it. 

Everything felt real. Too real. I wasn't even entirely sure if I was dreaming at that moment or not, but a quick 'pinching-test' told me that this indeed was real. At least I thought so. The pain I felt in that so-called 'dream' felt frighteningly real too, but something deep inside my mind told me, that this time I wasn't dreaming. Or on my way to heaven, for that matter.

"Daddy *yawn*? I stopped myself from having a mental breakdown upon hearing Scootaloo's voice. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine." I answered, looking down into her eyes, flashing her a faked smile.

"You were screaming." She deadpanned. I dropped my facade and chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of my head with my left hand. "And you're shaking."

"I... I just had a bad dream, but everything's fine now." I scratched her behind her ears, making her sigh in delight. I looked over to Rainbow's still sleeping form. "Let's go back to sleep, we don't wanna wake up Rainbow." 

'If that's even possible.' I screamed and threw her off of my chest into my lap, and she was still sleeping. 

I laid back down and closed my eyes, thinking the dream over one last time before I drifted back into sleep.





I had a horrible night. 

I had the same dream over and over again, and it always ended with the same thing; Rainbow getting shot. Every single goddamn time. 

Well, actually, it wasn't the same exact dream each time... Something changed in each one of them. Something rather important.

The face of the guy who killed me and Rainbow.

In the first dream, my father was the killer. You already know that. 

In the second dream however, the killer's face changed to the one of my old math teacher, and in the third it changed to that one caretaker we had in the orphanage that every kid hated, because he was an asshole. That went on and on, the faces changing with each dream. Even to some I've never seen before. But they all lacked one thing from the first dream.

The eyes.

They all lacked the eyes that my father had in the first dream. The terrifying, yellow iris and crimson pupils that send shivers down your spine just at the sheer thought? No one of the others had those. 

It almost seemed like someone, or something, was trying to tell me something with that... Like, there was a deeper meaning behind it...

Heh, what am I saying? That just sound ridiculous!

'It's just a bad dream!'

But to my relief morning was finally there, which meant that I was able to leave that goddamn cursed bed and do something to distract myself from all those creepy dreams I had.

What better way to distract someone from something than taking a hot shower?

...With two ponies...

Yeah, you probably already guessed it; Rainbow and Scootaloo decided to join me. Actually, they tortured me into letting them join me.

"Pweease daaad?" Scootaloo said, looking up at me with puppy dog eyes. I just shook my head at her, completely ignoring her attempts to overpower me with cuteness.

"Pweeeeeease Will?" 'Oh jesus fucking christ...' I turned around, only to see that Rainbow was now supporting Scootaloo.

"Nope." I said firmly, walking around Rainbow, ignoring her pleadings professionally. I was nearly out of the danger zone, when I heard something that sounded like a sob coming from behind me.

I slowly turned around.

I regretted doing that.

"*sigh* Okay girls, c'mon."

Their expressions instantly changed from 'ready to cry' to 'fucking YES'.

Seriously, don't blame me for giving in! These ponies take adorableness to a whole new level. Puppies and kittens are nothing in comparision to them. It almost seemed like their only purpose was to be as cute as possible!

So, after we finished cleaning ourselves (I was sure to be as quick as possible to avoid any awkward moments) we went downstairs to enjoy breakfast with the other two girls, who were already seated at the table and happily munching on the pancakes Applejack prepared. And you know what?

Applejack did live up to her name.

She made pancakes filled with apples, applesauce and apple fritters. All that without any apples! We had no fucking apples, and she did all that without having any!

Seriously, she freaked me the fuck out with that.

Anyways, after I calmed myself and she assured me that she didn't use any black magic to make apples appear out of nowhere, we finished breakfast quickly, cleaned the dishes and as soon as that was done, Twilight grabbed Applejack in her magic and went downstairs.

The way she was looking at us while being dragged through the basement door, pawing at the ground with her front hooves, silently screaming for help... I knew that Twilight was dangerous, but that dangerous?

"Maybe she isn't searching for a way to get home... " Rainbow said, looking at Applejacks desperate attempts to free herself of Twilight magical grasp. "Maybe she's torturing Applejack down there?"

"Naah, we would've heard that." I said, chuckling once. I jumped up onto the couch and laid down on it with my head resting on the armrest. Rainbow and Scootaloo soon followed, both of them finding comfort in their favourite spots. Yeah, my chest.

"You guys know that we could go and save her, right?" Scootaloo said.

"Yeah, we could." Both me and Rainbow said in unison, though Rainbow's reply came out a bit muffled because of the way she was nuzzling me into my chest. Scootaloo, upon seeing that we weren't going to help her, just sighed and shook her head. 

"Hey Will?" Rainbow asked, stopping assaulting my chest with nuzzles. 

"Sup?" 

"Do you think I could stretch my wings a bit?"

"Uh, yeah?" I was a bit confused why she was even asking me that. Not like she needed my permission to do that.

"Awesome!" She said, jumping up in the air, doing the pony version of a fist pump. "C'mon, let's go outside!"

"Wait, outside?"

"Of course!"

'I'm so fucking dumb.'

"That's what you mean by stretching your wings." I said. "I thought you were talking about...well, stretching, not flying!"

"Eh, no?"

"Rainbow, I'm sorry, but I've already told you that you and the others can't go outside." I explained.

"C'mon Will, I'm getting tired of napping all day." She said, sighing in frustration. "I mean, who's gonna notice me anyways?"

"Not like there's a whole city living around here, right?"

"Uh, I don't know? Maybe hikers or pilots of an airplane?" I sarcastically remarked, waving my hands around in a rather...intersting manner. It may have looked like I was having a seizure. Yeah, I was pretty frustrated myself with the fact that we had to stay in the house every day. 

I was never a person to sit in house all day and just watch TV or play videogames. May have something to do with the fact that I had neither of the two things during my childhood, because my father was a fucking asshole. So, yeah, no TV, no SNES, Playstation or whatever other console there was.

I really liked being outside. I mean, hiking was one of my hobbies before shit went downhill for me. I also loved camping, but that was more of a occasional thing.

"What's an airplane?" Scootaloo asked, making me think if this filly's endless curiosity will ever be sated. 

"You see, we humans have no wings-" I said, pointing awkwardly at my back with my thumb. "-so we use big, uhm... constructions made out of metal and stuff, to fly, so that we can move from one place to another fast."

"That's awesome!" Rainbow said, fluttering her wings in amazement. "How fast can they go? I bet they can't go faster than me!" 

"Uh, depends on which plane we're talking about. I think commercial airliners travel at around...I dunno, maybe 700-800 km/h?" I said, shrugging once. Don't judge me if I'm wrong, I'm no airplane expert! "The fastest airplane went mach 3.3, which is something around 3500 km/h."

"Dude..." Rainbow started, her mouth hanging open. "I can just go a bit above mach one! You humans are bucking awesome!"

"Nah, we're not-Waiiiiiit,-" I started, but trailed off as soon as my brain registered what she had just told me. I looked at her in a mix of disbelieve and amusment. "-are you trying to tell me that you can fly mach one with those wings?"

"Yeah! And when she does break the sound barrier, there's a biiiig rainbow-colored shockwave!" Scootaloo said, jumping up in the air, buzzing those little wings in excitement, making her able to hover in the air for a few seconds before landing back on my chest softly.

To me, all that sounded more like a fabulous version of a sonic boom. I was really struggling to contain my laughter at this point.

"So...hehe, lemme guess-" I started, taking a moment to catch my breath and not break out into a laughter. "It's called the 'Sonic Rainbow Boom'?

"Close." Rainbow said, her tone full of pride. She leaped up into the air and did a hoof pump. "It's called 'Sonic Rainboom'!"

That last one did it. I started laughing loudly, rolling around on the couch like I was dying, tears of amusement escaping my eyes. A hoof right to my guts turned my 'HaHa's' into 'Ouch's'. That really caught me off-guard. I clutched my stomach with my hands, desperatly trying to soothe the searing pain that Rainbow caused, and took in deep breaths. 

You know, breathing after getting hit in the stomach is really hard. Like it's taking five times the effort to pull one breath of air into yourself. But what can I say? I definitely deserved that one.

"Gosh, Rainbow, that really hurt, you know?"

"Buck you Will!" Rainbow said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Don't you believe me?"

"C'mon, you're trying to tell me that you, a pony with wings, can surpass mach one and withstand the force of a sonic boom? Yeeeaah-no."

"I'll show you!" Rainbow said angered, jumping up in the air and zipping out through the front door that she somehow was able to open.

And it was at that moment I knew I fucked up.

I jumped up, throwing Scootaloo down to the ground in the process, and tried to catch up with her, but the moment I left the house, she was already far away in the distance. The only thing I made out was her rainbow-colored mane. 

Then, when I was barely able to see her anymore, she turned around and flew back into our direction, getting faster with every second that passed. Now, imagine my face when the mach cone started building in front of her. Or when she actually broke the sound barrier, and a fucking shockwave made out of rainbows spread over the whole place.

My mouth hang open in amazement as I stared at the scene unfolding in front of me. I couldn't believe my eyes. The talking pegasus pony, that I thought couldn't fly much faster than maybe a bird could, just did a sonic boom. Right in front of my eyes.

But the amazement quickly disappeared, replaced by worries. Worries about what consequences her actions are going to have.

A quick slap tothe back of my head from someone brought me back to reality. I realized that I have been staring at the sky the whole time, and Rainbow apparently grew impatient, so she slapped me with a wing. I was lucky she didn't decide to use her hoof for that, or else that would've left a pretty nasty lump. 

Actually, I'm sure that would've left more than just a lump, considering the strong punch she delivered to my guts before.

"Heh, whatcha saying now?" Rainbow managed to say through her heavy breathing, flashing me a tired, but cocky smile. 

"I'd say we're in a lot of trouble now." I said, my eyes still fixated on where she broke the sound barrier. As if on cue, I heard the telltale sign of a car that was about to enter my property. Both me and Rainbow looked us into the eyes, then we gulped simultaneously before I grabbed her out of the air and threw her inside the house, closing the door as fast as I could.

If I would've hesitated just one second, the two officers inside the police car that arrived and I knew damn well from their last visit, would've seen her. 

'Here we go for round two.'  I gave myself a quick once over, checking my chest for any feathers from the girls. Finding none, I put on a big, faked smile -this time being cautious that I didn't give away my and nodded at them. 

They nodded back, looking at me with unreadable expressions.

"Good day officers." 'Please tell me they haven't seen anything...pleasepleaseplease.'

"G'day, I think we have something that you need to see." The officer, whose name I remembered was Clark, said. He pulled out a piece of paper out of his pants pocket and then presented it to me like it was a trophy, a smug smile on his face.

I grabbed it out of his hand and read it.

My smile dropped.

It read:


UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT


for the


NORTHERN DISTRICT OF WYOMING





SEARCH AND SEIZURE WARRANT


I looked into Officer Clark's face, then back onto the paper.

I sighed.

'At least I'm wearing clothes...'
> Chapter Ten
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Rainbow POV


I hit the floor, belly first, with a loud thump, my legs sprawled out into all directions. I would have been very, very angry at William for throwing me like I was a piece of trash, if it wouldn't have been for the fact that me and the other girls were pretty much bucked right now.

I quickly stood back up and pressed my ears to the door, trying to hear what they were saying. 

"Good day officers." 'That's William...'

'Wait...officers? Aren't that the guys from last time?'

"G'day, I think we have something that you need to see."




"A... a search warrant?"

"What's a search warrant?" I jumped up into the air out of surprise upon hearing somepony speaking up from behind me. I turned around mid-air, preparing to kick the danger right into the face, only to see that it was just Scootaloo, who I forgot was still there from before. I sighed and let my guard down, before speaking up again.

"Squirt, c'mon, let's go downstairs to Twilight and Applejack and hide with 'em." I whispered. I didn't want to let those two guys know that we were just behind the door. That could've been a fatal mistake. 

Not like I couldn't take those two in a 1v2. I'm the Rainbow Dash, after all. 

I did it for William.

I may have won a 1v2, but William would've been in really big trouble. 

I trotted over to the basement door as quickly as possible, Scootaloo following close behind. Upon reaching it, I flew up and opened the door with my mouth, silently cursing that bucking doorknob. Scootaloo walked into the rather dimly lit, and dusty, basement, and right when I entered and closed the door behind me, I heard the front door opening.



Scootaloo and me hurried down the staircase, reaching the floor rather quickly. That was actually the first time I saw a hooman human basement. To be fair, it was rather...boring. 

I mean, the least you'd expect from an alien basement would be some kind of high-tech lab or some shit like that.

But the only thing I saw there was... Uhm, cobwebs, the dust covered floor and some weird, big and white boxes with a round thing made out of glass where you could look through. I couldn't quite place what they were there for, but they definitely didn't look like superweapons that an alien would use to destroy a whole planet or something like that. 

Those science fiction books I read heard about lied!

Though there was one interesting thing about that basement, which was what was happening in some corner of it; Applejack, who looked like she was sleeping while standing, was wearing some sort of metallic strainer upon her head with various things like spoons, forks and other things attached to it. I had no clue how something as silly as that should've helped Twilight to find a way back home, but I wasn't complaining, as long as she did find one.

Speaking of Twilight;  she was directly facing us, scribbling down some notes on paper that was magically floating in front of her with something that I have never seen before. It looked like a stick made out of metal and plastic, but you could write things down with it!

Wait, why am I so excited about that thing?

The squirt and I trotted over to Twilight and the sleeping Applejack quickly.

"Rainbow! Scootaloo! I have great n-!" Twilight happily exclaimed upon noticing our presence, a big smile plastered onto her face. But of course, she didn't know in how much trouble we were, so she spoke a bit loudly, but before she could end her sentence...

"Pssshh." I shushed, sticking a dust covered hoof into her mouth to prevent her from giving away our position to those two officers upstairs. I looked back up to the door to the basement and waited a few seconds, trying to be sure that they hadn't heard Twilight. 

Fortunately the door didn't open, so I pulled my hoof out of her mouth, much to her delight. She coughed -quietly, mind you- a few times, probably from all the dust that I just pushed into her mouth. 

"Twilight, we're in a lot of trouble right now, don't speak too loud. Can't explain right now." I whispered quickly, hopping on my hooves like I really needed to use the bathroom. "Do you know any spell to hide us?"

Twilight was dumbstruck by how serious I was. She stared at me for a few seconds with a expressionless face, trying to comprehend what I just said. I punched her lightly onto the shoulder and she shook her head in response, finally coming back to Eque-... 

Uhm, whatever that planet was called.

"Uh, yes, I think I do..." She said, looking at me confused. "Why?"

"Wha' in tarnations' goin' on?" Applejack, who was finally coming back to the world of the living, asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Then I heard something. 

My ears perked up and swiveled into the direction the sound was coming from. They came from the door upstairs.

It sounded like a turning doorknob.

'Of course, the first place they're searching is where we are hiding...'

"Cast it Twilight! Now!"

Twilight looked completely confused, but lightened up her horn anyways, understanding that it wasn't some of my awesome pranks. I forced my eyes shut, my whole body trembling in fear perfectly still. You know, because I was calm and all that. 

Right when the door was about to open, there was a bright flash, bright enough that I saw it through my closed eyelids, and then...

Uh, nothing? Not like I didn't see anything, but more like nothing happened. 

I opened my eyes.

Then I heard the door slamming open.

I looked back over my shoulder and spotted the outlines of another human, maybe as high as William with nearly the same stature, standing in the doorway.




"*Sigh* Do I really have to search the whole fucking house by my own?" The human said, carefully walking down the staircase. "Fucking bullshit..."

My heartbeat grew faster with every step he took.

"Fucking Jackson..."

And then he stood in the center of the basement and stared straight at us.

You know what really surprised me?  The spell Twilight used, apparently worked! 

He stood there, looked straight at where we were standing, sighed once, turned around and just walked back upstairs! He apparently wasn't in the mood to search through the whole basement, much to our luck. I silently cheered as the door closed behind him, because I still wasn't sure if whatever Twilight did was soundproof.





"O-kay." Twilight said, looking at me partly confused and partly frightened. "That was kinda weird."

Scootaloo and Applejack just nodded dumbly, staring at the door where the Officer just vanished. What followed could be best described as an awkward silence. 





I shook my head, puffed out my chest and looked at them with a determined expression. "Let's go and save William."

From what, I wasn't too sure.





William POV


So many things were running through my mind as I sat there on the lawn in the front yard.

I was confused. Like, why didn't they see or hear that 'Sonic Rainboom' Rainbow did? They must've surely seen it, considering that it was fucking huge.

I also was angry. I don't know why exactly, but maybe because those two cunts just showed up at my house, with a search warrant that said that I was believed to hide drugs, which made no fucking sense at all. I mean, c'mon, drugs? They didn't even have any evidence for that!

The last thing I can remember was fear. If that Clark-cunt found those four strange, pastel colored ponies in there, I would've been beyond fucked. I mean, hiding an alien species from the government?  

That's like, hiding gold from-...

Nope.

A few minutes passed since Officer Cunty entered my house. Officer Jackson, who was at least not as cocky as Cunty, said that he would stay behind to watch over me so that I couldn't do anything stupid like running away (Not like I'd try something like that). Cunty didn't look really happy about having to search through the whole house all by himself, but did it anyways. Maybe he was a lower ranking officer or something like that?

Or maybe he secretly liked being commanded around like that, and he just faked his reaction to hide his fetish?

Yeah, that must be it.

Anyways, so I sat there, looking at the open front door while Jackson stood a meter or so in front of me, regarding me with a suspicious face, his hand tightly gripping the pistol in his holster. I just ignored him, rather thinking about what I'm going to do when Cunty should find the girls.

'...I could try to fight them...' I thought, taking a quick glance at his holster. The risk of getting shot was really high, considering that he was being so cautious paranoid. 'Maybe if I could distract him for just a second...'

I just sighed internally. 

'Not there's anything I could distract him with.'

And I swear, right at that fucking moment, when I thought that I, and the girls, were truly fucked, fucking Rainbow flew out of the house and kicked Jackson square in his back with some kind of karate-like kick. He groaned in pain as his body hit the ground in front of me with a solid thump, his face landing directly on my left, bare foot, which -somehow- hurt like hell. 

I shot up into the air, clutching at my left foot while jumping up and down on my right one, cursing the whole time.

"Uhh, Will, you okay?" I momentarily stopped hopping like an angry monkey and looked up to Rainbow, who was now hovering in front of me, a concerned look adorning her face.

"Yeah, everything's fine. A guy just nearly crushed one of my feet with his face that's apparently made out of stone, but other that I'm totally fine." I sarcastically replied. 

"C'mon, I saved you." She said, punching my shoulder 'lightly'. Hooves can be both, hard and surprisingly soft, and that definitely wasn't a soft hoof that hit my shoulder, which only added to the pain that was coursing through my left foot. 

"From what?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, rubbing the spot where she hit me with my right hand.

"Wow, did I really knock that guy unconscious?" She asked surprised, completely ignoring my question. "... Awesome."

"Really Rainbow?" I sighed, shaking my head, though I couldn't help myself but to crack a small smile. 





"WHAT THE FUCK?!?" I heard someone shout, no, shriek from behind Rainbow. She froze midair, her wings suddenly stopping to flap, though she continued to hover in the air somehow. 

I gently and slowly pushed Rainbow to the side, only to see that Officer Cunty was standing in the doorframe of the front door, his eyes fixated on Rainbow. His face showed a mix of shock and disbelief. 

"This... isn't what it looks like!" Rainbow exclaimed, turning around suddenly to face the Officer, throwing up her hooves.

I looked at Rainbow, shooting her my best 'Are you fucking serious' look, and then looked back to the doorframe, where I saw that the Officer had drawn his weapon out of its holster, aiming it straight at me with his trembling hands.

I moved in front of Rainbow, trying to protect her with my body.

"Please, don't do anything stupid." I calmly said, though I was anything but calm. I kept eye contact with him the whole time, not trying to seem like I was going to do anything stupid. "Let me explain, please."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP." He shrieked, making both me and Rainbow flinch a bit. 

'Yep, he's crazy.'

Then he started chuckling like a madman, shaking his head in a disbelieving manner.

"I don't even..." He said between chuckles, shaking his head slightly. "A talking, flying horse..."

"Look, we don't want any trou-" 

"SHUT THE FUCK UP I SAID, YOU DUMB. FUCKING. TALKING. HORSE!"

Rainbow looked to me, seemingly hurt by his words. That sadness of hers turned into anger rather quickly as she saw that I wasn't going to do anything, like punch him in the face. Not like that would've been the smartest thing to do. He had a fucking gun pointed right at me, and looked like he was about to go full madman, after all.

"Yeah, you know what? BUCK YOU!" Rainbow screamed at him, flying up besides me, hovering with her chest at my shoulder level. She was fully unprotected.

That pretty much did it for him. His patience with us reached its limits. He immediately shifted his aim away from me onto Rainbow, and with one short movement of his index finger, pressed the trigger. I watched in horror as the bullet left the barrel, time slowing down for me like in that one dream I had the night before.

The dream... My thoughts drifted back to it, and more particularly, what happened in it. Was it really a dream, or was it some kind of vision of the future? Maybe that 'dream' tried to warn me from what was happening at that moment?

Regardless of what it was, I did the only thing I could've done to save Rainbow.

Just a moment before the bullet left the barrel, I jumped in front of her, protecting her from the deadly projectile that most definitely would've killed her, taking it for her right into my left shoulder instead. My eyes opened wide as the bullet hit me, and a single tear was able to escape my eyes. It hurt like nothing I've ever experienced before. I felt how it pierced my skin and the muscles beneath it, making me release a short scream of pain. My shoulder was thrown back because of the sheer force of the impact.

My body screamed at me to stop playing the hero and jump out of his line of fire, but my mind screamed to stay put. If I would've moved, Rainbow could be dead.

My heart started beating faster, adrenaline coursing through my whole body, slightly soothing the pain in my shoulder.

Another loud bang.  The first bullet was followed by an unexpected second one.

The second round hit me right into my left kidney, penetrating it and the rest of my body without any problem and exiting it through my back. 

But I stayed put.

I looked down to my wound, my mouth agape. My shaking hands immediately shot downwards to cover the wound, which was beginning to leak the thick, warm liquid -also called blood- in streams. But it was to no avail.  It just escaped through my hand and slowly started soaking my t-shirt around the entry wound.

"Will!" Rainbow shrieked in concern, landing on the ground behind me.


I looked straight into Officer Clark's surprised face with an angry mask upon mine, but he just stood there, totally petrified, his trembling hands still gripping the gun tightly. He was seemingly overwhelmed by what just happened. 

Meanwhile, I was positively fuming. Not because he shot me, but rather because he tried to shoot at my friend. 

"You.Fucker." I said through gritted teeth.

I limped forwards at him, every step hurting like thousand punches right onto my hurt kidney. But the pain was drowned out by determination. I was determined to punch that cunt right into his fucking face for trying to hurt my friend. 

But he realized that and prepared himself to shoot me again.

What he didn't realize, though, were that three other ponies were standing behind him, one of whom just released a bolt of magic energy aimed right at his head. It connected, his eyes widened, then closed, and a second later he fell down onto the ground, unconscious.

I stopped in my tracks and sighed. I fell down onto my knees and heard the others galloping over to me, screaming in concern. I looked down to my blood-soaked T-shirt and pressed my open palms tightly against the wound at my lower body, desperately trying to stop the blood from flowing out of it. I was already starting to feel a little lightheaded from the all the blood I lost.

"TWILIGHT!" Rainbow shouted, her voice trembling a bit. "G-Get that bucking first aid kit from the kitchen!"

"Where is it?" She asked panicky.

"In... one of the... cabinets... on the wall..." I said, groaning in pain afterwards. The effect of the adrenaline were subsiding, making me actually feel the pain again.

Right after I said that, Twilight -I assumed- left to get the first aid kit.

"Dad?" I heard Scootaloo's voice from in front of me, so full of concern and sadness. But I couldn't look up.

I didn't want her to see my face. The tears that were rolling down my cheeks, or the sad look that adorned my face, just would've crushed her hopes.

I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to live through that. Sure, the wound on my shoulder wasn't that bad, but the one on my lower body definitely was. It was bleeding heavily, and I was certain that there's no way they could've stopped the blood flow. I was also pretty damn sure that the bullet in my shoulder didn't actually leave my body, that it was still stuck somewhere. 

Going to the hospital was probably the only chance to save my life, but I knew that going there was no option. It would raise too many questions and only further endanger the girls. Something I really don't want.

And even if I might get proper medical care, the chances of me surviving were still pretty low.

"Will, please... It's all my fault..." I heard Rainbow whisper from besides me, just barely enough for me to hear it. Her tone was full of guilt, and I could've sworn I heard her sob once.

"Sugarcube, are ya 'kay?" That southern drawl is something I easily recognized as Applejack's. I smiled upon hearing it. I really liked her accent... It had something friendly and homey to it. I don't know how to explain it exactly, but her accent just made me happy.

But what should I have responded? 'Yeah, I'm okay, just give me a few minutes'?

"Yeah... I... think so..." I lied between groans of pain, still looking down to my body. I was starting to feel really dizzy, and the world started spinning around me. I carefully laid myself down on my back, sensing that my legs were not going to hold me much longer. "Just... feeling a 'lil dizzy, is all."

"Where the buck is Twilight? TWILIGHT?" Rainbow screamed, ruffling her wings in frustration.

"HERE!" I heard Twilight scream as she rushed over to me, throwing something heavy onto the ground.

"Okayokayokay, how do we do this?" Rainbow asked nervously, galloping over to the first aid kit and rummaging through it.




"...There's...n-nothing that you girls can do..." I sadly admitted. Rainbow immediately stopped rummaging. I could've lied to them, but that wouldn't have done anything good. "Nothing..."

Silence reigned for a few seconds, only broken by the occasional chirping of some birds.

"But...but *sniff* dad?..." Scootaloo whispered, sobbing silently. I felt her lying down to my right me, pressing her body tightly against mine, burying her face into my side. I moved my left hand away from my wound and laid it upon her mane, smearing some blood in it. I hope she was able to forgive me for that. "Y-you... said *sniff* that'd you bring me back home!"

"I...I know Scoots..." I sadly said, running my hand through her mane. I was truly heartbroken."But *cough* sometimes...things don't work out as planned, you know?"

"Will...Y-you can't go..." Rainbow said from my left, also lying down there, nuzzling me into my side. I felt my shirt dampening in the spots they were burying their faces in.

My mind was slowly starting to drift away, off into unconsciousness. My eyelids grew heavy. It was hard to keep them open. I took one last good look at my daughter and the other three.

"Just...remember that I-I love you. Everyone of you." I felt my own tears welling up. A lump formed in my throat, making it really hard to speak. "Every single one..."

The last thing I saw before I slipped away were Scootaloo's beautiful purple eyes, filled with tears.

The last thing I felt were my eyes rolling back into my head and someone shaking my body violently. 

The last thing I heard were sobs and panicked cries.

'I love you, girls... ' Was the last thing I thought.

	
	
> Chapter Eleven
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Nowhere. Nothing.

That's the best I can describe the place where I ended up after I fell unconscious.

I remember that it was bright. Really bright, like someone was holding a spotlight right into my face.

But I didn't see the source of the bright lights.

I couldn't feel anything, and yet, I could feel.

I was weightless, floating in a room of nothing.

The pain from before. Gone.

I listened closely. Nothing.

I tried to move my body, but I couldn't. I didn't even feel any of my limbs.

I tried to move my head, but again, I couldn't.

I was genuinely scared.

I tried to scream for help, but no words left my mouth.

I lost every control over my body in this 'Nothing'. I couldn't move, I couldn't see. 

I couldn't hear, I couldn't scream for help. 

But most importantly, I couldn't cry.

I hadn't lost my memories from before I fell unconscious. I knew that I was going to die, leaving a daughter behind who I adopted only a few days prior. Who didn't know how it feels when someone deeply cares about you.

Whose biological parents abandoned her just because she wouldn't be able to fly properly.

But I also left my new friends behind, who deeply cared for me.

But...

Was it really that bad?

Don't get me wrong; I loved those ponies. I really did, with all my heart. They brightened up my every day since they arrived on Earth. Because of them, I began to feel happy again. 

The depression over my loss was cured by them.

But there was the chance that I would've been able to finally see Sandra and Laura again. Something I really wanted to do since the day I accepted that they were gone. My thoughts drifted back to all the good times I had with them. 

That day I married Sandra. 

How I played a game of tag with Laura in the garden on that one, beautiful summer day. How she giggled and laughed as I ran after her. How she looked at me when I snatched her up in my arms.

The times I built deformed snowmen in the winter with Laura and Sandra. We were never able to build a proper snowman, we always somehow fucked it up. Don't ask me how.

Of that one, stormy day as Laura crawled up into mine and Sandra's bed midnight, snuggling up between me and my wife. She told us that she was frightened of thunderstorms and couldn't sleep.

The day of Laura's school enrolment. Her happy face as she learned that she was finally able to go to school, something she really wanted to.

Suddenly everything began to shift and spin violently. I felt like I was moving up, and yet, I wasn't. 

I grew dizzy, and felt like throwing up. I forced my eyes shut.

And just as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

I heard chirping birds. 

I felt a soft breeze, carrying a familiar odor, caressing my face. 

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes to take a look around.

I wasn't standing in that empty room from before.

I stood upon a grassy hill, the grass gently caressing my feet. Directly to my left, a single, big tree sprouted out of the hill, casting a shadow over my figure and protecting my body from the bright sun. In the distance were rivers, more hills and the occasional forest. 

In front of me was a big, crystal clear pond with three, beautifully colored koi in it. One was colored a normal brown, the next one a pretty orange and the last one a fascinating blue. They were swimming in circles, but the longer I looked at them, the more it started looking like they were performing a dance. A dance of happiness and indescribable love.

It was idyllic, to say the least.

I sat myself down in front of that pond, leaning my back against the tree. I was glad that I was finally able to move my body again.

I took deep, calm breaths as I watched the pond and its happy inhabitants, performing their calming dance.

It was silent for a while, the only sound being the chirping birds and the flowing water.

"Hey honey~" I heard a soft, melodic voice whisper into my ears. A voice I barely remembered.

My heart sped up.

"Sa-Sandra?" I asked, looking up into the deep blue sky. "Is...that you?"

Silence.

I shook my head and looked down to the pond again, telling myself that I was starting to become crazy.

"Hey dad!" Someone spoke up from right where I was looking.

I lifted my head a bit.

"This...This can't be real..." I mumbled disbelievingly, opening my eyes wide. I fixated my gaze onto the two figures I knew damn well. "Sandra? Laura?"

Both of them were hovering a few meters over the pond, their bodies glowing softly. Their bodies were clad in a white robe, and their hair was bound into a ponytail, but apart from that, nothing changed in their appearances. They still looked the same as the last time I saw them alive and well. I stood up as they hovered over to me, taking turns to look into their smiling faces. 

I was petrified as they stood in front of me, their smiles never wavering. My brain told me that it wasn't real, but my heart told me that they were real. I wanted to scream in joy. To cry in joy.

But I was too astonished.

"You are..." I mumbled, my eyes never leaving them. "You are real."

"William."

"Dad."

"..."

I staggered over to them, my mind filled with so many emotions. Tears were escaping my eyes and rolling down my cheeks by the time I reached them, embracing both of them in a bear hug. They happily returned it.

"I-I thought I was never going to see you again..." I said between sobs, as I let go of them, looking them once over.

"But now you have." Sandra said, her tone just as happy as mine.

But then something hit me. Guilt.

Guilt clouded my mind the instant I was remembered of why I haven't seen them in so long.

"I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry..." I said, letting my head fall down in shame. 

"But for what, dad?" asked Laura, her tone curious.

"For letting you d-down..."

"William, look up to me." Sandra said, her voice gentle but firm at the same time.

I reluctantly looked up into her eyes.

"When did you let us down?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow. I was about to answer her, but the moment I opened my mouth, she opened her's again. "If you're talking about...that day, then you're wrong."

"But-" 

"No buts, there was nothing you could've done." She said, cutting me of before I could even retort. "You were at home while it happened."

"And that's just it..." I sighed, tears of sadness rolling down my cheeks. I looked at the ground again. "I was at home while you and Laura...*gulp* D-Died..."

Saying this word, 'died', pained me. It stung like someone pierced my heart with a needle. It made me become aware of the fact that not only I lost someone loved, but Rainbow, Applejack, Twilight and Scootaloo were about to loose one too, if they haven't already lost me, considering that I was speaking to my dead wife and daughter at that moment.

"It feels like I could've done more..." I looked back up into her face.



"Honey, I'll say this only once: Don't be too hard on yourself. There's nothing you could've done.-" She started, looking at me rather angry, but her voice growing soft as she continued.  "-And we do not hate you. I love you. Your daughter loves you. We will, forever."

"Right Laura?"

"Yes, mommy's right." Laura approved with an adorable smile, nodding her head in agreement, her ponytail moving in sync with her head. 

"We wanted to tell you this a long time ago, but we were never able to. We also always kept an eye on you since the day we left. We saw how you were slowly succumbing to your grief and guilt. How you were mourning." Sandra told me, a faint smile on her face. "But you have to know that we were always there. We tried our best to help you."

I was left speechless. 'If they were watching me the whole time, does that mean...?'

"And yes, we did see you trying to take your own life." She somberly said, making me wonder if she was actually able to read my mind. "And let me tell you that we don't approve. Don't you dare try something like that ever again!"

All of a sudden, the gentle breeze picked up in speed, and the sky grew darker. The birds stopped chirping. I looked skywards, my hair being relentlessly assaulted by the soft gusts, only to see that the beautiful blue sky started fading away, being replaced by inky darkness.

"What's happening?" I asked, fear growing steadily.

"I'm afraid we don't have much more time, William. Your pony friends are helping you to come back." Sarah responded. It took a few minutes for me to register that she said 'pony friends'.

"Wait, you know about them?" I questioned her, looking her back into her face, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Mommy knows a lot!" Laura said proudly, making me and Sandra chuckle once.

"I also know about Scootaloo, your other daughter." She added with a happy smile. "She's so cute..."

"Yeah, she's really cool! And fuzzy!" Laura exclaimed, hopping up and down in excitement. She stopped hopping up and down and put on a dreamy smile. "I bet she'd make for a good teddy bear!"

The gust started becoming stronger, and the tree's branches above us were blown back and forth, a few leaves and smaller branches falling down onto the ground or into the pond. That made me realize, that I hadn't much time left to spend with Sandra and Laura.

"William, I want to tell you one last thing.-" Sandra began, pausing shortly to wait for me to look at her. She had a really serious expression on her face. "-Me and Laura want to you to be happy. We love you, but you've to move on. You do need to find another one who you can spend the rest of your life with, or you will, sooner or later, go back to mourning over your losses."

The forests, the rivers and everything else in the distance started fading away, being consumed by cold darkness.

Sandra and Laura stepped out of your way, so that I was able to see the pond again. 

"Look at these fishes, do they have any traits that remind you of anyone?" Sandra asked, pointing at the pond, or more exactly, at the three fishes doing their soothing dance. I took a few steps forward to inspect them more closely, but even upon closer inspection, I couldn't make anything out that should remind me of someone.

"All three of them resemble one being. Beings who're going to help you in your later adventures. Beings who you will learn to love just like you love me and Laura." The water's surface was starting to get covered in leaves and smaller branches. I felt Sandra and Laura embracing my sides. I tried to return them the best I could as the gusts became stronger, strong enough that I was struggling to stand still.

I couldn't cry anymore. My tears were all spent. The only thing I could do was sob dryly.

"Goodbye, daddy. I'll miss you."

"*sob* Goodbye, I'll miss you too..." I whispered into her ear, before giving her a kiss on the forehead. Laura let go of, gave me one last wave and in a flash, she was gone.

Suddenly Sandra pulled me into one last kiss, filled with an immense amount of love and deep care. I returned the kiss with just as much.

"Goodbye, William. Take care of yourself, Scootaloo and the others." She said, breaking contact with my lips, tears now cascading down her cheeks and landing on the ground beneath us. She also stepped back and slowly faded away into nothingness. "Remember what I told you... I love you..."

"I love you too, honey." I whispered, waving at her.

Right after she disappeared, I was engulfed by darkness. 

Just like before I couldn't see anything, but this time, instead of bright white lights, there was only darkness.

Darkness surrounding my whole body, making me unable to see.

Then I heard distant voices.

"-e waking up?"

"T-light, come...on..."

"Dad?"

The voices became clearer, as did my vision.

"C'mon sugarcube..." Southern accent, belonging to the only orange pony I knew. 'Applejack.'

"I-I think he's breathing again!" Raspy voice, belonging to a bold, cyan colored pegasus. 'Rainbow Dash.' 

"Daddy?" Another raspy voice, but not as raspy as Rainbow's. 'My daughter, Scootaloo.'

"Is he back?" Last but not least; nerdy yet pleasant voice, belonging to a certain lavender-colored princess. 'Twilight.'

There was a really bright light in front of me, but it looked far away. Out of instinct, I ran into its direction. It came closer and closer with each step I took, not looking that far away anymore.

It felt like minutes before I reached it. I stood in front of it, slowly outstretching one arm to touch it and see what it'll do.

My hands connected with it, and I was almost immediately pulled into the light. I was hurled through a narrow, circular passage, and just as soon as it started, it ended.





I was lying on something soft and cozy. I snuggled a bit deeper into it, trying to get as much comfort out of it as I could.

The first thing I felt was pain, located in my shoulder and somewhere on my lower body. 

The next thing I felt was something fuzzy tickling my chin. My mouth curved upwards into a little smile, knowing exactly who that could be.

"Heh, Scoots, stop it, you're tickling me..."





"DAD!" Scootaloo shouted in joy, embracing my neck with her little hoovies.

I opened my eyes and looked down at her, tears of joy escaping her tightly closed eyes. I returned the embrace as best as I could, despite the pain I was in. Though, surprisingly, the pain wasn't all that bad, considering that I got shot. Two times.

I kissed her on the forehead as she cried into my right shoulder.

"I-I-I though you were g-going...t-to die." She stammered between sobs, her iron grip on my neck increasing. 

"But I'm here, ain't I?" I asked, moving a hand up to her mane to gently pet her there. "And I'm never going to leave you. Never."

Then something popped into my head.

"Where are the officers?"

"Twilight deleted their memories and teleported them and their strange metal thingy away." She said nonchalantly. I nodded in approval. 'Smart move, Twilight.'

Then my eyes went wide.

'Wait... If she's able to teleport a car and two guys away, and delete their memories...' I shuddered at the thought of what else she could probably do with so much magical power.

Both me and her were content with keeping quiet for a moment, silently enjoying each others company and cuddling a bit after such a stressful day. 




Until this wonderful silence was interrupted by the other throwing up the door and barging into the room. Every one of them was sobbing (even if they didn't want to admit it) as they saw me lying there, alive and healthy. They jumped up on the bed to me, embracing me from all sides. 

You could say that it was one, big, fuzzy, cuddle party.

"I want answers after we're done here, girls!" I giggled.
> Chapter Twelve
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"-and that's how I was able to save you." Twilight finished. She explained how she was able to save me with the help of her magic, and, to be fair, I understood...pretty much nothing, except for the parts that it took a lot of magical power, that my wounds will heal quicker and that she'll only be able to do some basic levitating spells for at least two weeks.

That also meant that she wouldn't be able to research during those two weeks.

"But Twilight, didn't ya tell me that ya don't know any healin' spells?" Applejack asked, puzzled.

"Well... I may know one or two, but they take a huge amount of magical energy to perform. They're spells that should only be used in real emergencies." Twilight explained. She flashed me a small smile. "And losing a really good friend is an emergency, isn't it?"

"Thanks Twilight, really." I said, a single tear escaping my eyes. I pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. "And I'm sorry that you can't search for a way home in the meantime...'

"Can't.Breath." Twilight said, flailing her hooves around. I quickly let go of her, wiped the tear out of my eye before smiling sheepishly at her and scratching the back of my head.

"Sorry..."

"No problem Will. I'm just glad you're alive."

"We all are!" Applejack said, bear-hugging my midsection. I do have to admit that she had quite the physical strength when you compare her body's size to mine. That, coupled with the fact that her hooves aren't the softest, did make that hug kind of painful.

"Yes..." Rainbow said, once again turning her head away from me. I looked at her, one of my eyebrows raised in confusion.

She was like that the whole time we were talking on the bed my bedroom. She only answered when spoken to, and even then, she didn't in her normal, confident tone. She just wasn't her normal self.

She sounded... crestfallen. 

Broken, even.

I didn't know why she was acting like that. I survived lethal injuries and she was acting all sad and shit. Definitely not the reaction I was expecting.

At least the others were totally glad I survived. Especially Scootaloo.

Unlike Rainbow, who never tried to get to close to me, she stayed as close to me as she physically could during the whole time we talked. She never left my side, not even for a second. 

Unlike Rainbow, she actually begged for my attention, embracing me as often as she could and occasionally whispering something that suspiciously sounded like 'I love you'. 

... I loved her too.

I shook my head, looking back at Twilight upon remembering that I still had some questions to ask.

"Hey, Twilight, where did you teleport Officer Asshat and his partner? And are you sure that you wiped their memories?" Scootaloo snickered at me saying asshat, but he sure was an asshat. I mean, he fucking shot me. Twice.

"Uh, I don't know where exactly I've teleported them-" She started, rubbing the back of her head with one hoof. "-But they should be somewhere far away. I just hope I didn't teleport them into a lake or onto a mountain..."

"Would've served 'em right, if you ask me." Rainbow angrily mumbled to herself, her voice just barely audible. "Should've kicked that one guy harder into his chest before you teleported him away..."

Either Twilight didn't hear Rainbow's surprisingly violent statement or just ignored it as she continued, "Also, I'm one hundred and ten percent sure that I wiped their memories properly, meaning that they won't remember anything of what happened. I used the best memory-wiping spell I know to make sure of that, so there's nothing to worry about."

"That's good, I guess..." I said absentmindedly, looking out of the window. The sun was slowly starting to disappear behind the horizon, bathing the horizon in a warm, bright orange. "How long was I out anyways?"

"'Bout ten hours, I reckon." Applejack answered.

"Nine hours, twenty-three minutes and *yawn* about forty seconds." Scootaloo mumbled into my lap.

"Ya counted sugarcube?" Applejack asked in surprise, looking at the tired filly like she was crazy.

"Of course?" She looked up at Applejack and shrugged. "What else should I have done?"

I kissed her on the forehead and chuckled lightly before speaking again. "You're weird..."

She looked up at me, pouting and trying her best to look serious, but ultimately failing to do so as she broke into a cute little giggling fit.

"And damn adorable too." I shook my head.

Then I was reminded of who I encountered while I was out. 

'Should...Should I tell them?'

"I-..." I began, but immediately stopped upon noticing how ridiculous it must sound when I told them that I met my dead wive and daughter while I was in coma. 'They'd think I'm crazy.'

"Yes dad?" Scootaloo said, looking up to me. I looked down to her, right into her big, pretty, magenta eyes. 

"Its...Forget it, you may think I'm crazy if I tell you that."

"Pfff, like I didn't think that before." She said, playfully nudging my chest with her muzzle. 

I put on a mock-hurt face, playfully flicking her ears. "Shush you!"

She just stuck out her tongue at me and giggled once.

"You can tell us, I swear we won't think you're crazy."  Twilight said, flashing me an encouraging look. Rainbow, although still downtrodden, and Applejack nodded in agreement.

I sat in silence for a minute or so, pondering on what to do. 'Even if they should think that I'm crazy, at least I know that I'm not.'

'Eh, not like they can send me to an asylum anyways.'

"Okay...Okay, this might sound really, really crazy.-" I began, stopping for a moment to collect my thoughts. "-But I met Sandra and Laura while I was in coma."




"Go on." Twilight said, beckoning me with her hoof to continue, an unreadable expression on her face. 

"So, uh, yeah, while I was unconscious, I actually was somewhere, yet nowhere, if that makes sense. I was in some kind of... empty space, only filled by a bright light. I couldn't feel, hear, talk, or anything like that. I could think though, so I thought 'bout things. What I thought doesn't matter anymore..." I stopped for a moment, realizing that I was starting to drift off.

"Anyways, after some time, don't ask me how long, the room started shifting and spinning. I just closed my eyes for a second, and boom!-" I threw my hands up to emphasize my surprise. "-I was standing on a hill in the middle of an idyllic looking nowhere!"

"What happened after that?" Scootaloo asked, her head perking up from my lap, obviously excited because of my awesome storytelling abilities. 

"Well, I sat myself down and started watching the fishes in the pond in front of me, and after a while, I thought that I heard their voices. At first I thought that my mind was playing tricks on me, but then... they actually showed up..." I gulped heavily after I finished my sentence. "I-I saw them again." 

"After a whole year, I finally saw them again..." I silently muttered, a few tears of joy escaping my eyes, but I was quick to wipe them away. I had cried enough. The sad times were finally over.

I was able to say goodbye to Laura and Sandra. I was able to see them one last time, well and alive, not like on their funeral, where I only stared into expressionless, cold faces.

I felt like things were truly going to be better from that point on. 

Like I could finally move on.





One week passed since we had that little talk. One whole week without any incidents.

Just give it a thought. One. Whole. Week.

We haven't heard a thing from the two officers since Twilight teleported them and their car away, which either meant that they were dead or lost. And I didn't really care what happened to them, to be frank. They could've been dead for all I cared. 

I mean, both of them were cunts, though Officer Cunty definitely was the bigger one of them both. 

Y'know, because he shot me and all.

Anyways, we lived a fairly normal life that week, if you leave out the fact that my fellow inhabitants were four speaking ponies and I was paranoid as fuck, because of that little...Uhm, incident with Officer Cunty. 

I'm pretty sure I had some form of post-traumatic stress disorder. Every time I heard a loud banging noise I searched safety in the nearest corner, cowering there until someone came to yank me out of it.

Yeah, I transformed into a fucking chicken.

And apparently, Twilight really wanted me to suffer that week. She somehow was able to restore all her magical power in the span of roughly four days, even though she said it would take her at least two weeks. Upon me asking her why it restored so quickly, she told me that she learnt the spells as a unicorn while she was still studying under Celestia's supervision. And because she wasn't a unicorn anymore, that meant that her magic would be restored much quicker, thanks to the alicorns ability to restore magic much quicker.

Four fucking days instead of two weeks.

And you know what that meant? 

That she was able to seriously fuck shit up again. 

At least once a day she and Applejack were able to transform the whole basement into a fucking shooting range. Don't get me wrong, they didn't exactly blow it up or anything like that, but the noises from down there were as loud as gunshots and sounded exactly like gunshots.

The last thing I wanted to do was to go down there and see what they had done to my beloved basement.

Every time I asked her why she so desperately tried to blow the basement up and scare the living shit out of me, she told me that she wasn't actually trying to blow it up, but looking for their home dimension. Of course she apologized a hundred times to me after Scootaloo, who was the one who normally comforted me during my breakdowns, told her that I had some form of PTSD.

Even though Twilight promised me that she would stop being so loud... She didn't. 

But I had to endure it.

So, you know what Twilight, Applejack, Scootaloo and I did during that week.

What about Rainbow?

She was... an interesting case. 





It was a normal Saturday night. 

After we decided that there wasn't much to do besides watching TV, all of us went to bed early, safe for Twilight of course, who still had some 'research' to do. No, she didn't continue her research about that whole interdimensional traveling stuff. 

Have I told you guys that she found some old dusty books in the basement? Books that were mostly about history? 

No?

Well, now you know.

I wanted to throw them away, but she got kinda pissed about that, so, after some 'friendly' persuasion from her side (She threatened to shrink my hands with her magic if I were to throw them away), I let her have them. Not like I needed them anyways. 

Anyways, I was lying in bed, Scootaloo curled up on my chest, her gentle breathing having the same effect on me as a lullaby. I was sleeping peacefully, dreaming about nothing in particular. That was actually the first time that week that I had a peaceful sleep.

But I am by no means a heavy sleeper, especially not since that little incident involving me getting shot, which meant I woke up the instant I felt a slight movement on the bed.

I opened my eyes. The bedroom was bathed in the beautiful moonlight, shining through the closed curtains. That meant I was able to see the blob of colors I easily identified as Rainbow climbing down the bed and sneaking over to the door that lead to the balcony. She gently lifted herself into the air with the help of her wings, moved the curtains out of the way and opened the door with her mouth, quickly disappearing onto the balcony.

I was curious and sad at the same time. 

Since the day I got shot, she was acting all weird, avoiding me to her best abilities and leaving bed midnight to go to the balcony only to come back to bed one hour later or so. Either something was troubling her, or she hated me. 

I was really hoping that it wasn't the latter.

So I lay there, contemplating on if I should actually go and try to speak with her, or just leave her be. 

Either trying to find out what was troubling her or hoping that she'd come to me and speak about it. But knowing her, I was sure that she wouldn't come to me to speak about her problems. Especially not when you consider how she was acting that week.

So I slowly picked up Scootaloo from my chest and gently laid her down besides me, trying my best to not disturb her sleep. Her sleeping body immediately noticed that she wasn't lying on my chest anymore, so she started mumbling and moving on the mattress and her face took on an uneasy expression. That heartbreaking sight alone was nearly enough for me to momentarily forget about Rainbow's problem.

I brushed a bit of her mane out of her face and gave her a kiss onto her forehead before carefully rolling of the bed and tip-toeing over to the balcony.

I spotted the outlines of Rainbow's multi-colored body lying on a table, her forelegs tucked underneath her body. The moonlight was illuminating her body, making her rainbow-colored mane glow faintly. Her gaze was directed at the mountains in the far distance. The same mountains I went hiking with my family when they were still alive.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I asked, announcing my presence to her. I moved over to her side, resting my arms on top of the metal railing, my own gaze never leaving the horizon. 

"I-I guess so." She said, clearly surprised that I caught her sneaking out of bed. 

"See these mountains over there?" I asked, pointing a finger at the barely visible mountains, far out in the distance. "That's where Laura, Sandra and me often went hiking in our free time."

"I remember that one time in summer when I slipped and fell face first into a bush of stinging nettles while we were hiking..." My lips escaped a small chuckle at the memory. "Really painful, but of course that didn't stop Sandra and Laura from laughing at my bad luck."

"They stopped laughing as soon as I told them that I'm allergic to stinging nettles, though it was kinda difficult to tell them that, because my face was already swollen like Angelina Jolie's top lip."

Rainbow giggled cutely, even though she probably didn't know who "Angelina Jolie" was, but at least that got the tension out of the air.




"Rainbow?" I asked, my tone getting more serious, making her turn her head into my direction. I also directed my gaze away from the mountains onto her face. "What's troubling you?"

That adorable smile that she wore until I asked her that question dropped. Her face took on a look of uneasiness and sadness and her ears flattened against her skull, only adding to my suspicions that something was troubling her big time.

Her mouth opened, then closed, and then opened up again. I could see that there was some kind of inner conflict happening inside of her head. She didn't speak for a long while, the only sound that could be heard was the elegant tune sung by the crickets and various other forest animals.




"I-I...I'm sorry..." She finally whispered, looking away from me, up to the moon.

"For what?" I was completely confused. 'Why would she need to apologize to me?'

She didn't answer me. She just continued to look at the bright orb that was far away in the distance, an almost hurt look adorning her face.

I cupped her cheeks tenderly with both of my hands and turned her head to look me into my face.

"Rainbow, for what?" I asked again, staring right into her big, gorgeous, magenta eyes. Her eyes were getting damp, and it wasn't long before a single tear escaped the corner of her left eye. She tried to turn her head away, but I wouldn't let her. 

"Rainbow, please tell me..." I plead, feeling that my own eyes were slowly starting to become moist. I was dreading the thought of her hating me. For me it seemed like the only proper explanation on why she didn't want to tell me what her damn problem was.

She hated me and she wouldn't even tell me why.

"Forget it." I sighed dissapointed, letting my hands fall down from her cheeks. I I turned around and was on my to go back to bed and try to forget about what happened, when I was stopped by Rainbow's voice.

"Because of me, you almost died..."

"What do y-" Then it clicked. The day I got shot, she was actually the one who provoked that guy. She was the reason I actually got shot. Kind of.

'Of fucking course...' Her acting sad, not wanting to look anywhere into my general direction. It all made sense now. I mentally facepalmed upon realizing how obvious everything was.

She was feeling guilty because she thought that she was the reason I got shot.

But was I mad? No, definitely not. 

Did I have the right to be mad at her? No.

She didn't pull the trigger, neither could she have foreseen that he would pull it. 

"Wait, it's about that?" I asked, walking back up to the railing. She nodded hesitantly.

"We nearly lost you b-because of my stupidity..." She stuttered, once again looking away from me to possibly prevent me from seeing the tears rolling down her cheeks. "And now you h-hate... me."

I just shook my head an scooped her up in my arms, hugging her strongly.

"W-what are you doing?!" She asked, struggling frantically to get out of my grip, but to no avail. I had her firmly secured in my arms, not giving her a chance to escape. "L-let go of me!"

"Nope." I simply said, shaking my head and looking down into her eyes. "I only let go when you stop this bullshit."

"What?"

"Rainbow, let's be serious here." I said, giving her a small smile. "Why should I hate you? I mean, c'mon, that guy was mentally unstable and had a gun, something you've probably never encountered before. You couldn't have known that something like that is a really dangerous combination."

She stayed silent, observing my face intently as if she was searching for any clues of me being mad. 

"Not like I could stay mad at you and the others, you're just too adorable." I stated, and as to prove my point, pinched one of her cheeks. 

"Hey, Will, stop that." She said, that cute giggle from before resurfacing, rubbing the cheek I so deviously attacked with one of her hooves. 

'Mission accomplished, she's happy again.'

"Make me." I whispered, a playful smirk tugging at the corner of my mouth as I pinched the other cheek.

What happened next was something I definitely didn't expect. 

She leaned her head up and gave my face one, big, sloppy lick, from the top of my nose up to my forehead, her big tongue leaving a trail of saliva behind. It was kind of disgusting.




"Rainbow, why the fuck did you just lick me?" I asked while rubbing my face against my shoulder, desperately trying to get the saliva out of my face, but only succeeding to spread it further across my face. I stopped the instant I realized that.

"Because I can get away with it." She said, her gaze almost mimicking mine before she decided to take a sample on how my face tasted. 

"Oh no you definitely can't." I said confidently, but that confidence crumbled the instant I looked down, back into her face. She was using that pout of hers, but this time, she was trying her best to appear as cute and harmless as she physically can. "Oh c'mon, that's not fair..."

In my head, a battle roared. Either get some revenge for what she did earlier, or just forget about it. I wanted to look away from her face, but I couldn't. Something kept my eyes transfixed onto her it.

I felt my defenses crumbling.

"Fine, you won." I mumbled, admitting defeat although I really didn't want to. I sat her back down onto the table and yawned once, the lack of sleep easily noticeable. "But I will get my revenge for that, mark my words."

"Yea yea, sure." She muttered, waving a hoof at me dismissively, not looking really intimidated.  

'Oh, I'll get my revenge, you'll see.'

"Imma go back to sleep. I'll let the door open for you." I said, already making my way back to the bedroom. 

"Will?" She addressed me, making me stop right in front of the door. I looked back at her over my shoulder. She looked like she wanted to tell me something, fidgeting with her hooves nervously, but before I could ask her what was up, she shook her head and spoke up again, only much more silent this time. "*sigh*...Never mind..."

Even though I wanted to know what was troubling her, I decided to drop it. I was way too tired for another discussion and my shoulder started aching again, as did my abdomen. Luckily Twilight was able to restore the kidney that was hit, and my shoulder, fully with that one spell, but some muscles still needed to heal. 

A painful process.

"O-kay." I said awkwardly, mentally shrugging. 'She'll tell me eventually...' 

I took one last step forward and disappeared into the bedroom, out of Rainbow's sight.





Rainbow POV


'Why can't I just tell him?' I asked myself, looking at where William disappeared. 'Why is it so hard to say 'I love you'?'

I sighed and looked back up to the moon, my eyelids slowly growing heavy. 

'I'll tell him, sooner or later.'

I was lulled into sleep by the forests own beautiful, little tune, sung by various woodland animals.


> Chapter Thirteen
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
It was one month after the four pastel colored ponies I was glad to call my friends, appeared in my life. My wounds, the physical as well as mental ones, fortunately healed quickly and without any complications, Twilight was doing some significant progress in her research and the girls and I were getting closer to each other with each day that passed. 

You could say everything was working out perfectly. 

Kind of.

After the night we had that talk, Rainbow started acting...weird. 

By weird I mean rather affectionate, especially towards me, hugging me randomly for minutes until I told her to let me go, or just cuddling with me when we were in bed at night. 

She was always by my side, all day long, be it when I was preparing dinner or just taking a nap on the couch. That alone was weird.

But not as weird as that one time she 'accidentally' kissed me on the cheek before we went to bed. Of course, she was quick to apologize to me after she broke the ten seconds long kiss. She told me over and over that it was 'just and accident, nothing more' and that she didn't want to kiss me but to just nuzzle me on the cheek because I was being such a 'good friend'. She looked kinda disappointed after she said that, but maybe I was just imagining that.

Wouldn't have been the first time.

Anyways, enough of that, let's get to the real part of this:
It was probably one of the hottest days, if not the hottest, I had witnessed since I moved to Wyoming. I have no idea how hot it was exactly, but I think the most accurate description on how hot it was would be... 

Uh...

Fuck that, it was fucking hot.

The worst thing of all?

No air conditioner. 



	

I was lying half naked on an old leather couch in the basement, the only thing covering my most sacred place being plain white, sweat soaked boxers. It was silent, safe for the occasional rattling sound made by the washing machine on the other end of the room, cleaning the also sweat soaked clothes I've put on that morning, not knowing that it was going to be that hot.

I wasn't alone, though. 

Rainbow was lying on her side between my lower legs, her head resting dangerously close to my crotch, legs sprawled out into all directions, one of those cute little fur-covered legs resting upon my right shin, her cyan fur soaking up the sweat that was escaping my body en masse. 

She didn't care though. It was way too hot for that.

Maybe I should've been uncomfortable because of the way she was lying there, so close to my crotch, but I wasn't. 

It was way too hot to care about something like that. 

And even though we were in the basement, where it should've been fucking cold in contrast to upstairs, it wasn't. Sure, it was a bit colder, but not by much. It still felt like I was being cooked alive, especially on that black leather couch. Why I had a black leather couch down in my basement is beyond me.

The fact is that I hate black leather things. They soak up heat way too good. Sure, it's pretty neat during winter, but in summer it's just downright annoying.

Me and Rainbow were in some sort of trance, our bodies having long ceased everything that wasn't of vital importance.

Inhale, exhale. 

Inhale, exhale.

That went on for long, long minutes, the only sound that could be heard being those deep, exhausted breathes of Rainbow and me. But some time between our breathing I started hearing something that suspiciously sounded like hooves hitting stone.

I sat myself up, feeling my skin unstick itself from the leathery surface of the couch with loud pops, with Rainbow following suite, a glimmer of hope in both of our eyes as we saw Twilight and the other two descending the stairs, a bucket floating behind them, coated in a sparkling purple aura. The three went upstairs what felt like an eternity ago to get some ice out of the freezer, and they were finally back!

Finally back to bring us the long awaited release in form of sweet sweet frozen water!

I was as happy as a fat kid at a burger king.

But then, when they came closer, I saw that the bucket was empty, devoid of any ice cubes. I groaned and let my body fall back down onto the couch, my sweat covered skin immediately doing its best to glue itself back onto the leather.

"There's... no more ice... in the freezer..." Twilight said between her heavy panting, her tongue cutely lolling out of her mouth. Though, to her defense, we didn't look better off either. "It's bucking hot upstairs...'

"Ohh c'mooon!" Rainbow groaned, frustration clearly evident in her tone, letting her head fall back down onto my left calf.

"So, let me get this straight-" I started, lifting one of my hands onto my glistening forehead, rubbing it in frustration. "-it's possibly one of the hottest days of the last few years and we have no more ice?"

"Yep." Applejack confirmed, apparently completely unaffected by the heat. She was a hard working farm pony, often working in the open sun on days like that one, if what she told me was anything to go by, but I just couldn't comprehend how she wasn't affected by this unbearable heat in the slightest. At least not visually.

Probably some weird-ass earth pony magic.

"Rainbow, can you please stop drooling onto my leg?" I asked, feeling a sudden increase of wetness on where her head was resting.

"Sowwy." She said, her mouth wide open, not making any attempts to move her head away. 

"Wait..." I mumbled, mostly to myself, slowly getting an idea on how we could escape the unbearable heat. "Drool...drool means water, water means..."

Click.

"THAT'S IT!" I shouted victoriously, immediately jumping up onto my feet, knocking my shinbone against the underside of Rainbow's muzzle in the process. "THE FUCKING LAKE THING!"

Don't ask me how I connected the dots there.

"OW! WILL!" Rainbow screamed, rubbing the spot where my shin hit her with her hooves, desperately trying to soothe the pain currently coursing through it.


"Oh shit, sorry!" I apologized, suddenly feeling very concerned about Rainbow's well-being. "You alright?"

"Ow, buck... What's your leg made out of? Bricks?" She asked half-jokingly, half-serious, plopping herself down onto her haunches.

"Last I checked, no." I said, releasing a sigh of relief. I don't know what I would've done if I seriously hurt her, so I was glad that that wasn't the case.

"Uh, dad, what lake?" Scootaloo asked, making me realize that I still had some explaining to do.

"There's a small swimming hole maybe a thirty minutes walk away from here!" I exclaimed, jumping down from the couch onto the ground, feeling the happiness from before pushing itself back into my mind. "And the best thing about it is, that probably no one, besides maybe some of my old colleagues, know about it! And they moved away nearly half a year ago!"

Just as the last word left my mouth, I felt something feathery and quite boney connecting against the back of my head. My hands shot backwards and clutched at where it impacted, and I turned around, only to come eye to eye with a rather furious looking Rainbow. Her eyes seemed like they were trying to reach into the deepest part of me, piercing right through my soul.

"The fuck Rainbow?" I questioned, trying to ignore her deadly stare to my best abilities, raising an eyebrow at her in surprise.

"Sooo, you're telling me, that the whole time we were here, we could've been outside, swimming and cooling ourselves off?" She asked, her voice getting louder and louder with each word that passed. I suddenly felt very powerless under her stare, even though I was probably a lot stronger than her, so instead of voicing my answer, I just nodded dumbly.

"O-kay, I think I'll stop this before it gets violent." Twilight said, stepping between us and pushing Rainbow a few meters back with her magic, finally giving me room to breath. "Will, are you sure that it's safe for us to go there?"

I cleared my throat in a weird manner and then answered Twilight.

"It should be, it's pretty secluded and far away from the normal hiking paths, so no one should accidentally stumble upon it. Though we have to watch out on the way there." 

"Assuming what was told me was correct, of course." I quickly added, my tone slightly uncertain.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Rainbow asked, trying her best to sound calm and collected, but failing miserably at doing so. It could've worked if she would've stopped glaring at me like she was gonna pounce and beat the living shit out of me at any second.

"But it's way too dang-"

"Yeah, c'mon, let's go!" Scootaloo shouted in excitement, jumping in front of Twilight and interrupting her effectively, buzzing her little wings rapidly, gaining a few centimeters of altitude.

"Alright alright, just let me pack some things." I chuckled, shaking my head at the sheer silliness, but a smile sneaked its way onto my face nonetheless. That didn't stop my worries though.





We used our last energy reserves as we ambled along the mountain path, the supposedly final part of our journey to get relief in the form of water. 

"I thought..you...said...thirty minutes..." Rainbow gasped, trying to wipe some sweat from her forehead, but to no effect. It was immediately replaced.

She was right, I did say that it was just a thirty minutes walk away from where we started, but at least an hour passed since we started walking, meaning that the trek was way longer then I expected it to be. 

Oh, and way more painful.

"I was never.... there before." I said, having troubles with pulling fresh air into my lungs I so desperately needed. I looked back at them from over my shoulder, trying to see how they were faring. Twilight, Scootaloo and Rainbow looked the worst, the fur on their bodies glistening in the sun's rays, and it seemed like they could pass out from exhaustion at any moment.

But Applejack still didn't look like she was affected by the heat and all the walking we did in the slightest, happily trotting up to them.

Looking back forward I added. "Someone just described me how to get there." 

That someone was one of my old colleagues from where I worked before everything went downhill for me, who was kind enough to tell me how to get to that 'swimming hole'. I'm quite sure I was the only one he told.

'I really hope he wasn't kidding...'

"I just hope...he wasn't joking..." Twilight mumbled behind me, apparently having the same worries as I did. Actually, I think all of us were worrying, understandably so. If that guy lied and that place didn't exist, we pretty much walked two and a half miles of pure pain for nothing. 

I started walking again, the others following closely behind me as we lapsed back into absolute silence. The only sound that could be heard for a long while, other than chirping birds, was heavy panting and hooves hitting dirt. 

Until I picked up another sound.

An unusual humming sound assaulted my ears. It sounded like a huge swarm of bees, getting louder and louder with every step I made. A few minutes of silence later I even felt how the buzzing transferred itself to the dirt and rocks beneath my feet. I felt a tingle that ran up to my fingertips.

I absentmindedly increased my speed, completely ignoring the pain coursing through my feet and how exhausted I felt, slowly increasing the distance between me and the girls, who were struggling to keep up with me. First I was walking fast, then jogging, and in the end I was running, totally unaware of the fact that the girls were shouting for me to slow down.

Sometime during my sprint I must have rounded a corner and walked through a crevice, or something like that, between two mountains, instantly revealing the source of the sound.

My mouth hung open in astonishment at the sight of the clear, Carribean-blue waterfall in the distance. It was spurting over moss-covered rocks, spilling eel-like over the ledges. My eyes trailed slowly downwards, following the loom of liquid silver that plunged into the depths of an even more beautiful paradise-blue spring. The spout was hitting the surface of the pool like a thunderclap, creating a slight breeze upon impact.

This breeze continuously hit my face, gently blowing the hair off my forehead. I smelled the pungent smell of rainwater, mixed with something minerally and earthy.

I finally was able to let my eyes wander around more, away from that awfully inviting looking spring, onto the shore of it. 

The shore of the spring was actually a pearly-white sand beach, and immediately behind the beach came a dense forest and some smaller mountains, hiding the spring perfectly from any people that weren't actively searching for it.

Everything was just in perfect harmony; the smell, the noises and the sight. 

It was a paradise.

... A paradise that just didn't look natural to Wyoming. The water was way too blue and clear, the trees and bushes in the forest didn't look like something that was native to Wyoming and the beach also looked way too paradisaical. What I was seeing looked more like something you'd find in tropical regions, not in a region like this. 

The longer I stood there and examined what was in front of me, the quicker I realized that something was really wrong about this place, other than the things I've already mentioned before.

It felt like someone was... watching me. Like we weren't alone.

But I couldn't care less at that moment. The only thing I wanted to do was finally get some relief from the heat, and besides that, chances were high that I was just being paranoid again. 

I heard the sound of clip-clopping hooves approaching me from my back, growing closer rapidly.

"William...never...do...that...again!" Rainbow barked between breathes and coughes, doing her best to seem angry before collapsing to the ground in a heap, her chest moving up and down violently.

"Sorry..." I said in a almost whisper, my mind still not able to comprehend the sheer beauty of what I was seeing.

'That he told me it was just a normal swimming hole...'

"AH! There ya are! What in tarnation's goin'-" Applejack said angrily as she and the other two finally arrived, but cut herself off as soon as she saw what I saw, lapsing into a state of amazement. "Wooooow..." 

"Woow." Twilight agreed with Applejack, her eyes unrealistically big. 

I finally came back to earth, my brain starting to properly function again. Suddenly I had a really good idea on how I could get my revenge on Rainbow. I looked back at them, or more particular at Rainbow, who was already back on her hooves, a challenging smirk on my face. As soon as I saw Rainbow returning my smirk, probably getting my secret message, I immediately started sprinting into the direction of the beautiful blue pool.

"First one to the spring gets a free massage!" I shouted back at her, running as fast as my body would've allowed me to. I heard annoyed shouts and groans coming from behind me, but also rapidly flapping wings. From that sound alone I knew that Rainbow was already in the air, accepting my challenge.

But I was going to win.









"Fucking bullshit..." I complained, wiping a drop sweat away from my forehead.

"Stop complaining and focus on massaging me, big boy." Rainbow purred from underneath me. She lay, belly first, on a towel on the rocky shore, with her eyes closed and a satisfied expression upon her face, with me towering above her in a really uncomfortable (and awkward) squatting position. I cursed under my breath before I resumed kneading her shoulders again, focusing to work the kinks out of her muscles. "Never make bets you know you can't win, Willy~"

'Fuck you.'

Yes, I lost. 

Yes, I was totally ashamed as she shot past me, with me having a head start and all that. Though to my defense; she had those incredibly overpowered wings!

Like seriously, she can go mach one with them! I should've known that I was doomed to lose.

Though I may have won if I wouldn't have tripped over that one fucking stone and fell face first into the sand.

"I nearly won..." I muttered, pouting at her before taking my hands away from her shoulders and trailing them upwards in light, long strokes, determined to end this humiliation massage as soon as possible without her noticing. "You just won because I tripped over a stone."

"Pfff, like that mattered." She said, looking back and rolling her eyes at me, but that was quickly followed by a sigh of satisfaction as I found a tension knot and applied focused pressure, effectively loosing it. She rested her head back onto the towel, closing her eyes once again. 

'Yes, that fucking mattered!' I screamed at her in my mind, my anger being triggered by her behavior. She was acting all superior and shit since I started massaging her, like winning was something she did every day. There were a few times during the massage where I just wanted to pick her up and throw her blue butt into the water, but every time that thought was stopped by her making an adorable noise.

"Dude, hands are the best." She cooed as I worked out kink after kink, a dreamy expression on her face.

"Uh, glad you think so... I think?" I said awkwardly, my hands never ceasing their work.

