> The Time
>  by ADRNEL
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter XL~The First Year~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adam, the human, opened the bedroom window to reveal a bright and sunny summer day. He leaned out of the opening and breathed in the fresh warm air. It was another beautiful day in Equestria. With a smile he rushed back inside, showered, changed into new clothes and ate his light breakfast of bread with jam before happily leaving his home to make his way into Ponyville. 

"Little town, it's a quiet village, everyday like the one before, little town, full of little ponies, waking up to say..." he hummed to himself as he happily reached town. 

"Good morning!" "Hello!" "Hi!" all the ponies would say to the human as they walked past him, going about their morning routines. With a smile Adam walked down the main street of the village.

He walked up to the bakery and gleefully walked in. "Good morning Miss Belle." Adam greeted. "I can smell your new batch of sweetbread already." he said while he looked around. 

"Good morning Mr. Gray." greeted the mare as she walked in with a tray of freshly baked bread. "Hot off the oven." she explained. 

"Great, I'll take a loaf." Adam threw her a bit for the bread.

He soon walked out of the bakery carrying the bread that is wrapped in cloth, as he left he silently greeted Big Mac who entered the shop as Adam left. Mac silently greeted in return. 

Today, Adam had a much more pronounced spring in his step than usual, since today was the day he was finally going to ask his true love the most important question of her life, "will you take my hand in marriage?" he rehearsed to himself. 

He soon arrived at the local farmer's market and bought the best produce he could find since tonight he's cooking his fiance to be dinner. "Howdy Adam!" yelled a friendly voice. 

Adam turned and smiled to see Apple Bloom with her big sister Applejack at their apple stand. "Good morning Apple clan." he greeted. "How's business?"

"Goin' good as usual." said Applejack. "Interested in buyin' an apple on the house?" she asked. 

"Don't mind if I do." the human grinned as he took one and ate. "Wish me luck tonight." he said before walking off to complete his errands for that day.

"Ah'm sure she'll say yes Adam!" yelled Applejack with a chuckle. As the human walked away, Applejack saw  Rainbow Dash walk up to the stand. "Mornin' Dash." she greeted. 

"Uh...have you seen Big Mac anywhere?" Dash asked nervously and with slight shame. She was at least glad that Applejack had yet to figure out that it her older brother now has a foal he did not know of. 

"Why do ya want to know?" asked Applejack with suspicion. She never really trusted Dash to keep her animal-like urges in check around her older brother, she never understood why mares acted strange around him sometimes. 

"Just that he's usually here helping you selling your apple and apple accessories at around this time and all..." she trailed off. 

"He's picking up his date Sugar Belle at the bakery to go on a walk and-"

"DATE?! WHO?!" Dash exclaimed in total shock. 

"The new baker in town from Starlight's village that we met a year ago, why do you-" before Applejack could complete her inquiry, Dash bolted away as fast as she could to the bakery. 

She reached the bakery and barged inside, completely ignoring the 'closed' sign on the door. "MAC! WE NEED TO TALK-" she was swiftly interrupted by the sounds of moans and bodies slapping together. Dash quietly peered into the back room of the building to see a sight that completely shattered her heart. "Mac..." she whispered with pain. "...no..." she quickly turned away and ran out of the building, the two ponies inside never noticed her presence. 





"Rise and shine Twilight!" chimed Spike as he pulled open the window shades. The bright sun illuminated the entire room, which caused Twilight to give a hiss and reflexively hide under her bed sheets. Spike rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Twilight, you've been spending more and more time in here lately, when are you actually going to... you know... leave this room?" 

"Maybe I deserve to be a shut-in, die all alone with nothing but my books to keep me company until they one day fall on top of me and crush me to death and no one will notice I'm gone until-" 

"TWILIGHT!" Spike yelled, disappointed by her latest attitude. "Stop it!"

The mare peeked from under her covers. She gave a sigh of shame. "Sorry for being so dark back there, I just... wonder what's the point of it all..." she sighed as she slowly got off of her bed. "The only two destinies I've ever known are pointless now... Celestia's gone... Adam chose someone else... there's nothing for me left."

Spike went up to the mare with concern. "You should be proud of him-"

"THEN WHY CAN'T I?!" Twilight snapped. "Every time I see him with HER I feel a piece of me die!" she complained. "I lived and died COUNTLESS times for him and with him! Every single life I lived involved him in some way, the universe wanted US to be together, NOT him and Fluttershy!" 

"But that was HIS choice to make, he could've chosen you, but he chose Fluttershy, it was his choice, and there's nothing that could change that." Spike explained. "It's not like you can force him to like you." he explained. Just as he finished the sentence, he suddenly belched out green flames along with a newly materialized letter. "Ugh..." 

The mare quickly took the letter with her magic and opened it to see it was a message from Princess Luna. What she read completely stunned her. "Oh no..."





Adam arrived back at his home just after lunch, plenty of time to prep the kitchen and house for his romantic dinner that night. He walked inside while he carried his bags full of groceries and proceeded into the living room only to see a surprising sight; the Bloodstone scepter on the living room coffee table. "How did you get here?" he looked at it with confusion. "Maybe Ember left it here, but how did she get in? I always make sure to leave everything locked and closed when I'm out?" he carefully picked up, memories of the last time he used it came to him. 

Ember offered him the scepter to wield for beating her in a fight, but he turned it down, he felt that he did not deserve to wield such power, but the thoughts of 'what if' flooded his mind as he playfully began to twirl it around in his hand. "Adam Gray, Lord of the Dragons, kind of has a nice ring to it." he mused to himself. "Having all the dragons in the land under your beck and call, I can see why so many seek such a power." he took the scepter and placed it in his coat closet next to the front door. "I'll have to write Ember a letter and tell her I have it, she must be looking for it." as soon as he closed the closet door, the red gemstone began glow. 





Twilight and Spike were lead by Princess Luna down into the dungeons of the currently under-construction new Canterlot castle. It structure was still far from completion but it was at least livable considering that the Princess moved in just over a month ago and even held a gala, despite the ballroom's lack of roof. 

"Adam is defiantly not going to like this..." mumbled Twilight.

"But I have no choice young Twilight, Fluttershy's revival completely expunged her murder charge, and her last remaining charge was only enough to hold for ten years with the possibility of parole, and yesterday, the parole board recommended her release to be sent to rehabilitation." explained Luna.

"But-"

"Look, I don't like it either, but those are the rules me and my sister placed, and there's nothing I can do to change it, least risk starting a political crisis in such uncertain times." she explained as they reached the last cell in the corridor. Luna inserted her horn into the lock next to the cell to retract the bars. The princess then went into the cell. "Starlight Glimmer..." she began as she witnessed an eager pink unicorn mare. "...you are free to go." those words made the mare smile even more.

"Under terms of your parole and rehabilitation," began Luna as Starlight was being processed. "you are banned from utilizing advanced spells until Twilight and myself deem you trustworthy to do so, you are not allowed to be no more than one mile away from Ponyville, or, if outside Ponyville, no more than one mile away from Twilight." she continued as guards strapped a black collar around her neck. "And I'll personally be visiting you once every two weeks to check on your progress, any questions?"

Starlight looked at the collar. "Is this really necessary?" she asked. 

"You want to be free or not?" Luna responded. 

The mare just gave an annoyed sigh. 

"Good." she said. "And don't bother trying to remove it, only my magic can do so, and should you ever attempt to tamper with it, leave the set boundaries or use an advanced spell, it will choke you." she warned. "And it won't stop choking until you either stop doing whatever it is you were doing, or you die." Starlight just nervously nodded. Luna turned to Twilight and Spike. "She's all yours now." before she left to take care of other business.

Twilight angrily leered at Starlight. "You know," the pink mare began. "I wasn't expecting to be stuck with you when I was going to be released."

"Neither did I..." Twilight said. Now she was wondering how Fluttershy and Adam would take this unfortunate news.





Rainbow Dash walked into Carousel Boutique completely dejected. A purple baby foal with hair that is different shades of yellow, happily flying around, having fun and did not care that he was causing damage with his flying. A haggard Rarity ran around in panic behind him, trying to capture him. "HOLD STILL!" she yelled. 

At the moment, Dash did not care that her three month old foal was already flying around. Might as well let him enjoy it while it lasted since he'll probably temporarily loose the ability once he experience his first molting in a few months. She sat down on a nearby couch, completely exhausted and depressed.

Eventually, Rarity was able to catch the little foal and swaddled him in a blanket tightly. "There, now you won't be able to get away." Rarity said relieved. She went over to Dash and gave her the foal. "So Dash, did you manage to tell Mac about little Zap?" she asked as Dash began to gently rock her foal to get him to sleep.

"Why should I? He's off with some other random mare now." she admitted with disgust. "Telling him is a waste of time."

"But he has to know, it's his son!" Rarity urged. "Zap needs a father!"

"It's bad enough I already disappointed the Wonderbolts and my parents, I don't need any more pressure right now!" she snapped back. "My life is completely ruined okay? So get off my back!"

Rarity was stunned. "Don't you dare yell at me for your mistakes!" she snarled. "You and I both know that you can't raise this foal by yourself! So what's it going to be?" she asked. 

Dash looked down at her sleeping son in her forelegs and sighed with shame. 





That night at Adam's house, candles lit the entire dinning room in a romantic glow and the table was filled with dirty and used plates, freshly eaten off of. From the living room, emanated several chuckles and moans as the couple made-out with each other on the couch. Fluttershy on the human's lap, her forelegs wrapped around her lover's neck as they kissed each other passionately. Both slightly buzzed from the wine they drank a few minutes ago. 

The human playfully reached down and squuezed the mare's rump hard. The pegasus gave a cute squeel in response. "Oh my," she blushed. "is my human frisky I'm guessing?" she playfully responded. 

Adam smirked. "You know I get frisky whenever we're alone." he said, grabbing her other rump. "But can I ask you question first before we get to the fun part?" he asked.

The mare was a bit confused, but went along with it. "Sure ask away." 

The human brushed away her long pink mane from her right eye so he can stare into those turquoise eyes as he asked. "Fluttershy..." he began, brushing her mane with his hand. "...will you be willing to spend the rest of my life with me..." he smiled. "...as husband and wife?"

The mare's eyes brightened with pure joy, she always dreamed of setting down and being a good wife. "Why of course my love, I will gladly be your wife!" she exclaimed with happiness and glee. 

Adam was also glad. "Great, but unfortunately, the ring is back in the dinning room, and I don't want to get up and ruin this illicit fun we're doing." he blushed with embarrassment. 

Fluttershy placed her hoof on his lips. "I understand, me neither." she gave a sultry smile. "Now, mind if you can so kindly..." she licked her lips. "...fuck...your fiance," she then teasingly placed her hoof between her legs. "it's been so long since you did..." she cooed.

"Uh...it's only been three days." he chuckled. He found it endearing that the mare he loved was showing a hidden side to her that only he was allowed to see, a hidden, frisky side. 

"Like I said...so long since you did." she repeated matter-of-factually. 

"As you wish m'lady." he smiled as he lied her down on her back on the couch and got on top. He then spread open her hind legs to reveal her glistening and occasionally winking opening. He reached down and kissed her on her lips, then slowly descended down her body from there, making a trail of kisses down her neck, chest, stomach, hips, slowly inching ever closer to the ultimate destination. The mare cooing and moaning with each kiss. 

He was just about to reach the send, so close that he could smell her sweet scent of arousal, but was swiftly interrupted by a knock on the front door. "Damn it!" he cursed under his breath with frustration. "Hold on for a minute my love, probably a salespony or something." he got up and left the room, leaving Fluttershy on the couch. 

He opened the front door to reveal Twilight. "Twi?" he said with surprise.

"I kind of have something of great importance to tell you Adam, may I come in?" she asked with slight impatience. 

Adam looked over to the living room only to see Fluttershy impatiently rubbing herself. He blushed and turned his attention back to the mare at his front door. "Mind making this quick? I kind of have company right now." he whispered so Fluttershy would not overhear the conversation and worry. 

The unicorn knew what he meant by "company", he was with HER, the mare Adam chose over Twilight. She suddenly felt like she was intruding on something important. "You know what, I'll just tell you tomorrow when you're less busy, it can wait." she lied, trying to put up a face of contentment. "It's late enough as is." she sheepishly said as she turned to leave, hiding her frustration and jealousy. 

"Are you sure?" Adam asked suspiciously. 

"Yes, yes, I'm sure, it's okay." she reassured, her face began to falter. 

The human would normally probe further, but he had a clearly needy pegasus mare to attend to. "Okay then, night Twi, see you tomorrow" he smiled at her before he closed the door. 

"Good night...Adam." she said. "I love you..." she added under her breath before she sighed. She went over to the living room to see what was going on, and with what little she could see through the drawn curtains, she saw her pegasus friend enjoy on of the most great and rare pleasures she has ever encountered; Adam's fingers and tongue working their magic in harmony. She then looked away with anger, her jealously building. A tear fell down her cheek but she quickly brushed it away. "That should've been me..." she said to herself. Twilight walked back to the library in complete heartbreak.





In the library basement, Starlight paced around the room near her cot, angrily talking to herself. "That human is going to pay for humiliating me! I'll make sure of it!" she snarled to herself. "But how can I without risking death?" she asked herself. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of Twilight walking into the library upstairs. She could hear Twilight slowly shuffled her way up the stairs, presumably up to her bedroom. She then heard sounds of sobbing. "Huh?" Starlight was intrigued, she looked up to see that she could hear everything clearly in Twilight's room thanks to a ventilation shaft. She quickly leaned up the wall and perked her eyes up. 

"Twilight? What's wrong?" asked a concerned Spike to the mare. He climbed up on the bed and rubbed the mare's back to comfort her. 

"Nothing Spike, just the cold knife in my heart being plunged further down." she said through her tears with venom. "I'm used to it."

"Twi, you need to move on already, please, he's not coming back to you, he made his choice, why can't you accept that?" the dragon urged her. 

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I WENT THROUGH!" Twilight suddenly yelled in anger, shoving Spike off the bed. "And you'll never know!" referencing what she experienced long ago. "You'll never know what it's like to live thousands upon thousands of different lives and falling in love with the same man thousands upon thousands of times!" she continued. Spike was stunned into silence. "If I could FORCE him to fall in love with me, I would, and the only reason I don't is because it'll turn me into another Starlight Glimmer..." she explained. 

Starlight, in the basement, heard it all clearly. A devious plan was hatched in her mind. "Oh Twilight, my naive little bitch, I have deep suspicion that you secretly fantasize doing what I did to your monkey sex toy." she gloated evilly. "I have I feeling that once I earn your trust, you will be begging me to show you my ways." The pink coated unicorn thought back to the countless times she successfully forced herself on him. "And it's perfect because she'll be so focused on the human, that she won't be able to stop my goal in bringing true equality to Equestria." she smirked. 





The next morning, Adam was in the shower happily humming to himself after another amazing night with Fluttershy who left a few minutes ago to tend to an badly injured squirrel she found yesterday. He found her love for animals quite endearing actually. He turned off the water and dried himself off. But once he wiped the fog off the bathroom mirror he noticed some age lines start to develop on his forehead. He was not too surprised since he's 36 years old now, middle age around the corner. 

He just shrugged it off, maybe he just never noticed until now, besides, he had stuff to do today. He put on his clothes and ate a quick breakfast. But before he left, he remembered that he left something in his coat closet yesterday; the Bloodstone scepter. He opened the door to see that it was still there were he left it. He picked it up to analyze it. "Ember must be looking for you." he mused. He then thought back to the Dragon Lord, how tough she was, how cunning she was, how extremely alluring she was with those nice curves and swaying hips. "Probably very worried..." he said as his eyes turned red. "...and willing to submit to me in order to get it back..." he said in a suddenly husky voice. He twirled the scepter around as it began to glow. "...make her my prized collection in my great horde..." he continued. 

He suddenly began to move the scepter in ways he never knew he could do, as if he was a trained warrior with a staff. "...a shall make females like her part of my horde...a horde fit for a great Dragon Lord like myself." he smirked evilly. Suddenly, the grandfather clock by the front door rang loudly to announce that it was 10 o'clock. This caused Adam to snap out of his momentary trance, and the staff to drop to the floor. "Oh crud, I have to get going, Twilight wants to see me." he quickly placed the scepter back into the coat closet and ran out of the house, he never once realized that he broke free from a trance.





In the dragon lands, a giant dragon relaxed in his cave, gorging on his extremely immense hoard of gemstones. He greatly enjoyed his new found freedom of responsibility as he reclined back and continued to devour his meal. 

“Father?” said a female voice. The large dragon looked down to a much smaller blue female dragon walk into his domain; his daughter.

“Ember?” he was pleasantly surprised to see her. “What brings all the way down here? And where’s the scepter you said you would carry with you outside of your cave?” he said with concern. 

“Well...dad...about that...” she was not sure how to explain what just happened to her father, the former Dragon Lord. “...it ran away...” she nervously chuckled. 

“WHAT?!” he boomed with shock. “What do you mean it ‘ran away’?” he asked, before a realization dawned on him, normally the scepter was just pole that healed the Bloodstone; a gem that can control dragons should its user so wish, but it has been said that it is not the dragon who chooses the scepter, but the scepter chooses the dragon. “Oh...no...” 

“What is it father?” Ember asked, even more worried and stunned by the fact the he knew more than he told her. 

“Ember...did you ever, during your time wielding the scepter...submit yourself?” he asked, although the thought of anyone making her daughter submit made him shiver. 

Ember blushed. “Y-Yes father, but we didn’t do anything, he rejected my offer, nothing happened.” she assured. “I offered myself because I felt like he truly outsmarted me in our pre-mating combat.” the female dragon explained. “But he turned down his prize of me and the scepter, I swear.” she wanted to assure her father that his precious daughter was not taken advantaged of. 

“The scepter doesn’t give a crap about being turned down!” he exclaimed. 

“What do you mean?” she was surprised that her own father kept her in the dark about the true workings of the scepter. 

“Once a Dragon Lord submits him or herself to another dragon, that scepter will be his to wield whether he wants to or not!” he explained in panic. “And that’s especially true since it is mating season!”

“Mating season?” suddenly Ember realized something. “The mating season ritual combat tournament!” she exclaimed with horror at what just happened. 

“Ember, for all that is decent, tell me the name of this dragon that made you submit! For the sake of all dragon kind tell me!” he urged his daughter in desperation. He heard tales of former Dragon Lords misusing their power to hoard all the female dragons to himself and to control them as their own personal sex slaves. “What was this dragon’s name!”

Ember blushed even more and looked down on the floor with shame. “Hey, uh, dad...” she began even more embarrassed about what she was about to admit. “...what if I told you that it wasn’t a dragon that defeated me?”

“What are you talking about Ember? The only non-dragon creature the scepter would ever work on is the same non-dragon creature that discovered the stone, humans, and they’re extinct-” he then remembered that last year, Ember told him that there was a human living in Pony territory, and that she helped him enter the forbidden zone. “...it was HIM wasn’t it?” 

Ember’s whole face was beet red from embarrassment and shame, she nodded. “He...put up a really good fight...and I was desperate because no other dragon was good enough and...”

“Now the scepter is back in the hands of the species that created it Ember!” he yelled with disappointment at his daughter. He got up and leaned his face up to her. “That scepter was never meant for a dragon to rule over the others, it was meant for human’s to better enslave us!” he explained. He felt like he should have told her the truth before she accepted the responsibility, but he did not want her to know about dragon kinds most legendary and feared foe; humans.

“But I thought humans were just fairy tales meant to scare off the young?” 

“And I thought they went extinct over 10,000 years ago, that’s 50 dragon generations before you, but I guess I was wrong on that account.” he sighed. “I need you to find that human and retrieve the scepter before it corrupts him, understood?” he ordered. 

Ember nodded. “Yes father, I will do that.” she immediately turned around and marched out of her father’s den. 

“And hurry!” he urged. 





Starlight sat down at her school desk, board, as Twilight went on a long spiel about the importance of friendship. She had no other choice in that regard, it was either be lectured to, or risk being choked to death by the collar she wore, but now she’s greatly entertaining the latter choice. 

“And that is why friendship is magic and why it is extremely important to make friends.” Twilight wrapped up her lecture, “Any questions?” she asked Starlight.

The pink mare looked at Twilight with annoyance. “Yes, are you always this naive?” she asked. “Friendship? Really? How can friendship possibly help me?” she asked extremely skeptical. “All I want is to be free and left alone.”

“And risk you starting another cult of equality? I don’t think so.” Twilight said bluntly. “Besides, how many friends did you have in your life?” she asked. 

“Look Twilight...” she began. “...I grew up in the real-world, and in the real-world, all friendship does is leave you vulnerable to being taken advantage of.” she related. “and the only way to survivor the real-world is to use somepony before than can use you, it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there Twilight, but I guess you don’t see that because you spent your whole life in privilege.” she got up to leave to her room so she could be left alone. “Where I come from, you would do ANYTHING to get what you want, you wouldn’t give a flying buck about who you hurt, you want it, you get it no matter what.”

“Why that’s horrible and selfish!” exclaimed a stunned Twilight. “Forcing ponies to give you what you want!? I believe in compromise where we give-and-take a little to mutually benefit each other and-”

“Is that why you allowed Adam to be tempted away by that shrieking violet of a pegasus?” she bluntly interrupted. Twilight was even more stunned. “I was right about you... you are just pathetic.”

The two were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening to reveal Adam who walked in. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the mare he dreaded encountering the most. “You...” he said at a loss of words as he stared at Starlight, the mare who repeatedly took advantage of him and manipulated him to go along with her plans. He turned to Twilight. “What’s going on?” he asked. 

Before Twilight could answer, Starlight spoke up. “Princess Luna wanted her to rehabilitate me as part of my parole.” she explained. “And don’t worry about me, if I do anything that Twilight doesn’t approve, this collar will choke me.” she pointed out. 

“Uh Adam, come with me to the kitchen please.” Twilight told the human.