"Wooow Twilight! Can you do that again?! Canyoucanyoucanyou??" While I was doomed to be Rainbows masseuse under the blazing sun, the others were having the time of their life in that way too inviting spring, playing in the water, doing some awkward doggy paddling or just chilling under the waterfall. I tried to ignore them, but that was impossible to do. 

Especially when your brain is screaming at you to jump into the water on an instant.

Fortunately, for both my hands (which hurt like hell) and the rest of my body, I was finished. I lifted my hands away from her neck and stood back up, taking a few steps backwards and doing some weird stretches, cracking a few joints all across my body in the process.

"What? Finished already?" She complained as I walked over to the backpack to my left, opened it and pulled a towel out of it, slinging it over my shoulder before continuing to search for my swimming trunks.

"My hands are killing me right now, so, yeah." I answered, frowning upon noticing the lack of garment in the backpack. "Oh c'mon! How can I forget something as important as that?!"

"What's up?" She asked me, moving over to my side to take a look into the backpack, trying to see what my problem was.

"I forgot my fucking swimming trunks..." I sighed sadly, closing the backpack and standing up again. "Guess that means no swimming for me..."

"Uh dude, why would you need pants to swim?" Rainbow questioned, looking at me with a confused expression upon her face. I shot her my best 'are you fucking serious right now' look and shook my head, but that just seemed to confuse her even more.

"Rainbow, if you still haven't noticed it; we humans aren't really comfortable with being naked in public." I explained, sighing in frustration.

"Yeah, and that's weird!" She stated, then she pointed at her own body with one of her forelegs. "Am I wearing any clothes?"

"Are your genitals hanging around freely, covered by nothing?" I asked her back, raising an eyebrow at her, waiting patiently for her answer.



"Well! I-It's...uh..." She started confidently, but soon began to stammer, a blush rapidly growing on her face, tinting her cheeks deep red. "It's not like we... haven't seen your...you know..."

I lifted my hands up to my chin, rubbing it while pondering what to do. On the one hand, it was still fucking weird, on the other hand, it was fucking hot and I really wanted to swim. 

Didn't take long for me to come to a decision.

"Eh, I guess you're right." I shrugged. I then quickly unclothed myself and sprinted into the direction of the pool, my glorious wiener flipping around like a flag in the wind.

"HERE I COME GUYS!" I shouted, bellyflopping into the cold pool, hitting the watery surface hard. 





??? POV


I was hidden behind a thick wall of bushes and trees, trying my best to stay hidden despite my long and slender body. I peeked through the foliage, my extra large yellow eyes with mismatched red pupils fixated onto one particular being. 

Someone who I had big plans for.

"Soon, little human, soon." I whispered, my lips peeling back from my teeth in a maniac grin. With a flick of my claws I was gone, but not before releasing one last, maniac laugh that echoed through the whole place.

	

> Chapter Fourteen - The Decision, End of Arc One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I lay soundly in bed, the faintest glow of morning sun peering through the closed curtains. The birds outside the window were chirping happily without a care in the world. I tossed over, my body slowly waking up from the deep slumber I was in just moments ago. 

'Goddamn...Fuck you sun...'

'And fuck you birds!'

I reluctantly opened my eyes and took a glance at the digital clock on the nightstand to my left.

'10:00 AM? Damn that's late...' 

Taking my eyes off the clock I looked around the bed, immediately noticing the lack of two certain, adorable ponies. I was surprised to say the least, considering that Rainbow and Scootaloo definitely weren't morning... ponies?

They were up fairly early, at least for their standards.

... Because of that alone I should've known that that day definitely wasn't going to be a normal one.

Anyways.

It was exactly one month after we were at that strange spring and, fortunately, nothing really changed; Rainbow was still acting incredibly weird, especially when she was around me, and Twilight was making steady progress in her studies. I was sure that it wouldn't take her long anymore until she'd find a way home.

Their home.

A quick series of knocks on the door made me realize that I was, once again, lost deep in my thoughts. Applejack's muffled voice was the next thing I heard, calling me through the door. "Will, breakfast's ready, ya comin'?"

"Yeah, just gimme a minute." I called back, shaking my head clear.

It wasn't time to think about the future, it was time to finally get something inside my stomach. 

My stomach audibly agreed.





After I took a quick shower and dressed myself, I headed downstairs to join the other four at breakfast. On my way to the kitchen my nose picked up the familiar smell of sweet sweet pancakes. I started drooling just at the sheer thought of devouring one of those delicious golden things. I was so lost in thoughts, thinking about pancakes, that I didn't even notice that I arrived in the kitchen until a blob of colors latched itself onto my leg, impacting it so hard that I nearly lost my balance for a second.

"...Rainbow?" I asked weirdly after the initial shock faded, giving her a concerned look. 

That's what I mean by her acting incredibly weird!

"Good morning Will!" Said the overly excited mare, looking up to me and flashing me a huge smile before letting go of my leg and flying back to her place at the table. By the look Twilight and Applejack had on their faces, I wasn't the only one who was incredibly weirded out by Rainbow's behavior. 

"Eh, yeah, good morning." I awkwardly greeted, walking over to the table and pulling out the chair to Scootaloo's left, sitting myself down on it.

It seemed like Applejack had, once again, prepared breakfast, if the smell of apples was anything to go by. I grabbed two apple-filled pancakes from the big plate in the center of the table and put them onto the plate in front of me, drool threatening to escape my mouth just at the thought of stuffing one of those delicious things into my mouth. 

Wow, that came out incredibly weird.

I was so mesmerized by the two pancakes on my plate that I almost didn't notice the uncomfortable silence between us. Almost.

"So, uh, Twilight, how far are you with your researches?" I asked, trying to stir up a conversation and break the awkwardness. I slowly started on the first pancake, my stomach ordering me to start eating with a loud grumble.

"I narrowed the dimensions where our home could be down to about two thousand. Shouldn't take me that much longer to find our home!" She answered happily, a big smile on her face. I was about to congratulate her, but then that smile disappeared and turned into a frown. "But I still have no idea how I'm going to get us back..."

"You still don't know which spell brought you here?" I questioned, finishing the first pancake.

"Well...Yes and no."

I motioned with my hands for her to continue.

"I kinda do know which spell brought us here...but-" She began explaining, stopping for a moment to let out a long sigh. "-it's impossible for me to perform. There was no way I could've used it because it would've required me to use black magic."

"How did you find that out?" Rainbow asked her, a puzzled look on her face.

"We still had remains of black magic in and on our bodies, every single one of us." She said, and even before I was able to ask her my question, she answered it for me. "Yes, even you, Will."

'But that doesn't make any sen-wait, how did she find that out?'

"I don't remember that you tested me for black magic." I stated, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Eh, she did that while you were napping yesterday." Scootaloo answered for her. Princess weirdo gave me a sheepish smile.

"Scoots? She did nothing else besides testing me for dark magic, right?" I asked her, an unreadable expression on my face as I looked at Twilight's.

'She wouldn't do that...nonono.'

"I dunno, me and Rainbow went upstairs so that she could work in peace."

'Oh she didn't! While I was sleeping? Really?'

The neutral expression on my face quickly turned into a glare, a glare that told her everything she needed to know. 

"We're going to have a little talk later on." I said, pointing at the intimidated Twilight, my voice ice-cold. As to prove how angry I was at her, I grabbed the second pancake from my plate and devoured it in one go, my eyes never leaving hers.

Wait, that doesn't make any sense. I was hungry and my stomach demanded food, that's all.



"Soooo, that means there's a possibility we'll never find a way home?" Rainbow asked, completely ignoring my silliness, letting out a long groan. "Great, we'll never find a way home..."

My eyes widened. My breath caught in my throat and I'm pretty sure that my heart stopped beating.

'Oh hell no.'

Suddenly, there was a bright, golden flash, so bright that it felt like I was looking straight into the sun, only a thousand times brighter. It came out of nowhere, and I immediately lifted my hands up to my closed eyes to cover them, but with little success. It was so bright that it went right through them without a problem. 

Then there was a loud crashing sound, like wood breaking under a heavy weight, followed by a strong gust that hit me right into my face, carrying a pleasant scent with it. 

Bananas. It smelled like bananas.

The light slowly faded and after a few seconds it was completely gone, disappearing just as suddenly as it appeared. The next thing I heard were gasps from all around me, and strangely, also from directly in front of me. I let my hands fall back down and opened my eyes.

At first the only thing I could see was a blob of black and white, but as soon as I gained back the ability to see properly, I noticed one teeny-tiny thing.

There were two new ponies standing right in front of me, right where the table once stood. The left one had a dark blue, while the right one had a snow white fur. Both of them had really strange manes, even stranger than Rainbow's; they were magically flowing behind them, giving both of them a rather majestic touch. The mane of the left pony was a mix of many kinds of blue colors, the main one being a sapphire blue color, while the mane of the right one had streaks of several different colors in it, mainly light blue, turquoise and pink.

I stared at the two new ponies wide-eyed, my mouth wide open in astonishment. I tried to say anything to break the awkward silence, but I was way too amazed from the sight before me.

I mean, just imagine two big, strange ponies landing on a table right in front of you during breakfast. You'd be speechless too, wouldn't you?

Fortunately, the dark-blue pony decided that enough was enough.

Unfortunately, she (Yes, she) didn't seem to like me.

"STAY AWAY, CREATURE!" She shouted so loud I feared that my eardrums may explode, lightening up her horn which was then coated in a dark-blue aura. In a blink of an eye, not even giving me the chance to follow her command, she let loose of a blue ball of magic, which hit me right into my chest.

Suddenly I started feeling really dizzy, like I was about to throw up, and sitting still on the chair proved to be increasingly difficult. I desperately tried to steady myself on top of the chair with my hands, but to no avail. I fell off of it, my limp body hitting the tile floor of the kitchen like a sack of potatoes.

My eyes fluttered closed and I started drifting off into unconsciousness almost immediately after.





I let out a long groan before slowly opening my eyes, blinking a few times to clear my blurred vision. It took them a few seconds to adjust, but when they did and I finally was able to see again, I was greeted by the sight of two big magenta spheres.

It took me a few seconds until I realized that those spheres belonged to Rainbow's eyes, said pony looking at me with relief in its eyes. 

"He's back!" She shouted into my face, a few globes of spit escaping her mouth and landing on my face.

"Eww! Stop spitting at me!" I said in disgust, one hand already in my face to wipe away all that spit, while the other one was busy shoving Rainbow's face out of mine. "What happened?"

I felt myself being lifted up into the air, momentarily startling me until I realized that it was just Twilight's doing, who was standing behind Rainbow and to Applejack's left in front of where once a table stood. She straightened me and then let me back down onto my feet, giving me a big smile. As soon as I was standing properly, something impacted with my leg hard, nearly sending me back down onto the ground.

"Everything okay, dad?" The orange blob that was tightly hugging my leg asked, glancing up at me worriedly.

"Yeah...I think so." I said warily, rubbing my forehead with one hand. I was still incredibly confused and somehow lost all memories of what happened before I fell unconscious, so I had troubles remembering why the table behind Twilight was completely destroyed. "Just what happened here?"

"You don't remember?" Twilight asked, giving me a concerned look. I slowly shook my head, waiting for her to answer me, but her answer never came. She just pointed at something behind me.

I turned around.




"We... I am truly sorry, creature. I thought you were trying to harm our subjects." A dark-blue pony answered, bowing her head at me in shame. 

"I apologize for the behavior of my dear sister, she wasn't thinking properly." A snow-white pony besides the dark-blue's side said, also bowing her head at me. Now that I saw them, the memories of what happened came back to me. 


I blinked. Hard.


"Oh, yeah, that." I lamely said after a minute of awkward silence, seemingly unfazed by their appearance, but deep down I was immensely scared. Those two new ponies that barely reached up to my shoulders, not counting their horns, just seemed to be radiating power. I truly felt like they could eradicate me within a millisecond. "Apology accepted, I guess."

Now that I had a closer look at them, I noticed that they had both a horn and a pair of wings, just like Twilight did, which could only mean one thing.

"Lemme guess, you're Celestia-" I started, pointing at the white pony before moving my index finger over to the dark-blue one. "-and you are Luna, right?"

I could feel Twilight's and Applejack's glare at the back of my head, probably because I didn't address them as 'Princess Celestia' and 'Princess Luna' and bowed, but I don't know why I should've done that. They weren't the princesses of my country, so bowing down to them just didn't seem appropriate to me. 

Hell, bowing down to anyone doesn't seem very appropriate to me, now that I think about it.

Both of the princesses shared a brief look at each other before turning their heads back at me, giving me thankful smiles, like they were grateful that I was at least so kind to drop the formalities. 

"Yeah, Twilight told me a lot 'bout you." I answered, visibly shuddering, thinking about at all those 'history lessons' she gave. They were very... in-depth. Too many details.

I really didn't want to know who banged who and how.

I pushed those unwanted memories out of my head to my best abilities, instead focusing on the situation at hand.

"So, why are you here?" I calmly asked, even though I already knew the answer. I mean, what were the chances for them traveling to another dimension just to have a friendly chat with us?

"My sister and I came to-" Luna started, but then was rudely interrupted by a certain orange filly.

"WE'RE GOING HOME!" Scootaloo shouted happily, bouncing around me in circles, an adorable smile adorning her face. Luna cleared her throat loudly and shot her an annoyed look, clearly not appreciating the rude interruption. 

"...As I was trying to say, my sister and I came to take Twilight and her friends home. They went missing around two days ago, and with the help of-" She put on a grimace "-Discord we were able to locate them in this dimension."

'... Two days?'

"We were gone fer only two days? And Discord helped ya?" Applejack asked disbelievingly, her mouth wide open. 

"Yes, at least in our dimension, and yes, Discord did help us. He also created a portal to this dimension." Celestia answered. "Fortunately he was so kind to aid us, or else there would've been no way for me and my sister to travel here."

"Ya'll can say what ya want 'bout him, I still ain't trusting that varmint."

"Well, I'm afraid that we have to keep this discussion short, Discord should reopen the portal at any minute now." Celestia said before giving me a friendly smile upon seeing my conflicted expression. "Of course you are allowed to come with us, William. Twilight and the other three told us so many good things about you."

"How you saved my life, for example!" Rainbow chimed in.

"Or how you adopted Scootaloo without even thinking twice about it!" Twilight added, the addressed filly nodding her head frantically.

Everyone moved up in front of me, forming a half circle in front of me, big smiles upon their faces.

I couldn't help myself but to join them, a small smile of my own tugging at the corner of my lips. But that smile quickly disappeared and was replaced by a frown as soon as I realized that I couldn't go with them. There was no way that would've worked out.

Me, a human, living in a way too peaceful world, filled with speaking ponies and many other magical creatures? No, there was definitely no way something like that would've turned out good. It would be disorienting for me, to say the least. Maybe it would even turn me mad after some time. 

But those weren't the only concerns I had.

There was also the fact that I'd need to leave earth, my home. It was quite possible that I'd never see it again. That there would be no way for me to reach out to other humans. 

That I wouldn't be able to start anew. 

Let's just say I went with them, what would've happened? Sure, I could've started a normal life with Scootaloo as my daughter, but deep inside something told me that I'd never be able to start a relationship, not with a pony. That wouldn't be right.

They were ponies; stupid, mindless animals, right?

No, not quite.

Yes, they were ponies, but they were by no means stupid or mindless. In those two months I've had the pleasure to live with them I learned a lot about them and from them. 

Twilight Sparkle was extraordinarily intelligent, easily the smartest being I've ever met, and also had an incredible need and thirst for knowledge. We didn't call her an egghead for nothing.

Rainbow Dash: by far the coolest being I've ever met (just look at her mane!). Competitive, self-confident and brash. She was hard to get along with at first, but once I got to know her better, I found out that she's soft on the inside. She was willing to show affection around me, something she wouldn't even dare when she was around her other friends, as Twilight told me.

Applejack: the honest, hard-working (at least if what the others told me was true) and friendly country mare. She was pleasant to talk to, and that cute accent of hers always made me feel happy. I can't explain why though.

And last but not least, Scootaloo, my daughter. She was pretty much a clone of Rainbow, just more open about showing affection. You know, looking back to the day I met her, I'd say we hit off pretty well considering that she was an alien from a completely different dimension, and, looking back to the day I 'adopted' her, I'm happy I decided to just go with it. Sure, it may have been a rash decision, but I just couldn't help it. I pitied her. 

She was abandoned by her own parents, just because there was a chance that she wouldn't be able to fly. 

I know what growing up without your parents feels like, at least to a degree, but I don't know what getting abandoned by your parents because of your inability to fly must feel like.

I felt like it was my duty to take her under my arms, to give her a new perspective on live. To show her what having a dad feels like.

I smiled absentmindedly at the memories of those past two months, the big decision I still had to make momentarily forgotten. 

"William, it's time for us to depart, the portal won't be open for long." Celestia snapped me out of my thoughts, her tone gentle and sympathetic at the same time, like she perfectly understood what I was going through. "Just remember, it's your decision whether you want to come with us or stay here."

"But keep in mind that there won't be a second chance for you to come back should you ever change your mind. Your decision is final." Luna continued for her sister, her tone also surprisingly understanding.

I closed my eyes, tears that I never knew I shed slowly trailing down my cheeks, leaving a wet trail in their wake. I balled my hands up into fists, clenching strongly.

"Will, what's taking you so long to decide?" Rainbow worriedly asked. I could feel those beautiful magenta eyes of hers tearing up. I could feel the fear steadily growing inside of her. I could feel how she was getting more nervous with every passing second, jumping from hoof to hoof.

"Dad?" Scootaloo asked. I could see her face right in front of my closed eyes, a confused look on it. 

Applejack and Twilight stayed silent, but I still could see their faces right in front of me, just as sad-looking as Rainbow's.

I opened my eyes as I felt a soft, smooth thing touching the surface of one of my clenched fists. It was Rainbow and I was right with my assumptions; her eyes were starting to get moist, my own conflicted face reflecting in them.

I thought they tried to grab a hold of my hand, so I slowly opened it and wrapped it around the base of her hoof. She put on a fake smile, but her body betrayed her as a lone tear managed to squeeze itself out of her eyes.

The next thing I felt was another hoof, way smaller than Rainbow's, touching my other fist, begging to be squeezed. It belonged to Scootaloo, who apparently started understanding what was going on. I instinctively opened that fist too, taking the small hoof of my daughter into my hands, squeezing it gently. I gave her a small smile before looking back at Celestia and Luna, my smile faltering at an instant.

"My heart says that I should come with you and start a new life, somewhere far away from here, but my brain tells me that I would have no chance to live a normal life in a world filled with speaking ponies and other magical creatures. That I would get mad after some time of being the only human in the whole world. That ponies would only fear me for my appearance, maybe even despise me.

I simply can't live a life like that, a life under constant fear of being a social outcast. I know you ponies are very similar to us humans -minus the constant war part-, so there's even the possibility that ponies could try to let me... disappear, just because they think I'm a dangerous predator."

I stopped for a moment, taking in the reactions of each pony present. Celestia and Luna kept their straight faces, but I could see right through their masks. They were at least as sad as the others. 

The fur on Scootaloo's cheeks was now positively drenched, her bottom lips quivering, and Twilight didn't look better of either. 

Applejack and Rainbow tried to keep a straight face, but I knew that they were only a few more words away from breaking down into a sobbing mess.

I decided to end this quickly.

"I have to say, my brain is probably right. The chances of me living a normal life in your world are slim to none." I said, letting out a long sigh.

I heard someone starting to sob. Scootaloo and Rainbow let their hooves fall out of my hands, setting them back down onto the floor.

"... But I really don't care what it has to say." I said, shrugging once.




"You.Bucking.Idiot!" Something hard connected with my shin, sending a huge amount of pain through my whole body. Rainbow had punched me and I definitely deserved it. 

The same pony that hit me suddenly lunched forward and embraced the point where she hit me, instantly followed by another body which collided with my chest. I tried to hold my balance, but to no avail. I fell down onto the ground, a blob of orange and purple tightly latched onto my chest while another one, a blob of multiple colors, was squeezing the blood out of my leg. I lay there for a few seconds before I felt two other masses colliding with my body, trying to find a free place to squeeze the shit out of.

I was overcome with emotions. Of course I was sad that I was going to leave earth, but I was incredibly happy that I had the chance to start a new life with Scootaloo and the others, somewhere far away from my old one.

Without another word spoken, Celestia and Luna lit up their horns. Another bright flash, just like the one when both princesses arrived, was what followed, and I felt my body being tossed around violently. The mares held on my body for dear life, nearly digging their hooves into my flesh, as we were forcefully hurled through time and space. 


Together.

> Chapter Fifteen -  Welcome, Beginning of Arc 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The first thing my brain recorded were voices, maybe a dozen or so. At first they were far away, incomprehensible, but they gradually got clearer.

I didn't know what happened, hell, I didn't even know who I was.

As I swam into consciousness I also noticed that I was laying down with a soft surface under my back, which, after taking a second to analyze it with my hands, turned out to be grass; but I didn't remember falling asleep on grass. I smiled absentmindedly, my body threatening to slip back into sleep just at the feeling of grass caressing my back, but a sudden jolt of pain in the back of my head prevented that. 

I frowned, mad at my body and whatever caused the pain and thereby prevented me from getting back to sleep. 

I reluctantly opened my eyes, and when they were fully opened I was greeted by the sight of fluffy clouds and a clear blue sky. I took a deep fresh through my nose, the small smile from before creeping itself back onto my face at the sweet smell of fresh air.

But the air smelled too...clean.

I then felt something hard poking my stomach over and over again, like it was trying to figure out what exactly I was. I glanced down out of the corner of my eyes, seeing something white connected to another white quadrupedal something.

In the fraction of just a second every single memory came back to me. I remembered who I was, what I was, what happened and where I (probably) was. I also became an idea of what that quadrupedal something could've been. 

I'll tell you, it is pretty damn painful to get so much information and memories back in such a short time, emotionally as well as physically, but I was glad enough that I even got them back.

"His body's kinda weird..." A high-pitched voice declared, the poking stopping for just a moment before resuming.



I released a long, drawn out groan, feeling my strength coming back to me. I slowly but surely uprighted myself, rubbing my forehead with one hand, desperately trying to soothe the pain coursing through it. The pony, if I guessed right, that was poking me quickly retracted its limb from me as soon as it noticed that I, the spooky human, was moving, quite possibly afraid of getting eaten alive.

I tried to get a look at my surroundings; to inspect who exactly was touching me earlier and maybe point out that my body wasn't strange, but as soon as I lifted my hands away from my forehead I was confronted with something completely different than I was expecting.

I was indeed lying on grass, but that grass belonged to a big hill with a fantastic view over the surrounding area. My mouth hang open, but not because of the grassy grass in front of me or the hill I was lying on, no, it was because of the surrounding area.

To my north-east was a dense forest, so dense that there was no way for me to see what was hidden behind the thick foliage. I don't know what it was, but something about that forest was really spooky, like whoever went in there would never find a way out, at least not alive. What surprised me was that someone was living so close to it, if that small cottage, which, to be frankly, looked more like a huge bush with a door and some windows in it than a cottage, was inhabited at all.

My eyes darted away from that spooky forest into the completely opposite direction. To my north-west stood something that definitely was a farm, with what looked like a infinite amount of apple trees surrounding a big red farmhouse. I instantly had an assumption on whose home that charming house was.

But now to the most surprising thing that caught my eye for longer that just a few seconds; the small town that lay to my north, inhabited by an unbelievable amount of different-colored blobs. Blue, green, turquoise, purple, red; every color you can possibly imagine could be seen. But not only the ground was controlled by those blobs, the sky was also. A variety of different colors darted around the sky, sometimes smashing right through clouds or even landing upon them.

It was so beautiful, so calming, so...colorful. Everything I saw seemed brighter and more saturated than ever, like god himself turned up the color saturation of this world. 

I was simply astonished.

...So astonished that I failed to hear the ponies that were behind me, asking me if I was okay, until my lord and savior, Rainbow Dash, seemed to notice that I wasn't on the-hell-that-place-was-called anymore. She tapped me on my shoulder a few times until I noticed that she was trying to get my attention. I turned myself around to look at her.

...And about ten other ponies.

I blinked. Hard.

"Wow." I said awkwardly, eyeing all the ponies that were standing a few meters in front of me.

Of course there were the six familiar faces: Twilight, Scootaloo, Applejack, Rainbow, Celestia and Luna; I knew those ponies, the last two only to a degree, but I knew them. 

I had no idea who the other ones were.

I'll start with the pony that looked like it was about to explode from happiness, if the unnaturally big smile and the way she was hopping around the others was any indication for that. She was an earth pony mare with a light pink coat and a slightly darker pink, poofy mane. I was sure that she had some kind of mental disorder. 

Don't judge me, you would've thought the same if you were in my place!

The next pony that caught my eye was a unicorn mare with a white coat, the color not far away from Celestia's, and a well-kempt purple mane. I couldn't help myself but notice the disgusted look she was giving me, and the sad thing is that she didn't even try to hide it. 

Seriously, she could've at least tried to hide her disgust for me!

Ugh, moving on.

Besides the white, incredibly rude unicorn stood a pegasus with a light yellow coat and a pink mane. I would've told you guys what her expression was, problem is that she tried her best to hide her face behind a wall of mane. Maybe she did that out of fear, maybe because she was, just like the unicorn before, disgusted by my appearance, but was at least kind enough to not make it so obvious.

Somehow I was convinced that it wasn't the second thing. Don't ask me why.

And last but not least, my eyes landed upon a group of three fillies which stood maybe one or two meters in front of me. One of them was, of course, 'lil Scoots, but there was also a white unicorn and a pale-yellow earth pony filly, the latter wearing a cute red bow upon her head. After a second of looking them over I realized that both the unicorn and the earth pony strongly reminded two other ponies, the ill-mannered white pony and Applejack. 

It was, once again, uncomfortably silent. Every single one of them stared at me with unblinking eyes, safe for those who already knew me. Oh yeah, and that hyperactive one. That one was still bouncing around without a care in the world. 

Well, until she noticed me back up on my feet. 

What happened next was chaotic and, quite frankly, really fucking scary.

She locked her eyes onto mine, her eyes got big, her smile grew even bigger. A second later I was on the ground again, but this time with a pink demon's face just mere inches apart from touching mine.

Seriously, I had no idea that earth ponies were able to teleport too!

Then the pink demon opened its mouth, took a really, really deep breath and out came a flood of words.

"OHMYGOSH!!!Soyouaretheonewhotookcareofmybestfriends!?!Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!MynameisPinkiePiebutyoucancallmepinkieorpieybutiguessthatisareallysillynicknamesopleasedocallmepinkie!!OH!Andnowthatwehavemetletusbebestfriendstoo!OKAY?" She screamed that last part right into my face with a nearly manic smile on her face, little spots of spit landing on my forehead.

You could say that I was horrified. I just wanted to get away from beneath her the whole time she was talking, but no matter how hard I tried to wiggle myself out of her grasp, I couldn't. That pink demon, who was maybe half as big as I was, had pretty much the strength of Hercules coupled with the creepiness of Freddy Krueger.

Actually, I'm sure she was the pony equivalent of Freddy.

I was about to scream for help, but before I could even do that, she suddenly jumped off of my chest and pulled a FREAKIN' CANNON OUT OF HER MANE AND AIMED THE FUCKING THING RIGHT AT MY FACE!

"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"

She pulled a matchstick out of nowhere and lit the fuse.

"Oh c'm-" I had no time to finish my sentence as I was, once again, knocked unconscious by whatever hit me.

Definitely the best welcoming I've ever gotten.


*  *  *  *


My brain rebooted itself some time later and I immediately came back to consciousness, thanks to the fact that I was still on high alert and my whole face was hurting like hell. My body was in no condition to fight, I just felt exhausted, but my mind was ready to fight whatever danger, especially if it was el demonio de color rosa. I wouldn't go down without a fight!

I reluctantly opened my eyes.

I sighed. 

'A hospital, great.'

"Oh for fuck's sake." I swore under my breath, relaxing visibly. I flinched slightly when another jolt of pain went through a particular part of my forehead. I lifted a hand up to my face and gently touched the source of the pain. Fortunately it was just a big lump, no real wound.

Besides the obvious headache I was having I was also feeling foggy and incredibly tired. It felt like I had just ran a marathon while being drunk as fuck, not that something like that is possible.

I let my hand fall back down and sighed, lifting my upper body up and propping myself up on my elbows. I then started scanning the room with my eyes. 

The room itself was an ordinary hospital room, like the ones from back home, but the devices looked a lot more primitive if you compared them to the ones you'd find on earth. Though I guess ponies made up for that with their magical abilities.

There was a single window directly to my right, the weak sunset light shining through it and thus bathing my bed in a beautiful golden shimmer. After a second or two of adjusting my eyes to the brightness of the sun's light, which was quite painful, I had a good look at what lay behind that window.

There were ponies everywhere! Ponies walking on the streets outside of that window, with happy smiles on their faces. Ponies going to stores and exiting them with bags of groceries they carried either in their mouth or with the help of magic. Ponies flying through the sky, smashing through clouds or completely ignoring the fact that they are made out of water vapor and landing upon them.

All of them were completely oblivious to the strange creature that was watching them from behind a hospital's window.

I was so engrossed in observing what lay behind that window that I actually failed to notice the three ponies lying at the foot of my bed, until one of them released a cute little yawn, followed by two other tired sounding yawns.

Scootaloo, Rainbow and, to my complete horror, the pink demon were slowly coming back to the world of the living. By the time the demon's eyes had finally fully opened themselves I was already as far away from her as possible while still staying on the bed, cowering like a pussy on the top part of the bed.

"OH HELL NO!" I screamed rather unmanly, waving my arm spasmodically like a man caught in the grip of a seizure. "GET HER AWAY FROM ME!"

With my sudden outburst I effectively startled the other two ponies into awakening, both of them jumping up into the air like a cat seeing a cucumber.

While Rainbow and Scootaloo were busy with figuring out what woke them up, I was busy cowering behind a wall made out of the one pillow my head was resting on earlier and a silver tray I grabbed from somewhere.

"Will, what's going on?!" Rainbow asked, a hint of amusement evident in her voice upon seeing what exactly I was hiding behind. 

"¡Mierda! Es el demonio de color rosa! Conseguir lejos de mí!" I explained in a near whisper, just loud enough for her to hear it, pointing an accusing finger shakily at the reason of my fright. 

It was weird, I didn't even know that I could speak Spanish. Maybe that was a side effect from traveling through several dimensions n' shit? Or maybe it was a side effect of me getting shot by a cannon right into my fucking face?

"Eh, what?" Scootaloo asked, a look that was just as confused as Rainbow's on her face.

"GET HER AWAY!" I shouted again, throwing both the pillow and the silver tray onto the ground beneath the bed in frustration.

"What? Why? It's just Pinkie Pie, she's no monster." Rainbow responded, her tone mirroring her facial expression.

'Ah, so the pink demon does have a name!'

"You serious? She shot me into my face with a fucking cannon!" I said disbelievingly, not sure if she was joking or not.

I think my heart was about to stop when I saw this so-called 'Pinkie Pie' with those fake teary eyes getting onto all of her four hooves. She readied herself to propel her body forward, like a tiger who's about to pounce on its prey.

She jumped, but to my relief, was caught mid-air in a cyan aura. 

"I'm afraid that you have to leave, Miss Pie. You are disturbing Mister Wright and thereby hindering the healing process."  Said a unicorn with a light brown coat and a darker brown mane, who, apparently, just entered the room to see what all the turmoil was about.

"Thank god, just in time!" I sighed in relief, letting my tense body fall back down onto the mattress. Don't get me wrong, I still found it weird that he was an unicorn doctor and no human doctor, but well, I had to live with the fact that I was the only human in a world controlled by ponies, from now on.

I think I heard Pinkie Pie trying to tell me something as she was slowly levitated out of the room, but I didn't care what she had to tell me. Even if I did care, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to hear what she was saying because my brain still wasn't working properly. 

But now that she was finally away I was able to calm myself down.

Right when the door closed behind Pinkie Pie, I felt someone crawl up to my naked chest, her fur tickling my exposed skin on the way there, while someone else jumped down from the bed, landing on the marble floor with a loud clop. The pony on my chest turned out to be Scootaloo, who was trying her best to find a comfortable spot on my chest, while Rainbow decided that she had enough of resting all day.

"My name's Doctor Horse, it's a pleasure to finally meet you while conscious, Mister Wright." The doctor said in a pleasant tone with a friendly smile on his face, seemingly unfazed by my appearance. My lips nearly escaped a girly chuckle as he introduced himself. 

I mean, c'mon, Doctor Horse? 

But instead of being rude I chose to just return the smile, although mine must have looked a lot less friendly and a lot more stressed out and tired.

"And it's also a pleasure to see you again, this time under lot less chaotic circumstances, Scootaloo and Miss Dash." He continued, giving my daughter the same friendly smile and greeting.

"Hi Doctor Hooves." Scootaloo, who finally found a spot that was to her liking, said into my chest, the sound waves of her voice sending a tingling through my whole upper chest.

"Yeah, hey again." Rainbow greeted him back, waving a hoof at him.

"So, what's up doc?" I asked him, scratching Scootaloo behind one of her ears, making her release a content sigh.

"I just came to check up on how you were doing, but now that you're back I guess I can give you the diagnose." He levitated a notepad out of a pocket on his coat, floating it up in front of his eyes and taking a moment to read through it.

"Hm... So, apparently you have a minor concussion and a bruise on the center of your forehead, as you probably already found out. Oh, you also had a broken nose and a broken jaw when you arrived here earlier today, but we were able to fix that." He muttered, tapping the notepad with a quill he pulled out of nowhere once before putting it back into the pocket where he pulled it out of.

'Huh, earlier today? That's good, I wasn't out for too long.'

"You should probably thank Princess Twilight Sparkle for that, she gave us all the information regarding your bone structure." He explained, but then his smile turned into a grimace. "And some things we really didn't want to know."

'That fucking...!'

"Oh, don't worry doc, I'll thank her for it." I said, already trying to think of ways to pay her back, but frowned when another jolt of pain shot through my head instead. I lifted my hands up to my temples and started rubbing them, trying to make that pain vanish. That's when another question crossed my mind. "When am I allowed to go?"

"You could, technically speaking, go right now, but I strongly advise against it. We had to use other spells than normally to fix your bones and the rest of your face, and we don't know if there are any side effects, neither do we know how your body reacts to healing magic in general." He told me.

"Well, okay, is it enough if I stay here until tomorrow?" I asked him, letting my hands fall back down when the pain was gone. 

"Yes, that would be enough time for us to see if there are any side effects. You can be released tomorrow, if you want to." He said, giving me that friendly smile again. "You still have to be careful to not get hit by anything onto the head again, as that could mean serious brain damage."

"Nothing hit me onto the head, a certain pink pony shot me into my face with a cannon." I said, sighing.

The doc just chuckled at this and shook his head, saying, "Yeah, that's Miss Pie for you."

"Yeah, and she's really sorry about that." Rainbow said, apparently trying to defend her friend's doings. "She thought she loaded the cannon with confetti, not with twelve pound bowling balls."

I visibly flinched at the mental picture of one hundred bowling balls hitting my face at the speed of sound. I wasn't quite sure how my head even survived one hundred bowling balls that hit my face at the same time, but I wasn't complaining.

"Why...just...why?" I asked, confused as to why someone would load confetti into a cannon in the first place. I saw Rainbow opening her mouth to probably answer my rhetorical question, but I cut her off even before she was able to form her sentence. "Actually, I don't even want to know. Just please, let me get some sleep. My head's hurting."

"Of course. If you would please follow me Miss Dash, Scootaloo?" Rainbow nodded at the doc's request, albeit reluctantly. The doc turned around and walked to the door, holding it open with his magic for Rainbow to go through, which she did, but not before giving me one last worried look over her shoulder. I could've sworn that I saw a bit of pink disappear just as she walked through the door, but maybe I was just hallucinating. 

"Can I stay? Please?" Scootaloo asked, looking over to the doctor with pleading eyes from her position on my chest.

Doctor Horse turned a questioning look at me, silently asking me if it would be okay with me. I nodded at him and he nodded back at me, giving me one last smile before walking through the door himself and closing it behind him.

"So, now that we're alone-" I started, taking a moment to gather my thoughts, which was made quite hard by the concussion. "-who were the other two fillies earlier? Those that were standing next to you, before that crazy pink pony shot one hundred twelve pound bowling balls made out of metal into my face?"

"The yellow one's called Apple Bloom, she's Applejack's sister,-" Scootaloo started explaining, her body melting into my chest once I resumed scratching her behind her ears. "-and the white one's called Sweetie Belle. She's Rarity's sister."

'So I was right? Nice.' I gave myself a pat on the shoulder, mentally of course.

"Lemme guess, Rarity is the white unicorn pony that doesn't like me, right?" 

"Uh, yeah, right, but why do you think that she doesn't like you?" My daughter asked, lifting her head up to give me a confused look.

"She kinda looked like I disgusted her." I said sadly. Scootaloo's eyes widened at that.

"Oh nonono! She probably wasn't looking at you! She was actually really scared when you got hit by all those bowling balls! Just like I was!" I raised an eyebrow at that, not sure if that was true.

"You sure?" I asked doubtfully.

"Yes! She was really scared, everyone was! Even Celestia and Luna, and they never get scared!"

"Huh? That's kinda sweet, actually." I said, a small smile forming on my face. "Looks like I was in the wrong with my assumptions..."

Scootaloo nodded before letting her head fall back down onto my chest, nuzzling me there as I resumed scratching her behind her ears.





"Where are all the others anyways?" I asked her after a while of comfortable silence, but quickly found out that I wouldn't get an answer out of Scootaloo. She was in a deep slumber, her chest gently moving up and down in sync with her breathes.

I mentally shrugged, released a yawn and closed my own eyes.

That day was eventful. I traveled into another dimension, met four new ponies, got shot with a cannon which launched one hundred bowling balls right into my face, woke up in hospital and nearly got killed again by the psycho-pony. Maybe I shouldn't have been so calm about everything that happened, but I couldn't help myself. The concussion was making it hard for me to feel anything at all. I just wanted to sleep.

'I can ask all the other questions tomorrow. Now it's time to get some sleep. I'm fucking done.'

I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to come...









"Wait, where the fuck are my clothes?"
> Chapter Sixteen - Ponyville's Crazy!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
What a beautiful day.

The bacon birds are singing a beautiful tune about meat, soaring through the sky without a care in the world.

A slight breeze is carrying the sweet smell of bacon being fried in a pan, blowing through the ham-trees in the far distance. I laid myself down onto my back, relishing the feeling of salami slices caressing my naked back.

I stretched on hand out, trying to grab the huge meatball above me that was the sun, but instead a bacon bird landed upon it. I smiled gently at the fleshy creature before lifting my other hand up and trapping the little thing in it. It didn't resist in the slightest as I led it down to my open mouth, taking bite after bit out of it until the little bird was no more. I chewed thoroughly, trying to enjoy the awesome taste as long as I could before having to swallow...








"Hey Will, Squirt! Wake up!" A voice called, forcefully pulling me out of my beautiful dream. 

"Mhhhhnooo." I mumbled into the pillow, trying to shoo the motherfucker who destroyed my wonderful dream away with one of my hands. "Goawayyyyy..."

Whoever woke me up had to be the worst being on the whole planet. Living for little over two months without eating any kind of meat made me have some really weird dreams, like the one above, but that doesn't mean that I didn't like them!

"But Will, today's the day." The creature said again, shaking my shoulders forcefully with one of its appendages. I opened my eyes unwillingly, blinking up at none other than Rainbow Dash.

"*yawn* You can wake me up when the world's made out of bacon." I told her sleepily, closing my tired eyes again and letting my body fall back down onto the mattress. Now that I was back in the world of the living (kind of) I discovered that, much to my relief, I had my boxers on. 

I didn't even know who dressed me, but I wasn't complaining. At least I wasn't totally naked anymore, that's what mattered.

"What is a bacon?"

"Eh, nothing special, only the best thing mankind ever invented." I told her, snuggling myself back into the bed and tugging at the blanket with one hand. A content smiled tugged at the corner of my lips when I found a comfortable position. "And now go, I wanna sleep."

"But...!"

"No buts, sleep." I said, cutting her off, pressing one finger to her lips to silence her. Then she bit into said finger.

You know, even though ponies don't have a single sharp tooth, getting your finger bitten by one still hurts immensely. I jumped up with a totally manly shriek of pain, throwing the blanket off of me in the process. 

"OW! ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, I'M AWAKE!!"

"Hehe, good job Rainbow!" A new voice which turned out to be Scootaloo's said, giggling cutely from under the blanket which apparently landed on her. She threw the blanket off of her, doing a quick hoof bump with Rainbow. 

I almost forgot that she praised Rainbow for hurting me because of how cute she looked.

"So that's how it is, Scoots? Allying with the enemy?" I asked her, putting on a mock-hurt face as I looked down to her. I lifted my hurt finger right into her face, showing her the deep wound Rainbow inflicted. "She hurt me, Scoots!"

Scootaloo's giggling turned into full-blown laughter and Rainbow instantly joined, both of them rolling around on the bed, occasionally bumping against each other.

Okay, maybe it was just a teeth mark, alright? It was painful, though!

"Wow, you girls are really mean, you know that?" I lifted my hurt finger away from Scootaloo, giving her the best glare I could muster at that moment. She, of course, didn't see that. She and Rainbow continued laughing, much to my growing annoyance. 

There was only one way for me to teach them that no one makes fun of me. A mischievous grin tugged at the corner of my lips.

In an act of perfect agility I threw myself at Rainbow, quickly pinning her down onto her back, holding both of her forelegs down by the sides of her head. She gasped, looking at me with big eyes, trying desperately to push me off with her hindlegs, but I was far too large and heavy. It was time for some revenge.

Scootaloo had also stopped laughing, watching Rainbow and me intently with her two big magenta orbs.

I knew that that mare wasn't going to give up without a fight, so as soon as she began struggling again I crossed her forelegs over her chest and held them in place with one hand, now completely shattering her hopes to get away from me. She was completely at my mercy, and she knew that.

Boy did that feel good.

I brought my hand that wasn't occupied over to her face, making a menacing claw motion with my fingers.

Rainbow's eyes became even bigger, her expression turning into one of complete horror. She started chuckling nervously. "Ehehe, uhm, peace?"

I smirked at her, flexing my fingers in a threatening manner. In one swift motion I brought my hands down onto the sensitive belly, digging my fingers deep into her soft cyan coat, tickling her without mercy.

Rainbow tried to contain her laughter, clenching her teeth, but failed miserably at that as she soon broke out into a fit of laughter, trying everything to escape my assaulting hand and the unbreakable hold I had her in. The hooves of her hind legs scratched at my back, trying to kick me off with no success.

Tears started to form at the corners of her eyes as I kept assaulting her vulnerable belly, tickling several different spots and testing her for her reaction to each one of them. 

While I'm already at it, why not find out where the weak spots of my enemy were? Maybe it'd prove out to be important later, who knows?

I continued tickling her for at least two minutes, her laughter slowly dying. Scootaloo even joined me at some point, helping me at tickling the soul out of her small body with her hooves, even though that turned out to be kinda hard. Hooves aren't exactly good for tickling, they're too flat for that.

Though I guess poking works just fine.

But all good things have to come to an end at some point, as did this one by a certain someone who cleared her throat, making me stop mid assault. It was none other than Princess Celestia, looking at the three of us with a slightly amused expression on her face.

I imagine it must've been quite the sight to behold. A half-naked human pinning down one of her subjects, tickling it to death? The mental image does look kinda silly, but I got my revenge, and that was all that mattered!

"Having fun?" Celestia asked, raising and eyebrow at the three of us. 

"I guess you could call it that." I answered, nodding my head.

"I think I'm dying..." Rainbow muttered, breathing heavily under me. I shook my head, a silly smile growing on my face, rolling off of her.

"So, what's up Celestia?" I asked nonchalantly, sitting at the edge of the bed casually, seemingly unfazed by the fact that the ruler of a whole nation was standing in front of me.

"Nothing at all, William. I wanted to ask you how you are feeling today." She said with a gentle smile.

"I'm good. Well, I was feeling good until someone-" I shot the still heavily breathing Rainbow a glare, which she returned to her best abilities. "-decided to bite into my finger."

I stood up from the bed, shrugging my shoulders. "Though I got my revenge for that, as you just saw."

"Indeed." She said, that smile never leaving her face. I walked over to the chair (Have I told you guys yet that their chairs are freakin' small?) and picked up the clothes I was wearing yesterday, putting them on as fast as I could.

I admit that I was a bit nervous standing half-naked in front of a princess.

"How you doin'?" I asked her in return, trying to be polite. I pulled on the last piece of cloth and stretched myself, enjoying the feeling of my joints popping.

"Oh, I'm feeling quite fine, thanks for asking. Though I'm afraid that the consequences of your arrival will soon change my mood quite a bit." She sighed. "The nobles will demand an explanation on why you're here and what you are, maybe even order me to send you away."

Yeah, getting sent away after just arriving a day ago didn't really sound that good to me, especially since my future was in Equestria.

"Will you?" I asked, uneasiness creeping itself into my tone. I held my breath, unbeknownst to me, as did Rainbow and Scootaloo, and my body went tense all of a sudden.

"No, I won't." She assured me. "You did far too much for Twilight and her friends, so I definitely won't send you away because some snobby noble orders me to. You have my word."

"Thank god..." I exhaled audibly, relaxing my tense body.

Celestia gave me another comforting smile before turning her head to her left, frowning at the clock on the wall. She looked back at me, a slightly sad smile on her face. "I'm afraid that I have to leave now, duty calls."

"It was nice meeting you, William, and I hope we can meet sometime again." She said, lightening up her horn. "If you need anything, just ask Twilight to sent me a letter. Me and my sister will do anything to help you start your new life."

I nodded at her in a silent thank you.

A moment later a bright white light appeared at the tip of her horn, and in an equally bright flash she was gone, leaving Rainbow, Scootaloo and an incredibly helpless me back in the hospital room.





"Sooooo..." I started weirdly, breaking the awkward silence that reigned after the princess left. "What do we do now?"

"Uh..." Scootaloo answered smartly, both her and Rainbow looking up at me with a equally helpless expressions.




*  *  *  *




I hate getting stared at.

That something I quickly learned about myself after I left the hospital room. 

I was on my way to the reception, with Rainbow and Scootaloo leading the way as I didn't exactly know where it was, when shit went crazy. 

At first everyone (or should I say everpony?) was staring at me with open mouths and wide eyes as soon as they lay eyes on me, stopping whatever they were doing, regardless if they were hospital staff or normal citizens, mares or stallions, fillies or colts. One half was visibly scared by my appearance, their forelegs shaking like they were about to dart away any second, while the other half wasn't scared at all but more...curious?

Especially that one mint-green unicorn mare with the lyre tattoo on her butt that I saw in the lobby. Boy was that one scary! Leaving aside the fact that she sat in the chair like a human being would, the way she looked at my hands was enough to send shivers down my spine...

I couldn't exactly pinpoint why, but the second I saw her my brain kept shouting at me to run for my life.

But maybe my brain was, once again, in the wrong, right? Maybe she was actually really nice, or maybe she was just as curious as some other ponies?

So I walked over to the reception to check out, smiling at the white earth pony mare who sat there, which, to my momentarily surprise, returned it in kind. But walking over to the reception (and not being cautious) had one disadvantage, which leads us to lesson number one in starting a new life in a completely alien world.

Lesson No. 1: Never turn your back to an enemy, or in this case, a crazy pony.

I was about to leave the hospital, Rainbow and Scootaloo in my tow, when something, or should I say someone, collided with my back, throwing me off balance and making me fall down onto the ground. Luckily I was somehow able to catch myself with my hands just in time, barely saving myself from kissing the marble floor with my face and possibly get sent right back to the hospital.

I felt something invisible tugging at my body, and in a split second I came face to... uh, butt, with what was, no doubts, a mental ill pony.

I blinked once, then twice. I felt my right hand being lifted up by that same invisible force, and before I could even struggle, something wet and warm trailed along my palm, moving its way up to my fingers, making me shudder in a mix of disgust and fright. I clenched my eyes shut and waited for her to start chewing off my hand with her flat teeth, but to my complete amazement, she didn't. 

She continued licking my right hand for what had to be a whole minute.

'Is she seriously licking my hand?' I asked myself, not sure how to react to what was happening. 'What the fuck is wrong with her?'




'... The fuck is wrong with me? Why am I letting her do this? WHY AM I OKAY WITH THIS?'

"Ehhhh... Will?" Rainbow's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, which made me realize that I was lying on the ground for quite some time with the unicorn licking my hands. "You...you okay there buddy?"

I looked over to her, shaking my head slowly and mouthing the words 'help me'. She took that as her cue to push the crazy mare off of me, which in turn tried her best to stay on me, but after a few strong shoves on my Rainbow's side, was pushed off of me. She landed on the floor besides me, her legs flailing around wildly in an attempt to lodge themselves back onto my body. 

After that encounter I was sure to leave as soon as possible, leaving behind a drooling mess of a unicorn mare.




*  *  *  *




Walking through that little town Rainbow and her friends called their home sure was a pain in the ass. Well, as an alien, that is. There were so, so many damn ponies, and it felt like every single one of them was staring at me.

Actually, I'm pretty damn sure that everyone was staring at me.

Maybe I would've been a lot calmer about all this if Scootaloo was still around, but she wasn't. She left to meet up with her friends, telling me something about crusading for their butt tattoos, or 'cutie marks', as they called them. 

Butt tattoos does sound a lot better, though.

"Ehm, Rainbow? Can we please get away from the streets?" I asked the cyan mare, taking quick glances to my left and right in a nervous manner. "All these ponies are making me kinda nervous..."

"Will, this is like the fourth time you asked me this! C'mon, it can't be that bad!" Rainbow exclaimed in frustration, stopping and turning herself around, giving me a frustrated look. 

"Yeah, I guess you're right, I only got attacked twice and nearly killed once so far." I sarcastically remarked, rolling my eyes. I pointed behind me with my thumb at the mass of ponies that started gathering there, whispering among themselves quietly. 

"What is that thing?"

"I don't know, but it looks scary."

"Maybe it's trying to eat one of us?"

"Yeah, maybe it's dangerous!"

"I just want to fit in!"

I raised my eyebrow at Rainbow, still pointing behind me, waiting for her to answer. She shook her head, motioning for me to start moving again with one hoof, which I did as soon as I heard the whispering growing louder. 

"Soooo... Where are we going anyways?" I asked, taking an occasional glance behind me and Rainbow to see if anyone was following us. I didn't actually need to do that; of course we were being followed by a mass of ponies. Who would've thought that?

Rainbow didn't answer. She kept on walking, even speeding up a little.

"Rainbow?" I called, having to jog to keep pace with her as she was getting faster and faster. The little cottages to my left and right started becoming blurs as I was soon sprinting after her, my feet hitting the stone road hard with each step I took. "Hellooo?!?"

She didn't answer me, she just continued running through the whole town, with me following closely behind her.

At least that meant that we could get away from that huge group of ponies.




*  *  *  *




We were running for what had to be at least five minutes when I took notice of the sudden change in my environment. We were leaving behind the town of Ponyville (there was a 'Welcome to Ponyville' sign when we exited town), entering an area with big open fields to my left and right, an occasional tree placed here and there.

Another five or ten minutes later of us sprinting wordlessly through the world, we arrived at wherever Rainbow was leading me to.

She suddenly screeched to a halt, making me nearly trip over her small body. I barely dodged her, coming to a stop right to her side.

After a long time of only sitting around, not doing any kind of sport, such a little ten minute sprint can take a toll on you. I was trying to catch my breath, inhaling and exhaling audibly, my heart pumping blood through my veins at an alarming rate. I doubled over in exhaustion, my hands placed onto my knees. I gulped heavily once before straightening myself back up.

We were standing right in front of a big, shiny something, which, after my eyes adjusted themselves to the bright light that was reflected by the building, turned out to be a giant, strange looking castle made out of crystals, or something like that. Although it wasn't the first strange building I had seen in that crazy town since I arrived there, it certainly was the strangest one. 

Yes, even stranger than the bakery that looked like a huge gingerbread house.

Rainbow walked up to the huge double door, lifting one hoof up and knocking on it twice before pushing one of the doors open. 

I was led through corridor after corridor, and after what felt like hours, me and my guide arrived in a big circular room. In the center of said room stood a big shiny table surrounded by seven... chairs, also made out of crystal.

Basically like every other god damn thing in this castle.

I looked to my left, then to my right, but spotted no one else in the room. 

"Okay...So, why am I here? And what is this place?" I asked Rainbow, speaking up for the first time since we exited town. My eyes trailed around, taking in every detail of the admittedly beautiful room. 

"It's the Castle of Friendship! Pretty awesome, isn't it?" She boasted, puffing out her chest. "We've got it because we're so awesome!"

"Uh, okay, that still doesn't answer my other question." I said, looking at her confused. "... Actually, that doesn't answer either of my questions."

She sighed. "It's the Castle of Friendship, we got it because we basically blasted that bucker Tirek away into Tartarus. It's the place where me and my friends do our jobs, you know, solving friendship problems and all that. As to why we're here... I don't know myself, Twilight told me to get you here."

"..."

"Yeah, she should be here any sec-" 

"We're here!" Twilight cut in, choosing exactly that moment to enter the room, her other four friends and a really cool looking lizard thingy in her tow.

'Wait...' I asked myself, my eyes fixating themselves onto one particular pony that looked strangely familiar. 'Pink coat... Pink poofy mane... Smile that is unnaturally big...'



CLICK.

"OH C'MON, I HAD ENOUGH CRAZINESS FOR TODAY!" I screamed, jumping behind Rainbow to cover myself. 

"Will!"

"GET HER AWAY! I JUST WANT TO LIVE A NORMAL LIFE, AND NOW SHE WANTS TO KILL ME?!" I asked, pointing at the pink pony in question. "I ASK YOU, PINK DEMON, WHAT HAVE I DONE TO YOU TO DESERVE THIS CRUELTY??"

"Will!!"

"YOU KNOW WHAT, PINK DEMON?! I WON'T GO DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT! I WONT LET YOU USE MY BOD-"

"WILLIAM!!" Twilight, now visibly and audibly pissed off, screamed, making me go death silent at an instant. 

Lesson No. 2: A pissed off Twilight is a scary Twilight.

Seeing that I was silent, she closed her eyes and took a deep and long breath, trying to relax herself. 

She opened her eyes again, looking straight at my face with a smile that came from seemingly nowhere. "William, I think that I speak for all of us when I say that I'm glad that you're healthy. Now, you're probably wondering why I told Rainbow to get you here as soon as possible."

"Well, first off I wanted to get you away from the public as soon as possible, so that they wouldn't fall into panic over the strange new creature or something like that. Uh, no offense!"

"None taken." I simply said, my eyes leaving Twilight's face and locking onto the pink menace to watch her every move.

"Now, second of all, I wanted to give Pinkie Pie a chance to apologize for what she did. She didn't want to shoot one hundred twelve pound bowling balls at your face, as she surely already tried to tell you. She wanted to throw you a... What was it again, Pinkie?"

"A 'Welcome To Ponyville, Creature From Another Dimension, Let's Not Freak Out Because Of Your Looks And All Be Best Friends Instead!' party."

'The fuck?'

Twilight nodded her head at Pinkie, looking slightly perplexed. "... What she said."

"Okay, so let's say that this is the truth... Why would you even use a cannon to start a party?" I asked suspiciously, looking at the pink mare with a raised eyebrow.

"Pff, so that I can get the party set up quickly, silly!" She answered, waving a foreleg in a manner that said 'Why of course, what else?'.

"But... A cannon?" I inquired.

"Yeah, of course, what else? A gun? A rocket launcher? Maybe a tank?" The mare asked, looking at me with a questioning face. "Nah, you can't use those things, they are either way too powerful, too small or not handy enough."

"No, noth- Wait, how the fuck do you know the names of those things, let alone how strong they are?" I asked her in return, looking at her confused and uneasy.

"Uhm... internet?" She answered questioningly, an uneasy smile on my face.




"T-The fuck?! How do you know about that? Twilight, you didn't tell her anything, did you?" To my complete horror, Twilight shook her head at my question.

Luckily the unicorn with the white coat, Rarity if I remembered correctly, stepped up to my side and came to my rescue, saving me from a possible mental breakdown.

"Dear, it's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. You don't want a headache, do you?" I shook my head at the gently smiling, white mare. "Then, for the sake of your brain, don't ask questions like that. Actually, never ask questions when it comes to something Pinkie's done."

"Fine, You know what, Pinkie Pie? Explain yourself." I told the pink mare from behind Rainbow, curious of what she was going to tell me. Her smile widened.

Pinkie Pie opened her mouth, inhaled deeply and started speaking. "Okay! Soiwastryingtothrowyouapartywhichiswhyi-"

Rarity cleared her throat, interrupting Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, could you maybe speak a little slower? I don't think that Mr. William here really understands anything you're trying to tell him."

It was true. I had no clue what she was even saying, or if she was even speaking my language, for that matter.

"Okay! So, as I already said, I was trying to throw you a party, which is why I brought my party cannon with me. Anyways, so I thought I still had the cannon loaded up with confetti and balloons, but I forgot that I wanted to throw a bowling party the day you arrived, but then you arrived, and that means  I had to cancel it, which in turn means that it was still loaded with twelve pound bowling balls! I'm super duper sorry for nearly killing you, Willy!!"




"I... I don't know where to start, really." I said, both of my eyebrows raised unnaturally high. "Why do... Wait, I don't even want to know."

"Dear, just accept her apology." Rarity whispered into my ear - how is beyond me. Probably some kind of magic.

I gulped once, straining to get the next words out. "Apology accepted."

I forced my eyes shut, waiting for her to unleash another torrent of words, or even worse, another barrage of bowling balls, at me. But even after a minute of waiting with my eyes closed, nothing happened. I slowly opened my eyes again, only to see that Pinkie Pie was standing still standing at the same spot with that same 'ol smile on her face.

"Huh, I'm still alive? Awesome." I said in surprise while checking my body for any missing limbs. 

All the others rolled her eyes at that and groaned, except for Pinkie Pie of course. I left the safe zone behind Rainbow, moving up to her side.

"What?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at them. "I'm surprised, that's all."

"So, now that that's done, William, the others you don't know should maybe introduce themselves to you." Twilight said, speaking up from behind her hoof that was firmly pressed against her face. She trotted over to my right side, as did Applejack.

Rarity walked over to the others, forming a line in front of me with the ponies (and lizard) that were yet unknown to me.

The first one who decided to walk up was the purple and green lizard thing, 

"Ey dude, name's Spike, I'm a dragon and Twilight's loyal assistant." He said, trying to be casual by holding one of his claws out and forming a fist with it. 

'A dragon, huh?' I bumped his fist with one of my own. "Hey, I'm William, the strange alien from another dimension."

"Yeah, Twilight told me a lot about'cha. Like, a lot." He said, chuckling and shaking his head.

I joined him. "Yeah, that's Twilight for ya."

"Dude, you don't even know the half of it. I've been living with her since I was a little hatchling. You should see her when she has to organize something. It's the worst!"

Twilight expressed her disapproval about the conversation we were having with a loud harrumph, lifting Spike up in her magic and placing him on her back, who wasn't even resisting in the slightest. He just gave me a 'see ya later' look, waving a claw at me.

The next one to introduce herself was the white unicorn with the purple, well-kempt mane, which I already knew the name of.

"Hello dear, my name is Rarity. It's a pleasure to meet you." She outstretched one of her forelegs, and considering the altitude she had - which wasn't unpleasant at all, dare I say - I kneeled myself down, took her hoof into my hand and kissed her hoof.

"Oh, such a gentlehuman." She said, fluttering her long eyelashes at me.

'The fuck did I just do?' I thought as I uprighted myself again, blinking my eyes twice. 'I think the bowling ball accident may have made me a bit retarded.'

Next was the pony they called Pinkie Pie. She moved to Rarity, shoved her aside and stretched her foreleg out. My eyes darted from her face to her hoof and back to her face, leaving me confused of what to do. She frowned, moving her foreleg closer to my hand before grabbing it with her hoof. Don't ask me how she grabbed my hand with her hoof, I seriously have no clue.

Then she shook it up and down, gently to my complete surprise. A simple hand...hoof...whatever-shake, that was all she wanted.

She smiled up at me. "My name's Pinkie Pie, but Pinkie's totally-dotally fine!" She said energetically.

"So, yeah, you already know me, I guess." I said weirdly, not sure on how to proceed with the conversation.

Fortunately she bounced to my side quickly after giving me one last huge grin, leaving only one last pony to introduce herself - the yellow pegasus. But instead of moving up to me to greet me, like the other three did, she just continued standing there.

And standing there...

And standing there...

Finally she made a move! She slowly, very slowly moved up to me, her nervousness clearly visible. She got closer and closer, and when she was just one meter away from me, she peeked out from behind her mane she was hiding behind the whole time, giving me a nervous look.

I cocked my head at her, curious of what was going on with her. It was either me being too scary, or her being too nervous to meet new people. She opened her mouth, but closed it quickly with an 'eeep', hiding back behind her long, pink mane.

Seeing that she wasn't going to say anything soon, I kneeled myself down onto one knee. I thought that making myself a bit smaller would help her speak to me.

She slowly peeked back out, still looking incredibly nervous and anxious. 'We're making progress!'

I gave her a small smile. "I'm William, and what's your name?" I asked gently.

She swallowed once. "F-F-Fluttershy

"Can you repeat that, please? I didn't quite hear you."

"Flu-Fluttershy."

"Flutterguy?" I asked gently, raising an eyebrow. 'Huh, she doesn't really look like a guy.' "Okay, It's nice to meet you, Flutterguy. I'm William, but you can call me Will."

"N-no, it's Fluttershy."

"I'm sorry, didn't I say Flutterguy?" I asked her. I heard some quite giggling behind me, and as I turned around, I saw that Rainbow and Applejack were giggling into their hooves like little schoolgirls. "The fuck's wrong with you two?"

Rainbow lifted her hoof away, her giggling turning louder without the hoof covering her mouth. "Dude, it's Fluttershy! You totally called her a guy not only once, but three times!"

Now Spike, the little dragon, joined them, also trying to hide his giggles behind his claw, but failing miserably at that.

'That...that makes sense.'

I rubbed the back of my head nervously, facing Fluttershy again, who was blushing like crazy. "I'm really sorry Fluttershy."

"Oh no, it's n-no p-problem." She said, giving me a noticeable forced smile while rubbing her right front hoof on her left foreleg. 

Me and Fluttershy stared each other for what had to be at least two minutes, neither of us knowing how to proceed with our conversation, the only sound that could be heard being the collective giggles of Rainbow and Applejack. It was really, really fucking weird. 

Fortunately, Twilight came to our rescue.

"Okay, so now that we have the introductions done...-" She started, levitating a roll of parchment and a quill out of nowhere, scribbling something down on the parchment. "-let's show William our surprise!"

The group of ponies (and the dragon) cheered at that, some louder than others.

What I was thinking?

'Oh boy, please not that kind of surprise...'

> Chapter Seventeen - Surprise(s)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	We left the castle right away. They told me that in order for me to get my surprise, we had to walk a little bit. 

So, we walked back into town, being mindful to use mostly alleyways and other smaller streets to keep me as far away from all the other ponies as possible, though I was pretty sure that by that point, everybody in town knew about me. Humans weren't really a common thing in their world, after all.

We walked for what had to be at least half an hour through the town, occasionally having to use the bigger street because there were no side streets, which had the slight disadvantage of causing quite the scene. The Elements of Harmony escorting a big, bipedal something? Chances were high that everyone thought I was some creature that escaped out of this so-called 'Tartarus'.

Not a good first impression, if you ask me.

Luckily we arrived quickly at the outskirts of town, finally escaping all the curious stares. We walked for another two or three minutes, closer to the forest with the creepy vibe, which concerned me quite a bit. The forest was, literally, radiating creepiness, and more than once I could've sworn that I saw something big moving behind the thick foliage, sending shivers down my spine.

Somehow I got more fearful with every steep we took into the direction of the forest, my heart starting to pound faster and faster, even though I knew that I was completely safe as long as I stayed close to the others - except for Pinkie Pie.

I still didn't trust her completely. 

"Can you tell me where we are going now?" I asked Rainbow, who was hovering beside me the whole time.

"Nope." She simply said, not even turning her head to look at me.

"Why not? I'm getting kinda nervous that we're going into that forest. That would be the perfect place for Pinkie to kill me." I whispered into her ear, shooting a sideway glance at the bouncing mare in question.

I could feel how Rainbow rolled her eyes at that. "Will, we're not going into the Everfree Forest and Pinkie's not going to kill you, how many times do I have to tell you this?"

"I'm not trusting her, Rainbow." I whispered, my eyes still focused on the pink demon. "I swear that if I turn my back to her for one second and am alone, she'll kill me. Look at her!"

Rainbow groaned, doing the pony equivalent of a facepalm. "Look, we're not that far away anymore, just please, have some trust in Pinkie. She's not a bucking demon."

"If you say so..." I mumbled, looking to my right side at Fluttershy, who was also hovering beside me. "Hey Fluttershy, Pinkie's a demon from hell, right?"

"Uh, uhm, no? I don't think so?" She whispered back, nearly incomprehensible, taking a nervous glance at the pink mare.

"Will, are you sure that you're okay? You didn't hit your head too hard, right?" Rainbow asked, sighing loudly.

"Maybe, I don't know." I said, shrugging my shoulders. 

"Aaaand we're here!" Twilight happily announced, stopping suddenly, nearly making me trip over her. She sidestepped and presented what their surprise was with one of her forelegs.



*  *  *  *



"Uhhh... It's a house?" I asked unsurely, all my worries momentarily forgotten, replaced by confusion on what they were trying to show me. I started scratching my stubbly chin with one of my hands, deep in thoughts. '...Huh, I really need to shave again.'

"Pfff, no silly!" Pinkie told me, stopping her bouncing and giving me a big grin. "It's your house!"



Processing...

Processing.....



"Wha... Wha... What?" I stuttered intelligently after a minute of silence, my eyes wide open and a disbelieving look on my face. My brain was meanwhile busy figuring out what's happening, doing its best to make me believe that they were just fucking with me.

I looked at Twilight, a frown on my face. "You guys are kidding me, right?"

Twilight looked shocked at that, shaking her head furiously. "No, of course we're not! We built this for you while you were in the hospital yesterday!"

"You have to be kidding me, seriously." I said again, my face softening into a disbelieving look, not willing to accept the fact that they would do something like that for me. "Ser-iously."

"Nope-dope-lope!" Pinkie said, shaking her head in sync with every word.

"You are really serious about this? You really built this house?" I said, my teary eyes looking the wooden, newly build cottage up and down. At first glance it looked like a bigger version of the cottages that stood in Ponyville, only that this one definitely was built with a human stature in mind. The door was as high as the one of my home back at earth, as were the windows. It had to be mine, no one of these ponies would've needed such a big door. "You built this for me? F-for me? Like, for real?"

"Yep, completely' built with our own hooves', fer ya, sugarcube." 

"Well, not completely with our hooves, we've gotten a little help." Said Rainbow, a big smile on her face, pointing to my side with one of her forelegs. Standing there were not only the Cutie Mark Crusaders, as they called themselves, but also none other than Princess Celestia.

Freakin' Princess Celestia.

I was left speechless, totally and utterly speechless. Not only did ponies that I barely knew built a house for me (except for Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack and Scootaloo, of course), but one of them was also the ruler of a whole fucking country! She took some of her precious free time and helped building me a home! 

Why she did that, I had no clue. She probably had more important matters to tend to, but she chose to help built me a home instead!

This world was way too kind in comparison to earth. On earth, I was just another one out of more than seven billion humans. One out of over seven billion humans, just think about it.

But these ponies... Sure, some of them were crazy or just deep down maniac, but they made me feel like I wasn't just another one out of seven billion - they made me feel like I was something special. Regardless of how corny this may sound to you, it was the truth. I knew that they cared about me deeply because they actually built me a fucking house in the matter of a single day, just because I did something that seemed right to me. I knew that they cared about me because they tried to help me to adjust myself to my new life.

I did the only thing that seemed logical for me at that point; I grabbed the next pony and took it in a bone-crushing hug, which, unfortunately for her, was Fluttershy.

"Oh my god, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" I said, tears of joy cascading down my face, swinging her rather light body wildly around. She 'eeped', trying to free herself, which I didn't notice at all, but to no avail - I had a too strong grip on her.




*  *  *  *




After a minute of me swinging her around, shedding a few tears of joy, I put her back down onto the ground. She immediately collapsed, breathing heavily, desperately trying to pull long missed, fresh air into her lungs, though I don't think she was really mad at me that I nearly hugged her to death.

I then made sure to thank everyone who helped to built my house - my new home - thoroughly. Celestia, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Spike, hell, even Pinkie Pie - I just couldn't thank them enough.

Saying that I was grateful is definitely an understatement.

With happy cheers and a good mood, we walked inside the house.

The first room we entered was the living room. It was nothing special, just a regular, although pretty big living room, with a couch, two armchairs and a table in the centre of it, standing in front of a cozy fireplace, which could turn out to be quite useful in the colder seasons. All in all, it looked a lot like the one I had back on earth, minus the TV and all the other electronic devices. 

There were two doors, one leading to the kitchen, which, quite frankly, was pretty much a copy of the one I had back on earth (again without all the electric devices), and the other one leading to the staircase. Upstairs were four rooms: three bedrooms, one of which I could use as a perfect guest room, another Scootaloo could use as her bedroom, and a rather big bathroom with a shower, a bathtub and a toilet (fortunately the toilet was made for a human) - nothing special.

Though one of the bedrooms had a king-sized double bed in it, also, like nearly every damn thing in this house, like the one I had back on earth, but I had no clue why I'd need a double bed at that point. It wasn't like I had someone to share it with.

... Right?

Anyways.

I was alone in the bathroom (I don't know when the others left me), looking how everything worked (luckily they really thought about everything), when a loud boom startled me. It sounded suspiciously like...

Like a cannon going off...

'Oh hell no.'

I sprinted out of the bathroom, over to the staircase, hurrying down the stairs in an effort to get downstairs as soon as possible. I threw the door to the living room open, only to be confronted with something I really didn't want to see for the rest of my life.

Yes, a party.

My heart started pounding harder and harder, seeing how everyone was looking at me with big smiles on their faces. Above their collective heads hung a large banner, on which stood 'Welcome To Equestria, Willy!'. Thankfully Pinkie chose to shorten the party's name a bit, or else they probably would've needed a lot more than just one banner. 

At that very moment, my brain told me to run for my life, my heart told me to stay, because of everything they did for me, and my bladder told me to go to the toilet, or something very bad and embarrassing would happen.

What a man I was, fearing something that should normally bring joy to people. I couldn't help myself, though. Parties seemed to be the third most scary thing in my life at that moment, coming right after the Everfree Forest and Jocelyn Wildenstein's face.

Seriously, her face is fucking scary.

Instead of running, or pissing myself, I chose to face what they had in store for me - I just hoped cannons weren't a part of all this. 

"Surprise!" They all shouted together, confetti exploding behind them. 

"Hehe, thank you girls...and...uh, guys!" I chuckled weirdly, nearly forgetting about Spike and the big red stallion, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. "You shouldn't have!"

"Dear, this is the least we can do after all you've done for Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo." Rarity said, coming up to me and putting a comforting hoof on my... knee.

"It's nothing, really. I did what I thought was right." I told her with a smile as she let her hoof fall back down onto the ground. "They helped me more than I did help them." 

"Oh dear, I heard all about it! I'm so sorry for what happened to you!" She said over-dramatically, faking to fall unconscious. "It must've been horrendous!"

"It was, but I'm good now... At least I think so." I said, my mood worsening for a second. I shook my head, frowning slightly. "But that's in the past now."

"Enough being sad, let's get this party started!" Pinkie shouted into my face, suddenly appearing right between me and Rarity.




*  *  *  *




I learned rather quickly that, what those ponies understand as partying, is something that definitely isn't partying on earth. It's more like a child's birthday - not saying that I wasn't grateful that they even took the time to throw one for me.

It was boring, but exactly the thing I needed after the past two days. 

I was reclining on the wall besides the door that lead to the kitchen, watching how Twilight and Applejack were doing some really weird dance moves on the improvised dancing floor, suppressing my giggles with a hand in front of my mouth, when none other than Princess Celestia walked up to me.

"Are you enjoying the show, William?" She asked me, looking equally amused.

"Please, just Will's enough." I said, lifting my hand down and coughing into my hand once, trying to stop giggling like an idiot. That failed as soon as I took another quick glance at the two dancing ponies, snorting once and lapsing into another fit of giggles. "Yea-yeah I-I am!

"Clearly you are." She said, lifting one hoof to cover her mouth, stifling one giggle of her own.

I looked around the room, trailing my eyes away from the awkwardly dancing mares. I spotted Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash having a quiet conversation with one another at the other end of the room, the latter occasionally taking quick glances into my direction.

I mentally shrugged, not exactly feeling curious. They didn't do anything bad to me, not like another certain pony.

Speaking of the pink demon, where was she? Not that I cared anymore, as I was convinced that she wasn't actually trying to kill me, at least not anymore. I was just curious.

And maybe, just maybe a little scared that she was going to try anything stupid like... I dunno, starting an indoor campfire.

"William, are you not feeling well?" Celestia asked me, a concerned look on her face.

I shook my head, snapping myself out of my thoughts. "Nah, I'm good, just thinking about where Pinkie could be."

"Oh, she volunteered to go to the orphanage to tell Miss Heartsong, the owner, that Scootaloo is going to stay at a 'friends' house for the night." Celestia said, winking at me. Then her smile fell, turning into a sad look. "Will, we have to talk about something."

"Shoot." I said, already not liking where this was going. I didn't like the somber tone she was using, nor did I like how she was looking at me.

"There will be problems with you adopting Scootaloo, Will." She stated, turning herself around, looking at the three fillies that were darting around the room with happy smiles on their faces, Spike trying to chase them down, but failing miserably because of his short, stubby legs.

I moved up to Celestia's side, also looking at how they were running around the whole living room, nearly bumping into the still dancing Twilight. My eyes fixated themselves onto one special, orange filly. "What's that?"

"You're not an official citizen of Equestria, which means that you aren't allowed to adopt a foal." She explained, giving me a sideway glance. "Legally speaking."

'Does...does that mean...?'

My heart sank into the pit of my stomach. I held my breath, afraid of what answer I was going to get to my next question.

"But...you can surely help me, right?" I asked, looking at her with a glimmer of hope in my eyes.

She sighed, shaking her head slowly. "I'm afraid I can not help you with this matter."

"Why?" I simply asked her. I got angrier out of nowhere, my voice going sour. "You're the ruler of this country, why can't you help me with something as simple as adoption? It can't be that big of a deal!"

Celestia gave me a look of sympathy before looking forward again. "Yes, I'm the ruler of this country, and yes, it would be simple to help you out with this."

I was about to open my mouth, to scream at her to help me, but Celestia spoke up again. "Do you know what it feels like to be the ruler of a whole country?" 

"W-What?" I stuttered, even though I understood her perfectly. It was a simple question, like 'Do you know what it is like to be blind', and yet, it completely caught me off guard. It was a rhetorical question, one that she was sure I couldn't answer because I had no clue what it felt like.

"Do you know what it feels like to be the ruler of a whole country?" She repeated, looking me into my face, and unreadable expression on her face. "Do you know the strains of having to think for the majority? Do you know what it feels like to have a whole country looking up to you, always expecting you to make the right decision, regardless of the matter? Do you know what it feels like to be seen and practically be worshiped as a god, even though you are not nearly as perfect as they make you seem to be?"

"I...uh..."

"William, I had to do some really bad things in the past 9000 years. I had to start wars, just another ruler offended me or my kingdom. I had to pass laws that only benefited the nobility, leaving the poor at the brink of existence. I had to banish my own sister, just because she was possesed by something dark."

"The worst of all?" She continued, pausing for a moment, exhaling audibly. "I had no say in the matter, or else there would have been massive uproars. The nobles, Equestria's real government, would've tried to overthrow me. Pointless bloodshedding, I had enough of that in the past."

"It's because of that reason that I can't help you, William. Nobility would get angry at me just because I made you, an alien, an official citizen of Equestria for seemingly no reason. They wouldn't know what you did for Twilight and her friends, and even if I were to tell them, they wouldn't believe nor me nor would they care. They only have two things in mind: their own financial situation and power."

She sighed again, looking back at what was happening at the party. "They just don't care about ours, as long as they get what they want."

"Then... What should I do? I can't just tell her that I can't adopt her." I told her silently, seeing that Scootaloo was coming into our direction, the other two Crusaders and Spike in tow. "Celestia, I know what she went through, at least to a degree. I'm her father now, and a stupid law can't just take that right for her to have a father away from her. Not only she would be devastated, I would be too."

I motioned for Scootaloo to stop when she was about a two meters away from me, not wanting her to hear what we were talking about. She did just that, stopping midstep.

"Celestia, is there any way for me to adopt her? I don't care about the consequences, just give me one, god damn way!" I asked her in a hushed tone, trying to hide my worries behind a faked smile as I looked at Scootaloo, which she thankfully didn't seem to notice.

"It's either you wait one year to officially become an Equestrian citizen, or..."

"Or what?" I hissed through my teeth, seeing uneasiness creeping up Scootaloo's face.

"Dad, everything okay?" Scootaloo asked nervously, shuffling over to me.

"Yeah, everything's fine!" I said, maybe a bit too loud, trying my best to hide the mix of emotions I was feeling at that moment.

"Or someone else adopts her for you, taking care of her for the time being. That would get her out of the orphanage, at least." Celestia whispered into my ear, ending her sentence. 

Celestia walked away, excusing herself and saying that she had to go back to something called 'Canterlot', muttering something about having a job to do. Scootaloo walked over to me, her three other friends staying behind.

"Dad, what's up?" She asked me, poking my shin with one of her hooves, which got my full attention immediately.

"Huh? Oh, nothing, just had an...interesting talk with Celestia." I said, thinking about what exactly Celestia told me.

"O-kay-" Her tone said that she was anything but convinced. "You want to play tag with me, the other Crusaders and Spike?"

"Uhm, yeah, why not?" I asked, not really wanting to think about what Celestia told me.

'Maybe a peaceful little round of tag would make me forget about everything that happened today...Especially that talk with Celestia.' I thought, shrugging mentally.

"You're it!" Scootaloo shouted, she and her other three friends all darting off into a different direction, leaving me standing there with a dazed expression on my face.

"Hey! Unfair!" I shouted, looking around me, trying to spot any of the little troublemakers. I spotted one of them, tail disappearing behind the door frame that lead to the staircase.

I ran after the mysterious pony, being careful to no trip over any pony that stood in my way, all my worries quickly forgotten.
> Chapter Eighteen - The Morning After
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was the morning after the party. I woke up to the wonderful sound of birds chirping happily and the sun's light peeking through the closed curtains, bathing the room in a beautiful, calming golden light. Actually, it would've been quite calming if my head wasn't threatening to destroy itself at every damn moment.

I rubbed my sleepy eyes, groaning in pain as I felt my head pounding like crazy, my eardrums threatening to implode with every single chirp of those goddamn birds.

Even in a whole new dimension nature was a complete bitch.

I tried to think back to the previous day, to try and remember what could've given me that nearly unbearable headache, but without any success. It was like some parts of my memories were just... gone. 

'Let's see... I woke up in the hospital, then Rainbow lead me through the whole town to that crystal castle, then she and her other six friends walked me to my new home...' I did a quick check to see if I was in my new bedroom, which I fortunately was. 'I talked to Celestia and played a game of tag with Spike and the Crusaders... So far so good...'

'But why am I feeling so-' I interrupted my own thoughts with a loud groan, the answer to my own question hitting me like a ton of bricks - which isn't really comfortable while having a headache. '-Oh yeah, that.'

I completely forgot that Rainbow challenged me to a 'drinking game', which... wasn't a drinking game at all. It was more like a 'drink as much as you can before you pass out' thing, which I, of course, won without any real troubles. It was obvious from the beginning that Rainbow couldn't actually win against me; besides the obvious fact that she was a lot lighter than I was, their alcohol just wasn't nearly as strong as the one you could get back on earth, giving me another advantage over the cyan pegasus.

I don't know how many mugs of that apple cider stuff she drank, but damn, she got drunk pretty damn fast. Like, really fucking drunk. I wasn't too sure if it was true, but I did remember seeing a passed out Rainbow getting carried away in Twilight's magical grasp.

But everything after that... Gone. No memories of what could've earned me that hangover whatsoever. If I had to guess, I'd say that I drank a little more that night, but how much exactly was a mystery to me.

I lifted my hands up to my head, massaging my temples gently in slow circles, trying my best to soothe the pain and somehow regain my memories, but no matter how hard I tried to make the headache go away, or remember what happened at that party after the drinking game, I couldn't. 

I just had to hope that I didn't do anything overly embarrassing, but knowing me, I definitely did something embarrassing.

I sighed, telling myself that I didn't really want to know what happened that night. I didn't want to feel ashamed because of something stupid I did while I was drunk, so not knowing what happened at the party probably was a good thing.

Anyways, It wasn't the time to worry about something like that - it was time to get back to sleep and somehow live through the hangover. At least that was what I wanted to do. 

I was about to turn myself around, to escape the light that that big yellow orb high up in the sky created and go back to sleep, but something, or should I rather say someone, was lying on my stomach, thus disabling me from doing so. 

I took a look down, confirming my suspicions on who that could be. 

Scootaloo was lying on my stomach, her little forelegs loosely wrapped around my stomach, snoring slightly, her rising and falling with each gentle breath she took. Her face was partially hidden behind her purple mane, but the content smile that was adorning it was still visible.

I don't even know what took me so long to notice her.

I smiled, lifting my hand down to push some of her mane out of her face, letting me see it in all its beauty. Even though my head was threatening to split itself into half, and I was feeling like absolute shit, seeing Scootaloo with that cute, content smile on her face was just a heart-melting sight. My lips parted themselves on their own, releasing a soft 'aww', the headache momentarily forgotten.

But then another uncomfortable jolt of pain shot through my head, making me flinch slightly. That pain was followed by a particularly bad memory from the day before. 

The memory of the talk I had with Celestia.



"You're not an official citizen of Equestria, which means that you aren't allowed to adopt a foal."



That sentence was repeating itself in my head over and over, the message behind it becoming clearer with every millisecond that passed.

I wasn't allowed to adopt Scootaloo.

I didn't know where to start, what to think about first. Solutions to it? There were none. Going over to the orphanage and begging the owner of it to let me adopt Scootaloo certainly wouldn't have worked, that much was sure, but what else was there for me to do? There was no legal way for me to adopt Scootaloo, and I really didn't want to get in trouble with the law and do something I'd regret later on.

But if I remembered correctly through my hungover mind, Celestia told me that there was another way, an alternative that could get Scootaloo out of that orphanage and into a real family, but there was one small problem with that.

I just didn't like the thought of Scootaloo living with someone else than me.

Now, don't get me wrong; I did want that cute filly to be happy, I really did and she definitely deserved it, but that didn't mean that I liked the thought of her living with someone else than me. I feared that we would drift apart from each other, that she wouldn't want to meet me again after that one year was over and I had my Equestrian citizenship. I feared the thought of losing someone that meant so much to me like Scootaloo did. 

But, was there really another way for Scootaloo to get happy, other than letting someone else take care of her as long as I was no Equestrian citizen? Did she even want to get adopted by someone else other than me? Would she even allow that?

I shook my head; I felt how I was losing my mind, for the umpteenth time since I arrived in Equestria.

'This place is really taking a toll on me...' I said, eyeing Scootaloo, an exasperated sigh escaping my mouth.

I reluctantly moved my hands down to the sleeping filly on my stomach, grabbing her around her barrel and slowly lifting her away from me, gently placing her down onto the mattress beside me. Her legs flailed around on her new sleeping spot, trying desperately to cling themselves back onto my stomach that wasn't there anymore.

With a frown I sat myself up on the edge of the bed, already regretting what I had done. Even though I really wanted to get back into bed and cuddle her 'till she was no more, I couldn't. I had important things to tend to.

Y'know, preparing breakfast and taking care of that damn headache.

I was about to stand up and just leave the bedroom when I remembered that there was still one more thing to do. '... Putting on some clothes might be a good idea.'

I really did want to avoid any more awkward moments.



*  *  *  *



"God dammit..." I said, closing the fridge's door forcefully, a loud thump echoing through the kitchen. "Fucking great."

Sure I was grateful that they built me a house, but couldn't they have filled the fridge with something... eatable?

"Why would someone put fucking flowers into a fridge?" I cursed, throwing my hands up in the air in a sign of total confusion.

I slumped into one of the chairs by the table in the center of the kitchen. I frowned hard, releasing a long-held sigh of frustration. One of my hands went up to my head to massage my temples, already feeling the headache, which I cured by drinking a bit of magic water, reappearing. "Ugh, what do I do now?"

KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK

A series of three quick knocks, announcing the presence of someone at the front door of my newly built home, snapped me out of my silent moping about not having anything eatable in the fridge. With another heavy sigh, I stood up, reluctantly making my way over to the front door, the knocking continuing the whole time I was walking.

KNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCK

I pulled the door open forcefully, glaring down at the familiar cyan pegasus with the rainbow mane, one of her forelegs still lifted up, making knocking motions into the air right where the door used to be. "Rainbow, I swear to god, If you ever do that again I'll literally tickle you to death."

"Oh he-" She started, but quickly cut herself off when she realized what I just said, her eyes going wide in shock. "You wouldn't do that!"

"Good god, can you please stop screaming?" I whispered angrily with my eyes closed, trying to protect myself from the bright light produced by the sun, my hands covering my very sensitive ears. I sidestepped, allowing her a way in, before saying. "Come in..."

She flew in with a huff, zipping over to the couch and throwing herself right into the middle of it, her back hitting the surface of the brown fabric couch. I closed the door and followed her, crashing down beside her onto the, admittedly, extremely comfortable couch. It was actually the first time I used this couch.

At least I think it was. I still had no idea what exactly happened at that party.

"So, why are ya here?" I asked groggily, making myself comfortable by laying myself down on my back, almost pushing her off of it in the process, but she easily avoided that by climbing up onto my stomach.

"You know, just visiting you to see how it goes." She said, waving her hoof at me, a big smirk on her face.

"The fridge's empty and I feel like absolute shit." 

"Went a little overboard, huh?" She asked, that smirk never wavering. I really had to resist the urge to just grab her blue butt and throw her right out of the next window, but then I remembered that she wasn't completely innocent either.

"You're the one to say." I shot back, giving her a big smirk. "I do remember some things, and one of them is Twilight carrying an asleep, drooling and completely drunk pegasus with a rainbow mane out of my house in her magic field thingy. It was you, wasn't it?"

It was really satisfying to see that smirk just getting washed off of her face in a matter of seconds. In fact, it was so satisfying that it made my hangover somehow instantly vanish.

She sat herself back onto her haunches on my stomach, a small blush forming on her cheeks as she started to fidget with her hooves nervously. "O-of course not!"

"Liar." I said, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"Am not!" She shot up into the air at an instant, glaring at me and inching a little bit closer to my face, that blush gone in just half a second.

"Are too!" I inched even closer from my lying position, my nose practically touching her cute blue one.

"Am not!" She closed the space between our noses, her fuzzy one completely touching mine, both of us glaring into each other's eyes.

"Aretooaretooaretoo!" I punctured each word with a jab to her chest, my eyes not leaving hers.




We stayed like that for a few minutes, glaring at each other with our noses pressed together, skin touching fur, no one of us ready to give up yet. I wasn't willing to give her the satisfaction of winning again.

"Uh, are you both just gonna sit there all day and do that, or are we actually going to get something to eat?" Scootaloo, who was apparently watching for us for quite some time, said, her tone more than just a bit annoyed. I didn't even notice that she entered the living room. "I'm kinda hungry, and there are only flowers in the fridge. I hate flowers."

"Only when she admits that she's lying!" I said, sitting myself up and throwing Rainbow off of me in the process. I turned my head to the side, giving the orange filly a frown.

"I-I'm not lying!" Rainbow stuttered from her position on the floor. She ruffled her wings, before stretching them out and flapping them a few times, lifting herself up into the air.

Scootaloo facehoofed, muttering something that definitely was nothing nice under her breath before speaking up again, "Look, can we just go and get something to eat? You guys are acting like me and the other two Crusaders do when we have another one of our arguments." 

She shook her head before looking up at me, a look that expressed concern on her cute orange face. "Actually, what's even wrong with you dad? You've been acting kind of weird lately."

She was right. I seriously took a moment to think about what was causing that, but quickly realized that there were way too many possible reasons for that. "I dunno, I think it's because of everything that has happened lately."

"Or Pinkie Pie drugged me." I added with a blank face, shrugging my shoulders.

"Ugh, just...let's go." She sighed, turning around, already on her way to exit the house.

Rainbow gave me another glare, signaling me that our little argument wasn't over, before following her. With a loud groan I rolled myself off of the couch, reluctantly exiting the house, seeing both Rainbow and Scootaloo impatiently waiting for me on the front porch.



*  *  *  *



The ponies in town may have been a little bit... wary of me.

How I come to this conclusion? 

Well, it's really hard to not come to that conclusion after you see ponies running away from you in fear, or cafés suddenly closing as soon as you were standing right in front of them...

Frightened might be a better word on how they were feeling towards me.

I wasn't angry at them at all, just sad. They just couldn't see that I wasn't going to murder and/or eat any of them, but that didn't mean that I didn't understand why they were fearing me. They were herbivores, prey if it wasn't for their magical abilities and all that jazz, I was a six feet two inches tall, bipedal apex predator that came out of seemingly nowhere, so, of course, ponies were going to fear me.

But even Rainbow and Scootaloo told me that they were overreacting, that I didn't really look that scary. I had to hope that everything would settle with time, that they would slowly accept me into their little community.

Until then, grocery shopping definitely was out of the question.

Anyways, the only shop that didn't close just had to be that giant gingerbread bakery, fittingly called 'Sugarcube Corner', which at least meant that we weren't going to start the day on an empty stomach.

Though the reason why it didn't close was because a familiar pink pony was running the bakery, as it seemed. 

As we walked inside, my nose was immediately assaulted by the sugary smell of what had to be a million cupcakes, cakes and all other kinds of baked goods. The air literally reeked of sugar, but that wasn't bothering me at all.

What was bothering me, though, was the way Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up right in front of my face, which shouldn't have been possible for her at all, that typical big smile on her face.

I blinked.

"Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!" She practically screamed into my face, big globs of spit landing on my face. I slowly, very slowly pushed her face out of mine with one of my hands, lifting the other up to my face to wipe the excess spit out of it.

The hyperactive, mentally ill pony works in a gingerbread bakery that's probably even made out of real sugar, go figure.

When I was done with wiping all of that disgusting spit out of my face, and lifted the hand back out of my face, thus enabling me to see again, I was, once again, confronted by two, big and light blue orbs staring straight into my eyes.

"It's...good to see you too, Pinkie Pie." I said timidly, my real feelings hidden behind a big, forced smile. She didn't seem to notice my discomfort at all as she continued to stare into my face. 

...and stare.

...and stare.

We had to be staring at each other for what had to be at least two minutes, both of our smiles never wavering, though I had huge troubles with keeping up the facade. That smile of hers was just insane, in more than ways than just one.

Fortunately my lord and savior, the guardian angel herself, Rainbow, coughed once into her hoof, which luckily snapped Pinkie out of whatever she was in, making her get out of my face at an instant. I finally had some room to breath again.

I don't know what it was with me and awkward moments, but damn, in those three days there were a lot.

"So, Pinkie, can you get us something to eat?" Rainbow asked, stepping up to my side. "Anything?"

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" She was gone in a pink blur, vanishing behind a door that I could only assume -and hope- was the kitchen.

I turned my head to look at Rainbow, silently asking her what the fuck just happened, but she just shrugged and flew over to one of the tables beside the big window in the far corner of the bakery, with Scootaloo following her closely, both of them sitting themselves down into the small chairs.

I was still standing in the doorway, petrified, too confused to do anything. 

"Will, you comin'?" Rainbows voice snapped me out of my stupor. I shook my head and made my way over to the table they were sitting at, sitting myself down on the really small chair with great difficulties. 

"Don't you guys have bigger chairs here?" I asked no one in particular, a small frown on my face. It felt like I was sitting in a child's chair, so it wasn't comfortable at all.

"Uh, no." Answered Scootaoo, looking at me with a puzzled look. 

"Dang." I muttered under my breath. 

We lapsed into silence, but fortunately Pinkie Pie was quick to serve us our food, which simply consisted out of some cupcakes and a big plate full of chocolate chip cookies - not a really healthy breakfast if you ask me, but that didn't stop me, or my other two companions, from eating it. 

Breakfast was spent mostly in silence, only the occasional sound of the daily life from outside of the bakery breaking the silence. Through the window I could see the many ponies skipping through the streets, following their daily routine, none of them noticing how I, the incredibly scary monster, was watching them.

It was weird. I was feeling comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. I can't really explain what was making me feel like that, but the best guess I have is because the many memories that were running through my mind at that moment.

The three main ones were happiness, sadness and something I could clearly identify as fear. 

I think why I was feeling happy is pretty self-explanatory, but why I was feeling sad might not be that obvious.

It wasn't because no one in town was really accepting me, or should I say fearing me, it was more because I was thinking about earth, the things I left behind. Even though it wasn't much, I was still feeling...sad and homesick.

But there was nothing I could do 'bout it. I made my decision, and there was no going back.

I can't explain what I was fearing exactly, though. Something deep down in my guts just told me that something... wasn't quite right since I arrived here. Like my every move, everything I did, was constantly watched by something.

Hopefully it was just paranoia speaking.

I was so lost in thoughts, thinking about everything that was bothering me, that I didn't even notice that Scootaloo was trying to get my attention until something feathery and boney collided with my left cheek.

My hands reached up to the hit cheek, rubbing it in an attempt to soothe the pain that the unknown object inflicted.

"Ow! What was that for?" I asked, looking to my side, seeing Rainbow hovering there with one of her wings still outstretched, which was, no doubts, the thing that hit me. How she was flying with only one wing, I had no idea, and neither did I want to know how. 

Physics only existed to a degree in that dimension.

"Squirt here was trying to get your attention for like five minutes." Rainbow said, rolling her eyes at me.

"Huh? Oh sorry, I kinda was in my own world there."

"Duh." She simply said, flying back to her seat and landing upon it.

"So, what's up Scoots?" I asked.

She smiled at me, buzzing her little wings in excitement. "Do you want to go crusading with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and me?"

"You mean going crusading for your, uh..." I stopped mid-sentence, having forgotten the glorious name I've given those markings on their butts. I lifted a hand up to my chin, rubbing it idly while humming loudly.

"Cutie Marks?" Rainbow asked, raising and eyebrow.

My face light up. "Yeah, right! Butt tattoos, that's what I called them!"

Scootaloo and Rainbow both rolled their eyes at me almost simultaneously. "What?" 

"Dude, don't call them that. That sounds soooooo uncool." Rainbow said with an exaggerated long roll of her eyes.

"Wait, so you're trying to tell me that 'Cutie Mark' sounds way cooler than 'butt tattoo'? You feeling alright?" I asked with a bewildered look on my face, one of my own eyebrows raised unnaturally high.

"C'mon, don't act like you know what cool even means." She said with a huff, waving her hoof at me in an almost dismissive manner.

"Yeah, you're right, I'm not an expert when it comes to being cool, but-" I paused for the dramatic effect, drawing out the 'but' for at least ten seconds. "-I definitely do know that 'Cutie Mark' doesn't sound nearly as cool as 'butt tattoo'."

She was about to retort, an almost offended look on her face, when Scootaloo spoke up again, effectively preventing her from doing so. "Can you please, please just answer?" She asked with a frown, rubbing her head with a hoof.

I gave Rainbow a victorious, smug grin before answering, "Yeah, sure."

'What's the worst three little fillies can come up with?'
> Chapter Nineteen - From Bad To Worse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was nearing sunset when I, Rainbow and the Crusaders decided to call it a day. Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle went home earlier, so that only left me, Scootaloo and Rainbow. We were currently on our way to my home.





"Rainbow, if they ever ask me to go crusading with them again, and I say yes, please, for the love of god, punch me in the face." I said grumpily to my multi-colored companion, who was hovering alongside me with a happy, gleeful smile on her face. "I swear it would be less humiliating than this." I motioned at my face with my right hand.

"C'mon dad, it's not that bad." Scootaloo galloped up in front of me and turned herself around, walking backwards while forcing a smile up at me. "You look really... um, how would Rarity say? Yeah, that's it! Magnificent! " She exclaimed.

I stopped, deadpanned and walked around her.

Now, you may ask yourself what those three, seemingly innocent little fillies could've done to my beautiful face that made me think like that.

Well, after I shot their two initial ideas on how to get their Cutie Marks down because they either involved me getting cut open or rocketed into space (yeah, you heard right), I was able to convince them to think of something that was less... harmful.

Cutie Mark Crusader Make-Up Artists.

I can't even put into words how badly they fucked up, I really can't. The best way to describe how I looked would be a mixture between a zombie, a clown and Michael Jackson.

One thing was sure: They'll never, ever touch my face with any makeup stuff again. Never.

"Yeah *giggle* Will *giggle*, you look...you look...MAGNIFICIENT!" Rainbow broke out into loud, raspy laughter again, rolling around in the air, once again ignoring the laws of physics.

"Oh, Ha-ha." I said unamusedly, turning my head to look at her and giving her a glare, but that only made her raspy laughter grow louder. I groaned,  mumbling things under my breath that, if coherent, wouldn't have been really nice before looking forward again to not make this whole situation any worse by tripping over someone, or something.

"OH SH-!"

Have I ever told you guys that I'm an unlucky person?

One moment I was walking, silently mumbling these unnice things about Rainbow, and the very next I feel something colliding hard with my lower legs and get a face full of dirt. 

I lay on the ground, sputtering and coughing, trying to get all that Equestrian dirt out of my mouth, but only succeeding to a degree. Using both of my hands I slowly pushed myself up to my feet, cursing everything under my breath.

Rainbow's laughter erupted again from above me, even louder than before (it was actually more of a screaming than actual laughing), as did the laughter I discerned as that of a certain orange filly, and, unbeknownst to me, the giggles of a fifth pony.

I scrambled to my feet, immediately looking around for the thing I so gracefully tripped over in order to destroy it with my bare hands, but upon seeing over what exactly I tripped over, I quickly disregarded that thought.

There, maybe two or three meters (I flew quite a bit, apparently) in front of me stood a light grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane and tail, one of her hooves stifling her cute giggles, but what really caught my eye were her yellow eyes: one was somewhat directed at me, while the other one was busy looking up in the sky. 

I shook my head. I knew out of experience how bad getting stared at feels, and at least she was kind enough to not run away in fear upon seeing me, so the least I could've done was to show her some respect. 

"I'm sorry! Did you get hurt?" I asked with concern in my voice, taking a careful step forward. 

She lifted her hoof away from her mouth, stopping her giggling before answering me. "No, I'm fine! And you, Mr...um..."

"Yeah, I'm good...kinda." I said with a small frown, running a hand through my hair to get some of that dirt out of it. I then smiled at her. "And I'm William, but I guess you can call me Will."

Finally, Rainbow and Scootaloo were finished with laughing their asses off.

"I'm Derpy Hooves, but Derpy is okay too!" She said with a big smile, rivaling that of Pinkie Pie.

"And sorry Mr. Will. It was all my fault... It's just really hard to see sometimes." She explained, her smile vanishing and being replaced by a downcast expression, ears flattening against her skull. "Please don't hate me."

"Hey now,-". I started, kneeling myself down slowly, still not wanting to frighten her by doing anything too sudden. "-why should I hate you? It was an accident, and it's not like it's only your fault that that happened. I'm at fault too. I should've been watching where I was going."

She looked up slowly, an unsure expression on her face. "So you are not mad at me?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm not, I swear." I assured her with a gentle smile.

She returned my smile with an adorable looking one of her own, those two yellow eyes of hers momentarily looking into the same direction before going back into their normal, goofy state. To my complete surprise she leaped forwards and tackled me into a hug, her two forelegs wrapping themselves around my chest. I awkwardly returned the hug, completely caught off-guard by the sudden change in demeanor.

"Oh thank you Mr. Will!"

"It's no problem, really." I said, chuckling awkwardly.




We stood there for what had to be at least a minute in complete awkward silence before the fittingly called Derpy finally decided to make a move. 

"Melons! I have to go! Bye Mr. Will!" With that, she was gone, zipping up into the air and away from us in a yellow blur.

'...What the actual fuck?'




I stood up with a groan, shaking my head slowly. "I really don't know what it is with me and awkwardness."

"Yeah, it's almost like you attract all these totally uncool situations." Rainbow said, shuddering visibly after the sentence left her mouth. She shook her head, her face of disgust vanishing into a smile.  "Anyways we really need to get that makeup out of your face."

"And the dirt." Scootaloo added, stifling a small giggle with one of her hooves.

"Yeah, alright." I said, lifting a hand up to my face to rub some of that dirt out of it, shrugging once. 



*  *  *  *



I entered the shower and closed the curtains behind me, my body getting assaulted by the continuous flow of warm water right when I was about to search for the little knob to turn it on. At first, I was shocked, but as the first drops of water, that were at just the right temperature, started hitting my body, I released a long sigh of satisfaction.

It felt really fucking good to just relax and forget about everything I should've been worried about. My worries about that whole adoption thing, about how I was going to continue my life in a world where I was the only one of my species, got drown out completely by the warm water that was cascading down my body.

I closed my eyes and stepped directly under the spray of water. Lifting both of my hands up to my face, I started the task of washing all of that makeup out of my face, but only succeeded in smearing the oily substance around.

So I opted to just stand there and let the water do its job. Not counting the soothing sound of each little droplet of water hitting the ceramic floor, it was silent, and for a moment I really felt like everything was going to be okay. That I will work out things with Scootaloo, that everything will work out in the end.

But then I started thinking again.

Problems don't solve themselves, they never did. I couldn't just pretend that everything will work out in the end. I couldn't just pretend that someone else was going to fix my problems for me when there was no one that could fix them.

I had to do something, especially about the situation with Scootaloo. I had to talk to her.

...But what exactly should I have told her? That was the question I was asking myself, that was nagging me since Celestia told me that I wasn't able to adopt her right away.

I exhaled deeply, feeling helpless and conflicted at the same time. I knew that, regardless of what I was going to tell her, there was no positive outcome. She would've been devasted, sad, angry...

Angry at me for not telling her sooner or/and shattering her hopes? Angry at Celestia for not doing anything, even though she couldn't?
No, it wasn't Celestia, she would've been angry at me - my guts told me that, as did the only logical part of my brain that accepted the truth.

The other part still hoped dearly that everything would work out in the end, that she wouldn't hate me.

I tried to shake my head clear of these thoughts, but they stayed, no matter how hard I tried. I really had to talk to her, or else they would pester me until she found out herself, which, quite frankly, couldn't have taken that much longer.

I had to talk to her as soon as possible, as long as I had the chance to not make things worse.

So, quickly finishing up the process of cleaning my body, I exited the shower, dried my body off with a towel I grabbed from the cabinet above the sink and put on the clothes from before; I really hated myself for not packing enough clothes before traveling to Equestria.

I made a mental note to look around town to see if I could find someone who was willing to make some for me, before making myself on the way to the living room.



*  *  *  *



"How do I look now?" I asked aloud as I entered the living room, immediately drawing the attention of its two inhabitants. Seeing that they gave me their undivided attention, I made a little show by spinning around once before fluttering my manly eyelashes at Rainbow and Scootaloo.

Scootaloo giggled cutely at my silliness, 

"Eh, you looked funnier before." Rainbow said with a shrug, that small grin I came to know her for tugging at the corner of her lips. She was, again, teasing me, but I wasn't having any of that.

I casually walked over to them, letting myself fall into the couch beside them. "Scoots, maybe you girls didn't get your Cutie Marks because I'm a human, you know? Maybe you need to try out that whole makeup stuff with someone like you..."

I made a loud 'hmm' sound, lifting one of my hands up to my chin to scratch it in thought. "But who...?"

An evil smirk appeared on my face as my eyes slowly drifted to Rainbow, who was already fidgeting nervously with both of her forehooves. She knew she was fucked.

"Ah, I know! Why don't you take Rainbow?" I asked, turning my head to look at the prismatic mare in question. "I'm sure she'd be glad to help you girls!"

It vanished as soon as it appeared, but god, that glorious glorious look of absolute horror that crossed her face.

"I think...Yeah, maybe that's it!" Scootaloo exclaimed, her eyes lightening up, a smile appearing on her face. That smile instantly vanished as she looked to her side, pouting up at Rainbow. "Can you pwease help us? Just this once?"

"I don't think tha-"

"Pweaaaase."

"But I don't wan-"

"Pweeeeeeeeeease."

"Can't you find someone el-"

"Pweasepweasepweasepwease!"




Rainbow sighed in defeat, her shoulders slumping down. "Ugh...Fine."

I did a mental fist pump, grinning widely as I saw Rainbow admitting defeat. No one could withstand the power of pouting, not even the master herself, the (not so) almighty Rainbow Dash.

'Now, that out of the way...' My grin disappeared at an instant.

"Hey Scoots, we need to talk about something..." I said, my tone going from playful to serious all of a sudden. My body went uncomfortably tense. 

"Uh, do I have to go, or...?" Rainbow asked unsurely, pointing a hoof behind her at the door.

"You can stay. I think you need to hear that too, as her sister." 

Rainbow answered with a short nod, hopping up to onto the couch.

Scootaloo must have realized how serious everything has gotten, because as I looked down to her again, I saw that the smile from before disappeared. I still hoped that she wasn't going to be mad at me, that she maybe even thought that it wasn't that big of a deal.

"What's up?" She asked, hopping up onto my lap in one swift move and sitting herself down on it, tail flicking idly behind her.

I didn't know how to start. I had no idea what to say to her first, so I said what was the first thing that came to my mind. 

"I'm not from this world, do you know what that means?" 'Ugh, c'mon...'

"I dunno... That you're an alien?" She answered unsurely, looking up at me with big, answer seeking eyes, not seeing where I was going with this yet.

I rolled my eyes briefly, but not short enough for her not to notice it. She jabbed me in the stomach. "Just tell me what's up!"

Even though I may have looked completely calm to her and Rainbow, I was panicking inwardly. I had no idea how I should continue. She wanted to tell me what was going on, so why was it so hard to just be blunt about it?

It wasn't like me beating around the bush would've made anything better.

I took a deep breath, exhaling loudly before speaking up again. "I had a talk with Celestia yesterday."

I paused.

"Aaand?" Scootaloo asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Well...she told me that...-" I clicked my tongue, not really liking the way this was going. "-Well, that I can't...you know..."

"Dad, c'mon, it can't be that bad." She said, groaning in annoyance.

I closed my eyes. It was bad, but she couldn't have known that. 

"But it is." I whispered bitterly, almost inaudible, all those emotions I drowned out earlier in the shower resurfacing. Fear, despair, sadness, anger...

"I can't adopt you." I said gently, almost in a whisper, opening my eyes reluctantly. "I'm not allowed to."

I was staring at my hands, her body, anything that wasn't her face, but that didn't stop my brain from painting mental images of her expression. What my brain showed me wasn't good at all; it was her face, but instead of that happy smile that I adored, that made my heart warm up at an instant, her expression was that of someone who was completely broken on the inside.

Sad, lost... so many things and none of them were even remotely positive.

At first, everything was dead silent, the only sounds being both mine and Scootaloo's heavy, almost panicked breathing. Rainbow was totally silent, but I knew why she was silent.

She was angry at me. She had to be.

I understood why she was angry at me. It was my fault, after all.

Not only did I get Scootaloo's hopes high for nothing, I also shattered them. I, who called himself her father, hurt her in one of the worst possible ways.

Emotionally.

Physical pain passes with time, but emotional pain doesn't really pass; it's something you have to carry with you for your whole life. Even if you think you drowned out a particularly bad memory, it always hides in the deepest parts of your mind, ready to show itself as soon as you're feeling down again. 

And when they do show up again they make things way worse than they already were.

A silent, almost inaudible sniff made me remember one particular thing Scootaloo told me: her parents abandoned her when she was born because there was a possibility that she'd never be able to fly, and now I had to abandon her because the law said so. She was feeling far from good at that moment.

I wanted to hug her, squeeze her and never let her go, to make her feel loved and comfort her, but all I did was continue sitting there, unmoving and completely silent - I was too frightened to do anything.

Frightened that she wouldn't want me to hug her. Frightened that she would hate me and openly show that.

So I slowly looked up, to look right into her beautiful, big purple eyes and silently beg her for forgiveness, but all she did was shake her head with her eyes shut closely, a lone tear running down her cheek.

She wasn't crying when she jumped down from my lap and slowly walked away from both me and Rainbow. She didn't say anything when Rainbow flew in front of her, stopping her just short of exiting the house, and asked her to stay, to let me explain things.

She just walked around her and vanished through the door, into the night, all the while being completely silent.


	
> Chapter Twenty - Under The Night Sky
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I fucked up. Big time.

I disappointed her, I broke her, I lost her - all that within just a few minutes, with a few simple words. 

I kept staring through the open door, right into the pitch black night where Scootaloo vanished in. I was angry at myself, incredibly angry. I wanted to slap myself for what I've done, but I had no strength to do so. I had no strength to do anything physical.

My head started spinning. I felt like I was going to throw up, but from what, I didn't know at first.

Then it dawned on me: I was sick of myself, sick of what I had done to the little filly I came to love as my dear daughter. But she wasn't just my daughter, she was more than that - she was someone who gave my life sense, a meaning. 

It hit me like a ton of bricks, unexpected and suddenly. She was the main reason that I didn't just kill myself. With her seeing me as her dad, I had to take care of her and couldn't just end my life. She gave me a reason to continue living.

But with her gone, that reason was also gone.

There was nothing keeping me away from giving up on life. 

There was nothing and yet, I despised the thought of ending my life. I despised the thought of throwing my life away, just like that. It made me angry. It made me angry because of what I had been told that one fateful night.

That one fateful night when I had the chance to have one last talk with Sandra and Laura.




"And let me tell you that we don't approve. Don't you dare try something like that ever again!"
...
"Me and Laura want to you to be happy. We love you, but you've to move on..."



Her words... It wasn't because I hated the thought of giving up my life, it was because they hated it. Their words taught me one important lesson, one I was sure not to forget: regardless of how hard life is trying to fuck you over, don't stop. Move on, don't give up.

Don't give up.

There was a slight chance that Scootaloo still loved me as her dad. It was small, but even a small chance is a chance.

Something soft poked my shoulder, pulling me out of my mind at an instant. It was, of course, Rainbow, looking straight at me with those big magenta eyes, filled with sympathy – which surprised me.

It surprised me that she was still there and didn't fly after Scootaloo. It surprised me that she wasn't shouting at me for hurting Scootaloo. It surprised me that she wasn't looking like she was angry in the slightest.

She looked somewhat sad, hell, she looked really damn sad.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly, eyeing me with concern and sympathy.

Was I okay? No, I was not. Definitely not.

"Why are you still here? You should be going after your sister. You should be helping her." I whispered to her, letting my head fall back down to gaze at my hands. "You should be hating me..."

"No." 

I looked up in surprise, seeing how Rainbow was tapping her two hooves together... guilt? etched on her face. "I knew this was gonna happen from the moment on you told me that you adopted her..."

'She...what?'

"W-what?" I asked disbelievingly, my eyes going wide.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault..."

I was speechless. She knew the whole time. She knew the whole fucking time, but decided to not tell me or Scootaloo anything?

If she had told me about that back on earth, maybe things would have gone better. Maybe Scootaloo would've understood why I couldn't adopt her, and maybe we could've worked something out. 

If she had told me back on earth, maybe Scootaloo wouldn't have hated me.

I finally regained the control over my mouth back, quelling the anger in my body as well as I could before speaking up again. "But why? Why didn't you tell me anything?"

"I..." She gulped, her eyes starting to shimmer in the dim light. "I-I don't k-know... I-I just saw Scoots so h-happy..."

My face hardened into a glare, one of pure, unfiltered anger. I was damn angry, but not at me, not at Celestia, not at anything besides Rainbow. I was tempted to let all that pent-up anger out on her, to scream at her, to shout at her. 

I couldn't do it. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't bring myself to let all of that anger out on her, even if she might have deserved it. The way she looked... She felt truly guilty about what she did. She looked downright miserable. 

"I have never seen her so happy since you adopted her, Will." She declared in a gentle whisper, now clearly fighting back the tears that tried to escape her eyes. "Before we met you, it was always that same look on her face. From day to day it got worse, the longer she needed to stay in that orphanage, she got sadder."

"One day, I think it was a year ago, she came to me and told me that someone would finally adopt her. A unicorn couple from Canterlot." She said, a sad smile on her face. "I met them one day when they visited her. They were just perfect for Scoots: friendly, caring, not snobby and really cool."

"She was so happy, so motherbucking happy." She shook her head, that smile growing bigger as she probably remembered 'lil Scoots' smile. 

Not only she had a smile on her face, I did too. The picture of Scootaloo's smile, just radiating happiness, also managed to bring a small smile to my face, a lone tear rolling down my cheek that I was quick to wipe away.

"But then the Changelings attacked Canterlot." She spat with a growl, her tone filled with pure hatred - something I've never heard from her before. I had never seen her as angry as she was at that moment. "Bucking insects attacked Canterlot just one day before she was going to get adopted."

She looked to her side, clearly trying to hide the fact that tears threatened to escape her eyes again. 

She sniffed. 

"They killed both of them..." She whispered, struggling to get the words out, her voice wavering. "T-they killed b-both of them..."

She made a sound between a whimper and a sniffle, shaking her head faintly.

It was at that moment that I realized why I and Scootaloo must have hit off so good. We both were just empty shells, images of our former selves at the time we met. It must have been some kind of connection, some kind of mutual sorrow that welded us together.

We found consolation in each other's happiness.

"After Scoots found out about that, she was never the same. She smiled less, seemed less happy about things and... I dunno, it seemed like she was just an empty shell." Rainbow continued after a whole minute of collecting her thoughts.

She turned her head slowly to look at me again, tears that I could've sworn I saw before gone. "But...then, well, she met you."

"Will, you have to understand..." She pleaded, flying closer to my head, damp magenta eyes staring straight into mine, tempting me to just forgive her. "I didn't want to hurt any of you... I just wanted to see Scoots and you happy..."

My mouth felt dry, really dry. The anger I previously felt -the anger that told me to do something I simply couldn't- was completely gone. 

All of what Rainbow told me was clearly too much to take in for me.

But the real reason that stopped me from answering Rainbow was her question. Did I forgive her? Could I do that? Maybe she could've prevented all of that drama and heartbreaking stuff by just telling us earlier.

But even though she could've prevented a lot by just telling us back on earth, I also understood why she didn't do it: she wanted to help us, the both of us, to forget about the past and just enjoy things as long as they lasted.

I gulped.

"Rainbow...I-I..." I stopped myself, sighing mentally. I surely was in no condition to answer her - I was too conflicted, with too many thoughts and emotions swimming around in my head. I needed to solve the problems with Scootaloo first and then, maybe then, I could give her a proper, well-thought-out answer. 

In other words: I needed to see what the damage was and if I could fix it. If I could, then maybe yes, maybe I could forgive her.

"We'll talk tomorrow... I need to talk to Scootaloo first, see if she's alright..."

I saw her face drop even more, but she nodded understandingly. 

"Can you just... please fly over to the orphanage real quick and tell 'em that she's going to sleep here tonight?"

She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it and closed it again, the struggle, the inner conflict inside her head clearly visible. In the end, she nodded, although a bit reluctantly. She turned around and slowly hovered into the direction of the door, downtrodden, all the while shooting quick glances at me.

As she stood in the doorway, she looked back at me for one last time and opened her mouth. "There's that one big tree on a hill overlooking the town, not far away from here. She's there occasionally, maybe you should check that out first..."

I gave her a single nod coupled with a thankful smile, but, given the situation, the smile probably came out as empty, unemotional. She didn't return my smile, just gave me one last, remorseful look before flying out of my sight, out of the door into the pitch black night.


****


I found the tree after wandering and stumbling through the night for ten minutes or so. One thing I learned about the night in Equestria: it gets real dark, real soon - something I wasn't quite prepared for, nor accustomed to. 

But I found it, the big, old tree on the small hill. From there you had a great view over Ponyville and the surrounding area, especially over Ponyville. Surprisingly some ponies still seemed to be awake, the lights in some cottages still burning, those lights shining through the windows of the buildings, onto the streets of the humble little town.

I walked closer to the tree, all the while scanning it through the dark, trying to find an orange blob, but it was only when I was standing right in front of it that I spotted that blob.

Scootaloo lay on the ground, head facing the other way, chest heaving strongly. She was silent, staring up into the night sky, her body shaking slightly – if it was because of the chilly air, or because of what happened earlier, I didn't know at that moment.

I took a step closer to her, but she didn't seem to notice. I sat myself beside her, but she didn't acknowledge me. I put a hand on her back, idly scratching her, but she didn't move.

All she did was sit there, completely silent, head lying on her forelegs to gaze up at the stars.

I looked up, up to where she was looking. Up into the beautiful night sky, billions of stars shimmering in it, with each one of them reminding of back home. Of my childhood.

I felt strangely calm, collected even.

"I always liked the sky at night more than that at day, even when I was younger." I declared, almost automatically as I gazed up into the sky, my eyes leaping from star, to star, to star. "It made me feel happier, like I wasn't alone."

"It became a habit to look up into the sky at night where I felt lonely, lost, angry or sad." 

Scootaloo stirred a little, almost unnoticeable. 

"I even talked to it at times, told it about my life and the problems I had." I chuckled a little at the memories. "Heh, like it would talk to me."

For the first time since I arrived there, Scootaloo made a sound. A small giggle managed to slip past her lips, quickly followed by another one.

I think she finally gave up to keep silent after that.

"You're silly, dad." She said with another giggle, but contrary to the other one's, that one didn't sound like it was tried to be contained.

"I was, Scoots." I corrected her, smiling faintly. "I'm all grown-up now, I know that the sky can't talk."

She giggled again, inching just a little bit closer to me.

We lapsed into silence after that, a truly comfortable one. It almost seemed like everything was okay, that we were just father and daughter, sitting under a tree at a calm night, gazing up at the beautiful bright night sky.

It was almost like everything that happened before was completely forgotten. 

But everything good has to come to an end. 

I heard a short intake of air coming from my side. I knew what was going to happen next, so I mentally steeled myself for what was to come. 

I looked down, already seeing little Scootaloo returning my look. 

It was the first time since she ran away that I had a good look at her face. 
At the instant I saw her face, the dampened fur that covered it, those purple eyes of hers slightly red, I knew that she had been crying. It looked like she went through an emotional hell. It broke my heart to see her like that, but it was made even worse by the fact that I actually caused that pain.

I hurt her, not physically but emotionally.

I hurt her.

Her mouth opened, but what came out was something I wasn't expecting nor prepared for.

"Dad, I-I don't want to l-lose you." She managed to stutter between sobs, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks, glistening in the dim moonlight. 

She didn't want to lose me, which must have meant that she still loved me.

It was out of something I could only call 'fatherly instinct' that I reached down and pulled her shaking body up to my chest in a loving, single-handed embrace, the other hand occupied with gently stroking the purple mane on top of her head.

She nuzzled her head deeper into my chest as she started crying silently, chest expanding and retracting in sync with her ragged breathing, tears soaking the fabric of my t-shirt.

"I won't leave you, ever." I assured, pulling my one hand down to pull her into a two handed hug, closer to my body, which she eagerly returned as her two forelegs wrapped themselves around my chest. 

At that moment, it didn't just feel like we were two persons, father and daughter embracing each other. No, we were more than that.

We were two scared souls embracing each other, seeking for some kind of safety.

Two lone souls, desperately seeking for comfort.

Two broken souls, seeking for consolation.

All of that we found in each other's presence. 

I was sure, no, we both were sure that, in the end, everything would work out. Everything was going to be okay if we'd put a little work into making it work.

I couldn't put into words what I felt, nor did I want to, so I chose the next best thing; I kissed her lovingly on top of her head, silently telling her all those things, those many things I simply couldn't put into words.

"I promise that I will never leave you."
> Chapter Twenty (Bonus)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Do you feel better now?" I asked Scootaloo as we stood on the doorstep to our home, opening the door for her and me to enter.

She nodded her head once. "I think I do." She answered, looking up to me with a gentle smile. 

She walked in and I quickly followed suit, keen on escaping the growing cold outside. It wasn't that cold, but it sure was not warm either; I really needed to find someone who was willing to make me some clothes, especially a jacket with the winter season being just around the corner.

As we entered the living room I half-expected to see Rainbow sitting there, but to my complete surprise, she wasn't – not that I really wanted to talk to her, for that matter. I had enough stress and drama for one day.

Besides the fact that I had enough for one day, it was late, 10PM if the wall clock near the door to the kitchen could've been trusted. I just wanted to go to bed to give my body and my brain some well-deserved rest.

"Hey Scoots, tired?" I asked, looking down to her. "Because I sure am."

Although I could see the exhaustion in her eyes, she shook her head slowly, but just seconds later a yawn was able to escape her mouth. I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow, giving her a skeptical look. "Are you sure? Because that sure sounded like you're tired."

"Yeah, okay, maybe a little bit." She admitted with a heavy heart and another yawn. "C'mon dad, let's go to sleep."

"Sure." I said, smiling down at her. I bent down and picked her up, and before she even realized what was going on, she was in my arms. She giggled and wiggled, playfully hitting my chest with her cute little hooves in an attempt to free herself, but my grip on her remained strong.

"H-Hey Dad!" She protested, giggling growing in intensity as I started planting kisses randomly all atop of her head. "Hehe, stop it! I-I'm serious!"

"What? Am I not allowed to kiss my daughter now?" I asked with a pout, but, unfortunately, the only response I got was her rolling her eyes in annoyance, which was a clear no. "*sigh* Okay, no kissing then."

I was about to put her back on the ground when she started wiggling closer to my body, closer into my embrace. I stopped, looking down at her with another raised eyebrow.

"C-can you carry me?" She asked hesitantly, almost as if she had been afraid of asking me, peering up at me with those big, purple eyes from behind her mane. 

"Uh, yeah?" I answered with furrowed brows, confused as to why she was so shy all of a sudden, or why she was asking me to carry her in the first place - not that I was complaining. It was nice to have her in my arms.

She was just like a big teddy bear: fuzzy, warm and absolutely adorable. 

I gave her one last confused look before I turned and walked into the direction of the staircase that led upstairs, little orange filly tightly secured in my arms. I walked the stairs up carefully, step-by-step, not really wanting to trip and fall down, as that would've been quite a bad (and painful) way to end the night.

I pushed the door to my bedroom open and walked over to the incredibly inviting looking bed. I was about to throw her into the bed, but as I looked down to the little pegasus filly that was cradled up in my arms I realized that she was already fast asleep, breathing gently. I canceled my previous plan and instead chose to gently lay her down onto the mattress. 

As soon as she was out of my arms, a frown etched itself onto her face and she started tossing and turning, small hooves searching the empty mattress around her for the comfort of my body.

It pained me to see her like this because it made me realize just how much she needed me, how much she needed someone who truly cares about her. The longer I looked at her unresting body the more I became aware of just how much she must've gone through. So, not wanting to see her any longer like this, I quickly stripped myself down to my boxers and gently entered the bed beside her.

The frown that had been on her face vanished the instant one of her hooves found my right arm. In a matter of seconds I felt all four of her legs tightly wrapping themselves around my arm, so tight that I thought she wasn't really sleeping but well-awake - but she was asleep, she definitely was. 

Thanks to her holding on so tightly I was able to lift her up just enough for my hand to fit under her back, and, with small effort, then lifted her up onto my chest. She almost immediately let go of my arm and snuggled herself deeper into my chest, her short, almost silk-like fur tickling me as she did so. 

Her face was partially covered up by her purple mane, but the satisfied smile she had on her face was still very much visible. I lifted one hand up to her face and brushed the few strands of stray hair out of her face.

"I love you, dad." She muttered in her sleep, almost not loud enough for me to hear. But I heard it.

A strange but pleasant warmth spread through my chest as her words reached my ears. I smiled gently, tilting my head down to give her a kiss on the forehead.

"I love you too, Scoots." The words seemed to almost automatically leave my lips, but their true meaning hadn't changed. I loved her more than anything and nothing could've ever changed that.

I closed my eyes and laid my head back down, letting it sink into the soft pillow. I made some half-hearted attempts to pull the covers up with my feet, but I was out like a light even before I was able to pull them up all the way, my mind too tired to resist the urge of falling asleep.

> Chapter Twenty-One - Generosity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Like (almost) every other morning I was awakened by the unmistakable sound of chirping birds and the sun shining through the closed curtains, right into my bedroom, illuminating the whole room in its beautiful annoying golden light.

"I should've taken that damn revolver with me." I grumbled angrily, opening my eyes slowly and glaring at the closed curtains. "One day those damn birds are going to pay..."

'And what about the sun? What do you want to do about that?'

'Shut up.'

'I'm your brain, don't tell me what to do.'

'No, don't you tell me what to do! I am...uh...'

'Dude, you're literally talking to yourself.'

'Yeah, well, at least I'm not an assh-'

I'm still not quite sure if that bowling ball accident gave me more than just some scratches and a headache.

Fortunately my little internal battle was interrupted as a certain orange filly started stirring and yawned, announcing that she was slowly waking up. I looked down, only to see her already returning my look, a smile on her face that made me brighten up instantly. 

"Good morning, dad." She greeted cheerfully, nuzzling against the crook of my neck.

"Well, good morning to you too." I said, returning her loving gesture by planting a small kiss on top of her head. She blushed, standing up on my chest and playfully hitting my shoulder.

"Daaad!"

"Anyways, how about some breakfast? I could make some pancakes, maybe scrambled eggs, or hell, maybe even som-"

"Did you go grocery shopping yet?" She asked, interrupting my daydreaming about all the various, incredibly tasty things I could've made for breakfast - that I just realized I couldn't make.

"...We could also go to Sugarcube Corner again." 

"Do you have any bits to pay?" 

I sighed, facepalming. "...Shit, you're right. Pinkie was kind enough to give us that meal for free..." I muttered through my hand.

"Yeah, so what now?"

I let my hand fall back down, giving her a slightly helpless look. "I dunno. Do you eat flowers?"

"Depends." She said, 'hmming' and lifting a hoof up to her chin, tapping it idly. "What flowers are we talking about?"

"Uh...white ones and some...yellow ones, I think? They're... pretty?" I said helplessly. She rolled her eyes. "What? I ain't no botanist."

She smacked her lips after a short period of silence. "Yeah, well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to get me some flowers." She said, jumping off of my chest and then from the bed down onto the ground. She walked over to the door, which, somehow, opened itself as she put a hoof to it. "Better be fast or I'll eat them all alone."

"But I don't even like flowers!" I stated aloud with a pout on my face, looking at her retreating form.

"That's your problem." She called back from somewhere in the hallway. "It's either that or nothing."

"Ugh..." I groaned, pulling the blankets off of my body and sitting myself up on the edge of the bed. I stretched myself, smiling tiredly as I heard my joints popping, but that smile didn't last long as I soon started missing the feeling of the incredibly soft and therefore comfortable mattress beneath my back. 

'Who knows, maybe flowers aren't that bad?' I thought.

So I stood up, scratched my back, pulled on the only set of clothes I had and made my way downstairs to join Scoots at the breakfast. 





I looked down into my left hand, a bunch of white petals collected in it. 

Sitting opposite of me was Scootaloo, nose deep in a big plate filled with flowers of all colors, happily munching away on them. "And you are sure these aren't poisonous?" I asked her skeptically.

Polite as she was she swallowed before speaking up, "I'm eating them, ain't I?"

I lifted one of the little white petals up to my face, gently holding it between thumb and index finger. "Well, I don't know about this for sure... Like, maybe they just aren't poisonous for you?"

She shrugged. "Only one way to find out, I guess."

Now, I really didn't want to die, but I also didn't want to miss breakfast, the most important meal of the day. I slowly brought the petal closer to my mouth, gulped once and reluctantly bit into it.

I was almost, almost, disappointed that it tasted like bitter and slightly tangy grass. The only thing that actually made the little petal even eatworthy were all those vitamins it was supposed to have, if Scootaloo had been right about that.

"Aaaand? How was it?" Scootaloo asked, maybe a little bit too excited, her plate that was previously filled with hills of flowers completely empty. "Good, right?"

"It tastes like grass." I stated simply, not looking very impressed. I then threw the rest of the petals into my mouth, chewing and chewing, but the taste remained the same. It was the same grassy, slightly tangy and bitter taste, only more intense.

"Grass?" She inquired, raising an eyebrow. "Doesn't taste like grass to me."

"And what does it taste like then?" I questioned in return, raising an eyebrow equally high.

She 'hmmed', rubbing the underside of her muzzle with one of her little hooves. "I dunno, like...daisies?" She answered unsurely.

"Scoots, these are daisies."

"I know."





I stood up from the chair, stretching once. "Well, I'll get myself some more. They aren't that bad. Better than nothing, at least."

"Hehe, yeah, about that..." Scootaloo started nervously, looking down at the empty plate. "I may have...eaten all of them."

"You have what?" I asked, the last part of her sentence not really reaching my ears.

She sighed. "I have eaten all of them."

I blinked, then groaned.

"Fuck."


****


My stomach grumbled, my feet felt heavy with every step I took.

"Where are we going Scoots?" I asked the orange pegasus in front of me. 

"To the Carousel Botique, duh." She answered as if it was obvious, giving me a short look from over her shoulder.

"Okay, and why are we going there?" I asked, annoyance growing with every second we were walking through the vibrant town called Ponyville. The stares and glances I was (still) receiving -some of them even showing pure disgust towards me (why was beyond me)- were making things even worse. "I really don't know why you are dragging me there. You just told me to follow you."

It was right. As soon as I was done with cleaning the plate she used for her breakfast she literally dragged me out of the door and told me to follow her. Why, she didn't say, but apparently I should've known that the moment we went outside.

Yeah, well, I didn't. Go figure.

"Because we need to ask Rarity about making new clothes for you." 

"What's so bad about them?" I asked confusedly, one eyebrow raised as I looked down to my t-shirt. "They look normal?"

"Well yeah, they look normal, but they definitely do not smell normal." She said, her face contorting in disgust as she took a rather big inhale through her nose. "Yeah, definitely not." She concluded, shuddering slightly.

At first I didn't believe her, but then I took a smell of my own - she wasn't lying when she said that I smelled bad.

"Oh boy." I muttered, face scrunching up in disgust as the sweaty and quite disgusting smell hit my nose. "That is disgusting. I really have no idea how I didn't smell that until now."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't that bad yesterday." She said, face features softening into her normal look again. She then shrugged once and resumed walking. "At least I'm not the only pony that has to smell you."

I looked around me, seeing some of the ponies waving their hooves in front of their noses in a disgusted fashion as they passed me. Apparently ponies were way better at smelling things than I had thought, which explained a lot of things. 

Not that I particularly cared about them. They had been nothing but assholes to me back then, or hell, even downright psychotic. 

Let's take that mint-green unicorn mare as an example for 'downright psychotic'. I still didn't know what was up with her, but I'm sure that I had some kind of deep mental scarring from the encounter at the hospital. If what Rainbow told me about her had been right, she lived in town. It was a miracle that I hadn't seen her again - a miracle I'm quite grateful for.

But I knew that my luck was, sooner or later, going to run out - I just had to hope that it wasn't going to run out this day, because, boy did I not want to cross paths with her again.

"There it is!" Scootaloo said, pointing a hoof at a big white something in front of us. 

I looked, and looked, and looked some more, but no matter how hard I analyzed the thing in front of me, I had no idea what exactly it should portray.

Sure, it was a building, the Carousel Boutique to be exact, where Rarity and her little sister lived in, but what the actual fuck was it? How exactly should I describe something that looked like an eight-year-old girl had drawn it? Why couldn't the ponies in town build one normal looking house?

I mean, seriously, a gingerbread house bakery, a castle made out of crystals, a house that was literally a tree and now that?

"C'mon dad!" Scootaloo called, pulling me out of my thoughts about pony architecture and all that jazz. She was standing in the doorway, holding the door open for me as she gestured for me to enter the downright fabulous, girly colored building with one of her forelegs.

With a sigh I walked over to the door and entered the building, already dreading what was going to await me inside.

As soon as I entered it my nose was assaulted by the very potent smell of perfume and more perfume, the sheer amount of it that was lingering in the air making me feel dizzy for a second. 

Scootaloo closed the door beside me and trotted up to my side, wearing the same expression on her face as I did. "Ugh, I hate that smell..."

"Yeah." I agreed, even though I didn't really hear her; my mind was just too fascinated by the counter to my right, or, more precisely, by the silver bell that was placed on top of it. It was almost like it was calling for me to ring it, the silver glistening in the room's bright light hypnotically. 

I outstretched an arm absentmindedly, ringing the bell before I even registered what I was doing.

"♫ Cooom-iiing ♬" A melodic and unmistakeable voice called from somewhere around the corner, from somewhere upstairs, quickly followed by the tell-tale sound of clopping hooves. The sound grew in volume until the source of it revealed itself.

"Welcome to the Carou- Oh, hello William, Scootaloo." She greeted as she rounded the corner, looking genuinely happy to see us. "It's good to-" She interrupted herself mid-sentence, sniffed once, then twice, and in a matter of seconds her face took on a look of disgust. 

"By Celestia, what is that smell?" She asked, eyes darting between me and Scootaloo. "It smells downright horrifying!"

I chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. Rarity looked like she was about to faint as I did so because by doing so I somehow managed to make the smell even worse - but she managed not to faint, which kinda impressed me.

"Y-yeah, well, It may-"

"It's his clothes." Scotaloo answered, not giving me the chance to answer Rarity myself, pointing an excusing hoof at me. "That's the only set of clothes he took with him and they're kinda stinking now."

Rarity finally managed to look at me again, albeit a bit annoyed, one hoof in front of her nose, trying to prevent the bad-smelling air from reaching her nostrils. "Darling, pardon my language, but why the buck didn't you think of coming to me earlier?" She asked me, voice muffled by the hoof in front of her muzzle, but the annoyance was still very much hearable. "It could've made things so much...less gross."

"Well, I don't exactly have any mon-...Er, bits, on me." I answered matter-of-factly. "Buying clothes is kinda out of the question right now."

"William, dear-" She started, reluctantly moving her hoof away from her face and interrupting herself with a cute giggle. "-you don't have to pay me for making you clothes."



"Wait, what?" I asked after a short moment of silence, staring at the white pony like she was a maniac. "You want to make me clothes for free? Like, free free? The kind of free that doesn't involve me giving you bits?"

She nodded, answering my question. "Yes dear."

"But why?"

She made a tsk sound, shaking her head from side to side. "Do you really think that after you took care of Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow and little Scootaloo there-" She pointed a hoof at the filly to my left. "-that I'm going to charge you for making you some clothes or two?"

I opened my mouth to form a retort, but the white unicorn mare beat me to it. 

"Don't even think about saying that we already did enough by building you a house." She said, smiling up at me in a gentle way. I closed my mouth again, surprised that she knew what I was going to say. "You gave those four a home for over two months and hid them from your own government, which, considering the nature of Twilight and Rainbow, you did very well, I might add."

"They weren't that bad." I answered, rolling my eyes. "It's like everyone's thinking that Twilight's going to blow things up as soon as she starts experimenting, or that Rainbow's hard to be around because she's... well, Rainbow."

"I mean, it's not like Twilight blew anything up or did any permanent damage to something." I paused, idly rubbing my stubbly chin with one hand as if in deep thought. "At least I think so."

"And Rainbow...Well, she was okay, but did some admittedly stupid things." I continued, thoughts drifting back to that one day where she thought showing me the Sonic Rainboom was a good idea... Outside. Right in front of my house. Where everyone who was in the near vicinity could've seen her and that rainbow trail she created.

"Actually, let me rephrase that: she did some really stupid things." I concluded. "But that still doesn't mean that they weren't good guests. They helped me too, you know?"

Rarity nodded in acknowledgment. "That may be true, but you still helped them a lot, which is why you have the privilege of getting some fine clothes made by none other than moi. For free, I may add."

I opened my mouth to politely decline her offer, that I somehow was going to pay her for her service (even though I wasn't sure how), but she interrupted me even before the words were able to leave my mouth.

"I insist on it." She said firmly but friendly, that smile never wavering.

I was about to say no, to again decline her offer as politely as I possibly could have done, but then I was reminded by my brain how much I needed those clothes, and, if she insisted on making them for free, why not accept it? Plus, it didn't look like she was changing her opinion on the matter, or read to let me go before I accepted her generous offer.

"I...Okay..." I said, sighing in defeat. Her smile grew ten times bigger and I could've sworn that I heard an excited squeal coming from her. "But just this once! I don't want you to go bankrupt."

"Oh, this is so exciting! I'm the first pony to make clothes for an alien!" The unicorn said gleefully, sitting herself on her haunches and clasping her two hooves together, excitement clearly visible. 

I shook my head at the silly display in front of me before looking down to my side, to Scootaloo, who looked like she was trying her hardest to hold back giggles.

She wasn't good at holding back, though, so that meant that a few managed to slip past her lips. And then a few more.

Rarity cleared her throat and my head automatically turned back to look at her. She still looked happy, but the tint of red on her cheeks was noticeable, even though she tried to hide it. She must've realized her overreaction, though I definitely understood why she was so excited in the first place - It was her job to make clothes, after all. Why shouldn't she be excited about making clothes for a new species?

"Anyways, how about we take some measurements?" Rarity asked, this time trying her best to seem professional and more 'ladylike'.

"Sure."


	
	
> Chapter Twenty-Two - Meeting a God
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Aaaand it is done!" Rarity declared, giving my pants a final tug before stepping back. She looked me up and down, inspecting her work while nodding in approval. "What do you think?" She asked, levitating a mirror in front of me.

I looked in the mirror for the first time since she started making these clothes for me, which she insisted she would do right away so that I didn't have to walk around all smelly n' stuff - and she was damn fast at that, I may add. She finished the set I was wearing at that moment in record time.

Of course the set she made me wasn't anything overly special. A plain white t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans, but, hey, you have to keep in consideration that I'm not her everyday customer - A fact that she made quite obvious when she was taking measurements. I knew that I had to take off my clothes beforehand, but I didn't think that I had to take off all of them.

Sure, she tried to be professional about my... unique body form, as she put it, but that didn't help to stop the awkwardness.

"Thank you so much, Rarity!" I said, giving the white unicorn behind me a grateful and sincere smile through the mirror. "They're perfect!"

"It is nothing, dear." She said with a hint of red on her cheeks, waving a hoof in a dismissive manner. "It was a pleasure, really."

There was a small 'pop' sound, and, in the blink of an eye, the mirror that was in front of me just moments ago was gone, teleported away to where she probably grabbed it from. Even though the concept of magic wasn't something entirely new to me, it managed to surprise me how easy those ponies could let things vanish and appear in just the blink of an eye.

Makes one wonder if they could do the same to actual lifeforms.

"So, the other two sets and the jacket should be done in a week or so." Rarity said, the blush from before gone, replaced by a friendly smile. "Also, before I forget it, I'll bring those-" She pointed a hoof at my dirty, old set of clothes that she stuffed, for reasons that I completely understood, into a big, see-through bag. "-to the laundry shop for you. You can pick them up next time you're here."

"So they have something like that here? That's good." I muttered to myself, surprised that there was indeed a way for me to clean my clothes, though I still had doubts about them having washing machines. "Thanks Rarity." I thanked her again, smiling warmly.

"Anytime, darling." 