“Damn it Twilight, didn’t you think about the consequences?!” yelled an angry Adam, never expecting the mare who did despicable things to him a year ago to show up in his life again. “Do you have any idea of all the things she’s done to me when I was with her?!” he continued. “And what about Fluttershy? How would she handle the fact that her killer is now back in the streets living with Twilight Sparkle!?” he continued his diatribe. 

“I know it’s bad, but I can assure that she’s ready to change and be rehabilitated, we need to give her a second chance and help rebuild her life.” she pleaded. “That way she will never hurt another pony ever again.”

“SHE DOES NOT DESERVE ANY MORE CHANCES!” he yelled completely enraged, he pounded his fist on the kitchen counter. Twilight has never seen him this angry before. Adam then hid his face away in shame once he realized how worked up he got. "I'm sorry..." he apologized. "...I'll show myself out." he walked out through the backdoor so he wouldn't face Starlight in the main room. 

Twilight was too stunned to bother stopping him, she was at a loss for words. She sadly walked back into the main room and looked at Starlight and Spike who had looks of concern. "Lesson is done for the day, now just go and leave me alone." she said without care as she walked upstairs to her room. 

Spike tried to go after her, but Starlight stopped him. "Let me go instead Spike, I think she needs some mare-on-mare talk for this one." she explained. Spike silently agreed, and let the mare go up. "Time to sow the seeds" she mused in her mind.





Inside Adam's coat closet, the Bloodstone scepter glowed brightly and ominously, Adam's reflection showed up inside the stone, yearning for the human. 

To be continued...
> Chapter XLI~The First Year~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Like, that's so awesome." chuckled Tree Hugger, who lounged around on Fluttershy's couch after hearing the new that her friend was going to be married. "I am like, so jealous, we should celebrate like old times Shy." she offered. 

Fluttershy was busy feeding the animals. "Tree, you know I can't anymore, you know how much hates it when I do that stuff." she explained. "Especially after you gave him your 'special' brownies."

"Oh right, that's a wild a crazy night." the green mare with dreadlocks just chuckled at that night three months ago. 

Adam suddenly barged into the house. "Fluttershy! We need to talk!" he urged as he ran into the living room. 

"What's wrong?" asked a concerned pegasus, who looked at the human to see worry on his face. "You okay?"

The human was about to speak, but then saw Tree Hugger on the couch. "Do you mind? I need to talk with Shy alone right now." he never did like that mare, especially after the brownie incident. 

"Whatever dude." she shrugged as she left and did as told.

Adam turned to Fluttershy with a serious look on his face. The pegasus knows that something is wrong, but is afraid to know what it is.





Starlight Glimmer nonchalantly entered Twilight's room. She looked around to see Twilight on her bed as she cried and screamed into her pillow. Starlight rolled her eyes, as she made her way up to the crying mare. "You thought that was going to turn out any better?" Starlight began. 

"Just leave me alone, I'm in no mood." said Twilight, muffled by the fact she had her face buried into her pillow. "Go and do whatever you do on your free time, friendship classes are dismissed for the rest of the day."

The pink mare just shrugged. "Fine by me, might as well go out and see what this dinky little town has to offer." she began to trot away without a care. 

"Wait..." began Twilight who reached out to Starlight. The other mare stopped in her tracks and turned around. "...have you ever been in love?" she asked.

"Once, but that was a long time ago." Starlight answered. "Besides, I gave up on love a long time ago once I found out that you don't need love to get a stallion whenever you want." she explained. "Have you?" she began. Twilight opened her mouth to answer but was swiftly silenced by a hoof in her mouth "No wait, don't answer that, it's only been Adam, and he was your first and only time so far, am I right?" Twilight just nodded in agreement. "And are you desperate to be with him again?" she asked again. Twilight once again nodded. "Then I'll make a deal with you." Starlight offered. "You teach me about friendship, and I'll teach you how to win him back." she let her hoof go so Twilight can speak.

"How can I know you'll hold up your end of the bargain?" Twilight asked suspiciously. 

"Trust me, by the end of the month, you'll be so amazing with the opposite sex, that Adam will be jealous and come crawling back to you, guaranteed." she assured.

The unicorn was still unsure, she had trouble trusting the formal criminal, but she was at least willing to hear her out, anything to finally have the human in her embrace where he belongs as destiny foretold. Rage began to build inside her, those words that Adam told her a year ago wanting to remain only friends after an amazing night with him echoed in his mind, words that drove her mad. What does Fluttershy have that she doesn't have? She should be the one with Adam, not her! Twilight turned and glared at Starlight, she finally knew what she had to do. "Guaranteed?" she said.

Starlight just gave her a confident smirk. "Guaranteed."

That word pleased Twilight greatly, finally, somepony that told her what she wanted to hear. Destiny brought her to the human, and she is sure as Tartarus not going to make destiny a liar. She lived and died countless times with him in alternate realities, she is perfectly entitled to him in this one. "What's the first step then?"

Starlight happily analyzed Twilight's features. They were what in her opinion, not good, the mane and tail was too angled, too organized, obvious sign of an egghead, her body was scrawny and showed a severe lack of athletic ability, something that's common among bookworms and unicorns who rely too much on magic to do this for them, face utterly devoid of make-up, in fact, it looked like make-up was never applied at all, and her fur did not look smooth and shiny, this was going to be much work. "Obviously, a major make-over, that 'plain Jane' thing you're sporting will not turns any stallion's heads that for sure." she critiqued. 

The unicorn tried her best not to take offense to what she was being told. "Anything else?"

"Yes, dumb yourself down, because most stallions are actually threatened by a mare smarter than them." she pointed out, Starlight was actually enjoying this.

"Anything else?" said a deadpan Twilight, now just getting annoyed. 

"Yeah," Starlight pointed out. "gain some weight, no stallion likes a scrawny little mare like you, especially when they lack the all too important 'bounce' in the rump." she smirked.

"Dooley noted." she responded in a deadpan manner. 





"So what are we going to do?" asked Fluttershy, trying to absorb the news that Starlight has returned for rehabilitation. Adam paced the living room unsure. 

"Just go along with it and keep a close eye on her." Adam sighed with defeat. "Wait and see how this whole rehabilitation thing works out for her." he explained. 

The pegasus floated over to Adam and wrapped her forelegs around the human from behind to comfort him. "I can still remember what she made you do." she confessed. "And sometimes I wish I can take my revenge on her, but that is not the way." 

"Vengeance will do nothing." Adam muttered to himself. He gently got Fluttershy to break her embrace. "I'll be going home, need some time alone to process this." he told the floating pegasus, eye level with him. "I love you Shy." he said before kissing her. 

"I love you too." she responded after the kiss. 

Adam made his way out of the cottage as the mare looked on with worry. She truly hoped he will be okay.





Adam arrived at his home, still in shock from the earlier news. He closed the front door behind him and walked in to the living room only to see an unexpected sight; Ember the dragon lounging on the couch reading one of the coffee table books. The human was stunned, not only from the surprise visitation, but from the visitor herself. His eyes automatically scanned every inch of the dragon's body, her alluring curves captivating him, the most feminine figure he has seen in years.

The dragon looked up at the human and placed the book away. She stood up and walked up to him. "I guess you know why I am here." she began with seriousness.

"The scepter is in the coat closet, let me get it." he walked over to the entrance way and opened the closet near the door. Ember followed him there. "Do you know how it managed to get here?" he opened the door and showed the Dragon Lord the scepter that was leaned up against the wall. 

"Well, I guess it just wanted to play hide-or-seek." she said in a snarky tone, she would rather not let Adam know the truth, it will be too much for the human to handle. 

Adam chuckled a little in response as he reached over and picked the scepter up. As soon as he touched it, a strange force coursed through his body, his eyes turned red. Whatever this force was, made Adam feel stronger and more in control. It felt good. He turned over to the dragon and began to run his eyes all over her, she was perfect in every way. He smirked and hungrily licked his lips. 

Ember saw that and looked at the human suspiciously. "Adam?" the human only began to walk over to her, scepter in hand. The dragon stepped back in response until she was up against a wall. Adam suddenly placed a hand on her chest, Ember tried to push away by wildly flapping her wings, but found herself trapped, a firm weight pushing against her. She did not remember the human being this strong before. "Adam? What are you doing?" she asked with panic in her voice.

The human placed his face close to hers, making her stare into his now red eyes. "Isn't this how all your fantasies start?" Adam hissed. "I know you Ember, I know all your strengths, weaknesses, dreams and fantasies." he smirked evilly. 

The dragon quickly realized that the scepter is feeding everything it knew about herself to Adam as he spoke. She flapped her wings to get free, but to no avail. "Oh really?" she bluffed, hiding her intimidation with bluster. "Then tell me, what is my biggest fantasy." she said with defiance.

"Why don't we find out together." said Adam before swiftly headbutting her. 

Ember suddenly found herself in a desolate desert in the middle of the night, the only thing lighting the area was burning bushes. In the middle of the loose ring of burning shrubs, was herself, face down on the sand, her body on its side, arms locked behind her back, moaning loudly. "Oh Lord, show me why I'm your favorite in the hoard" she moaned loudly. Ember looked further down at herself to see a nude Adam himself, pounding into her opening like an animal. A smile of utter satisfaction showed in his face. 

"You know how to please your Dragon Lord my dear Ember, so blessed to have you as my favorite mate." he responded with a smirk. 

Ember suddenly found herself back in reality, back in the human's house, staring face-to-face to him with a blush of embarrassment. Adam just chuckled. "Let me guess, that was your fantasy for the last year?" 

She looked away in humiliation, her secret fantasy now known to the one she was always attracted to. "Yes, I admit it, something about you just makes me go wild, I don't know why, but I didn't care, I wanted you damn it!" she admitted. "But not like this." she said with worry. "Not when you're under the scepters spell."

Adam just stepped back, letting the dragon go. He then dropped the scepter to the floor, and stood before her, his turned back to its normal brown. He then gently placed a finger under her chin. "You know, I always did regretted turning you down." he admitted with embarrassment. He then dove in and kissed her deeply. The dragon was at first stunned, but quickly and happily went along with it. He pushed her against the wall, as she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms on his shoulder, the happily made out. 

Ember moaned as the human ran his hands down her sides, and then suddenly gasped when he suddenly nibbled her neck. "Oh, Adam..." she moaned. She held him tight, savoring every moment, but she yearned for more, but as if he read her mind, the human carried her over to the living room couch, hands firmly on her butt. She hissed eagerly. The human gently sat her down on the couch and was about to join her when she stopped him. "Let me do the work." she winked as she made him stand before her, she then expertly unbuckled his pants and pulled them down and long with his underwear to reveal his already stiff erection. She licked her lips, although it was only one instead of the two she's used to seeing, it still looked amazing. She was about to dive her mouth on it to savor it when she was suddenly and quickly pulled into a choke hold by the human. 

Adam held her tightly, slowly putting the dragon into an unexpected sleep. "You think I was going to offer myself that easily? You know the rules Lord." he hissed into her ear. "You have to earn the right to suck the Dragon Lord's cock in battle first, and not before." he chuckled. "But I'm sure you'll do well in the mating tournament." Ember tried to struggle free but grew increasingly weaker until her vision faded away to black and her body finally went limp. The human gently lay her on the couch and pulled up his pants. "Hopefully she wins." he said to himself as he straightened himself up and walked over to the scepter. He swiftly broke the gemstone off of its handle with his new found strength and placed it in his hands. "Now to gather all available and eligible females for the tournament." the stone began to glow brightly in his hands. He looked over and saw Ember's tail glow brightly, showing him that the signal has been sent.

With another smirk, the human walked outside and with one big leap, flew into the sky a breakneck speed. The stone giving him the ability to do so. 





At Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac walked out of the barn with his trusty plow, ready to work the fields for the harvest in a few months. He proudly surveyed the so far empty field, this was where the next generation of apple trees will be planted, he could just picture it now in his mind. "Eeyup." he said, satisfied from the sight before him.

As he looked around his surroundings, he saw a familiar face walk up to him, carrying a baby in her saddle bag, a face he has not seen often in a while now; Rainbow Dash. "Hey Mac." she began, slightly nervous.

"Howdy there Dash." the stallion greeted politely. "What brings ya out here on this here fine mornin'?" he asked. He looked over at the young infant colt, who giggled and smiled at him, his wings wrapped tightly with rope, for what he assumed was too keep him from flying away from Dash. "Your younglin' is lookin' mighty strong an' healthy, ah'm sure he'll be trippin' all over the mares all over his hooves." he joked. 

Dash could not help but to chuckled a little, Mac may be the quiet type, but he can display a sharp wit when the situation calls. But she quickly focused herself on the task at hand. "Well, I just came here to see how you are doing is all, been a while and all." she said. They have not really talked much since she broke Mac the news that she was pregnant months ago, yet he still has no idea about the truth.

"Well, ah'm doin' fine, kind of stopped my philandering ways since ah found a new special somepony to call my own." he explained as he began to strap himself in to the plow. 

"Yeah, I heard you're dating the local baker now." Dash said sheepishly, more like, saw rather than heard. 

"Don't get me wrong Dash, bein' with ya was amazing, but there comes a time in a stallion's life where they need somethin' more than just a quick roll in the hay, or in our case, multiple rolls in the hay." he chuckled to himself at durable Dash was. He then looked over at the foal, who looked blissfully unaware of their conversation, instead distracted by a butterfly that floated by them. "Figured out who his father is yet?" he asked. 

The cyan mare really wanted to confess to the stallion the truth, that he was the father of the foal, but after what Mac told her, she did not have the heart to do so. Dash, despite her brash and confident exterior, is inwardly a coward with low self-esteem issues. She gave a loud sigh of sadness. "Like I said before, all I remember was meeting him at a bar, everything else is just a blur." she lied. Instead of telling him the truth, Dash just told him that she met some guy at a bar and had a drunken one-night stand.

"Well, if ya ever needed help babysittin', ah'd be more than willin' to help, shucks, ah remember when ah had to raise baby Apple Bloom myself, and she was kind of a hooffull at times." he chuckled from the memories of helping raise his youngest sister. 

"I'll keep that mind." nodded Dash, at least somewhat grateful that he was willing to help her out when asked. "By the way, where's Applejack?" she asked him. Dash has not really spoken to Applejack as often as before, mostly out of shame for lying about her son's parentage, and jealously for catching the eye of a stallion that she always had a crush on; Soarin. 





Applejack lightly and randomly strummed on her guitar, leaned up against an apple tree. On the nearby picnic blanket, Soarin laid back to look at the clouds. They both enjoyed the simple quietness and tranquility together, a much needed break from their busy lives. She looked over to the Wonderbolt, she still had doubts about why a famous pegasus like him would ever love a simple plain old country mare like her, add on the fact that they could barely see each other often because of their occupations, made her feel even more at ease. "Why me?" she asked to herself, she saw the stallion's ears perk up, she unintentionally said that out loud. 

"What are you talking about Applejack?" asked Soarin with a look of concern.

The mare knew it was time to come clean about her thoughts, she put down her guitar and trotted over to the picnic basket, she sat down next to the lounging pegasus stallion. "When we met back during the family reunion last year, what did ya see in me that made ya want to pick me as yer special somepony?" she asked with concern.

"Why do you ask?" was all the stallion responded with. 

"Soarin, look at me," she began. "there's plenty of much more beautiful and richer mares out there, but yet ya pick this here plain country mare whose family barely makes ends meet." she ranted. "Ya could've been datin' this runway model or a celebrity, but yet ya settled for me." she explained with worry. "Why?"

"Applejack, I did not settle for you." he began, looking up into her green eyes. "I CHOSE you, because you are the most genuine, honest, kind and friendly mare I have ever met." he explained. "You were one of the first in a long time to actually treat me as a regular pony and not as a Wonderbolt, and I loved that." he said. "Now stop beating yourself so much about it and enjoy the fact that you are lucky to have me." 

The mare tried her best to relax. "Sorry, ah just can't help it sometimes, when ah look at those other mares, ah feel...inadequate is all."

"I think you are fine just the way you are." Soarin smiled assuredly. 

Little did both knew, but Rainbow Dash spied on the couple from an overhead cloud. Dash just sighed with shame from feeling entitled to have him and disregarding her friend's feelings. She looked over to her son next to her, sculpting some of the cloud. "I hope you don't grow up to be an egotistical jerk like me son, I would rather have you grow up acting like your father." she warned the baby, although it did not appear like he understood. 





At the Dragon Lands, all young and single female dragons began to notice their tails glow. Everyone knew what it means, but where confused as to way since it should be male dragons that get summoned for the mating tournament, since the Dragon Lord is female. But they all went along with it since it was considered sacrilege to ignore a summons of the Dragon Lord.

About 68 of them gathered around inside an extinct caldera, the site of many intra-dragon battles over the years. They all began to size each other up, because they know only one will win the battle before them. 

As soon as they gathered, a figure landed on the ledge overlooking the caldera. All the dragons looked up to see an unexpected sight; a non-dragon. They all murmured in confusion amongst each other. "Silence!" the human boomed down to the dragon below him. "You will bow down to your new Dragon Lord!" he announced as he removed the Bloodstone out of his pocket. All the dragons below quickly did as told upon seeing it. 

He then jumped down below in a single leap. All of the creatures just got up and looked on in stunned silence as he walked among them. Adam smirked at the sight of all these female dragons, all ranging from between half his height to twice his height, and all of them with varying degrees of human-like curves. But he knew it wasn't up to him to choose, but the females to do so themselves. "As you may already know..." began Adam as he made his way through the group. "...all of you will be fighting each other until only one is left standing, if you leave the caldera, you lose, if you bleed, you lose, if you fall unconscious, you lose, if you surrender, you lose." he then turned to all of them. "Any questions?"

"No Lord!" all sixty-eight of them said in unison. With a smirk, he leaped back up on the ledge in a single bound, the stone giving him new found strength and abilities. He sat down on the ledge. "You may all begin when ready." he announced. 

It was not long before the female dragons below began their massive fight and chaos erupted down below.





Over at a tavern in Ponyville, Starlight just quietly drank her mug. "Starlight?" said a voice. Annoyed, the mare turned to the source of the voice only to see a former follower; Sugar Belle, the former town baker. 

"Look, if you came here to exact vengeance on me, go ahead and get it over with, there's nothing you can do." was all the mare said to her former follower.

"Actually, I'm just surprised that you got released." Sugar Belle said as she took a seat next to her. "Weren't you put away for fraud, magic abuse, rape and murder?" 

"I was," the unicorn answered before chugging down the rest of her drink. ",until the murder charge was expunged because the mare I killed came back to life."

"You owe me almost a year of my life you know?" Sugar Belle reminded her. "A year I will never get back."

"Look, what do you want from me?!" Starlight snarled impatiently, "An apology? If so, I suggest you take a number and wait your turn."

"I don't want your apology, apologies won't bring back the time I wasted believing in your manure." she stated with venom in her voice. "I just came here to tell you that you ruined my life and that I am now doing better than ever before." she explained. "So, good luck being at the bottom, it's going to be a long climb up." she warned before she got up and left. 

Starlight just sighed. "Another mug please, and salt the rim this time!" she ordered the bar keeper. 





"Ember? You okay?" asked a concerned and familiar voice. The dragon slowly opened her eyes to see a yellow Pegasus staring down at her, Ember remembered the Pegasus, they met a few times when Adam mediated a new dragon-pony treaty, from what she could remember, that Pegasus was Adam's marefriend. Everything suddenly turned awkward for the dragon as shame hit her hard. 

"How long was I out?" she asked as she slowly got up. 

"I don't know, I just found you like this." explained Fluttershy. "What happened and where's Adam?" she asked with concern. 

"Well..." began Ember, who wisely decided to not give her the full details, least cause damage to a relationship. "...your human friend Adam is now under the control of the Bloodstone, and from what I can see, he left to do something..." she tried to remember, but had trouble trying to do so. 

"Could it have something to do with the fact that your tail is blinking?" Fluttershy pointed at the dragon's tail to see that it did blinked as described. 

"Oh no..." Ember said upon seeing that, normally such a thing would be a good thing because it meant that you were compatible with the Dragon Lord, but in this case, it defiantly was not. "No way." in a panic, she quickly ran out of the house. 

"What's going on?" asked the mare who sprinted after the dragon.

"Your Bloodstone possessed lover has just called for a mating tournament, and I have until he mates to stop him!" she explained. 

"What happens if you can't?"

"Then he'll be Dragon Lord for the rest of his life..." Ember said ominously. "...got to go." she was about to lift off but Fluttershy floated before her. 

"I'm coming with you!" she said with determination. "I can't stand back while my lover is in trouble!"

"You're not the only one missy..." Ember said in her mind. She knew there was no way the mare would change her mind, she would do the same thing if she were in her place. "Fine, but stay close to me, we ponies and dragons may be in peace now, but it is still a dangerous place for you ponies." she warned. 

Fluttershy nodded in agreement and they two of them took off into the sky at high speed. 





Adam calmly and quietly observed the fight below him, sizing up every single dragon still standing. About half the field were already out of contention, as the fight grew increasingly intense. They were wrestling, punching, hitting, biting and kicking each other mercilessly, and for what? The status of being the Dragon Lord's mate, since it was considered such a rare and prestigious honor, and add to the fact that not doing so would mean turning one's back on thousands of years of dragon tradition and bring great dishonor and shame to anyone who refused the call. 

One dragon in particular had another in a choke hold. "We...promised...sis..." the dragon gasped to breathe as she desperately tried to escape the tight hold that her sister gave her. 

"Like I would ever share with my baby sis." she stated. "Besides, he demands only the best, the most experienced and the strongest." 

"But you're older than me...by two minutes..." she gasped before unconsciousness finally got hold of her, her body now limp. 

"Sorry Ruby, but it's every dragon for herself." she whispered before gently putting her younger sister on the group. She then ran off to find someone else to battle. 

As Adam watched, he noticed that his surroundings became slightly darker. He looked around only to realize that something was blocking the sun. He looked behind him at where the sun should be, only to be met by the sight of the massive size of the former Dragon Lord Torch. The human smirked and got up, his eyes glowed red at the sight. "Can I help you?" began Adam. 

"I demand that you stop this now human!" he ordered in a booming voice. "That gem rightfully belongs to us, I refuse to watch my kind be under the control of an outsider!" he continued. "Now give it back."

"I believe that's where we differ in our opinions my former lord." began Adam, letting the blood stone do the talking for him. "You see, I was forged and created for one purpose and one purpose only, to tame and submit your kind for the benefit of the human race." he explained. He took out the stone from his pocket. "I'll show you..." he held the stone high over his head. "...SIT!" he yelled at Torch.

Almost immediately, Torch fell to the ground hard, shaking and cracking the ground behind him. "What the...?" began a dazed dragon. 

"You see Torch," the human began as he walked up to the fallen dragon. "I know you too well, you used to be my wielder after all, and well, you're just too easy to manipulate." he explained with a smirk. "Your daughter on the other hand..." he began. Torch just growled in anger upon hearing him mention her name. "...she's very...intriguing." he explained. "Although to be honest, I am kind of saddened that she's missing out in the tournament, I could've manipulated things in her favor to let her win in my opinion." 

"You keep her out of this!" he spat with disgust. 

"I'm sorry, but I can't, she's the only one that can take the stone back." the human stated. "Only the previous owner of the stone can take it back, and that happens to be your extremely alluring daughter." he chuckled. "Now be a good boy and stay here, I have a tournament to oversee." he ordered to the angry dragon, who wanted to crush the insolent human in his paws, but his body refused to cooperate. Adam just walked back to his spot overlooking the fight down below.

Down below, there was only eight female dragons left, each of them eyeing each other and panting from exhaustion in a stand off. In Adam's honest opinion, seeing that it is these eight left standing disappointed him, since they were not as interesting as...

Before he could finish that thought, a blue streak landed on the ground in the middle of the eight finalists, Ember. She got up and sized the other dragons up, she was not impressed. The others, sensing a challenge all mentally agreed to go after the former Dragon Lord before going after each other, and so they all ganged up on her and charged. 

Ember made quick on all eight of them, knocking them all out in quick succession, until there was only one other dragon left. "Iris..." she nodded at a purple colored dragon, they were former childhood friends. 

"Ember..." responded Iris, slightly intimidated. "...you're late..."

"Let me guess, you betrayed your sister Ruby to get this far didn't you?" Ember asked in a deadpan manner as she slowly approached her.

"Well, better me than her, I feel like I am more worthy than her to mate with the Dragon Lord." she explained, as she slowly began to back away.

"I don't think a Dragon Lord would want to mate with a disingenuous coward like you Iris." she continued, she then cracked her knuckles and neck as she got closer. "You're the only dragon I know that has ever defeated me...and that was because you cheated..." she corned Iris up against a wall. 

"Oh come on, that was so many years ago...besides, he wasn't interested in you anyways and-" she was suddenly grabbed by the neck and lifted off the ground. 

"I believe you owe me a mate." Ember said, glaring at her. "It's only fair."

Iris nervously nodded. "Yes...go ahead...we're even..." she choked. "...have him."

"Good, we're even." Ember smirked before throwing her clear across to the other side of the caldera. She looked up to a very impressed Adam watching her from above. "I win." was all she said. 

To be continued...
> Chapter XLII~The First Year~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike walked into the local bar on a mission from Twilight; find and retrieve Starlight. It was not something he was keen to do, but someone had to do it. He looked around the place and saw the distinctive pink coat of his target at the bar. He walked over and sat down on the empty bar stool next to hers. She was slumped over on the bar, about a dozen empty mugs surrounded her. He tapped her on her shoulders, which caused her to stir. "Mmmm...huh?" she slowly got up, completely confused and drunk. She saw the baby dragon looking at her. "Oh...Twilight's slave, what's up?" she smirked, her speech slightly slurred. 

Spike rolled her eyes. He had his fill of dealing with drunk mares to last a lifetime. "Come on, Twilight is getting worried." he urged her.

"Worried my sexy ass!" she slurred in a surly tone. "She is just scared I'll do something stupid..." she got up, barely staying on the stool. 

"How much did you have to drink?" asked Spike.

"Uh...this many..." she immediately spread her forelegs wide only to lose her balance and fall back on the wooden floor. "I meant to do that!" she drunkenly proclaimed. "By the way, this mare is open for business!" she chuckled. "Good and sauced...vacant for a year! Male or female, dead or alive, all solicitations accepted!"

The dragon as got down on the floor next to the mare and helped her up. "Come on, time to go home." he said in a fatherly tone. 

"No!" she complained like a little filly. "I still haven't ridden on the carousel yet!" she whined. 

"Starlight! Focus!" he urged before slapping her on the cheek. The finally caused her to become quiet. She shook her head to refocus herself again. 

"Sorry about that..." she apologized, momentarily sober again. "...I guess I went too hard on the alcohol." she tried to coordinate herself so she can walk without Spike's aid. 

"You're not the only one." Spike related as he walked ahead and held the door open for her. 

She struggled to watch her footing, but she managed to make it outside, only for her to fall flat on her face, rump high in the air. "Still open for business!" she declared, her voice muffled by the dirt. 

"Maybe if you take Twilight's lessons to heart, you may find someone who will gladly take up that offer." Spike told her, he waited for the mare to cooperate again. 

"Hey! I managed to get some without Twilight's help!" she slurred, offended. "I ain't no sad virgin!" she said as she got back up. "I'll prove it to you!" she looked around the street to see a stallion walking by. "Bingo!" she tried to make herself presentable, or at least what she thought was presentable in her inebriated state and drunkenly trotted over to him. "Hey you!" she yelled, causing the stallion to stop. "I'm drunk, horny and ready to be taken advantage of!" she said in what in her mind sounded like a sultry voice before turning around, lifting up her tail and showing off her goods. 

The stallion just looked at her with disgust. "I'm sorry, I don't stick it in pathetic drunks." he stated with annoyance before walking off. 

Starlight just looked on with offense. "Well, fuck you then! You cock sucking butt fucking coltcuddler!" she drunkenly yelled. She then attempted to use a spell on him, but as soon as her horn began to glow, the collar around her neck immediately tightened, choking her. "Oh come on!" she wheezed as she fell to the ground. Once she lost motivation to go through with the spell, the collar loosened up again, finally making it possible to breathe. 

Spike looked over her with worry. "You okay?"

She just looked up at the sky in defeat. "Ah, who am I fooling?" she confessed. "I'm just a pathetic and sad mare, who can't make friends or get laid without forcing someone..." she got up, with help from the dragon. 

"Oh come on, I'm sure you had at least once friend in your life-" 

"Until he left to become a warlock." she interrupted with bitterness in her voice. "And he had to do so just as I was about to confess my feelings for him...the bastard." she walked off ahead of Spike, bad memories flooded her mind. 





At Carousel Boutique, Rarity was reorganizing some boxes, and in one of them, she rediscovered her old school yearbooks. She looked at them all, but then came across her Sophomore year photo. "I can't believe I went through a punk phase..." she commented with shame. The front door opened and Rarity quickly closed her book so no one would ever see the photo. She looked to see Rainbow Dash and her foal walk in, looking sad. "Oh, Rainbow darling, what's wrong?" she asked with concern. 

"Nothing, just some self-reflection." was all the mare said as she carefully and quietly placed her infant colt in a small crib that Rarity provided in case Dash tasked her to foalsit. 

"Isn't that a good thing?" asked the unicorn to her friend. 

"Not when you learn you're a selfish jerk, it isn't." she responded. She sat down at a nearby seat, by the fire. 

"What happened?" she asked as she sat down next to her.

"I was so upset about Applejack being with Soarin, that I forgot to take her feelings into account, like I felt selfishly entitled to him or something..." she explained with continued shame. 

"I know how it feels when you believe you're entitled to certain things." related Rarity. "Back in High School, I fell in love with the captain of the hoofball team, I did everything to have him, make myself like the same things as him, take every opportunity to be with him, but no matter what he did, he would always say that he wanted us to be nothing more than friends...and instead of accepting that, I just snapped at him and left." she told. "All because I felt like I deserved him...not taking into account his feelings...and I lost a nice friendship because of it."

"What happened to him?" Dash asked, curious.

"Does the name Run Shoot, ring a bell?" she asked.

"You had a crush on THE Run Shoot? Quarterback for the Baltimare Ravens? THAT Run Shoot?" Dash couldn't believe it.

"Yes, him." Rarity explained. 

"Oh mane, you lost out big time, especially from what I have seen from the centerfold photo he did for Playfilly magazine, it was a really HUGE loss."

The unicorn looked at Dash with a deadpan expression. "Yeah, don't reminded me..." she got back on topic. "...the point is, looking back, I would rather have him as just a friend, than never have him in my life at all."

The cyan mare finally got the point her friend tried to make. "I understand." she nodded. "I just...never been..." she tried to find the right words. 

"Emotionally mature?" Rarity suggested.

"Uh..yeah...that." Dash accepted the suggestion, since it was close enough to describe what she wanted to say.

"Don't worry, we all have been there...some of us just remain that longer than others." Rarity smirked.

"But have you ever...you know...fantasized being with him?" Dash asked with curiosity. 

"Plenty a lonely night." she sighed with annoyance. 





"Bravo! Bravo!" cheered Adam as he clapped his hands at Ember down below. "Never thought you'd make it on time, I'm impressed." he said before leaping down to the caldera floor below. Both he and Ember stared each other down. "Well, as promised, you are free to mate with me, you earned it." he stated. 

"Like I would ever mate with you." snarled Ember with disgust. "I want the real Adam, not the stone that's controlling him."

"You sure?" he took out the stone. "Because you look a little...thirsty..." he smirked as the stone glowed red. Suddenly, Ember fell to her knees with a load moan. 

"Damn...you..." Ember said through gritted teeth, trying to prevent another moan to escape from her mouth, she began to unknowingly walk on all fours towards the human. "I'll...not...submit..." she said determinedly, tail firmly between her legs to hide her excitement. She soon reached the human, her face level with his crotch. "No..." she tried to turn her face away.

"Don't deny it, you loved what you saw and you wanted it more." he laughed as the stone glowed brighter. But suddenly, he felt the stone escape his grasp, finally breaking his control over the dragon. Confused, he looked up to see a yellow pegasus carry the stone away. "What the?!"

Ember just breathed a sigh of relief before getting up. "Too bad you can't control ponies." she smirked. 

Fluttershy decided to fly away as far as possible, stone in her mouth, as ordered by Ember, but as she did, she soon felt her mouth become empty again. She realized that the stone was gone. "Huh?!"

At that moment, the stone materialized on the floor opposite to both Adam and Ember. "So...it's a leadership challenge I see..." began Adam in a stand-off against the dragon, still under the control of the stone. 

"Yup, and you know the rules, first one to get the stone and lift it high in the air, becomes Dragon Lord, loser-"

"-becomes the new Dragon Lord's lifelong slave." Adam smirked at the thought. His eyes a piercing shade of red. "Let's do this."

Both quietly nodded to each other before quickly sprinting full force towards the gem. Ember began to use her wings to fly towards it, but saw the human run next to her just as fast, he still had the abilities unknowingly given to him by the stone. He then grabbed Ember by the tail, stopping her midair and whipped her away. The human resumed his high speed sprint to the stone, only to once again, see Fluttershy swoop down and grab the stone. "Damn it!" cursed Adam.

"Fluttershy!" yelled the dragon. "Throw it to me before it disappears!" she shouted. Fluttershy was about to do as told, but quickly realized it was gone out of her grasp again. 

The mare looked around to see it reappear in the caldera below. "Ember! Behind you at six o'clock!" she yelled at the dragon. 

Ember, on cue, flew towards the stone, but Adam was also closing in. Just as he was about to reach down and grab it, Ember tackled the human by the waist and pushed him into the ground. "No you don't!"

The human, angry, swiftly kicked the dragon off of him, hitting her in the chin. "No one gets in the way of my destiny!" he snarled as he got up. "I was meant to be used by humans, not by one of your wretched kind!" he spat. 

Ember also got up, spitting out a loose tooth as if it was nothing, and wiping the blood off of her lip. "We dragons refuse to ever submit to a foreign power." she snarled in return. 

"But you submitted yourself to a human!" he pointed out.

"That's where you're wrong!" Ember rebutted. "When I submitted myself, I didn't submit myself to a human...I submitted myself to more than worthy opponent." she explained. "I submitted myself to a creature with more positive qualities than you can ever understand!" she pointed. "The Adam I fell in love with was brave, levelheaded, intelligent, quick thinking, and his heart and intentions were always pure!" 

Fluttershy, quietly observing from above heard her. "Fell in love?" she whispered, stunned, never knowing that Ember developed feelings for her lover. 

"You!" Ember continued. "You are not the one I submitted to, and never will."

Adam just chuckled evilly. "We'll see about that." he then sprinted towards the stone again. Ember did the same. Both ran neck-in-neck towards and then dived at it, both of them reaching to get it. But to their surprise, they both grabbed it simultaneously. 

The stone glowed brightly in between the human and dragon. A tug of war for the stone ensued between the two as Adam looked to see his hand grow scales and claws, while Ember saw her hand grow skin and look human. But both continued, as the transformation traveled up both their respective arms. Both gave out a scream of anger as the bright red glow engulfed them both.

Fluttershy shielded her eyes as the entire caldera was swallowed up by a bright red column of light. Then, everything went silent. 

Once everything was quiet, Torch began to slowly move, gradually realizing that he was no longer compelled to stay put. He slowly made his way over to the caldera's edge to see what happened. Fluttershy was already there, stunned from what she saw. Confused, Torch looked over at the pony. "Who won?" he asked with worry. 

"Look down." was all the mare said. Torch did as told and saw a strange sight; in the middle of the caldera, stood a nude young human female holding the Bloodstone in her hand, held high above her head, near her, was Adam, completely unconscious. 

The female stood there as her skin began to get covered by blue scales, and within a minute, was back to being a dragon. "I, Ember, am the new Dragon Lord!" she proudly yelled up at the sky. Torch and Fluttershy breathed sighs of relief from the news. The dragon race was safe once again.





The next day, Adam slowly woke up, to find himself in a cave. Confused, he looked around his strange surroundings, only to see Ember lounging on a pile of gemstones, and eating one. "Good morning sleepy head." she smirked. 

"Ugh, what happened? How did I get here? How long was I out?" he asked with confusion, his body felt sore. 

"Oh, the scepter teleported you here, but I managed to save your butt, unfortunately, it caused you to fall unconscious for the last 24 hours or so." she explained nonchalantly. 

"24 HOURS!" he explained. He wanted to get up from the makeshift straw bed he slept on, but quickly noticed that he was completely naked. "I'm naked!" he exclaimed with embarrassment as he covered up his literal embarrassment with his hands. 

Ember just laughed. "Relax Adam, your clothes are safe over there." she pointed to a neatly folded stack of clothes next to the straw bed. "Besides, I think I've seen plenty of you, so hiding it is pointless." she smirked. The human blushed even more. "Not impressive size-wise, but it is very aesthetically pleasing." she teased.

"I hope you didn't do anything while I was asleep." Adam said, still embarrassed as he reached over for his underwear. 

The dragon just laughed again. "Relax, I didn't do anything inappropriate." she said. "Maybe take some good mental images, but that's about it."

"Are you sure nothing else happened? Because all I remember was reaching for the scepter to give it to you...everything else is a blank." he admitted as he slowly began to put on his boxers. 

"I promise you, nothing else happened." she assured, but that was a lie. But she felt it was for the best that he never knew about what he really did. 

Adam chuckled. "Yeah, because imagine me, a Dragon Lord, like that would ever happen." he said. 

Ember cringed a little when he said that, but she put on a straight face. "Yeah, anyways, I'll leave you to get dressed." she goes to leave.

"Ember," Adam said just before she left, it made her stop in her tracks.

"Yes?" she asked, back still turned to him. 

"I'm sorry that it can't work between us." he began. "I think you're an amazing and interesting creature, but, I just can't get attracted to you in a physical way." he explained. "Plus, my heart lies with someone else already and all..."

"Oh, I understand, don't worry, you have a pretty nice and kind mare there." she said, trying to put on a brave face, but her voice faltered slightly. "If you're happy, I'm happy." she assured. "I'll be outside..." she said before leaving Adam alone to put on his clothes. But she suddenly felt a hand grab her hand, she looked back to see it was Adam.

"I know it must be hard to accept that fact." he said feeling sorry for turning Ember down. "But I am honored to have met you and I hope our friendship can continue." he assured, looking into her eyes. 

The dragon blushed, but she was touched. She knew it was better to have him in her life as a good friend than to never have him in her life at all. "And I am honored to have met you to."

Both smiled at each other before Ember took her cue and left to give Adam some privacy. 

Ember walked out of her lair to see Fluttershy sitting over the ledge outside of the cave entrance, looking at the volcanic rocky landscapes of the Dragon Lands. She walked over and sat next to her. "You love him too?" was all Fluttershy said in response. 

"Yeah, should be obvious." the dragon said. 

"Well...I don't mind that you do..." Fluttershy admitted, the dragon raised an eyebrow in response, she did not expect that response. "I don't mind sharing either...as long as he returns to me and tells me in advance." she explained. 

"But aren't you jealous?"

"Of course I'm jealous...but I know that limiting him to just me is just selfish and cruel...he insists he wants to be only with me, but I know one day he'll get that urge to try something different, just like every other stallion..." she explained. 

"But he's not a stallion, he's a human...maybe he'll be true to his word and stay with you." Ember assured. 

"I just feel like he's limiting himself for me is all..." the mare sighed. 

"You know, don't tell Adam this but..." Ember whispered over into the mare's ear. The mare perked up to hear what the dragon had to say. "...technically, since he lost the challenge yesterday, he's now a life-long part of my hoard, which means I can have him whenever I want." she explained. "But I know that doing that would be just as selfish and cruel."

"But what of your traditions and codes?"

"I'm the Dragon Lord, Fluttershy, I can choose to ignore them whenever I want." she chuckled. 

"Hey ladies!" yelled Adam, as he jogged out of the cave, now fully dressed, happy to see Fluttershy is there as well. 

"By the way, yesterday never happened." Ember whispered to Fluttershy before they turned their attention at the human and happily smiled at him. "Hey there." greeted the dragon. 

Fluttershy flew over to the human and enveloped him into a tight hug, and then gave him a big kiss on the lips. "Glad that you are okay." beamed the yellow pegasus. 

Adam smiled, holding the mare. "Yeah, me too." he said with relief. Ember then whistled to the valley below and within a minute, a giant phoenix flew up to the ledge. Both the human and mare stunned by the sight.

"It's a much quicker ride that way." Ember explained.

The couple happily got on the phoenix. The three said their goodbyes to each other before the giant bird flew away towards Ponyville. Ember waved them off as they flew into the horizon until they could no longer be seen. "Goodbye Adam...you'll always be MY Dragon Lord to me." she said to herself. 

She was about to go back inside, until her father Torch, appeared before her from beneath the ledge, face-to-face since her father was massive. "What you did was extremely risky Ember." he told his daughter.

"I at least got the stone back into dragon hands again didn't I?" Ember assured her father. "Besides, it is now him that submits to me now." 

"What do you see in that human anyways?" Torch asked with curiosity. He never expected for his daughter to fall in love with a non-dragon. 

"He's not just any human dad...he's the most amazing being I have ever met." she explained. "He would make a great dragon."

"A cunning dragon in fact, just like you." he observed. "But I do hope you'll at least find a suitable dragon mate."

"Don't worry, as soon as there's one that can give me a good challenge, but I will admit, that human sure did set the bar pretty high." she smirked before walked back inside. 

Torch just rolled his eyes before walking away to leave his daughter to her duties. 

Ember walked back inside her lair and sat down on her throne. She looked over to the side of her throne to see a Bloodstone, now re-attached to a new scepter, leaning against it. She picked it up and held it in her hands. "Now let's see if there's anyone who can surpass that high bar he set." she smirked as the stone began to glow red. 

It wasn't long until all the male dragons of around Ember's age noticed their tails begin to blink, it only met one thing...a mating tournament has been called. 

For Ember, she knew that whoever won the tournament won't be able to come close to what Adam achieved, but she was at least interested in seeing them try. She was going to enjoy this greatly. 





Starlight woke up with a pounding headache. But she was not too concerned about that, she was more concerned about anything dumb she did when she was intoxicated. She washed her face with cold water at the bathroom sink when Spike walked in. "Twilight is wondering if you're coming down for breakfast." he asked. 

"I'm on my way, don't worry." she answered as she started to straighten out her mane so it would not look so messy. 

"How are you feeling?" the baby dragon asked with concern.

"Did I do anything embarrassing last night?" she asked rhetorically. 

"Apart from soliciting a stallion...not much." he answered. 

"Explains why my jaw feels a little tender." she mumbled before she gave a sigh. "Sorry you had to see me like that." she apologized out of embarrassment. 

"We all do stupid things at time." he assured. "But that doesn't mean you should get discouraged, I'm sure you'll be fully reformed in no time." 

"I don't want to be reformed, I just want my life back." she answered. "I want to be left alone."

"No pony deserves to be alone." stated the dragon.

"I do." she rebutted. "Everyone I've ever gotten close to all just abandon me, what's the point." she sighed. 

"Like your friend that became a warlock?" he said. That struck a nerve in the mare, but tried to keep her composure. 

"Go tell Twilight that I'll be down shortly." she said trying to calm herself down. Spike decided to do as told since he could sense that the mare could use some privacy. Once the door was closed Starlight looked herself in the mirror. "All cutie marks do is cause pain and unfairness..." she said to herself. "...and I'll make sure that every pony realizes that fact." she began to grit her teeth, trying to suppress her building anger.





Rainbow Dash arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, and found Applejack bucking some apple trees. She floated over to her and then softly landed. "Hey." she began. That got the orange coated mare's attention.

"Oh, hey." she said in a less than friendly tone. Awkwardness fell between the two.