"Yeah, well, anyways, I think I better go now. You probably have some important things to do." I said awkwardly, somehow feeling like I was holding up Rarity enough already. She was a busy mare, after all.

I looked around in an attempt to spot a certain orange filly that should've been there the whole time  - but she wasn't there. "Uh, where's Scoots?"

"She went upstairs with Sweetie Belle some time ago." Rarity explained, raising an eyebrow. "Haven't you noticed?"

"No, not really." I lifted a hand to idly scratch at my chin, once again noticing how I was really in need of a shave, but quickly dismissing the thought of shaving because I was going to forget it anyways.

"I could get her if you wish." Rarity offered, already turning her body to the staircase that led upstairs.

"Nah, you don't need to." I said, stopping her mid-walk. "Just tell her that she needs to be home before evening. I want to see her before she has to go back... to the orphanage." 

"I can certainly do that." She said with a hint of sympathy, nodding her head in understanding. 

The subject of adoption somehow came up while Rarity was taking her important measurements, probably in a two-sided attempt to distract the both of us from the awkwardness and give us something to talk about, but all it did was (logically) lead me to explain her about the whole fiasco concerning me adopting Scootaloo. 

It was kinda hard for me to talk about it, something Rarity must've noticed because she changed the subject quickly after I've told her the story.

"Well, I better go now." I said, heading for the door, opening it with one of my hands as I reached it. The fresh air that hit my nose made me aware of just how much I missed it; the perfume-air in Rarity's boutique was just a bit too much for my taste. I turned around, smiling down at the white unicorn for one last time, offering her a handshake, which she happily accepted. "Thanks again, Rarity. See you around."

I spun around and walked out of the door, down to the street that led back into Ponyville.

"Ta-ta." I heard her call back, probably waving me a goodbye, before the door slammed shut.

The instant my shoe-covered feet touched the cobble street, everyone was, once again, staring at me - but this time it somehow...bothered me more. It was like that, now that I was alone, no one even tried to hide it. No one even tried to hide how they thought of me, how disgusted they thought I was or how frightened they were by my appearance.

The ones that were disgusted didn't faze me in the slightest, no; it were the ones that feared me that made me anxious. As everyone knows, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate to suffering.

Suffering I would've needed to go through.

I felt small and vulnerable all of a sudden. It didn't feel good how everyone was staring at me. It didn't feel good when a small crowd started to form around me, whispering among themselves about the 'weird, scary thing' in front of them. The whispers suddenly grew louder in volume, louder and louder until it felt like they were screaming into my ears. I started shaking, my eyes darting from left to right. 

I pushed my way through the crowd and quickened my pace, walking to god-knows-where, my brain telling me to get the fuck out of there soon or I'll get chased out of town by an angry mob with pitchforks and torches.

"Hey Will, stop!" It felt like it wasn't just one person that knew my name was calling me to stop, it felt like it were hundreds, thousands even, their voices bouncing around in my head. I kept on looking forward, up the road, not daring to stop. I even increased my speed, going over into a full jog to escape whoever or whatever was following me. 

"Wait!" It called again, this time a lot closer, but as the words hit my ears I finally realized something: the voice sounded familiar, very familiar in fact. That southern drawl I could've realized everywhere.

I smiled in relief, immediately screeching to a halt, feet digging into the dirt path beneath me as I did my best to slow down quickly.

...Wasn't a really good idea if you take into consideration that a sprinting Applejack was right behind me.

Of course she wasn't able to stop in time as I suddenly and without a warning screeched to a halt and spun around, though she probably tried her best to. The moment I felt her collide with my lower legs it felt like a freight train just hit them, sending a sharp jolt of pain right through them. However, even though she was really fast and probably should've knocked me down, or broken some bones, I was somehow able to stay upright and not fall backwards into the dirt. 

Or break my legs.

The first thing I did was look down to my legs, relief washing over me as I found out that they were where they belonged and in the right position. I really didn't want to see the white hospital's ceiling again anytime soon.

So, apart from the small twinge of pain I felt, I was okay. Even my clothes were still clean.

Applejack, though, didn't seem to have as much luck as I had - the orange farmer seemed positively dazed by the impact, eyes spinning in her head as she staggered around, doing her best to remain upright. She was staggering around like a person that had just one too many drinks.

I immediately went over to her and helped her in her quest not to fall to the ground, putting both of my hands on her shoulders in order to keep her steady. "Shit." I cursed. "You okay?"

It took her a second or two to stop swaying from left to right, but she did succeed in it eventually. She shook her head, probably to let her think clearly again.

"Woah nelly, everythin' was spinnin' there for a moment." She said funnily in that southern accent, almost making me chuckle if it hadn't been for the situation. She then shot me a sheepish, apolegetic look. "Sorry fer crashin' into ya."

"No, it was my fault. Shouldn't have stopped like that." I said as i looked her over for any bruises or scratches, still a little concerned that I hurt her by being so careless. "You aren't hurt, are you?"

"Nah, Ah'm good, just feelin' a lil tipsy is all." She assured me with a small chuckle, smiling up at me. I returned her smile as I lifted my hands away and took a step back to give her some space. "What's gotten inta ya anyways?"

As she said those words the first thing I did was look around, almost panicky, for the angry mob of ponies with the torches that, in my imagination, was chasing me, but, surprise surprise, there was no mob.

Not at that moment, at least.

I sighed heavily, shaking my head slowly. "To be honest, I actually don't know. I think I might be going crazy."

"Huh? Why's that?"

Instead of giving her an answer in the form of words, I pointed a finger over my shoulder towards the slowly dissolving, relatively small crowd that was watching us from afar, giving her the blankest look I could muster.

"Oh, Ah see, that." She said, and, for a moment, it almost sounded like she was angry herself. She sighed sadly, shaking her head a few times before speaking up again, "Ya... Ya need to give 'em time. They'll eventually fin' out that ya aren't somepony ta fear."

"Yeah, and meanwhile I'll just go crazy because I need to fear them chasing me out of town." I shuddered visibly, just the thought of a hundred angry ponies with the ability to fly, perform magic or just simply stomp me into the ground sending shivers down my spine. "Hell, maybe even worse."

"Hey, don'tcha forget that ya have me an' ma friends, the princesses', an' three fillies on ya side." She threw in, smiling up at me in a manner that said 'We'll be there for you.'

I chuckled. "Yeah, especially with the CMC on my side I'll be safe. They can come up with some really scary things."

She shuddered and nodded. "Totally agree with ya there." 

I think the both of us had some serious PTSD from the CMC's terrifying ideas.

"So whatcha want?" I inquired, taking an almost apprehensive look back over my shoulder just to see if we were still being watched by that crowd, or if they finally went their way, but, to my pleasant surprise, not a single pony was watching us. There was no one near us and I finally felt like I could breathe again.

She beamed up at me, giving me that charming smile of hers. "Well, since ya didn't have any job, Ah though why not offer ya one? Ah thou-"

I interrupted her rudely right there, before she could go any further, as I was slightly confused about what she exactly meant by that. "Sorry that I interrupt, but did you just say that you want to offer me a job?"

She looked at me like I just told her the earth was flat, or that magic doesn't exist. "Well, 'f course. Ya mah friend, ain'tcha?" 

I nodded.

"An' ya need a job?"

I nodded again.

"So Ah'm offerin' ya a job 'cause friends help each other out, right?" She continued.

"I...guess so, yeah."

"Simple math, really." 

"That has nothing to do with math."

"Doesn't matter!" She exclaimed exhaustedly, throwing her forehooves up in an overly dramatic (and unrealistic) way. "What Ah'm tryin' to say is, Ah want tah help ya out 'cause ya my friend, so I'm asking ya if ya want to work at mah families' farm and earn some bits."

"God, first Rarity and now her too?" I muttered under my breath, apparently just loud enough for her to not hear it, even though I saw her ears perking up for a moment. 

"Well, Applejack, I really, really appreciate the offer, but I honestly don't think that manual labor really suits me, nor am I fit enough for it." I answered honestly, emphasizing my point by pointing down my body; I had been in a much better shape, to be perfectly honest, but ever since I stopped working out, I started putting on some weight, which is... pretty self-explanatory.

Even though I tried my best to politely decline her offer, I knew that it was a fruitless effort from the beginning on. Once Applejack made up her mind, there was no way to change it. She was like that from the day on I met her.

She put on a serious face, a facial expression that almost, just almost made me realease a groan. "William, Ah didn't want to bring it up, but Ah don' really think that anypony's willin' to offer yer a job besides me, an' the last thing Ah want is that ya end up on tha' street."

I was about to form a retort, but gave up on that as soon as I realized one thing: she was right. She was telling the truth, as hard as it was. No one, definitely no one was willing to offer me a job besides her and maybe, just maybe Rarity, though I don't think that her customers would really appreciate me being in her shop when they come to buy some of her creations. I probably would've scared them out of her boutique.

I sighed, admitting defeat as I realized that she couldn't have been more right about my situation. "Okay, fine, but don't expect me to do amazing. I can't even remember when I worked out the last time."

A smile found itself onto her face immediately as the words left my mouth, a smile so big that it made me smile myself.

"Follow ma lead!" She said happily, trotting away into the opposite direction from where we originally came.

I chuckled, not loud enough for her to actually hear it. These ponies were just too damn adorable when they got excited - not that I'd say that to Applejack face-to-face, lest I get a hoof to my shin.


****


Ten uneventful minutes later and we arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack's quite charming home. The sun was at it's highest point as we walked through the gate, and the sky was free of any clouds that could've blocked the sun's rather bright, almost blinding, light.

The weather was quite unusual for the end of fall, at least by Earth standards.

However, that didn't mean that it wasn't to my liking - quite the opposite, really. It was a welcome change to have warmer falls, especially since that didn't mean that I had to wear a jacket all the time, which was really convenient if you keep in mind that I was about to work outside that whole day. 

It was weird, really. Going from a software engineer, someone who has to sit inside most of the time, to a farmer, or whatever Applejack considered herself, someone who has to work outside exclusively. 

It was weird, yet another welcome change. It meant that I finally accomplished something since I arrived in Equestria, even though it was pretty much handed me on a silver platter.

"Will, ya okay, pardner?"

I shook my head, smiling at the pony in front of me that was giving me a look of slight confusion. "Yeah, just thinking."

"Enough thinkin', have ya had lunch yet?"

I rubbed the back of my head nervously, instantly knowing where this was going. "I actually didn't even have anything for breakfast, but that's okay, I can work like that."

She gasped.

"Nonsense, ya need to have at least somethin' in ya stomach!" She explained with a frown, beckoning me to follow her with one of her hooves as she walked into the opposite direction to where we were supposed to go - to the orchard. "C'mon, ya can eat with 's, Ah'm sure lunch's ready by now."

I smiled sheepishly, still rubbing the back of my head. "No, it's okay, really."

She stopped and smirked at me from over her shoulder. "Don' make me drag ya to the table, sugarcube." She said curtly with a smug grin, knowing exactly that there was no way I was going to win this argument, before resuming to walk into the direction of a big and red, familiar looking farmhouse in front of her.

I let my hand fall back down to my sides, giving her retreating form a slightly annoyed look. "God fucking damn it." I muttered before I slowly started walking to the farmhouse, Applejack already patiently waiting for me as she held the door open.

I knew that the next minutes were going to be awkward. Except for Apple Bloom, I didn't know anyone from her family. Sure, she has told me about them back on Earth, and a lot too, but that didn't mean that they knew me.

I stepped inside the humble looking home as I reached the doorstep, Applejack entering herself and then closing the behind her with a loud slam that seemed to echo in the house. At first glance, everything looked really homey and rustic, unsurprisingly, with most furniture made out of wood and a small fireplace to my right. 

Then I smelled something familiar smelling, something that I could only describe as downright delicious. It smelled just like when Applejack prepared breakfast back on earth, just a thousand times stronger and more... apple-y. I felt my mouth watering in anticipation of all the delicious meals that were sure to come.

"Sister, ya home?" A sweet, childish voice called from another room to my left. 

"Yep." She shortly answered back, beckoning me to follow her with one hoof as she walked to the room where the young voice originated from. "And we have a guest."

I followed Applejack into what had to be the kitchen, the sweet smell intensifying as I got closer. It soon turned out that it was indeed the kitchen, and there was one thing, one thing that probably was the most glorious thing I had seen all day. 

Food.

My mouth hung open at the great variety of food that was neatly placed on a big, rustic table in the center of the room. Pancakes, scrambled eggs, pancakes, cupcakes - you name it, they (probably) had it.

"This looks delicious." I said, licking my lips and rubbing my hands together in anticipation of what presented in front of me, just a few meters away from me. 

All I had to do was take a couple of steps and reach out...

I didn't notice that I was indeed trying to grab some food from the table until I took a hoof to my knee. "EY! No eatin' 'til everpony's at tha table!" Said that sweet childish voice from before, appearing out of nowhere, but at least this time I knew who exactly it was. "That also goes fer ya, Will!"

I immediately took a step back as the hoof hit my knee, mainly out of shock but also because of the pain Apple Bloom inflicted. A short gasp of pain managed to slip past my lips, but I quickly coughed into my hand in an attempt to hide it. 

"H-hehe, sorry Apple Bloom." I said, chuckling nervously as I tried not to show how much that hit hurt me; that small orange filly really packed a punch.

"Apple Bloom, what's all this turmoil 'bout?" A new and foreign voice asked from somewhere above me, but this one sounded like nothing I've heard before; it honestly sounded old, like the elderly kind of old.

Apple Bloom sighed. "Granny, we have a guest!" She said aloud, completely ignoring the question her grandmother (?) asked her.

Suddenly the floor above me started creaking, which was followed by constant muffled swearing and muttering. It had to be their grandmother, which surprised me quite a lot. Some of the words were not so nice, and definitely not fit for Apple Bloom's ears, but that didn't seem to stop the elderly pony from swearing.

I raised an eyebrow as the swearing grew more distant, but then quickly came back louder as the pony walked the staircase to my right down. 

As I guessed earlier, she was indeed an elderly pony if the creases on her face and the silver hair was anything to go by. Her coat was a light green and her butt tattoo was some kind of pie, which probably meant that she was a professional at baking...uh, pies. 

She wore some kind of orange scarf dotted with red apples around her neck.

It took her a moment to spot me, even though she was looking right at me, but when she finally did, all she did was roll her eyes and say, "Applejack, Ah already told ya a hundred times, no diamon' dogs in mah house allowed."

I raised another eyebrow. "Diamond what?"

Applejack facehoofed. "Ugh, Granny, this is Will."

Granny Smith shot her a short, helpless look.

"Ya know, the hoo-man-" I cringed inwardly. "-who saved me an' mah friends? Scootaloo's adoptive father?" Applejack continued, trying to help her grandmother's memories along.

Granny Smith took a few step closer to me, too close for my liking as she looked me up and down skeptically. "Ah dunno, he does look more like a diamon' dog tah me." 

"Ya haven't seen another hoo-man-" I sighed and shook my head. "-in all ya life, Granny." Applejack stated with a deadpan look on her face.

"Maybe Ah did?"

"Have ya?" Apple Bloom asked excitedly, bouncing up and down in place. 

"Nah, I haven' 'lil Bloom."

The orange filly deflated and made an 'oh' sound, sinking down to the floor as all of her hopes were shattered. Which hopes, I had no idea, but knowing her it was probably something about getting her Cutie Mark.

"Granny, where's Big Mac?" Applejack asked.

"He's still at the northern fiel', collecting the last apples." The elderly pony responded, her eyes never leaving me as if she still was still skeptical about me. "He shoul' be there any momen'."

As if on cue I heard the front door opening and then get shut with a loud thump, the sound echoing through the whole house like it was one big hall. A few heavy sounding steps and I was confronted by something with a red coat and an orange mane. My eyes widened slightly at the sight, but not because of the colors or the height of the stallion standing in front of me, but more because of his muscular body. 

Sure, Big MacIntosh, Applejack and Apple Bloom's brother, was big, maybe just half-a-head smaller than Celestia, but what he lacked in size (heh) he made more than up with his incredibly toned body. I'm not someone who likes looking at other guy's bodies, nor did I enjoy it that time, but damn, there was literally no way for me not to notice how muscular that guy was.

"Uh, hey." I greeted with a bob of my head, trying to act casual by but failing miserably at that. "You must be Big Mac?"

He raised his eyebrow, an expression on his face as if he was trying to find out what exactly I was. "Eeyy-yyup." He answered slowly, his relatively deep voice sounding calm yet slightly unsure.

I offered him my hand, a gesture he seemed confused about at first but then slowly accepted. "Name's William, maybe you've heard about me from your sisters."

He blinked. 

You could almost see the exclamation mark appearing above his head as he accepted the handshake I offered him with a slight smile that appeared out of thin air. And yet, all that left his mouth was a simple, "Eeyup."

He seemed to be the complete opposite of Applejack and Apple Bloom: quiet, calm and collected, at least he made it seem so.

"So, now tha' we're all here, how 'bout we get started?" Applejack asked, to which my body's only response was a loud grumble originating from my stomach.

I blushed slightly as everyone, except for Big Mac of course, chuckled at my expense.

"Ah'll take that as a yes." She said with a chuckle, smiling at me. "Y'all better take a seat before poor Will needs ta starve."



****



Lunch, as they called it (it was more like a big buffet, really), was quite short, but filling nonetheless. I don't think I'd ever eaten as much in one sitting as that day.

After we finished lunch, everyone headed out their respective ways: Granny went upstairs to do whatever she was doing before, Apple Bloom went on her way to the Carousel Boutique after I told her that Scootaloo was there too, and Big Mac walked away without saying anything, probably getting back to work.

That left only Applejack and me, and because I accepted her generous job offer, we only had one thing to do.

Yeah, you guessed it, getting the work done.

Now, the work itself was nothing worth mentioning. It was simple, really: she'd get the apples down from the trees, I'd pick those up that didn't fall into the baskets and then carry those baskets back to the barn. 

It was simple, yet incredibly tiring.

But luckily even Applejack needed to take a break every now and then, which meant that I was also allowed to take one. 

And it was at that break that I met someone really...unique.


****


I was lying in the shadow of a rather big apple tree, somewhere up in the northern part of the incredibly huge apple orchard, eyes closed as I tried to take a quick nap before Applejack came back. She went to the farmhouse to get some water a few minutes prior and had yet to return, which left me with nothing to do, nor anyone to conversate beside myself.

Contrary to what you may believe, I didn't really like one-sided conversations.

But being alone wasn't completely bad. Sure, I was bored, but after that huge load of apple-filled, unbelievable heavy baskets I carried from the orchard, all the way back to the barn, getting some time alone and in peace was...refreshing.

My muscles were aching, my body hated me for what i did and I was all alone, but at that moment I felt strangely at peace. It may have been because I finally accomplished something, because I finally had a job, or just because my body was getting it's well-deserved rest.

Whatever it may have been, everyone knows that I'm not exactly the luckiest person, so, of course, my time alone was cut short.

With my eyes closed, I didn't even notice that I wasn't alone anymore. Only when I was tapped on the shoulder by something I definitely could tell were no hooves my eyes shot open.

What I was confronted with was scary, and, on a strange note, familiar. Two big orbs of a brilliant yellow with two smaller crimson ones in them, one bigger than the other. It took me a moment to realize that those two orbs were eyes and that they were connected to a head of interesting shape.

It's head looked like the one of a pony, but that's where the similarities ended. It had a deer antler on the right side of its head, a blue goat horn on the left, one long fang protruding from its mouth, those freaky different-sized pupils, a snake tongue (as far as I had been able to see), a snow-white goat beard and white bushy eyebrows.

The head was connected to a serpentine, slender body. My eyes traveled the body down, seeing how the colors faded firstly from a yellowish gray into a reddish brown and ended in the darker red of his fish-like tail. 

Of course it also had legs and arms, but there were just as unusual as the rest of its body. Its right arm resembled a lion's one, with a paw and fitting claws, while its left arm was that of some kind of bird. Its right leg was that of a lizard and the left leg was, with no doubts, that of a goat.

Surprisingly the creature also came with a pair of wings, but, just like the rest of its body, they weren't the same kind of wing. One was leathery and boney, presumably belonging to a bat, while the other one was feathery and more familiar looking. Could've been that of a pegasus.

As I continued to gawk at the creature in front of me, I started shaking. Not really because of its creepy appearance, or that I could get eaten alive any moment, but more because of how it was looking at me. It was smiling at me, it definitely was, but its smile was nowhere making me feel comfortable or happy.

Its smile, combined with those two freaky eyes, was downright creepy, borderline scary. I felt like a cornered animal that was about to get eaten, with my predator knowing that there was no way for me to escape.

So, imagine my surprise when he opened his mouth, outstretched his freaky lion paw and said, "Good to meet you at last, William."
> Chapter Twenty-Three - Talking to a God
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I stared at the paw he, if its voice had been any indicator, offered me, not too sure of what to do or what to say. Should I've been friendly and just accept the handshake of someone who freaked me the fuck out? Should I've been running for my dear life?

But then again, it didn't feel like it was necessary to run from this dragon...goat...Uh, whatever he was. Even though he creeped me the fuck out with his cobbled-together appearance and that downright creepy smile, I didn't feel like running away while screaming like a child. Something told me that he wasn't here to do me harm.

Maybe it was because he hadn't even tried to touch me.

So, with one quick and last glance back at his face, which he answered with a confusing wiggle of his white eyebrows, I outstretched one of my hands slowly, very carefully, to meet his open paw. But before I was even half-way there, he grabbed my hand right out of the air, rapidly shaking it up and down, his smile widening to unnatural proportions for just a second before turning back to normal.

My vision went blurry for a second, but as quickly as it came it was also gone. I didn't pay it any mind as I spoke up, "Uh, yeah, nice to meet you...uh...?"

"Oh, forgive me!" He said apologetically, retracting his paw. He then, with a flick of his claw, changed his outfit from nothing to a monocle with a fitting black topper and tuxedo. He bowed curtly before he spoke up again, this time in a much snobbier tone than previously. "G'day kind Sir, name's Discord, God of Chaos and ex-ruler of humble Equestria. Pleased to meet you."

I continued to stare at him with a blank, clueless look on my face, before it suddenly dawned on me: he was that Discord guy, the same guy that helped the two princesses locate Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow and Scootaloo. The same guy who created the portal to Earth in order for the four ponies to travel back home.

And it was his portal that allowed me to start a new life.

But as I continued to gawk into his face, all I could think of was that something about him seemed off. That I shouldn't trust him, no matter what he did for me or the others.

He flicked his claw again, magicking his attire away, returning back to his usual naked self. "I had been rather busy this week with, you know, god stuff, so there was no real chance to formally make your acquaintance." He said while idly running the four claws of his left talon through the hair of his white goat beard. "I was thrilled to hear of another 'strange creature', as ponies like to call us, that resides here in Ponyville."

He looked at me in an expecting manner. Seeing that, and not quite sure what to say, I just nodded dumbly.

He raised an eyebrow. "What? Do I have something on my face?" He flicked his claws again, this time summoning up a small hand mirror, holding it up to his face and thereby obscuring it. "Aha!" He exclaimed triumphantly, levitating the mirror away and showing his face to me - his now faceless, totally blank face. "Seems like I had a little face right there."

He wiggled his eyebrows once again.

I groaned silently to myself. 'Oh how great, he's a jokester.'

Seeing my lack of positive reaction he flicked his claw again, making his face reappear. "Hmpf, you're no fun." He grumbled, shaking his head. "Just like Applejack and Twilight. Too, blegh, uptight."

At least his horrendous try to make me laugh managed to relieve the tension between me and him a bit; enough for me to feel comfortable with opening my mouth again in his presence. "No offense, but that one wasn't even remotely funny."

"You just don't know what funny is!" He said with an exasperated sigh, throwing his hands up in the air in a total sign of despair. "Nopony in the whole of Equestria apparently knows what it is!"

"Funny is more of an opinion thing, if you ask me." I stated with a shrug of my shoulders. "And, in my opinion, what you just did? No, not funny, but maybe there're others that have the same taste in jokes."

He pouted, only that his pout didn't have the same effect on me than that of a pony. Instead of feeling sorry for him, It actually had quite the opposite effect - not that that mattered. "I don't think anyone besides me thinks that chaos and bad jokes are funny..."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah." I said unsurely, eyeing him critically. "So, any particular reason you wanted to see me?"

"What? Am I not allowed to welcome the newest addition to Ponyville?" He asked, fluttering his long, fabulous eyelashes, that he magically enlarged, at me.

"I guess you are?" I answered unsurely, though I guess it came out as more of a question.

"Of course I am, silly!" He said in his best imitation of Pinkie Pie, suddenly appearing directly to my side and messing up my hairstyle with one of his... hands? "I'm the ex-ruler of Equestria, after all."

I swatted his hand away and he instantly teleported himself in front of me again, this time with a popsicle in his mouth. He quickly spat it into his paw and casually threw it away over his shoulder. 

I just sat there, annoyed that he dared to mess up my hair, something which is already considered a sin by me, but also threw away that delicious looking popsicle.

"Seriously, what do you want?" I asked again, trying to hide my annoyance behind a solemn face. From what I'd seen, that guy could literally turn me into anything he wanted, so pissing him off wouldn't be a good idea.

"William, is it so hard to believe that I just wanted to welcome you?"  He asked amusedly, casually juggling a soccer ball with his two different feet like it was nothing.

"Yes, it actually is." I stated, my eyes glued to the ball, darting from left to right.

He flicked his claw, making the ball vanish at an instant, which left me with nothing to stare at other than his face. He idly tapped his chin, making a 'hmm' sound. After a few seconds of mulling over my question, he gave me his answer. "Well, actually, now that I have the chance, there is something I wanted to ask you. Just a simple question, nothing more."

I leaned myself back on the tree's trunk, making myself comfortable as I awaited his supposedly simple question. "Shoot." 

He leaned closer to me, a bit too close for my liking as I was able to easily smell his bad-smelling breath. "Let's say, just hypothetically, that I could create a portal back to your homeworld, no restrictions and all that, would you like to have me create one?"

You can probably imagine how I reacted to his totally simple question.

"Wait, are you freakin' serious?" I asked with wide eyes, shooting up, nearly bumping my head into his. "You can create a -"

I was silenced by some visible, incredibly strange force clamping my mouth shut. I struggled to open it but that quickly turned out to be a fruitless effort - my mouth wouldn't open nor budge, no matter how hard I tried.

Discord, for his part, looked around frantically, but, not seeing anyone that could've heard me, he turned his head back at me. "Psssh, not so loud." He hissed through his teeth, still clamping my mouth shut with his magic. "This is something no one except me-" He pointed a finger at himself and then at me. "-and you should know about."

I tried to open my mouth again in an attempt to ask him the big 'Why' question, but learned that it was still sealed shut, so I chose to just nod my head once, although reluctantly, silently agreeing that I was not going to tell anyone about this.

Well, at least not immediately.

I felt the visible force fade after just a moment of visible hesitation from his part, allowing me to open my mouth again to ask the question that made me suspicious of his generous and caring offer.

"Why can no one know about this?" I asked him, quieter this time, not really wanting to have my mouth forcefully get closed again any time soon. "I mean, this doesn't seem like a bad thing. I could get some things from back home that I missed to pack, like clothes."

"That is right, it may not seem bad to you, but how do you think would ponies react to a portal that leads to a world filled with beings like you react?"

"I don't know?"

He groaned. "I'll give you a tip: pitchforks and torches. Oh, and war, let's not forget about that."

"Okay, I get what you're trying to tell me.-" I said, rubbing my face in a tired manner, allowing myself to relax again. "And, let's just say that I want that portal to exist, what exactly could it even change? I mean, I have everything I need here. There's literally nothing back on Earth that I'd need right now."

"Well, nothing except maybe one thing. One thing you don't really get here in Equestria."

That got me curious. What could there possibly be that you wouldn't be able to get in a land filled with magical ponies. "And that is...?"

He leaned back, smirking down at me. "Simple, it's meat."

"Yeah, okay, I can't get meat here, but I also don't really need it."

"You're lying~" He sing-songed, waving from left to right in a half-dance kind of thing.

He was right, I was lying. Even though I was right when I said that I didn't actually need meat, at least not as long as I could get my proteins from somewhere else, I wanted to taste it again. I didn't want to eat only vegetables for the rest of my life, but living between ponies, where eating meat is, judging from Twilight and Applejack's earlier reactions, frowned upon, didn't give me much of a choice in the matter.

"And, it's not only meat that you could get." He remarked, a knowing grin on his face as he saw me seriously considering his words. "It's also all of that weird technology you humans possess. That box with the moving pictures, for example."

That managed to break me out of my daydreaming about meat. "How do you know what a TV is?" I inquired warily, narrowing my eyes. 

He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head, but before he could give me an answer, I heard someone familiar calling my name.

"William! Where are ya?"

"Oh, that's too bad, Applejack's back!" He exclaimed with a large smile. "She doesn't really like me, so I better be off now. Think about what I just told you, it really could make your life easier, and don't tell anyone about this." 

"I'll see you in a week! Ta-ta!" With a trademark move of his, the flick of his claw, he was gone, leaving an incredibly conflicted me back.

I sat there in complete silence for a minute or so, too deep in thoughts to hear the sound of approaching hoofsteps until the pony they belonged stood in front of me and decided to address me.

"Celestia darn it, William, why didn't you answer me?" Applejack asked exasperated, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I sighed. 'Should I tell her?'

"William, everythin' alright?" The orange mare asked, this time sounding a little concerned.

I shook my head, faintly smiling up at her. "Sorry, I was...thinking."

"Well, ya better be finished with thinkin' 'cause we still have some work ta do."
> Chapter Twenty-Four - Stay Strong
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The sun has long vanished behind the horizon by the time we were finished with work, taking with it the bright light that it provided, but also leaving behind the space for the moon to take, which it gradually did. I was able to spot a few stars here and there, tiny dots that shone brightly in the dark blue, almost black, sky. The longer I looked at the sky, the clearer it became to me just how much cleaner and prettier the sky looked in Equestria than back on Earth. 

A faint smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

"So, how are ya feelin' after a hard day of workin'?" Applejack asked, interrupting my stargazing. After we were finished, she insisted that she'd walk me back home, but after some incredibly exhausting negotiating, thanks to her being such a determined pony, I was able to convince her that it would be more than enough to led me back to the exit.

"I'd find my way back home alone" I remembered me saying, both in an attempt to convince myself and her. To be fair, though, I wasn't sure if that was true.

I massaged the upper parts of my right and left arm, the parts of my body that were, besides my brain (thanks to Discord), stressed the most that day. I could already feel the impending muscle ache, but I was sure that after some good rest, all of that wouldn't be that bad. "Sore, but kinda good." 

"Don'tcha worry 'bout feelin' a lil sore, ya'll get used to it." She pat me on the back of my upper leg, why was beyond me at that moment. All I did was look at down at her with one eyebrow raised.

It wasn't long after that we reached the exit and entrance, respectively, of Sweet Apple Acres.

"Thanks fer helpin' me out today." Applejack smiled, tipping her brown stetson hat at me in a grateful gesture. "Ya did a mighty fine job fer somepony like ya."

I just assumed that that last part was meant positive, and not negative.

"Don't thank me. If anything, I have to thank you for giving me the opportunity." I said, smiling back at her, sincerely grateful for her generosity. "And really, thank you."

"Before Ah forget it,-" She lifted one hoof up to her head, lifting that trademark stetson hat of hers off of it and showing it to me. In it was a small, brown bag that looked like it was filled up to the brim with lots of round and flat things. "-Here's ya payment, as promised."

I was going to open my mouth and protest that she didn't have to pay me for today since it was more like trial work, but then I remembered that I really need the money. How else should I make sure that there would be enough to eat in my fridge? Not only for me, but also for Scootaloo.

So, instead of starting another useless argument with her, I grabbed the bag out of her hat with a thankful nod, securing it tightly in my right hand. It felt relatively heavy, heavier than I thought it would be, which made me thoughtful of just how much Applejack put into that bag. 

"How much exactly is this?" I jiggled the bag a little in an attempt to get a better feel of just how many coins were in it. 

"Enough to get ya over the week, Ah reckon." She answered with a wink, putting her hat back to where it belonged.

I sighed. "Applejack, thank you, really, but it would've been more than enough for you to give me just my loan for today, which, to be absolutely fair, I wouldn't even deserve."

Her smile faded, turning into a look that was a mix between sympathy and seriousness. "Ya need the bits, Will, and dont'cha tell me otherwise."

"Yes, I need money, but Applejack, you also have to understand me." I ran a hand through my hair, sighing sadly. "Since I arrived here, everyone's been so incredibly generous to me that it makes me feel bad."

She looked at me questioningly. "And?"

"And? You and the others built me a house for free, Rarity made clothes for me...For free, and you just gave me enough money to get me through a whole week. And what did I do for all of this?"

She frowned a little. "Ya saved me, Twilight, Dash and Scootaloo, ya cared for us, ain't that enough?"

I shook my head slowly. "That's what everyone told me back when I got my house, and that's what Rarity also told me today. I mean, sure, I know that everyone just wants to thank me for what I did, but after a while..." I sighed again. "I don't know if you understand what I'm trying to get at, but...I...just feel guilty."

"Ah know what ya're tryin' to get at, and Ah also know what ya must feel like, but there's no other option than jus' accept all of it. One day, ya'll get the chance ta return the favor, Ah'm sure." She said. "Until then, like Ah said, just accept it."

"I guess you're right." I agreed, although reluctantly, putting the bag of gold into the front pocket of my pants, the bulge that it created clearly visible from the outside. My eyes traveled down the path that led back to Ponyville, a few streetlights dotted here and there, producing just enough light to see where the street exactly was. I realized that I should better go before it got too dark. Scootaloo was waiting for me, and I didn't want to be too late.

"Well, Ah held you up long enough already. Ya'll better go now before it gets too dark." Applejack said, surprising me with her ability to read my mind. "Ya sure ya'll find the way back?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." No, I wasn't sure that I'd find the way back, but I also didn't want to admit that. I just had to somehow find the way back or, if that wouldn't work out, ask some of the ponies in town where to go.

Ha, if they'd even let me get close to them.

"Like you said, I'll better be off now." I stated, eyes glued to the path in front of me as I nervously chewed on my cheeks from the inside. "Thanks again. We'll see us tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, ya can count on it. Have a good night!"

"You too." 

Then I started walking.


****


Fortunately, navigating through Ponyville didn't turn out too hard. Yes, it was relatively big for a town that was built by ponies and relatively big for a town in general, but luckily that didn't mean that it was too hard to find a way back home. All I had to do was take one or two turns, and then walk straight for ten minutes or so.

But what struck me as odd was that I didn't see a single soul the whole way back to my home. The lights in some cottages were still on, and sometimes I was able to spot a pony or two through the windows, but what I meant was that literally no one was outside, wandering about the streets, and I strongly doubted it was because Ponyville at night was a dangerous place.

That wasn't all that bad, though. The silence and peace that came with the empty streets gave me time to think about things, mainly my encounter with Discord. 

It was nice of him to offer me something like that, a nice offer indeed. It would've enabled to get some things I really missed in Equestria, or just visit my home once in a while, but, c'mon, he was the God of Chaos. He surely didn't earn that title by being the trustworthiest creature in all of Equestria.

There was a catch, I was sure of that. There was no way in hell he was a generous being. 

But maybe, just maybe I wasn't right about that. There were many instances where I wasn't right in my assumptions.

It wasn't long before Sugarcube Corner, the gingerbread bakery in which Pinkie worked, came into view. It was still open, as the sign on the door read 'Open', and I briefly considered buying something with the money from Applejack, but quickly discarded that thought. Sure, it would've been nice to have something to eat in the morning, but I wasn't too keen on seeing Pinkie right at that moment.

Plus, I was already late. Chances were high that Scootaloo would be gone by the time I arrived, if I was to buy anything. I was sure that she wouldn't appreciate me being late.

So instead of going in, I continued walking, heading down the road before finally arriving at the familiar dirt path that led up to my house. I followed the path for a minute, before finally arriving at the doorstep to my home. 

I checked my pockets for the keys, mostly out of habit, only to realize that they didn't give me a key to my home. I looked at the door, searching for a lock, just out of curiosity, but found none. 

It was either that they forgot to put a lock on mine, or that something like a lock just wasn't necessary in Equestria. It still felt incredibly comfortable, knowing that anyone could enter my house at any time, so I made a mental note to ask someone where I could get one and stashed it to all the other notes that were aimlessly floating around my brain.

I shook my head, realizing that I was staring at the door for a few seconds too long. I put my hand on the door handle and opened the door, entering my home and closing the door behind me.

I sighed, pulling off my shoes and throwing them to the side. 

"Ugh, finally you're home." I heard a familiar voice saying, the source of it being the couch in front of me.

"Yeah, well, I have a job now." I said proudly, stretching myself shortly before walking over to the couch. On it was the upside down form of Scootaloo, her head hanging from the edge of the couch and her hooves crossed over her body.

"You're upside down." She lamely pointed out.

I threw myself on the couch right beside her, hitting it with a groan. Laying back and wiggling from side to side, I tried to make myself comfortable on the soft couch, sighing in content once I finally found a good position. A moment later I felt the couch shifting slightly and a weight settle itself onto my waist, no doubts Scootaloo who thought that it was the perfect place to take some rest.

I closed my eyes. "How long have you been waiting?"

"I dunno, maybe a hour or so?"

"And when do you have to be at the orphanage?"

She shifted a little. "In thirty minutes." She answered, audibly crestfallen.

We drifted off into silence after that, nothing besides our quite breathing filling the silence. I didn't know what to ask her, what else to say. She wasn't happy about having to go back to the orphanage, but neither was I. It was going to be the real first night since I unofficially adopted her that we weren't going to sleep in the same bed together.

"I met Rainbow earlier." She suddenly said, gaining my attention immediately.

Opening my eyes from the sudden disruption of silence, I peered down at her, right into her eyes. "And?"

"She said she was sorry for not telling me earlier, that it was her fault."

I raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"

"I..." She stopped, looking down at one of her forehooves. "I just...walked pass her. I didn't feel like talking to her."

I reached down with my hands, grabbing her around the barrel and pulling her a little bit closer to me, up onto my chest. "Hey, I'm sure she understands that you needed some time alone."

"Maybe you're right." She said unsurely, pawing at my chest, still not meeting my eyes. "But...I dunno..."

"What's the matter?" I asked curiously.

"Now, thinking about it, I really feel bad about not talking to her. I mean, she's my big, adoptive sister, isn't she?"

I nodded my head once. "In a way, I guess she is, but that still doesn't mean that you have to accept her apology. Sure, if you did, she would've felt a lot better, but..."

Her ears perked up and she lifted her head up. "But what?"

I sighed, closing my eyes and taking a short pause in order to collect my thoughts. "I'm not gonna lie, Scoots, I'm angry at Rainbow. I don't hate her, but I'm angry and maybe a little bit disappointed in her, too. She could've prevented a lot of drama and heartbreaking by just telling us, the both of us, earlier."

"What I'm trying to say is, that even though she is sorry about what she did, you, or I for that matter, don't have to outright accept her apology. She needs to understand that you and I are angry at her, and also has to accept that we don't really feel like talking to her at this moment. If she can't accept that both of us want some distance, that's her problem."

"Still doesn't feel right." She mumbled, laying her head back onto my chest.

"Neither does it feel completely right to me, but I know that if I were to accept her apology, she wouldn't learn her lesson."

"What lesson?"

I hummed in thought, tapping my chin idly. "Have I ever told you about Albert Einstein?"

She shook her head. 

"Okay, but please don't tell Twilight about this or she's going to ask me a bunch of questions I cannot answer her."

She nodded her head frantically, a sparkle in her eyes. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Oath."

I smirked. "Okay, so, basically, Albert Einstein was a really famous physicist back from where I came from-" She groaned, but that didn't stop me from continuing. "-he developed the general theory of relativity and a bunch of other stuff, but he also had some really famous quotes."

"Okay, I get it, he was a smart guy, but what does that have to do with Rainbow?"

"Well, one of those famous quotes goes like this:-" I cleared my throat. "-Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters."

She blinked. "O-kay, so, if I got it right, you think that if we accept her apology right now, she wouldn't learn out of what she did wrong and maybe do the same thing sometime again, only in something that's a lot more important?"

"Exactly."

"I mean, it does make sense, but..."

"You still don't feel good about it, I know." I said understandingly, ending the sentence for her. Moving one hand behind her left ear, I started scratching her there, mostly in an attempt to distract herself a little. "She's your big sister and probably my best friend. Even though she can be a little...competitive and stubborn at times, she's still important to me."

Scootaloo didn't say anything in response. The only thing she did was sigh in content with a smile on her face, both of her eyes closed, as I continued massaging her behind her ear. After a few seconds she even started to make some kind of purring noise.

"Enjoying yourself?" I asked amusedly, suddenly stopping, much to the dismay of the little filly on my chest.

She opened her eyes, pouting up at me. "Why did you stop?"

"Because I can't have you fall asleep on me." I answered, booping her nose. Her pout turned into a mix between a glare and a smile.

"Don't do that."

I booped her again.

"Seriously, stop it." She tried said, trying to hide the smile that was slowly creeping up her face, but ultimately failed at that when a giggle slipped past her lips.

I booped her on the nose, again and again, joining her relentless giggling with a few chuckles of my own. It wasn't long before we were having an all-out tickling war, in which I was quickly gaining the upper hand, thanks to my, well, hands. 

"U-unfair! Haha, s-top it!" She exclaimed loudly, rolling around on my chest with tears in her eyes as I kept on tickling her vulnerable, fuzzy little belly. 

"Admit defeat and we can talk about a peace treaty!" I offered playfully, not ceasing my attack on her plushy belly. 

"O-O-haha-kay!" I stopped, giving her a small window of opportunity to talk. "W-what do y-you want?"

I lifted a hand under my chin, rubbing it. "My offer is three hugs, one kiss on the cheek, redeemable at any time."

She rolled back onto her belly, breathing heavily while staring at me exhaustedly. "I-I...Phew, gimme a minute..."

"There is no minute to waste in a war of tickling!" I made a menacing claw with my hand. "Accept or fall to the mighty Kingdom of...Mightiness!"

She blinked, giving me the most deadpan she could muster, given her current situation. "The mighty Kingdom of Mightiness? Really?"

I shrugged. "It's the best I could come up with." I lifted the menacing claw a little closer to her face. "Now, do you accept my conditions?"

"Two hugs and one kiss on the forehead." She outstretched her hoof.

"Okay, deal." My hand met her hoof, accepting her handshake.

I lifted both of my hands away again, relaxing my body back into the couch. Scootaloo heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing that I was, quite literally, laying down my arms. I took another glance at the clock, seeing that we still had roughly twenty minutes until Scootaloo needed to go, but we still had to walk there.

"Hey, how far's the orphanage away?" I asked curiously.

"Ten minutes?" She answered quietly from her place on my chest, where she was curled up like a cat.

"Then how 'bout we get going?"

She opened her eyes, lifted her head and turned it into the direction of the clock. "But I don't want to." She said, looking back at me with a pout on her face. "We still have like, ten minutes. Can't I just stay a little longer with you?"

"I don't want to either, and believe me that I want you to stay." My expression fell a little. "But you know why that isn't possible."

"And, also, if we go right now, we aren't in a hurry to get you there." I added. 

She groaned, slowly standing up on my chest while grumbling under her breath. "Fine." She grumbled.

She jumped down from my chest, onto the floor, enabling me to get up, which I slowly but surely did. I then walked over to the door, put on my shoes from earlier and waited for Scootaloo.

...Who wasn't in the living room anymore.

"Scoots?" I called out, wondering where that little ninja sneaked away to without me noticing.

"Coming!" She called back from somewhere upstairs, and shortly after that I heard hooves hitting wood as she skipped down the stairs. When she was in my vision again, I saw that she had some kind of backpack, an orange saddlebag, secured around her barrel. 

"What's in there?" I asked, pointing a finger at the saddlebag.

"Uh? Oh, something I've made earlier with the help of Sweetie."

I stepped closer, kneeling down beside her and already outstretching an arm. "Can I see?"

"No!" She said, maybe a little too loud, taking a step back, away from my hand. "Uh, no, it's...a secret! Yeah, a Cutie Mark Crusaders secret!"

"Aww." I retreated my hand, standing back up. "Not even a little peek?"

"Nu-uh." She shook her head in sync with the sound that passed her lips. "So, how 'bout we get going?"

"Riiight, c'mon." I said, eyeing her suspiciously, a little wary of her sudden interest in getting back to the orphanage. I turned back around and opened the door for her.

She walked through, and as she walked past I saw a little, rounded bulge in the left bag. Since she didn't seem to have any problems carrying whatever it was, I was sure that, whatever was in there, must've been made out of something light, something like cloth.

I shook my head. As long as she wasn't carrying something illegal in there, and I was sure that she wasn't, it wasn't any of my concerns.


*  *  *  *


The walk through the empty, normally bustling streets of Ponyville to the orphanage was...quiet. Not the awkward kind of quiet, but the 'I-don't-know-what-to-say' kind of quiet, with nothing except the occasional rustling of the leaves breaking the silence. 

We passed a windmill, took a right and then, before I even knew it, we were outside of the orphanage, the building easily recognizable by the sign that read 'Ponyville Orphanage' that was hanging on the wall outside of the house. At first glance, it didn't seem to be that bad, considering that it had its own little playground and didn't look like the rundown shit I'd excepted it to be.

But I knew that looks could deceive.

"So, I guess it is until tomorrow?" I asked, finally breaking the silence as we stopped in front of the path that led to the building.

"Yeah..." Scootaloo muttered, eyes fixed on the ground as she pawed at the ground.

I crouched myself down, forcing her to look me into the eyes by putting a hand under her chin and slowly lifting it up until her eyes met mine. "How about I redeem one of those hugs I won earlier?" I asked with a small smile.

"If you want to..."

I leaned a little closer, eyes closed, wrapping my arms around her neck and pulling her close to me. "Everything will be-"

"Scootaloo, there you are! Get in right at this instant!" An elderly voice called angrily, hindering me in finishing my sentence. I heard hooves stomping down the path, heading right our way.

As I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the sight of a middle-aged mare with a brown coat and a lime-green mane stomping into our direction, who looked positively furious. She had a pair of glasses and her mane was bound up in a, funnily enough, ponytail.

"And what, in Celestia's name, are you?" She asked with a frown, suddenly coming to a stop right in front of us. 

I slowly uprighted myself again, raising an eyebrow at her rude behavior. "Name's William, who are you?"

She didn't seem intimated by the difference in slightest, as she continued to be rude even though I stood twice her size, maybe even more. "Hmpf, who I am? Miss Heartsong of course."

"Pleasure to meet you." I said, nodding my head at her in a greeting gesture. "I guess." I added under my breath, not loud enough for her to actually hear it.

"Yeah, sure." She said, waving a hoof at me in a dismissive manner. She then directed a glare to my side, at Scootaloo to be precise. "And now to you, Miss Scootaloo. If you're late on more time, you're and I are going to have a talk, do you understand me?"

I felt Scootaloo getting a little closer to my leg, much like a scared dog would do. "B-but I-I can't be late!"

I gritted my teeth.

"Do.You.Understand.Me?" She asked again, this time getting a little too close to my daughter for my liking.

I stepped in front of Scootaloo, shielding her from her caretaker, giving her a death glare that told her to back off or it was going to get ugly. "Don't you dare talk to her like that, Miss Heartsong." I said, venom dripping from my lips.

She apparently took my warning, immediately taking a step back, probably out of shock that I was getting protective all of a sudden. "Says who?" She asked after regaining her composure.

I looked down to my side into the violet, sparkling eyes of my daughter curtly, before replying, "Her father."

"Her father, huh?" She asked smugly after a few seconds of silence, smirking slightly. "Not by law, I assume?"

I shook my head. "No, not yet, but if you mistreat her, you're going to get it, do you understand that?"

"Is that a threat?"

It was my turn to smirk. "No, just a little tip. Let's just say that I happen to know the princesses and The Elements of Harmony."

That managed to wash that stupid smirk out of her face in just the matter of a split second.

"Hmpf, fine." She turned away from me, starting to walk back into the direction of the orphanage with her nose held high. "Come, Scootaloo."

With a last worried glance into my direction, Scootaloo started walking after her. I stood there, on the front porch, a weak smile on my face, while she was following her caretaker up the path that led to the open door of the orphanage. I stood there, that weak smile not leaving my face, when she was standing in the doorway, taking a last glance back at me, a disgruntled Miss Heartsong behind her. 

I stood there when a single tear hit the ground below her, a tear that glimmered in the dim light of the night. I stood there when the door suddenly slammed shut.

My weak smile, the mask I put on to hide my true feelings, fell. 

"Stay strong." I whispered into the black, inky night.
> Chapter Twenty-Five - Orphanage
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Scootaloo POV


The door clicked shut, but I continued to look at the door, believing that it was still open, that I was still looking at my dad. It was only when Miss Heartsong decided to speak up that I finally realized the door was long closed. 

"Go to your room." She said forcefully, her tone cold and commanding, not even turning around to look at me. "Right now."

I grumbled an inaudible response and turned around, quickly but quietly heading for the staircase, walking it up without looking back. On my way up, I could feel the glare of Miss Heartsong on the back of my head. 

She didn't like me. She didn't like any foal in her orphanage, but that was alright.

We didn't like her either.

Half-way up the stairs, I could hear her opening the door to her office and shutting it with a loud thump, a sound that echoed through the whole building. She was really angry.

But I knew she wasn't going to let all of that out on me. She couldn't, or else she'd have had a problem with the princesses.

I continued my way up the stairs, my saddle bags making climbing the stairs harder than usually, navigated through the large, dimly lit floor, and soon stood in front of that depressingly familiar-looking wooden door that had the number six carved in it. I lifted a hoof up and put it against the door, pausing curtly to take a deep breath before slowly pushing it open inwards.

The door creaked as I slowly opened it, a sound that made me wince. I didn't like that sound, it was even worse than the shrill sound of hooves scraping across a chalkboard. Just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine.

A small, cold breeze hit my face when I had the door fully opened. The window on the other side of the room was wide open, white curtains slightly moving in the breeze, the obvious source of the breeze.

The room itself was just like I remembered it. It was exactly like every other room in the orphanage; white, blue-dotted wallpaper that made it look way too chippy, a smell that reminded me of old books, the wooden floor beneath my hooves, a huge drawer that stood in the corner to my left, and, finally, the two single beds on each side of the room, both with matching nightstands beside them. I was fortunate enough I never had to share my bedroom with another pony, as there were more spare bedrooms than orphans in Miss Heartsong's orphanage.

Really, I was quite happy that I never had to share my room.

I closed the door behind me as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb any of the other foals that were, probably, already asleep.

I headed straight for the bed to my right, the bed that didn't feel like it was mine anymore. Nothing in that room was mine, even though it was. Even though I spent most of my childhood in that room, slept in that very bed I was standing by, it didn't feel like home to me. No, my home was wherever my dad was, and he wasn't there.

I craned my neck to my right as far as I was able to in order to somehow get a hold of the right bag and pull the whole thing down from my back, but my neck was just a few millimeters too short. After a few more desperate tries to reach it, I gave up and, with a sigh, fell back on my haunches, looking down at the floor sadly.

"If Dad was here, he would help me..." I mumbled to myself, sniffling and rubbing my suddenly wet eyes with one of my hooves. Slightly curious on why my hoof was feeling so wet all of a sudden, I inspected it, seeing that the small tufts of fur around it were slightly damp.

I let my hoof back onto the ground, gazing at the wooden surface directly beneath my face, were a few drops of something watery accumulated themselves. A fluid that glistened in the light that shone through the window, a fluid in which I saw my own face. 

Tears, the only logical thing that sprung to my mind. 

I was crying, something that rarely happened, and every time it did happen, I felt downright ashamed. I admit it, there were times where even I couldn't help myself but cry a little, like when my daddy lay on the floor with all the blood around him, but Twilight, Applejack and even Rainbow were also crying! It's okay to cry when adults cry! 

But there was no adult crying, only a small, not-so-tough foal. Why was I crying for seemingly no reason? Why was it so hard to just stop crying when there was no reason to cry? I was confused on what to feel, what to think. My mind was drowning in emotions, thoughts, memories, none of them even remotely positive. 

I tried to get my thoughts away from all those things, distracting myself by trying to, once again, free myself of the saddle bag, magically succeeding after just two more desperate attempts that nearly gave me a cramp in the neck. Throwing that thing over my back with the help of Sweetie Belle earlier that day had been way easier than getting it off alone, I thought with a triumphal grin on my face. 

But I was only able to distract myself from reality so long.

Alone. Daddy wasn't there with me.

My face fell as reality hit me. That's the reason why I was crying, I realized. Even thinking about spending the night all alone, alone in that orphanage, away from daddy, was making me feel sad again. 

Until I remembered that I wasn't totally alone.

I turned around, opened the left pocket and pulled a small, two-legged cloth doll out of it. It kinda looked like a furless ape, which managed to make me chuckle internally, but, of course, it wasn't.

Two arms, two legs, short, brown mane on top of its head, wearing those unnecessary clothes, bigger than any pony I'd ever seen; it was my daddy, or at least resembled him in some way.

It was Sweetie Belle who came up with the idea of making a doll after I told her about the problems dad was having, and how sad I was feeling. She said that I'd feel better if I had something to cuddle with, something that reminded me of him.

At first, I thought nothing of her idea. I wasn't overly excited about the idea of cuddling with a doll, especially since it was a doll, something only small fillies would cuddle with, but I gave her idea a chance. I said that we could make one, just to test her theory, under the condition that she wasn't going to tell anyone. Not Apple Bloom, not Rainbow Dash, no pony, and especially not daddy!

I was scared that he'd think I was a little filly, which I wasn't anymore. 

So, after I got her to Pinkie Promise (no pony breaks a Pinkie Promise!) me that she wasn't going to tell anyone, we set to work. Sweetie managed to grab some of her sister's fabrics and sewing kit while I distracted her. Asking Rarity was completely out of the question since that would've only made her suspicious. 

I carefully sat little daddy onto the edge of my bed, looking him over. I had to admit that Sweetie Belle and I really did a good job. It took us the whole afternoon, but even his small, button-like eyes had the correct color, and I briefly wondered if maybe this was our special talent. A quick apprehensive inspection of my flank told me that it, fortunately and unfortunately, wasn't.

I jumped up on the rather hard, quite uncomfortable bed and laid myself down on my back, pulling the to my chest and quickly coiling myself around it as if my life depended on it. A soft whimper escaped my mouth as I nuzzled into the doll, eyes tightly closed as I tried to imagine that it wasn't an object I was cuddling with, but my real dad.

I tried to imagine that the hard surface I was lying on was his chest. I tried to imagine his rhythmic heartbeat that managed to lull me into sleep every so often. The calming sound of his beating heart that assured me that he was well, alive, and there for me whenever I needed him.

I tried to imagine his arms draped over my back as he would sometimes do in his sleep, how secure I felt every time he did. I tried to imagine his fingers running through my fur, how comfortable and relaxing it felt.

Nothing was working, though, no matter how hard I tried. It just wasn't the same. No, everything it did was only make matters worse.

It wasn't him, it was a doll. A doll that looked like him, but just a doll.

Instead of feeling happy and secure, I felt lonely, afraid, conflicted and incredibly sad. I started doubting everything, and with each passing second, these doubts got worse. Was everything really going to work out? Was he really going to be my dad, or was everything going to fall apart, just like last time?

No! Nothing was going to fall apart, not again! He promised me that everything was going to work out, that he'd never leave me. He promised it, and I knew he was going to hold onto his promise.

...Was he really, though? Why wasn't he looking for another way to adopt me, if he really wanted to have me as his daughter? Surely there must've been something that he could've done. He knew the princesses, for Celestia's sake!

'No, bad Scootaloo!' I thought, mentally slapping myself as the reality of my own thoughts hit me. 'He risked his life for you, he loves you! He's never going to leave you!'

I rolled over onto my back, staring up at the ceiling and releasing a sad, long-drawn sigh. He wasn't going to leave me willingly, never, I was sure of that, but yet, I wasn't too sure if he'd do it unwillingly. Maybe something was going to happen to him, something bad? 

Knowing my luck, something was definitely going to happen.

My eyes trailed from the ceiling over to my right side where I left the doll behind, coming to a halt on it. In the blink of an eye, the doll was back in my chest, back in the proximity of my body. It wasn't my dad, but at least it was something that remembered me of him, that, as I squeezed both of my eyes shut, somehow radiated that same warmth his body did.

It wasn't my dad, but I was going to see him in the morning, and the first thing I was going to do is see if I could coax him into redeeming that one last hug. 

Not the kiss, though, because kisses are...

Bleugh.
> Chapter Twenty-Six - Breakfast with a Hint of Realization
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I had an awful night, to say the least. 

I tossed and turned for hours, but no matter how hard I tried to find that one comfortable position that would finally bring me the long-awaited sleep, sleep didn't come until it was nearly the sun's time to rise again. If Scootaloo would've been there with me, falling asleep would've been no problem. I was sure of that.

But not only the obvious, the absence of my daughter, was troubling me, no, also the conversation I held with Discord. 

Discord made a really generous offer, no questions asked. But what was really troubling me was how mysterious of a... thing and how cryptic he was. He didn't explain anything, he didn't give me any real reasons why I should accept his offer, nothing. I mean, once I thought about it, even his biggest reason, precious, tasty meat, wasn't a reason for such a relatively dangerous thing to exist. As Rainbow once said back on earth, they had griffons in their world, carnivores that needed meat to survive.

So, there was no reason for me to accept his offer. 

And yet, something was keeping me from outright declining. Something about switching between my old home and my new home, between two different dimensions, just excited me.

Weird, right?

But I still had time to decide. Six days (if I really was going to see him again) to really think everything through and I was going to take my time until then. 

Fortuantely I was able to doze off after my brain tired itself out. 

Unfortunately, though, I wasn't able to sleep long until nature decided to wake me up.




****



I woke up the next morning as the clock ticked eight o'clock in the morning, incredibly tired but relieved that the horror was finally over. I took a quick shower, put on some clothes, grabbed the little bag that contained all my bits from the nightstand and immediately stepped out of the house, straightly heading for the orphanage.

On my way there, I was already thinking of where Scootaloo and I could enjoy our breakfast together. At first thought, the only contemplable place that sprung into my mind was Sugarcube Corner, but then I'd spotted a relatively charming café on my way to the orphanage, one that I apparently failed to see the night before. It was closer to the orphanage, looked less like it would cause death by too much sugar intake and, the best thing, one of the waitresses, a brown-coated earth pony, waved at me! 

A pony, one that I'd never seen before, waved at me! Not a 'get the fuck away from me' one, but a generous 'good morning' one! 

It made me happy that really not every pony was behaving like some others, that some of them were accepting of beings like me. 

So, with a little spring in my step, I continued my way to the orphanage. That day already started off a lot better than some of the previous ones.




****



After just a few more minutes of walking, the orphanage slowly came into view. I was surprised just how livelier it looked than the night before. Maybe a dozen of foals of all three races, of all imaginable colours, were happily darting around the playground directly beside it without seemingly a care in the world, giving the orphanage that was so close to them, a building that is normally associated with sadness and tears, that happy touch it oh-so-desperately needed.

Their happy laughter echoed through the morning, brightening me up even further.

And then my eyes fell onto the orange filly that was waiting by the fence that surrounded the playground.

Scootaloo was sitting on her haunches upon something that looked like a skateboard with a handlebar attached to it, a cute purple helmet with two white stripes in the middle of it adorning her head. She was looking straight ahead, her eyes never leaving the row of cottages on the other side of the street, seemingly clueless of my presence even when I was standing just a few feet away from her.

"'Ey Scoots." I greeted her nonchalantly, just like the casual guy I was, my voice causing her to turn her head into my direction and snap out of her daydreaming at an instant. "Whatcha looking at?"

In just mere seconds, her expression shifted from nothing, to confusion and finally into a big, happy smile, a smile so big that her shining white teeth were clearly showing themselves. One could think that she hadn't seen me for weeks!

She darted forward, literally throwing herself at my leg, being mindful enough to not hit my leg with her head, and then wrapped her forehooves around it. "Dad!" 

After a few seconds of squeezing my leg to death, she let go, taking a big step back to properly look me into the face. "Missed me, huh?" I asked with a chuckle, looking down with a small smirk on my face. Her smile vanished slowly as she noticed her little act of uncoolness, replaced by a blush as she took quick glances to her left and right.

Fortunately for her, no one had seen, not even the other foals on the playground behind her, all of whom were still occupied with whatever fun thing they were doing. If anyone had, she probably would've died of embarrassment. 

"Y-Yeah, sure." She stammered quietly, almost shyly, suddenly finding the ground beneath her hooves a lot more interesting than my face. Correction, she was already dying of embarrassment... And goddamn she was cute.

I gave her a little pat on the head. "So, what's that behind you? Some sort of skateboard?" I asked in an attempt to start a conversation and distract her, pointing at the object she was previously sitting on with my index finger.

She immediately brightened up, blush magically vanished as she looked me back into the face and stepped aside. "That's my scooter I told you about! Cool, isn't it?" She boasted, puffing out that little, fluffy chest of hers proudly. "I built it all alone!"

"Oh really, you did?" I asked in genuine surprise, inspecting her scooter a little bit closer. Now that I was able to have a closer and longer look at it, it really did look hand, or in her case, hoofmade. Some of the edges didn't look as smooth as you'd expect from something that was built by machines and there were some nails sticking out at an odd angle, but not dangerously so. It also looked like it had to be patched up a few times, as there were some pieces of wood that didn't really fit into the color spectrum of the scooter. "When?"

She hummed in thought, lifting a hoof up to idly rub the spot under her muzzle before finally answering, "I dunno, when I was like... nine? So around four years ago, I guess."

"Huh, neat." I said, turning my head back at her. "Anyways, where do you want to eat breakfast?"

She tapped at her muzzle in thought, but ultimately just shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really care, to be honest. Just has to taste good."

"Well, I saw a nice looking cafe on my way here, how about there?" 

"I think I know which one you mean." She said, nodding her head slowly. "Café Hay, I think it's called. It's pretty expensive, though."

I pulled the bag of coins that I packed earlier out of my pocket, showing it to her with a small smile. "I think I got that covered."




****



"Hey Dad, look!"

I froze on the spot.

I turned myself around just in time to see Scootaloo straightly heading for a conveniently placed makeshift ramp at high-speed on her scooter, and, just a mere second later, I saw her soaring through the sky, her cute, little wings buzzing frantically in an attempt to keep her aloft. Her wings succeeded in doing so for three, maybe four seconds, but ultimately failed in providing the necessary lift to keep her in the air as she quickly fell back down to the ground, the wheels of her scooter hitting the cobbled street hard. 

Just when I thought that the horror was over, my eyes went wide, as did hers, as she suddenly and without a warning lost control over her scooter, the whole thing swaying from left to right dangerously and heading straight for the cottage's wall to her right. Thankfully, though, she quickly got it under control again, narrowly avoiding the wall by just mere millimeters.

"Jeez, Scoots, never do that again." I exclaimed aloud, a hand clutching at my chest, just right above where my rapidly-beating heart was. I wasn't really prepared for something like that.

"Pfff, stop being such a wuss." She said, trying to sound casual as she rolled up to my side and playfully poked my leg. "It's not like I was in danger."

I gave her the most deadpan look I could muster, given the near heart attack I just suffered.

"...Yeah, okay, maybe a little." She admitted, rolling her eyes at me. "But it's not like I didn't know what I was doing!"

"Still, that doesn't change the fact that you just barely avoided a visit to the hospital." I stated, turning back around and continuing to walk towards Café Hay that was slowly coming into view. "And, lemme tell you, I really don't want to see-"

"Good morning, you two!" I took a look over my shoulder, one eyebrow raised, in order to see who interrupted me so rudely, only to see two violet orbs staring right back at me, connected to the happy face and purple body of none other than Twilight Sparkle. "Good to see you!"

"Hey Twilight." Scoots greeted, waving at her lazily with one hoof. 

I turned around completely, Scootaloo walking up to my side as I looked down to the purple pony, quite happy to see her again for the first time since a few days. "Good morning to you too, Twilight." I greeted back, nodding at her. "How's it going? We haven't seen each other in what? Two days?"

"Three, I think." She corrected before her smile turned into a small frown. "And I'm feeling okay, I guess. I've been doing some research, so I was barely somewhere else than the castle's library."

She shook her head, bringing that smile back forth. "And what about you two? How are you doing, and what are you two doing up this early?"

"We're fine." I looked down to the side curtly, seeing that Scootaloo was confirming what I said with a slow nod, before looking back to Twilight. "I just fetched Scootaloo from the orphanage so we could go and get some breakfast together."

Twilight's face fell a little. "Rainbow came by yesterday and told me about the problems you two were having. I'm sorry for the both of you. Had I known earlier, maybe we could've worked things out somehow. And I, as a princess, should've known that a law like that exists... Especially after all those books-"

"Twilight, I'm not mad at you for not knowing, definitely not." I interrupted her before she could go on any further, giving her a small smile and a pat on the shoulder. "I can't be. And, no offense, I don't think that even if you would've known earlier, there is nothing you could've done. We just have to wait."

I looked down to Scootaloo, giving her a smirk. "And not even a law can forbid me to call Scootaloo my sweet, adorable little daughter."

Scootaloo's cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she jabbed me in the side of my leg with one of her hooves. 

"Worth it."  I stated confidently, biting my lip as I looked back at Twilight. I shook my right leg in an attempt to somehow make the slight stinging pain vanish. "Totally worth it."

The purple pony shook her head, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Do you mind if I join you two at breakfast?" She asked, looking at the both of us. "Haven't had a good meal in those three days, and maybe we can catch up a little on what happened?"

I looked down to Scootaloo, who nodded a confirmation at me, before saying, "Sure."




****



I looked down to the little bale of hay in front of me, something that apparently served as a seat in order to eat from the relatively big mushroom table. "That's an interesting choice of... Ehm, furniture?"

And I thought that the small chairs from Sugarcube Corner were bad...

Scootaloo hopped up onto the bale to my left, and Twilight took the one opposite of me, both of them plopping themselves down onto their haunches right on top of them. "They're pretty comfy, dad." Scootaloo stated encouragingly, wiggling a little bit deeper into the hay. "C'mon, try it."

"Uh..." I took one last questioning glance at Scootaloo, who gave me a nod in return, before stepping closer to the seat and slowly, very slowly lowering myself down to the seat.

Once I was seated on the bale, I immediately realized that those things were clearly not comfortable and definitely not made with the human height and weight in mind. My ass sank deep into the hay, so deep that I was slowly but surely starting to lose all of that height I had over the table. Fortunately, I stopped sinking deeper after just a few seconds.

Unfortunately, I was really struggling to keep myself from losing balance and fall backwards.

After taking a few seconds to adjust myself to the change, I slowly looked into the face of Scootaloo, then over into the face of Twilight, both of them trying their dearest to hold in the giggles that were threatening to escape them. "What?" I asked with one eyebrow raised.

Scootaloo and Twilight looked each other in their faces curtly before the former suddenly burst out into a laughing fit, to which I only rolled my eyes. "Okay, what's so funny?"

"I-It's...just...how you are sitting!" Scootaloo managed to explain between her laughter, wiping away some tears with her left foreleg. "Y-you're like a giant that's sitting on a small chair!"

"Hehe, she's kinda right." Twilight said, giggling from behind her hoof. 

I raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I literally don't get why this is so funny, but-"

I was interrupted by an ahem that came from my left, to which I quickly turned my attention into that direction. Scootaloo and Twilight's giggling/laughter was also cut short as we all looked at the pony that interrupted us.

Earth pony, brown coat and (now that I had a closer look) a mane that was split into two similar shades of brown; it was the waitress that waved at me earlier, wearing a big, genuine friendly smile on her face. 

"Sorry to interrupt. I'm Acoustic Melody and here to take your orders." She greeted politely, a small notebook balanced in her left hoof. "Have you decided yet, or should I come back in a little bit?"

It was only then that I noticed that there was a menu lying in front of me, on its front a big, stylized 'H'. I grabbed it from the table, quickly turned to the first page and started going through the menu, muttering, "No, it's fine."

I regretted that decision shortly after.

Twilight and Scootaloo seemed to know what the café was serving, both of them quickly deciding to order a daisy sandwich, which the waitress quickly jotted down, while I was left sitting there, helplessly searching for just the right thing to enjoy while the waitress was patiently waiting for me to voice my wish. Deciding would've been a lot easier if there were less flower and hay-based meals on the menu, but sadly, thanks to ponies liking those two things oh-so-much, there weren't.

It's really embarrassing when you're the last one to make an order, but don't even know what to order...

That's why I was having a little internal crisis, and I'm not exaggerating here. 'Dandelion sandwich? Or maybe a hay burger? No wait, no hay. Can't eat that...' I turned to the next page but was left just as helpless as before as I stared at the wall of text. 'Ugh, no, why do they have six different variants of fried hay?'

"Sir, may I suggest something?" Said our waitress, interrupting my near-breakdown politely. 

I perked up, relieved to finally get out of the hell that was my brain. "Sure, but please nothing with flowers or hay."

She considered my special request for a moment. "The hash browns topped with an egg are pretty popular among those who can't digest hay or flowers that well, especially griffons. Does that sound good?"

'Hash brown...eggs...' I turned over another page, and, of course, there was a section that read 'For our omnivorous customer'. I mentally groaned, nodding my head slowly. "Sounds good."

She jotted down my order. "Does anyone want a drink while we prepare your meals?" She asked, directing a questioning look at Twilight.

"No, thanks, I'm good." She said.

Scootaloo pondered for a moment, before she finally gave her answer, "Hot chocolate, please."

The waitress quickly wrote Scootaloo's request down, before finally turning her attention to me. "And you, sir?"

"Nah, thanks, I'm good too." I answered, giving her a polite smile.

Lastly, she repeated our orders, and, upon hearing that she got everything right, collected the menus from us and walked back into the café, leaving the three of us alone again.

"So, what else happened?" Twilight asked curiously, ready to listen whatever I was going to tell her. 

I shrugged. "Not a lot, to be fair." I said, to which She motioned me to continue with one of her hooves. "Well, apart from Applejack giving me a job at her farm and me meeting Dis-" I stopped myself instantly, coughing into my first rather loudly, which made both Scootaloo and Twilight raise an eyebrow in unison. 

"Sorry, I meant, uhm..." 'Quick, think of someone! THINKTHINKTHINKTH-' "Derpy, yeah, that's her name! She crashed into me!"

It was only when the words left my mouth that I realized I was nearly shouting. Good thing we were the only ones outside of the café, or else that would've been more than embarrassing. "O-kay." Twilight said, eyeing me suspiciously. 

We lapsed into a few seconds of awkward silence, Twilight suspicious eyes seemingly trying to read my mind while I was busy trying to look anywhere but into her face, twiddling my thumbs nervously. It was right in the moment when I could literally feel Twilight readying another question about my encounter with Derpy, when the waitress came back, carefully balancing on her left hoof a steaming-hot mug upon a tray.

"One hot chocolate." She announced, walking up to Scootaloo's left side and offering her the mug with a smile on her face. Scootaloo was quick to lift the mug off of the tray, uttering a 'thank you' and placing the mug in front of her on the table.

Right when that was done, the waitress took a quick glance behind her, almost as she was nervous about something. Interested in what made her do that, I took a look of my own into the direction. 

Standing there was a stallion with a mustache, his coat a light, yellowish gray and his backwards-combed mane a grayish blue. He wore some kind of white suit, if you could even call it that, with a red bow-tie that covered the front of his chest and the lower parts of his legs. Everything else was uncovered, which made me see that he had some kind of tray that was covered by a silver lid as his cutie mark.

Not that I'd been staring at a stallion's ass!

"Your meals will be ready in five minutes." She said, snapping me out of my staring, before leaving us alone once again.

"So, Applejack offered you a job?" Twilight asked once the waitress was gone.

I nodded my head. "Yeah. I met her yesterday and she asked if I'd like to help out at her farm in exchange for some money."

A small smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth, one that didn't go unnoticed by me. "Let me take a guess; at first you said no, then she told you how you needed that job and how you wouldn't get another, and then managed to convince you into accepting?"

I gave her another nod. "Exactly. How'd you know?"

"It's Applejack." She answered simply, to which I shot her a slightly puzzled look, but Twilight just left it at that. "Now, there's another thing I've been meaning to ask you two, actually."

"And that is?"

"When Rainbow came by yesterday, she wasn't like her...How do I put it?" She tipped at her muzzle in thought. "Usual self."

I blinked.

"Oh." Both I and Scootaloo uttered together.

"Yes, oh indeed." Twilight said. "And, after some persuasion, she told me why."

She took a deep breath. "I think the two of you are overreacting."

I opened my mouth to retort, but Twilight was faster. "Hear me out, please."

"I can understand that you,-" She turned her head at Scootaloo, who was slurping her hot chocolate like her life depended on it. "- and you are mad at her, but the both of you should really consider talking to her. She did what she did to see the both of you happy, and, just like William said earlier, even if she'd have told any of you earlier... What would have changed?"

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Defeated by my own argument. 

She had me there, I realized, closing my mouth again. I hadn't thought about it that way, only then realizing how dumb and whiny I must've sounded. 

Seeing that I wasn't going to retort, Twilight continued, looking me dead in the eye, "I know her good enough to know that she's depressed. No matter how hard she'll try to deny it, and she will, she really fears to lose the two of you." She paused, looking between me and Scootaloo. "You both should go and talk to her since I'm afraid that she's not going to muster up the courage to do it. You two don't have to outright forgive her, but at least show her that you don't hate her."

On the one hand, Twilight was right. After realizing that even if we would've known earlier, nothing really would've changed, the majority of my anger for Rainbow was gone. But, on the other hand, there was still a small bit of anger that wouldn't go, a small part originated from the breach of trust.

Not saying anything is technically lying. So, in the end, she broke my trust by lying to me.

I curtly looked over to Scootaloo. She didn't seem like she was even listening to our conversation, looking down into her now-empty mug intently. One of her ears, though, was telling me the complete opposite, as it slowly perked up and swiveled into my direction, awaiting my response. 

With a heavy sigh, I ran one of my hands through my hair, before answering, "We're going to talk to her after I'm done with work, but I won't promise anything to come out of it." 

Twilight brightened upon hearing that, her extremely serious expression that she kept up the whole conversation diminishing and being replaced by a small smile. "I'm glad to hear that."

Thankfully, It wasn't long before our delicious-looking meals finally arrived, carried by the same waitress that attended us earlier, though she seemed slightly nervous when she placed them and the silverware in front of each one of us. With a quick glance out of the corner of my eye, I was able to spot that same mustached stallion from before, looking at the waitress critically, almost judgingly. Putting one and one together, I realized that she was nervous because of him. He probably was her superior or something.

But I didn't give it any more thought as my nose caught the scent of what exactly was in front of me. And, let me tell you, I'm not exaggerating when I say that it probably was one of the most tasty-looking breakfast I'd ever seen. Not as good as the one from the Apple family, obviously, as I was barely able to keep myself from salivating.

And upon taking a little taste, I was confirmed in my hopes that it tasted even better than it smelled.

The rest of the breakfast went by in comfortable silence, only the occasional uninteresting small talk interrupting it. Once each one of us was finished we called for the bill, and it was only then when I realized that there was one major problem.

With the bill in one hand and the open bag of coins in my other, I was struggling to figure out how much I exactly I had to pay. The bill said that I had to pay twenty-nine bits for mine and Scootaloo's meal, but once I looked into my little money bag, I saw three different kinds of coins. 

Platinum, gold and silver.

"Uh, Twilight?" I showed her the bill and then pointed at the brown coin bag. "How does this...uhm, work exactly?"

She blinked twice before it finally seemed to click. "Oh! Right, different currency!"

She lit up her horn, levitating two platinum, four silver and one golden bit out of the open bag. "It's pretty simple." She said with a smile, levitating one single platinum bit in front of my eyes. "One platinum bit equals ten normal, golden bits."

She levitated a silver bit into my view. "And one silver bit is worth two golden bits."

Lastly, she dropped every bit she collected out of my bag onto the bill that lay on the table. "So, twenty-nine bits equals two platinum, four silver and one golden bit."

I hummed in thought, scratching at my chin. "Interesting that the golden bit is worth less than the silver one."

"Actually, the golden ones aren't really made out of gold. Gold is the most expensive metal in Equestria, so we use a metal called brass, a mixture of copper and zinc, instead since it's way cheaper and more common." She explained, gradually going into full egghead mode. "The silver bits, though, are purely made out of silver, and the platinum ones are purely made out of platinum since both of these metals are fairly cheap and common in Equestria. Did you know that Equestria has actually one of the biggest platinum and silver mines in the whole world? And did you know that-"

Thankfully, I realized where this was going. "Twilight, stop, please."

She stopped momentarily, before her surprised expression shifted into an embarrassed grin, both her cheeks flushing a light pink that was barely visible. It was kinda cute, actually. "Heh, s-sorry, kinda lost control right there."

"Like you wouldn't believe." Scootaloo muttered under her breath, just loud enough for the both of us to hear. Twilight's blush only intensified upon hearing her annoyed tone.

I shot Scootaloo a glare, which made her quickly cover her mouth.

"Sooo... How much do you guys normally tip?" I asked after clearing my throat.

"Generally, nothing, at least not in cafés, diners or anything like that." Twilight answered, the pink hue slowly leaving her cheeks. "In restaurants, though, I'd say the rule of hoof is one to... three bits."

Taking a short moment to consider if I was going to tip or not, I ultimately decided to pull out three golden bits and neatly stacked them onto each other beside the bill. The mare that was our waitress was polite and friendly, so why not leave a little tip for her?

I picked up my bag of bits and stashed it away into my pocket pants, and, with that done, slowly stood back up, stretching my back as I was finally able to stand properly again. Scootaloo and Twilight also hopped down from their seats, though they didn't seem to feel the need to stretch as much as I did.

"I'll be off now, still have some books to read." Twilight stated. "You two will be at Sweet Apple Acres for the festival tomorrow, right?"

Raising an eyebrow, I asked, "What exactly is tomorrow at Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Running of the Leaves?" She answered questioningly as if she wasn't too sure if someone told and I'd just forgotten, or if I really didn't know about the so-called 'Running of the Leaves'.

Of course, I didn't really know.

"Oh, okay." I simply said. "Yeah, I guess until tomorrow."

Twilight gave us one last smile and a wave with her hoof before turning around and walking away, down the street into the direction of her big, unmissable castle. Scootaloo picked up her Scooter that was leaning on a nearby table, put on her helmet and suddenly began driving away into the opposite direction of where Twilight went.

I quickly followed her.

Our destination?

No freaking idea, but damn that filly was fast.
> Chapter Twenty-Seven - Dash's Apology
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Oh for...fucks sake..." I muttered, trying my dearest to fill my lungs with the much-needed oxygen again, lest I'd suffocate. Bending over in exhaustion, I took slow, deep breaths in order to accomplish that goal.

Not a second later, I heard approaching hoofsteps. "Are you okay, Dad?"

I slowly lifted my head up a little to look into the face of Scootaloo, giving her an exhausted glare that told her everything she needed to know. "I don't...know...Do I look like it?"

She looked at me sheepishly, ears splayed back, maybe finally realizing that she just made me run after her for a whole five minutes. 

Without a break. 

Through the whole fucking town.

She lifted a hoof up to her helmetless head, giving it a scratch. "Heh, sorry."

It took me a minute or so to finally regain my breath, though I was still incredibly exhausted from the little sprint I did. But once I did catch my breath, the first thing I did was take a good look around. My best guess was that we were in a park if the small playground to my right and the bench to my left were enough indicators for that, though we could've been anywhere. "So, where are we and why are we here?"

"Well, we're in the park and..." Scootaloo trailed off, staring at something to her right.

"Aaand?" I repeated in an attempt to make her finish her sentence, which quickly turned out to have exact opposite effect.

Instead of voicing her answer, she nodded her head in the direction she was looking. Following where her head was pointing, between two trees and a foliage of orange bushes and hanging branches, I was barely able to spot what looked like the beginning of a narrow trail. Everything else that could've been hiding behind the bushes was hidden to me, which gave that trail a mysterious vibe.

Scootaloo walked over to the two trees that marked the entrance to the trail, stopping there and leaving a confused me behind. It was only when she turned her head to look at me from over her shoulder that I realized she was waiting for me follow her - which I gradually did.

Upon seeing that I was starting to follow her, she pushed some of the vegetation out of the way and vanished behind it, with me following shortly after. Once we were on that, as I guessed right, narrow trail, we walked for another two minutes through rather thick foliage and low-hanging branches that occasionally managed to touch the top of my head, before finally arriving at a clearing.

At least, at first sight it just looked just like a normal clearing, until I took a look at what exactly was at the center of it.

There was a big pond in the middle of the clearing, nearly occupying the whole space, with only a little path that led around it. The pond itself looked like one of the cleanest ones I've ever laid my eyes on, the water being of an almost crystal-clear blue color while its mirror-like surface reflected the sun perfectly. 
One the shore all around it were bushes of what looked like cattails and other plants that you'd see typically growing around ponds, except for one part where a small wooden gangplank was protruding into the water.

The pond looked mostly untouched, except for the gangplank, and natural. The whole clearing had a strange, calming tone to it, one that I was sure I experienced not so long ago. It made me think clearly, all worries that were hiding in the back of my head just disappearing. I took a deep breath, relishing in the feeling of fresh air filling my lungs. 

It felt like I was finally able to clear my mind for once, though there were was still one major question I really wanted to ask Scootaloo. So, I turned my head into the direction of the filly, opening my mouth to ask, "Where are we?"

It took Scootaloo a moment to answer my question, her eyes seemingly searching the air above the clearing. "We're at Rainbow's favourite spot, I think..." She answered, briefly turning her head at me before resuming her search.

Upon her explanation, a metaphorical light bulb lit up above my head. At least now everything made some kind of sense, though I was still a little bit confused. "That's why we're here?" The only thing that assured me that she had heard me was a slow, almost reluctant nod. "But why here, exactly? Shouldn't we have started at her house, first?"

Scootaloo shook her head. "Good luck with that, her house's above Ponyville."

"What?" I asked, shaking my head in disbelief. "You're joking, right?"

Scootaloo turned her head at me, blinking once in confusion before slowly furrowing her eyebrow. "She hasn't told you?" I shook my head again, this time in a 'no'. "Well, she lives in a cloudominium."

"Cloudo-what now?"

"Really?" She rolled her eyes because of my lack of knowledge, a silent sigh escaping her lips. "House made out of clouds? A pegasi's traditional home?"

I frowned a little. "Hey, don't act like I'm stupid! That word doesn't even exist in-"

"Celestia damn it, I'm trying to take a nap here!" A very familiar, raspy voice exclaimed from above me and Scoots, effectively cutting me off mid-sentence. "Can't you two down there just shut the buck-"

I looked up as the voice suddenly stopped, locking eyes with a pair of magenta ones that were peeking over the edge of a small, low-hanging cloud. The eyes of the cyan-coated pony went so wide that I momentarily feared they'd pop out of their sockets, though I quickly found out that, thankfully, that wouldn't be the case. Her mouth opened, closed and opened itself again, mimicking a breathing fish before it finally settled and formed a silent 'Oh'.

Surprise or confusion, I didn't know which of these two things was dominating her feelings as her expression was a mix between the two, but I knew that I was looking at her with a blank expression on my face.

"Hey there, Rainbow." I greeted casually, giving her a one-handed wave.

Scootaloo was quick to follow suit, though she replaced the wave with a simple nod of her head. "Hey Rainbow."

"Wha-what...?" She managed to stammer out before falling into silence once again. The air got thick with awkwardness the longer she stayed silence. Uncomfortably awkward. 

A small chuckle, barely even loud enough for me to hear it, managed to slip past my lips at the relatively cute display she was giving us. She was completely speechless, something you wouldn't really expect from someone with her ego. 

"I think we broke her." I said, briefly turning my head to look at Scootaloo, the corner of my mouth curving upwards in a small grin. Scootaloo's only answer to that was a small giggle.

A giggle that finally managed to snap Rainbow out of it. She blinked, then blinked again before finally shaking her head in a small, urgent manner, desperately trying to get a grasp on the situation. "What are you doing here?" 

Her tone made my grin vanish at an instant. She sounded like she was slightly suspicious of us, like we were just there to toy with her feelings. 

In response to her question, I slowly started tapping at my chin with one of my fingers, releasing a 'hmm'. "I don't know, maybe to talk with you?" I sarcastically responded, already getting a tad bit annoyed at her behavior.

She responded with a snort, curtly vanishing from view before jumping from the back of the cloud, slowly and safely gliding down to the ground. She gradually got closer to the ground, me and Scootaloo following her way down with our eyes, before she finally landed on her four hooves in front of us, a small thump echoing through the clearing. "And what do you two want to talk about?" She asked, sounding slightly annoyed, one eyebrow raised.

I frowned. She was apparently trying her best to get on my nerves with her downright rude behavior, especially since all Scootaloo and I came for was to clear up some things with her, tell her that we weren't angry at her - which we clearly weren't! But her behavior was starting to have the opposite effect on me, the air between us slowly thickening.

I ignored it to my best abilities as I responded, "You know about what."

For a moment, it looked like she felt incredibly bad, her ears splaying back for just a seconds or two in what I guessed was regret for her past actions. But it was gone as quick as it came, her expression changing back into that frown from before. "I don't want to talk about that." She grumbled, looking down to the ground.

Now, I had a relatively good start in the day, maybe one of the best since I left earth. A perfectly peaceful breakfast with a good friend and my daughter was really the best start in the morning I could've imagined at that point, but Rainbow was downright ruining it with her ignorant behavior! All we came to the pond for was her so that she could maybe apologize to us, but all she was doing was avoiding exactly that to her best abilities.

I took a deep, long breath through my nose in an attempt to stay calm and collected. Under her hard, ego-filled and tough to crack shell she was a pony just like any other. She was sorry, I knew her good enough to know that. It was just a matter of words and time until that same shell would begin to crack.

"Well, if you don't want to, we'll just go." I said calmly, taking a look down to Scootaloo who looked back at me with a small frown, but nodded in agreement nonetheless. I turned around and walked back into the direction of the entrance to the clearing, Scootaloo following beside me.

But it was an almost inaudible, shy sounding 'No' that stopped both of us dead in our tracks. I turned around to face Rainbow, raising one eyebrow and pretending to not have understood what she'd said. "Did you say something?"

She was hesitating for a moment, obviously having an inner fight with her ego that told her not to show any kind of what she probably considered as weakness. But then, after just a few seconds, it seemed like she knew that it was her only chance to plead for forgiveness, to tell us that she really was sorry.

She gulped once, mentally preparing herself. "I said no. Don't leave." She said, almost managing to sound confident.

"Huh?"

"I-I..." She interrupted her stammering with a heavy sight, seemingly trying her best to collect her jumbled thoughts. "Okay, I'm not good at this whole apology stuff, but... I'm sorry, okay?"

Seeing that I wasn't going to say anything anytime soon, she continued, "I'm sorry for not telling you two earlier, even though I should have. I thought that the two of you would've been much happier if didn't tell you that the whole adoption thing wouldn't work out, at least not immediately, but after that night when you-" She locked her magenta eyes on mine curtly before looking back at the ground. "-asked me to leave, I instantly regretted that decision. I still do."

"I knew by the way you looked at me that I really screwed up that time. I couldn't sleep that night, not one second. And when I talked to Scootaloo yesterday, all I could think of was that I was never going to see the two of you again."

After she was done, something that sounded like a small sob managed to escape her mouth and just a second later, a small drop of a shiny lidquid hit the ground below her face, dampening the earth where it hit slightly.

"I really thought that I would never see the both of you again. And, now that I finally see you, all I did was act like a filly!" She exclaimed in obvious hate with herself, her voice trembling as she lifted her head back up slowly, almost reluctantly so. Once her eyes were visible to us again, I saw that they turned a bright red and were getting damper with each second that passed, glimmering in the faint morning sun that managed to shine into the clearing. She quickly realized her little breakdown, lifting one foreleg up to wipe the wetness out of her eyes.

"I'm sorry...I-I'll just go." She turned around, quickly spread her wings and crouched down, preparing herself to dart away. But before she was able to do exactly that, Scootaloo galloped over to her left side, putting one of her small hooves on her shoulder, to which the cyan pegasus flinched a little.

"I forgive you." She said softly with a small smile on her face, much to Rainbow's obvious surprise, giving the side of her face a short nuzzle. Rainbow visibly tensed at first, but after just another second of hesitation and another of silent questioning if she had heard right, returned the affectionate gesture. "And I'm sorry for yesterday...I wasn't thinking clearly."

"You don't have to apologize for that, silly." She answered, stopping her nuzzling to give Scootaloo a small smile and promptly pulling her into a hug, to which the filly released a small giggle. "I'm just glad you don't... you know, hate me..."

Scootaloo whispered something that amost sounded like 'never', though I also could've been wrong. Maybe it was just a combination of the sounds created rustling leaves and the faint breeze that traveled through the clearing.

Whatever it was, I still had something to say.

"Speaking of hating you." I started in a rather awkward attempt to remind them that I was still there, though it was apparently enough to gain both Scootaloo's and, most importantly, Rainbow's attention as they promptly turned to look at me. "I don't hate you either."

A smile started building on Rainbow's face, a smile that showed relief and happiness, and she almost looked like she was ready to pounce me and pull me into a bone-crushing hug. But before her smile was able to fully develop and before she was able to treat me like a giant teddy bear, I continued. "But I'm not sure if I'm ready to forgive you completely yet."

Her face fell and she relaxed her muscles again, the smile that was so dangerously close to showing gone, but she didn't look incredibly sad nor surprised. She looked more... understanding, although I was still able to see a small hint of what could've been sadness, or even disappointment, hiding behind her neutral expression.

Then her neutral expression, if it was even one before, quickly turned into one of determination.

"I'll make it up to you." She turned her head to look at Scootaloo. "To the both of you. Whatever it'll be, it's going to be so awesome that you're going to forgive me right away! I promise!"

I didn't know if she said that more for herself, or if she just wanted to let us know that she was willing to make it up to us. The pose she struck, her chest puffed out and head held high, something she may have thought looked confident but turned out to look just plain adorable, made me believe that it was the latter. Whatever the reason may have been, her offer of doing something awesome, as she put it, for the both of us in redemption, sounded really...

Rainbow-ish.

I smiled, a small, probably inaudible chuckle managing to slip past my lips as she relaxed again. It seemed just like everything was alright, "Awesome? Well, that can only mean bad things, can't it?" I joked, scratching my head.

She grinned a little, eyes darting between me and Scootaloo before finally settling back on mine. I swear that if she would've had hands, she would've rubbed them together like those stereotypical villains you sometimes in bad movies. "You'll see."

Scootaloo and I looked at each worriedly, sure that I just led us into our end. 'Welp, at least it's going to be an awesome one.' I thought.

"Anyways, I really like it here, but-" I started in order to steer the conversation away from the approaching silence, luckily realizing that I still had some other things to do that day, things that were more important than having a little small talk with Rainbow. "-I still have some things to do, sadly. You can tag along if you want and we'll catch up on what happened, or you can, you know, get back to being lazy."

"Dude!" She exclaimed angrily, a sudden but unsurprising and totally excepted change in demeanor, giving me a half-glare. "I totally wasn't being lazy!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, sure, and what exactly were you doing up there?"

"...Important weather business!" She answered after just a few too much seconds of silence, maybe just a tad bit too loud. The sudden interest she found in the sky was making her statement even less believable. She obviously just thought of that, just to have an excuse for being lazy. 

I understood, though. I wasn't lying when I said that it was nice there in that clearing. It was definitely nice enough to take a nap in the shades of the trees that surrounded it.

"Yeah, like I said, sure." I stated with more than just a hint of doubt, but in the end chose to not press the matter - not that I particularly cared. It just wasn't important, and I wasn't too keen on getting on her nerves already. "So, you coming or not?"

"Eh, why not?" She answered with a shrug of her shoulders. "Where first?"

I lifted a hand up to my chin, scratching where a rather advanced three-day beard was growing like a fire in a hayfield. Okay, actually, that may not be the best comparison, but I think you understand what I'm trying to get at.

"Uhm, I think it would be the best if we were to go to Rarity first." I asked aloud, the question directed not only at Rainbow, but also at Scootaloo, though both of them gave me a nod in agreement anyways. "I need to pick up some clothes she brought to the laundry shop for me yesterday." I informed the both of them, though I was not sure if I had already told Scootaloo about that.

Scootaloo made a gagging noise all of a sudden, much to mine and Rainbow's confusion.

"You should've smelled him yesterday." She said to Rainbow, her face scrunched up a little in the memory of my manly-smelling clothes. "That was probably the second most disgusting I've ever smelled."

"Wait wait wait...-" Rainbow said in quick unison, stopping me from asking Scootaloo what smelled even worse than I did. Rainbow then looked at me with one of her eyebrows raised. "Dude, did you, like, wear the same clothes all week long or why did you smell bad?"

I rubbed at the back of my head in a small display of shame, being reminded of how disgusting I must've smelt. Poor ponies. "Well, I've got new ones from Rarity yesterday, as you can see, but...yeah."

Rainbow's face scrunched up slowly before it suddenly turned into a grin. "That's disgusting, but kinda funny."

"How's that funny?" I asked, slightly puzzled from her sudden change of demeanor. She opened her mouth to give me an answer, but I quickly shook my head and said, "Look, actually, don't answer me. I don't think I want to know."

She closed it again, grin growing bigger.

I sighed and quickly turned around, my cheeks flushing a bright red. "Just... let's go, this is getting freakin' awkward."




****



"-and then I jumped over that ramp and BOOM,-" The orange filly beside me threw one forehoof in the air, her scooter still carrying her alongside me and Rainbow. "-I was flying through the air! It felt like I was flying! It was awesome, but then I landed and nearly hit the wall... Really close, but I managed to evade just in time."

"You're right, that really sounds like it was awesome, kiddo." Rainbow answered with a bright smile after Scootaloo finished her little tale of the totally not dangerous little stunt she did that morning on her scooter.

"It was awesome, alright." I agreed, adding my two-cents. "But she kinda forgot the part about nearly giving me a heart attack."

"Pff, dude, like she said, she had everything under control." Rainbow said, rolling her eyes at me. "You're just too big of a chicken."

"Yeah, sure, me a chicken when I see my daughter heading straight for a wall at what could've been mach one for how fast she was going." I deadpanned, giving her the best blank stare I could muster and a shrug. "But I'm a chicken, apparently."

"Dad, you really can be a chicken sometimes." Scootaloo said, agreeing with Rainbow. 

"I'm okay with being a chicken as long as it means that my daughter's being careful and not going to hit a wall with her scooter anytime soon." I stated with a nod. "Or anything else, for that matter." 

"So you accept being a chicken?" Rainbow asked, almost sounding surprised.

"I wouldn't call it being a chicken but more being a father, but I guess if you want to put it like that-" I shrugged. "-yeah, then I guess I'm a chicken."

The Carousel Boutique slowly came into view, pompous and girly just like I remembered it from yesterday.

I doubled my pace, all too eager on escaping the conversation that I knew was soon going to turn into more of a mocking thing because I admitted that I feared for the well-being of my daughter.

Not twenty seconds later and I stood in front of that violet wooden door that led into the boutique. I knocked twice, pushed it open and stepped inside, being immediately greeted by the undeniably strong smell of perfume. The smell wasn't as bad as the day before, though, probably because I was prepared for it.

But that didn't mean that the other two were prepared for it. A raspy cough from behind me was enough to know that Rainbow definitely wasn't prepared for it.

"I'll never get used to that smell." She said, her face probably scrunched up a little. "It's just so...girly."

I walked over to the counter to my right in order to ring the silver bell and announce our presence to Rarity, ignoring Rainbow's whining. But something seemed off about it... Something I couldn't quit-

"Well darling, you would get used to it if you were to visit more often." 

I nearly jumped up in surprise, but was able to just prevent that from happening and instead just took a step back in surprise coupled with a totally manly shriek. Rarity's sudden appearance from behind the counter was really jump-scare worthy and more than a little surprising.

"Jeez, Rarity!" I exclaimed, ignoring the two behind me that were snickering uncontrollably, clutching at my chest just above where my, for the second time that day, rapidly beating heart was. "Where did you come from?"

She blinked, once and then twice, looking at me in a way that asked if I was being serious. "I was behind here the whole time?"

"Haha, you should've seen your face!" Rainbow exclaimed aloud, walking up to my side and looking up at me. She then made her best impression of a surprised me, before her snickering quickly turned into full-blown laughter.

Scootaloo was quick to join her, though she wasn't nearly laughing as hard as Rainbow was. It was more on the border to giggling, a relatively quiet and collected laughter. 

"Why is everyone trying to give me a heart attack today?" I asked annoyedly, trying to drown out the laughter to my best abilities.

"Sorry darling, I did not want to scare you." Rarity at least was a little sympathetic, her apologetic tone letting me know that she really didn't want to scare me to death. "And Rainbow, could you please stop laughing? It is not very kind to laugh just because William got a little surprised."

To my amazement, Rainbow actually stopped laughing...

For a whole five seconds...

And then she started laughing even louder. 

Rarity rolled her eyes before directing a small smile at me. "I take it you are here for your clothes?" She correctly assumed, lighting up her horn. A second later, Rainbow suddenly and without a reason went quiet, much to my confusion. A quick glance to my side in order to see the reason behind the sudden quietness showed me that her mouth was enclosed by a blue-shimmering bubble, and the look she was giving Rarity was enough for me to realize that it the fashionista's doing.

Scootaloo was quick to stop giggling after that.

Rarity seemed unfazed by the glare coming from the cyan pegasus, or simply didn't see it, but damn did Rainbow look angry. Her glare could've melted steel, and by the way her muscles were tensing up she looked like she was ready to pounce Rarity at any moment.

I was curious on who would've won, pegasus or unicorn. 

"Dear, are you alright?" Rarity interrupted my thoughts of an epic battle between the two that involved a lot of explosions and magical gunfire, maybe a bit too much, with the help of her voice.

"Uh yeah, I'm fine." I quickly answered, shaking my head in order to fully function again. "And yeah, I'm here for the clothes you wanted to bring to the laundry shop yesterday."

Rarity nodded her head. With a magical 'pop', a neatly folded set of clothes appeared on the counter, my set of clothes that I left behind in the boutique.

I picked the clothes up, fortunately finding out that they were indeed washed. They strongly smelled of blueberries, actually. "Thanks again for helping me out with that."

"It was no problem, William." She said, waving a hoof at me in a dismissive manner. "But please, from now on, remember to wash your clothes regularly."

I blushed, chuckling nervously. "Yeah, I will. Not going to repeat that."

I was sure that if Rainbow would've been able to speak, she would've said or done something to make me feel even more embarrassed. Fortunately she couldn't muster much more than a simple 'Hpmf' and a smirk.

Rarity answered with a smile before turning her head towards Rainbow. "Rainbow Dash, can I expect you to not make fun of William again if I let you speak again?"

All Rainbow could do was nod and grumble a response, but that was apparently enough of a confirmation for Rarity. The blue hue around Rarity's horn vanished instantly, as did the bubble in front of Rainbow's mouth.

"Never do that again, Rares." Rainbow muttered angrily, still giving the unicorn a half-glare. 

"That completely depends on how you will behave in the future, darling." Rarity asked, smirking slightly. 

It was funny to see Rainbow positively fuming, especially since she didn't look really frightening. It was more the adorable kind of angry, especially once she realized that Rarity had the upper hand with her unicorn magic and a pout formed on her face.

"Well, I don't want to be rude, but I still need to finish an order for a couple from Canterlot." Rarity said, making me realize that I had been staring at Rainbow a little longer than what could've been considered normal. Rarity lightened up her horn again, this time teleporting a pair of glasses onto her nose and a measuring tape around her neck. "Maybe we can continue our talk tomorrow at the Running of the Leaves?"

I nodded my head, giving her a smile. "Sure. Don't want to stop you from doing your job, after all."

"Actually, Rarity?" Scootaloo, for the first time since we arrived in the boutique, spoke up. "Do you know where Sweetie Belle is?"

Rarity lifted a hoof under her chin, seemingly rummaging through her memories. "She wanted to meet up with Apple Bloom at the club house, if I'm not mistaken."

"Cool, thanks!" Scootaloo chirped, smiling brightly before turning to me. "C'mon dad, you wanted to go to Applejack anyways, didn't you?"

"Uh, yeah?" I asked, partly confused on what that had to do with their club house.

Her little wings buzzed in excitement. "Cool! Then I can finally show you how it looks!" She bit into my pants' legs, already tugging me towards the door. "C'mon!"

I let her lead me out of the door, but not before giving Rarity one last wave with my hand.

"Ta-ta, you three!" The fashionista called back, closing the door behind us.
> Chapter Twenty-Eight - The Human Cutie Mark Crusader
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Scootaloo apparently thought that it was important to get Rainbow and me, especially me, to the clubhouse of their so-called 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'-club as fast as possible. At least that's what it felt like when she started dragging me through whole the whole town, passing curious ponies that looked at us like we were totally crazy.

All of that was made even worse by the fact that she was standing on her scooter, buzzing her little wings rapidly while dragging me alongside her with the help of her teeth, which unfortunately meant that I had to somehow keep up with her, or else she'd have fallen off - something I really wanted to prevent from happening. Additionally, I still had to carry the clothes Rarity cleaned for me. So, I tried my best to keep up with her while being careful not to drop the freshly-cleaned clothes. At least she seemed to have learned from earlier that day and was going a little slower.

Which, unfortunately for me, still was jogging speed.

Rainbow, for her part, had no troubles keeping up with me and Scootaloo, thanks to her wings. She was hovering alongside us, occasionally trying to start a conversation with me, knowing full well that there was no way for me to hold it up longer than ten seconds. I tried a few times to get her to carry my clothes for me so that I could concentrate on keeping up with my daughter, but all she did was smirk and say, "No can do, I'm flying. Too great of a risk, y'know?"

To put it short; she was having a blast out of seeing me suffer. 

The three of us passed by cottage after cottage, pony after pony, and then, to my confusion, exited Ponyville into the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. I repeatedly tried to gain Scootaloo's attention in order to, for one, get her to slow down and two, ask her why we were going to the Apple's farm, but she either didn't hear me or just pretended that she didn't hear me.

Once we passed through the more than obvious entrance to the farm, Scootaloo took a sudden left into the orchard that nearly made me trip over my own feet and drop the precious clean clothes I was carrying. I just barely managed to prevent that from happening, and that only because she brought her scooter to a halt as she turned left and thankfully didn't continue driving.

Scootaloo released her grip from my pants, leaving back a small salvia imprint of her front teeth, and then hopped off from her scooter. She lifted a hoof up to her forehead, wiping away a few drops of sweat, completely oblivious to my condition. "Whew, that was fun!"

Meanwhile, I was trying my dearest not to fall unconscious, bending over in exhaustion while taking deep, long breaths. I wasn't nearly as exhausted as earlier that day when I had to sprint through Ponyville, but my lungs were still burning with every single breath I took.

"That was awesome, squirt!" I heard Rainbow cheering, quickly followed by a smack, presumably originating from a high-five. A quick look into their direction confirmed that, as I saw both of their forelegs still outstretched, Scootaloo smiling widely.

"Yeah..." I breathed out, gaining their attention instantly, still looking at them with a glare on my face. "Awesome..."

At first, Scootaloo didn't seem to realize why I sounded so sarcastic. But that quickly changed, her confused expression replaced by realization and a sheepish smile. "Heh, sorry dad." She said, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "I thought I was going a lot slower this time."

"Don't beat yourself over it." Rainbow assured Scootaloo with an encouraging pat on her back, smirking at me. I opened my mouth in order to inform her that slower was still too fast, but Rainbow apparently saw that and interrupted me even before I was able to form the words. "Your dad needs the exercise."

I stood up and blinked, then quirked an eyebrow as the meaning behind her words hit me. "Did you just call me fat?"

She shook her head, a cocky smile on her face. "Nope, just pointed out that you could use some exercise."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "...You're going to regret that."

"Guys?" Scootaloo interrupted just as Rainbow was about to speak up. "Can we maybe go to the clubhouse, now? I really want to show it to you, dad!"

I shot Rainbow one last glare before looking back at Scootaloo, a small smile on my face. "Sure, but please, this time no scooter. Let's just walk, okay?"

I could tell that she wasn't really too happy about not being able to drive her scooter, but Scootaloo nodded her head nonetheless, although she was really reluctant about doing so. "Okay."

I gave her another smile before motioning for her to lead the way, which she, after looking confused for a second or two, understood. She hopped off of her scooter and continued to walk further into the orchard, scooter rolling alongside her while Rainbow and I were following a few meters behind her.

I think it was good that I asked her to walk the rest of the way with us, because as we got further and further into the orchard, the ground got increasingly more bumpy, a few rather big holes that surely would've caused an accident littering the narrow path between rows of apple trees we were following. Though Scootaloo, upon me questioning her about it, assured me that she sped down the same exact path a few hundred times, so she knew when she had to slow down in order to prevent any injuries from happening.

It wasn't long before I noticed that the trees around me were getting bigger. In fact, they started looking a little too big for apple trees. But a quick glance into their direction assured me that they were indeed still apple trees, just that they were bigger than the others I had seen so far. Way bigger. They also stood less in a row like I had seen in other parts of the orchard on the farm. It seemed like we were reaching a part of the orchard that was less frequently visited and thereby tended to by the Apple family. 

While I was busy studying my surroundings, I almost failed to notice the big wooden square in one of the bigger trees of the orchard. It was only because of Scooaloo's audible excitement and her being so nice as to point it out that I spotted it, their clubhouse, sitting in the biggest tree I was able to spot in our near vicinity.

And, to say that their clubhouse was awesome, was really an understatement.

It was, to put it simply, every children's dream of a perfect club- and treehouse. A wooden platform appeared to be perfectly built to the thick trunk, supported by three or four sturdy-looking support logs that connected the trunk with the platform's underside and ensured the stability of the treehouse that sat atop it. There was also a ramp, also made out of wood, that directly led up to the front door of the clubhouse. It was quite obvious why they used a ramp instead of a ladder. cClimbing a ladder wasn't really an option, with them being ponies and not owning any hands and all, and flying into the clubhouse wasn't an option either, at least not for any of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Well, not at that moment. I was still going to see if there was any way I could help my daughter with her little problem so that maybe one day she'd be able to enjoy the sky just like every other pegasus.

I opened my mouth as Scootaloo turned around to face me, stepping aside and presenting the clubhouse with one of her forehooves. "Wow."

In response to my simple, yet more than adequate praise, the little filly puffed out her small fluffy chest, a proud smile on her face. "Awesome, eh?"

I nodded my head in agreement, mesmerized by the sight before me. "Uh-huh."

"C'mon, let's go inside!" Scootaloo exclaimed in an excited tone, buzzing her little wings rapidly like a hummingbird. I was about to form a response, but by the time the words were ready to leave my mouth, she was already in front of the ramp, leaving back her scooter at the foot of it. She then hurried up the ramp, obviously too excited about something to notice that I wasn't following her, opened the front door of the club, stepped inside and, without missing a beat, shut the door loudly.

Not only was I extremely confused by my daughter's behavior, but also slightly suspicious. Especially since, if what Rarity said had been true, another one of the Crusaders was waiting inside there, maybe even all three of them! And we all know what happened the last time they and I were together. Maybe Scootaloo was just tricking me into thinking everything was safe, and then, once I turn my back to her, all three of them would've struck at once. Just the sheer image of another one of their make-up sessions was enough for me to play with the thought of running away. 

I looked at Rainbow out of the corner of my left eye suspiciously. Maybe she had been informed of the plan the CMC were pursuing and was just waiting for me to run away. 

Not.With.Me.

I was not going to run away. I was going to face the three little devils and show Rainbow that I was a man!

So, with renewed confidence, I walked over to the ramp, one hand on the non-existent handrail as I carefully walked it up. Once I stood in front of the door, I took a look back over my shoulder, seeing Rainbow still waiting there with a big smile on her face. But it wasn't the kind of smile I was excepting. Not a mischievous one, just a normal smile. I was a little confused that she, or anyone else for that matter, hadn't knocked me unconscious already so that I wasn't able to struggle while they were prettying me up.

Looking back forward, I placed a hand on the door and tried to push it open, only to realize shortly after that I had to pull in order to open it. So, pull I did, and once the door was fully open, all I saw was darkness.

"Scoots?" I asked aloud, one eyebrow raised in confusion. I took a step inside, followed by another, quickly finding myself in what could've been the center of the for all I knew. "You here?"

Suddenly, without warning, the door behind me shut close with a loud thump, almost as if it was closed by a strong breeze. I jumped at the sound. Then it hit me.

I ran right into their trap.

I was going to get prettied up again, but this time without my consent. They were going to knock me unconscious at any moment, and then they were going to drag my motionless body into the darkness, where they were going to blemish my face with their girly make-up. Then they were going to tie me up and put me to show in the town center the whole day where everyone was going to have a good laugh at my expense. 

I started shuddering, spinning around slowly in an attempt to spot any of them nearing me. But everything I saw was darkness, total and utter darkness. Inky black darkness. I wasn't even able to see my own hands.

What if their talent really was make-up stuff? What were they going to do with me once they got their cutie marks? Would they just get rid of me? Sell me to some sick pony that likes to own exotic creatures? Or maybe to a zoo where I was going to be caged in and robbed of my freedom? Or maybe I-

"Dad." A voice, serious and yet holding some authority to it, suddenly announced, breaking me out of my panic-induced stupor. With a confused blink, I realized that there was only one person that would've called me that. 

"Scoots?" I asked into the darkness, looking around once again, but unable to spot anything. "Where are you?"

I felt a small breeze hitting my face, barely even worth mentioning. "That doesn't matter."

"Wow, that's some spooky stuff right here." I mumbled under my breath, momentarily ignoring my growing fear just in order to say that.

Suddenly, there was another sound besides my own voice. A sound that was silent at first, but got increasingly louder with each passing second. A sound that was like a rolling thunder that got closer with each passing second. 

The sound of a...

Drumm roll?

Suddenly, the lights went on and the drum roll stopped. Without thinking, my hands shot upwards to my eyes, shielding them from the bright intrusion, which had the side effect of me not being able to see what was going on. I heard the sound of shuffling, and, between that, hushed whispering.

"What do we do now?" One of them asked.

"I dunno, you're the one who came up with this!" The second one whispered back.

"Girls, girls-" Another one interrupted, that one sounding strangely familiar. "-calm down, we've got this."

I slowly let my hands back down and blinked twice, trying to adjust them to the bright light that nearly blinded me. After a few seconds, my eyes were adjusted to the brightness, but they were definitely not prepared for what stood in front of me.

A wooden lectern, of some sort, was the first thing that caught my eyes, and standing behind it was a familiar white unicorn filly with a curly mane that wore a dark red cape. My eyes trailed to Sweetie Belle's right, where another familiar, yellow face, Apple Bloom, stood, wearing the same cape as Sweetie Belle did, but besides that, looked completely like her usual self. Lastly, I was able to spot my daughter standing behind a small set of drums to Sweetie Belle's left, but unlike before, she was also wearing the same cape just like her other two friends. She must've put it on before I entered the clubhouse.

Slowly, very slowly, I raised one eyebrow. "Okay, what the hell is going on here?"

To my question, Sweetie Belle took quick glances at the other two, to which they gave her nods, before clearing her throat loudly and unrolling something that looked like a scroll with the help of her magic.

She placed the scroll on top of the lectern and began reading, "We, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect William to join us as a brother, friend, confi-" She scrunched up her nose cutely, trying her dearest to figure out how to pronounce the word. "-confidante, ally, buddy, pal, compadre... Scootaloo, I thought you revised it!"

The orange filly in question shrugged her shoulders. "I did."

Sweetie Belle gave Scootaloo a short glare before skipping through the majority of the unrealistically long scroll, mumbling under her breath all the while. "...Homeboy... amigo... blah blah blah... Oh, yes, here!" She pointed one of her little hoofsies at some part in the scroll, leaning even closer to the piece of paper. "...and fellow Cutie Mark Crusader! You are solemnly sworn in, here this day, in witness of your fellow sisters, friends, confidantes...buddies...compadres...Ugh, Scootaloo?!"

Scootaloo walked up to me, on her back another, much larger cape of the same color as theirs, so big that she nearly tripped over it on her way over to me. Once she stood in front of me, and I shot her beaming face a confused look, she motioned for me with one hand to take the cape off of her back. After a second of hesitation on my part, I carefully picked it up, holding it up in front of me and unfolding it in order to see just how big it was.

And big, it was. Way bigger than any of theirs. And now that I had a closer look at one of their capes, I realized that there was also a blue patch sewn-in, depicting a yellow, featureless pony with a cape rearing up on its hind legs, striking a triumphal pose. The material it was made out of was soft to the touch, probably some kind of wool.

"Congratulations!" Scootaloo said aloud, bumping my leg with a hoof casually. "You're now a Cutie Mark Crusader!"

Shaking my head once, I looked at the cape, then back down at Scootaloo, then over to her two filly-friends behind her, and finally back to the cape. I slowly lifted the cape away from in front of my face, securing it in my right hand.

"What?" Was the first word confused me managed to form, unable to understand what really was going on. To say that I was overwhelmed would've been a huge understatement. The only thing I picked up from their little ceremony was something about 'solemnly sworn in', 'compadre' and 'fellow sisters'. Oh, and the part about me being a Cutie Mark Crusader. Let's not forget about that.

"Wait..." My eyes widened, fixed on the wall at the end of the room. "Did you just say that I'm a Cutie Mark Crusader?"

To my complete horror, all three of them nodded their heads simultaneously, big smiles on their faces.

"Oh god..." I muttered under my breath. "Oh god. Ohgodohgodohgodohgod."

"Dad, what's up?" Scootaloo asked worriedly as her face fell, cocking her head to the side a little. That was apparently not the reaction she was expecting. "You okay?"

Upon hearing her voice and feeling her hoof on my leg, I calmed down a little. I gulped heavily, slowly looking down to my daughter. "D-Does that mean that I have to join your...adventures?"

You might ask yourself why I was so worried about joining them on their crusades. Well, that is because from what I had heard, some of their little adventures had been extremely dangerous and had caused some serious trouble in the past. Plus, there was a big possibility that they were going to try to pursue me into another round of 'paint the human's face so that he looks like a monster'. I didn't want to be any part of that.

"Nah, ya don't hafta." Apple Bloom answered in that thick accent of hers, giggling a little at my obvious fear. Little, adorable demon. "'s not like ya can get a cutie mark, right?"

I exhaled audibly, not realizing that I was holding my breath until the air escaped my mouth. "Nope."

"Like Apple Bloom said, don't worry about that, Mr. William." Sweetie Belle assured me, jumping back onto the ground and stepping around the lectern she was previously on, stopping in front of it. "Also, I wouldn't say that you're a Cutie Mark Crusader per se-" 'Ouch' "-you're more of an...honorary member?"

"But you still get the totally awesome cape!" Scootaloo added, pointing an excited hoof at the piece of cloth I was holding in my hands.

"Wow girls." I breathed out, not too sure what to say. First off, what they did was extremely adorable and secondly, they just made me be part of their little club, at least partly, and not because they could cut me open and see if they'd get their cutie marks as a surgeon. No, they purely did it because...

"Uhm, what exactly did I do that made you girls think I would be a good...addition to your club?"

They looked at me with blank faces for a second, then looked at each other, before giving me a shrug as an answer.

"So, just because you felt like it?" I inquired confusedly.

They shrugged their shoulders again, this time without having to silently ask for each other's opinion first.

I crossed my arms, rolling my eyes at their lack of words. "Words, please?"

"Well...you don't have a cutie mark, just like us." Sweetie Belle pointed out the obvious, curtly showing me her blank flank as if to prove her point.

"Plus, you're my dad." Scootaloo added.

"An' ya ain't like any of the other adults." Apple Bloom finished.

"...Well, alrighty." I smiled at them, not totally satisfied with their answers, but they were a start. "Anyways, I have to say that I feel honored to join your club, as long as that really doesn't mean that I have to go crusading with you guys. Eh, no offense. "

"Nah, like Ah said, ya don't have tah as lon' as ya don't want'a." Apple Bloom reassured me, smiling up at me warmly.

"Though you have some duties, obviously." Scootaloo quickly added, to which the other two fillies feverishly nodded their heads.

I hummed in thought. "What things are we talking about?"

"Homework!"

"Fixing the clubhouse!"

"Aaaand..." Scootaloo lifted a hoof under her chin. "You have to walk us to school! Every day!"

"Deal." I said with a small chuckle, though I knew deep inside that I just accepted a deal with three little devils. At that moment, though, I couldn't have cared less. They were just way too adorable to deny their offer.

"Yay!" All three of them cheered in unison. Even before I was able to do so much as blink, I found myself surrounded by them, each one bouncing up and down excitedly around me, their tails bouncing in sync with their cute little bodies. I was tempted to just scoop all three of them up in my arms and cuddle them but feared that they wouldn't take too kindly to that. At least Scootaloo wouldn't have liked me doing that in front of her friends, that much I was sure of.

So, I chose to just stare at them while chuckling at their small, incredibly cute little dance, thinking about what I had gotten myself into again. To be fair, I couldn't have cared less. The adorableness more than made up for the troubles they were sure going to present me with.

"Though, I have to say that you girls really have to work on your initiation."
> Chapter Twenty-Nine - Of Anger Problems & Horrible Smells & Apple Cider
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"So, a Cutie Mark Crusader, huh?" Rainbow asked me curiously, nudging my shoulder with her foreleg. "You sure about that?"

I threw the clean set of clothes from Rarity over my shoulder and hummed in thought. After a few seconds of thinking it over, I slowly shook my head at her. "To be honest, I don't know yet." I then directed my eyes over at the trio of three little fillies, all of them with big smiles on their faces. The first thing they did after we exited the clubhouse, of course after telling Rainbow the great news, was celebrating their new member by bouncing around in a circle all around me and Rainbow. "But I'll be damned if this isn't the cutest thing I've seen all day."

"Y'know, I hate to admit it, but you have a point." Rainbow said, almost sounding as if she just admitted defeat. A quick sideway glance at her face told me otherwise, as the corners of her lips were curved upwards into a small smile. "This is cute."

I clasped my hands together, loud enough for the three fillies to stop mid-bounce. After a second of them breaking the laws of physics, they were back on the ground, all three of them turning their heads to look at me. 

"Girls, I really need to go and see Applejack and get to work." I explained upon seeing that I had their utmost attention. All three of them groaned in frustration upon hearing that, deflating a little as their happy faces turned into pouts.

"Can't you stay a little longer, Mr. William?" Sweetie Belle asked in that high-pitched, cute tone of hers, sporting the biggest pout all three of them. Though Scootaloo was close second, followed by Apple Bloom.

"No can do." I said with a firm shake of my head. "I don't want to disappoint Applejack already after just the second day of work."

They groaned once again, realizing that this time, their pouts had no effect on me. 

"Scoots, you wanna stay with them or come with me?" I asked the orange filly that was staring at the ground intently with a frown on her face, almost as if it was its fault I couldn't stay longer with them.

"'s not like I can help you or anything like that. 'sides, I hate helping out at the farm." She said with a shrug of her shoulders, earning herself a glare from Apple Bloom. "I think I'll stay here with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom."

The two fillies smiled upon hearing that, doing a little dance of joy. That is, until I threw my set of clothes over Scootaloo's back, giving her a pleading look. "Can you please bring these home before you girls go playing?"

They all groaned in unison, but Scootaloo gave me a slow nod nonetheless. "Yeah, okay."

"'I'll pick you up here after work then, okay?" She gave me another nod as an answer, although she really seemed annoyed by my request from earlier, and I then turned to face Rainbow. "And you?"

Just like Scootaloo, she shrugged, though her answer was a little bit different. "I've done enough awesome things today, so why not?"

I deadpanned. "By 'awesome things' you mean napping, right?"

She snorted loudly. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

I rolled my eyes, gave Scootaloo and the other two fillies a small wave coupled with a "See ya.", before turning around and walking in the direction of where we came from. Rainbow, who at first didn't notice me leaving, was (unfortunately) quick to catch up to me.

"Hey Rainbow?" I asked, casually strolling along the bumpy path that I believed lead back to the Apple's farm. "You know for what I've waited all day long?"

She blinked at me. "Uh, what?"

I stopped, grinned, opened my mouth widely and turned around to face her. I mentally steeled myself to let the satisfaction in the form of words leave my body. "Fuck you."

Those two words rolled off of my tongue, and you have no idea how good they felt. Two words I wanted to say all day long, for all the joking and laughing at my expense, but couldn't because of my daughter accompanying us.

I left her stunned self behind as I walked past her, a smug grin on my face. That smug grin fell once I've heard the sound of rapidly beating wings approaching me quickly. A bit too quickly for my liking.

A quick look over my shoulder confirmed my suspicions. 

Rainbow was beating her wings rapidly, quickly gaining in on me. For some reason unknown to me, she looked positively furious, her face contorted into an angry snarl as she screamed, "You are SO going to regret saying that!"

I somehow must have hit a nerve.

Without thinking twice, I increased my speed until I was sprinting along the path, jumping over pothole after pothole, hoping that I somehow could outspeed my rapidly approaching doom. "You really have some anger problems!" I screamed back at her, desperately trying to gain some distance away from her, but that proved pointless as she was steadily getting closer to me.

"I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU ANGER PROBLEMS!!" The sound of her flapping wings got a lot closer by the end of her sentence. I felt her breath on the back of my neck, making me increase my speed just a tad bit more. I pushed my body to its limits, my feet hurting with each and every step I took, but in the end, I knew Rainbow was going to catch me.

"SEE IF YOU CAN DODGE THIS!" 

As I heard these words coming from her, I knew she was closing in for the kill. I knew what she was going to do, so in a last ditch effort to remain alive, I ducked my head - and not one second too early.

Something zipped over my head at incredible speed, and as I whipped my head back up, a blur of blue appeared in front of my face. Rainbow apparently tried to grab me by the neck, but I, by professionally dodging her, was able to prevent that from happening. 

Lucky me, because I don't think I would've survived her crashing into my neck like that. 

Rainbow, after realizing that she missed me, suddenly went up into a steep climb and turned back around, this time coming for me from the front, hooves outstretched as she aimed herself at the center of my chest. I narrowed my eyes at her, waiting for the exact moment to dodge the multi-colored, living projectile.

When she was only five feet away, I jumped to the left, once again hearing Rainbow zipping past me.

"UGH!! BY CELESTIA, STOP DODGING ME!!" She shouted as she turned around once more, sounding more than just a little annoyed at my incredible dodging skills, which, to be honest, was probably more luck than skill.

I shook my head feverishly. "No can do. Sorry!"

For what seemed like an eternity, it was silent. Not completely silent of course, as I was still able to hear the rapidly beating wings of Rainbow and my own heartbeat, fueled by adrenaline, that was just as quick. What I mean by silent was that Rainbow wasn't cussing me out, or demanding me to stop - which was unusual.

I took a quick peek over my shoulder to see what the multicolored devil was up to, only to see her hovering behind me with a big grin on her face. Just when I saw her creepy grin, I suddenly felt no more ground under my left feet.

Completely caught off-guard by the sudden lack of solid ground, I tripped and fell forwards on the ground, getting a face full of magical horse-land dirt. Not only did it taste bad, hitting the ground with my face hurt just as much as the other dozen of times it happened to me.

I groaned in pain, rolling over onto my back with my eyes still closed, spitting out some of that sneaky, coarse dirt that managed to slip inside of my mouth.

"Tsktsktsk..." I opened my eyes, only to be greeted by Rainbow's face hovering right in front of mine. She smirked once she was I was giving her my undivided attention, shaking her head from side to side slowly. "Told'cha you're going to regret it."

With a snort I sat myself up, dusting my arms off, before slowly uprighting myself again. Next, I dusted my pants off, then the back of my t-shirt and finally attempted to clean my face a little, though that did turn out to achieve the complete opposite given how dirty my hands were. 

"You could've warned me." I said, giving her a frown. Totally abandoning the thought of having a clean face, I lifted a hand up to my nose to rub it, trying to sooth the pain that was coursing through it. It was a miracle that it wasn't broken, now that I think about it. "That really hurt, you know."

"You're lucky enough I didn't catch you earlier, or your face would hurt a lot more right now." 

"And you're lucky enough that you're adorable." I wasn't able to stop the words from leaving my mouth, even though I knew that she was one of the last persons that liked being called 'adorable' or 'cute'. Unfortunately, I didn't even realize that they left my mouth. at least I was right in what I said; she was adorable.

Though that's a trait literally all ponies I knew possessed. But Rainbow was special, mainly because she didn't like being called adorable, what made it even more worth it when I called her adorable and she wanted to rip my head off - which, in turn, made her even more adorable!

She narrowed her eyes at me dangerously and flew even closer to my face. "You really want to feel my hindhooves in your face, don'tcha?" 

"Pain or no pain..." I made a humming noise, lifting a hand under my chin in order to look like I was thinking about what she said. "Nah, I think I got enough pain for now."

"You're stupid." She backed away, looking at me blankly. "Let's just go find Applejack because I might do stupid thing if we continue this conversation."

Suddenly, she was right in my face again. "And just so that you know, never, call me adorable again."

I rolled my eyes, lifted a hand and pushed her aloft body away from me. "Yeah yeah, sure."

"I'm just saying that-"

"I know and I said sure."  I said, interrupting her. I turned around and slowly started walking away from her. "You're not adorable, you're-" I lifted one hand up, making air quotes. "-awesome."

"Pfff, I know that. You don't have to tell me!" She boasted from somewhere behind me, obviously not getting my sarcasm, her wings beating slowly as she flew after me. "That wasn't even what I was going to say, but that's okay. You just totally admitted that I am awesome!"

With another roll of my eyes, I decided to just leave it at that. "Yeah, whatever." Without saying another word, I continued to follow the path that probably, maybe, led to the Apple's homestead.




****



Fortunately, we didn't have to walk too long before the big, red farmhouse of the Apple family came into view. I say fortunately because Rainbow, after I sarcastically remarked that she was awesome, continued to ramble on for the whole time we were walking. She was more than just a little annoying. 

"Only a few more meters." I mumbled under my breath, mostly in an attempt to encourage myself to keep going.

"-I mean, why didn't you admit it earlier? You should've known that I was awesome from the day on you met me!" 

"Mhm."

"Ha, I knew it! You knew I was awesome all along!"

"Mhm." I walked up to the front door

"But hey, I can understand that you didn't want to-"

"Oh, look, we're here!" I announced aloud, interrupting her once again, stopping just in front of the small wooden door that led into the farm's house. 

Rainbow, though, seemed to simply ignore me as she continued talking. "-admit it because I wouldn't have done it either. 's not like-"

With a heavy sigh, I finally decided to end this and turned around. "Ugh, Rainbow?"

She blinked at me, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she rambled on for what felt like hours about how awesome she really was and how glad she was that I finally had realized it. "Yeah?"

I smiled. "Shut the fuck up."

She looked perplexed for a second, perplexed that I would dare to tell her, the awesomeness in person, to shut up. Then her face twisted into that of a mix between anger and confusion.

A snarl formed itself on her face and she raised her hoof, ready to strike my head. "You little mother-"

I turned around, a big smile on my face, as I heard the front door opening, stopping Rainbow from ever completing her sentence. 

"William? Rainbow?" An annoyed Applejack, who was standing in the doorway, asked. Even though she definitely, without doubt, was annoyed, she also sounded a little surprised. Maybe because she didn't expect that she'd see both me and Rainbow together anytime soon after what transpired between the two of us. "Ah'm happy to see y'all, but wha' in tarnation's all that turmoil 'bout?"

"Rainbow can't shut up." I stated lamely, pointing a finger at the pegasus to my side.

"That's not true!" She interjected.

"Yeah, right." I said after a short pause. I shot Applejack a motivated look, already getting kinda pumped for work for a reason unknown to me. "Anyways, I'm ready for work, Applejack."

She blinked, looking like she forgot for a moment that she offered me a job, before a look of realization crossed her face. Said realization was quickly followed by a facepalm. "Aw shucks, Ah forget to tell ya, didn't Ah?" She asked through her hoof.

"Forgot to tell me what?"

"Ah have." She grumbled to herself, shaking her head as if she was in disbelief. She then looked back up to me, giving me a sheepish smile. "This is mighty embarrassing, but Ah forgot to tell ya that ya don' have tah work today. Me and Big Mac need to prepare some things for tomorrow's festival, so we can' really work today."

"Oh." I simply stated, not knowing how else to respond. I totally expected that I had to work that day, but now that I didn't need to, I kinda felt disappointed. Even though helping Applejack out was physically extremely tiring, I felt like I had accomplished something after I was done. At least that's what I felt like the day before. "Can't I like...help you guys?"

She shook her head softly, a small smile on her face. "Nah, no need fer that, Big Mac and Ah can easily do it. Ya better enjoy yer day off, because after the festival tomorrow, Ah expect ya to be ready for some hard workin'."

I frowned a little. "And you're sure there's nothing I can help you with? Maybe hanging up some banners? Carry some barrels of-" I stopped for a second to think of what these barrels could contain. "-...beer? Anything like that?"

I was almost able to feel the confused look Rainbow was giving me upon my willingness to work.

"As mah brother would say: Eeeenope." Applejack. much to my growing disappointment, answered. "An' even if, Ah'd hate to take yer free time away from ya."

I deadpanned. "Applejack, I've been without a job for ages and all I literally did was sit on the couch all day long. I don't think I need any more-" I made air quotes. "-free time."

"Well, that's too bad 'cause yer goin' to have the day off anyways."

I threw my hands up in the air. "And what am I going to do the whole rest of the day?"

"Ah dunno." She said with a simple shrug. "Maybe the t-"

"APPLEJACK!" An elderly voice screamed from behind the orange pony, interrupting her effectively. "WHERE ARE YA? IT START TA COME OUT AGAIN! SMELLS HORRIBLE!"

'Wat.'

Applejack rolled her eyes. "COMIN'!" She screamed back into her home. With a sigh, she turned her head back to look at us. "Ah hate to cut this short, but Granny Smith's waitin' fer me. Ya have heard her... A'll see ya two tomorrow."

"Uh, okay, bye." I said weirdly with a confused wave of my hand. Mainly because of the sudden and unexpected end of the conversation, but also a little because I was confused by what Granny Smith said.

I really didn't want to think too much of it. Nope, nope, nope.

"See ya, Applejack!" Rainbow added, though she seemed unfazed by what was bothering me. But something in her voice was just different than before. It seemed like she was happy for some reason that I couldn't see. 

A moment and a wave from Applejack later, I found myself standing in front of a closed door, with no idea what to do next. Plus, I was still confused. So goddamn confused.

Luckily, I wasn't alone. 

"Hey, idiot-" Rainbow rudely started in an attempt to gain my attention, bumping my shoulder with her hoof. I'm ashamed to say that the word 'idiot' alone was enough for her to succeed. "-I think I have an idea on what to do."




****



"Rainbow, we are only two." I exclaimed from the other side of the volleyball field, having to look over a surprisingly high-hanging net that split the field into two smaller ones. Even with me being so much bigger than any of the ponies I'd met so far, the net was just slightly lower than back on earth.  "I mean, I ain't no expert when it comes to volleyball, but don't we need at least two more players?"

She waved a hoof at me dismissively. "Don't worry, I've asked around a little while you looked away and found two players."

"Wait, what do you mean by 'while you looked away'?" 

She grinned. "Ten seconds flat. That's all it took me."

"O-kay, anyways." I furrowed my eyebrows. "And they...you know, know about me?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. I just asked them if they were up for a game of volleyball with a buddy of mine."

"Ugh, Rainbow." I started, lifting a hand up to my temples and massaging it. "Even though I feel honored that you call me a buddy, couldn't you have just at least told them that by buddy you mean me?"

"Eh, why should I've done that?" She asked, a puzzled look on her face. "'s not like you'd eat them or anything."

"Of course I wouldn't." I answered annoyedly. "But you know what some of the ponies in town think of me."

She snorted. "If that's really what's troubling you, you're stupid. I know those two ponies from work, they're cool."

"Cool doesn't stop them from freaking out about me..." I grumbled, which went unheard by her. A second later, I've heard the tell-tale sign of an approaching pegasus, but was confused when I heard not one, but two set of wings approaching from the same direction.

Guessing that it must be Rainbow's friends approaching us, I turned to the left in order to see who exactly those friends were.

Two pegasi, a black-coated stallion and a grayish blue mare, landed a few feet in front of me. Obviously, both of them had yet to notice me and Rainbow as they were engaged in a conversation.

"-and I was like, 'Wait, Flitter, this isn't apple cider'..." The mare with the blueish white mane erupted into hearty laughter, quickly followed by the stallion. "You should've seen her face, Thunderlane! It was so good! She looked like she was going to puke at any moment!"

For the second time of the day, I wasn't able to really comprehend what I just heard.

"Haha! This is gold, Cloud Chaser!" The stallion, who apparently was named Thunderlane, answered, wiping away some tears that had accumulated themselves in the corner of his eyes with the help of his hoof.

"Sup Thunderlane, Cloud Chaser!" Rainbow greeted aloud, making them instantly turn their heads at her. After a short wave from their side, they trotted over to Rainbow's side. They had yet to notice me. How they didn't notice me in the first place was beyond me. I'd have guessed that I was at least a little more noticeable, mainly because of the more than noticeable difference in height, than to be simply overseen. "Good you guys had some time."

"Well, how couldn't we after we heard that you want to get your flank kicked in volleyball?" Thunderlane replied with a cocky smirk, running a hoof through his pale blue, white striped mane. "How could we decline an offer like that?"

The mare, Cloud Chaser, nodded her head. "Plus, I really want to see who this buddy of yours is..."

The way she punctured the word buddy, coupled with the wink, suggested things that were not true. Rainbow seemed to agree as her cheeks turned an almost unnoticeable shade of pink, but it went as quickly as it came, replaced by a grin on her face.

She pointed a hoof at me, which the two other ponies were quick to follow. But when their eyes met mine, their eyes widened and a silent 'O' formed on their mouths. "Thunderlane, Cloud Chaser, meet William."

I gave them a nervous smile, careful as to not let my canines show, and a simple wave, fully expecting them to dash away at any second. They seemed to be the kind of townsfolk that thought I was going to eat them, that thought I was some kind of monster out of a swamp.

They stared at me for a few more seconds, before Thunderlane closed his mouth and finally shook his head. But instead of looking frightened, instead of dashing away, he muttered a single that I didn't expect word, "Wow."

Hearing the stallion beside her speaking up, Cloud Chaser also quickly shook her head. "Dude, you are..."

I glanced nervously between the two of them.

"...Huge." Thunderlane finished for her.

I blinked, caught off-guard by the sudden change in events. A minute ago, they looked like they were too stunned to do anything, and now, instead of calling me a monster, they were calling me huge? Me? "Uh, thanks, I guess?"

They stood there for another few seconds, staring holes into me while Rainbow was wearing on of her trademark smirks on her face. Not only did that cause an awkward kind of silence, the really awkward kind, but it also made me a little squirmish. I didn't really like being stared at, not at all.

Luckily, Rainbow finally thought that she had seen enough. "Still think you guys are going to win?"

They turned to face each other, blinked hard, and then grinned. "Ha, of course." They replied in unison.

"Just because he's a big fella doesn't mean we can't win." Thunderlane said, puffing out his chest. "Remember how we've won against you and Applejack? We're the volleyball kings of Ponyville!"

"That was because Applejack doesn't have wings, duh." Rainbow stated, pointing out the obvious as she flew over the net and to my left side, hovering there. She patted my shoulder next, giving me an encouraging look. "But William here, you see, is an alien. He could defeat the two of you all alone."	

I was deeply impressed that Rainbow managed to say that sentence without calling me an idiot, or anything similar to that. I was also deeply worried that Rainbow might be expecting too much off of me, because I have never played volleyball in my whole entire lifetime. The most I had seen of it was from TV, and that wasn't much. I barely knew the rules, or how to play.

Which I also informed Rainbow of.

I tipped the pegasus mare on the shoulder, trying to get her attention. She didn't turn her head to look at me, but her right ear swiveled in my direction, letting me know she was listening to me. "Rainbow, I've never played volleyball before." I hushedly whispered into her ear.

She instantly turned her head towards me, facing me with wide eyes. "What do you mean by you've never played it before? Are you serious?!" She whispered back, trying to remain calm on the outside, even though I knew she was panicking inside. "We can't lose to them, not after I called that we'd win! That would ruin my reputation of being the most awesome pegasus in Ponyville!"

I glanced back at our soon-to-be opponents. "Well, it's not too late to run..." I offered her, though she quickly shook her head.

"To tartarus with that! We're ain't going to run away from them!" She said, puncturing her words with small jabs to my chest. "You're going to try your best and we're going to win!"

"I-I don't know Rainbow..." I said unsurely, eyeing the overly confident pair of pegasi across the field. "T-they seem like they know what they're doing."

"C'mon, it'll be good. You just gotta believe in yourself!"

"You guys sure you don't want to give up already?" Thunderlane teased from the other side of the field, cocky smile still present on his face.

"It looks like you're having some problems." Cloud Chaser pointed out, an innocent smile on her face that could've fooled one into thinking she wasn't doing it on purpose. "It's okay if you give up now. We'll just continue to be the most awesome volleyball team in Ponyville."

Their cocky attitude was really getting on my nerves. And I was allergic to cockiness, or someone getting on my nerves, which made the following decision even easier.

"O-okay." I nodded my head in agreement, trying to seem confident, though I was still unsure if we really could win. Maybe, through some miracle, we could. Maybe, just maybe. "But don't get your hopes up to high, okay?"

"Got it." She smirked. "And now, let's stomp them into the ground."

Rainbow and I took positions opposite of our opponents. Shortly after that, a ball landed in my hands, given to us because they obviously underestimated us. I smirked, placing the ball on my left hand's palm. 

I outstretched my left arm, and, before I even knew what happened, the ball was in the air.

> Chapter Thirty - Inexplicable Things
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Will!" Rainbow shouted.

"Got it!" I jumped up in the air, whacking the ball that was coming straight at me from over the net back to our opponents' field. I watched the ball fly through the air as time seemed to slow down for me, my breath quick and uneven. 

Thunderlane, eyes wide, saw the ball coming straight for his side of the field. But I smacked the ball just in the right way that it was going to land too far in front of him, no matter how fast he reacted. With the help of his black wings, he propelled himself forward in one last ditch effort to prevent us from getting another point. The point that would seal their fate. 

Yes, they were about to lose. 

Contrary to what you may believe, we did pretty damn good. It took me a few minutes to get into the flow of the game, in which Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser managed to score ten points, but once I did, I realized that I was a natural at volleyball. That, coupled with the experience Rainbow had, made us just a dream team.

Point after point, we caught up with them. At first, they thought that I was cheating with some sort of magic, but after Rainbow assured them that I couldn't do any magic at all, they grudgingly accepted and continued to play.

Which led us to where we were now. Twenty-four points for us (Rainbow scored fourteen, I scored ten), fifteen for them. One more point and we were goíng to win. One more point and we were going to be Ponyville's new volleyball champions!

And all looked like we were going to get that one point. The way Thunderlane outstretched his two front legs in order to gain just a few more extra centimeters, to get just a little closer to the ball. Unfortunately, his legs could've been twice as long and he still wouldn't have gotten the ball. It was a perfect ball from my side.

The strain on his face as he tried to flap his wings harder than ever was a sight to behold. It told me that he was trying everything he could to get to the ball in time. But he was just too far away.

I watched in a mix of amazement and unbelievingness as the ball got closer and closer to the sandy ground. The ball hit the ground as Thunderlane soared over it, then it bounced once, and a millisecond later, everything was over.

We won.

I turned to look at Rainbow, who in turn looked at me, her mouth slightly agape. She too couldn't believe that it happened, but it did. 