Dash took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." she admitted. 

"For what?" she turned to the cyan mare with an eyebrow raised with suspicion. 

"For being an entitled jerk." Dash admitted with shame. "I should've been happy for you...but I was too busy thinking about myself."

"About time ya grew up and took the initiative." Applejack said bluntly.

'Yeah, with the foal, I had to do a lot of growing up." she agreed.

To Dash's surprise, she was met by a tight hug from her friend. "Ah know." she said. "After my parents passin' ah had to grow up fast too."

"How was it like raising Apple Bloom at such a young age?" she asked as they broke the hug. 

"Lots of hard work, but ah had a lot of support from Granny and Mac, and seeing her grow up made it even more worth it." Applejack related. "By the way, did ya ever figure out who the father is?" she asked.

"Uh..." Dash really wanted to tell Applejack the truth, but she was afraid that she would ruin the moment. "...I'll probably never know." she explained. "It was all a blur."

"So now there's a stallion out there who has no idea he has a foal? Leaving ya to do the work, what a no good jerk." Applejack mumbled. "He needs to be held responsible for that foal."

Dash just nodded at that statement, if only Applejack knew the truth, but she did not want to ruin anymore lives, she would rather have Big Mac remain blissfully unaware of that fact so he can be happy and live his life. Especially now that he's found a new mare to be with. "So uh...you coming to Fluttershy's later? I heard she's going to give an announcement today."

"Don't ya worry, ah'll be there, just got to finish my chores and all that." the mare nodded. "It was great talking to ya again."

"Yeah, me too." smiled Dash. Applejack got back to work and Dash decided to take that as her cue to leave. She flew up to a nearby cloud to see her colt Zap, wings tied down, sculpting a piece of cloud, making it look like an apple. "Hey, that looks pretty good." Dash pointed out, impressed by how good it looked. "Can you sculpt anything else?" she asked her son. The colt gave her a blank stare before nodding. He took another piece of cloud and sculpted it to look like a lightning bolt. He proudly showed it off. Dash gave a heartwarming smile in response. "That almost looks like my cutie mark." she carefully took the piece. "Come on little Zap, let's go see grandpa and grandma." she placed the colt on her back before she flew off to the sky. Hopefully, things will truly become easier as time goes on, now that she has her friends to help her. 





The phoenix soon landed in front of Adam's house. Both the human and pegasus got off, happy to finally be back home. The giant bird flew away back to the Dragon Lands again, leaving the couple alone.

"Anyways..." began the pegasus. "...just thought I'd let you know that all of our friends are over at my place right now for the engagement announcement." she revealed to the human.

"Oh right." Adam just remembered that none of their friends knew about the good news yet. "It's very great news." he smiled with happiness. "Can't wait to tell them the news." he proceeded to go to Fluttershy's cottage, but was stopped when the mare floated in front of him. 

"Actually," Fluttershy began, blushing beet red. "I was thinking of maybe a well...quickie...before we go...but I can understand if you don't want to, I don't want to force you and all since you might be too tired and you don't want to keep our friends waiting and-" she was swiftly silenced by a passionate kiss on the lips from the human, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and her body went limp. 

The human caught her in his arms, chuckling a little. "You need to relax hun." he pointed out as he carried her inside his house. 

The mare just blushed. "I-I know." she smiled with embarrassment as she was carried bridal style through the front door, looking forward to the fun and wanting to enjoy the moment as much as she could. "The greatest being in the world is going to be my husband...I feel like the luckiest mare in the world!" she celebrated in her mind.





At an unknown location, a purple unicorn with a red mane observed the human carry the pegasus inside before closing the door. She had a scar over her right eye and a missing horn. "This human is the key sir." she reported to an unseen figure. "He could be useful in our plans." 

"I sense much potential in him." said the unseen figure. "Untapped and great potential."

"So what do you want us to do?" asked another voice.

"For now, Grubber, we wait and observe, I want to see more of this human in action." their leader said, pleased. 

"Well, this human did single-handedly kill Princess Celestia, I can give him that." added the mare. "Good riddance, because he unknowingly made it easier for us."

"That he did Tempest...that he did..." he laughed evilly. 





"So...what kind of wedding should we have?" asked Fluttershy as she brushed her messy pink mane to be straight and presentable again. She sat in front of a mirror in her human lover's bedroom.

Adam, who was getting dressed thought about for a minute before coming up with a suggestion. "Well, how about a small outdoor wedding, with just our close friends and family in attendance?" he suggested. 

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea!" she explained with excitement. "I always preferred simple and small weddings." she was now really looking forward to their wedding day. She soon found herself wrapped within the human's arm, she blushed in response. "And the honeymoon?" she asked.

"Hmmm..." he thought playfully. "...how does Neighpon sound?" he answered while he kissed the top of her head.

"Oh my goodness! I always wanted to go there!" she exclaimed with excitement. "Oh, this will be so amazing...I finally get to be what I always dreamed of, a good wife." she smiled with joy. 

Adam was glad that she was happy. "By the way, do you need help to reattach your tail extension?" he asked as he held up the extension. 

Fluttershy blushed. "Uh...if you don't mind..."

Adam chuckled. "Yeah, maybe don't wear one when we're being intimate, especially since you sometimes like your mane and tail to be pulled." he explained. 

"Hey, it's not my fault that I like to be treated as pray in the bedroom." she rebutted playfully. 

The human just chuckled even more as he got to work in reattaching the mare's tail extension. He was going to enjoy spending the rest of his life with her, regardless of how long that will be. 

To be continued...
> Chapter XLIII~The Nightmare Returns~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a hotel lobby, the walls had tacky green-yellow flowery wallpaper, the carpet was red wine colored, antique wall mounted lamps hung next to every door, with equally tacky ceiling light fixtures there as well. From the speakers, the faint sounds of retro smooth jazz and elevator music from the 1980's could be heard if one was silent. But for one stallion, he could not care less about his surroundings as he sprinted down the seemingly endless hotels corridors. Everywhere he turned was another set of door-lined hallways or the occasional lounge, he was lost and afraid. "How do I get out of here!" he yelled. 

He turned another corner only to encounter a dead end. He quickly tried to reverse back, only to be met by a figure. "No...no...leave me alone! You're not real! NO!" he yelled at it, before emitting a blood curling scream that echoed across the empty endless hotel hallways. 

At another part of the hotel complex, Princess Luna calmly walked down one of the corridors with a clipboard, analyzing every door she passed. All of the doors were curiously engraved with a cutie mark, and most of them had 'do not disturb' signs hanging on the doorknobs. She wrote a check mark down as she passed each door until she came across a door who's corresponding lamp glowed a faint red. She looked over at the door knob to see no such sign hung on it, meaning that she could enter should she so please, and that she did. Without second thought, she trotted into the room and within a minute, the lamp outside returned to shining brightly again. 

"Another nightmare rectified." Luna nodded with approval. She continued her walk down the seemingly endless hallway, until she noticed something odd; an empty spot on the wall where a door normally would be. Luna quickly checked her notes. "Oh dear, another pony passed away, I wonder who the unfortunate soul was this time, hopefully they lived a long life." she checked until she found what she wanted. "Odd...wasn't expecting him." she looked at the photo to see a relatively young and fit stallion, the same stallion from earlier. 

Luna's ears perked up when she began to hear the faint noises of what sounded like a ticker tape machine. She raised an eyebrow with curiosity. This is definitely unusual, since the hotel was almost always deafeningly quiet aside from the faint music. The sound grow louder and closer, but Luna held her ground, but then saw all the lamps, one by one, dim red. Luna was not expecting this, she turned to face the source of the noise only to be met by the most fearful sight. "No...not you...NO!" Luna screamed. 





"NO!" Luna screamed as she woke up in her chambers. Her eyes wide with fear, her fur matted with sweat. "She's back!" she announced. 






Ｔｈｅ    Ｎｉｇｈｔｍ ａｒｅ  Ｒｅｔｕｒｎｓ 






"ADAM NO!" yelled Fluttershy as she woke up with fright. She breathed heavily, drenched in a cold sweat. She looked around her room, only to see a nude Adam sound asleep next to her, softly snoring. She breathed a big sigh of relief, calming herself down. She quietly hovered over to her bathroom and looked herself into the mirror. Her eyes bloodshot with bags underneath, all from the lack of sleep due to the nightmare and the fun from before. "It's okay Shy, it's okay..." she said to her reflection. "...it was only a bad dream." she tried to reassure herself, but deep down inside, was worried.





The next morning, at Golden Oaks Library, Starlight Glimmer calmly made breakfast for herself and Spike, while blending a peanut butter and banana smoothie for Twilight. Speak of which, Twilight walked into the kitchen, tired. The pink mare noticed. "You had a bad dream as well?" asked Starlight as the lavender unicorn sat at the breakfast table. 

"Don't ask." was Twilight said. Starlight poured the smoothie into a glass and levitated it over to her roommate. "Here's your breakfast." 

Twilight suspiciously analyzed the smoothie. "What's this?"

"Peanut butter and banana smoothie, so you can finally gain some weight on that scrawny frame of yours." smirked Starlight. "Get that much desired bounce on that rump."

The mare sighed and reluctantly chugged the concoction down. "As long as it doesn't trigger my I.B.S., I might as well." she said after she drank it all. She did agree to the deal, and she was not the pony to go against one. "By the way, you don't seem to have lost any sleep from your nightmare." she pointed out.

"Meh, I expected it, no big deal." Starlight shrugged. "After a while, you learn to deal with it."

Both were interrupted by the sound of someone barging through the front door. Both mares walked over to see a worried Rarity. "What's wrong Rarity?" asked a concerned Twilight. 

"Well, more like, what's wrong with the entire town!" Rarity exclaimed over-dramatically as she showed Twilight and Starlight the local newspaper. Its headline reading 'Mass nightmares strike Ponyville!'. "It's horrible, and strange, everyone in town having nightmares all on the same night? What are the odds?" 

"I didn't get a nightmare." added Spike, who shrugged his shoulders with confusion. "In fact, I had a pretty nice dream last night."

"Then it must be only ponies who were affected." hypothesized Twilight. 

"And I think I know why..." added a completely different voice, everyone in the room looked to see Princess Luna herself in the room. 

"Luna?!" everyone exclaimed in unison, not expecting such a surprise visit. 

"She's back," the princess broke the group the news. "Nightmare Moon is back, I saw her in the dream world."

"How? I thought we-" asked Twilight, she dreaded the day that Nightmare Moon would make her return.

"All you did was banish her into my subconscious. You never killed her since she's just another, more darker, aspect of myself." Luna explained, with shame that she is host to this dark force.

"But what can we do to stop her?" continued Twilight with worry.

"Kill her at the source." Luna answered ominously. 





At the train station, a zebra stallion calmly disembarked from the train, wearing a red cloak. Everyone at the station looked at him with suspicion, but he paid no mind. He trotted off into town, saddle bags on his back. All the ponies he came across just moved out of the way from in fear. As he walked down the street, he saw an unexpected sight; a human. 

Adam was doing some grocery shopping in the market, he did not notice the zebra until he walked over towards it. He suddenly stopped in his tracks when he saw the cloaked zebra, bowed down before him on the ground. "Uh..." Adam began, awkward from the looks he started to get. 

"My sister was correct I see, there is indeed a human free." began the zebra. "My name is Zuberi, hello, do you know where's my sis' grotto?" he asked. 

"Wait..." Adam put the pieces together. "...you're Zecora's sister?" he assumed.

"That is very correct good sir, you're correct with what you infer." he nodded in agreement. 

"It is nice to meet, didn't know she had family." greeted the human. "Now, for where she lives, she's over at-" he was swiftly interrupted by a letter the suddenly materialized in front of him out of green flames. He knew what that meant; an urgent letter from Twilight. "Uh...hold that thought." he said to the zebra before opening the letter and reading it. "Sorry, for the interruption, but I have something urgent to attend to." he said before he jogged off towards the library. 

Zuberi just looked at the human as he ran away. 





By the time Adam arrived at the library, all of the mane six, Starlight and Spike were there, along with Luna. Plus, nine beds all carefully placed in a circle around Luna. 

"What's going on here?" asked Adam, confused. 

"It's a sleepover!" answered Pinkie who bounced on every bed. "A super duper important sleepover to save Equestria!" she said cheerfully. 

The human had no idea what that meant. "Every pony in Equestria had a nightmare." began Luna. "All caused by Nightmare Moon herself." she explained.

"You mean that alicorn Twilight and her friends defeated a long time ago?" Adam heard stories about this Nightmare Moon, but he never thought he'll ever encounter her.

"That very same one." clarified Twilight. 

"And the beds?"

"The only way to enter the dream realm is by sleeping, Spike is working on the sleeping potion as we speak." Luna answered. On cue, Spike walked in carrying a tray of warm milk spiked with the potion. 

"All done and ready." the baby dragon announced proudly. 

"Great, now Spike, while we are asleep, I need you to invent a way to wake us all up." ordered Twilight. "Something that can jolt us awake quickly."

"Will do Twi." nodded Spike.

"Wait, I'm going too?" Adam said, surprised, he sees all the mares get on their respective beds. 

"We need someone whose deepest fear is unknown to Nightmare Moon, her dream powers don't work on non-ponies." Luna explained. "And because it's the only way Fluttershy would agree to come along." she pointed over to the yellow Pegasus who nervously got on the bed. 

The human rolled his eyes before walking over to her. "I'll feel better if you're there for me..." began Fluttershy who was anxious about going into the unknown. 

"That's okay, I know it can be scary." he got on her bed and cuddled up to her. "I'll be there to protect you, promise." he assured before kissing her forehead. 

Twilight saw the couple with jealousy before getting on her bed. She looks around to see all of her friends, Starlight, Adam and Luna get ready, all of them taking a glass of the spiked milk. "Everyone ready?" Twilight asked to the group. 

"Sure as we'll ever be." smirked Applejack before she chugged down her glass. Everyone else soon followed, along with Luna. 





A service bell rang loudly as Twilight suddenly found herself in the reception area of an old hotel. She looked around the place to see that the rest of the group was also there. "Welcome to the dream matrix." explained Luna. 

"Looks more like a tacky hotel." Rarity commented. "With equally tacky music." she commented on the sounds emanating from the speakers. "But's a whole new meaning to 'three decade old cheese'."

"I designed it to be a hotel, it makes it easier for me to organize dreams." Luna continued. "Here, you can access any dream you want."

Adam looked around the room, he was trying to comprehend the fact that he was in a dream world. "So...do normal dream rules apply here?" he asked. 

"Not really, I had to install rules in order for this place to remain stable, but you can basically do whatever you want as long as it makes sense to the setting." Luna explained. 

Pinkie happily looked around until she came across some red writing on the wall. "Luna...what does 'rellikretsis' mean?" she asked. She then rubbed her hoof against the writing and tasted it. "And why is it written in blood?"

"What are you talking about-" Luna finally saw what the pink pony meant, she was stunned. 

"Uh...Luna...you should probably turn around..." suggest Rainbow Dash who tugged on the princess' tail. 

"Why would-?" she turned around and was even more stunned than before once she saw it; on the opposite wall to the message was the same word but now appearing to spell "sisterkiller". "NO!" she screamed. "NO!" she yelled in anger as she threw the service bell at the window with her magic, shattering it. Luna promptly and angrily walked away. The group looked again to see that the mirror was now back together again, and the bell now back to its usual location.

The princess was in the hotel surveillance room, bawling. Adam, who followed her cries, stood by the doorway. "Nightmare Moon wrote that didn't she?" he asked as he slowly walked in.

Luna quickly wiped her tears away and tried to make a brave face. "Probably to taunt me..." she assumed. 

The human looked through all the monitors to see nothing but endless hallways and doors. "How big is this place?" he asked to keep Luna's mind occupied with something else. 

"Big enough for there to be one room for every pony currently alive." she explained. "The ones with 'do not disturb' signs are the ones who signed paperwork to prevent me from entering unless it is an emergency...privacy reasons." she then decided on a demonstration. "Come with me." she said before leaving the room, Adam followed along.





Both the human and blue princess stood in front of a door, engraved on the door was Apple Bloom's cutie mark. "Behind this door, are all of little Apple Bloom's dreams, fears, hopes and desires." she pointed out. "You are free to take a peek if you want." she offered. 

Adam, nervous about what he might see, reluctantly reached for the latch and slowly turned it. The door began to gradually open until it was no fully open, the human peered inside only to see a standard hotel room, and nothing else. "I don't see anything..."

"Exactly." nodded Luna. "But I can." she smiled. "You see, only myself and Apple Bloom can see what's truly happening inside, but we're the only ones that can fully comprehend it, everyone else will only see what their minds assume is behind the door...in this case, a plain hotel suite." Luna just smirked from what she saw, she wondered how Adam would react if he actually saw what Apple Bloom fantasized about, since it involved him and all. 

"Do I have a door?" asked Adam as he looked around the room. 

"My dream walking powers are limited to ponies...you don't have a door." Luna told him. "Now let's go, we have a search to commence."

Adam nodded in agreement before he walked out of the room. Luna was doing her best to suppress her laughter, she felt that it was best that the human not find out how badly young Apple Bloom secretly wanted him.





Back in the real world, Spike lounged around as he read his comic books, enjoying the fact that now he had the time to do so. But his peace and quiet was interrupted by a knock on the door. Annoyed at the interruption, the dragon walked over to the door and opened it to see a cloaked zebra before him. "Can I help you?" he asked, slightly intimidated by his shimmering gold eyes, they only thing visible under the hood. 

The zebra let himself in without much care as he noticed the human and nine other mares sleeping in beds strewn around the room. "Am I interrupting something, ruining this and everything?" he asked as he hug his cloak on a coat rack. Like Zecora, he also has a mohawk, but much messier, had unshorn fetlocks and apart from having both ears pierced with either an earring or piece of jewelry, was unadorned. 

"Uh...not really, just them trying to defeat a force that gave everyone nightmares last night." Spike explained nonchalantly. 

"What?!" The zebra's eyes went wide. "Nightmares?!"

"Uh...yeah..." Spike was not sure why the guest was being dramatic. 

The zebra ran over to his saddlebags and took out a giant scroll, he unrolled it to reveal that it took up almost the entire length of the room and was written in small print, with the occasional picture, figure or pictograph on it. He quickly scanned throughout the unfurled scroll before he came across what he was looking for. The showed a picture of what almost looked like Luna's silhouette, painted completely black. "Tantabus..." he hissed under his breath.





Starlight Glimmer laughed manically as thunder clashed in the sky. She sat on her golden throne as she looked at her subjects bow down to her, all with equal signs as their cutie marks. "All hail Starlight..." they all droned to her. 

"Yes, all hail me!" she cackled. Under her hind legs, a blindfolded Twilight angrily protested about the fact that she was being used as Starlight's footstool, but her complaints sounded muffled thanks to a large red ball gag in her mouth. Starlight laughed even louder and harder, as her biggest dream finally came true. 

"STARLIGHT!" yelled Twilight, snapping the pink mare out of her fantasy. 

"Huh?" she asked confused. She finally realized that she was peering into her own room that showcased her fantasy. She just sighed that it was just a fantasy and nothing more. "Sorry...couldn't help it." she blushed sheepishly. 

Twilight raised her eyebrow with suspicion. "I'd rather not know what you just saw." slightly disturbed. 

"Oh please, I bet you that there's way worse fantasies out there, just look at how many doors there are in this hallway alone!" she pointed out, both mares were indeed in a seemingly endless hallway of doors. 

"Well, thank goodness we won't ever see them." sighed Twilight with relief. "Now come on Starlight, we have a mission to focus on." 

"Yes ma'am." Starlight responded sarcastically as she reluctantly followed her.





"What do you mean you don't want to look inside?!" exclaimed a stunned Pinkie Pie to Fluttershy as they stood in front of the yellow mare's door, naturally, it had a 'do not disturb' sign on it since she takes comfort in her privacy. 

"Well..." she blushed with embarrassment. "...I have a lot of...well...and I'm afraid I'll end up seeing one of the more...debauched...ones." she said in a low voice with an occasional whimper. 

Pinkie just chuckled. "Oh come on Shy, nothing you fantasize can ever top mine in terms of debauched fun!" she reassured as she wrapped her foreleg around the nervous pegasus. 

"Oh...I don't know about that..." Fluttershy responded, trailing off. 

"Now that's nothing to be ashamed of." the pink mare assured. 

"But it's something I prefer to keep to myself...if you don't mind." Fluttershy insisted. 

"Well, it would've been nice to compare notes, but I understand." she smiled, agreeing to not upset her best friend any further. "Come on, I'll show you mine!" she sprinted off down the hall at high speed. 

Fluttershy also sprinted off after her, but soon lost sight of the pink pony. She could have sworn she saw Pinkie turn left at a corner, but she's not there. "Pinkie?" she was gone.

Pinkie was so eager to see her door that she did not realize that Fluttershy was gone. She soon reached her door, and with a happy whinny, she opened the door to see the best thing she ever saw; a land made out of candy and desserts. "Oh yeah, now this is what I call a fantasy." she said in awe. She was about to step inside to enjoy the place, but suddenly felt a foreleg and knife wrap around her neck. "Huh?!"

"You missed me s̶i̸s̴?̸" hissed a dark yet familiar voice. Pinkie knew who it was, and she dreaded it. 

"Hey...Pinkamena..." stuttered Pinkie with fright, heart racing, and body shivering especially as the blade of the knife brushed against her neck. "...long time no see?" she nervously smiled.

The straight maned pink pony was in no mood for pleasantries. "Don't call me that!" she hissed. "You and I both know that you're the impostor!" she warned. "They all think you're the real P̴̣̔̈́ī̷̤̕n̶͇̮͋̕k̵̲̓͝i̸̩̿̎e̸̡̙͂̒, well, that's a bunch of horse manure if you ask me."