We won.

I blinked, a small spread across my face right when Rainbow's lips curved up into one. She took off to the air and before I was even able to blink a second time, I felt two hooves wrapping themselves around my midsection. 

"Haha, we won!" Rainbow, the pony who was hugging me and apparently trying to crush my internals, exclaimed aloud. "We won, Will!"

I returned her hug, spinning around in circles with her body still attached to me, as I chanted in victory, "Fuck yeah! We did it! We did it!"

"I hate to say it-" I looked down to her, stopping my wild spinning, as the words left her mouth. She gave me one last strong squeeze before she let go of me. "-but you were bucking amazing!"

I rubbed the back of my head with one hand, a small blush on my face at being praised. And by Rainbow nonetheless! She was the last pony I would've expected to praise me. "Hehe, thanks."

"But don't let that get to your head!" She warned with a small grin, giving me a playful punch to the shoulder.

I shook my head a little, but couldn't stop my lips from curving upwards into a smile yet again. I was about to make a cocky retort but was stopped by the sound of two set of wings approaching us from our right, from the other side of the field.

"I hate to say it,-" Thunderlane started without any trace of sadness in his tone, landing on the ground a few feet in front of us. "- but you guys were good. Especially you, William." 

"Yeah!" Cloud Chaser agreed happily, even though she just lost. "And you really haven't played before?"

"Nope, never have in my life." I said earnestly. "Just watched some guys on TV play it, you know."

"What's a TV?" Thunderlane asked, cocking an eyebrow in curiosity. 

Instead of letting me, the person who knew exactly what a TV was, answer his question, Rainbow spoke up and beat me to it, "Eh, just cool alien technology that lets you see moving pictures with sound."

"Wow, you have things like that back where you come from?" I nodded my head to Thunderlane's answer, to which he only grinned. "Damn, my brother would be so jealous if he'd know that I'm talking with an alien about alien technology."

"Anyways, I hate to cut it short, but I've got places to go." He said after a second of silence, outstretching his foreleg for me to shake. I regarded his hoof for a second, looked down to my left hand's open palm, then formed a fist with my left hand and awkwardly bumped the flat surface of his hoof with it instead. He smiled nonetheless, nodding his head in approval. "You're cool, dude. We really should hang out again sometime."

Cloud Chaser stepped forward, also offering her hoof for me to bump, which I was quick to do. "Yeah, totally."

"Sure, sounds cool." I said with a friendly smile. They were actually the first ponies, if you don't count those I already called my friends, that were ready to overlook the fact that I was a big, scary alien, which made their proposal even more interesting. If the ponies in town could see that these two who never had seen me before were hanging out with me, maybe they would finally warm up to me?

"Thanks for the game, again." Thunderlane said, giving me and Rainbow a small smile.

"Yeah, it was pretty fun, even though we lost." Cloud Chaser chimed in. "But I definitely want a rematch!"

"That can be done, but don't expect to win." Rainbow said with a cocky smirk. "We were pretty awesome, after all."

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Thunderlane waved her off, flapped his wings slowly and took off to the air. "See ya, William. Nice meeting you!" And with that, he flew into the direction of Ponyville, quickly increasing his altitude until he disappeared behind a thick layer of white clouds.

"Like Thunderlane said, it was fun, but I also have to go." Cloud Chaser said quickly, spreading her wings. "Don't go around having too much fun, if you catch my drift." She added in a low tone that was implying things that weren't going to happen. With a wink and a strong flap of her wings, she also took off to the air, darting away into the same direction as Thunderlane, though she stayed low, just barely above rooftop level.

It was silent for a few moments, both I and Rainbow too occupied with watching Cloud Chaser disappearing behind the buildings. But even when she was gone, out of my sight, I continued to look into Ponyville. There was no particular reason why I did it, I just did.

It was only when Rainbow spoke up that I discontinued my senseless staring.

"Soooo..." She started, coupled by four simultaneous thumps as she let herself fall onto the ground beside me. "What're we gonna do now?"

I turned myself to face her and with a shrug of my shoulders said, "Your call."

She hummed in thought, lifting a hoof under her muzzle, rubbing it idly. After about ten long seconds of doing it, a metaphorical light bulb lit up over her head, followed by a grin. "I know! How 'bout we go to the park?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "The park?" I asked, confused as to why someone like her would even suggest, let alone consider, going there. In fact, she was definitely the last pony that I would've expected to suggest such thing.

"Yeah, the park!" She repeated, equally as enthusiastic as before.

"Uhm, why?"

She outstretched her wings and then flexed them, showing off the rather muscular and sleek feathery appendages. "There's a big open field where I can show you some tricks I've practiced."

Okay, that she wanted to show me some of her tricks was rather cute. Not that I was going to say that out loud, of course. The problem was that I didn't just want to watch her practice some little tricks she learned, as that didn't sound overly exciting. I wanted to do something too. Too bad I had no wings. 

She flapped her wings and hovered up in front of me, her pleading eyes looking directly into mine. "C'mon, it'll be fun!"

I continued to look into her eyes for a few more seconds, feeling my defense crumbling with each passing second that I had to look into her magenta eyes. The worst of it was that somehow her pout got stronger as time went on. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of adorableness that I had to endure, I resigned. "Okay, c'mon, let's go."

She brightened almost immediately, her pout vanishing and being replaced by a big, victorious smile. "Ha, awesome!" She said, doing a little hoof pump mid-air.

I couldn't help myself but to also smile a little at seeing her happy. Just a few hours prior I was mad as hell at her, but all of that suddenly seemed forgotten the moment I saw her bright, happy smile. It was almost like she knew that that smile was making me forget how mad I had been at her. But not only did I momentarily forget what happened, I also felt good, happy and also, to a degree, content to see her smile like that. Besides those feelings, there was also one I couldn't quite place, nor understand.

My heart, my whole chest, felt strangely warm, so warm that it almost hurt. The warmth felt familiar to what I felt when Scootaloo was acting cute or when I share a hug with her, but yet, it felt different. 

It was weirder. It hurt more. 

"Hey, you okay?" I was snapped out of my deep thoughts by a concerned-sounding Rainbow, only then realizing that I had been staring into her eyes the whole time I was lost in thoughts. With a blush, I averted my eyes, trying to look anywhere but Rainbow.

"I-" I coughed into my hands, once and then twice, trying to find my voice. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just zoned out a little."

"Alright." She said, giving me a confused look, but not pressing the issue any further - thank god. I was busy with looking at my feet, but I was still able to literally feel her smile. "Anyways, let's get going!"

With a nod from my side, she started slowly flying into the direction of Ponyville, with me following close after. 



****




After a few minutes of walking, we arrived at the entrance to the park. I was surprised, and also not, that it was the park from earlier that day, though we arrived from a completely different direction than before. There were not nearly as many bushes as on the other side of the park, and certainly no thick foliage nor hidden path.

It all seemed like it was the part of the park that was visited more often, a part that saw a lot more ponies than the one with Rainbow Dash's favourite spot. Instead of rows of bushes and trees, there were only one or two of them every few meters beside the gravel path. On our way to the open field, we also encountered two ponies sitting on a wooden bench. One of them, a stallion, was busy reading a newspaper entitled 'Ponyville Weekly' while a small colt beside him was looking at me with gleaming awe in his eyes.

As we passed them, all the stallion did was look at me, then back down at his newspaper between his hooves and finally back at me. It looked like he was trying to see if he was really seeing the weird thing from another dimension.

But the two were not the only souls we passed along our way. We also passed two mares, a pegasus and an earth pony. The pegasus had a light pink bow in her mane and her colors reminded me a lot of those of Cloud Chaser, just that her coat was a little brighter. The earth pony had a pale yellow coat and a raspberry-red mane with streaks of light pink running through it, and I had the feeling that I had seen her somewhere in town before. 

As our groups approached each other, they smiled at Rainbow and greeted her. When they laid eyes on me, they also gave me, much to my surprise, a warm smile coupled with a greeting that seemed just as sincere as the one they gave my companion.

I was almost too shocked to respond. Almost.

Politely as I was, I returned their smiles and greetings as we walked past each other. I gave them one last glance over my shoulder before concentrating myself again on arriving where we were going.

The rest of the way was without any other encounters, though we filled that by chatting a little with each other. One thing I gathered as we talked about her tricks was that she practiced them for the whole year to what she called perfection, as she wanted to have the best chances of being accepted as a recruit to the Wonderbolts. A group of pegasi that persists of Equestria's most skilled flyers, the elite of the elite, who earned themselves a good name not only by performing aerial acrobatics but by also being some kind of military special force.

Another thing I quickly learned about Rainbow that it really was her dream to join said group. The way she was fantasizing about them, and the small spark in her eyes with every word that left her mouth about them, was a dead giveaway for that. But, even though it was interesting to hear about the Wonderbolts, Rainbow was really starting to go a little too much into the fangirl mode, for my taste. Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for her, we finally arrived at the open field she was talking about.

Unsurprisingly, there was nothing much to it. Sure, it was big, surely big enough for her to show me her awesome tricks, but it was also a lot less secluded and secret than the small pond from earlier that day. A clear indicator for that was that the path we were walking on was basically leading around the whole field, with benches and waste bins every few hundred meters or so.

Even though it looked like the perfect spot to chill out, there was, to my surprise, no one walking around. It was only me and Rainbow in the near vicinity, though there was probably a good reason for that. It was just a little past noon, after all. Most of the ponies were probably still working, and those who weren't and had their break surely were in a cafe somewhere in town or at home. 

With a strong flap of her wings, Rainbow suddenly took off higher into the air, quickly gaining altitude. At first, I was confused what was up with her, but my unasked question was answered a few seconds later. 

She suddenly halted in front of a small, cotton-like cloud, and flew around it. She put her two front hooves against it, and for a moment I thought that she was going crazy. But once her hooves, instead of passing through it, were met by resistance, and she started pushing it towards the ground, I reminded myself that this whole dimension and physics weren't really working that well together.

Even though I was told a hundred times that pegasi were able to manipulate clouds and thereby the weather and also saw it with my own eyes, I was still a little surprised that they were able to do it. Maybe it was the small part of my brain, the part that still believed in physics, that was giving me these troubles to understand magic.

"What are you doing?" I asked confusedly once she was close enough to me again.

"I wanna test something." She said, parking the small cloud on the ground near me, just barely a meter away. 

"And that is...?"

She pointed a hoof at the cloud. "Try stepping on it."

I looked at her intently, trying to see detect any hint that could suggest that she was trying to prank me. I mean, she was asking me to step on a cloud, which was enough of a reason for me to question her. But, after a few seconds of staring directly into her eyes, and not spotting anything that suggested such thing, I sighed and took two big steps forward. 

But nothing happened. There was no pain, no cake in my face, no nothing. Though there was one big difference: the ground didn't feel as solid anymore as before.

I slowly looked down to my feet. "Rainbow?"

"..."

I shifted my weight from one foot to another, trying to get a good feel of the soft material I was standing on. "Am I really standing on a cloud right now?"

I looked up, just right in time to see her mouth agape. She gulped heavily as my eyes met hers before answering, "I think you do..."

I looked back down to the cloud I was standing on, only then realizing that half of my shoe was in the cloud with just the top of it showing through the cloud. I must've sunken in a little, whether it was because I was a little on the heavier side or because of some magical, unlogical phenomenon, I couldn't tell. But that was the least of my problems at that moment. There was still the little detail that I was standing on a cloud. 

I, a human, was standing on a cloud. A cloud, water vapor. I was practically standing on gas.

"Do I have to be worried?" I asked Rainbow with an uneasy glance, a slight tremble in my voice.

She shook her head slowly in disbelief, mouth still agape, but answered nonetheless. "I-I dunno, does anything hurt?"

I shook my head. 

"Try sitting on it." She said, nodding at the cloud.

With a look of complete concentration, I lowered my posterior on the cloud. But the moment my behind touched the cloud, it went straight through, completely catching me by surprise. 

I must've looked quite ridiculous the way half of my body suddenly vanished in the cloud as I could easily tell from Rainbow's snort. The worst thing was that I couldn't get myself out of it, no matter how hard I tried.

"Okay, that didn't work out." Rainbow giggled, outstretching her hoof for me. I grabbed ahold of it, and with a mighty flap of her wings, she helped me get back on my feet, surprising me with her strength. "Either you're too fat or your ass just doesn't have enough pegasus magic in it."

"Pegasus magic?" I asked with furrowed eyebrows, ignoring her insult to my completely normal weight. "Does that mean I can fly?"

"Nah, pegasus magic is just about manipulating clouds and all that jazz." I deflated a little after hearing that I couldn't fly, though it was definitely for the better. I was going crazy already, and I think that would've given me the rest. Plus, I don't think I would've been a great flier. I probably would've crashed a lot.

"You know, I don't know what to make out of this." I stated honestly, doing a little hop to test if I was going to fall through the cloud again. But all that happened was that I sunk a little deeper into the cloud, barely worth mentioning. I gave Rainbow a questioning look, pointing down to my feet. "I'm standing on a cloud, but I couldn't sit on it. Why can I stand on it, but not sit on it?"

"I have no idea." Rainbow said with a shrug of her shoulder. "But we really need to go and see Twilight later. Maybe she can explain what's going on."

"Later?" I asked confusedly, giving her look of disbelief. "Rainbow, I'm standing on a goddamn cloud! For all we know, I could explode at any moment!"

"You're kidding, right?" She asked with a snort, but the glare I was giving her told her that no, I definitely was not kidding. She rolled her eyes. "Calm down, you're just overreacting. Again. You're standing on a cloud and you're not going to explode because of that." She landed on the cloud. "I mean, I can do that too and didn't explode yet."

"I-" I looked down at her, but regretted that decision almost instantly. 

She was using her pout again and goddamn was it effective on me. It was, with no doubts, the most powerful weapon all of these little ponies possessed. "Pweaaaaaaseeeee."

I was able to resist her for exactly three and a half seconds before my heart melted. "Ugh, fine..." The pout almost instantly vanished, but I stopped her before she was going to do another one of her hoof pumps. "But if I'm going to explode, have fun explaining that one!"

She waved me off. "Yeah, yeah, sure." She darted up into the air again, flying an excited circle around me. "Now, wanna see some cool tricks??"

I sighed. "Yeah, sure. Go for it."



****



Surprise surprise, I didn't explode.

I had to admit, Rainbow really knew what she was doing. The tricks she performed were, admittedly, really awesome. They ranged from simple barrel rolls and Immelmann turns over to loopings and more complex maneuvers that I couldn't name. 

But, on top of all of that, she also performed her special move, the Sonic Rainboom. Even after seeing that move for the second time, though the first time was a lot less perfect, it was still a breathtaking experience. The way I saw her small, barely visible form that was high up in the air heading straight for the ground was enough for me to make me feel slightly anxious. What if something goes wrong? I asked myself over and over again, actually fearing for her well-being - very much so.

But then that mach cone build up in front of her body and I was too transfixed to think about the consequences. She quickly decreased the distance between the ground and then, getting quicker and quicker with each passing millisecond. Then, just when she was barely a few hundred meters above the ground, there was that loud bang, the telltale sign of something reaching supersonic speeds.

She suddenly pulled up, probably pulling so many g's that every normal being would've died. I think that's another perk you have if you're a magical, talking pony; giving zero fucks when it comes to physics. 

The moment she pulled up, there was that big explosion of colors I remembered all too well. It stretched and quickly spread itself out across the whole bright sky, a view that made me glad I chose to stay. It was simply stunningly beautiful.

After she performed her signature move, so to say, she took it a little easier as it obviously took a lot out of her. But watching her soar through the sky, just performing the simple things from before, was also strangely entertaining on a level that I couldn't quite understand. I was so fascinated by the things she was able to with the help of her wings and a little bit of determination that I had no time to be bored, or to think, really. Well, I was thinking, but not about the things I should've been thinking about. 

Instead of thinking about why I could stand on clouds, I thought about what flying must feel like. The way Rainbow looked, so happy and fulfilled, suggested that it was an amazing feeling. I've rarely felt as envious as when I watched her perform.

I don't know how long she was in the sky, nor do I know how long I was watching her. But I realized that the place around me was getting a little...crowded. Mares, stallions. Unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies. I counted at least fifteen ponies of all kinds that had gathered around me, but not because of me. It was Rainbow who caught their attention. Her tricks were the sole reason so many ponies chose to stay a little and watch instead of continuing along their ways.

Plus, there was that Sonic Rainboom from before that probably attracted a lot of attention.

But everything has to come to an end sometime. Rainbow, as I could clearly see, was getting more tired throughout her training. A logical consequence, if you keep some of the tricks she did in mind.

The sun was at its highest point when she decided that it was enough for one day. After doing one last loop, a loop that looked like it strained her immensely, she slowly headed my way instead of continuing to train. There was a brief moment of surprise when she realized just how many ponies had been watching her the whole time, but that quickly turned back into her usual cocky smirk.

The crowd around me started dissolving once they saw that the show was coming to an end. I saw a few of them giving me odd looks that I couldn't quite place before departing and leaving me and Rainbow alone again.

Speaking of Rainbow. "Soo..." The cyan mare said once she was close enough to me, wiping away some drops of sweat that accumulated themselves on her forehead. "How was that?"

"Pretty good, I'd say." I replied with a smile. I gave her a small pat on the shoulder once she landed, but almost instantly regretted that decision as my hands made contact with her sweat-soaked cyan fur. I retracted my hand and looked at it with a little disgust, a look that only intensified itself when I was hit by something sour, almost foul-smelling. The smell came from none other than the pony in front of me.

"Though I would think about taking shower if I were you." I said, my voice sounding a little muffled because of the hand that was covering my nose.

I saw her take a deep whiff, her nose flaring before her own face contorted into that of disgust.

"Damn, you're right-" She took another quick whiff. "-I stink."

"Yeah, how about you go take a shower before we go to Twilight?"

To my surprise, and a little to my growing disgust, she shook her head. "Nah, 's fine."

"I'm not going through town with a stinking you in tow." I stated, giving her a stern look. "Ponies are going to think that I'm the one who's all stinky again. It's bad enough that some of them think I'm a monster, but I don't want to be a stinky monster."

She groaned, rolling her eyes in frustration. "Do I have to?"

"Of course you have to! I can smell you from here, and I'm sure ponies are better at smelling than humans are."

"Ugh, fine." She said with another roll of her eyes. She turned around, but to my surprise not into the direction of Ponyville, and spread her wings. "Gimme ten seconds."

"What are you-"

With one strong flap of her wings, followed by a strong gust of air that they produced, she took off to the air and was gone before I even completed my sentence. I was left there, speechless and stunned, still trying to comprehend what just happened as I started into the direction of where she vanished to. Then I quickly remembered her words before she left, so I started counting in my mind.

By the time I finally reached eight, I could see a blue dot rapidly approaching me from over the treetops. The blue dot came closer with a speed only matched by Rainbow or a jet fighter, and since the latter didn't exist in Equestria, I had an exact guess on who it was. 

Nine, and the blue dot was no more than five hundred meters away. 

Ten, and Rainbow stood on the ground in front of me, standing there like nothing happened.

"Better?" She asked with annoyedly, blowing a damp strand of stray hair out of her face.

"I-Uh." I wasn't too sure what to say. Sure, she didn't smell bad anymore, nor did she look sweaty at all, but I still wasn't too sure how she achieved that in just ten seconds. I mean, even for her, reaching her house in town in just under ten seconds, showering and then coming back to me seemed impossible. Especially since she flew into the complete opposite direction of Ponyville. But who knows, maybe I was wrong in that assumption. "H-how did you do that?"

"I showered, duh."

"Yeah, but how?"

"I used a shower."

I looked at her intently for a few seconds, but instead of choosing to pursue the conversation, I finally decided against it. "You know what, I don't want to know. Let's just get going."

She shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

I spun around and walked back to where we originally came from, Rainbow lazily hovering beside me.

"Uhm, Will?"

"Yeah?"

"I may have...uhh...accidentally broken one of your windows."

My left eye twitched as I slowly turned to look at her. "What?"



****




The whole way to our castle, I didn't speak a word to Rainbow. She tried to start a conversation every now and then but quickly realized that she wasn't going to get a word out of me after she broke into my house, breaking a window in the process, just to use my shower.

I mean, I wasn't that mad about the fact that she entered my home without my knowledge, or used my shower, even though I probably should've been. No, I was mad about the fact that she broke a window that I now had to fix.

So, the walk to the castle was mostly spent in silence. I was mostly busy taking in the scenery and trying to not stumble over any pony that was unfortunate enough to cross paths with me.

In no time, or at least what felt like no time, we reached the big crystal castle that was just as imposing as the first time I saw it. It definitely wasn't my favourite building, especially because of the material it was made of that was, when looking to long at it, headache-inducing, but it was still a sight to behold. I'm sure it was even more beautiful, and potentially less painful, the further away one stood from it.

Once we stood in front of the rather big set of double doors, I pushed them inwards with little difficulty. Before I was able to enter, Rainbow flew past me, shouting out loud, "HEY TWILIGHT, YOU HERE?"

Her voice echoed through the whole inside of the castle, making me wonder just how empty the castle was. 

After a few seconds of nothing happening, both me and Rainbow silently waiting for anything to happen, I shrugged. "Doesn't seem like she's here."

Rainbow pressed a hoof to my mouth. "Pssshhh." I looked down to the hoof that was in front of my mouth, and then back at her. Her ears were swiveling like crazy, seemingly trying to locate something. "I can hear her mumbling..."

I swatted her hoof away. "What do you mean you can hear her?"

"She's studying again." Rainbow said, her eyes narrowed on something down the hallway to our left. She then turned her head to me, giving me an evil smirk. "Hey Will, wanna have some fun?"

I deadpanned. "No Rainbow, we're not going to prank her. We have more pressing matters than that."

"Oh c'mon!"

"No." I said firmly, walking into the direction of where Rainbow was looking at. "I really wanna know why my butt doesn't have any of that pegasus magic in it, and not scare her to death and possibly disable her from answering my question."

I glanced at her right when a small pout crossed her face. "You're no fun."	

"No, I'm not an asshole like you." I corrected, momentarily stopping to give her a boop on the nose that was enough for her to go crosseyed. I then resumed walking, down the hallway, slowly seeing that Rainbow had been looking at a door that was slightly ajar earlier.

When I was in front of the door, I was finally able to hear Twilight mumbling. I could only pick up snippets from what she was mumbling, something about 'machine of unspeakable doom' and 'swap of conscious and unconscious minds', the rest of what she said was inaudible to me.

I gave Rainbow, who looked just as equally confused as I did, a curt look that told her more than any word could, and then raised my hand and politely knocked on the door twice. A short moment of silence is what followed, before the same voice from earlier spoke up, just a tad bit louder, "Come in."

Pushing the door open with one hand, I was immediately greeted by the sight of a disheveled Twilight, sitting in the center of the room among two big piles of books. One of the piles contained books that were open, those that she probably already read through, while the other only had closed ones in it, those she probably had yet to read. Some of them, those I was able to make out from the distance, had weird titles like 'Dimension Travelling 101' or 'Parallel universes for Dummies'.

My eyes traveled around the rather big, circular room. There was one small table at the center of it, while another stood directly to my left. The walls, I realized upon closer inspection, weren't walls at all, but one huge bookshelf with rows upon rows of books in it. It even had an own ladder to it in order to reach the books that were higher up in it, though I wasn't too sure why someone like Twilight would need that. 

My best guess was that I was standing inside a library. Princess Twilight Sparkle's own personal library, if I guessed completely right. I mean, the floor was basically her Cutie Mark, so it was only logical that it must've been her own personal library.

Twilight only gave us a short glance when we entered, coupled with an absent greeting that told me that she was totally lost in the book that was hovering in front of her face. I think she didn't even really notice that someone walked in, at least not completely.

"Uh, Twilight?" I announced our presence to her, rather loud, actually, but she still didn't seem to notice we were there.

"Everything you've known comes impossible to grasp..." The lavender mare mumbled to herself, turning the page of 'C137 - Does it exist?'. She lifted a hoof up to her head, scratching it as if she was thinking something over. "This doesn't make any sense..."

I gave Rainbow a helpless look, to which she responded with a roll of her eyes. She opened her mouth, took a deep breath in and then screamed, "HEY EGGHEAD!"

That was more than enough for Twilight to break out of whatever mental thing she had trapped herself in and more than enough for me to jump a little. She shrieked, completely out of shock from the loud interruption, her magic started wavering before suddenly completely disappearing, the thick book that was floating in the air just moments before falling to the floor with a dull thump. That was followed by a small shockwave that threw the two pile of books over, generating a mess that would've fun to clean up.

For a whole five seconds, it was utterly silent. 

Then Twilight looked up at us, blinked, and her cheeks turned a shade of red that I haven't seen in a long while. Wouldn't it have been for her purple-colored coat, she surely would've looked like a tomato. 

Okay, maybe not.

"H-hey guys! Good to see you two finally together again!" She gave us a big smile, but that smile fell when she looked at the mess around her. "S-sorry, I must've zoned out a bit."

"You did, yes." I said with a slow, measured nod. I then directed a curious look at the book that lay in front of her, the one she was reading previously. "What were you reading?"

"N-nothing important." She answered with a nonchalant wave of her hoof, trying to suppress the embarrassment that was more than apparent. "Just something that's been interesting me lately."

"Yeah, apparently it was a little bit too interesting for you." Rainbow said with a small giggle, though I quickly silenced her with a hard glare. "Hmpf, no fun."

"Sorry to interrupt then, but we kinda have a...uh, problem."

She looked at me, then at Rainbow, and then back at me, a small hint of concern in her eyes. "Yes?"

"You see, Rainbow and I were at the park earlier so that she could show me some of her 'lil stunts-"

"Hey! They're awesome!" Rainbow interrupted, sounding slightly upset. "They're the most a-"

"Yeah, anyways-" I silenced the upset prismatic mare by clamping her muzzle shut with one hand, much to her annoyance. "-So, Rainbow wanted to try out if I could stand on clouds before she practiced and, well, it turns out that I, in fact..."

"...can't stand on clouds?" Twilight finished for me, one eyebrow raised as if she was failing to see the problem. Of course, there wouldn't have been a problem if what she said had been true. Too bad it wasn't. "That doesn't seem like a problem to me. I mean, you humans normally don't have any pegasus magic in your bodies, right?"

"Nah, we don't." I thought about it for a second and then added, "Uhm, usually."

Twilight looked at me intently for a few long seconds, not blinking once before she finally caught up to what I was implying. "Oh."

"Yeah, turns out I somehow can stand on clouds."

"Though he can't sit on 'em." Rainbow chimed in, somehow finding the strength to free her muzzle of my hand.

"That's..." Twilight looked me up and down. "Interesting. That shouldn't be possible at all. 

"You're telling me." I sighed. "I think my body and my mind is slowly going crazy or something like that. So much stuff happened since I arrived here, more than in probably all my life back on earth. It's just crazy."

"I have to conduct some experiments." Twilight said, completely ignoring what I just said - not that I could fault her for that. She suddenly ignited her horn again and then the only other door in the whole room, other than the main door opened itself magically with a click, revealing what looked like a balcony. She then lifted a hoof under her muzzle, idly rubbing it, and then looked at Rainbow. "Rainbow, could you get me a cloud, please? I have to see this with my own eyes."

With a quick salute, Rainbow darted out of the door that was opened by Twilight's magic just moments ago. The lavender princess took a few steps closer to me, her horn once again beginning to glow, though now I felt something smooth and warm gently caressing my left hand, slowly traveling up the length of my arm. It felt strangely comforting, almost like a massage, but yet it lacked the kneading to call it that. "This might feel a little strange at first, but it's not going to hurt." She murmured, looking like she was deeply concentrating. She then added, "A harmless spell."

Good thing she explained what that harmless spell would do to me, right?

"This isn't going to get too strange, if you catch my drift. Right?" I asked with a small hint of unease in my tone, definitely more than probably was necessary at that moment. Twilight knew what she was doing.

...Actually, no. It's Twilight I'm talking about. My unease was more than justified.

The magic stopped for a moment as Twilight looked at me with a small frown, almost as if I offended her by even assuming such thing. "Oh no, I'm not one of those scientists."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I would really like to keep some things...untouched, if you know-"

"Please, just stop." Twilight interrupted, a small blush once again adorning her purple face. She looked rather cute that way, all flustered and all. "I'd rather not talk about that right now."

I closed my mouth again rather than giving her a vocal answer, instead choosing to give her a nod as confirmation that I, too, didn't want to talk about that. There were more important and less embarrassing matters to tend to.

Shortly after she saw my confirmation, her magic continued to work her way up my arm, almost as if Twilight was searching for something in particular. She finished the first arm rather quickly, but then, before she could continue with my other arm, Rainbow came back, in her tow a cloud much like the one from before at the park. Rainbow parked the cloud in front of us and then landed beside it, allowing for me to step on it, which, after a small magical shove from Twilight, I did.

First one foot, and then the other. Just like the first time, the feeling of standing on something so soft was alien to me. It was like my body knew that it wasn't natural for me to be able to stand on, what was essentially, water vapor, which why I didn't feel comfortable at all standing on it. At least that was the only logical explanation that sprung to my mind.

"Fascinating." Twilight uttered, looking like she was taking mental notes. After looking me over for another minute, a minute that I was painfully aware just how awkward everything was, the purple hue to her horn reappeared, and I felt her magic gently starting to search up my right arm. "Did you experience any pain in the last few days? Or did anything unusual happen to you?"

I raised an eyebrow. There was a lot of both since my arrival in Equestria, which made that question just a little bit harder to answer than with a simple yes or no. "Define unusual and pain."

"Unusual as in feeling uncomfortable on the ground and pain as in spontaneous backaches, for example." She explained without even giving me a glance. She looked like she was deeply focusing on whatever she was doing to my body with her magic, her tongue poking out a little. Her magic, after having reached my shoulder, started working its way down over my chest and then abdomen, working extra slowly there as if not to miss anything.

"N-..." I stopped for a moment when I felt her magic getting closer and closer to a very specific organ that hung between my legs. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when, instead of passing over that certain manly organ and my groin, her magic split itself in two and traveled down my legs. In no more danger of getting molested, I gave myself another few seconds to think everything through properly. "-no, not that I know of. Nothing like that."

After Twilight's magic gave my feet a once-over, it disappeared all at once, as did the purple glow around her horn. Twilight retracted her tongue and then looked up at me, a helpless look on her face that already told me enough. "I can't seem to find anything out of the order either. No physical change and no single trace of any magic known to me in your body. Maybe it isn't even magic that's doing that to you."

"You don't know what's going on, either?"

"No, sadly I don't." She said with a frown coupled with a small shake of her head. "But whatever enabled you to stand on clouds doesn't seem to be harmful in any way, so you don't have to worry about that."

I snorted, stepping down from the cloud. "To be fair, as long as I don't inflate and explode, turn into a monster, die or anything like that, I don't care." I gave the cloud a long stare over my shoulder. "Though it's still kinda unbelievable that I just stood on something that's basically gas."

The way Twilight bit her lip when I ended my sentence made me believe that she was going to correct me at any moment about my statement that clouds were solely gas, but I was surprised when she didn't and instead just nodded her head. "I can believe that."

"I think it's awesome!" Rainbow, who I nearly forgot about, exclaimed in happiness, throwing one foreleg around my shoulder and getting a little too close to me for my liking. "That means I can show you my totally awesome house sometime!"

I was about to ask her why I needed to stand on clouds for that until I remembered what Scootaloo told me about Rainbow's home, the cloudo-something, earlier that day. To say that I shared Rainbow's excitement about her giving me a tour through her house that was hovering in the air would've been a lie. The chances to fall through the clouds, that I couldn't walk on clouds for too long, was still too big to ignore. But instead of disappointing her, I chose a neutral answer, freeing my shoulders of her hooves with the help of my hand. "Eh, we'll see about that."

Twilight, for some reason, smiled a little but otherwise remained silent.

"Well, thank you anyways, Twilight." I said, clasping my hands together to wrap things up. "We'll see you tomorrow, right?"

Twilight smiled. "Yes, we'll see-" She stopped herself with a loud gasp before she was able to even end her sentence, her eyes going comically wide. "Horseapples! I almost forgot about it! I need to go and see Applejack! Seeyatommorow!"

"Huh? Okay, good-" I was interrupted by a flash so bright that it momentarily blinded me. Once I was finally able to see again, Twilight was gone without a trace, leaving behind a chaos of opened books that was surely a pain in the ass to tidy up. 

"-bye." I ended lamely, slowly turning around to face Rainbow who was currently taking a closer look at one book that was protruding from the shelf. "Does she do that often?"

"Only when she's late to something or in one of her moods." My eyes traveled to the source of that young voice, quickly stopping on who exactly just spoke up. Twilight's little dragon assistant, Spike if I remembered correctly, chose exactly that moment to enter the room. He waved his clawed hand at us in a nonchalant greeting. "Hey Rainbow. 'Sup William."

"'Sup." Both me and Rainbow greeted back at the same time, though I also gave Spike a nod. He walked further into the room with a small smile on his face. That smile fell once he spotted the mess Twilight left behind.

"Ugh, was she researching again?" He asked, sounding more than just exasperated as he walked past me. He threw both of his hands up in the air in a sign of total despair, stopping in the middle of Twilight's mess. "I swear imma go crazy one day if this keeps up."

"Well, we could hel-" Rainbow quickly flew up to me, placing her hoof over my mouth to stop me from talking. Apparently, she knew what I was going to say and, obviously, she didn't really like the idea of helping Spike out with putting away those books. I shot her a glare. "Hmhmhmmhn."

What I meant to say was "Fuck you Rainbow!".

"That's too bad, Spike!" She said over my attempts of telling her to fuck off, keeping her hoof firmly lodged in my mouth. Even though I was struggling to pull it away with my hands like crazy, it wouldn't budge, so I ultimately chose to just endure the humiliation and silently glare at Rainbow until she gave me back the ability to speak. "We don't want to disturb you, so we better get going. See ya!"

She finally took her hoof out of my mouth, giving me the chance to say goodbye. "Uh, yeah, see you." I said with a small wave. Rainbow gave Spike no chance to reply to this as she quickly bit into the hem of my t-shirt and started tugging me towards the doorway. Once out of the room, she continued to tug me towards the exit of the castle, much to my annoyance.

"I can walk, you know?" I explained to her as I let myself get dragged through the castle.

"Can' rishk anyfing-" She said through the cloth between her teeth. "I dun wan' to help 'im clean up."

I sighed and shook my head, but chose to just let her drag me since it was straining her more than me. "Let's just go so I can pick up Scootaloo. I wanna go home and just chill. Too much shit happened today."

She stopped, spat out my t-shirt and took a generous step back, eyeing me like I was crazy. "It's like, what, 3 PM?"

"I don't care, I wanna relax. Enough walking around for today."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, but I'm coming with you!"

I shrugged. "Suit yourself."



****



The rest of the day was spent just like I imagined it.

After I picked up Scootaloo, who looked like she had been rolling around in grass all day long, but told me that they had tried to get their Cutie Marks in gardening, the three of us went home. On the way there, Rainbow was, of course, quick to tell everything we did that day, though she definitely exaggerated a few things just for the sake of making it sound more awesome, more Rainbow. 

I mean, she did put it like we won against Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser without having any troubles, even though we did have some, especially in the beginning. She also acted like I was totally blown away by the tricks she performed in the park, which was only partly true. Admittedly, her tricks were awesome and definitely, without a doubt, impressive, but to say that I was blown by them was a simple overstatement. 

And when she finally did come to the most important part of what happened, that I could stand on clouds, she said it like it was some normal, completely-usual-for-a-human thing. Or, well, at least she tried to make it seem like that. Even I could tell that she was still a little surprised about it. 

Scootaloo, though, didn't even try to hide how surprised she was. I actually had to assure her at least five times that Rainbow wasn't trying to pull her leg, and even then she didn't seem too convinced. A quick demonstration did manage to convince her, though.

So, after a bit of walking through Ponyville, we finally arrived home. After Scootaloo took a throughout bath so that she wouldn't paint my couch grass green, we pretty much chilled for the rest of the day. Nothing special, just chilling on the couch and occasionally chatting with each other.

It was pretty neat. 

Sometime along our chilling, all three of us must've dozed off because when I woke up (thanks to a certain cyan mare's incredibly loud snoring), it was close to 7 PM and nearly time for Scootaloo to get back to the orphanage. Half an hour, that was all we had until she had to be there. I originally made plans to go out and eat somewhere before she had to go, maybe that nice café we ate breakfast at, but there was sadly no time for that.

Even though I didn't want her to go, I didn't want to risk her getting into any trouble with the incredibly kind Miss Heartsong because she was a few minutes too late. So, after taking a few seconds to appreciate just how utterly cute she and Rainbow looked, perched upon my chest and in the case of the latter, coiled up on my stomach, fast asleep, I chose to wake both of them up by gently rocking their bodies.

Rainbow somehow felt off the couch, though. I don't know why. Definitely not because I shoved her off of me, nope. I would never do such thing.

Anyways, where was I? Oh right, that.

After both of them were awake, one more than the other, and I told Scootaloo that she needed to get back to the orphanage, we made ourselves on the way again, although reluctantly. 

Thankfully, the way to the orphanage was mostly spent in silence. Rainbow and Scootaloo were having a discussion about something that involved the Wonderbolts and an upcoming show, or something like that. They seemed rather excited about that, and I was sure that I heard something about buying tickets, but other than that, nothing worth mentioning came up. Other than asking me if I would partake in the Running of the Leaves, which I couldn't answer them since I didn't know if I was allowed to, they also left me mostly to myself.

So, after I dropped Scootaloo off at the orphanage with the words "See you tomorrow, Scoots.", I and Rainbow walked back home. Actually, she insisted on accompanying me. I told her that she could go and that she didn't have to walk me back home, as I was sure that I could find the way back myself, but that, of course, didn't stop her. She said that she wasn't going to risk me getting robbed, though I doubted that any of the ponies in town would've been brave enough to even consider that. There were certain perks when you're the only one of your race in a world filled with herbivore ponies.

Once I stood back in front of my home's front door, I turned to give Rainbow my goodbye. But something stopped me from doing so. Rainbow was not hovering anymore. She was on the ground, her head fixed on the ground where she was busy drawing little circles with her hoof. She almost looked a little nervous.

"What's up?" I asked her with one brow raised, confused by her sudden change in demeanor. 

She looked up at me and opened her mouth, but quickly shut it again. For a few seconds, she looked like she was conflicted about something, but with a sigh that sounded almost like it pained her, it was gone. "Uh, n-nothing." She stammered, making me raise my eyebrow even higher - if that was even possible. "'til tomorrow, I guess."

I narrowed my eyes at her, trying to see what was obviously troubling her, but couldn't find anything. Whatever it had been, she was good at hiding it as I was not able to find any trace of what I had seen before. Instead of pursuing what was troubling her, I chose to just let it be. Maybe I was just reading too much into things. "Yeah, see ya."

With one last small wave with her foreleg and a small smile, she launched herself into the air. I watched her fly off before entering my house, straightly heading for the bathroom. Arriving there, I experienced a small mental breakdown.

I completely forgot about that. The window opposite of me was shattered, shards of glass strewn across the floor that was also soaked in water. Now I knew how exactly Rainbow managed to clean herself in ten seconds flat.

I sighed in exasperation. "I should've just thrown her into a lake or something..."

Once I cleaned most of the mess she left behind, I unclothed myself and took a quick, although refreshing shower. I brushed my teeth with the oversized toothbrush and then put on the clean pair of boxers that Scootaloo, true to her word, brought back to the house earlier that day. Once I was at least partly clothed, I left the bathroom and, without wasting any more time, walked to my bedroom and literally threw myself into the bed.

My feet hurt from the whole walking and running and my arm's muscles felt sore from the volleyball match against Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser. There were times where I had been in better shape, no doubt, though I'm not too sure if being in better shape would've helped me any. 

I didn't even manage to pull up the covers before I was out like a light. 


> Chapter Thirty-One - Running Of The Leaves (Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The next day started like the day before. I woke up at eight o'clock after a particularly short night of sleep, went to the bathroom, clothed myself and then made myself on my way to the orphanage to pick up Scootaloo. Of course, I didn't go out without grabbing the bag of bits from my nightstand. 

The moment I entered Ponyville, I realized something that was quite different than the day before. It was a lot more crowded, like, a lot. It seemed like everyone busy going somewhere, some of the ponies I passed even wearing some sort of tracksuits. Comparing the number of ponies that were already wandering about the streets to that of the day before, It was strange to see how much of a difference a festival that sounded pretty normal could make.

It was then that I realized that I had no idea when the Running of the Leaves was even going to start. For all I knew, it could've been already over. Dreading the thought of missing the event, I increased my pace a little, intending on arriving at the orphanage as soon as possible and then walk straight to where ever the event was taking place. After having breakfast, of course. Can't miss the most important meal of the day, right?

When I arrived at the orphanage, Scootaloo was already patiently waiting for me, but this time without her scooter. Upon questioning her why, she said, to my surprise, that she wouldn't need it that day because she was going to partake in the Running Of The Leaves. Her two friends, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, were going to participate too, which lead me to believe that they were doing it because they were trying to get their Cutie Marks.

What would that have even meant, getting a Cutie Mark in a marathon? That they were good runners or just good at marathons?

She actually asked me if I would be able to run with them, but I wasn't too sure if I even wanted to. Sure, it definitely would've been a good exercise for my me, exercise that I more than just needed, but that didn't change that I wasn't too enthusiastic about the prospect of participating in what was, essentially, a marathon - mainly because it involved moving. But instead of outright denying, I chose to just shrug.

Scootaloo seemed content enough with that answer, though I was certain she was already forming a plan in her head to get me to run with them. A faint smirk that was tugging at the corner of her lips was enough for me to know that it was a downright mischievous one. Her plan, without a doubt, involved a lot of big, teary eyes and pouts. It was at that moment that I decided that, once any pony would try to convince me into participating by using their adorableness, I was going to give them snuggles until they were too disturbed to ever try anything like that again. My plan was flawless!

Kinda. It had some flaws, but no plan is perfect. Right?

Anyways. 

So, after asking Scootaloo if she would like to get some breakfast, to which she all too eagerly replied with a yes, we made ourselves on our way again. Not to my home, mainly because I still hadn't anything to eat in my fridge, but to the café from the day before. We probably could've gone to Sugarcube Corner, but I still wasn't too keen on potentially meeting Pinkie Pie again. That pony, even though she wasn't the evil demon she seemed to be, sure was crazy. Besides, the food was good at the café and the waitress was nice, so why not support them and go there again?

No more than five minutes after we departed from the orphanage, we arrived at Café Hay, our destination. We were immediately greeted by the same waitress from the day before, Acoustic Melody if I remembered correctly, who was busy setting the tables. It looked like the café just opened moments ago.

She gave us a smile once she spotted us, silently telling us that she would be there in a moment. She finished setting the table just when we seated ourselves and walked back into the café, coming back out after just a few seconds, this time carrying two menus with her. It was still a mystery to me how she was able to balance something on the top of her hoof while walking perfectly normal, but I chose to better not think about that too hard.

She approached the table we chose to sit at, the same friendly smile from the day before on her face as she placed one menu in front of me and one in front of Scootaloo. "Good morning again."

I smiled back at her. "Good morning."

"I'll be back in a few minutes to get your orders." She said, producing a notepad and pen from somewhere and then directing a questioning look at me. "Can I get you something to drink?"

I shook my head to her question. "No, thanks, I'm fine."

She looked over to Scootaloo. "And you?"

Scootaloo hummed in thought for a moment, a hoof rubbing the underside of her muzzle idly. "A strawberry milkshake, please."

The waitress quickly scribbled Scootaloo's order down and, with a smile, left us to ourselves again. Scootaloo and I enjoyed the silence for a few minutes, content with watching the ponies who passed the café. What surprised me, though, was that no one was staring at me. Either they didn't see me, which I strongly doubted, or they were simply too busy because literally no one was giving me second glances. It was almost like I fit in, like I was one of them.

Maybe the others had been right after all. Maybe the just needed a little time to adjust to me.

"Have you seen Rainbow today?" It was Scootaloo who pulled me out of my daydreaming. 

I shook my head. "Nope."

"Huh, weird." She said, seeming to be thoughtful. "She told me that she'd have to get up early and practice so that she could beat Applejack this year."

I raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Wait, she didn't win last year? Who then?"

"You may not believe me-" She started, pausing for the dramatic effect. Or something like that. "-but Twilight won."

I stared at her for a few long seconds before asking, "You're kidding me, right? Twilight?"

"Yep, she won." I gestured for her to explain. "Well, Rainbow and Applejack were so lost in trying to beat each other in the marathon that they kinda...well, let's just say that their ways of trying to win got them to lose."

"So, they cheated and all that, and then karma came around the corner and hit 'em hard?"

She nodded her head. "Pretty much, yeah."

"Heh, now I have another thing I can tease Rainbow with." I said with an evil smirk. "I mean, her losing to Twilight in a marathon? That's really embarrassing..." I thought what I said over for a moment, took a quick look around me, before adding, "Uh, don't tell Twilight I said that."

She giggled. "Maybe I will."

"No, I'm serious." I leaned a little closer in order to whisper to her. "Twilight's going to fry my ass for saying that."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "I won't tell her, I promise." I narrowed my eyes at her. "Ugh, Cutie Mark Promise."

I nodded in satisfaction, opening the menu as Scootaloo did the same. After two or three minutes of looking through it, I concluded that, besides what I had the day before, there was nothing I really would've liked to eat. I mean, sure, a daffodil sandwich might sound tasty, but not once you realize that it isn't just the name of the sandwich but that they put real flowers on it. So, I chose to just order the same from the day before.

Fittingly enough, the waitress came back to our table just when I finished deciding. She placed the strawberry milkshake in front of Scootaloo and then asked what we would like to have. After we she swiftly scribbled down our orders, she departed again and left us alone once again, though this time neither of us tried to stir up a conversation. We were more than content enough with quietly enjoying the fresh morning air and, in Scootaloo's case, slurping her strawberry milkshake through the drinking straw loudly.

I had to admit that I was a little envious. Maybe I should've gotten one myself.

Fortunately, It didn't take long for our meals to arrive, so I didn't have to watch Scootaloo slurp her milkshake for too long. Just like the first time, our meals looked extraordinarily delicious. They even managed to make Scootaloo's simple daisy sandwich look appetizing, and that's coming from someone who didn't think flowers were that delicious.

Both I and Scootaloo quickly ate up. Whether it was because we were in a hurry to get to the marathon or because we just simply ate fast, I don't actually know. Maybe a mix of both. After I paid the bill and left the waitress a generous tip (at least what I guessed was generous), we departed again. Or, better, Scootaloo was leading me to wherever the festival was taking place.


****


Thanks to Scootaloo, It wasn't a long walk until we arrived at where the festival was taking place. I was really fortunate that I had her with me because the marathon's starting line was in a forest in the mid of nowhere. I would've never found it if it wasn't for her.

When we arrived, I was shocked to see the mass of ponies that was present. It looked like it was at least half of the town was participating, while the other half was there to watch the event unfold or cheer their friends and families on. And the weirdest thing was that everyone looked excited. Everyone.

I wasn't too sure if the people back on earth would've been as enthusiastic about a marathon as those ponies. 

Admist the crowd of ponies, we quickly spotted a particular mare that stood out amongst them all. I mean, there would've been no way that we could've overseen that unique rainbow-colored mane. We quickly made our way through the crowd over to Rainbow Dash, but were surprised once we saw that she wasn't alone. We probably shouldn't have been surprised, though.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Spike. Rarity, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and, of course, Rainbow. All of my, our, friends were there, all looking ready for the marathon. Well, all of them, except for Pinkie Pie. She looked like she was ready for a generous picnic, and not just because she was a little more on the heavier side. No, she was actually carrying a picnic basket with her.

But what caught my eye the most was probably the, comparatively, huge purple hot-air balloon hovering in the middle of the dirt street, the only thing keeping it from floating away being two sandbags that were limply hanging off the basket's sides.

"Hey girls." I greeted them with a small wave, smiling into the round. I nodded at Spike, who was standing beside Twilight. "And Spike."

Spike opened his mouth to possibly greet me back, but Pinkie Pie was quick to interrupt him, her smile unnervingly big. "Hey, Willy-Dilly!"

Even though I probably shouldn't have, I still couldn't help myself giggle once. It was almost not audible, but still very much so for Pinkie Pie, apparently. I think she actually took my giggle as a confirmation that I liked my new nickname because her smile just got bigger. I didn't, though.

After everyone greeted me, they told me what their plans were for the festival. 

Pinkie Pie, as I already expected, was there to just watch and maybe snack a few of the cupcakes she brought with her. What I didn't expect from her, though I probably should've considering her loud nature, was that she was going to be commentating the marathon, along with Spike. I briefly considered if I was going to stay with them instead of participating, but that thought left me once they told me that they were going to use that hot-air balloon to see what was happening from high up in the air.

To my surprise, Twilight was going to participate in the marathon. She told me that she was there not to win it, but more because she wanted to contribute her bit in the annual event and have a little fun along the way. A nice reason, to be honest.

Rainbow and Applejack were, of course, also going to participate, only that their reasons were the complete opposite than those of Twilight. The only reason why they were even participating was, if I didn't miss anything, to beat the other in a hopefully fair race. After what I had heard, the previous year's Running of the Leaves wasn't what one would call a fair race. They were so focused on winning over the other, no matter what it took, that they, in the end, lost because of their unfair ways - to Twilight nonetheless. So I don't think that they were going to repeat it, lest karma would hit 'em hard again.

Rarity, for her part, was not going to take part in the marathon. Something about her 'pristine fur getting drenched in sweat' and 'running not being anything for a lady like her'. Instead, she was going to make sure that every participant was hydrated enough by operating one of the stands where you could get water for free. I remember her saying that she was running the stand closest to the finish line.

Fluttershy wasn't there to run a stand like Rarity did, as I expected she would do, neither was she there to actually participate. No, she was there to treat any injuries that might come up during the event. A medic, so to say, and from what she told me the only one present during the whole event.

As for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, well, they were going to participate, just like Scootaloo said. Yes, even Sweetie Belle, though Rarity was obviously against it. But instead of Twilight or Applejack and Rainbow, they participated for the chance that they could get their oh-so-loved butt tattoos, just like I assumed.

A noble cause, if you ask me.

"And what about you, darling?" Rarity asked me after everyone finished telling me their plans, a curious look on her face. "Are you going to participate?"

"Eh, naaah, thanks." I said, "I'll just wait for you guys at the finish line. Marathons aren't really my thing, you know?"

Right when the words left my mouth, Rainbow huffed and rolled her eyes. "Dude, stop being so-" Her face contorted in disgust of what word she was going to speak out next. "-lame..."

But, thankfully Twilight came to my rescue quickly, smiling at me warmly. "Rainbow, if William doesn't want to participate, that is perfectly fine." Rainbow groaned, but Twilight wasn't finished, her smile turning into an evil smirk. "But, I do have to agree with you, he is lame."

"Yeah, that's right Rainb-" I blinked, hard, as her words hit me like a trainwreck. "Wait, what?"

Twilight shrugged as everyone else, except for Fluttershy, stifled their giggles with a hoof in front of their mouths. "Rainbow's right there, you are lame."

She just betrayed me! She allied herself with Rainbow! 

I opened my mouth to retort, but no words came out. Instead, I just chose to look at her and Rainbow with an open mouth. I was utterly perplexed why someone like Twilight would ally herself with Rainbow in something like this, or at all. There must've been a reason why she was helping Rainbow to provoke me. And I had a good idea what reason that was.

She knew what I said earlier. She knew it and she was going to fry my ass for it. 

...Or did she know? My ass didn't feel like it was on fire, so maybe she didn't know?

"Scoots?" I addressed the orange filly, coupled by a heavy gulp as fear ran through my veins. "You didn't, right?"

She cocked her head to the side curtly before it finally clicked. "What? No!" I would never break a promise!" She sounded almost offended. "Especially not one I have with you!"

And suddenly, a loud, high-pitched gasp, and then: Pinkie Pie! Right in front of my face, out of nowhere. "Who said something about breaking a promise?!" She asked loudly, shaking my shoulder as she mysteriously hovered in the air.

I looked into her eyes and then very slowly pulled her out of the air and put her back on the ground. "Please, don't do that, Pinkie."

"Okie Dokie-" She narrowed her eyes dangerously. "-Willy-okie..."

And then she trotted away from the group, as if nothing ever happened, that huge, unnerving smile back on her face.

"Am I the only one who thinks that she's creepy?" I asked into the round, earning myself scared nods from the Crusaders and Rarity. "What a relief..."

I had no time to breath as, once my mind finally caught up with reality, Rainbow was already in my face. "So, anyways, how 'bout we play a small game, you chicken?"

Fluttershy stifled a gasp with a hoof to her mouth. "Oh my."

"Ouch." I exclaimed jokingly, clutching at my heart with a pout on my face. "My pride."

She waved me off. "Yeah yeah, whatever. You're in or not?"

I made an act out of humming in thought, looking at the smirks she and Twilight were sporting. They didn't tell me what the game entitled, but I knew that it was something about getting me to participate - which, to be perfectly honest, I was going to do anyways. I hadn't been serious when I said that I was going to wait for them at the finishing line. That would've been just plain boring. And there was no way I was going to hop into that balloon's small, fragile basket.

"You want me to participate and race me, right?" I asked knowingly, an unimpressed look on my face. She confirmed my question with a single nod of her head. With one eyebrow raised, I gestured down to my body, or, more precisely, down to the pair of dark-blue jeans and the white t-shirt I was wearing. "I don't have the right clothes for running, as you can see."

She retorted with a simple, "Chicken."

"Rainbow, no. I'm not a chicken." I said firmly. "I'm going to get my clothes all dirty and sweaty again. I really don't want to stink again"

Out of the corner of my eyes I was able to see Rarity's face contorting in a sign of disgust and she looked like she was almost about to speak up, but apparently chose not to.

"Chicken." Rainbow repeated, stepping a little closer and punctuating each following word with a poke to my shin. "Chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken chi-"

I sighed, interrupting her annoying chanting and poking. "What does the winner even get?"

"So you're in?" She smirked widely, taking a few steps back, unfortunately taking my question as a confirmation. "How about we keep it exciting and I'll tell you once we're at the starting line, huh?"

She hadn't even thought about a prize... 

"I'll race you too!" Twilight threw in before I could agree to Rainbow's offer, putting one foreleg up in an attempt to call attention to herself. She looked at me with an expression that told me that she, somehow, knew what I said earlier that day. "Winner wins the satisfaction of showing the other who's the better athlete, alright?"

"Shit..." I muttered under my breath, quiet enough for no one to hear, weighing my options curtly. If Twilight really did hear what I had said, it was either getting my butt fried by her or just losing a little bit of my pride. I liked my butt, so deciding was rather easy in that matter. I looked at Rainbow, whose smirk just got disturbingly big, and then back at the purple princess, groaning one last time, my mind finally made up. "Okay, I'm in."


****


Fifteen minutes later, I stood at the starting line, right in the first row with Rainbow to my left and the three Crusaders to my right. Twilight and Applejack were somewhere two rows behind us and the Crusaders were busy chatting with each other about something that went over my head. It was only me and Rainbow.

"You ready, Will?" Rainbow asked calmly, gaining my attention just as I finished my useless stretches. Now that I stood at that white line that marked the start of the marathon, there were certain doubts crossing my mind - not like that was anything new. Was I actually capable of defeating Rainbow, or getting to the finishing line at all? Sure, a fit me would've been able to outrun any of those ponies and do that marathon without breaking a sweat, but that's the problem. 

I wouldn't have called myself anywhere near fit, not at that point of my life. And winning against an athlete without any kind of exercise? Yeah, no way I was going to win that. But, even though I had my doubts, I smiled nonetheless as I turned my head to look at her, not wanting to show Rainbow how doubtful of my fitness I actually was. "Yeah, I'm ready. So, what if I win?"

She grinned. "Not like your going to win anyways, soo..." She finished up her stretches with one last ruffle of her wings, the appendages I dearly hoped she wasn't going to use. "How 'bout you decide what?"

She really didn't think of anything...

I scratched my chin as if I was in thought, though I already kinda knew what I wanted. I didn't need, nor want, any money. I didn't need anything except maybe for a new window, though that probably was affordable. No, I wanted to see her suffer for just one day. The broken window...she broke it, so how about she was going to fix it, too? I knew that, of all of the things I was able to think off, she would've hated boring things where she had no way to do anything that involved sleeping, flying or doing sport, the most. It was torture for her to not do any of these things. Since I wouldn't call replacing a window fun at all, that was just the perfect thing, buuuut just not enough. Then it clicked. 

"How about you do everything I say for one whole day?"

"That's actually a pretty good idea..." She flapped her wings twice, hovering up in front of me, my head following her every moment. "Okay, and if you lose-" She began, jabbing my chest once before circling around me like a predator. "-you'll be doing everything I say for one whole day. Deal?"

Without even a second of hesitation, I gave her my answer. "Deal."

Why did I do that? I can't answer you that because I literally don't know why. Maybe I actually thought, somewhere deep in my mind, that I could win. Whichever part of my brain that may have been, at that moment, I hated it with a passion.

"Heh, you just made a big mistake. You know that, right?" She asked smugly, suddenly appearing right in front of me. After eyeing me up for a few long seconds, she puffed out her cute little chest, striking a silly pose with a hoof pointed at herself. "You're never going to win against The Dash."

"RUNNERS, GET READY!" Pinkie Pie's voice rung loudly from high above us, right out of the basket she and Spike were hovering in.

"I hope you like being high up in the air, Will." Rainbow gave me one last smirk before getting into position beside me, leaving me confused as to why she said that. It wasn't like I was going to fly anytime soon.

"You ready, dad?"

I shook my head and quickly got into position myself as Scootaloo's voice reached my ears. I rolled my left shoulder, and then my right shoulder, before shooting her a look that, considering that the chances of me winning were slim, was pretty confident. "Yeah, I guess so."

"HELLO, EVERYPONY! IT'S ME, PINKIE PIE, THE COMMENTATOR OF THIS YEAR'S RUNNING OF THE LEAVES!"

"AND I'M SPIKE, HER CO-COMMENTATOR!"

I looked up to the balloon, just in time to see Spike handing the megaphone back to Pinkie Pie, who quickly devoured the cupcake she was holding earlier in one inhale. "BOTH OF US ARE SOOOO EXCITED TO BE HERE! NOT BEATING AROUND THE BUSH FOR TOO- ACTUALLY, WHY WOULD SOMEONE BEAT AROUND A BUSH? LIKE, THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE, RIGHT?" She gasped into the megaphone, a gasp so loud (thanks to the megaphone) that I actually had to cover my ears. "OR IS IT BECAUSE SOMEPONY BEAT SOMEPONY ELSE AROUND A BUSH? THAT'S JUST MEAN AND I DON'T LIKE OTHER PONIES GETT-"

Thankfully, Spike ended her mindless rambling by grabbing the megaphone, the object of power, out of her hooves. "READY!"

My eyes trailed back down, narrowing at the long road that lay before me.

"SET!"

I drew a deep breath, crouching a little lower.

"Good luck." I looked at Rainbow from the corner of my eyes as she muttered that out. She wasn't looking at me, but I didn't need to see her face to tell that she was wearing that dumb, cocky smirk. "You'll need it."

I just hmpfed unamusedly, looking back forward.

"GO!"

And the race was on.
> Chapter Thirty-Two - Running Of The Leaves (Part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Fall was beautiful in Equestria, way more beautiful than back home. The weather wasn't as moody, and it was a lot warmer and a lot less breezy, which I quite liked. The colors of everything, but especially those of the falling leaves, seemed a lot richer and not as sad and gray. But all of that went unnoticed by me, mostly because of that one annoying sound that prevented me from completely appreciating the beauty fall in Equestria was.

Thump Thump Thump.

With each new step I took, the dull sound of my feet hitting the dirt below seemed to grow louder, more noticeable. With each new step I took, my legs started to hurt more and my lungs tried to desperately get more of that oh-so-needed air. 

But, with each new step I took, I was also increasing the distance between me, Twilight and Rainbow. 

It looked good for me, it really did. No signs of Twilight, Rainbow or any of the others since I left them behind at the starting line. In fact, I hadn't seen any of the other participants in quite a while. I must've had a good lead.

There was one problem that was starting to show itself, though; I was starting to get exhausted, quite possibly because, since the start of the marathon, all I did was run, run, run. And we were maybe fifteen minutes into the marathon, at most! The others were apparently a lot smarter and took it a lot slower than me, which would explain why I hadn't seen any of them since the start.

I admit it, there were moments where I really thought about giving up. Shit was really starting to get exhausting, and Pinkie Pie's constant rambling above me was not helping either.

Speaking of which...

"IT LOOKS LIKE WILLIAM, PONYVILLE'S SOLE HUMAN, IS STARTING TO GET TIRED!" She screamed into the megaphone I wished Spike would finally pull out of her grasp. "IS HE ALREADY GOING TO GIVE UP? I HOPE NOT BECAUSE I WOULD BE VERY VERY VERY SAD THEN!"

Literally everything she had talked about since the start, every-fucking-thing, had something to do with me in one way or another. At first, it was something about this being the first time an alien was participating in the Running Of The Leaves and then she went on about how happy she was that I decided to participate, all the while everyone in the next hundred miles could hear her. She wasn't only annoying but also embarrassing me by her constant talking about my performance. But who knows, maybe she was just trying to show that she was supporting me. 

I hate to admit it, but that, the possible shame that came with losing to Twilight and the thought of being a slave to Rainbow for one whole day were the three main reasons why I hadn't given up already. 

I gritted my teeth and just stepped it up a notch, trying to show Pinkie Pie that I wasn't going to give up anytime soon. I was going to go through with this. I was going to get to the finishing line, no matter the costs.

If I would reach it before Rainbow Dash and Twilight was a completely different thing. 



****



Fifteen minutes later, and still no finishing line anywhere in sight. My legs, my lungs, my whole body was screaming at me to stop this useless attempt of getting to the finish of the marathon. I was thirsty as fuck. My legs actually felt like they were going to fall off at any second. At this moment, I was hating myself for even thinking I could actually finish that whole thing in the first place.

At least Pinkie Pie finally started shutting up about me and directed her attention more to what was happening behind me rather than what was happening with me. The good thing was that I was finally getting an idea on how Rainbow Dash and Twilight were doing; they were doing fantastic. A little too fantastic for my taste.

Though I really tried to keep the distance between me and Rainbow, every time Pinkie Pie screamed into that god-forsaken megaphone, it was because she was getting closer to me, which constantly reminded me that the possibility of losing was not that slim. And I didn't want to be her slave for a whole fucking day, I really didn't.

From what I had heard, Twilight was also getting closer to me, though she wasn't decreasing the distance nearly as fast as Rainbow was. She was taking her time, it seemed.

Losing to Rainbow, okay, I could get over that. She was an athlete, after all. But if Twilight, an ex-librarian who did nothing else than reading books all day (and still did), was going to catch up with me, I would've strongly doubted myself. 

"APPLEJACKS JUST OVERTOOK LYRA!" To my surprise, it was Spike who screamed into the megaphone this time. That was actually the first time he had the chance to comment on something since the start of the event. "THAT MEANS THERE'S ONLY...Wait, is that Scoota?-I MEAN SCOOTALOO BETWEEN HER AND RAINBOW!"

I nearly stopped out of surprise for a second. Scootaloo was just two places behind me? Did I hear him right?

"WILL WE GET ANOTHER NERVE-WRACKING RACE LIKE LAST YEAR?"

I could literally feel Pinkie Pie yanking the megaphone out of Spike's grasp. "WE SURE WILL, SPIKE! I MEAN, LOOK AT WILLIAM GO! HE SURE WILL DELIVER US A CLOSE RACE THIS YEAR!"

Yeaaah-no. I definitely wasn't going to deliver a close race that year. I was already feeling like I might pass out at any moment and I wasn't even able to keep a steady pace anymore. In fact, I was getting slower and slower.

It was only a matter of time before Rainbow and the others were going to catch up to me.

But then, suddenly, I saw something on the horizon. At first, I was confused what that blurry thing on the side of the road was until I remembered that there were stands that offered sweet, sweet water to the competitors for free. I increased my speed without me actually knowing, the object on the side of the road getting sharper and sharper with every few meters I got closer to it.

I was right with my assumption. It was, indeed, one of those stands, operated by a mare that I definitely had seen before. A mint-green unicorn mare with a lyre on her butt. The weird thing was that I somehow connected her Cutie Mark to pony butts. Well, it was weird until I remembered why that had been the case. She was that one mare from the hospital, that one creepy mare that literally raped my hand with her mouth.

I actually shuddered at the memory. Have you ever shuddered while running? It's weird.

I briefly considered to just keep on running and not grab myself a cup of that sweet, refreshing water, but quickly thought better of it. I was simply too thirsty, and there was just no way in hell I was going to get anywhere near the finishing line without drinking some water. I was rather going to take the risk and get me something to drink than just fall unconscious. 

I swiftly approached the stand and It didn't take long for the mint-green pony to notice me, though her reaction wasn't quite the one I expected. Instead of going totally crazy again upon seeing me, the guy with the hands, her cheeks turned a shade of red that I've rarely seen before. Her face was literally as red as a tomato.

She looked me dead in the eyes as I stood in front of her stand, not blinking once - as did I. Absimindetely, it seemed, she lit up her horn and took hold of one of the many relatively big plastic cups that were standing on the counter, levitating it up to me to take. With a thankful although reluctant nod, I quickly took a hold of the cup, turned myself into the direction of the finishing line, downed its whole content in one go and then, without thinking twice, threw the empty cup over my shoulder. Before it could've hit the ground, though, it was stopped by the unicorn mare, who swiftly deposited it in an empty bin bag that was hanging on the left side of the stand. I was actually quite impressed that she managed to do that while still staring at me with a blush on her face.

"I'm Lyra, by the way." She said awkwardly, out of nowhere, making me stop just as I was about to continue on jogging. I briefly turned my head to look at her before looking back forward, contemplating on whether I was going to tell her my name or not. I saw no reason not to tell her my name, though. She didn't try anything. She actually seemed, at that moment at least, fairlynormal.

"William." I managed to utter out between my deep, labored breaths, turning my body back into the direction of where I had to go. I gave her one last thoughtful look over my shoulders, a look that she returned with a weak, although thankful smile before I started to make myself on my way again. I guess that was her way of thanking me for trusting her after what transpired at our first time meeting each other. 

Did I trust her, though? Probably not, I'm not too sure. 

I mean, that meeting actually went a lot better than the first one, so that's a plus. I remember that, before meeting her for the second time, I thought that if I would cross paths with her one more time, she was going to drag me into her basement and do things that I really didn't want to happen to me. But now, upon meeting her for the second time, she seemed not that cray-cray in the head, though I was still wary of her. For all I knew, she could've been just acting, just waiting for the right moment to strike.

So, all in all, I may have trusted her a little, just a little, but that's beside the point anyways.

The important thing was that I was back on track, feeling just a tad bit better with the little refreshment that the not-so-creepy-anymore Lyra provided me with. It didn't help me get past my exhaustion, but it did help me get my hopes up a little. 



****


Thump.

My own feet hit the ground heavily. My whole legs felt like they were on fire, and I was straining with each and every new step I took, even more so than before. It was a struggle for me to even lift my feet, and sometimes I even nearly tripped because I failed to lift one of them. But, regardless of how much my legs hurt and my lungs burned, regardless of how much the reasonable part of my brain told me to stop it, I knew that no matter how hard it was, everything Rainbow had in store for me once she won the bet was way worse than the pain I currently felt.

Rainbow. Spike and Pinkie didn't utter one word since I left from Lyra's stand. I had no idea how she was doing.

But, I had no time to think about her. There was something else that caught my whole attention, a sound that I haven't heard in what felt like an eternity. The sound of hooves hitting dirt.

Panicked, I looked over my shoulders, seeing a small blob of various colors closing in on me quickly. My eyes took a second to focus on the blob, but once they did, I had to actually stop myself from tripping over my own feet.

"RAINBOW DASH IS NOW SUPER-DUPER CLOSE TO WILLIAM!"

"F-Fu-fuck!" I grumbled angrily as I quickly whipped my head back forward, struggling to even get that simple curse out. Even though my legs didn't want to, and I was sure I was going to regret doing it, I stepped it up a gear, trying everything to increase the distance between me and the cyan mare.

Thump. I felt increasingly hotter.

"YEAH, PINKIE! IT LOOKS LIKE SHE FINALLY CAUGHT UP TO HIM!" Spike screamed, his voice sounding a little blurry and untypical, like it wasn't really his. But it was his. I felt weird, confused, even a little dizzy. "BUT, WHAT'S THAT? IS THAT...?"

"THAT'S THE FINISHING LINE!" Pinkie screamed excitedly into the megaphone that she probably yanked out of Spike's grasp. "THIS IS GOING TO BE A REALLLLLLLY CLOSE RACE!"

Confused as to what they said, I concentrated my eyes on what lay in front of me a few hundred meters. After my eyes took a moment to adjust to the object and I did a quick double take, I realized that they weren't kidding.

The finishing line in all its glory. 

Oh, how I craved to reach it, to pass through that red tape and be the first one to cut through it. The first one, even before Rainbow, Applejack or any of the others.

But there was that small part of my brain that suddenly told me that something was wrong with me, that I should stop right at that instance and get some rest. 

I ignored it, instead biting through the pain, blurriness, dizziness and trying my best to just pull off those last hundred meters that were left. Coming from behind me, I was able to pick off the sound of Rainbow's hooves hitting the dirt harder and harder as she more than obviously quickly decreased the distance between me and her. 

Thump.

Another step that brought me closer to my goal. Pinkie Pie and Spike were definitely screaming something, but I couldn't quite make out what. It was a total mess of words to me, nowhere close to understandable. Rainbow wasn't more than half a meter behind me, the dull thump her hooves generated the only thing I picked up between my deep, ragged breathing.

Thump.