"But I'm the real-"

"S̶̠͑̎̋̐h̶̛͉̓̑̉̾̿̉̃͠u̵̝̠̠̪̠̤̤̹͒̕͜ͅt̴̳̑͐͌̏̑̈́͆͂ ̵̡̻̜̬̣̟͇̗͒̂̌̌̾̚ư̶͕̄̂͛͌̀̐́̑p̶̢̯͇͉̀͊͋́͐̚" she yelled at her double, holding the knife against her throat. "You're just something I created in my mind that went out of control!" she explained. "For too long you have been in charge, stealing m̴̙̞̦̜̦͎̩͔̖̙̐́̾̐̕͝y̸̩͍̱͊͊̋͑̏̈͝ life away from me, but not anymore!"

"Look...I'm sorry, but when I saw you, I took it upon myself to improve your life, and if it meant taking over, so be it." Pinkie explained with shame. 

"I am so tempted to slash this knife across your throat so I can kill you once and for all and get my life back, but I'm afraid that doing so will end up killing both of us." she explained.

"But I thought since it's a dream and all, it'll just cause me to wake up?"

"Not this time, since this time you are just a foreign visitor to your own dream, no, you'll probably suffer an even worse fate..." she whispered. 

"And what's that?" asked a scared Pinkie Pie.

"Limbo." she smirked before she suddenly sliced the knife across the neck. Blood mixed in with the whipped cream on the ground, and pooling all over chocolate powder covered floor. Blood even soaked Pinkamena's right foreleg. She looked on without remorse. "And good riddance too." she said. She then noticed her surroundings quickly turn dark and creepy, she now found herself in a more pleasing location for her; a foggy and muddy barren field, a no man's land. "Much better, I was getting sick and tired of all the cutesy and bright diabetes inducing saccharine crap." she nodded with approval. She then turned around and walked towards the exist, for the first time in such a long time, she was finally able to leave the prison that was a hotel room. 

Once out in the hallway, she smirked as all the doors began to change until she found herself staring at the one door she wanted to visit first; the one that belonged to Mr. Cake himself. "I wonder what the poor cuckolded husband is thinking about now." she barged in, ignoring the 'do not disturb' sign on the doorknob, and found herself in a dream, or in this case, a nightmare of Mr. and Mrs. Cake arguing before Mrs. Cake left with the foals forever. Pinkamena nodded with approval as she seductively went up to Mr. Cake. "Hey there C̷a̴r̸r̴o̵t̶." she smirked.

ｹ－ｷｽﾝ

"Pinke?" Carrot was stunned to see Pinkie, not expecting her. "What are you-" he was swiftly silenced by a passionate kiss on the lips. 

"Forget that bitch, she never truly loved you, but me on the other hoof.." she then dove in for another passionate kiss, with Mr. Cake fully reciprocating. 





In the real world, Carrot's afternoon nap took a turn for the pleasurable as his nightmare became a wet dream, as a smile formed on his sleeping face.

At the library, Spike and Zuberi were too busy studying the scroll to realize that the Pinkie that was in her bed, was no replaced by her straight maned double, her face now a perpetual smirk.





ｴｽﾃｻﾛﾝ

With the ringing of the bell, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity trotted inside what looked like a beauty salon. They were surprised that there actually was one in the dream complex. "What a bunch of horse apples! There's a girly beauty salon, but no pool!? What gives?!" complained the cyan pegasus. 

"Well, I for one find it fabulous that at least Luna managed to add some convenience to this place, although it is in dire need of an update, this place screams uncool and tacky 80's." Rarity said with some disgust from her surroundings. "Who thought that bright pink neon was a great color to decorate with, it's horrendous!" she said as her eyes burned from staring at the bright wallpaper. 

The wallpaper even clashed with the many neon signs hanging on the wall, giving everything a faint glow under the florescent lights of the room. Applejack just looked around the place and even skimmed through some mane styling catalogs. There was so much mane-spray featured in the photos, that the pictures themselves could still burn a hole in the atmosphere. "This reminds me of Aunt Orange's wedding photos." commented the orange mare.

"Oh well, as long as I am here, might as well fix up my mane." Rarity commented as she trotted over to a mirror. "This may be a dream, but that's no excuse to let your style go." she looked over at the mirror and suddenly let out a scream. "NO!" she yelled in shock. Before her, was herself, but different. Her reflection had a loose Mohawk mane of multiple colors, and a purple studded jacket, the reflection reminded her of High School. 

"What's wrong Rarity?" Applejack asked with confusion. She goes to look at the mirror to see what the unicorn saw, only to see her reflection, only to see that it was hatless and wore a red saloon dress, and the lower part of her reflection's face was obstructed by a fan. "What in tarnation?!"

"What is up with you two? I see nothing!" commented Dash who looked at the mirror her friends looked at, only to see her usual self, and her friends' perfect reflections. Whatever they saw, only they could see. 

The unicorn quickly threw a towel at the mirror and covered it up. She breathed heavily with fright. "No...not again..." she said to herself with determination. 

Before the three could discuss what just occurred, the front door bell rang as the door opened. The sound of a tickertape type machine echoed across the room. The three looked over to see. 

"Oh come on Rarity, I thought you enjoyed that punk phase." said the new pony before them. The three friends looked on in stunned silence. "And Jackie, how can you forget about the mare you could've become?" it continued. "Besides, Dash, don't you miss your old friend Lightning Dust?" it smirked. 

Both slowly stepped back in fright, the three looked at the pony, but to each of the three, it was a different pony. To Rarity, she is looking at herself from her punk phase in High School. To Applejack, it is herself, but if she became an Orange instead of an Apple, and to Rainbow Dash, it was Lightning Dust herself as a Wonderbolt. 

"You see...my- I mean, OUR job, is to become each of your biggest fears...so I can grow stronger...so I can finally leave this cursed prison..." said the creature. "And you all will make the perfect ponies to do it." it laughed as the three forms it took before them. "So...run!" it ordered.

Suddenly, the roof of the beauty parlor came crashing down, luckily the debris missed the three mares, but once the dust settled, the three looked to see something frightening; a giant crab. "You have got to be kidding me!" exclaimed a stunned Rarity. The giant crab suddenly lunged its claws at them, and the three mares quickly scattered out of the parlor. It roared.





At the same time, Fluttershy was lost and alone. She wondered aimlessly down the many corridors, but would either run into a virtually endless hallway, or a dead end. She was becoming anxious and scared. "Oh...how do I get out of here?" she asked to herself as she came across another dead end. The lights then shut down, shrouding the mare in darkness.





Adam and Luna came across a long hallway where all the lights glowed a sinister bright red. "What does bright red mean?" asked Adam to the princess. 

"I don't know, I never knew the lights could do that, and I have a bad feeling about this." Luna commented with suspicion. The lights then switched without warning back to its usual color, only to reveal an unexpected surprise; writing all over the walls, written in blood. 

"Oh my goodness..." the human said, stunned at what he saw. 

The phrase written repeatedly all over the place. "Here lies Luna's friends, who were foolishly lead to their deaths." it read. Another phrase read "Luna kills everyone that gets close to her." and another read "Princess of death!"

"No! No!" Luna yelled, protesting the charges. "It's not true!" she yelled at her surroundings. 

"Luna!" Adam grabbed the princess to comfort her. "That's just Nightmare Moon trying to get to you!" he explained, trying to calm her down, hold her in his arm. "That's what she wants!"

"She's doing an amazing job at it!" snarled Luna with rage.

Before the human could say anything, a dark hallway appeared over to their left. Curiously, they both cautiously walked down to see what was there. They both carefully turned the corner to see an entire hallway bathed in darkness. "Where this is hallway come from?" asked Adam. 

"I don't know...but I have a feeling that she's behind this." hypothesized the princess. The hallway lights suddenly turned on to reveal a disturbing sight; a dead end, completely trashed with graffiti all over the walls and something utterly shocking; a pile of bones on the floor. Adam looked at the walls to see the words "Help!" "Trapped" "Hungry" written in various bodily fluids, including blood, but one message truly hit Adam hard upon seeing it: "I love you Adam" his heart sank.

Luna analyzed the bones to see that it belonged to a pony, and the writing on the walls confirmed the truth. "I'm sorry Adam...I'm so sorry..." she said to the human with shame. 

Adam, catatonic, fell to his knees on the floor. "Can this be prevented..." was all he said to the mare.

"I don't know...that's one possible future that could happen...time has no meaning in here..." Luna explained as gently as she could.

"Can Nightmare Moon be stopped?" Adam asked with determination. 

"I...truly don't know..." she admitted. "...sometimes I fear that I may cease to exist without her...since we're two sides of the same coin..."

"Where's Fluttershy now?" Adam asked, getting up, rage slowly building inside of him.

"In the deep subconscious called 'Limbo'." Luna explained. "Far beyond false awakening, a place where ponies could be trapped indefinitely." she continued. 

"Is there a way to get there?" the human asked in a demanding tone. 

"There is but it is very difficult and has high risk and-" she was suddenly silence by a finger on her lips.

"How?" was all he said with a serious tone in his voice. 

"A dream within a dream..." was all Luna said. Adam then marched away down the hallway. Luna followed the human with confusion. "But what about Nightmare Moon?" she asked with concern. 

"We kill her." was all Adam said.

Ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ｃｏｎｔｉｎｕｅｄ．．．
> Chapter XLIV~The Nightmare Returns~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

On a beach, the bright sun shone over Adam, who laid unconscious on the sand, completely wet. He proceeded to wake up and cough up water. He breathed heavily, getting as much air as he could. But it was not long before he was grabbed by several pony guards. He did not bother to fight them off, too weak to do so. 

Adam soon found himself in a wooden hut in a jungle. He had his wrists tied behind his back and forced to kneel, clothes and hair still damp. He looked up at the figure who sat on the makeshift throne before him. The figure had green jungle paint all over its body, and looked old and elderly. "How long has it been..." was all the figure said to Adam, in a quiet raspy voice. 

"Eight hours..." Adam answered. "...eight hours." he reiterated. 

"It feels so long..." the figure answered back. "...especially when waiting..." it looked at Adam with eyes of sadness. "...but I am glad you came back to me at long last." 

The human smiled as he looked at the figure, despite the paint and white mane, it was still the same Fluttershy he always remembered, only much older. 





"Adam? You okay?" asked Luna at the human who stared distantly into his pint of ice cream. The human snapped out of his momentary trance to find himself in the hotel dinning room, eating some ice cream with Luna. 

He sighed. "You know what I fear the most Luna?" he began. Luna just shook her head. "The unknown." he explained. "The things that can't be adequately explained..."

"I can understand that fear Adam." agreed Luna as she levitated a spoonful of ice cream and ate it. 

"When I was kid," Adam began. "the circus came to my town and one of the acts was a magician, and after watching him perform his tricks, I briefly believed that magic did exist, I had no other way to explain how he did it, how he made things appear, disappear, escape from difficult bonds, it was amazing." he related. "But the fact that I couldn't find a satisfactory explanation just bothered me...that's when I decided to devote my life to knowledge, become a man who had the answers to the universe's greatest mysteries..."

The mare just intently listened. "But did you ever figure out how that magician did his tricks?"

"I did eventually, when I toured with a burlesque troupe, another magician that was there explained it to me and it was all a simple case of misdirection and slight-of-hand, no actual magic involved." he explained. "I was frankly impressed that something so complex can be achieved through simple tricks." he thought back fondly, before his face fell. "I'm scared." he suddenly admitted.

"We all are Adam." agreed Luna. "But we'll get through this together." she assured.





Rainbow Dash was relieved to have lost that creature that was after her, but was also concerned that she got separated from her friends, forced to navigate the endless maze of hallways alone. 

"Hey Dash!" exclaimed a new voice. This startled the cyan mare, how turned around to see Pinkie Pie. 

"Gosh darn it Pinkie!" she exclaimed with annoyance. "You can't just pop into existence like that!" she complained. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess old habits d̴i̷e̴ hard." she explained with a slight smirk. 

Dash noticed that Pinkie looked a little different than she remembered, mane now straight, her fur no longer had its bright pink shimmer and looked duller. But the Pegasus had more important matters to attend to. "Where's Fluttershy?" she asked, knowing that Pinkie was paired up with her. 

"I don't know." Pinkie shrugged. "One minute she was behind me, the next, she was gone."

The cyan mare just gave a worried look. "Great, she's alone with that THING out there."

"Oh, don't you worry, I'm sure F̷l̴u̷t̷t̷e̶r̶s̶h̸y̴ can handle herself." Pinkie assured in a huskier than usual voice. Something about her seemed off to Dash, and it frightened her. 

"Dash! Pinkie!" yelled Twilight, who with Starlight, trotted up to the two mares. "Good to see you two." she said with relief. "Find anything? Where's everyone else?"

"Oh yeah we found something, and it chased us all over the place before I lost it." explained Dash.

"Nightmare Moon?" said Starlight.

"No, a giant crab."

None of the other three mares expected that answer. "Right...and where is everyone else?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know, but this place is crazy, we should get out of here." Dash demanded.

"We're not leaving until Nightmare Moon has been defeated!" Twilight answered to remind her friend of the mission. "Besides, the only way we can leave is if Spike has found a way to wake us up."

"So what's the plan now?" asked a skeptical Dash. 





Out in the real world, Spike was not doing that. Instead, he silently watched as the mysterious zebra, Zuberi, made a sleeping potion using Twilight's lab equipment. "So, you're making this potion because?" asked the baby dragon.

"Because Tantabus is in there, I must go inside the nightmare." Zuberi explained. 

"So you know how to defeat it?" asked Spike.

"Tantabus can't be defeated, if there are bad thoughts untreated." he explained as he finished up the potion. "It's always there subconsciously, it's something done not consciously."

"So, you're saying that Tantabus is not a creature, but a thing that manifests itself from the suppression of bad thoughts?" Spike hypothesized. The zebra just silently nodded. "Did you encounter it before?"

"I have indeed encountered it, it gave my sister a bad fit." he explained ominously. He then went over back upstairs to the main room where everyone was asleep in. He went over to an empty part of the room and laid down on the floor. "In an hour please wake me up, and please do not try to letup." he urged. 

"Good luck in there." said Spike before the zebra quickly chugged down the potion and promptly fell asleep. 




エレベーター

Adam and Luna quietly got in an elevator. It was silent between the two, the only sound being the elevator music and the indicator lights. Adam looked at the elevator control panel to see a large amount of buttons, all blank, except for one that was stamped with Luna's cutie mark. "What's the button there?" the human asked the princess.

"The penthouse." Luna answered. 

"But it has your mark on it." he pointed out.

"Like I said, the penthouse." she dodged the question. Adam was about to ask more, but the elevator reached its floor. The doors opened to reveal Rarity and Applejack running inside. "Close the door!" they both yelled in unison as they sprinted inside. 

"Why? What's-" Adam peaked his head out to look around only to see a giant crab heading towards them. Without saying a word he repeatedly tapped the 'close door' button. At the last possible moment, the doors finally did close leaving a noticeable dent from the crab's claw hitting the door. Everyone stood back in silence as the elevator continued on to another floor. The human and princess agreed that it was best not to ask about what they just saw.





プール

Twilight and Pinkie Pie found themselves in the pool. They looked around to see that the pool was currently empty, drained dry. "How did we end up here?" asked a confused Twilight. "This place makes no sense."

"I know, but that's the dream world for you." responded Pinkie who shrugged her shoulders. The pink mare gave a small smirk at the unicorn. 

"By the way Pinkie, you've been acting...normally...lately." noted Twilight. "What happened?" she turned only to see the straight mane pony just standing there with a smirk.

"What ever do you mean T̴w̶i̴?" continued Pinkie with an even bigger smirk with fake confusion. "I thought being normal was a good thing."

"Not with you Pinkie." stated Twilight with concern. 

Pinkie just gave a crazed laugh in response, and not a cute happy laugh, but a deranged laugh that sent shivers down the unicorn's back. "I always longed to be normal...but I was never allowed to be..." she said ominously.

Twilight began to slowly back away as Pinkie slowly walked forever. "Pinkie?"

"I spent such a long time imprisoned in her mind, helpless as she took control of my life, forcing me to do nothing but watch...it sickened me." her tone grew bitter and huskier. "Parties, fun, sugary diabetes inducing food, randomness...it was horrible the stuff she forced me to do!" 

"Pinkie?"

"It's P̴̲̂i̸̩͑n̷̗̆k̴̙͗ä̵̼́m̵̼͐e̸̤͋n̵̠͒a̸̘͆ now!" she suddenly snapped with rage. "P̴̟̮͚̎̉̋ȋ̷̱̝̀̉ń̸̤̻̕k̷͖̜̝̆a̶̛͖̻̋m̸͔̖̙̮̑͋͝ẹ̸͓̞͛̅ņ̷̓̐͝ä̷͍͂͒͘ ̴̨̖̜̊̈D̷̢͇̻̜͊̎́i̵̙̒a̸̹̘͈͔͑͛̂n̴̖̥͌̿͋͊ẻ̸͙̋ ̸̞͉̫̙̔̒͊̈́P̵͈̩̍i̶̬̖̗̽̀́e̴̬̹̯̿! The r̴̢̡̰̗̩̗̪̭̱̲̜̘̠̟̲̺̱̭̃̌͑͌͜e̵̥̻̥̠̲̋̀̂̊̀̌̑ạ̷̛̙̀̓̾̈́̓̏̀̆̇̆̍͌̾̕͠͠͠͠ḷ̶̘̬̗̖̤̞̥͉̘̳͛͌͑̿̈́̔̈́̽́̂͆̅̍ one, not the cheap knockoff that you thought was the true one!"

Twilight continued to back away. "Now calm down, no need to do anything rash." 

"Ş̷̧̬͔̥̼̼̮͉̠̗̙̮͖̣̬̪̦̤̥̳̱̊̄̇͒͌ͅh̷̡̢̡̹̺̝͖̫͎͚̜͙͙̖̬͓̲͂̅̒̀̈́͋͂̏̽̿͌́̈́̒͑͆̚̕̚͠ȩ̸̧̛̳̩̥̺͚̰̹̦͙̗̯͖̬͕̅̃̈́͂̏̂̓͌͆͘͝͠ ̸̛͖̭̺̜̘̪̘͚͚̠̊̄́͌̏̋͂͊́̀̀́̉̅̏̀̐͘͠ͅr̷̨̡̛̟̱̗̞̺͌̾̃͒͆̾͊̓̒̈̉͑̂̂͑̚͝u̵̦̤̗̼͔̪̜̝̓̈́̈̄̂̀͝͝ȋ̶̧̧͔͍̝̩̹̱͚̳̠̳͚̺̜͔͋̈̏̊̍̎͒̓̂̒̆̿́̽̇͗̕͘͝͠͝͝ͅͅn̶̞̣̫̞̞̪̒̌́̑̊́͛́̍̔̕͜͝͠͝e̸͇̗͎̯͎̲̼̫̍̌̿̍ḓ̸̰̦̲̮̹͇̝̩̰̥͛̑̎͒̆̆̒̉̄̓̆́̂͘̕͝ͅͅ ̶̨̣͕͈͈̮̰͈̰̔̉̀̍̎̀̑͌̚m̶̨̧̛̤̫̬͕̜̟̝̞͔̱̠̜̺̲̞̎̀̓̾́̽͋͊́̆̍̀̾͆̓̎̊̀̕̕͝ͅy̷̨̨̨̧̭̗̼̼͖͍̭̪̪̬̠̓͜ ̵̨̮͕̙̥̥̹̜̘̖̼̦̗̺̃͒̊̍͊͌͋̄̕͝͠͝ͅl̵̟̳͕͍͍̠̟̘̝̻̬̪̾̐̿̐́̈́̋̉ỉ̴͚̏̐͐̉̏̆̋̊̐̐̉͂̍̋͝͝͠f̸̨̗̊̋͛̈́̈̆́͐̅̓̏̈́̉͌̚̚͠ė̸̛̛͙̃́̌̿̿́̀͛̆̔͌̅̆͊͒̕͝͝͝!" she yelled as she suddenly materialized a knife. 

"What are you doing...?" the unicorn was now even more afraid as her rump hit the wall, she had nowhere to go. 

"Killing everything she ever loved!" she growled angrily, knife at the ready to stab. Twilight got ready to summon a defensive spell, only for a figure, yelling a native battle cry to come out of nowhere and tackle Pinkie into the empty pool. A loud thud was heard as both bodies hit the concrete pool floor hard. Twilight quickly ran over and looked down only to see a zebra slowly get up in pain, and Pinkie with a knife in her chest, dead. 

"You...killed her..." Twilight said stunned. 

The zebra cracked his back, relieving his pain, before climbing up to the shallow end of the pool and climbing out. "That was not the friend that you know, a real friend would never kill though." he explained. Twilight looked again at Pinkie, only to find the entire body was gone as if it was never there. 

"Where did she go?" Twilight asked with confusion.

"Most likely she is now awake, she will not feel anymore ache." he explained as he straightened himself out. "And you must be Twilight Sparkle, I don't mean to get you startled, the name is Zuberi to you, and this is something I've been through." 

"You've been in the dream world before?" Zuberi just silently nodded. "But how can I know to trust you?" she asked him with suspicion. The zebra just looked at her with a serious look before walking off without saying a word. Twilight followed along as they walked out of the pool. "Do you know what's going on?" she asked. 

"This is not Nightmare Moon's doing, there's a new threat that is brewing." he explained ominously in a deep voice. 

"But if it is not Nightmare Moon, then what?" she asked, thinking about what he just said.

"I believe the answer is close, but the answer you will oppose." he answered ominously. 

A realization suddenly dawned on the mare. "Luna? Luna is doing this? How?" she asked confused. "What makes you say that?" she demanded to know. She could not believe that Luna would be responsible for this, unless not even Luna knows it's her. "Wait," she began to theorize. "it's all in her mind...and she doesn't know it...oh no..."





In the elevator, Adam, Luna, Rarity and Applejack tried to calm themselves down as the elevator continued to rise up. They soon stopped at a random floor and the doors opened to reveal a quiet hallway. The three mares and human got off and saw that the coast was clear. Luna looked apprehensive. "I think we're safe...for now." stated the human.

"So what now?" asked Applejack. 

"Figure out where Nightmare Moon is hiding." explained Adam. "But there has to be some kind of clue that will lead us to her whereabouts." he looked around only to get startled by a strange churning sound. 

"That sounds like the ice machine." Luna stated, familiar with the noise. She walked over to a hidden hallway near the elevator and the mares and human followed her. They soon came across an active ice machine pouring ice cubes into a bucket, red tinted ice cubes. 

Adam slowly reached for the bucket, Luna, Rarity and Applejack huddled behind him as he slowly peeked inside the bucket. "Oh my God!" the human suddenly exclaimed in disgust as he dropped the bucket on the floor, spilling its contents on the floor. The other three's eyes went wide as they saw just what startled Adam; a severed head of Celestia herself. 

"No!" Luna screamed in terror. She looked over at the ice machine to see the message 'sister killer' written in blood on it. "NO!" she screamed louder before sprinting away. 

"Luna wait!" Adam tried to run after the princess only to find his way blocked by a thick dark cloud of smoke, smoke that should an endless night sky. Both Adam and the two mares froze in their tracks as the smoked floated before them, the sounds of a ticker tape machine emanated from it. It appeared to have taken a quizzical interested in the human, who stared it down, refusing to budge. "What...are you?" the human asked it. 

The smoke just started to show moments of Adam's past in its dark nightscape, from his childhood, to his adventures in Equestria. Then, it began to show glimpses of Luna in emotional pain, especially after Celestia's passing, this intrigued Adam even more. But then, just as soon as it appeared, it suddenly floated away past them at high speed, disappearing among the maze of hallways, leaving the three alone in stunned silence. 

"What just happened?" asked a stunned Applejack. 

"I think I know what's truly going on." muttered Adam as he walked off towards where Luna ran off. Both Rarity and Applejack stayed behind to keep watch. The human continued down the hallway until he heard the sounds of crying. He turned a corner to see Princess Luna curled up in a ball, sobbing. "Luna?" he asked with concern.

"It's all my fault...it's all my fault..." she muttered between tears. "...had I known about her feelings, I could've stopped her..." she explained. 

Adam just crouched down next to the blue mare and brushed her back. "No Luna, if there was anyone to blame for her death it would be me, I was the one who drove her to do what she did..." he admitted. 

The brushing seemed to have calmed Luna down slightly. "But I should've paid attention and..." she sighed. "...I don't know, I somehow feel like it is all my fault."

"How long have you kept this hidden?" Adam asked. "Kept this pain to yourself."

"Over a year now..." she admitted. "...needed to keep a brave face for the sake of my subjects..."

"You knew that it wasn't Nightmare Moon doing this the entire time didn't you?" Adam finally got to the point. 

She looked over at the human with shame. "I knew it was either her or...it..." she said ominously.

"What is that thing anyways?" Adam asked. 

"It's not a thing...but a manifestation..." Luna explained. "...it appears every time a someone suppresses their feelings and fears...the subconscious creates it as an outlet for those feelings and fears to escape, and it usually does so by giving it to other dreamers." she continued. "It wants everyone to feel just as bad as the host."

"How does one defeat it?" Adam asked once again. 

"You can't, it only goes away once the host comes to terms with their fears...but most take their own lives before they ever do that..." she continued with shame and guilt.

"Because that's the easy way out..." Adam said, he knew how it felt, he knew what is was like to avoid facing your fears, especially after his former love's death in his arms. 

Luna suddenly grabbed the human into a hug and began to sob into his shoulder. "I'm sorry for deceiving all of you...I was just incapable of admitting the truth." she cried. 

"Just let it all out..." was all he said as he comforted her and rubbed her back. He then looked over at the corner of his eye to see a table with a flower vase on it. He slowly reached for the vase, without disturbing Luna who was still crying into his should. "...but I'm so sorry for this." he whispered. Luna's ear perked up but before she could comprehend what he said she was swiftly hit in the head hard, knocking her out. Adam gently put her down on the floor, before throwing away the pieces of the ceramic vase away. "But it just had to be done." he got up and walked back to both Rarity and Applejack. 





ランドリー

Down in the laundry room, both Starlight and Rainbow Dash quietly walked in, looking around. They both silently agreed to split up so they could cover more ground since the room was massive. Dash went down the many industrial washers and dryers. 

The entire room had a cold industrial feel to it, it reminded the Pegasus of a cloudless version of the Weather Factory's inner workings. She suddenly stopped in her tracks as her ears perked up to the sound of something mechanical approaching. "It must be Nightmare Moon...it sounds like it..." Dash muttered to herself. 

The sound was distant, it did not appear like it was approaching the mare, but she decided to approach it instead. She cautiously and slowly walked towards the sound. Her heart pounded anxiously as she got closer to the noise. But then, she heard something else different. Dash quickly looked towards the source only to be immediately smacked in the forehead by a giant piece of hanging steel beam, instantly knocking the mare unconscious. 

"Sorry Dash," began Starlight as she walked up to the lifeless Dash. "but I would rather have Luna and everyone in Equestria be nightmare prone...for now." she explained. Starlight then trotted away, if there was anyone that was going to defeat this nightmare force, it would be Starlight, she'll be a hero for once and her reputation and influence could finally regrow. 

As she walked back, she noticed an unexpected sight; an orange coated stallion, one that was very familiar to her. Starlight knew it was probably just an illusion, but was curious. "Hello Starlight..." he began.

"Hello Sunburst." Starlight greeted as she trotted up to him. 

He turned around and both faced each other. "I heard you've done some...infamous...things since we last saw each other." he began.

"Well, if you're going to berate me about, don't bother, I don't care, I still think what I did was right and justified." she explained in a smug tone.

"No, I'm not here for that, in fact, I was actually impressed by what you did." Sunburst said. This surprised Starlight. "I'm just here to confess something to you." he smiled as his cheeks began to blush. 

"And what's that?" the mare looked at him skeptically. 

"That I loved you." he admitted before he suddenly leaned in and kissed Starlight passionately on the lips. The mare was caught off guard but she allowed it to continue, kissing him passionately in return. Soon, she was pushed up against a nearby wall, the stallion standing on his hind legs roughly kissing her, the mare wrapping her hind legs around his waist and her forelegs around his neck, roughly kissing back. 

He then nibbled the mare's neck. "Oh yes..." she hissed in pleasure. "...I always dreamed of this..." she gasped with joy and contentment. 

"How about this?" Sunburst whispered. 

Starlight looked on with confusion before her eyes went wide with surprise. She gasped out in pain as she looked down her side to see a dagger in her side. "I should've known it was too good to be true..." she gasped before her vision began to darken and her body went limp. She was dropped to the floor, bleeding heavily. 

"Sorry..." was all Sunburst said before he disappeared. 





A downpour fell on the dark savanna as thunder clashed. In the middle of the tall grass, a single zebra cried in anguish. The heavy rain made it hard to see her tears but it was obvious that she was bawling. "Sister?" said a voice to the zebra.

She turned around at looked at her brother with shame. "It was all my fault...I'm a monster..." she cried out.

"That wasn't you sis, it was the Tantabus-"

"I was the one that allowed it to manifest within me!" she snapped, interrupting her young sibling. "And all because I was afraid of my destiny that was set when I was born..."

"But joining the shaman order is a high honor." he explained, stunned by her words.

"I just see it as an unnecessary burden on my life, why me? Why was I chosen and not you?" she asked with anxiousness. The male zebra just approached her, she tried to resist, but was quickly put into a tight hug from her brother. She did not bother once she was within his forelegs. "Oh, Beri, I am so sorry you had to go through all of that." she said, muffled by her brother's chest. 

"You're my sister Ze, I'll gladly save you from Tantabus again, it's my duty to protect you." he assured. "I'll always try to be there." 

"But I'll be away for training for three years once I take my vows tomorrow, you won't be there." she said with worry.

"But I'll always be there in spirit Ze." he placed her hoof underneath her chin so she can look into his eyes. "I love you sis, and nothing will break our bond, not even distance." he smiled with assurance before pressing his forehead against his sister's. The mare was touched and pressed her forehead against her brother's in a show of affection. 

They stood there like that in the rain for what felt like hours.





"Hey, Zuberi, you okay?" asked a concerned Twilight who saw the zebra in deep thought. The zebra stallion quickly snapped out of his deep thought and looked over to the mare. 

"Oh, please don't worry, I am fine, just trying to look for a sign." he explained. 

"What sign?" she asked. "A sign from Tantabus?"

The zebra just nodded before he came across a hallway that was completely destroyed by something big. The walls were full of holes, the ceiling also had holes on it. Everything was broken. "Twilight, do any for your friends, fear something large with odds and ends?" he asked.

"Well, Rarity did once had a reoccurring nightmare where she was being attacked by a..." she suddenly realized what the zebra meant. "...giant crab..." Twilight then saw Zuberi give a look a fear as it looked up at something behind her. The mare carefully turned around to see that there was indeed a giant crab behind her. "Oh Rarity, why couldn't you have dream about getting attacked by something not so massive and threatening..." she mumbled to herself, cursing and blaming her friend for her current predicament. 

Zuberi suddenly got in front of the mare, a bo staff at the ready. "You go high...I go low." he muttered in a serious tone. 

The crab suddenly lunged a claw at the two.





"So this whole thing was unknowingly Luna's doing?" asked a confused Rarity to the human who was in the elevator trying to pick a lock that closed access to the penthouse suite. 

"The subconscious is a very power thing Rarity." the human explained. "Almost every thought is done without our knowledge, it influence everything we do regardless." he continued to pick the lock until finally the button to the penthouse lit up. "There we go."

"So what's the plan?" asked Applejack who kept watch out in the hallway. 

"Go inside Luna's dream world, and confront that entity head on." he answered. 

"But why you?" said Rarity.

"I'm a human, I have a feeling that it will be harder for it to access my fears when compared to a pony." he hypothesized. He also hoped that defeating that entity would also mean he would be able to save Fluttershy. He was willing to try even if it meant being trapped in limbo himself. He lost a loved one before and he will not let it happen again.

Have you ever experienced so much pain, that you would do anything to prevent it from happening? echoed Luna's words from when they were in the dinning hall. 

Adam thought back to when he finally decided to build his time machine. He wanted to have her in his arms again, he wanted the nightmares to stop, although looking back, he realized how selfish that was. He could have moved on, but he was too stubborn to do so. 

Every time he slept, he would see her standing at a ledge overlooking the ocean, no matter how fast he ran to her, he would never get any closer. No matter how loudly he yelled, it would do nothing to stop her from jumping into the ocean. It would play out the same way every single time. "Maybe if I could turn back time...I can prevent her from getting to the ledge in the first place..." he thought. 

He looked over at Rarity and Applejack. "Be careful out there." he said to them before he pressed the button to the penthouse and the elevator doors began to close. The two mares tried to stop him, but the doors closed before they could do so, and the elevator began its ascent to the penthouse suite on the very top. 

It was a long journey to the top. But as the indicator climbed in number, his anxiety also climbed. All the building, all the thought experiments, all the equations, all for the selfish purpose of making things go his way, to cheat death. All the countless sleepless nights over nearly four years, lead up to this very moment. Then, the elevator stopped in its tracks, the lights turned red, and a cloister bell rang.

He looked up to see the word "Penthouse" written on the elevator indicator. He has reached his destination. The doors slowly opened to reveal a long hallway made up of chalkboards, the walls were chalkboards, the floors and ceiling were chalkboards, and every single one of them had equations written on them, not just any equation, but the same equations he wrote over four years when building his time machine. He slowly walked out of the elevator and into the equation covered floor. His anxiety was so great, that he began to quietly sing to himself a random song to calm his nerves. 

"When Johnny comes marching home, hurrah, hurrah..." he mumbled to himself as he carefully and methodically walked closer to the door. "...we'll give him a hearty welcome then, hurrah, hurrah..." he looked to see a phrase 'what if' start to appear on the hallway walls, replacing the equations. "...the men will cheer and the boys will shout..." he began to shake in fear. "...the ladies they will all turn out..." he suddenly saw a chalk drawing of his lovers killer everyone. "...and we'll all feel gay, when Johnny comes marching home..." his voice faltered slightly as he found himself right in front of the door. 

Silence fell as he stood in front of the plain white door. It was so quiet that the only thing he could hear was his fast beating heart. He reached for the doorknob and carefully twisted it. The door suddenly opened and he was quickly engulf in a bright white light.





Adam found himself in a star filled void. Everywhere he looked, he saw countless stars, galaxies and clusters, it made him feel like he was in space. 

"Adam Charles Gray." began a voice. The human turned around to see a middle aged human woman with long and frizzy red hear sitting on a throne. "Welcome." she smirked. 

"Are you Tantabus?"

"I Am that I Am." was all she responded with cryptically.

"Exodus 3:14, you know about us humans I assume." he responded. 

"I know about you at least." she explained. "I read your mind the moment you touched the door." she continued as she checked out her nails. 

"So you know what I am here for?" he assumed.

"Yes, but it will do you no good." she answered in a nonchalant manner. "Only Luna herself can stop me...speaking of which...she thinks very highly of you."

"But it wasn't her fault that her sister died." he defended. "I was the one who did it..." 

"Then why don't you tell her yourself." she pointed behind him. He turned to see Luna chained up against a wall, dangling by her forelegs. "The only thing keeping her from absolving herself from blame is her unwavering faith and blind trust in you."

"Why do you do this?" he asked her, stunned. 

"I was created for one purpose and one purpose only Mr. Gray, and that is to make them face their inner demons." she explained as she got up from her seat. "The more they resist, the more powerful I became, and if they continue to refuse, I spread elsewhere to let their close loved ones now of the turmoil they were secretly suffering from." she continued. "And if that doesn't work...well...they end up taking the cowards way out." she looked over at Luna. "She's the most powerful and most stubborn host I have ever encountered."

"But why does she have so much faith in me?" he asked. 

"Because you were always there when your close friends needed you most Mr. Gray." she continued. "All of them in their thoughts do nothing but shower you with praise, with positive words, with love." she pointed out. "She's not the only one with such high faith and trust in you, and that Mr. Gray, is a weakness I can and will exploit."

"But I'm just a simple extraordinary human..." he protested.

"You really don't think too highly of yourself do you Mr. Gray?" she smirked at him. "Well, why don't you go to her and explain to her why she shouldn't trust you or have high faith in you, tell her that you're nothing special, beat yourself down like you always do to her, go ahead." she dared him. 

Adam slowly walked up to Luna who was barely conscious. "Adam...help..." she muttered weakly. 

"Explain it to her like a child." she urged him. 

The human sighed. "Luna...I am not the hero you always thought I was." Luna looked at him with confusion. "I'm just a selfish man, a man who feels like the whole world owes me happiness...a man that wants things his way, death be damned." 

"But...you...saved Equestria..." Luna gasped, stunned by what she heard.

"I murdered your sister in cold blood!" he suddenly exclaimed, as tears began to fall down his cheeks. "I made her fight me, and then killed her, killed her without any remorse or shame, in fact, I was glad she was dead!" he exaggerated, but he knew Luna was not there to verify what happened. "With her out of the way I was finally able to have Twilight all to myself!" he continued. "To be my replacement for Fluttershy and Mary..."

Tears also formed in Luna's eyes. "But...but..." she did not know what to believe. 

"There was nothing you could've done differently to save her...she was going to die by my hand regardless." he said coldly as he wiped away the tears. 

The woman looked on with a smirk as she began to fade away. "My job is done..." she said before she faded out of existence. The chains began to disappear and Luna was now free. Adam looked around to see all the stars, galaxies and clustered fade to black. 

"I'm sorry Luna..." Adam muttered before everything turned black.

To be continued...
> Chapter XLV~The Nightmare Returns~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adam looked around him in the hut to see an older and painted versions of Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Starlight Glimmer standing as guards. "Do you remember anything from outside the dream realm?" Adam asked to an older Fluttershy covered in tribal paint.

"Barely...just that I was in love...about to get married..." she tried to recall. "But I've been in here so long...I don't remember..."

Adam journeyed far to finally get where he was now. "It was going to be a small outdoor wedding..." he told her. 

"Oh...that sounds like something I would want..." responded Fluttershy. 

The human thought back to his journey. How he found himself washed upon a different shore, of abandoned buildings being eroded away by the ocean waves. He walked the empty street, knowing he was in an inescapable realm. 

Once he passed the city, he found himself at a grass field and in the distance, was a familiar sight from his dreams; a cliff overlooking the ocean. He visited that place once in his travels, England to be specific. There, he saw the usual figure that would be there. He walked towards the figure on the cliff, only this time, he actually got closer. He soon found himself just right behind her, in the same mauve dress she wore when she was killed. "Hello Mary..." he said to her. 

She turned around to see Adam, she made a face of confusion at him. "Hello." she greeted as if she never saw him before.

Adam knew that it was not actually her, just his own projection of her. "I've spent nearly six years trying to reach you." he began. "And now here I am."

"Oh? What is it that you searched me out for?" Mary asked.

"To tell you that I have moved on." he explained as the cold ocean breezes blew. "I have finally found someone to be happy with, and I no longer have to waste my time getting you back."

Mary looked at him for a minute as she tried to comprehend what he said before a smile formed on her face. "Glad to hear, for it means I am finally free from standing here." her lavender eyes shimmered. "About time."

Adam smiled in return. "Thank you though." He then walked passed her and towards the edge, 

"For what?" she asked confused, wondering what he was about to do. 

He turned around with a smile of happiness. "Because without you, I wouldn't have met her." he grinned before he spread out his arms and let himself fall backwards off the cliff. He hit the water hard before everything went black. 





Adam suddenly found himself back in the hut, slow dancing with an elderly Fluttershy. Due to the mare's arthritic hips and knees, she could not move around as much as she used to, but the human made sure that he was the one that did most of the moving, circling around her. "You make me feel so young." she whispered. 

"I know." he whispered back as he saw the guards point their poison tipped spears at the two. "It's time Shy." he told her. 

The mare silently agreed and nodded over to her three loyal guards to do what they were ordered to do. Pinkie, Rainbow and Starlight nodded in return before they lunged their spears at them. 





Adam woke up with a loud gasp and shot up awake. He looked around to see that he was back in the library and his bed was surrounded by Spike, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and the zebra he encountered earlier. He was back in the real world. "Fluttershy?" he asked, looking around for his marefriend.

"Here..." said a soft and familiar voice. The crowd around his bed parted to reveal Fluttershy before him. She suddenly leaped up and floated over to the human to give him a tight hug. "Oh, thank you for saving me." she said, eternally grateful. He hugged her tightly back. 

"Anything for you Shy...anything for you..." he assured her. He then out of the corner of his eye, sees Luna looking in on him through a window from outside, she made a serious face at him before teleporting away. He then looked around for the rest to see Pinkie, Rainbow and Starlight all slowly stir awake. Everyone was back from the dream realm safe and sound, with another mission accomplished. 

The next day...

It was a rainy day as Adam quietly and calmly looked out his living room window at the wet landscape as he drank his tea. He looked over at his coffee table to see a modest stack of wedding invitations that needed to be filled. But then he noticed a blue coated pony on his couch, Luna. "Hello." he greeted.

Luna wasted no time in getting to the point of her unexpected visit. "Was everything you said back there true?" she asked with a serious look on her face. 

"Well, I exaggerated some parts, but only because you needed to know the truth..." he explained as gently as he could. "...there was nothing you could've done to save her."

"Part of me still doesn't want to accept that, but part of me also knows that recognizing that fact will keep that...thing...away." she explained with slight shame. 

"When I got here...I never planned on being anyone's hero, savior or lover...I just wanted to learn, but events unfolded that left me no choice but to be those things." he explained as he sat down next to Luna on the couch. "I just want some kind of normality in my life right now." he looked distantly in deep thought as he drank his tea. 

The princess stared at the human. "I can understand why they find you so fascinating." she explained. "But I don't care how selfish or entitled you are, because deep down, you have the most pure heart I have ever seen." she assured before looking out the window. "Now I know how Celestia must've felt after I was banished." she said to herself.

Adam reached over and brushed her cheek and face with his hands and fingers, Luna responded by nuzzling his hand in return. "Sorry it had to be that way." he said with shame. 

Luna just gave a sigh or regret followed by a nod of acceptance. Without a word, she teleported out of the room, leaving the human alone once again. 





In the Everfree forest, Zecora meditated in the rain, she was upright, forelegs in prayer, standing on only one hindleg. She did not budge an inch, even as the rain soaked her. Her ears suddenly perked up upon hearing the sounds of rustling. She opened one of her eyes to see what could have made that noise only to see an unexpected sight; a cloaked zebra. She quickly stopped her meditation, confused. "Hello Ze." said the cloaked zebra with a familiar voice. 

Her eyes went wide with shock. "Beri?" she gasped with surprise as a hopeful smile formed. The cloaked zebra removed his hood to reveal that it was indeed who she thought it was. "Oh my goodness, it is you!" she exclaimed with joy. Normally Zecora would rhyme, but because she was so excited and because it was just her and her brother, she did not care. They both trotted up to each other and immediately pressed their foreheads together in a sign of affection. 

"I promised you that I would reunite with you sister." he smiled with joy. "I missed you so much Ze." 

"I missed you so much as well, I've been waiting for you for so long." she explained. "I assume you are now a master apothecary?" she asked. 

Zuberi nodded. "I came here to not only be with you, but to fulfill a promise I made to my mentor to open my own practice in Equestria." he explained. 

She nodded along to the explanation. "Come inside brother, out of this rain, we can talk more over tea." she motioned her brother inside her home and he followed. 

Once inside, Zuberi removed his cloak and hung it on a nearby coat rack. He looked around the place as his sister grabbed some recently done tea. "You carved this all yourself?" he asked in amazement. 

Zecora nodded as she trotted over with the tea. "Took me about 18 months." she explained. "Now tell me the real reason that you are here." she asked bluntly. There was only one reason why her brother would bother to be here.