Another step. For a second, I lost my eyesight, but once I regained it, there were two roads in front of me, one blurrier than the other. Something definitely wasn't right with me, I realized. My brain wholeheartedly agreed.

Thump.

Rainbow was beside me. She looked concerned, but she was spinning. Why was she spinning all of a sudden? Why was everything spinning all of a sudden? Why did I feel dizzy? And why did I only hear my own rapidly beating heart?

Thump.

Before I even realized what was happening, I found myself suddenly lying on the ground, face-first, getting a mouthful of not-so-tasty equestrian dirt. I coughed and rolled over tiredly, coming face to face with concerned-looking magenta eyes that belonged to none other than Rainbow. To my left, I saw an unidentifiable blob of purple and orange, while to my right another blob of, solely consisting of purple, stood. But instead of the normal bright colors, everything was getting rapidly darker, less colorful. I slowly trailed my eyes back to Rainbow, confused as to what was going on. 

The last thing I saw was Rainbow mouthing something to me, or maybe she was actually screaming, before everything went black, my body finally giving up.




****



I woke up sometime later to the sound of a hushed, distant conversation, every word bouncing around my head uselessly and not making any sense. Instead of trying to connect the words to form a comprehensible sentence, I chose to instead focus on where I was. With my eyes still closed, my hands wandered firstly across the soft blanket that covered me before they went down to the comfortable surface I was lying on, trying to figure out what exactly it was. I grabbed some of what I quickly found out was some sort of cloth, though there was something beneath it, something that was soft and yet firm. Feeling a little startled as I couldn't really recall what happened, I opened my eyes slowly, being momentarily blinded by the unexpected brightness, blinked twice, and was then greeted by the sight of a wooden ceiling. 

With my eyes still straining to adjust to the sudden brightness, I turned my head sideways to look at the hand I was previously exploring my whereabouts with, quickly learning that it was a mattress I was lying on. A relatively comfortable one, at that.

The hushed whispering I heard when I woke up didn't feel that distant anymore. In fact, it felt like it was coming from directly to my right, to which I slowly turned my head to. At first, it was just a blur of various bright colors, but once my eyes adjusted to the richness of the colors, I found out those blurs to be Fluttershy and Rainbow, both of them conversating between each other. The latter, to my surprise, looked rather worried, while the former apparently explained something to her.

"Rainbow, just let him get some rest." Fluttershy said softly, a small frown on her face. "He'll be fine, I promise."

"I still don't feel like he should be here, y'know?" Rainbow said, casting a quick look out of the window to her right. "He should be in the hospital."

"Rainbow, everything's fine, he just overexerted himself a little." Fluttershy assured her once again, putting a hoof to the cyan mare's shoulder. "All he need is rest and he'll be fine."

"But-"

"Jeez, Rainbow, stop it." I interrupted her, rubbing my face annoyedly as I chose exactly that moment to interrupt her annoying, worry-fueled talk. A mistake, as I quickly learned. 

In the matter of less than one second, I felt something soft and furry colliding with my chest and quickly throwing its appendages around me, squeezing the life out of me. After taking a look down, I was mildly surprised to see that it was not Fluttershy but Rainbow who was embracing me, nuzzling the crook of my neck with her muzzle. Caught off guard, I looked over at Fluttershy, who remained silent and merely smiled cutely. Not knowing how exactly to respond to Rainbow's sudden show of affection, I just awkwardly put my arms around the cyan mare's barrel, giving her a gentle squeeze. 

Rainbow, after embracing me for a few more awkward seconds, finally pulled away and flapped her wings twice, swiftly lifting herself up in the air. A smile of relief on her face, she punched my shoulder lazily, not hard enough for me to actually feel any real pain, and then said, "Dude, never do that again!"

"Do what?" I asked, my mind still a little groggy.

"Falling unconscious, duh." She said, looking at me like I was an idiot. 

"Unconcious?" I repeated, furrowing my eyebrows as I tried to remember what she was talking about. "I don't remember...-oh, yeah, that actually happened." I frowned as the memory hit me. "Wait, does that mean-"

"That you lost?" Rainbow ended the sentence for me, a smug smirk on her face. "Yes, yes you did. But not only to me, you were last since you didn't make it through the finishing line at all."

"Fuck..." I muttered under my breath, mentally chiding myself for accepting the bets in the first place. Losing to Rainbow was okay, I was able to live with that, but losing to everyone else and Twilight? That actually was a deep wound in my pride. Raising my voice again, I asked next, "So, when do you want me to be your slave?" 

Rainbow opened her mouth, but before she was even able to get one word out, Fluttershy spoke up. "Uh, I suggest that you rest for a few days. I don't know how much of an impact the race had on your body, but I really would advise against doing anything too strenuous for the rest of this day and maybe tomorrow." I turned my head to look at her, surprised that she actually managed to get all of that out without sounding to timidly. She blushed a little as she saw me looking at her, quickly trying to hide behind her long, pink mane. "I-if t-that's okay with you, I mean..."

"Eh, I'm okay with that." Rainbow shrugged. "'s not like there's anything that needs to be done right now."

"Except for the broken window in my bathroom." I added angrily, giving her a frown as the image of my shattered window came to my mind. "You still owe me for that, you know?"

Rainbow looked me dead in the eyes for a few long seconds, an empty look on her face, before she suddenly flew out of the open window. "Byegottago!"

With a heavy sigh, I looked over at Fluttershy. "You don't believe how much I hate her right now."

"I-I probably don't."

Still looking at where Rainbow vanished to, I suddenly noticed something amiss. A certain orange filly that just-so-happened to be my daughter. I actually felt a little sad that she wasn't there when I woke up, but maybe there had been a good reason for her absence. So, the question prepared, I asked the butter-yellow pegasus, "Hey Fluttershy, where's Scootaloo anyways?"

As if on cue, the door to my left sprang open and in darted an orange blob, quickly leaping up on the bed and on my chest, hugging me even stronger than Rainbow did before. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I embraced my daughter with one arm, petting the purple mane atop her head with my spare hand.

"I'm so glad that you're alright!" She said, letting go of me for just a second to look me in the face before quickly going back to hugging me to death. Just like Rainbow, she nuzzled the crook of my neck, her fur tickling my skin. To say that she was worried sick for me probably would've been an understatement. My heart warmed at the adorable sight in front of me and the unfiltered love I was receiving from my daughter. Fluttershy apparently felt the same as I could've sworn I heard a quiet 'aww' coming from her direction.

After silently embracing each other for what felt like an eternity, though it definitely wasn't awkward like the one I had shared with Rainbow, Scootaloo reluctantly let go of me and took a step back so that she could look in the face. "I actually finished the race, dad!"

"Yeah I remember, you were third, weren't you?" I asked, holding one up to her and forming a fist with it for her to bump with her hoof, which she quickly did with a big smile on her face. I then moved my other up to her head, ruffling her mane before she swatted my hand away with a small giggle. "I'm really proud of you."

I looked over to Fluttershy just in time to see her give a look that said that she'd let us alone for some time before she quickly left the room, opening the door and shutting it quietly behind her, leaving us alone back in it. Now that I had the time to inspect where I was, I realized that the room looked unfamiliar to me. "Where are we anyways?"

"Fluttershy's cottage." Scootaloo answered. "It was the closest to where you fell unconscious and since everypony else was so far behind you and Rainbow, Fluttershy brought you here."

I raised an eyebrow, not believing what she just said. "Fluttershy brought me here? Like, on her own?"

"Nah, her animals helped her." Scootaloo chuckled, probably at the mental image of poor Fluttershy trying to drag my fat body around - at least that's what I was thinking. Really though, that was a really amusing thought.

We lapsed into a comfortable silence once again as I idly scratched her behind her ears, low, content purrs emitting from her throat. But then I felt something amiss, something that was quite important to me. Something I actually really liked. My cheeks took on a pink tone as I wondered why I felt that it was missing, even though I didn't remember pulling them off.

Slowly, I trailed the hand that wasn't busy spoiling Scootaloo down to the sheets that covered my chest, quickly giving a peek to what lay underneath it before letting them fall down again, blush getting brighter and brighter. My heart skipping a beat, I looked around the room frantically, my eyes darting from the wooden table in front of my bed, to the nightstand to my left and finally to the small wardrobe on the opposite wall, but they were nowhere to be seen. 'Fuck.'

"Uh, Scoots?" I asked worriedly as I stopped scratching her ear completely, to which I only got a sleepy 'mhm' "You don't know, by any chance, where my clothes are, do you?"

To my complete horror, she just shrugged her shoulders, continuing to fall asleep on my chest. 

I gulped. "Did Rarity came by earlier?"

She nodded her head. I groaned.

"Fuck."	
> Chapter Thirty-Three - The Decision
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Five days after the Running Of The Leaves, and the weather in the land of the talking ponies decided to go full apeshit.

"Jesus." I stated with a shiver, swiftly kicking the door close behind me in order to not give the cold from outside any chance to get inside my warm, cozy home. I dropped the three logs of wood I was carrying to the floor on my side and then rubbed my hands together to somehow get some of that sweet warmth back into them, though that proved out to be a slow process. "What is wrong with this world?"

"That cold, huh?" Scootaloo, who was reclining on the couch in the center of the room, in front of the fireplace, asked before going back to slurping some of that hot cocoa I made her prior before I went outside, into the dark, to get some wooden fuel to heat our home - another thing that was different than back at my home. Instead of just having to turn on the heater and wait a few minutes for the room to heat up, we had to do it the old way. There was no oil-fired heating, just the old way of using the fireplace.

I took off the well-padded black jacket and the white, red-dotted scarf and threw the two things over the coathook to my right, but not before giving both of them a quick shake to rid it off any snow they may have caught. Both of these I had gotten from Rarity just two days after the Running Of The Leaves. Rainbow was to blame for the fact that she even made those two things for me in the first place, mainly because she quickly got fed up with my constant weeping about how cold it was getting outside. So she flew over to Rarity, asked her if she was up for the task and then, just one day after Rainbow told her, appeared on my doorstep with the two pieces of clothing in her magical grasp.

How she was able to craft these two things in just a day was beyond me. But, in the end, I was really glad that she was able to do it so quickly, or else I probably would've frozen to death.

"Nah, I'm just acting like it." I said sarcastically once I finally stood back in my t-shirt, picking up the three logs from the floor again before moving over to the fireplace that stood on the wall in front of the couch. I threw the three logs in, once after another, and with that done, then dusted off my hands, before continuing being sarcastic, "It's actually really hot outside." 

Scootaloo looked at me with a small frown before taking another long sip from her hot cocoa, smacking her lips. "You know, I told you that I could get those logs from outside."

I sighed heavily, walking over to the couch before plopping myself down beside her. "Nah, it's okay." I ruffled her mane lovingly, giving her a small peck on the forehead. "Don't want you to get cold."

She swatted my arm away from her head with a pout, trying to seem annoyed though failing miserably at that. She just managed to look even more adorable. "Don't do that, dad!"

"You know you love it." I answered with a smirk, leaning back into the comfortable, incredibly soft couch as my body finally started to warm up. I closed my eyes, heaving another heavy sigh, though that one was one of comfort. I heard a short clattering sound, probably Scootaloo putting her empty mug on the tea table in front of us before I felt something light climbing onto my lap. Opening one eye, I peered down to see Scootaloo shuffling around, her tongue sticking out of her mouth a little as she tried her best to find a comfortable spot on my lap. After a few more tries, she seemed like she found the perfect spot, curling herself up like a cat. 

With a small smile, I closed my eye again and leaned myself even further back into the couch, sinking in just a little.

"You're cold." She stated, snuggling a little deeper into my lap as if trying to warm me up with her body. I opened one eye and peered down at her again, seeing her with another frown on her face, though there was a hint of concern in her eyes. "Why didn't you let me get the logs?"

"Because it's cold outside." I explained curtly, moving on hand up to her head, lightly scratching her behind her right ear. She immediately leaned herself into my hand, a low purring sound emitting from her throat, almost like that of a cat. "Don't want you to freeze."

"I don't it's that cold at all." She answered determinedly as if she was trying to convince me to not go outside again. That she was so worried about me freezing to death was cute, but I didn't really feel that bad. Especially because I was only outside for like two or three minutes. "Just lemme get the next few logs, 'kay?"

"You think you can do that?" I asked, to which she quickly nodded. Thinking over her words for a moment, I shrugged once I realized that she was kind of right with what she said. She did have fur (what a surprise, right?) which definitely gave her an advantage when it came to the cold that was reigning outside of our cozy home. "Alright then, you're going to get the next load of logs. Congratulations, I guess." 

I heard her utter a quiet 'yay' before we lapsed into a comfortable silence. My mind lapsed back to what happened the last five days, but realized that nothing worth even thinking about happened. After spending the rest of the Running Of The Leaves at Fluttershy's cottage because she insisted on me to rest a little, she walked me and Scootaloo back home to ensure that nothing happened to me on the way there. The next four days were nothing special. The most noteworthy thing that happened probably was Scootaloo having to go to school again, since her school holidays ended, which kinda changed my daily routine a little (not that I had one in the first place), since she insisted on me walking her to school every morning. I may have thought, prior to that day, that she didn't even need to go to school anymore. I mean, so many things didn't make any sense in the world of those talking ponies, why couldn't that have been a possibility?

But, besides that, nothing happened. The days passed calmly and without a hitch, which unnerved me quite a bit. There was something bound to happen and knowing my luck, it wasn't going to be good.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Three rapid, strong knocks pulled me out of my mind, bringing me back to Equestria at once. 

"Who that?" Scootaloo asked groggily, sounding like she was just woken up.

With one quick glance down at Scootaloo, and another at the door where the sound came from, silently contemplating whether to get up or not, I gave a heavy sigh, carefully picked the orange filly up and sat her down beside me on the couch. I didn’t expect anyone, but judging by the sound of the knocking, it might be either an emergency or Pinkie Pie - and I really hoped it was the former.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Alright alright, I'm coming." I called loudly, standing up from the couch and walking over to the door. I put one of my hands on the door handle, pushing it downwards before pulling the door open. "Jesus fucking chri-"

"Hey there."

At once, time seemed to slow down as I looked deep into those unnerving yellow and red eyes, connected to the wickedly grinning goat face of a certain individual I had completely forgotten about. I reeled back in surprise, just barely preventing myself from falling onto my ass, my eyes growing back as I began to stutter at the large, snake-like figure. “D-discord? W-w-what are you doing here?”

“Good to see you too, William!” He casually pushed me aside, strolling into my home without my invitation, slamming the door close behind him. With a flick of his claws, he produced himself a plain brown coat and a wooly hat, just to magic them over to the coathook and hang them on there. With that done, he ventured further into the room, stopping just momentarily in his steps when he spotted Scootaloo lying on the couch. 

Caught off guard by his action, I just stood there dumbly, letting him roam around my living room. “Nice home you got there, if I may say so. Nice and cozy.” He then pointed a finger at the couch, or, to be more precise, on its occupant who was still appearing to be sleeping peacefully. "And your daughter is really adorable, if I may say so."  

He looked at me for a few more long seconds before snapping his claws once to teleport himself once again, this time in front of the fireplace. With another snap of his claws, he was suddenly reclining on a rather small brown couch, in his hands a mug with some kind of steaming liquid. "So, how have you been?"

I cleared my throat, trying to suppress my confusion about what was happening. "Uh, good, I guess. And you...?"

"Oh, you know how it is. Just doing important chaos stuff that I can not really talk about." He said with a lazy wave of his clawed hand, taking a sip from his mug. "Would spoil the fun, wouldn't it?"

He took another sip from his mug, smacking his lips at the taste. "Oh, how much I love hot cocoa. Perfect for this time of the year, don't you agree? Actually, now that I think about it, what do you think of the weather? I heard that the weather poni-"

Once he started with his casual chatter about weather and that, I zoned out, seizing the opportunity to think about why he was there. There was a reason, I knew it, but I couldn't find out what it was, even though I oh-so-desperately tried to figure it out. I played over how I had met in my first week, but all that came to mind were either crazy ponies or...crazy ponies.

But then, I remembered that I had curtly met him before. Back on my first day working for Applejack. He was there in the orchard as I rested in the shadows. He was there to hear what option I chose. Whether to have that portal back to Earth, or not. 

"-Wouldn't you agree?" He asked me, managing to pull me out of my thoughts at once. Not really knowing what he had talked about, I chose to just nod my head, which he seemed more than content with. "I knew you thought the same about the princesses! They really can be a royal pain in the arse..." He giggled like a little girl. "Hehe, you know, because they are royalty. Get it?"

I didn't answer, instead just looking at him blankly. Now that I knew the reason, there was another problem. I had completely forgotten about his offer.

"Ah, the face of realization." He said, snapping me out of my stupor by suddenly appearing in front of me, his eyes locked onto mine as a small smirk grew on his face. "Splendid! Now we can finally get to the real deal. Good thing too, because I wouldn't want to do another one of those mindless ramblings. I can't even remember what I talked about."

His face got serious as he inched a little closer to me, his eyes seeming to look right into my very being. "So, I really hope you thought over your choice, because I'm giving you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

I stayed silent for what must've been an eternity, too transfixed by those crazy, scary eyes of his, before I finally managed to stutter out two words, "I-I...uh..."

He raised an inquisitive eyebrow upon seeing the probably really stupid, helpless look on my face. Putting two and two together, he sighed. "You haven't thought about my offer, have you?"

Him realizing it made it a lot easier for me to admit it. "Uhm, not exactly, no..." I answered, rubbing the back of my head nervously. "I kinda...forgot about it..."

He sighed again, snapping his claws again and making the couch he was reclining on vanish to god-knows-where, as he did with the mug of cocoa a second later. "What?" Another snap, and he was once again, standing in front of me, appearing to be really annoyed, though he stayed silent, waiting for me to answer his question.

"Uh...I'm sorry?" I offered helplessly, not to sure what to say. "There was so much happening that I, like I said, kinda forgot about that."

"Forgot, huh?" He released a small, somehow dark chuckle, slowly shaking his head in what appeared to be disappointment. He looked off to the side, whispering something that sounded like, "You are just like the others, forgetting about good ol' Discord..."

For a moment, he was unnervingly silent, like he was having some kind of mental struggle. It almost seemed like he was sad about something and I had a good guess on why that was. In that moment, I felt bad for him. I had an idea on how sad he was feeling because I experienced the pain of no one caring about you myself. Back on Earth, after my daughter and wife died, I felt the same way. No one ever looked after me. It was almost like no one really wanted to have something to do with me anymore after they were gone, not even the few friends I had, so I was all by myself, trying to somehow cope with what happened. In some way, I was able to relate to him.

My shook my head, trying to clear get my mind away from the past. In an attempt to somehow lift his mood, I asked him, "Do you need your answer, like, right now?"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course I do, you silly little human." He punctuated his statement with a flick of his claws, teleporting himself even closer to me and quickly booping me on the nose. "Today's the only day for me to do it alone, without the princesses knowing. Today at midnight is the only time our two dimensions line perfectly up, which only happens once every three-thousand years. That makes the spell we need a lot less complicated and physically demanding."

I started at the clawed hand that was still hovering for a few moments, wondering how exactly in front of me, before it got picked up by Discord. "But haven't you created a portal back to my dimension just one week ago?"

"Yes, that I did, but only temporarily and, even though I don't like to admit it, with the combined help of Celestia and Luna. Creating a portal between two dimensions, even if just temporary, needs a lot of magic, as you can probably imagine. The only way to perform such a spell is to split it up between several strong beings. If anyone was to try it alone, even me or the princesses, it would most likely make their bodies explode." He held out his hands to me, showing me a small miniature version of Princess Celestia and one of Princess Luna. At first, nothing was happening, but then the two figures started inflating, reaching the form of a balloon in no more than five seconds, but not stopping there. They grew bigger and bigger, until, suddenly, they exploded with a loud pop, followed by a large amount of confetti raining down onto Discord's open paw. I actually winced at the display, the images in my head being a little bit more graphical than that. "Yeah, something like that, minus the confetti. I probably shouldn't have taken the confetti figures with me today..."

"Okay, I get it, but why do you need my help? You seem awfully eager to create that portal, but why do you need me?" I asked suspiciously, finally asking him the question that was really stopping me from accepting his offer. "Surely you don't need me to create that portal, do you?"

"No, I actually don't need you to create that portal." He answered with a wink, taking off to the air with a strong flap of his two unalike wings. "I need your help to find your dimension."

I raised an eyebrow. "Explain."

"You see, creating a portal is one thing. The spell itself might need enough magical capacity that it could kill one single being, regardless of how strong it might be, but besides of that, is pretty easy to perform. Plus, once a cluster of dimensions aligns themselves, the spell doesn't need that much magic anyways. The hard part about interdimensional traveling is finding the right dimension." He lectured me, creating a small chalkboard in his hands with a flick of his claws, though nothing but zeros and ones were on it. With an annoyed look down at the chalkboard, he flicked his claws again and the chalkboard vanished, muttering something about it not being the right one. "And that's where you come into play. I need something from you, something that's more than just a hair, to find the right dimension."

I looked at him critically for a few long, very awkward seconds. "You're not getting my legs. Or my arms. Or anything else that's attached to my body and can't regrow."

He chuckled at that. "Haha, I can assure you, I will not do such thing as detach one of your limbs."

I sighed in relief.

"...At least not yet." 

If it wasn't for the grin he was spotting, I probably would've freaked out. That dark tone of his sent shivers down my spine.

"Alright..." I regarded him with a suspicious look before saying, "If all of that that really is true, which I kinda doubt, just lemme think." 

From the outside, it appeared like I was thinking, idly scratching under my chin and starting to walk back and forth, thought all of that was just an act. I already made up my mind. 

I had troubles believing what he said, even though I was not really that into that whole interdimensional traveling-thing like he or Twilight was. It was just that what he said seemed a little...strange. Dimensions aligning? And today, the most normal out of all days I could imagine? Yeah, I wasn't buying that, especially not from the ex-God of Chaos. But, from what I heard, not only was he the Equestria's former God of Chaos once, but he was also pretty damn good at pranking. Even Rainbow admitted once that he was goddamn good, and that's saying something.

So, to be honest, I didn't trust him one bit. Not even close to that. I was sure that I saw through whatever mean prank he had planned, so I chose to better just say no and leave it at that. I mean, even if he wasn't trying to prank me, which was highly unlikely, there really was no reason for me to accept his offer anyways. I had everything I needed and even more in Equestria, except for maybe meat and all of that electrical stuff, though I already had a solution in mind for the former problem. 

Once I was sure that enough time had passed that he wouldn't get suspicious, I stopped pacing back and forth and turned back to look at him.

"So?" He asked, a smirk on his face. "Have you decided?"

"Y'know... I don't think I need that portal." I started with a small smile, motioning around me with my arms. "I have a home here, a daughter, friends, everything I need. Why would I need to go back to the one place I don't ever want to see again? To that one place that slowly starts to fall apart? To my race that slowly destroys itself and their only home? I don't want to see that happening."

I mentally patted myself on the back for those cheesy lines. 'Smooth.'

"Plus, having a portal is just too much of a risk. Just imagine some pony randomly stumbling across it or worse, a human. Nothing good would come out of it if that would happen, I can assure you."

'Jeez brain, I'm proud of you!'

His left eye twitched once, making me raise an eyebrow in confusion but otherwise, thought nothing of it.

"So, I'm sorry, but I see no sense in even setting even one foot back on Earth." I finished with a steely resolve, ignoring whatever was happening to his body.

Another twitch of his left eye, though this time a lot harder and longer. For a few long and awkward moments, he stayed silent, not even moving on muscle expect for his now rapidly twitching eye. I was actually starting to get a little nervous, so I carefully moved my hand up and poked him on the shoulder, if one could even call it one, which seemed to have the effect on him I wanted it to have.

"Alright." He muttered, turning around and walking to the door. He flicked his claws and magicked his coat and the woolen hat that he hang on the coathook earlier on himself. "Fine, if you don't want to accept, that is your choice."

"I'm really sorry, Disc-"

"No no, it is fine, I understand." He cut me off, though his tone suggested that what he said wasn't entirely true. It felt like he was containing his anger. "I'll just be off then. Have a good evening, William."

With one last glance back at me, coupled by a huff, he opened the door and strolled outside, slamming the door shut behind him as he left my house, leaving me standing there, totally dumbfounded. As I continued to stare at the door, I asked myself if I had just made a mistake. Unfortunately, my fears were confirmed a second later when I started hearing is muffled curses through the door. 

He sounded angry, really angry. I just had to hope that that wasn't a bad thing for me.

I looked at the ceiling as if it could somehow give me answers to what would happen to me, but quickly remembered that ceilings don't really talk that much. With a heavy sigh that expressed my current frustrations, I turned around and was confronted by something I totally forgot about: Scootaloo.

And she was looking right at me, a dead serious expression on her face. 

"Oh! H-hi S-scoots." I stuttered, dearly hoping that she wasn't awake for too long and heard what Discord and I had talked about. I gulped down the nervousness before I spoke up again. "I didn't want to wake you..."

"S'okay, you didn't wake me." She said in a voice barely above a whisper. For a second, I was about to sigh in relief, bu then she opened her mouth again, crushing my hopes. "Discord did, though."

"Oh." I gulped heavily. "How long have you been awake?"

"Dad, why haven't you told me that Discord wants something from you?" She questioned, choosing to ignore my question and instead ask me her own one. What made my heart almost sink into my stomach was the tone of her voice. She sounded angry, disappointed and, between that, hurt. The reason for that showed itself in her next question, as she looked down to her hooves. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you!" I quickly answered, almost jumping over to her as she refused to look me in the eyes. With another long, drawn-out sigh, mainly to calm myself, I then kneeled myself in front of the couch and said, "Scoots, look at me."

Relucantly, she did as I asked, her violet eyes slowly meeting mine, but what I saw almost broke my heart. She looked like she was about to cry, her eyes glistening dimly in the light of the fireplace. She must've firmly believed that, only because I didn't tell her about that whole Discord thing, I didn't trust her - which wasn't not even close to being the truth.

Without even thinking, I leaned over the armrest and picked her small form up, cradling her up in my arms before standing up. She yelped and wiggled weakly in my arms, probably trying to free herself, but I was having none of that. Once she realized that she was effectively trapped in my arms, she slowly looked up into my face, a single tear rolling down her face. I reached down with one hand, wiping away the tear and then leaned in to give her a small kiss on the forehead. She almost instantly stopped struggling. 

"You're being silly." I said with a small smile. "Why shouldn't I trust you?"

"You didn't tell me..." She pointed out, a small frown back on her face.

"Well, yeah." I said, shrugging a little. "But only because Discord explicitly told me not to tell anyone. I didn't know him at the time he talked to me, and all I knew was that he was some crazy thing with insane powers that once ruled this planet."

"But he isn't anymore." She said, cocking her head to the side a little. 

"You're probably right." I agreed, booping her nose to which she immediately went cross-eyed in an attempt to see what just happened. "Doesn't mean that he isn't dangerous, you know?"

I gave her another peck on the forehead, to which she lightly punched my shoulder with a hoof and released a giggle. With a small chuckle, I took a step closer to the couch and then threw her on it. I promptly followed her by throwing myself on the couch, sending her flying up a few centimeters into the air as I hit the surface before she suddenly plummeted back down.

"Scootaloo, I really do love you." I said seriously, interrupting her giggling with my dead-serious and totally true statement. "Don't you ever think otherwise."

Instead of voicing her answer, she nodded her head and stood up on all four hooves, walking the short distance over to me just to climb up onto my lap and curl herself up once again. "I love you too, Dad...".

With a small smile, I closed my eyes and leaned myself back into the couch again, trying to get my mind off of what happened.
> Chapter Thirty-Three (Bonus)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Discord POV


"I simply can not believe it!" I exclaimed aloud, giving the Tree in front of me a hard kick. "Ow! Fuuuuuck!"

I quickly silenced myself, glaring back at the house I just exited, mentally cursing its inhabitant as if it had been the cause of the pain in my feet. 

William, the human... He was the lucky one I chose out of all the other seven billion of his weak, idiotic species. The one lowly being I watched grow and bloom. The one into who's meaningless life I poured my own blood and sweat. The one I deemed worthy enough. The one that was lucky enough to get the chance to start his miserable life anew. But most importantly, he was practically the chosen one, the being that could've, one day, ruled alongside me. Even though he was such a lowly being, the member of a species that did nothing but destroy themselves, I gave him the chance to be my underling.

But what did he do?

That ungrateful, rude, hairless primate did not accept the gift I was oh-so-generous to make him! He even managed to withstand my chaos magic! And that just because of those pesky ponies and their 'Friendship Magic'. 

Bleugh. Just thinking of it makes me want to retch.

To be honest, I probably should have had expected it, though. He was just like those ponies, a being that lets itself be influenced by its emotions and even let them take control over one's ability to judge. Emotions, which are in its essence just chemical reactions in your brain. 

Pray tell, for what are those chemical reactions even good? All they do is cloud your mind and make you weak. They are the biggest flaw every of those mortal beings possesses. If there was only a way to permanently rid every single being of them, everything would be more like I want it to be. Sure, there would be less chaos, but who needs unplanned, emotional chaos when there is me?

Maybe there was a way to achieve it, but definitely not for me alone. Sadly, the only beings that could help me were either firm believers in those chemical reactions, in Tartarus or needed them to survive.

Two of those firm believers were Celestia and Luna, old friends of mine from a long time ago. One would think that those thousands and thousands of years that they had been alive for, losing loved one after loved one, would've made Celestia and Luna give up on those pesky emotions, that they simply didn't want to feel them in their lives anymore, but they were too weak. Too weak to abandon them. Instead, they embraced them with open arms. They did not fight them like I did - and still do.

Those weaklings.

That is what made me come to despise them so much. Their weakness. But it also helped me, for if they had given up on emotions, I would have been a stone statue in the Royal Gardens for another thousand years. Maybe even longer.

I was lucky, yet unlucky.

Anyways, I must be boring you with my rambling about emotions. I can only imagine how much you want me to continue my little story. 

So, where was I again?

Oh yeah.

Even more annoying than the fact that those ponies got in my way once again was that I now had to think of another way to get what I wanted. Problem was, there simply was no other way. He was the only real connection between Equestria and his pathetic homeworld I had. Without him, it was nearly impossible for me to find it again. Actually, it was impossible.

Finding his dimension out of the endless other ones there are is, on its own, downright impossible. Not only because there are so many unique ones, but also because every dimension has another endless amount of parallel universes that complicate the rather simple interdimensional traveling spell even more. Tartarus, the only reason I found Twilight Sparkle and her weak friends was because I had planned ahead and collected enough of their genetical data from each one of them.

In the end, the only way to find his exact dimension was to get him to help me. Sure, there were other less subtle ways I could've gotten him to cooperate, but I didn't want to blow my cover that soon. The only living specimen of his race suddenly disappearing? That would surely raise some question. So, just kidnapping him sure wasn't going to work out. It probably would've downright destroyed my plans.

Not like I really thought about doing that. Where was the fun in indirectly telling everyone in Equestria, and you, what I had planned? I mean, it is so much more fun when you have to connect dots, dots of information that by themselves make no sense, than to just get told what exactly it was I was planning. 

Don't you agree, my silent little friend?

Your silence implies that you indeed agree. Splendid! I feel like the two of us could be really good friends. You're not like that idiotic, arrogant human, you are actually smart. You actually agree with good ol' Discord. Too bad that you are just a product of my imagination, though.

I clicked my tongue, idly tugging at my beautiful beard in thought. "Good friends, indeed."

Annoyingly enough, I was pulled out of my amazing mind by the sound of flapping wings, shortly followed by a raspy voice that I recognized all too well.

"Discord?" I turned around, looking down at the pegasus with a small frown on my face. In front of me stood Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty and one of the ponies I liked the least - and that's saying something.  She was everything I despised; arrogant, annoying and downright insufferable. On her back, she carried something that looked like a window, secured on it with ropes that were bound around her barrel. Besides that fairly unusual sight, she had that dumb confused look on her face that those ponies seemed to have mastered so much."What are you doing here?"

"Rainbow Dash! How nice to see you." I had to force myself to even get the words out and not call her words that aren't really nice to say, but instead, I swallowed those down and gave her a totally innocent smile. "Why, am I not allowed to be here, Rainbow Dash?" I fluttered my eyelashes as I said her name, trying to annoy her just like she always did annoy me. 

It seemed to have worked, a glare forming on her face. But instead of getting into my face like she always did when I managed to trigger her, or threatening me with a beating, she continued to stand there in front of me, silently gritting her teeth. "I swear to Celestia, if you just put as much as one of your claws on William or Scootaloo, I will turn you inside out and use your body as a carpet for my home, Discord."

I chuckled. "Oh, that's rather violent." I flicked my magnificent claws, transforming myself into a beautiful-looking carpet, if I may say so. "Though, on second thought, I might actually look rather good as a carpet."

She just huffed, pushing past me and walking up to the front door of that idiot of a human's home. She lifted a hoof up to the door to knock, glaring back at me over her shoulder and the window strapped to her back. "I warned you. Stay away from them."

I flicked my claws again, going back to my normal awesome form and giving her the best innocent look I could muster. "You sure did warn me, Rainbow Dash."

She gave me one last glare before knocking. Not five seconds later, the door was opened by William, who greeted Rainbow Dash with a smile on his face. 

"Good to see you, Rainbow!" I heard that idiot say.

"Yeah, good to see you too." Rainbow Dash said, then pointing with one of her hooves over at her back. "Picked a little something up for you from the town. Thought you might need it after what happened."

"Yey, finally I have a window for my bathroom again!" He cheered, doing a claw pump, or whatever he might call it. "Thanks, Rainbow."

"Eh, don't thank me. I kinda broke it, so it's only fair I buy a new one."

"Anyways, come in." He said, holding the door open for Rainbow Dash. "You must be freezing."

With a shrug, she walked inside. "I have fur, y'know." I heard her say before she finally, and fortunately, vanished from my sights. William looked around the outside one last time but overlooked me - mainly because I wasn't exactly there anymore.

I am awesome, I know.

I gave an angry huff as he closed the door behind Rainbow Dash, going back into his little safe space. "We will see each other again sooner than you would like, human."

With a flick of my claws, I vanished.
> Chapter Thirty-Four - We're Going On A Trip (Canterlot Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three days had passed since Discord showed up on my doorstep. Honestly, the night after he visited me... I hadn't slept very well. The only reason I had slept at all was Scootaloo, who, for a change, was allowed to sleep over again for a few days. It was just something about the way he just up and left, with all of that anger clearly bottled up inside of him, that was unnerving me. Why was he angry with me in the first place? I mean, it was a kind offer, but an offer that I just wasn't ready to accept. Surely the only reason he had been angry was that he himself wanted that portal.

Or, perhaps, because his prank didn't go as planned. Yes, that must've been it.

Anyways.

It was the weekend of the same week, a Friday to be exact. Fortunately, I didn't have to work because Applejack gave me the day free for some reason. 

Yes, I was still working for Applejack. Since it wasn't exactly the right time to harvest delicious red apples, I instead helped her fix some things around the farm. From small holes in the roofs of their various barns, over to rotten wooden fences that needed to be replaced; whatever it was that needed to get repaired, I helped her at. Surprisingly, I was also rather good at it.

...Okay, I might have made some mistakes, some of which may or may not have cost Applejack a lot more bits than she anticipated. That loft in one of their old barns did look like it could hold my weight. It wasn't my fault that it, well, couldn't. Thankfully Applejack thought that the few splinters that caught themselves in my legs and the pain they inflicted was enough of a punishment. 

Oh, that and the few barrels of Apple Cider I had to carry down the basement later on. One hell of a punishment, let me tell you. Those barrels weight a lot more than one would think.

But I digress.

So, since Scootaloo didn't need to go to school, and I didn't have to work, that meant that we had the whole day for ourselves. A whole day we could've spent doing anything we wanted. And we did spend it rather well, in my opinion.

I woke up, showered, made breakfast for Scootaloo and me -thankfully I finally got around doing some grocery shopping- and then, right when we were seated at the dining table, Rainbow arrived in a desperate need to escape the boredom she was experiencing in her own home. To be honest with you, I also think she arrived because she wanted to steal my omelets.

...In which she succeeded.

So, after w-no, wait, everyone except for me finished their delicious omelets (I had to eat cereal...), we went to the living room toooo....

Yeah, right, chill.

I didn't want to do anything outside since it was way too cold and snowy, neither did the other two, so we chose to relish in the comfort of our soft couch and the warm fireplace. It wasn't until noon that something unique, something strange happened. Something that hasn't happened to me since I arrived in Equestria.

I received a letter. You say that isn't strange?

Yeah, alright, it is normal and it definitely wouldn't have been that strange if it hadn't been for the way it had been delivered to my house. Or, shall I say, in my house?

One moment, I was on the couch, half asleep with Rainbow Dash lying somewhere on my legs and Scootaloo on my chest, and in the next moment, there was a loud crashing sound and the window to the left of the front door shattered open.

I sprang up on my legs, throwing the two snuggle ponies from me in the process as a shout of absolute shock escaped me, "HOLY SHHHH-"

It was only by a miracle that I managed to shut me up right then and there, given the circumstance that a gray pegasus mare just crashed through my window, or else I would've said words that weren't meant for little Scootaloo's ears. I didn't want to be the one to teach her bad words.

"SHIT!" Scootaloo finished for me, now sitting at the edge of the couch with her mouth wide open.

...And there goes that.

Both I and Rainbow Dash instantly turned our heads to look back over our shoulders, glaring at Scootaloo, chiding her for using that bad word just with the looks we were giving her. She grinned nervously, and I was about to give her a throughout explanation on why she shouldn't use that word ever again when I was reminded that there were more important matters.

The gray, snow-covered pegasus on my floor, for example.

"Melons..." The familiar-looking mare muttered, slowly lifting herself off of the floor. Fortunately for her, it looked like she was unwounded and not full of shards of glass as one would've expected after what just happened to her. All she did was shake her head once she was back on all four of her hooves, seemingly trying to fight some kind of dizziness, check with one of her hooves if the saddlebags were still on her back -which they were- and that was it. Once she made certain that everything was where it belonged, she quickly looked back over her shoulder at the broken window to see what she just crashed through, before looking forward again, looking at us for the first time since she crashed oh-so-gracefully into my home. "Oopsie..."

Then it hit me why she looked so familiar to me. That lazy eye was something I have only seen before once on a pony. I definitely met her before. She ran into me or something like that. 'What's her name again? Deepy? Denty?'

"Derpy?" Ah! That was it! Thanks, Rainbow!

"Hehe, sorry" She apologized, bashfully rubbing her head with one of her hooves before her right eye finally settled itself on me. She let her hoof fall back down to the ground. There was a short moment where she looked like she was confused, followed by a second of thinking before her face lit up and she pointed at me excitedly. "Hey, I know you! William, right?"

"Uh, yes." I answered as she sat back onto her haunches, unsure of what to make of this situation. "If I may ask...why did you crash in through my window?"

"Well, there was a cloud, then there was the sky, everything started spinning and then BOOM-" Both of her hooves sprung outwards in a dramatic fashion. "-next thing I know is that I am here. Weird, isn't it?"

I just nodded my head slowly.

"Anyways, I've got mail for you, Mr. William!" She turned her head to the left side, opening the bag in one swift move and then rummaged through it for a few seconds. With a victorious "Aha!" she lifted her head back out of the bag, a scroll now held between her teeth. "Isfh you couldsh take ish?"

"Uh, okay." I walked over to her, pulling the scroll out from between her teeth with the help of my left hand. Once it was in my hand, I inspected it, noticing that it was held together by a single piece of red string and a fancy-looking golden seal. The seal had a sun engraved in it, much to my growing confusion.

"I gotta go!" Derpy closed her saddlebag again, turning around. "Hehe... Sorry again about the window! I'll send someone by to fix it! Pinkie Promise!"

And with that and a strong flap of her wings, she lifted herself into the air, and flew, heading straight for my door. I was about to shut my eyes so that I didn't have to see my door also get knocked out of its hinges before she suddenly stopped, just shy of the door, much to my relief. With some slight adjustments to her old flying path, she finally exited through the shattered window.

I shivered as a sudden wave of cold hit me from outside. That sure was going to be a problem. I just had to hope that Derpy was going to stay true to her word or else I was going to have a really cold night ahead of me.

"Okay, that was weird." Rainbow stated after a whole ten seconds of silence.

"Tell me about it." I muttered, still shivering a little as I looked down to the scroll in my hand. I walked back over to the couch, motioning for Scootaloo and Rainbow to make place so I could sit down, which they quickly did. I sat myself down, looking at Scootaloo and then at Rainbow once before back down to the scroll. "Do you guys know who this is from?"

"Hmm..." Rainbow leaned a little closer, the seal especially drawing her interest before a sudden gasp escaped her. "That's from Princess Celestia!"

"Really?!" Scootaloo started bouncing up and down on the couch in unfiltered excitement, all the while chanting "Open it open it open it!"

"From Celestia? Really?" I wrinkled my forehead, ignoring Scootaloo for the moment, looking at the scroll like it was some kind of alien life form. "Why would she send me a scroll?"

"I don't know. Open it!" She said, suddenly becoming the second pony to bounce up and down on the couch in excitement. "Open it open it open it open-"

"Jeez alright alright..." I broke the fancy seal and slowly unfurled the scroll in front of me.

"Read it!"

"Jesus fu-alright! But stop bouncing! Both of you!" Both of them stopped mid-air instantly, hovering for half a second before falling down onto the couch again. Seeing both of them finally still, I cleared my throat loudly, preparing myself to read aloud.

"Dear William,"

"I hope you are faring well and that your time in Equestria has been enjoyable so far. I know from a letter Twilight wrote me a few days ago that the ponies of Ponyville had troubles accepting you in their little community, and still have, but hopefully, that will change with time."

"Booooring."

I glared at Rainbow to shut her up. It was super effective.

"But that isn't the reason why I wrote this letter. As you might know, Luna nor I really know anything about you, even though you saved my beloved Twilight and her friends. We really would like to get to know you a bit more, and for that reason, I have enclosed a little something in this letter." I looked down to the end of the scroll, seeing three little golden pieces of paper with a train symbol on it hanging down from it. Train tickets, apparently. How I hadn't noticed them when I opened the letter is beyond me. Maybe they were enchanted to appear once I had read the letter or something like that. Regardless of how, I carefully plucked the three tickets off the scroll, holding them out in front of me.

"Wow, these are golden tickets for the train!" Scootaloo said with a spark of wonder in her eyes. "Those must've cost a fortune!"

I gave her a questioning glance. "What are they for?"

"Well, the train, duh." Rainbow oh-so-helpfully answered.

"Thanks for your really helpful input, Rainbow." I said with a roll of my eyes.

She waved me off with one of her hooves. "No problemo."

I just sighed and shook my head, not sure if she really was that dense or just playing.

"Those are, like, lifetime train tickets!" Scootaloo said, finally giving me the answer I really wanted to have. Thank God my daughter wasn't as dense as Rainbow. "Only important people have these!"

"And we've got three of them." I said, mostly to myself. I paused for a few seconds, deeply looking at those golden tickets, before directing my eyes back at the scroll. "Let's see, where was I..."

"Blah blah blah...Ah, there!" I exclaimed almost victoriously, pointing one finger at the sentence I was searching for. "These three tickets are for you, your daughter and Rainbow Dash.

I blinked, giving Rainbow a dumbfounded look. "How does she even know you would be here?"

"I dunno." Rainbow answered, shrugging. "Maybe she has some crazy psychic powers and can see into the future?"

"I'm sure that by now, Rainbow has already explained to you what they are there for." I continued, letting the sentence linger in the air for a few seconds, glaring at Rainbow from the corners of my eyes. She just chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head with one of her hooves.

"Now that you have the means to get to Canterlot whenever you want, we want to invite you to our castle this weekend. You do not have to worry about accommodations. We have a few spare rooms in our castle and you can stay as long as you want to. If you can't make it, please let us know."

"PS: I sent this letter to your friends, so do not worry. Everyone will be informed and will probably meet you at the train station."

"The princesses invited us to Canterlot?" Scootaloo asked unbelievingly, looking at me and awaiting my confirmation. As I nodded my head in response, her face instantly lit up in childish glee. "We are going to Canterlot, we are going to Canterlot! We are going to-"

"Wait wait wait." I interrupted her, stopping her before she was getting too excited and started bouncing around the room. "I'm not too sure if that's a goo-"

Fortunately, Rainbow was there to help me. "Sure thing, kiddo." She grinned at me, a big, wide one. "We're going to Canterlot."

I blinked. "Wait, wha-"

I wasn't even able to open my mouth to form a sentence that could've stopped Scootaloo. In the blink of an eye, she was bouncing around the whole living room, jumping up and down, up and down, chanting, "We are going to Canterlot!"

Slowly, very very slowly, I turned my head to Rainbow. "I hate you so, so fucking much right now."

"Why, I don't understand?" She smiled innocently, tilting her head to the side in a way that almost made me want to 'aww' and cuddle her. Well, if it hadn't been for the fact that she literally just forced me to go to Canterlot and thereby, fucked me over.

"How do we know when the next train's going to come anyway?" I questioned.

"The train to Canterlot arrives every two hours." She stated, turning her head to the right to probably take a look at the clock on the wall. "If we hurry, we can get the next one. It's going to arrive in about thirty minutes."

I groaned in annoyance, standing up and lifting one hand up to my forehead. Rainbow, after apparently sensing my honest discomfort, flew up to me, playfully delivering a light punch to my shoulder in an unavailing attempt to lighten my mood. "Come on big guy, what's so bad about that? You'll have your first taste of Canterlot!"

"You serious?" She looked reluctant to admit it, but she slowly nodded her head. I sighed, rubbing my forehead with one hand in exasperation. "You really can't think of any reason why I wouldn't go to, you know, a whole city full of ponies that don't know me?"

Rainbow visibly tried her hardest to think,

"No, I-" Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh. OH."

"Yeah." I said, letting my hand fall back down to my side. My shoulders slumped as my head went through every single possible scenario that could happen in a city full of ponies that don't even the slightest hint who and what I was. None of them were particularly good.

What if some ponies tried to take matters into their own uh...hooves, and go after me? What if they hung me in the middle of the streets? What if they demanded from the princesses to throw me behind bars and lock me away forever? What if the princesses didn't comply and they started revolting?

What if, what if, what if. So many possibilities, none of them good.

"Hey." Rainbow whispered, barely audible over the constant happy chanting of Scootaloo, hovering up to me and putting one hoof on my shoulder. "C'mon dude, nothing bad will happen."

"Yeah, well, you say that." I retorted with a roll of my eyes. "You're not a six-foot tall alien that just so happens to be a carnivore in a world full of herbivores."

"Dude, the ponies there see Minotaurs daily. There are griffons literally everywhere in the streets. Tartarus, there are even some Diamond Dogs. Honestly? I don't think they'll even notice you." She explained, looking at me with a gentle smile. "Besides, if anypony tries something, I'll be there to protect you, big guy."

I sighed heavily, thinking everything through once more, my eyes meanwhile following Scootaloo's bouncy movements for a few moments. I felt my mouth curve upwards into a half-smile as I saw her unfiltered excitement, feeling a little sense of happiness of my own in seeing her that happy. I turned my eyes back at Rainbow, searching those rosy orbs for an answer. Fortunately, they had one for me.

"I-uh..." I clicked my tongue, pondering for another exact ten of Scootaloo's bounces, which was about one second. Finally, I groaned in defeat. "Ugh, alright."

"BUT!" My hands quickly shot up to Rainbow to stop her from exploding in excitement. Fortunately, I was quick enough to grab onto one of her hindlegs, successfully stopping her from flying up to the ceiling just yet. "We're only staying two nights! We gonna drive home no later than Sunday evening!"

She didn't even think twice before nodding her head. "Alright, deal!"

I let go off her leg.

"WE'RE GOING TO CANTERLOT!" She joined Scootaloo in her quest to destroy my ear drums, dashing around the living room so fast that I momentarily feared she might break something, or herself.

"What the fuck is wrong with them?" I asked myself, trying to wrap my head around what was going on but quickly giving up on that. There was no way I was going to figure out what was wrong with them without going crazy myself.



****



You know, one advantage over not owning as much as I had back on Earth was, well, that I didn't really have anything worth taking with me. That fact made packing my things a lot easier than it would've been back on Earth. The only thing I took with me was a set of the new clothes Rarity made for me, which fortunately meant that it fit into the small suitcase Rainbow picked up from her home so I didn't have to buy myself an own one.

Honestly, I didn't even know why Rainbow needed to take a suitcase with her in the first place. Scootaloo didn't pack anything, why did she? I mean, it wasn't like she needed any clothes or something like that. Hell, when I asked her what she packed, all she did was stutter nervously and tell me that it was nothing special. I didn't even get to put my clothes into her suitcase, she insisted that she'd do it for me. If I didn't know it better, I would've said that she was going to kill someone and there was a sniper rifle in that suitcase.

Lucky thing that there was no such thing as rifles in Equestria, eh?

So, after we packed everything (which fortunately only took about ten minutes) and I made sure I had my bits and the three tickets on me, Rainbow and Scootaloo led me to the train station. It wasn't a long walk, maybe another ten minutes at most, but what was kinda annoying was all of that snow. Actually, I think they had more troubles going through it than I had, that with their size and all that. Once we did finally arrive at the train station -Rainbow and Scootaloo looking like they were actually freezing-, we quickly went onto the only platform of it since we didn't exactly know how long it took us to pack our things and get there. Luckily for us, our fears of missing the train turned out to be just that, fears.

Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were already waiting for us, a mountain of suitcases, even taller than I was, standing in the middle of the small circle they formed, but neither of them noticed us yet. They were too busy talking to each other, too enthralled in their conversation.

"Hey girls!" I said as we got closer, effectively gaining their attention. I gave them a wave coupled with a smile, to which they all replied with one of their own and a 'hello'. "So, I take it you guys got mail from Celestia too?" They all nodded their heads, Pinkie Pie so hard that I thought she might kill herself - fortunately, that didn't happen. I then was about to stir up a conversation about the weather, when I noticed that something was amiss. We weren't complete. Two ponies and one little dragon were missing. 

I raised an eyebrow in curiosity, paired with a little bit of anxiety that they hadn't been able to make it. "Where are Rarity, Twilight and Spike? Weren't they able to make it?"

"I am right here, darling!" A white head with a curly indigo mane atop of it peeked around the mountain of luggage, blue eyes locking onto mine. I gave her a small smile in greeting, which she gladly returned. Rarity then pointed a hoof up the mountain in front of me that was maybe a head taller than me, effectively preventing me from seeing what was up on it. "Spike-Wikey is up there, resting a little."

Slowly, I followed Rarity's hoof,

A purple clawed hand flopped over the top of the highest suitcase, waving lazily at me. "Hey, dude."

"Uh...hey." I said awkwardly. A second later, Mount Suitcase as I decided to call it, shook violently, momentarily making me worry that it was going to fall on me. But, instead of burying me under its weight, the shaking stopped and I came face-to-face with a certain purple dragon.

"Hey, I'm taller than you are." Spike pointed out with a tired-sounding chuckle. He looked at me for another few long, uncomfortable seconds, before asking, "What's up dude?"

"Nothing." I raised an eyebrow at him, kinda getting worried for the little guy. "You alright? You look a little...exhausted"

"Nah, I'm fine."

"Rarishfy?" Rainbow suddenly asked, the disappointment audible even through the handgrip of the suitcase she had between her teeth. Realizing that speaking without that obstacle in her mouth would be easier, she walked up to my side and carefully put the suitcase down. "Did you make Spike carry your luggage again?"

Rarity gasped, stepping around the mountain to show herself completely. "Darling, I would never do such thing!"

Everyone in our little circle deadpanned at her, even Fluttershy, and that must've meant something. Well, everyone except for me, because I was still busy trying to figure out why Rarity would need so many suitcases. Those weren't even small suitcases, they were rather big. Well, at least bigger than the one we had with us.

"I merely-" Rarity began explaining but was quickly cut off by Spike.

"I offered to carry her suitcases!" Spike chimed in as he swiftly climbed down from Mount Suitcase, jumping down from it once he was sure he would land safely. He landed beside Rarity, looking at her with a smile. Rarity smiled back, seemingly relieved. Now, why could that have been?

"And where's Twilight?" Scootaloo asked just as I was about to ask Spike the same.

"She should be here any minute." Spike waved his claw lazily at me as if to tell me not to worry. "She said she needed to grab a few things so that Celestia could help-"

As if on cue, Spike was interrupted by an almost inaudible pop. I didn't even get to blink before Mount Suitcase in front of me exploded. Actually, I feel like the term 'erupted' fits better, because that's what essentially happened. I didn't exactly feel the need to shield myself as the mountain spew suitcase after suitcase because it, in the end, wouldn't have mattered. If one of them found my face, I sure as hell would've gotten knocked out. So, Instead of trying to shield myself, I just counted every second, eyes wide open as I watched on.

After exactly ten seconds, it was over. All of the luggage that was once in the middle of our little group was strewn across the whole train station. Some suitcases landed directly behind us or in front of us, others flew over our heads before landing several meters behind us. But by some miracle, no one got hit. Well, at least I thought so. No one was screaming for help, so that was a good sign.

"-Aaand there she is." Spike finished lamely as if nothing special happened. 

"Oopsie." Twilight Sparkle, the purple that was standing where once Mount Suitcase stood, said. A blush formed on her face as she muttered, "That shouldn't have happened."

"Jesus." I muttered silently as I regained back control over my mouth. After staring at Twilight for another second or two, I shook my head, trying to focus on the matter at hand. Instinctively, I took a look at Rainbow and Scootaloo over my shoulder. Much to my relief, they seemed perfectly fine. More than fine, actually. They looked like they were amazed. 

"Is everyone okay?" I asked as I looked back forward again

A collection of yes's followed.

Spike, instead of being angry or something like that, actually whistled as if he was impressed by what had happened. I mean, he was literally standing right beside Rarity's luggage, and there he was, impressed by what easily could've hurt him."Nice entrance, Twilight."

I blinked my eyes, looking at the aftermath of Twilight 'nice entrance', as Spike oh-so-lovely put it. Suitcases, lying all around the rail station, some of them still closed, others not. It was a mess, one that I definitely wasn't ready to clean up.

Fluttershy gasped, putting a hoof to her mouth in shock of what just happened. "Oh my."

Rarity looked like she was about to faint. "By Celestia! My luggage!" ...And she actually fainted. Good thing Spike caught her before she actually hit the ground. I think I even heard her quietly whisper, "Thanks, Spikey.".

"That.Was.-" Rainbow, whose eyes were still wide open, stopped, probably for the dramatic effect. "AWESOME!"

Applejack's first instinct was to say, "Ah ain't gonna clean that up!"

Pinkie Pie was, unnervingly enough, just bouncing in place, that huge smile that I'd come to fear still on her face. At least she was silent, eh?

"Okay." I looked Twilight in the face, who was now rubbing her left frontleg nervously. Rarity, meanwhile, recovered and got back up on her hooves, giving Spike a small hug. "Sooo...care to explain what just happened?"

"I, uh, teleported but may have forgotten about Rarity's luggage." She answered curtly, refusing to look me in the eyes. "Basically, I teleported into it."

I looked at her for another few, very long seconds, an awkward silence reigning over us. Was I angry at her? No, not at all. Strangely enough, I didn't feel anything remotely negative. No fear, no shock, no nothing. It was weird. "Alright."

"Alright? I could've hurt one of you!"

I shrugged. "You didn't though, did you?"

"But-"

"No buts." I firmly interrupted her. I gave her a small smirk, almost evil before looking at the station's clock at the far end of the platform. "You have about six more minutes until the train arrives. You better hurry."

She looked at me, then at the clock, and then at Rarity, my words slowly starting to sink in. Her eyes went comically wide and in what was barely a second, she was teleporting across the whole platform, picking up suitcase after suitcase with her magic as if her life depended on it.

My fun was cut short when someone decided to poke me on the shoulder. I didn't even turn my head to look at who wanted to get my attention because I knew it could only have been Rainbow. "You think we should help her?"

I watched Twilight rush across the platform, picking up five more suitcases before returning them back to Rarity, who ordered a grumpy Spike to pile them back up. With a chuckle, I answered, "Nah, she got this."



****



Fortunately for Twilight, it was Just like I said. She did manage to collect every single suitcase before the train arrived, which definitely was something she couldn't have achieved without the help of her magic. If it hadn't been for that little horn atop her head, I'm a hundred percent sure that Rarity would have needed to leave behind some of her luggage - which, to be honest, wouldn't have happened. Rarity was really...determined to not leave anything behind. And poor Spike offered to carry everything for her to the castle. How he was going to do that, or why he offered that in the first place while Rarity could've probably carried her luggage on her own -she had magic too, after all- was beyond me.

Anyways.

So, after our tickets were checked and Rarity somehow managed to convince two unicorns conductors -yes, both were stallions- into loading all of her her luggage into one of the train's baggage cars, we boarded the train and waited for it to depart. Since we seemed to be the only passengers, we had a great choice of cabins to choose from. In the end, we settled for a big one where all of us were able to fit in, without us having to split up into several groups. Maybe not the best choice, but I wasn't one to question their decision. And hey, at least I was quick enough to take a place right by the window.

Once everyone was seated, or, more accurately, squeezed onto the two benches that faced each other, I heard the train whistle twice. You could literally hear the train slowly starting to gain on speed, its wheels squealing uncomfortably, making me wonder just how old this train was. My thoughts on that were suddenly interrupted as the train jolted forward and started moving forward more quickly before finally settling into a steady speed.

Five minutes in, and I realized something. It was bumpy - a little too bumpy for my taste. The train also didn't seem to go that fast, and then there was the problem that I couldn't even relax because it was so freaking loud. I mean, the train was steam-powered, but that was a little too much, even for a train like that. And, if Twilight wasn't trying to get some kind of revenge, it was going to take another fifty-five minutes before we were going to arrive in Canterlot. Another fifty-five minutes of headache-inducing sound and bumpy tracks.

Yay.

If the benches at least would've been comfortable enough to relax a little, but nooo. They just had to be made for a pony to comfortably sit on, which meant basically that I had to awkwardly sit on them, my knees higher situated than my butt. You know, like a really tall dude sitting on a chair that was made for children. Then there was also the fact that Rainbow, the only pony sitting beside me, decided that she just had to take a little nap and thereby take up a lot more space than she normally would've needed. I sat there with a frown on my face, arms crossed over my chest, as Rainbow's head slowly fell into my side.

The others were, of course, not shy about pointing out how hilarious I looked while giggling like some little girls. At least they were having a blast on that god-forsaken train, I guess. Luckily, since I had a spot on the window, I could, at the very least, distract myself from their constant giggling and, later on, chattering with the rather beautiful landscape Equestria so generously offered for my viewing pleasure. But even that got boring after a while.

Fortunately for me, the train ride didn't take forever. We did, eventually, arrive.



****



"We're here!" Twilight exclaimed happily as the train finally started to slow down, awakening me from my half-slumber. 

Sure enough, the train whistled twice, seemingly announcing our immediate arrival at Canterlot's train station. Twilight stood up and excitedly pushed her way to the window, nearly knocking Spike off his seat in the process and forcefully waking Rainbow up, before everyone else followed her, huddling close together to get a look out of the window.

I just sat there, confused as to what could be that exciting about Canterlot that they were so eager to see it through a small window in a train. I raised one eyebrow, slowly turning my head to look out of the window and see for myself.

I instantly understood why.

Canterlot was, without a doubt, the most beautiful and strangest city I had ever seen. Built into the side of a really tall mountain it stood a majestic city, reminding me of fairy tales like so much else in Equestria. Beside that very city, running down the mountain it was built into, was a waterfall that sourced from somewhere high up the mountain and plunged into the depths of a deep sky blue lake. The lake was, with the exception of the immediate area around where the water dropped into it from above, completely frozen over, showing that Canterlot, too, was struck hard by the cold and unforgiving winter.

The city's architecture was something I had never seen before. It was like a more pompous kind of Russian architecture, reminding me of the Kremlin with its various conical-roofed towers, only that the colors of those towers and the city as a whole were completely different. Under the thick layer of snow I was able to make out two colors; gold and some kind of really dark purple. The purple was, in fact, so dark that I couldn't decide whether it was actually purple or some lighter shade of black.

Sadly enough, I couldn't stare at the city long enough to actually decide on that, because the distance to it was rapidly decreasing before we were finally too close for me to see it as a whole. What I did see, though, was the train station at which we were slowly coming to a halt - and with that, certain fears started to come to mind.

"William? Ya comin'?" 

I blinked hard, slowly coming back to Equestria. Once I regained back complete control over my brain, I realized that I was the only one still looking out of the window. A look to my left confirmed that, except for Applejack, everyone had left our cabin already. 

I stood up, arched my back, and then said, "Sure, let's go."

Applejack and I swiftly exited the train. Once I set one foot onto the paved platform of the train station, I took a second to inspect my surroundings. In front of me was, of course, the train station itself, a big clock just over the entrance to the building. The platform I was on appeared to be completely devoid of any ponies - except for the girls, of course. Speaking of the girls...

They had formed another little circle, while Rarity was a little off to the side, once again, on the task of persuading two poor unicorn stallions into unloading her luggage from the train. Rainbow appeared to already have picked our suitcase out of the luggage wagon, as did the others, which was a real achievement considering the amount of Rarity's luggage in that wagon.

"William!" Twilight declared aloud as I came closer, looking at me while seeming to be barely able to contain her excitement. "What do you want to see first? Maybe the Canterlot Archives?"

Rarity apparently decided to join us, stepping in front of Twilight, much to the purple pony's dismay. "Darling, you just have to see the Opera House! It is simply smashing!"

"OROROR!!-" Pinkie's face was in front of mine. She took a deep breath as if to calm herself (thank god) and exhaled audibly. "-We go and get something to eat!"

Just as suddenly as the pink, physics-breaking pony appeared, she was shoved away again just for Rainbow to take her place. "No way! He definitely wants to see the Cloud Stadium first!" 

For a few seconds, there was a silence before I heard Applejack, Fluttershy and Scootaloo starting to snicker to my left. Deciding that they were the only ones that could help me, I turned my head to give them a help-seeking look, but they just shook their heads, leaving me alone to give an answer. Well, at least Fluttershy did look like she felt a little bad for me. But the other two...

"Uh, if it's okay with everyone, I'd just like to get to the castle first..." I said sheepishly, hoping that they were going to accept that as an answer.

Rainbow stared at me for what seemed like an eternity, slowly narrowing her magenta eyes, before finally concluding, "Fair enough."

"I guess that is acceptable." Rarity huffed.

Pinkie beamed just like she always did. "Okie-Dokie!"

Twilight seemed rather downtrodden. "Okay..."

"Alright,-" I started with a hint of uncertainty in my voice, once again breaking the ice. "-shall we..."

I trailed off when I saw two ponies in golden armor that reminded me a lot of those of the Romans stepping onto the platform. Those two seemed to belong to the royal guards, if what Twilight had told me about them was true. One of them, a dark-gray coated pony, was clearly a unicorn, the horn that stuck through the golden helmet right in front of the silver crest being a dead giveaway. The other one appeared to be a normal earth pony with a coat of pure white at first, but when she got closer, I saw that she actually was a pegasus, her wings tightly folded to the side and almost unnoticeable behind the bulk of armor.

They looked around the platform for a second before they lay eyes on us, or, more accurately me. And by the looks of it, I was just the one they were looking for. Two minutes in Canterlot and I already was about to get arrested. How great.

Once they stood in front of us, they gave a curt bow. "Princess Twilight, Elements, Miss Scootaloo and-" The unicorn, clearly a stallion if his deep voice hadn't been enough of a hint, greeted before his eyes locked onto mine. He paused for a second, looking me up and down as if he was uncertain what to say, before finishing with an uncertain, "-Mister Wright?"

I nodded my head in a greeting, relieved that maybe I wasn't going to get arrested yet. The others followed up with their own greetings, a chorus of hellos.

"It's an honor to meet you. I'm Corporal Eclipse." He pointed a hoof to his left at his partner. "And this is Private Zephyr."

"We are here on behalf of Celestia to escort you to the Palace." Private Zephyr, clearly a mare, stated lamely with an indifferent ruffle of her white wings. Something told me that Miss Zephyr wasn't too keen on escorting us. Funnily enough, she also sounded a lot like Rainbow.

"Hang on, I got this." Rainbow whispered into my right ear, though I wasn't too sure what she meant by that. Well, at least at first.

"Rainbow, it's cool, let them-" I tried to stop her as I saw her heading for the guards, but she was already long gone, up right in front of the two guards.

She gave me one quick glance over her back that told me that she will get rid of the two - not that I exactly wanted her to do that. I mean, if Celestia sent them to get us, there must've been a pretty good reason why she did it. 

"Nah, it's fine. We don't need your guys' help." Rainbow told the two guards, a determined look on her face. "We can protect ourselves, y'know. We saved Equestria a couple of times, sooo..."

Twilight facehoofed. "Rainbow..."

"What?" The mare in question asked, giving Twilight a frown. "It is true! We saved Equestria, like, a lot! Why wouldn't we be able to protect ourselves?"

"I'm sorry, but this is not open for debate." Private Zephyr said, visibly suppressing the urge to grind her teeth in frustration. "Whether you want us or not, we're coming with you."

Rainbow puffed up her cheeks in annoyance, turning back to us for help. I just shrugged.

"Fine, you can-" She made some kind of air quotes with her hooves, glaring at the mare in front of her. "-'escort' us."

"Alright." Corporal Eclipse said, content enough with Rainbow's answer. He and his partner swiftly turned around, motioning for us to follow with his hoof. "If you were so kind as to follow us? Your luggage will be brought to your chambers later on."

His last sentence was definitely directed towards Rarity.



****



The fifteen-minute walk to the castle was hell. Why?

Well, first off, because a certain purple princess decided to give me a spontaneous and very in-depth history lesson about the creation of Canterlot. It was only because we reached our destination that she had to stop talking. But that was the least of my problems. I was able to drown her out just fine.

The bigger one was that, in order to get to Canterlot Castle, we had to use some of the most-used streets in whole Canterlot. 

Honestly, at first, that didn't seem to be that much of a problem. In the first few minutes, everything went just fine. Of course, ponies gave me the occasional glance, or even started at me and whispered amongst themselves, but besides that, everything was just fine. That moment actually did make me hope that I what Rainbow had said back in Ponyville was true. I mean, I did indeed see some griffons (they're pretty cool-looking, if you ask me) and even one or two minotaurs, so Rainbow could really have been correct with what she told me.

But then we progressed into the more fancier-looking part of Canterlot, and everything changed drastically. 

The ponies there were not afraid to show me how disgusted they were of my appearance, even though some of them looked like they got a stick up their asses - they even walked like that! But the worst about those ponies was the fact that some of them went out of their way to make me feel bad.

Some of them told me to get out of Canterlot right now, others told me to stop breathing their precious air because I wasn't worthy enough to breathe it. Then there were those that even went as far and insult me and threaten me with imprisonment. 

Of course, my friends and my daughter were there to tell me otherwise and distract me from their angry words, that they weren't in the right to judge me and that they appreciated me... Loved me, in Scootaloo's case. But, you know how it is; bad words win over the good ones, always. If someone tells you that you're ugly, that you are a monster, and another one tells you that you that you aren't, what would you think? 

The whole rest of the way to the castle, all I was able to think about was that they were, somehow, right in what they said. That I was ugly and that I wasn't worthy enough to breathe. That I wasn't worthy enough to be happy.

Finally, our little tour through Canterlot came to an end. 

So lost in thought of every name those names I was called, I suddenly found myself staring at a big, two-colored gate that had two insignias on both sides. The left door was a dark purple and its insignia was the moon, while the right one was a sparkling gold, its insignia being the sun. All around the castle's snow-covered grounds stood tall iron fences, nearly four times the size of me, protecting what stood behind it from anyone who couldn't fly or use magic to teleport. 

While I was busy admiring the outside of the castle, Eclipse and Zephyr walked up to the gate and talked to the two unicorn guard stationed there to protect it from any unwanted visitors. After a short conversation between the four of them, and a hoof pointed into our direction, the guards at the gate lit up their horns and slowly opened the big gate. 

Slowly, almost agonizingly so, the castle revealed itself to me. From where I stood, I was able to spot at least three different buildings, though I knew that there were at least three more from Twilight's little history lesson earlier.

First, there was the huge main building with the white facade and the golden cupola as roof. I followed a huge set of white marble stairs up to right up to its huge set of doors. The huge, sturdy-looking double door that built the entrance to the building was opened widely, welcoming every pony that managed to make it through the main gate. I wasn't able to really see into the building itself, but I already had a good guess on what was in it. 

Behind the main building, there were the two towers. Those were the same two towers I was already able to see from the train earlier that day, and they were pretty much built like any other tower in Canterlot, only taller. One of them, the one to the left, had a little observatory built into its side, while the right one had a spiral case going up its outer wall, all the way up to the top. The left one also looked like it had a bridge coming out of its side, though I couldn't really see where it lead to.

"Awesome, eh?" Rainbow asked rhetorically, walking up to my side. I noticed that now, she was carrying the suitcase how I would probably carry it when I had a hoof; hoof through the open little space between the handgrip and the suitcase itself. "Wait until you see the throne room then."

Suddenly, something hard poked my lower leg, making me direct my attention to its source. It was none other than the mare guard, Private Zephyr, whose armor-clad hoof was still up in the air. She glowered up at me. "You can look at it all you want later on, but the Princess is awaiting you now. Better not let her wait, if you ask me."

She then promptly turned back around and walked up to the set of stairs with the rest of the group, leaving me and Rainbow behind.

"What the buck is wrong with her?" Rainbow asked, a frown on her face.

I shrugged my shoulders, not understanding either why exactly she seemed to hate us so much. Honestly, I wasn't even sure if that hate was directed towards me or all of us. "Beats me. Let's just follow her."

Rainbow and I quickly caught up to our group, following them into what soon turned out to be the throne room - just like I had thought.

The throne room was huge. There was a red carpet rolled out, all the way up to the, to my surprise, immense throne that seemed to be built on a golden altar. On both our left and right, built in rows to support the weight of the massive roof above our heads, were white marble pillars. Between each and every pair of pillars, there were stained glass windows, each one of them depicting an event of Equestria's past. I knew that because one or two of them seemed familiar to me from Twilight's various history lessons.