Zuberi just chuckled, about time she asked. He then took a deep breath before breaking the news. "The storm is coming." he answered cryptically. "And I have a bad feeling that he'll probably go after the human." he explained. "I was sent here to safeguard the human, and make sure he does not get him."

"Do the Princess' know?" she asked. 

"It's best not to tell them, nor the human, he might be monitoring him as we speak, and we don't want him to become suspicious, we must lull him into a sense of security, until then...we prepare." he stated. 





"Oh Pinkie, your friend Twilight is here!" announced Carrot as he knocked on Pinkie's bedroom door. 

"It's open!" she yelled from the other side. 

"She's been there ever since yesterday..." he said with concern to Twilight before he trotted off downstairs. Twilight opened the bedroom door to see the entire place in darkness. 

"Pinkie?" she said to the darkness as she cautiously walked inside. She struggled to find a light switch before she stumbled onto one. She flipped it on to see the room finally light up, but her face turned to shock upon seeing that the room, usually decorated in party decorations or bright fun things, was no empty apart from the bed. "Pinkie...?" she asked again, she saw her friend stand in front of the window, looking out into the rain. Her mane and tail straight, not a good sign.

"I'm sorry...the old Pinkie can't talk to you right now...why?" she said. She then turned around. "Because she's dead." she snarled as thunder boomed and lightning flashed outside. 

Twilight looked at her friend stunned. "We can fix this...don't worry-"

"Fix this? You mean bring her back, the one who stole so many years of my life with the constant fun and parties?" she snarled with annoyance. "She's not coming back, and there's nothing you can do about it, the REAL Pinkie Pie is here to say whether you like it or not!"

"But-" 

Before Twilight could protest, Pinkie interrupted her. "I am now free to pursue MY kind of fun and laughter, make-up for all those I lost to her to live my own life." she pointed to some packed-up bags in the corner of the room. 

"Where are you going?" Twilight asked with concern.

"Anywhere but here." was all she said. 

"How long will you be away?"

"I don't know." she said bluntly. 

"Pinkie..."

"I don't need you damn sympathy!" she exclaimed with annoyance. "I'm a grown mare, I can do whatever I want!" Silence fell between the two of them as the clock in the room rang three. "I have a train to catch Twilight." she said before she picked up her luggage and made her way past Twilight and out the door.

"Be careful out there." was all Twilight could say, hurt.

"Good bye and good riddance." she mumbled before she trotted out the door and down the stairs. From the bedroom window, Twilight saw Pinkie leave the building as rain poured on her. Twilight sighed.





At the local bar, Starlight once again drank from her mug. She then notices Twilight sit right next to her. "Whiskey punch please." she ordered to the bartender before turning her attention to Starlight. "Drinking again?" she raised an eyebrow to her.

"Twi, I am not in the mood in hearing the 'drinking is bad for you' speech from a borderline alcoholic." Starlight rolled her eyes with annoyance. "Besides, what is there to do in this dinky little town aside from drinking to better take in what just happened yesterday." she explained. "If we ever need to be in such a place again, I'm skipping out."

"Okay yes, I do drink, but only when I just can't take the craziness that is my friends...which admittedly is a lot, but still." she defended back as her drink got served. 

"Well, don't worry too much, I'm not planning on getting wasted and make a fool of myself like last time." she assured as she chugged down the last of her cider from her mug. "But then again, I am severely tempted to do so." she quietly motions the bartender to refill her mug which he gladly obliges. 

But then, the bartender serves Twilight a mug of cider. She looks confused. "I'm sorry sir, but I didn't order that..."

"Well, he did." he pointed to the end of the bar to see a yellow coated, blue maned unicorn stallion eyeing Twilight. 

Starlight saw that and quickly leaned over to Twilight to whisper to her. "Now's your chance to get with a stallion." she whispered. 

"But I don't know him."

"Twilight, the only thing you should know about him is whether or not he's a good lay, now go talk to him." she urged as she gently nudged her towards him. "Now remember what I told you..."

"To never be smarter than him and to giggle and laugh every time he makes a cheesy pick-up line or joke." she said deadpan, she did not exactly looked forward to this, but reluctantly went along as she went over to the stallion while Starlight stayed back to observe from afar.

"You know, it's a good thing I have my library card, because I am checking you out." he said in a flirty tone, followed by a small growl. The pick-up line made Twilight internally groan, but she managed to fake a smile and small chuckle. "Never thought I'd catch the sexy town librarian down here." he continued.

"Well, it was so nice of you to buy me that drink." she said, trying her best to be nice and hide the fact that she was feeling uncomfortable, especially with how his eyes always seemed to wander down to her rump. "So, what can this librarian do for you?" she asked in the best flirty tone she could muster, but it was obviously amateurish. 

"I was thinking that you and I could go over to my place where we can have a one-on-one study session and I could give a hooves-on demonstration of the love-making arts." he continued with the flirting. 

Twilight quickly turned to Starlight, only to see her make the 'keep going' gesture at her. The purple mare just sighed and continued to play along. "Oh, sounds great, you seem like you are very knowledgeable in that subject." she giggled trying her best to not sound sarcastic. "I do really need a stallion that knows how to please a mare." she continued. 

"Well...I guess it both our lucky days." he slyly chuckled as his horn began to glow. Twilight suddenly felt a force spank her on the rump and she let out a whinny in response. "How cute." he cooed.

Twilight soon correctly suspected that he used his magic to sexual harass her. That was the last straw for her as rage finally started to build. Her horn glowed and suddenly the stallion began to double over in pain. "If you think that will get you laid by doing that you have another thing coming to you!" she growled in anger. "I'm not the only one who can use magic mister!" The stallion looked at her with fear at the mare who was currently using her magic to squeeze his testicles, in a non-sexual way. "Now that I have you literally by the balls..." she snarled. "...I want an apology!" she tightened her magical grip around his orbs.

The stallion grunted in pain. "...okay..." he spat out in a high-pitched voice. "...sorry..." he gasped. That was enough to satisfy the mare who promptly let his balls go. The stallion fell to the floor and curled up into a ball in pain. "Sorry..." he said through the intense pain.

Twilight just got up and to go leave. "Come on Starlight, we're going home, I'm no longer in the mood..." she said, feeling violated. Starlight decided it was best to do as told and follow her out. 





In the chambers in a far away land south of Equestria, a single table holding a crystal ball showed Equestria to its owner. A creature carefully picked up the ball and looked at it. "Beautiful...just beautiful..." he mused. "...and all ripe for the taking." he then chuckled before placing the ball back to its rightful place on the table. 

"I thought you hated Equestria's aesthetics sir..." stated a cold voice. 

"Of course I do Tempest, the whole place looks revolting." he confirmed. "I was talking about its magic and riches." he explained. "Although remind me to do some major redecorating while we plunder it." he stated. "I hate the saccharine pastel cutesy theme."

"Anything else sir?" she asked as her boss walked over to his personal collection of stuffed toys made in his imagine and picking one up. 

"What did the zebra priests we captured say about humans? How much did they tell you?" he asked as he played with the doll. 

"Well, after three weeks of repeated torture...everything." she answered.

"Anything important?" he asked again splitting his focus between the doll and Tempest.

"Humans become immune to magic when enough adrenaline courses through their bodies." she explained. The was enough to make him focus back on the unicorn. 

"Immune to magic?" he reiterated. Tempest just nodded. A big grin formed across his face. "This human has become more valuable then we though." he laughed evilly. "How long until we become ready to invade at our current rate?"

"About a year." she said.

"Make it six months." he ordered.

"But sir...we are still short on anti-magic devices and funds-"

"Six months." he snarled. "I want us to be there by next spring, make it happen." he ordered. 

The mare did not protest further, she knew full well it was pointless to change his mind now. "Six months...I'll break the news." she then turned around to leave.

"Who knows, maybe you'll find a way to restore your magic once we get there." he said as she was about to walk out. That statement caused her to stop in her tracks. 

"We'll see..." was all she said before she walked out. She did not want her boss to see her emotionally falter from the thought. It was something she has always dreamed off since her accident. She truly hoped that the days of being unable to use her magic were almost over.





That evening, Adam arrived at Fluttershy's cottage, he was drenched in rain, but at least his coat kept him dry. "Smells good." commented the human as he could smell freshly cooked dinner coming from the kitchen. He walked over to the see the mare there putting the finishing touches on the meal. He then quietly and carefully wrapped his arms around her. "And looks amazing." he whispered into her ear before nibbling her neck. 

The mare let out a coo, but gently pushed him off of her. "Hun, my parents and brother will be here soon and I don't want to be frisky when they're over." she explained. 

Adam chuckled. "Yeah, I understand." he kissed her on the forehead before going to set the table. "I'm still kind of stunned that they approved of our marriage." he explained as he placed the table settings. 

"Well, they kind of saw how much of a positive impact you made on me, how you are the first being where I can genuinely reveal my true self without fear." she explained as she brought in the candles to put on the table. 

"Even your inner sexual deviant?" he joked.

"Oh hush you." she blushed with embarrassment. At that moment, there was a knock on the door. "I'll go get it, now stay here and at least try to behave." she playfully ordered before they gave each other a quick peck on the lips and she floated off to get the door. 





Adam popped the champagne bottle up, to the claps on the Fluttershy, her parents and brother Zephyr. He then serves a glass to everyone at the table. "My, my, Shy, you never told me your fiancé was such a charmer." chuckled Mrs. Shy. 

"With good manners to boot." added Mr. Shy. He then turns to his son. "So, when are YOU going to find a nice mare and settle down?"

Zephyr rolled his eyes with annoyance, ever since his big sister announced that she was getting married, his parents would not stop bringing his love life up. "I would rather be single and free and do one-night-stands then get a ball and chain dad." he stated. 

"There is no rush Zephyr, don't worry." Adam assured. "Love isn't something you rush." he sat down next to the young stallion.

"You know Adam, the first time our daughter came home after meeting you, she couldn't stop talking about you, which was impressive since it's hard to get more than two or three words out of her before then." Mrs. Shy explained. 

"So, since I am assuming that Shy here will be staying at home being the homemaker, what career are you going to have to help provide for my daughter?" Mr. Shy asked. Normally he would not be so forward or interrogative with his questions, but this was about his only daughter's future.

"Well, I just got an offer to start teaching science classes at the local school, it has great pay." Adam explained as he drank his glass. 

"And what about grandkids?" Mrs. Shy suddenly said, causing the human to nearly spit out his champagne, stunned. Fluttershy was also stunned. Zephyr was doing his best to hold back his laughter.

"Uh...dad..." the mare nervously began. "...we're different species...we can't have foals..." she explained.

"Oh...I'm so sorry to hear..." the mother said with pity for her daughter. 

Adam saw Fluttershy trying to hide her look of pain on her face, this concerned him greatly. 





The rest of the dinner went more or less uneventfully. Both Adam and Fluttershy were on the couch cuddling, the family has just left to go home. The couple was exhausted from entertaining the potential in-laws. But Adam could not help but notice his marefriend stare off into the distance. "You okay Shy?" he asked with concern.

"Just imagining the sounds of the foals we would never have..." she answered distantly. 

He place his hand on her chin and made her face him. "I'm sorry I can't provide you that, I can provide you with everything except that..." he said. The most important thing a husband can provide, and biology bars him from doing so.

"Well, I always thought about hiring a surrogate father." she explained. "Or we can adopt."

"Hun, let's not worry about that for now, we have a wedding to prepare for next month." he assured before brushing her cheek with his hand. Fluttershy took his hand and suddenly began to suckle on his right index finger.

"Sorry if I worry too much." she blushed.

Adam smiled. "It's okay, as long as we're together, you'll have nothing to worry about." he nodded.

"Mind spending the night with me?" the mare then asked, letting his hand go, staring at him with her big blue eyes. It was something the human just could not resist. 

He chuckled and shook his head with disbelief. "You know your bed is too small to fit the both of us comfortably Shy." he explained. "I had a knot in my neck for about a week afterwards last time." he explained. "And I'm not getting any younger."

Shy just gave a playful smirk. "Mmm, who said anything about sleeping in my bed?" she slyly said before leaning in and kissing the human. "There's plenty of room for us right here in the living room," she said between kisses. "just put down some blankets and light the fireplace, and we're nice and comfy." 

Adam just chuckled even more. "You're an amorous little thing are you?" he playfully joked. "What will your parents think of that?" he then brushed her pink mane out of the way so he can see her entire face. "You light the fire and set the blankets, and I'll get the wine." he said.

Fluttershy agreed. "You better be nude by the time I finish setting up though." she pointed out. 

"It's a deal." he agreed to the terms before quickly getting up from the couch and walking into the kitchen. The sound of rain gently tapping against the window, occasionally interrupted by the distant booming of thunder added a new romantic dimension to the night. He took out the wine from the high shelf in the kitchen, normally he detests drinking, but he always made exceptions when the right mood needed to be set. He briefly considered also taking out the wineglasses, but decided to just take the whole bottle instead. "Vintage 1479, your birth year I believe." he stated as walked over to the living room begin their romantic night of fire lit debauched fun. 

"What makes you say that?" smirked Fluttershy who lounged in front of the fire as the human approached. 

"Because every single bottle of wine I have seen in your possession is dated from that year." he answered as he began to unbutton his shirt and undress. "What other significance of 1479 is there?" he smiled as he gave the bottle for her to open.

The mare uncorked the bottle with her teeth, spitting it out, before taking a swig of it. The only time she would ever drink is when she's with her friends after much prompting, or when alone with the human. "Yes, that is my birth year, I just wanted to test if the old adage 'age like fine wine' is true." she explained. 

"And what are the findings so far?" he said playfully as he continued to undress. 

"Seems to be holding up well so far." she answered. "And it seems to be holding up for you as well." she smirked upon seeing her lover completely bare. She then went over and kissed the human on the lips as her hoof rubbed his chest. 

Adam moaned under his breath as her hoof made its way down his chest and stomach, his lips locked with hers. They soon broke the kiss to catch their breaths and so that the human can take a drink from the bottle. "I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you again like yesterday." he said before taking a swig of wine. 

"Me neither." she responded in gentle yet sincere voice. "Now let me repay you for saving me back there." she cooed before she kissed his chest and started to run a line of kisses down. "I'll do most of the work this time..." she whispered before she reached her goal. She opened her mouth and enveloped his member in one swift motion. 

"Mmm...that's my mare..." he muttered as he started to gently brush her pink mane out of the way. 

Suddenly, the front door burst open. "Oh hey sis, mom forgot to give you this apple tea before we left and-" Zephyr walked into the room and his eyes went wide, seeing the human naked with his tool in his sister's mouth, both stared at the pegasus stallion like deer in headlights. "Uh...yeah..." he puts the teabags on a small nearby table next to the door and slowly backed away. "...night..." he blushed with sheer embarrassment and then ran out of the cottage, closing the door behind him.

Both Adam and Fluttershy stayed frozen for another minute. "Well...that ruined the mood." stated Adam, not sure what else to do. 

"I can see that..." the mare began as she stopped her oral treatment, both no longer in the mood to continue, the sheer awkwardness of what happened shattered the romantic mood. "Now I know what he must've felt when I accidentally walked-in on him with a mare a few times." she explained, feeling guilty that her brother had to see that.

Adam just gently wrapped his arms around her to cuddle and comfort her. "You okay?" he asked with concern.

"Just embarrassed, flustered, ashamed he had to see that..." she said quietly as she leaned up to him closely for comfort. 

He did not know what to say, except to suggest something he knew usually worked whenever Fluttershy needed comfort. "Want to cuddle and talk?" he suggested. She just nodded, knowing full well that she was more willing to vent when feeling comforted. Adam gladly obliged with a smile as he held her close, letting her rest her head on his chest. 





At Canterlot castle, Luna walked down the long hallway, everything was quiet as her hooves echoed throughout the hall, the new castle, despite being a near-perfect replica of the old one, felt strangely bigger and more uninviting to her since the day she lost her sister. Everything reminded her of all the times she spent with her. As she walked she looked at all the stained glass windows, all recreated and restored with great care, like they never were destroyed in the first place. But one window, a new one made during the reconstruction, disturbed her every time she laid her eyes upon it.

"Celestia's Last Stand" the plaque next to it read. That was far from the truth as Luna saw the glass made depiction of her sister putting up a brave stand against the changelings, sacrificing herself in the process. Put the princess knew it was all a lie she concocted to protect her and the human. Guilt struck her every time she glanced at the work. 

"Princess?" a guard yelled out with concern. Luna turned to see one of her most trusted guards trot up to her.

"I'm fine Gleaming." she assured. "Just taking time to organize my thoughts is all." she explained. She turned her attention back to the window. "First thing in the morning, I want you to tell the glass-makers to get rid of this window, I want it replaced." she ordered.

"But that commemorates your sister's final stand against the changelings and-"

"You have your orders." Luna interrupted him, serious. 

"But what do you want it replaced with ma'am?" he asked nervously. 

"Something more truthful." she answered ominously before she turned to leave. 

The guard watched her leave, his eyes glowed green as an evil smirk appeared on his face. "Over a year on...and she still doesn't suspect a thing..." he hissed. "...soon, I will avenge the deaths of my brothers and sisters..and my Queen." he chuckled. "Sleep tight Luna..." he said before turning to leave himself. 

For the first time, in a long time, during that very night, Luna finally had much deserved and peaceful slumber, free of Tantabus. 

To be continued...
> Chapter XLVI~The Bridal Shower
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a warm mid September day, and at the Ponyville train station, Fluttershy was waving off her human finance Adam, her brother Zephyr and Big Mac. Both stallions decided to take the human to Las Pegasus to celebrate his bachelor party, much to the human's reluctance, he preferred a more quiet and subdued celebration, especially since he is one week away from finally marrying the mare he loves. 

"Now Adam, make sure that my brother doesn't get into trouble like he did last time he went to Las Pegasus." Fluttershy told Adam as she floated up and hugged the human. 

"Hey, I managed to pay them off!" Zephyr protested as he walked into the awaiting train. 

"Don't worry, I'll make sure of that." smiled Adam. "Are you sure about this? What if I do something I regret while there?" he asked the mare with worry.

"As long as you come back to me, everything will be forgiven, besides, what happens in Las Pegasus stays in Las Pegasus." the mare assured. 

Adam just sighed, he might as well get it over it. He kissed the mare goodbye before grabbed his bag and got into the train. 

"ALL ABOARD TO LAS PEGASUS!" the conductor yelled as the train began to leave the station. Fluttershy watched as the train departed to the west, carrying her husband-to-be. 





Fluttershy trotted over to Rarity's boutique to meet her friend, and to check on her progress with the wedding dress. She walked inside and went upstairs to her friend's room to see her at the sowing machine working on the bridesmaid's dresses Rarity and the rest of Fluttershy's friends will wear next week. The moderate cyan color looked perfect, it matched her eyes well. "Uh..hey Rares..." nervously began the mare, afraid that she might be intruding too much. 

Rarity turned around and smiled. "Oh hello Shy, darling, I just finished your dress this morning." she pointed over to a nearby ponykin that had the finished product on it. The pegasus' eyes grew wide in awe, it was white and flowing, the train almost looked like a cloud, the front of it looked like a white butterfly with a cyan gemstone in the center. 

"Oh Rarity, this is gorgeous, this is exactly how I wanted it, thank you." she said, touched and grateful of what her friend did. "He's going to love it once he sees it at the ceremony."

"It's no big deal." said Rarity. "Anything for a good friend." she assured. "Now," she took off her red work glasses to get to the day's next order of business. "If your groom-to-be off gallivanting in Las Pegasus for the bachelor party, I think today is the perfect time to hold a bridal shower." she proposed. 

"Well, as long as it is small and with just our friends, I'll be fine with it." clarified the pegasus. "And nothing crazy like alcohol or exotic dancers, please." she hopped that her friend would follow that request. 

"Darling, it'll be fine, it's just going to be me, you, Applejack, Twilight and Dash having one final get together as single mares at the spa, that is all." she assured. "Now let me go grab my things, and we'll be off to the spa." she said before she got herself ready. 





"It's, like, so great that you decided to come join me to enjoy the good vibes that the festival will provide." nodded a thankful Tree Hugger as she lead a deeply reluctant Spike and Starlight towards Rainbow Falls, the site of a world music festival. "This festival is going to be amazing." Tree Hugger mused.

Starlight did not look forward to this, mostly because she was forced to go by Twilight in order to make new friends, and because she had to put up with a group of ponies she despised the most; hippies.

Spike also did not look forward to this, but only because he was tasked to chaperone Starlight, since she had to remain close to either Spike and Twilight whenever she left the limits of Ponyville. 

The group soon arrived at the festival, and it looked like a giant tent city than a festival. The aroma of fried foods, musk and drugs hit both Spike and Starlight pretty hard. Tree Hugger felt at home. "Awesome, the party has started." she happily trotted towards the entrance. 

"Why isn't Twilight here for this again?" whispered Starlight to the baby dragon. 

"Something about needing to go on a supply run." whispered Spike back, still annoyed at being saddled with the task. 





Back in Ponyville, Twilight walked into a newly opened store in town, she looked around to see shelves upon shelves of various jars filled with herbs or liquids. The place was deafeningly quiet. "Hello?" she asked around. On cue, a zebra emerged from the back through a bead curtain. 

"Oh, good day there, like my new lair?" greeted Zuberi with a smile at the mare. 

"It looks great," complimented Twilight. "besides, this town needs an apothecary shop badly, or at least, I need one badly." she stated. "Now I don't have to order them direct from Canterlot." she looked around the place. 

"So...what can I get for you?" he asked as he walked behind the counter. Twilight levitated to him her shopping list. "I'll get those right away." he bowed before taking the list and going over to the many shelves in order to get her purchases. 

Twilight looked around the shop. "Any plans for today?" she asked trying to make conversation.

Zuberi was on a ladder grabbing some ginger. "Just run my shop." he explained. "Why do you ask?"

"Well...I was thinking of maybe showing you around town, make you meet you ponies, stuff like that." she asked. She had no idea why, but she has been a little intrigued by the zebra, and felt like spending some time with him. "Besides, I was going to do something, but I seemed to have forgotten what that was." she said, that thought nagged her deeply. 