Finally, we stood only a few feet away from the throne.

"Alright, that's it." Corporal Eclipse announced, stopping and swiftly turning around to face our group as Private Zephyr walked up beside him. "The princess will be with you shortly. Now, If you'll excuse us, I and the rookie have to get back to our duties."

Private Zephyr's face contorted into a small frown after hearing Eclipse's words. Nonetheless, she and his partner gave us one last salute before heading for a smaller door to the left of the throne, swiftly disappearing out of our sight.

Right when they disappeared, Scootaloo and Spike walked up closer to the throne, staring at it with wide eyes and uttering a single, "Wow."

"So, William." Rarity said aloud, trying to stir up a conversation as everyone else placed their suitcases onto the ground. "What do you think of Canterlot so far?"

"I don't know, to be honest." I answered, my eyes never leaving Scootaloo, watching over her like a hawk watched over its prey. I didn't want her to do anything stupid, like trying to get up on the throne. While Celestia wasn't my leader, she still was Scootaloo's by law. Though I highly doubted that Celestia would have taken offense to someone getting on her throne. "It's beautiful, but some of the ponies..." I sighed, looking if Scootaloo or Spike were in hearing range. Deciding that they weren't, I ended my previous sentence, "Well, some of them are real assholes."

Fluttershy and Rarity gasped by my choice of words, though the others seemed unfazed. They even looked at me apologetically.

"If it makes ya feel any better, the nobles, as they want ta be called, sure don' like anypony 'sides themselves." Applejack stated before her apologetic look turned into a frown, pointing one hoof at Twilight who stood to her left. "Ah mean, they even treat Twilight 'ere, a princess, without any kin' of respect, not ta mention any others."

I gave Twilight a puzzled look. "Why's that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know why they hate everyone and I can only take a guess and say that they hate me becau-"

"They are mad that Twilight was made an alicorn and they weren't!" Rainbow threw in before Twilight was able to give me her complete opinion on the matter.

"Oh, that's silly!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, finally seeming to spring to life. She had been rather silent for her standards the whole time we were walking through Canterlot. "Why would they be mad because of that? They should feel happy and congratulate her! They should have thrown Twilight a 'Wow You Are An Alicorn Now'-party!"

I just shook my head at the sheer silliness of Pinkie Pie. "Twilight, what do you think?"

"Well, Rainbow is right." She said, to which Rainbow nodded her head proudly. "Kind of."

And that was it with the proud look. "Whatcha mean kind of?"

Just when Twilight was about to give her answer, she was stopped by the door to the left of the throne creaking open, accompanied by a familiar white alicorn that, not a second later than after the door was opened, walked through it.

Everyone bowed down, except for me and Scootaloo, the latter hastily retreating her hoof back from the golden surface of the princesses' throne.

"Please, there is no need for that." Celestia said, referring to the ponies that bowed in front of her, her almost motherly smile faltering a little. Once everyone was on all their hooves again, she greeted, "Hello, everypony. I am pleased to see that you took on mine and Luna's invitation." She then looked at Rainbow Dash. "And what Twilight meant to tell you, Rainbow Dash, was that, while some nobles are indeed envious of her new powers, most of them simply are not okay with the fact that she is a princess now."

"How did you know what we were talking about?" She asked suspiciously, taking a moment to look around the room to possibly spot any potential spies.

"Please, I am old, but I am not that old." Celestia said, faking offense as she put one hoof to her chest. "I can assure you that my ears are still perfectly capable of fulfilling their task."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It is no problem, Rainbow Dash." Celestia walked closer to our group, her eyes locking onto mine. For a moment, her smile seemed to get bigger, but when I blinked and re-opened my eyes, she was back to her usual motherly smile. "William, I am pleased to see you too!"

I nodded my head at her in a greeting, awkwardly answering, "Good to see you too, P-." Her smile faltered again. I coughed into my hands the moment I noticed it. "-Celestia."

She looked around, searching for something before she turned her attention towards Spike and my daughter, the two of them still standing right next to the throne. Both of their faces went pale when they noticed that the princess was looking right at them. 

"I hope you two didn't touch my precious throne?" She asked in a tone that suggested that the two of them were in trouble, though I realized that Celestia was just joking. She appeared to be barely able to contain her laughter, the corners of her mouth occasionally twitching up.

A single chuckle of mine was muffled by a hand that shot upwards to cover my mouth as the two frantically shook their heads in response, too afraid to pay attention to Celestia's expression.

"Hm? Are you sure?" They nodded their heads up and down, so quick that I almost thought they were going to faint. Celestia lit up her long white horn, coating it in a golden aura. "Well, maybe I should just take a look if somepony touched it. I am positively sure I can see some clawprints right there..."

I didn't know how it was possible, but both of them paled even more at that. Fortunately for them, Celestia couldn't hold it any longer. With a rather unprincesslike snort, followed by -dare I say- cute giggles, the shimmer around her horn vanished. It was a good thing that she wasn't able to hold it any longer, too, or else I am positively sure that either Spike or Scootaloo would have fainted.

It took a moment for Spike and Scootaloo to realize what has happened, and by that time, everyone, even me, had joined Celestia in her laughter. 

Spike crossed his arms, looking off to the side, angrily muttering under his breath.

"So not cool..." Scootaloo murmured, pouting at me. 

I shrugged -though it probably looked more like I had a seizure-, still giggling like some idiot, pointing an accusing finger at Celestia. "Hey, not my fault you just got fooled."

After a minute, everyone had seemed to calm down. There were some last giggles here and there before it was silent once again.

"Now that we all had a good laugh, I wish to escort everyone to your chambers." Celestia motioned for us to follow and turned around, heading for the same door she came in through. Everyone picked up their suitcases and then followed her, though I felt bad when I saw Rainbow struggling to think of how exactly she was going to carry it. 

I moved over to her, taking a hold of the suitcase before she was able to bite onto it. "Here, I'll take it."

She looked up at me for a second, her cheeks reddening a little, before she found that the ground was a lot more interesting. "T-thanks."

"Well, my clothes are in there too, not to mention my bits." I said, giving her a small smile. "It's only fair that I get to carry it too, right?"

She nodded her head before the both us hurried after Celestia and the rest of our group once we saw that we were the only ones still standing in the throne room. Walking through the door, we entered a hallway with a black marble floor. The walls were made out of some simple white stone. I instantly spotted the others, just a few feet ahead of us, just passing an armor-clad statue of a pony. I and Rainbow quickly managed to catch up to them in the rather narrow hallway. 

"We might have a problem." Celestia spoke aloud after seeing that we finally joined them. "Unfortunately, we only have four rooms available because of a small...accident involving cakes." Her cheeks flushed a bright red for just a second before she coughed into one hoof. 

"Cakes?" I repeated, slowly raising one eyebrow.

She nodded her head. "Cakes."

I chuckled. "Who lost?"

"That doesn't matter." She answered swiftly with her best poker face. "To get back to the matter at hoof, these four rooms all have one single double bed."

"I don't think that'll be a problem." Twilight said. She glanced down at Spike who was walking beside her. "You'll sleep with me, alright?"

He rolled his eyes. "Alright mom."

"OH OH OH! I call dibs on Will and the Squirt!" Rainbow exclaimed aloud, her hoof shooting up into the air eagerly. She then suddenly stopped and looked at me with, if I hadn't known better, an almost pleading expression on her face. "I mean, we'll take one room, right?"

I took a quick glance towards Scootaloo, silently asking her if she was okay with that. I didn't even need to ask her because she eagerly bobbed her head up and down. 

"Yeah, right." I simply told Rainbow.

"Awww yeah!" She hoofpumped, jumping up into the air. "This is going to be sooo awesome!"

"Yeah, awesome." I muttered sarcastically. "Not cramped, awkward or uncomfortable, no..."

Rainbow's ears perked up, swiveling into my direction. "What's that?"

I sighed. "Nothing."

"Fluttershy and I can take one room too!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly, bouncing up to Fluttershy's and poking her in the side. "Right Fluttershy?"

"Y-yes, I guess." She answered timidly. 

Poor Fluttershy. I couldn't be in the same room with that pink demon for longer than maybe an hour before I would choke myself - not that I hate Pinkie. She was just...too much sometimes.

"Ohhhhh we are going to have so much-" Pinkie jumped up, throwing confetti up in the air that she somehow pulled out of her mane. "-FUN!"

Kinky, Pinkie Pie.

"Well, ah reckon me an' Rarity can share a room for a lil' bit." Applejack spoke up, not seeming that excited about sharing a room with Rarity - which was understandable. I wouldn't like to share a room with Rarity either when she had that many suitcases with her.

"And I guess I can share a room with you, dear Applejack." Rarity huffed, lifting her muzzle into the air. "I call dibs on the wardrobe in our room."

"Then it's settled." Celestia stomped one hoof onto the ground - a little too dramatic if you ask me. There was a small crackling sound, and when Celestia lifted her horseshoe-clad hoof back up to inspect what happened, I saw that there was a small crack in the marble floor. Holy shit, how did she manage to do that? She looked at it for another second before saying, "Let us continue to your rooms."



****



Canterlot Castle was a maze. That's something I realized rather quickly. 

Well, that and the complete lack of guards patrolling the corridors. 

One would think that the place of residence of the two most important political figures in whole Equestria would be a lot better protected, but, apparently, it was like that only for that evening, as Celestia assured me. The guards had a two-hour training session every month, on some randomly chosen day, to stay fit and combat-ready. In my opinion, I think that sending every single guard in the castle off to training at the same time wasn't that good of an idea, but who was I to question a princess. 

Right?

All in all, It took us a good five minutes to get to our destination; a small corridor that was hidden behind an old-looking wooden door.

First thing I noticed was that, fortunately, all rooms were next to each other. That meant that if Rainbow decided to start annoying me, I could just throw her into the room of one of the others.

After everyone chose a room, the next thing I noticed was that my previous worries of not having enough space, that it would be too cramped inside the room, were for none. The room Rainbow, Scootaloo and I had was extremely spacious -so spacious that I will actually call it chamber from now on-, coming with its own bathroom, a small living area with a couch and a bedroom that was even bigger than mine back home in Ponyville. The bedroom even had a small balcony!

But, the best thing definitely was the bed. Oh my god, the bed.

It wasn't bigger than the one from my home -actually, I think it was a little smaller-, but damn, if it wasn't the most comfortable bed I ever sat on then I don't know what was. My butt was in heaven the moment it sank into that soft piece of art.

That actually sounds a lot worse when you speak it out loud.

Nonetheless, the bedroom wasn't the only awesome thing about our chamber. The bathroom was also rather spacious and had everything one would need, plus fluffy wool towels, but what really was awesome about it was the giant bathtub in the left corner. It was so big that someone my size could have comfortably fit in three times, and even then there would've been a little bit more space.

The only thing that really bothered me about our chamber was the floors. They were, just like pretty much every other floor in this castle, made out of black marble. I knew already that one thing I had to deal with was cold feet.

Cold feet are the worst.

So, after I stored my clothes into the small wardrobe we conveniently had in our bedroom, and I made sure that my bits were stored somewhere safely, I was about to beat Rainbow to it and take the first turn in the bathtub (just because) before suddenly, someone knocked at our door. Grumbling angrily for having been denied a little bath, I opened the door but stopped immediately. It was Celestia and the others, much to my surprise. After talking to Celestia for a second, it turned out that she invited us to dinner with her, my friends and her sister, Luna.

Free dinner? And with my all of our friends and two princesses nonetheless? Of course, we were quick to accept her offer.

After following the princess for another two minutes through hallway after hallway and at least two set of big, heavy steel doors, we stood in front of our destination; a small, almost hidden, wooden door.

I quirked an eyebrow. I would've expected a door a lot bigger and better secured for the princesses' dining room than what I saw. As Celestia pushed it open with the help of her magic, and we walked inside, I found out why it seemed so unimpressive. 

I was a little bit...underwhelmed.

I honestly excepted something huge, a big hall in the same style as the throne room with huge banners decorating it. What I saw was a rather boring, though still bigger than average, dining room with a long wooden table in the center and seven chairs on each side. The walls were, unlike the rest of the castle, made out of simple gray stone while the floor was made out of some dark wood. There was also a fireplace at the far end of the room, right beside another wooden door just like the one we had just walked through, at least bestowing the relatively empty room with a comfortable atmosphere. 

Honestly, I would've expected a room a lot more pompous and bigger than what I was confronted with.

Nontheless, one really good thing about the table and the fourteen wooden chairs that completely surrounded it, was that they seemed pretty normal-sized to me, which meant that maybe I could sit and dine comfortably. Good thing, too, because I probably would've gone crazy if I had to sit just like I had back in the train for another hour or so.

"Is something wrong, William?" Celestia asked concerned, suddenly appearing in front of my vision. I must've zoned out again because once I took another look around, I saw that everyone was busy trying to find a chair or get up onto one.

I shook my head. "No, everything's fine, it's just..."

Celestia quirked an eyebrow, silently asking me to continue.

"I...honestly expected something a lot bigger than, well-" I motioned my hands all around me. "-this." 

"I can assure you that this is not our official dining room, William." Celestia stated with a small smile. "It is mine and Luna's little secret one, so to say, where we dine with good friends. We actually have a kitchen in the back!" Her smile fell. "Sadly, we were only able to dine here twice so far."

Sensing the sudden change in demeanor and the awkward silence that followed, I decided to change the topic a little. 

"Soooo." I started, idly fiddling with my thumbs and taking a quick glance at the table. Seeing someone rather important missing, I asked, "Where's Luna?"

She perked up at that. "Oh, she is actually preparing our meals as we are speaking."

"She's cooking?" I asked in honest confusion, one eyebrow raising itself almost automatically. Celestia nodded her head slowly in a silent answer. "Wait, you two know how to cook? Don't you have, like, ponies that cook for you?"

She was silent for a few seconds. I actually was afraid that I hurt her feelings, but those worries were gone when I saw her stifling what could've been a giggle behind her white-furred hoof.

"While we do have cooks, both of us like it way more to cook for ourselves." She answered, smiling warmly at me. "So yes, we indeed know how to cook."

"Ey Will!" Rainbow suddenly called from her spot on the table, interrupting our little conversation. Looking around Celestia, I saw her nodding at the chair between her and Scootaloo. "Come on over here before someone snags away your spot!"

"Rainbow Dash is right." Celestia gave me another smile, directing a glance towards wooden door across the room. "I have to help my dear sister putting the last touches to our meals anyways. We will continue our conversation sometime later. Is that alright?"

I nodded my head, smiling at her. "Sure."

"Then better take a seat before I have to teleport you there." She said with a wink before turning around and heading for the door, disappearing in what I figured out was the kitchen. It took a moment for her to words to register, and when they did, I still wasn't too sure if she had been serious when she said that or not. What I was sure about, though, was that I definitely wasn't taking any chances.

Her threat still bouncing through my head, I quickly made my way over to Rainbow, pulling the chair out for me before sitting down on it and shifting back to the table. Immediate threat out of the way, I sighed in relief, starting to look around the table

It seemed like I was sitting right in the middle of our little row. Across of me were two free chairs, though beside the left one sat Twilight. Smiling brightly, Pinkie Pie was about to scoot two chairs closer and take that spot beside Twilight when suddenly two small black signs that read 'reserved for Luna' and 'reserved for Celestia' popped up out of nowhere, right on the table in front of the two spots. With a pout, she scooted back to her old place.

Twilight smiled smugly, her horn slowly ceasing to fade. Sneaky Twilight, really sneaky.

Rarity and Applejack sat opposite of each other -Rarity beside Rainbow and Applejack beside Twilight- the former not knowing that she will regret her decision of sitting where she was sitting sooner or later. If I knew one thing about the Rainbow Dash, it was that she was one hell of a messy eater. Also, she liked to burp. 

A lot.

Turning my head to the right, I saw Fluttershy looking back at me. She smiled gently at me, a smile which I gladly returned with one of my own.

Finally, my eyes ended up looking down to my right, seeing Scootaloo desperately struggling to get on her hindlegs and reach the table, nearly falling down her chair in the process. Quickly grabbing her attention by tapping her on the shoulders, I motioned for her to sit down. She did as I instructed, and right after she did, I grabbed her chair and pushed her a closer to the table. 

I smiled at her. "Try now."

With a look of concentration, she reared up and then her hooves finally hit the hard surface of the table with a satisfying clack.

She smiled at me. "Thanks, Dad!"

Reaching for her ear with one hand, I gave her a curt scratch behind it. She almost purred in content, leaning into my hand before I suddenly, and much to her dismay, pulled it away again. "No problem."

"Why did you stop?" She asked with a pout.

"Because we are sitting at dinner?" I replied with a look of confusion on my face, helping her understand by pointing at the table. Seeing her face fall I then quickly added, "You can have some ear scratches later on."

"Did you just say ear scratches?" Rainbow, who was apparently paying close attention to our conversation, asked, grabbing my attention. "I get some too, right?"

"Yeah, alright, you can get some too."

She smirked. "Awesome."



****



The dinner was calm and uneventful, only curt conversations being started here and there over the delicious meal. Celestia wasn't kidding when she said that she and Luna could cook. They had easily made the best potato soup I've ever had!

I do remember one conversation with Luna in particular that made me actually wonder if she was a lunatic. It started as a normal conversation about human history, then got really into detail with all the wars, and ended with her asking me if I could build her, as she put it, "One of those atom bombs. They seem fun.". 

Just...just think about that for a second. One moment, I was telling her how many people one of those bombs could potentially kill, and the next she asked me if I could build her one because it seemed fun. There had to be something wrong in her head, or is it just me?

But, aside from that little slip, as her sister called it, Luna seemed pretty okay in my book. I mean, just as we finished eating our desserts, chocolate cakes, she jokingly scolded Celestia for eating too much again. She told her that her flank would get big as the sun one day if she continued on like that.

So, Luna was pretty fucking funny too.

Once everyone finally ate up, which took about an hour (I was we were hungry, okay?) and I helped Luna and Celestia wash the dishes, everyone retreated back to their chambers for the night. It was nearing ten o'clock, after all.

Though, before me, Scootaloo and Rainbow finally managed to fall asleep, there was a little bit of drama first. 

Rainbow seemed, for some reason, a little bit nervous about going to bed with me all of the sudden. It wasn't like we hadn't slept together in a bed before - quite the opposite actually-, so I was a little bit confused. So, I told her that she and Scootaloo could take the bed and I would take the couch. Of course, then Scootaloo got all grumpy because that would've meant that she wouldn't get her ear scratches, so Rainbow went all, "Nah, it's fine, let's go to bed.", which confused me even more.

Honestly, what the fuck was wrong with her? 

Anyways.

In the end, I gave both Rainbow and Scootaloo their promised ear scratches. Sometime along what started as ear scratches and turned into a full-blown cuddling session, the two of them finally dozed off. I lay awake a little longer, surrounded on both sides by two furry bodies, pondering about what the next day would have in store for me.

It didn't take long for me to get tired and fall asleep too, finally joining Rainbow and Scootaloo into the world of the dreaming.
> Chapter Thirty-Five - Oh, What A Beautiful Morning (Canterlot Part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With a content sigh, I leaned back into the warm water, the only thing hindering me from completely submerging being the smooth porcelain surface of the bathtub.

"This bathtub is freakin' awesome..." I murmured, smiling faintly and slowly closing my eyes. As I lay in the water, I seemed to momentarily forget everything. The problems that plagued my mind, nor the time seemed to matter. The fact that I was bathing in a bathtub in a castle that stood in a world of multicolored ponies didn't matter. All that mattered was the beautiful radiating warmth of the water surrounding my whole body. Everything else just floated away.

But, sadly, it wasn't supposed to be for long. No sooner than the moment I opened my eyes, I was assaulted by the harsh reality. There were problems, things that plagued my mind, that I simply couldn't get off of my mind. Some of them were small, barely worth mentioning, while others were troubling me so deeply that my heart actually started racing — at least that's what I thought was the reason. It must've been that. It couldn't have been anything else.

I actually have an example for the latter kind of problem. A relatively fresh one at that.

That morning, I was gently coaxed out of the world of the dreaming by a weight on my chest. At first, I thought that it was just Scootaloo. I mean, the days she didn't have to spend the night in the orphanage, I always found her sleeping peacefully on my chest when I woke up in the mornings, even though I never actually caught her climbing up on it. But then again, Scootaloo wasn't as heavy as what I felt on my chest. 

Not only was the heaviness putting me off, but it was also the fur that was touching my bare skin. It's hard to describe, but the softness that only Scootaloo's fur could match just wasn't there. Instead, it was rougher. Not unpleasantly so, it was still incredibly soft, but still not the same as her's.

And finally, there was the biggest hint that told me something wrong. I felt something nuzzling itself into the crook of my neck, almost lovingly, but I knew it couldn't be Scootaloo. Last I checked, she didn't have a rainbow mane.

I didn't allow Rainbow to catch me with my eyes open, as that would've made things even more embarrassing for the both of us. Instead, I faked a yawn, trying to give her a subtle hint that I was slowly waking up. Doing that appeared to have the exact effect I wanted it to have as Rainbow quickly but very carefully rolled down my chest, hitting the mattress beside me just when I opened my eyes and turned my head to look at her.

Needless to say, the morning was awkward after that, even though I tried my best to act normal. Aside from a brief "Good morning.", that was about all I said to Rainbow and Scootaloo before grabbing myself a change of clothes and escaping to the bathroom. I figured that that was the best time to try out the bathtub and get my mind off of what happened.

Too bad that I just couldn't.

I didn't know why Rainbow did what she did. Maybe she thought that I was comfortable, hell, maybe she loved cuddling and just didn't want to admit it. Knowing her, that very well could've been a possibility. What I knew for certain, though, was that she definitely didn't want me to know why she did what she did. And that fact alone was enough to worry me.

I sighed, splashing some warm water into my face in another desperate attempt to distract me from my thoughts, but even that didn't help any. Instead, pictures of her, of Rainbow Dash, appeared in my mind. My heart started thumping faster and faster, threatening to jump out of my chest. I can't remember having felt anything like that ever. What was wrong with me? Was it fear that I felt?

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Hey Daaaaad!" Judging by the voice, it was Scootaloo who knocked at the door. "You okay in there?"

I shook my head. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You sure? I called you like, three times already." She spoke through the door, her voice muffled from the obstacle it had to travel through, but yet not muffled enough to hide the worried tone it carried. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." I called back to her after a few seconds of silence, rubbing my temples for another silent second. "So, what'cha want?"

"Celestia was here and asked us if we would like to have breakfast with her." She paused. "I said yes. That okay with you?"

"Sure." I answered curtly. "Gimme a minute and I'll be out."

"'kay." I heard her moving away from the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Before they were able to overpower me again, though, I quickly stood up and stepped out of the bathtub, drying myself off with a towel before slipping into a new set of clothes. I walked over to the mirror, taking a moment to inspect my short beard  —that I actually started to take a liking to—  and then seeing that I was in a desperate need for a haircut. Maybe if I had luck, there was a barber or something like that back in Ponyville who was up for cutting my hair. There was just no way anyone was going to cut my hair in Canterlot, at least not that day.

Running a hand through my still rather wet hair, I tried to somehow look like I didn't just get out of the bathtub. I asked myself if they had hair dryers but a quick look around told me that they, unfortunately, hadn't. At least not there.

After brushing my teeth with the oversized toothbrush I bought a while back, and stealing Rainbow's hairbrush from the counter by the sink to make me look at least a little presentable, I exited the bathroom and headed for the living room. Waiting there for me were both Scootaloo and Rainbow, the latter looking a little bit too happy for my taste. It was earl in the morning, after all.

"Hey there!" Rainbow said, skipping up to me. "Huh, your hair's wet."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Rainbow, that's what normally happens when it comes into contact with water."

She appeared to be in thought for a second, looking at my hair intently before she suddenly smirked. "Wait, I'll take care of it!" 

It took me way too long to realize what exactly that smirk meant.

Before I even was able to say anything, she was already up in the air, flapping her strong wings into my direction. She generated a strong gust of warm wind, a gust that I felt slowly drying off my hair. The side effect of that was that, by the time my hair was dry, I probably looked like I just came out of a wind tunnel.

"Thanks, Rainbow..." I sighed, already turning around and heading back for the bathroom to save my hair. 

"That's what you get for using my hairbrush." She giggled evilly. "And no problem."

With a shrug, I said, "Well, that just means that I have to use it again, doesn't it?"

"Hey, I don't want any of your weird human hair on my hairbrush!" She called as I walked back to the bathroom with her following closely behind. "Hey, did you hear me?!" 

"Loud and clear." I answered back, stopping in front of the door to the bathroom, turning my head around to face her. I shrugged, suppressing the grin that was trying to appear on my face. "I just don't care."

Not able to hide the grin for any longer as she glared at me, I quickly gripped the handle and was about to push the door open when something soft and feathery collided with the back of my head, hard enough for it to actually sting.

I narrowed my eyes, slowly turning my head back towards Rainbow. "Oh, it is on."


****


A total of five minutes were spent chasing Rainbow through the whole time before I finally caught her and another ten minutes were spent tickling her until she couldn't breathe anymore. Fortunately for her, Scootaloo finally managed to break us apart by telling me that we still had to go to breakfast. I agreed to a temporary cease-fire with Rainbow.

But just when we were about to leave, there was a series of knocks on the door. Opening the door, I saw none other than one of the guards that escorted us to the castle the day before standing in front of me. It was the mare, Zephyr if I remembered correctly, who was ordered by Celestia to escort us to the dining room. Once again, she didn't really look too happy, and she ignored each attempt from me to start a conversation the whole time we were walking. I wasn't too sure why she was like that, but it had to be either because she didn't like us (or me), or simply because she didn't like escorting us (again, or me).

Either way, it didn't take long before we reached our destination. Strangely enough, though, our destination wasn't the dining room from the prior day. No, it was actually a big door that led into a giant hall with one giant marble table in the center of it. The walls opposite of the entrance were adorned with two big banners. One of them showed Celestia standing atop the sun, while the other showed Luna standing atop the moon. Besides that, the room looked a lot alike to the throne room, with the same pillars I saw there in nearly the same spots. The only difference was that the throne room was a lot longer than this hall.

All in all, this dining hall looked a lot like the one I imagined princesses would dine in.

At the table, I already saw all the others seated, appearing to be waiting for something. Or, more precisely for someone.

"Good morning!" Celestia suddenly greeted us, a friendly smile on her face. She looked at Zephyr, giving her a thankful nod. "Thank you, private. You are excused."

Zephyr bowed down, glancing up at me for one last time before turning around and swiftly leaving the hall, gone before I was even able to thank her myself. Not that it would've mattered.

Once the door slammed shut behind Zephyr, the three of us went over to the table and joined the others, being mindful to chose those seats that weren't too far away from each other. After each of us was finally seated and greeted all the others, the door to the dining hall suddenly burst open again. In came four unicorns, all carrying what appeared to be at least ten serving trays full of various kinds of food, plus the necessary amount of silverware and plates in their magical grasps. What amazed me the most about those four stallions was probably the fact that the whole way over to our table, they didn't dare to look anywhere else than up to the ceiling, all the while walking with a kind of coordination that must've taken weeks to get down right. None of them tripped, nor did anyone even walk out of line once. If I hadn't known better, I would've guessed that they were there to perform some sort of show for us. A really boring one, but hey, we got our food.

Once they stood close enough to our table, they floated their trays over into the center of the table, then levitated the plates and the necessary silverware in front of each one of us. With that done, they swiftly made their exit, none of them even pausing once to look at any of us — not even me.

"That was...interesting." I said, breaking the awkward silence that reigned over the table. Shaking my head clear, I then turned my head towards Celestia, giving her a questioning look. "Soo... This is the official dining hall?"

She nodded her head. "It is."

"Uh, not tryin' ta sound like Ah'm questionin' ya or anythin' like that, but why are we here, princess'?" Applejack asked the question no one really wanted to ask. "Didn't ya say that you didn't really like this hall?"

"Yes, I indeed do not like it here." She frowned a little, looking around the big, spacious hall. "It is so empty and... big. It reminds me of my work as a princess, and that is one of the last things I want to think of in the mornings."

"So, why did you chose here?" I asked, keeping the conversation going.

She shrugged. "I did not really feel like cooking when I woke up this morning."

"But princess, you could have asked me!" Rarity said, almost sounding offended.

"Or me!" Twilight added a little too enthusiastically.

Spike, who sat right beside Twilight and who went thereby unnoticed by the purple alicorn, went a little green in the face the instant Twilight offered her help at cooking. He quickly shook his head, mouthing something that looked a lot like "Don't." to Celestia.

He must've been deeply impressed by Twilight's cooking skills.

"While I appreciate your offers, I can not take you up on them." Celestia said, a grateful smile forming on her face. "It is simply not how you treat guests."

The colors returned to Spike's face and he heaved an audible sigh, drawing Twilight's attention.

"Spike? Are you okay?" She asked, looking at the purple dragon with a concerned look.

He smiled sheepishly. "I'm fine."

She looked at him for another long second while I tried to suppress the urge to rat out the little guy. That would've been just mean and even the thought of doing that made me feel bad. Besides that, from the few chances I had to talk with him, Spike seemed to be a really nice guy.

"Thing is, Twilight, Spike doesn't seem to be too impre-" My hand instantly shot out and clamped Rainbow's muzzle shut in one incredibly smooth move. I wasn't going to give Rainbow the satisfaction to get poor Spike into trouble just for some laughs.

Her head, after finding that her mouth didn't bulge, instantly shot towards me, making me release my grip on her muzzle. A small frown formed on her face. "What the heck dude?"

"You know what the heck, dude." I said with a stern look, though I still couldn't hide that little bit of satisfaction I had in my voice. I already knew that what I had was only a short-lived feeling of satisfaction, because I sure as hell wasn't going to get away with that. Knowing her, I was pretty damn sure that she'd get me back for hurting her pride in the company of her dear friends and the princess nonetheless. But, from the looks of it, I wasn't the only one that saw what Rainbow tried to do. Everyone, excluding Celestia who still wore that same smile from before on her face, was looking at her with a look of pure satisfaction on their face. Even Twilight was, and she sure as hell didn't even know why I did what I did. Another jab to Rainbow's pride. 

Rainbow zero, William one.

Anyways, breakfast went by rather smoothly. Between the incredibly delicious food on our plates, conversations were rare and brief. It was only when the waiters from before started carrying away our dishes to get them washed in the kitchen that conversations spiced up again.

"So, if I may ask, what are you all going to do today?" Celestia asked as the last tray was carried off the table. 

Of course, Rainbow was the first one to speak up. Go figure. "Me and the Squirt here-" She grabbed Scootaloo with one foreleg and pulled her close to her side. "-are going to visit the cloud stadium. We might get lucky and see the Wonderbolts practicing their new routine!"

You must be quite surprised that Rainbow didn't include me too, am I right? I know you are, don't deny it! The thing is, I actually declined her offer to join them. I was never the type of guy that liked to watch sports, so there was no real reason for me to join them. I probably would've only spoiled their fun if I would've joined them.

"Well, I am going to visit the opera house." Rarity spoke with a sudden spark in her eyes. "They are showing the new opera of the magnificent Lyrica Lilac."

"An opera?" Rainbow asked, one eyebrow raised in confusion as she finally let go of a very annoyed-looking Scootaloo. "I didn't know you liked those."

Rarity giggled into her hoof at that. "Oh dear no, I do not like them. I'm only there for business with Mrs. Lilac and to see a bit of Equestria's most famous opera house."

"I-" Pinkie started suddenly, an unnervingly big smile on her face, grabbing our uttermost attention. "-am going to go cannon shopping!"

She struck a pose, one hoof in the air while she somehow managed to stand on her chair on her two hind legs. Behind her, there was a small explosion of confetti.

For a minute, it was completely silent, no one daring to question the pink pony or her abilities to defy the laws of physics. 

"O-kay, Pinkie Pie." I said, breaking the silence. "That's...cool. Just don't, you know...uh...buy too many, okay?"

She quickly sat back down, nodding her head feverishly. "Okie dokie!"

"Anyways...As for what I am doing today..." Twilight said, a dreaming smile starting to appear on her purple face. "I am going to visit the Library of Magic!" She threw her hoof up in excitement. "Yay!"

Rainbow leaned over Scootaloo, whispering, "Wow, what a surprise, am I right?"

I made a sound somewhere between a snort and a giggle. Unfortunately, Rainbow and Scootaloo weren't able to contain their amusement, much to the growing suspicion of Twilight.

"What?" Twilight asked, narrowing her eyes at us. "Why are you laughing?!"

"Hehe, n-nothing Twilight!" I managed to blurt out between my giggles. "G-go on. Heh."

Her eyes still narrowed at us, she continued, "I haven't been in the Library of Magic since I was a little foal. Just the memories of all the books that might lie around there, only waiting to be opened by somepony..."

"E-egghead."

"Pffff..." My cheeks puffed up, the air they contained desperately trying to find a way out and partly succeeding. 

She glared at us, suceeding in shutting us up for the moment. "Of course Spike here-" She smiled down at the purple dragon sitting to her left. "-will be accompanying me."

Spike lifted his little arms up in the air, taking a big breath in. For a second, it looked like he was really excited about going to the library with Twilight, but then his face quickly fell and he exhaled audibly. 

"...Yay..."

That was it. After Spike's enthusiastic little statement, there was no way on Equestria that me, Rainbow and Scootaloo could've contained our laughter. One more snort from Rainbow, and we burst out laughing. 

"You three are just so...ARGH!" Twilight huffed in annoyance, puffing out her cheeks as mine, Scootaloo and Rainbow's laughter continued to echo through the spacious hall. "Stop being so foalish! This isn't even funny!"

She was right. In hindsight, nothing was funny about that. But that didn't stop us from laughing for at least one minute straight before the three of us finally calmed down. Once the three of us did eventually calm down and I wiped the last stray tear of amusement out of my eyes, Celestia decided it was time to speak up again. "Now that you three have calmed down.-" She turned her head towards Fluttershy, who, fittingly enough, shied away at the ruler's gaze. "-what will you do today, dear Fluttershy?"

"Uhm...I-I wanted to visit the royal garden and visit some of the non-hibernating animals..." She dared to come out from behind her pink, long mane a little, but just a tad. "I haven't spoken with some of them since last winter. I'm really excited to see some of them again..."

"Fluttershy, this sounds lovely!" Rarity offered, smiling at the meek pegasus.

"I agree."  I said, smiling warmly at Fluttershy. "That's pretty cute."

"Hehe, thanks..."

"What about you, Applejack?"

Applejack just shrugged her shoulders. "Ah've gotta run some errands for the farm. Buy some new wooden planks because someone-" She shifts her eyes suspiciously at me, a small frown on her face. "-destroyed all the ones Ah had in stock.

I raised my hands in defense. "Hey, not my fault you only have rotten wood in your stock!"

"William, Ah bought 'em last month. They were stored in perfect conditions." She deadpanned. "You broke most of them clear in two."

"Well...!" I looked down at my hands, silently cursing them for not giving me an answer. "Then...Uh...You ponies should make sturdier wood! Yes!, that's it!"

Applejack facehoofed.

"How about you, William?" Celestia interrupted Applejack right when she was about to speak up again, effectively hindering her from rebutting. William one, Applejack zero. "What are your plans for today?"

"Yeah dude, what is it you wanted to do today anyway?" Rainbow asked from my side, a small proud smirk building up on her face. "I mean, you declined the offer to go to the second most awesome stadium in whole Equestria with the most awesome pegasus ever. What's wrong with you?"

"First off, you're right." I stated, to which she grinned in pure satisfaction. I ruffled my daughter's mane, grinning down at her. "Scoots here is indeed the most awesome pegasus ever."

Rainbow's face fell, grumbling something under her breath that didn't sound like it was nice at all. Scootaloo meanwhile was trying to fight the blush away that was forming on her face, but to no avail.

"Daaad..." She punched me lightly in the side, barely strong enough for me to even feel it.

I smiled as the others snickered a little. "Secondly, I don't know. I'm not really the kind of guy that likes to watch sports. So, I don't think that visiting a stadium would be very interesting for me. Plus, I'd only make it less awesome for you two."

"But, what are you going to do then?" Twilight asked confusedly.

"You gotta have some fun, though!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, sounding shocked. Then a light bulb lit up over her head, quite literally. And I mean that in the way that she had a freaking light bulb over her head. "Hey, wait, you can join me and help me buy cannons! That would be so much fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!"

I quickly shook my head. "Uh no, thanks, Pinkie. I think I'll pass."

She deflated a little, the light bulb disappearing again. "Awwww..."

"How about-" Celestia started, getting my immediate attention. "-we do something together?"

"Wait, as in...you-" I pointed a finger at her shortly before slowly pointing at me. "-and me?"

"Yes, that is indeed what I said." She smiled, nodding her head once.

"I mean, not trying to sound rude or anything, but don't you have anything else to do? Like, ruling a country?"

She waved her hoof at me nonchalantly. "Even a princess can have some free time once in a while. I am sure that my little ponies will understand that. Besides, if they have any concerns, they are free to come back later tonight when Luna is awake."

"If you insist..." I scratched the back of my head, taking a moment to think everything through. I still wasn't too sure if it was a good idea to accept her offer since she did have more important things to do, but if she really wanted to spend some time with me... Who was I to deny the request of a princess? "Eh, alright, why not?"

"Splendid!" She said, clasping her hooves together in a sign of content. She suddenly stood up, rising to her full height, giving us a sorry look. "I am terribly sorry, but I have to go. I have to make some arrangements for later." She then looked back at me, her smile coming back a little. "How about we meet in the throne room in about fifteen minutes?"

"Sure, seems good." I ran a hand through my still dishelved hair, giving her a nod. "I gotta make myself somehow look, well, not like I just woke up, anyways."

"Alright." Celestia declared, looking around the table. "Hopefully you all are going to have a fun day. Of course, you are all invited to join me and my sister for dinner tonight." She lifted her hoof one last time, waving the others a goodbye as she lit up her horn. "See you tonight, hopefully."

And with that and a blinding golden light, she teleported herself out of the room, leaving behind the rest of us. 


****


We didn't stay for too long after Celestia was gone since everyone had to prepare something in some way or another. Rainbow and Scootaloo, for their part, were quick to leave again after we arrived in our quarters, grabbing nothing more than a bag of bits with them. Upon me asking why they needed so many bits, Rainbow answered,

"To buy merchandise, duh!" 

Yeah, I was no expert on how Equestrian pricing worked, but taking around four hundred bits with her seemed to be a little...too much, if you ask me. But, what did I know? 

So, the two of them left, leaving me behind to prepare for whatever Celestia had planned out for us today. After brushing my hair thoroughly so that I wouldn't look like some homeless person while walking with the princess of Equestria, I grabbed some bits out of my own bag, stuffed them into my pant's pocket and made myself on the way to the throne room. And, contrary to what you may believe, I didn't even get lost on the way to the throne room!

Well, mainly because I asked a guard where I had to go to get to the throne room, and he was kind enough to escort me there. But that's beside the point!

I thanked the guard as he opened the door for me, quickly entering the big throne room and then walking over to the center of said room. It appeared that I was a little too early, as Celestia wasn't there yet. Fortunately, I only had to wait for about half a minute before Celestia also arrived, though her method was a little bit more flashy than mine.

"Hey." I said, taking a second to look her over. To my confusion, she was wearing her admittedly beautiful regal attire, even with the golden tiara atop her head. I honestly thought that she wouldn't need it because it wasn't like we were going to a political meeting or anything like. "Uh, why the attire?"

For a second, she looked confused. With one eyebrow raised, she looked down at her chest, where the golden chestplate covered part of her pristine white fur. "Oh, that?" She asked with a pointed look. "I did not even notice that I put it on. Muscle memory must be starting to get to me."

"Yeah, I know what you're talking about." I said with a knowing nod. "I check my pockets for my wallet and mobile phone every morning, even though I know that I left both of them back on earth."

"I know what a wallet is..." Celestia said, quickly giving me a questioning look. "What is a mobile phone, though?"

"Uhm..." I tapped my chin with my fingers, trying to think of a way to explain the concept of a phone, technology that seemed to be light years ahead of theirs, to her. "You guys don't have telephones, do you?"

She shook her head after a short moment of thinking. "No, I am afraid not."

"Well, then... A phone is basically a smaller, more compact and, in many ways, more useful version of a telephone." I began explaining. "A telephone lets you communicate with people from different places. You could talk to a person across the globe without as much as one second of delay." I stopped for a moment, Celestia appearing to be deeply interested in what I had to say. "A mobile phone is smaller, around the size of my hand-" I showed her my hand to give her a rough picture of how big. "-, lighter, has more functions, etcetera etcetera. You can play games on these things, hear music, surf the internet, watch movies... The list could go on for days."

Despite her apparent confusion, Celestia continued on. "So, the mobile phone is a newer telephone, correct?"

After a moment of thinking her statement through, I nodded my head. "Yes, basically."

"Fascinating..." She muttered, appearing to be deep in thought. Not for long, though, as she quickly brightened up again, shaking her head once to get her mind off of what I had told her. "You simply have to tell me more about your kind's technology later."

"Can do." I answered with a smile and a nod.

"For now, we should probably head out." She said with a small smile, turning around and motioning for me to follow her. I saw her clapping her hooves together in excitement. "Come on, William. We are going shopping!"

"I-I...uhm...do we have to?" I asked her reluctantly, still standing on the same spot as before, not daring to move forward. The prospect of going outside, out there, where those not-so-friendly noble ponies were, wasn't a really exciting one to me. But, I would've been lying if I said that it came unexpectedly. I actually did expect it, but I still hoped that she might think of something different to do in the castle. Maybe have some conversations, show me around, or something like that.

She stopped midstep and turned back around, giving me a questioning look. "Why, what is wrong with going outside? It is quite beautiful today and I think some fresh air could do us both some good. Or do you not enjoy shopping?"

"It's...it's not that..." I muttered, hesitating to tell her the truth. Why I hesitated, I don't know. Maybe because of the feeling I had somewhere back in my head that if I were to tell her the truth, I'd ruin something.

"And what is it then?" She inquired with one eyebrow raised. 

"Some ponies in this city just don't take too kindly to me."

She looked at me for a few long, awkwardly silent seconds, then suddenly hid a giggle behind one hoof. 

I raised an eyebrow in agitated confusion, getting a little annoyed that she would laugh about something like this. "What's so funny?"

"Sorry, I was not laughing at you." She quickly said with a look of sincerity on her face, stepping a little bit closer to me. "Let me guess, mainly the nobles reacted so...strongly towards you, right?" I nodded my head at her question, interested in what she had to tell me. "It is just that you are not the only one having to deal with those problems. I can assure you that some nobles in this city do not take too kindly to any other species. Some of them even react to their own species like that." 

"Or, well, to me and Luna." She finished sadly, her head dropping a little. 

"What?! To the both of you?" I asked, surprised that someone would even think about reacting to their ruler like some did in the city to me. I mean, no one in their right mind would do something like that, not even me — and she isn't even my ruler. There was just something motherly about Celestia that told me that she would care for everyone she loves, including her subjects. Maybe I was wrong in that assumption, hell, I probably was, but it just seemed like that to me. The smile she always wore, the way she looked out for me and my friends...

For some reason, seeing Celestia like this, sad that some of her subjects weren't willing to give her the love back she gave them every day, made me feel a little down too. 

"Yes, indeed." She answered somberly. "Some of them think that I and Luna simply aren't capable of ruling a country."

I shook my head in bewilderment. "That's just... That's just dumb." My face softened into a small, gentle smile - or at least what I tried to be gentle. "From what I've gathered so far, you two are probably the most capable rulers I've ever seen. I don't think that anyone back in my dimension could measure up to you two. Actually, I'm perfectly sure."

Was that... Was that a hint of red I just saw on her cheeks?

"You don't speak down to us like you were some kind of god, even though you technically are." I said, taking a split second to think over my words. She technically was a god, wasn't she? I mean, she could probably kill off all life on this planet by just pulling the sun a little closer to it. Scary thought, to be honest. I mentally shook my head in order to continue. "You don't treat the girls like they are your subject, you treat them like they are your friends. Hell, I'm an alien from another dimension that you've only known for a few weeks now and you don't treat me any different than you treat the girls."

"So, yeah, you actually are the most capable, most loving ruler I've ever had the pleasure of meeting." I finished with a small smile, nodding my head as if to confirm how sure I was about what I said.

"That's...quite flattering, William. Thank you." There it was! I did it! The blush that adorned her cheeks was a bright red, fitting her elegant white fur quite well. I got a princess to blush! Not everyone can claim something like that! "So, shall we go now? I am quite sure that no one will bother you as long as we stay together."

"I got to ask, though..." Celestia started, pausing a second to make sure she got my full attention. "How many rulers have you met?"

"None." I shrugged my shoulders. "Does it matter, though? What I said was still true."

She giggled, shaking her head at me, although I still managed to spot that faint smile of her's. "Not, it does not matter."



****



It came to no surprise to me that once we were out on the streets, all eyes were on us. An alien accompanied by one of the princesses of Equestria sure was going to raise some kind of attention. But, there was one thing that was completely different than the day before where I walked with the girls through Canterlot.

Ponies didn't even dare to say anything against me, at least not openly. 

So, all in all, it was a pretty pleasant morning. Well, besides for the cold and all the snow, of course. I wasn't too fond of the winter if you didn't know that already.

Anyways.

Something that really surprised me was that shopping jewelry, of all things, with one of the rulers of Equestria was surprisingly fun. I have to admit that the first time we walked into a store, and she asked me to help her decide which pieces she should buy, it was kinda...awkward. The kind of awkward when you go shopping with someone you, well, don't really know well. I didn't really know if it was smart to make jokes here and there, or what she really liked and what she didn't when it came to jewelry. But, that bettered. We really warmed up to each other, and really quickly at that. If I have to take a guess, I'd say it was around the time when she started joking about her own weight, and I kinda rolled with it.

Celestia and I had been out shopping, mainly jewelry but also some other things like dresses and accessories, for quite some time, maybe four hours or so, before we finally decided to do something different. After some reasoning with her, I managed to convince her that it was high time to get some lunch. It was nearing twelve o'clock, after all. Maybe a little early for lunch, but I was hungry, and hungry me couldn't have cared less.

On our search to find the perfect little café (or fast food restaurant, I honestly didn't care), we conversed about this and that, but mainly about from where I came from. About my old home's technology, whereas she told me about the Equestrian equivalents. Turns out that they didn't have that much in the points of technology, much less anything electronic. They're pretty much a medieval race, with some exceptions here and there, like the camera, but even that was powered by magic. 

But, exchanging words about technology with one of the princesses of Equestria was really fun, surprisingly enough. I thought that it would be a lot more, I don't know, strict than it already was with Twilight, but Celestia turned out to be a really fun and chilled character.

"You know, I gotta ask-" I started, looking at my princess-y companion to the side. "-where do you keep pulling out the bits for all of that jewelry?" I pointed down at the little bag I was carrying, a bag that was full of all kind of jewelry. From simple gold chains, over to expensive diamond rings - why ponies needed rings was beyond me.

Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks, right in the middle of the bustling market street. The only reason why I even realized that was because everyone made a big arch around us, as if not to come too close to the weird alien and the princess.

"...It's not from where I think it is, is it?" I asked with a nervous giggle, coming to a stop a few feet in front of her.

I looked at her from over my shoulder, right in time to catch her wink at me. "From where do you think I pull them out?"

"O-kay." I said unsurely, keeping cautious eye contact with her. "Now you're just making it weird."

With a little giggle into her hoof, Celestia motioned for me to come closer with one hoof, and then pointed at her right wing. As she unfurled it, I saw that she hid a small bag of bits behind it. How she even held it there was beyond me. 

I laughed once before I realized that there was still a small little flaw. "I'm pretty sure you can't even fit remotely as many bits in as you have already spent."

"Oh, ha-ha." Lighting up her horn, she opened it up and showed me the inside. It was completely empty, well, besides for the small portal-like bottom. At least that's what I thought it was. It was spinning and golden-glowing, alright. "See that?" She pointed a look down to the pseudo portal, which turned out to be quite real just a second later as a golden coin popped out of it.

"Ah, that actually makes sense."

"I have not spent that much...right?" She asked insecurely, biting her lip.

"Nah, you're good." I jiggled the bag in my left hand, feeling it's heaviness throwing me off balance a little. How the plastic bag managed to survive the weight was another thing I couldn't explain to myself. Probably some kind of magic. "Uh, I think."

"I can still carry that bag, Will." She said as we resumed walking. "I have magic, you do not."

"And I got this here." I said, pointing a finger at the arm that was busy carrying the bag. "Besides, how do you plan on shopping with this bag constantly annoying you?"

"Fair point."

"That was a joke."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Sooo..." She started after a few seconds of awkward silence. "What do you think of Equestria so far?"

"Well, it's better than Earth, that much is sure." I laughed dryly. "At least you ponies are not constantly trying to kill each other."

"There has not been a real conflict since over a thousand years if you do not count the Changeling invasion and Discord. So yes, we are indeed trying our best." Celestia stated with a hint of proudness in her voice. "When did your race fight the last war?"

"When? It's probably still going." I said somberly, making Celestia actually stop dead in her tracks. "Yeah, we humans have a pretty interesting way of living. I can assure you that there was not one single century back on earth where there hasn't been a war where at least a few hundred thousand have lost their lives."

"A few hundred thousand? You say it like that is nothing..." Celestia stated, audibly shocked as she resumed walking. "I know from Twilight that your species is incredibly high developed in the field of technology and that there are over seven billion of you... But she left that part out."

"Yeah, which was probably for the better." I said with a slow, calculated nod. "You don't really want to hear more, believe me. It would probably only make me look worse."

"Will, I do not think that there is any way you can change my opinion of you with something others of your species are doing." Celestia said with a genuine smile to me. "You have proven to be one of the most fun and charming beings I have met in a very, very long time. So, do not worry."

"Jeez, that's really sweet of you to say." I said with, if you looked really closely and squinted your eyes, could've maybe looked a little like a blush. Just maybe. I rubbed the back of my head. "But still, let's better change the topic. I don't really like to talk about mass murder. Ask me something else."

"Yes, let us better." She hummed in thought, glancing at my chest for a short second. "What I wanted to ask you since the day I met you was why you cover yourself with clothing? It is kind of..., excuse me, weird."

"Eh, we humans don't really do naked like you ponies do." I shrugged. "Clothes help us keep us warm since we don't have any fur and all that. They also protect our really sensitive skin. Plus, it's kinda a social thing. You just don't go around waving your junk at other people." 

"At least most people don't do that." I added after a second of thought. "There are some...uh, weird exceptions."

Fuckin' weird nudists.

"So, you wear clothes to mainly protect yourself from nature and hide your anatomy" She noted, but suddenly blushed. If she was anything like Twilight, I already had a hint on what was coming next. "So, your people don't have a sh-"

"Celestia, no." I cut her off firmly. If I would've let her end her sentence, we sure would've gotten more attention than we were already getting. One of the last things I wanted to have was attention. "No anatomy lessons. No comparing me to a stallion. None of that. We don't talk about that."

Alright, I may have said that a little bit too loud. I was able to feel the gaze of at least half the street on the back of my head. Maybe, I hoped, the reason actually was because I was me and not because they heard what I said.

"Fair enough." She huffed, blush growing warmer before she finally got it under control. "Anyways, Twilight told me that your species if normally unable to conjure any kind of magic. That is true, right?"

"Yep."

"And that there is no form of magic on your world?"

"That's right."

"What I am wondering myself now is, how was your species able to develop to such a high-advanced one?" Celestia questioned with a slight tilt of her head. "No offense, but you do not really look that strong."

I raised an eyebrow. "Did you just call me weak?"

"I did not!" She quickly said, trying to defuse the situation as quickly as possible. "I was merely asking-"

"Celestia, jeez." I said with a chuckle. "I was just messing with you."

She furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance.

"As for how we did it...I can't exactly tell you, to be honest." I shrugged. "My best guess is that, aside from the fact that we humans can really adapt well, there was probably a lot of luck involved. I mean, you wanna know how we humans discovered fire? How we learned that we could cook our food with it?"

"How?"

"Through a lightning storm that set afire some trees." I said with a small chuckle, right when we were rounding a corner. "Like I said, sheer luck that we got this far."

"While we are talking about food..." She said, suddenly stopping before pointing at something to our left. Following her hoof with my eyes, I saw that we pretty much stood in front of a rather small, pretty modern-looking café. After looking at the sign above the café, I frowned. 

"StarBUCKS...?" I asked with a small waver in my voice, followed by a groan. They even wrote 'bucks' in bold letters. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Is something wrong with it, Will?" Celestia tilted her head at me, rather cutely I might add. "This is one of my favourite cafés in Canterlot."

"Ignoring the fact that we have a coffeehouse chain with the same name back on Earth..." I gestured at the sign with both of my hands. "They made their café a freakin' pun!"

"A pun in which-" Realization dawned on her face. "Oh... I see." She quickly shook her head, gathering her thoughts. "That does not matter, though. This establishment, I can assure you, is quite good."

She headed for the door leading into the pun, motioning for me to follow her over her back once she stood in front of it. After a few short seconds of hesitation, contemplating life as the bad pun-name still made my brain melt a little, I swiftly followed her into that hell-hole of a café. It was a hard decision, but I was rather going in there than standing alone outside on the streets, without the protection of a princess. I sure didn't want to get lynched that day.
> Chapter Thirty-Six - ? (Canterlot Part 3)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hello and welcome to Starbucks, princess." A white-coated mare with a black mane, clothed in a matching black tuxedo, standing in front of our little round table greeted, taking a split second to give Celestia a sincere smile. "A pleasure to welcome you back. How are you?" 

Celestia smiled genuinely at the white mare. "Oh hello, Serene. I'm good, thank you. How are the little ones?"

The mare gave a small chuckle at that, waving her hoof dismissively. "Same old, same old. Just being their usual exhausting selves."

"If you ever need a bit of time for yourself, do remember that I definitely could make up some time to watch them." Celestia said with a gentle smile, although her worry for the mare was clearly evident.

"I appreciate it, but please, we both know that you have too much to do to watch the little rascals." Serene said. In an obvious attempt to change the topic real quick, she gave me a pointed look. "Anyways, who might your lovely companion here be?"

"Oh sorry, how rude of me." Celestia said with a small laugh. "Serene, let me introduce you to William. William, Serene White."

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. William." Serene White said, giving me a pleasant smile.

I was taken aback for a second. She actually seemed friendly, and sincerely at that. Sure, that might've been because I was in Celestia's company, but it actually seemed completely sincere.

"It's nice to meet you too, Serene White. And please, just call me Will." I said with a smile.

"In that case, call me Serene too."

"Anyways, enough talking. You two must be starving." Fishing out a pen and a piece of paper out of one of her sidepockets, she asked, "What might it be for today?"

Celestia gave me a look that asked if I wanted to go first, but since I didn't even have any time to take a look at one of the menu cards, I just gave her a shrug. "Yes, I would like to have a coffee and a piece of the vanilla cake, please."

"And for you, Will?"

"I'll just have the same, please."

Quickly scribbling down our order, she gave us a small smile, "I'll get it to you in a few minutes."

"Thank you, Serene." Celestia said with a small smile. 

She gave Celestia a nod before leaving us to ourselves again.

"She is nice." I said, leaning onto my elbows and nodding my head at the retreating mare. "How do you know her?"

"She was one of my guards a while ago." Celestia answered, leaning back in her chair to make herself more comfortable. "She was really good too. One of the best personal guards I've ever had."

"A guard, huh?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. The small, middle-aged mare didn't look like someone you'd imagine wearing armor. She might not have had the body of a guard, but there was in fact something about the white mare that made me believe Celestia. "Why did she quit?"

Celestia looked sadly at the mare who was busy scribbling down another order for a couple at the other end of the café. "Her husband passed away shortly after her two foals were born. She had to quit to care for them."

"I...god. That is rough..." I replied, leaning back into my seat again. "She must be a strong mare to be a single parent and work at a café." I gave a little laugh. "I'm already overwhelmed with just being a single parent."

"Will, from what I've seen so far you're doing a great job." She assured me. "Just know that if you ever need any kind of help or advice, do let me know."

"Thank you, Celestia."

We lapsed into a bit of silence after that, both of us just enjoying the café cozy, homey vibe. As I was looking around the room, I took notice of some of the patrons stares that were directed at the two of us, but at that point, I didn't care about them anymore. I was fine with being started at. What I was afraid of were ponies trying to confront me, but being with Celestia all day has taught me that even if they stared at us, none of them would dare to actually bother us. The perks of having a princess with you.

After just a few minutes, our two orders arrived, brought to us again by Serene. After thanking her and finishing up the delicious cake and what was probably the best coffee I've had in years, we left a hefty tip each for Serene and went on our way again.


****


"So, what do you want to do now?" I asked Celestia, looking around the busy market street. We wandered into the market district by pure chance, after just strolling around and chatting to each other for what felt like just minutes but was probably more around an hour or two.

Celestia stood still and hummed in response, her eyes wandering around the narrow but busy street. There were several stalls run by ponies, but also one or two run by griffons and yaks. Some of them sold things from their respective countries, like exotic fruits and even furniture, others sold vegetables or clothes. It reminded me of weekend markets back on earth, just a lot busier and more diverse.

Suddenly, her ears perked up in that oh-so-adorable way I've come to love from these ponies and she pointed a hoof at a stall excitedly. "What do you think?" She asked me as I followed her hoof.

"Oh hell no."

She plumped down on the ground, pouting up at me, her eyes suddenly bigger than they have any right to be and glistening slightly. "Pwease?" She asked, her lips quivering slightly and her hoof pointing insistingly at the stall.

"Don't you pull that on me." I said with a huff of annoyance. "I have a daughter, it doesn't work on me!"

Her eyes got a little bit wetter and she inched a bit closer. "Pweaaaaase?"

Looking around, I realized that fortunately, everyone else seemed to be minding their own and didn't pay much mind to the princess of their country sitting before me like some puppy, begging for treats. Or maybe they did and just didn't dare to pay us any mind. Anyways, this was getting more awkward the more time went one.
There was a long moment of silence, before I finally sighed, my shoulders slumping in defeat. "Fine..."

She clasped her hooves together excitedly like Scootaloo sometimes did when she was allowed to take a cookie out of the cookie jar at my home. She stood up suddenly and motioned me to follow her with a big, triumphant smile on her face.

"Follow me, dear William!"

I sighed again, grumbling the sign above the stall she was heading to under my breath. "Griffon's best Hooficure and Taloncure - Get Your Limbs Beautied Up!" With a shake of my head, I asked myself, "Why is that even a thing?"

Following after that white devil to the counter of the stall, which was run by a lean, female-looking griffon, I saw them already chatting with each other. It was a rather small stall, with only a counter with a register on it, a chair behind it on which the griffon sat and two more seats with trays mounted to them in the back of the stall. She did make most out of the space she had, some small shelves placed next to the counter, filled with various oils and tools that looked pretty expensive. The two wooden chairs where the griffon probably worked her magic looked like the ones you'd find at a dentist back home, only a lot smaller and jankier. I'd be surprised if the chairs actually managed to not collapse under mine or Celestia's weight.

"-nice suprise to see you here, my princess!" I heard the griffon say in a high-pitched tone as I finally stood beside Celestia. Her eyes wandered over to me, and a questioning look plastered across her face. She looked me up and down, before she smiled at me cheekily and ruffled her large, brown wings. The tone in her voice dropped a few notches. "And who you might be, stunning fella?"

With the weird look she was giving me, I was feeling a different kind of uncomfortable.  "Uh, William's the name." I said unsurely, not knowing how to deal with the griffoness' weird behaviour.

She extended her talon over the counter, offering me it. "I'm Helena. Nice to meet you William dear."  Her tongue darted out, almost like she was licking her beak. "Never seen anything quite like you 'round here."

I extended my hand and took her clawed-one, feeling the tips of her sharp, rough talons poking into my hand a bit. She gave my hand a firm squeeze before letting go and giving me one last look. I smiled uneasily in response. She then looked back over to Celestia, that smile from before she laid eyes on me back on her face. "What may I help you two with today?"

Celestia's smile brightened, pulling me closer to her with one hoof. "We would like to try out your services. I believe William here could definitely get those claws of his prettied up." She unhooked her hoof from me and presented it to Helena. "And mine do need some care too, if you wouldn't mind?"

I pointed a finger up. "Do I get a say in this?"

"No." Both Helena and Celestia said simultaneously, although the griffoness now had an almost predatory look on her face.

I deflated. "Fuck me..."


****


You know, I would've never believed before that I was going to get a manicure ever in my life. But it happened.

Was I happy about it?

No, definitely not. 

Was it relaxing?

No, definitely not. Especially not with how the griffon was working, filing my nails like they were some piece of stone that needed to be smoothed out. Additionally, the chair was so small, it felt like I was going to have a cramp any second.

Was it worth seeing Celestia happy?

Unfortunately, yes.

She looked so content, just sitting here in that small chair of hers, a big, almost dopey smile on her face as Helena was working her magic on her hooves, rubbing them with some kind of oil to make them shine and glisten in the faint sun.

Fortunately, I talked myself out of having to paint my nails too, even though Celestia insisted on me getting the full program. 'yellow would go great with your hair' she said...
To be fair, I wouldn't have minded walking around with painted nails that much. What I did mind was Rainbow making fun of me - and she would've had a blast!

At least I did get pretty smooth fingernails out of what felt like torture to me, so there's that. The griffon definitely did a great job.

"Alright princess, we'll just let the oil soak in a bit and then I'll be back to do the last step." The griffoness said, gently covering the last bit of Celestia's front left hoof in that shiny oil. She put away the paintbrush she's been using to apply the oil back into a bucket and grabbed the bucket with her taloned hand, "I'll check back in shortly."

Celestia leaned her head back in the chair, a hum of content leaving her, "Yes, that'll be fine. Thank you."

Helene gave us another smile before turning around and heading back to the stall's front, rummaging around in the various shelves and stowing away the tools she been using on us. 

"So, are you happy now?" I asked Celestia, looking back at her relaxed form sitting beside me.

"Yes, that I am." She said, closing her eyes, faint smile never leaving her face.

I raised an eyebrow at the display. "Didn't know that getting your hooves done feels that good."

"It's just not that it feels good, dear William." She started explaining, opening her eyes and turning her head to look over at me. "It's knowing that I have a bit of peace in between my week. A bit of time I can devote to myself, to make myself feel good. It is sadly not something I get to do often these days."

"You know, I always thought you looked like you could use a bit of calm." I said with a small smile. "And from what the girls always tell me, you and Luna are too busy for your own good."

She smiled, the genuine warm smile almost melting my heart. Even though she's millenniums older than me and an experienced ruler, she was one of those ponies you just wanted to hug to death sometimes. She was too cute for her own good sometimes. "William, I'm glad you chose to accompany me. Thank you, really. I can see why Rainbow adores you so much."

"It's no problem, really. I really enjoy spending time with you, Celestia." I rubbed the back of my head. "And Rainbow's been such a good friend too, even though she can be a huge pain in the ass sometimes."

"Yes, she does seem a bit brazen." She stopped, looking back over to the now less-busy market street, almost as if in thought. She was silent for a while, just looking over at her subjects going about their day. Parents with their foals, carrying grocery bags over their backs, stall owners smiling at their customers, handing over their wares and waving them goodbye. I picked up the sound of laughter and conversation, ponies chatting to each other about this and that. A charming place for sure, made all the better by the openness and friendliness of ponykind.

In that moment, I was so glad I decided to take Celestia up on her offer. When I said I enjoy spending time with her, I really meant it. She was such a pleasant, funny and friendly pony.

After another few seconds of silence, she broke it with a sigh. "William, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"What do you think of Rainbow?"

Blinking, I looked over at her. Her face was still glued to the street before us, although I could still hear the tone she was using. It sounded more serious, more... like her princess self. She went from completely relaxed to serious in all but twelve words.

Nonetheless, I rubbed the back of my head, thinking her question through for just a moment. What surprised me was how long it took me to finally come up with an answer, my mind trying to find the right words in that sudden maze I was finding myself in. "I... Honestly, she's the best friend I have and probably ever had." Another pause, trying to look for the right words that expressed my gratitude for the pegasus. "I'll never be able to repay her for everything she did to help me and Scoots."

Celestia hummed again, a hum I've come to know from her. She was digesting what I said, mulling it through. She looked back at me, our eyes meeting. For once, I didn't know what that look on her face was. It wasn't a smile, it wasn't a frown. It was neutral, unreadable.

"William, have you ever wondered why Rainbow clings to you? Why she is always there for you?"

Clings? I didn't like that word. She didn't cling to me, she just enjoyed mine and Scoots company a lot. I knew her, even if she would never admit it to me.

"Because we're friends, of course." I answered, not correcting her on her choice of words. "That's what friends do, as stupid as it sounds. I would be always there for you, Luna, Twilight or any of the others."

"Yes, that is true. I would do the same in a heartbeat." Celestia said, looking down at her front hoof. "But have you never really wondered why she is always close to you?"

I raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"When you're as old as I am, you tend to see the subtle things in ponies' behavior more. It is a curse and a blessing, really."

After another short silence, I sighed. "I mean, sure, she is always close by, but so is Scoots. Where Scoots is, there is Rainbow. If it wasn't for the age and coat difference, they could be twins sometimes."

Another round of silence is what followed, Celestia seemingly trying to think of something. "But did you ever notice anything special about her behavior towards you especially? Even if it is just small things?"

At this point, I had no idea what she was on about. She was honestly confusing me more and more. Was she just interested in knowing how close we were? It was no secret, really. She let on as much. Nonetheless, I played along with her little questioning. "You promise not to tell her?"

"I solemnly swear." Celestia promised, moving to put a hoof to her chest before fortunately realizing it would've only ended messily for her. Instead, she let it hover over her chest, which was close enough for me. 

"Good, because she'll strangle me when she hears I told you of all people about this." I gave a little chuckle, one matched by Celestia. "She does seem to like to cuddle up a lot to me and Scoots. But that's pretty normal, considering you ponies seem to be a whole lot more affectionate towards each other than we humans are."

Celestia gave me a look, encouraging me to tell her more.

"...It was a bit weird at first, quite frankly. I got used to it quickly though." I shrugged my shoulders. "It's a lot like cuddling with a big, breathing teddy bear. Although teddy bears don't shed quite as much fur as Rainbow does." I shuddered. "Waking up with a mouthful of fur really isn't pleasant, I assure you."

I gave another shrug. "But apart from that, I can't really tell you anything else. She acts a bit weird sometimes, but that's just her being her. Even though she may act all tough and strong, she really is just a big cutie under that blue fur of hers."

Celestia sighed, shaking her head slowly, almost as if disappointed. "William, take no offense, but you're as dense as a changeling drone concerning this."

I was off-put for a moment, not knowing how to respond. Did the princess of Equestria seriously just call me stupid? Besides that, I didn't even know what a changeling looked like or how stupid they were, but I imagine if she said it like that, it wasn't something to be taken lightly. 

What puzzled me more was the reason why she was suddenly calling me dense. "What do you mean?"

"William, I really should not be the one to tell you." She said, giving me a small smile. "If I were you, I would talk to Rainbow about how she feels towards you."

It clicked, but it didn't make sense. My heart sped up a bit. She couldn't be..."Are you implying what I think you're impl-"

"That, my dear friend, is for you to find out." She said, cutting me off. "I am merely suggesting you talk to Rainbow about certain behavioral patterns."

I blinked. She couldn't mean what I think she was talking about. No way. Rainbow was a really good friend, the best one I ever had. But more than that? 

"Do you mean-"

She shushed me, her expression telling me to drop it. But how could I? She just dropped that ball on me, and expected me not to ask questions?

Telling me things like Rainbow actually liking me more than just a friend?

Was that why she always was so close to me? Is that why when she was around me, she seemed like a different pony sometimes? If she was human, I would've said yes immediately. It would've been the only logical reasoning.
But she wasn't human. She was a pony. It's normal for ponies to show more affection, even to the extent of cuddling with their friends. That's what Twilight told me, didn't she?

Did she? I can't remember. What if she didn't say that and I've been missing hints for the whole time?

It was obvious, but then again, it wasn't. Sometimes, we overthink things. Maybe that's what Celestia was doing too. Overthinking.

I felt nauseous. It wasn't that I was disgusted, sad or angry. I was confused more than anything, but why did my heart feel like it was trying its best to burst every single vein in my body? I only ever felt this kind of anxiety when I was in danger.

Maybe it was the thought of talking to Rainbow about what I was just indirectly told - or not told. 
I knew she wouldn't be appreciative of starting conversations like this. No one really is. They're weird and they make everyone involved uncomfortable. Rainbow though? She never was the kind of pony to talk to anyone about her feelings. Twilight, Applejack and even Pinkie told me as much.

Maybe talking to her would even ruin my friendship with her.

And then there's the whole little detail with her being another, completely different species. Was there even a way to that we could be attracted to each other? Sure, ponies were cute - almost like little puppies. But to see them as more than that?

I felt like the quite delicious cake I had earlier was trying to escape my stomach the wrong way. 

I gulped. My heart started beating faster.

Celestia, even though it may not have been her intention, might have just created something really bad. Something I didn't know how to handle. But that wasn't her fault, it was mine for not knowing how to handle it. 

But deep down, somewhere in my gut, there was a feeling. It was what was making me feel nauseous. 

"Sorry to disturb you-" Helene, the griffoness, started, giving us both a warm smile as she apparently appeared out of thin air. I was too far away from this world to even notice her coming back over. "-but I will have to clean the rest of the oil off so it doesn't stain your hooves, princess."

Celestia, almost as if sensing my general unease, gave me one last reassuring, motherly smile before turning to look at Helene. "Yes, of course. Wouldn't want that."

While Helene was cleaning off the residue of hoof oil, I was mulling everything over. Every little interaction with Rainbow, every subtle sign I could remember - just like Celestia asked me to.

"Celestia, would you mind if we went back to the castle after we're done here?"