"Well, since you are kind to offer, I will accept." he smiled as he climbed down the ladder with a sack of herbs and some potions. "Besides, I always wanted to get to know the human's friends in a non-life threatening situation." he smirked slightly. 

Twilight just nervously chuckled. "Yeah...I know what you mean." she said with a slight blush of embarrassment. 





Rainbow Dash flew over Ponyville, desperate to a find a foalsitter for her five month old son who she carried on her back. Her parents were off on vacation, and no one else she knew were available. 

"Hey Dash!" yelled a familiar young voice. Dash looked down to see Scootaloo waving at her from her scooter. 

"Kind of busy right now," she told the filly bluntly. "Need someone who can take care of Zap while I am off at Fluttershy's bridal shower." she explained as she landed next to the filly.

"Why don't you go over to my Aunts'?" proposed the filly. "They wouldn't mind at all, they work from home and all." she assured. 

"You have aunts? You never told me that before?" said Rainbow Dash, a bit confused.

"Oh yes, I stay with them most of the time since my parents are usually away on business, it's not very far, the live by the lake." she pointed down the road. "I'll introduce them to you if you want, they always wanted to meet you, seeing as though I never stop talking about you." she said sheepishly. 

Dash had no other options available to her, and Zap did not seem to mind. "Fine, take me to them, but make it quick, I don't want to be late." she instructed. 

"Don't worry, just follow me." said the filly before she sped off in her scooter. Dash flew after her.





At the music festival, Starlight was uncomfortable to say the least. Ponies walked and passed by her, many of them dirty of smelling like pot. She even saw group dance around a tree for some reason. She needed to find a way to get out here before she loses her mind. She looked around to see Tree Hugger in a nearby tent with a bong. "Oh, of course." she muttered, not surprised by that revelation. She turned to Spike who was on her back. "There has to be a place where we can ride out this festival, away from these ponies."

"That tent over there looks private, let's go in there." said Spike, who pointed at a large pink yurt located in a remote corner of the festival. Starlight immediately and eagerly trotted over to the yurt, relieved to have found a safe haven. She opened the entrance curtains only to reveal a disturbing sight; a hippy orgy. 

Both Starlight and Spike slowly backed away without making a sound and closed the curtains. "Aw far out, you found the orgy tent." said Tree Hugger who appeared behind them, eyes bloodshot. "I didn't know you were into that Glimmer." she said proudly to the pink mare. 

"Well, of course." Starlight chuckled, she decided to play along. "But you know...I'm not feeling the vibe of it yet, maybe later." she gave a fake nervous smile. 

Tree Hugger just shrugged. "More for me then." she nodded before she dove inside to join the orgy currently in progress. Both Starlight and Spike took that as their cue to get out of there.





At a cafe, outside, Twilight ate her dandelion sandwich as she listened to Zuberi talk about her homeland. "And so then, the great Monkey King took his magical staff and dipped it into the water, causing land to form and spread out for as far as he could see." Zuberi explained as he related the mare the Zebrafrica creation myth. 

Twilight was enthralled by the story, and by the way he told it, with smoldering intensity. She unknowingly found herself staring, hanging on every word. "Fascinating..." she muttered.

"It's one of the many stories in our oral tradition, passed down through the generations for time in memorial." he explained nonchalantly. 

"Well, I find it very interesting," began Twilight. "The way you told it was well...amazing." she smiled. 

"Glad to have at least entertained you for a while." he smirked. "Anyways, I must go and get some stuff for my store, it was a pleasure being with you Miss Sparkle." he sat up and bowed to her in appreciation. 

"Mind if I join you?" Twilight suddenly blurted out. "To keep you company and all?" she nervously offered. She could not explain why she was drawn to him, maybe because of his mysterious nature, since other than the fact that he was Zecora's brother, not much else is known about him. Plus, he was unique, not often you encounter a zebra stallion in Equestria. 

"Well, I could use the help." he smiled. "Sure, why not?" he nodded before he lead the way to the outskirts of town. 





Scootaloo lead Rainbow Dash and her foal to a quaint lakeside cabin in the outskirts of town. "Aunt Holiday, Aunt Lofty, I'm home!" she announced. "I brought company over!"

The filly opened the door and inside, Aunt Lofty was cleaning the fireplace. "Oh hey Scoots." she said, before coughing, she was covered in soot. "I keep telling Holiday to clean this darn thing, but she never does it." she complained. She looked to see that her niece brought along company. "Oh, you must be Dash." she greeted as she trotted up towards the cyan mare with the foal. "I'm Lofty." she smiled. 

"Hey, there, you have a pretty cool niece, I see a lot of potential in her, can't wait to see her finally fly." Rainbow Dash greeted, complimenting the filly. 

"Hey!" Scootaloo complained. "I can at least hover for short distances now." she pointed out. 

Lofty then noticed the baby foal on Dash's back. "Oh, look at him, my my, he's a cutie." she cooed at the colt. "What's his name?"

"Zap, his name is Zap." she stated. "Scootaloo said that you would be happy to take care of him for today, since I have a bridal shower I must go to, she's a foalhood friend and all." she explained.

"Why of course we'll take care of your cute colt." she smiled. Zap laughed back, already he seemed to have taken a liking to the new pony. 

"Great, just make sure you keep him swaddled up tight, he's a flyer." Dash explained while motioning Zap to fly to Lofty's back. "Oh, and here's a cloud that you could give him if he becomes restless, he loves to sculpt." she took out a small cloud from out of her saddle bag, along with a bottle of milk, a pacifier and a blanket. Lofty happily takes them. 

"Don't worry Miss Dash, we'll take good care of him." she assured. "Heck, we practically raised Scoots ourselves." she chuckled. 

Dash went over and rubbed noses with little Zap. "Now be a good colt for your new foalsitters." she whispered to him before happily saying her goodbyes to both Scootaloo and Lofty and flying off towards the spa.





Rain fell on the music festival, but despite it, everyone happily watched the music performance, all while wildly dancing and playing in the mud. Luckily for Spike and Starlight, they found shelter in a tent that contained a large bar. "Well, this sucks." muttered Starlight to her dragon friend, both lounged on some beanbag chairs. 

"Tell me about it." agreed Spike. "I'd rather be with Rarity at the bridal shower right now." he sighed. 

"Too bad Fluttershy didn't invite me, although it's understandable, I did force her human coltfriend to snap her neck with my magic." she nodded. "Damn hippies."

"Tell me about, I'm only here because I have nothing better to do for my vacation." began a new voice. Both Spike and Starlight looked over to the beanbag chair next to them to see a dark gray gerbil creature lounging in his chair. "Plus, I thought I'd get lucky with all the 'free love' crap these ponies always spew." he explained. "They name's Grubber by the way." he greeted. 

"I'm Starlight Glimmer and the baby dragon here in Spike." the mare greeted. 

"My, my, Starlight Glimmer, I think I have heard of you before, weren't you the one who started that equality cult or some manure like that?" he pointed out with a smirk. "Talk about ambitious."

"Well, my crimes were all over the papers in Equestria, so yeah, I think you have heard of me." she said with annoyance, tired of everyone always reminding her of that.

"Yeah, I wanted to go to Las Pegasus, but then I heard a co-worker of mine was going there, and I didn't want to disturb her or anything." he then turned to the bartender. "Hey! Tequila shots for me and the mare over here!" he yelled at the bartender. 

"Fuck tequila shots, make it jello shots, because I'm here to have some fun damn it!" she yelled at the stallion behind the bar. 

Grubber laughed. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" 

Spike did not like where this was going to head.





At the Spa, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy were in a private lounge as Fluttershy opened up the gifts her friends bought her. She decided to open Applejack's present first. She eagerly unwrapped the present to reveal an a pink apron with butterflies on them. "Oh wow, it's so cute! Thank you Applejack" she smiled. 

"No problem sugar cube, we all chipped in to buy you that." she nodded, glad to have made her best friend happy. 

At that moment, Dash flew in. "Oh good, got here just in time, sorry I was late Shy, had a foalsitting emergency to take care of." she explained before landing in front of her friends. "By the way, here's your gift." she gives her foalhood friend her gift. 

Fluttershy methodically opened the gift to see that it was a box of ten scented candles, all of different scents. "Oh Dash, this is so cool." she was touched. "Dreamy Summer Nights, Fresh cut roses, Lavender, Lilac, Wedding day! Oh goodness, this is perfect thank you!" she gave Rainbow Dash and tight hug.

Rainbow Dash just blushed in embarrassment, she did not want her friends to know that she actually loved being given affection. "Anything for a friend." she chuckled nervously. 

"Well, hopefully you would love my gift." began Rarity who gave the bride-to-be a pink box, a large one in fact. 

The yellow pegasus went over and eagerly opened the box as she thought about what could possibly top Rainbow Dash's gift. But once she looked inside, her face fell and her face turned crimson. "Is that...uh...oh wow..."

"You know, in case you and him wanted to shake things up in the bedroom." smirked Rarity. "Bring some variety and all."

"Uh...yeah...I'll keep that in mind." her wings extended out in response, before she carefully closed the box again and set it down. "Especially during that time of the year." she then looked around to see that it was just her, Rarity, Dash and Applejack at the bridal shower. "By the way, has anyone seen Twilight today?" she asked with worry.





At Ponyville, the rain fell and both Twilight and Zuberi ran over to a nearby shed, both trying to find shelter from the rain. "Fluttershy won't mind if we borrowed her shed for a bit." Twilight said as she opened the unlocked door. Fluttershy never locked her shed door mostly because there was not really much of value inside apart from grounds keeping equipment and extra food for the animals under her care. 

Once inside, Zuberi shook himself dry. "I should really learn to read the weather forecast, especially since I come from a place where weather isn't planned." he looked out the door to see the rain soaked landscape before him. He closed his eyes  and took deep breaths in his quest to pass the time with meditation. His ears perked up as it took in the sounds of the precipitation striking the ceiling of the shelter. But he also noted a peculiar sound of a rapidly pulsating heart. He opened his eyes and turned to his companion in the shed. "Is there something a matter Miss Sparkle?" he asked.

Twilight looked at his ocean blue eyes with a blush. Without a second thought, she quickly dove in for a kiss, but the zebra stepped back, causing her to miss. "Huh?" she said with confusion and embarrassment. 

"I can't..." began the zebra. "...sorry."

Twilight realized what she has done, and looked away with shame. "I-I-I...just don't know what has gotten over me...I guess it's because you're so...fascinating and well...I don't know." she did not know how to explained why she did what she did. "I guess I have been desperate for a romantic partner for too long..." she sighed. 

"Miss Sparkle," he began. "I will admit that you are a profoundly interesting mare, and a beautiful one at that, but I made a vow of celibacy, long ago." he explained while he placed his hoof under her chin and made her look at him. "I have a mission to accomplish first, and until that has been fulfilled, I must remain true to the vow I took."

"A mission? What mission?" said Twilight curiously. 

"I said too much." he then walked out of the shed and into the rain. "It was a pleasure getting to know you Miss Sparkle, I hope we remain friends after all of this." he said as he walked away, leaving Twilight alone. 

The mare just repeatedly slammed her head against the shed door-frame out of shame. "Nice smooth going Twi, you just scared away a perfectly good stallion." she groaned. "Maybe I'll just be alone forever..." she mumbled. A dawn of realization suddenly hit her. "THE BRIDAL SHOWER!" she yelled. "I COMPLETELY FORGOT!" she wanted to run out at that very moment to the spa, but then her ears perked up to hear someone happily hum. She looked up the hill and towards Fluttershy's cottage, to see the mare herself walk back home, covered by an umbrella. "Too late..." Twilight muttered with shame. But at least it was not too late to apologize.





Fluttershy walked into her cottage while she carried her umbrella and bridal shower gifts inside. "Another toy to add to my pick emergency box." she sighed as she placed the boxes on the table. "Hey Angel, I'll get to your dinner now." she said as she walked by Angel Bunny, who stood next to his empty food bowl, arms cross. She she started to prepare the rabbit's dinner, a knock came from the front door. "I wonder who could that be?" she said to herself as she trotted over to the door and opened it, only to see the last pony she wanted to see. 

"H-Hey..." sheepishly began a rain soaked Twilight Sparkle. "...uh...what's up?" she put on a fake smile. Fluttershy just looked at her with a bemused expression before she slammed the door shut, but Twilight used her magic to keep it open. "Look, I'm sorry okay?!" she exclaimed. "Please just hear me out!" she begged.

"I know you are jealous that I'm going to marry him, but you could've at least showed some support for me like a true friend would!" she snapped, upset that Twilight missed out on the last get-together with all of her friends before the wedding. "Why can't you move on already?!" trying to fight back tears.

"We were always destined to be Shy, me and him, together." the unicorn explained. 

"But that was not your choice to make Twilight." Fluttershy rebutted. "Besides, if it was just up to me, I would've gladly formed a herd with you, why did you think we agreed to have that night together before the gala?" the pegasus explained, hurt by the way Twilight has been so selfish and falsely supportive lately.

Twilight looked away in shame. "Of course you would bring that up..." she trailed off. That night with Fluttershy was more awkward that romantic as she thought back to it. 

"Please tell that everything you said that night was true, don't say that you only used me to get to him..." Fluttershy looked at her in desperation. Twilight said nothing but to give her friend a look of shame. That completely stunned the pegasus. "You...you...BITCH!" she yelled out with a lot of effort before giving Twilight a slap to the cheek. Although the slap was in reality, pretty pathetic and weak, it did not even leave a mark, but the unicorn understood.

"I'm sorry..." Twilight turned to leave, walking back out into the rain. 

"And don't bother showing up to the wedding, because you're no longer my friend!" the pegasus yelled at her. 

Those words felt like a sword got stabbed into Twilight's heart. But she continued on back to the library in the rain, as she thought back to that night.

One year ago...

Both Fluttershy and Twilight looked up at the ceiling of Fluttershy's room as they panted from exhaustion. "I...I never well...did that with another pony in the same room before..." began the pegasus, embarrassed. 

"Me neither..." panted Twilight as she took a sex toy from inside her and threw it away. "..but it was going to happen anyways once we make the herd official." she explained. 

"Well...I have never been...uh...touched...like that with magic before...you're good..." she blushed. 

Twilight got up from the bed. "I just pretend that I'm doing it to myself, shouldn't be that different." she stretched herself out. "By the way, until Adam agrees to make a herd with us, we never speak of this, it's a one-time deal that will never happen until then." she explained. 

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "I plan on telling Adam after the gala tomorrow night, don't worry." she assured, but a thought fell on her. "I hope what we did doesn't affect our friendship..." she trailed off with worry.

"Don't worry, it won't." Twilight smiled as she took out a pink box from underneath Fluttershy's bed and put the toy away in it. "Besides, all we did was just get to know our intimate habits and making us feel more comfortable with seeing each other in our most intimate moments, since I assume there's going to maybe be threesomes and all." she lectured to justify what they did. "That doesn't make us lesbian or bi or anything...just more open." she naively explained. 

"If you say so..." the pegasus said reluctantly. "...I just hope you're okay with sharing, seeing as Adam does love and all...he's just afraid of committing and admitting it because he doesn't want to hurt me and all..." she sighed. 

"Of course I am okay with sharing." nodded Twilight with a smile. "But like I said before, it is all up to him, and I will support every single decision he makes." she stated matter-of-factually, although deep down, she hoped that he would pick her, not Fluttershy, not even to share, because destiny demands of it. "Anyways, it's getting late, I'll see you tomorrow at the gala." she nodded before walking out of the bedroom. 

"Good night Twilight, thank you so much for everything today." she beamed, fully assured that everything she did with Twilight was the correct thing to do, she truly didn't mind, so long as Adam was happy. But little did she knew, but their friendship was affected, it would never be the same.

Present day...

Twilight returned back to the dark and cold library, drenched in rain. She was about to call out to Spike, but she realized that he and Starlight would be gone for the night and would not return until late tomorrow. She sighed as she slowly made her way to her room, her mane dripped water on the wooden floors.

"I bet all my other friends hate my guts right now." she sighed to herself. She soon reached her room and climbed up to her bed, completely dejected. She looked out of her window to see the wet and drab town landscape before her, the weather perfectly matched what she felt inside her. 

"I'm so sorry about what happened." began a familiar voice. Twilight turned and saw Princess Luna herself in her room. 

The mare sighed. "If you're hear to scold me for being a selfish idiot, go ahead, I deserve it." she buried her head underneath her pillow. 

Luna just shook her head and used her magic to take the pillow away. "I'm not here to scold you, I'm here to help you move on." she explained. "Your jealousy is slowly ruining your life and your friendships, I cannot allow that to happen." she then floated over to Twilight. "So I'm going to give you a choice."

"And what's that?" the mare was skeptical. 

"You can let me erase all feelings you have for him, erase all those memories of ever having loved him, in this life and in others." she told Twilight. "And you will never develop feelings for him ever again." she proposed. 

Twilight was intrigued by that proposal. "You mean...a chance for me to finally move on?" she asked for clarification. 

"But only if you want it my student." the princess smiled. "But before I do, I must show all the things that you will no longer have once I take those feelings away from you." Luna leaned over and placed her forehead against Twilight's. 

Twilight's eyes glowed as visions sped by her. From the first time she discovered Adam passed out in Everfree forest long ago, to helping him adjust to life Equestria, to him and her protecting each other. All of these memories made her feel so many different emotions, from sadness, to anger, to pure love. 

She desperately wanted those feelings she had for the human go away, she wanted to repair the friendships that she damaged because of those feelings, she desperately wanted for everything to return to normal, but then she realized that maybe having them removed would not fix everything, how despite the fact that she and Adam were not lovers, they still shared so many great memories together as friends and intellectual equals. How she taught him everything he needed to know about Equestria, while at the same time, she would help him bounce ideas off for the latest experiment he did. 

No, she did not want to let those times where she felt truly happy to be taken away, if she was going to move on, she was going to do it on her own, without any help. "No, please!" she exclaimed. "Don't take them away, please, just don't." she begged before she opened her eyes to see that Luna was gone. The entire room was dark and silent again, the sound of rain that tapped against the window emanated from outside. Just because she could not be with him romantically, did not mean that she could not have fantastic times with him she thought. She laid down on the bed and began to quietly bawl to herself, ashamed of herself.





The next day, Rarity was in her room as she continued to work on her friends bridesmaid's dresses. There was a knock on her bedroom door and the unicorn stopped to see Twilight. She then returned her focus on the dress she sewed together. "Fluttershy told me to not bother finishing your dress." she told her. "So don't bother checking up on the progress, it's already in the bin to be used for scrap." she pointed over to a half-finished cyan dress, half-covered in crystal studs that was supposed to represent the night sky on the night of the wedding. 

Twilight sighed at the sight. "How badly did I screw up this time Rares?" she asked with shame. 

"Badly." responded Rarity. "At least Pinkie Pie had an excuse for not showing up, but not you."

"How long do you think it will be before she's ready to forgive me again?" she asked again, but she knew that the answer would not be good. 

"Why are you asking me? You should be talking to her." Rarity responded, she too was a bit upset over Twilight's no-show from yesterday. "You know, apologize to her for being a selfish entitled un-supportive jerk during the lead up to what should be the happiest day of her life, and accept the fact that both she and Adam are happy together?" she answered bluntly. 

"You're right." Twilight nodded. "I guess I should've noticed that something was wrong with me when I would rather waste my day pursuing the new zebra in town than be there for my friend." she explained. "By the way, I was planning on giving Shy this during the shower, thought I'd give this to you since she's not exactly in the talking mood." she places a box next to Rarity. 

Rarity looked at the box and opened it, just to see what Twilight would have given Fluttershy yesterday if she did show up. She looked inside to see a red journal with a large pink heart in the center, with a title that read 'A Diary of Us' in bright gold lettering. "What's this?" stunned by the gift.

"Just something I picked out as a replacement for her diary." Twilight explained. "Something she could use to document her life as a married mare." she pointed out. "You can give it to her as a wedding gift and tell her that it was from you if you want." she then began to walk out of the room.

"Twilight..." began Rarity who closed the box and then levitated it to her. "...I think it's best that you give this to her yourself, show her that you at least cared enough to still buy her a gift at least." she explained. 

Twilight nodded before she took the box and left the room. She knew it was going to be a slow process to rebuild her friendship with Fluttershy, but she knew that it was her responsibility to be the one that rebuilds it. There is still hope out there to fix this, and there is still hope that she can move on with her life and finally find genuine happiness in her life. 

To be continued...
> Chapter XLVII~The Hangover Trip~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The scorching desert sun shined brightly through the penthouse windows. Adam slowly stirred awake from the bed, he held his head in pain. "Ugh...too bright..." he mumbled as he blocked the sun with his hands, he looked around his surroundings. "This isn't my room?" he said to himself, confused. He then quickly noticed something. "Why am I nude?" he exclaimed as he looked down at himself to see that he was indeed bare. 

"Mmm...five more minutes..." cooed a female voice next to him. Adam's heart sank when he saw who it was next to him; a straight-maned Pinkie Pie who began to stir awake. 

"Nope!" he exclaimed before get out of bed and began his desperate search of his clothes. "Nope! Nope! Nope!" he repeated as he slowly gathered up his scattered clothes. 

"Mmm, good morning Adam." yawned Pinkie as she awoke and stretched. "My, last night was amazing!" she smirked. "I can see why Fluttershy loves you so much." she chuckled. 

"What happened?" he stepped back away from her as he put on his pants. 

"Oh right, you were smashed to high heaven last night." she gave a sinister chuckle. "Let me explain..."

As Pinkie Pie explained, bits and pieces of what happened began to come to Adam, he remembered talking with Pinkie at a night club, followed by him taking shots of alcohol, then him having sex with her, she was laid down on her side as he vigorously and roughly pumped into her from the side, one hand digging its fingers down her throat and the other lightly choking her. Adam suddenly felt the urge to vomit and he ran into the attached bathroom to do so. 



Chapter XLVII



Adam hugged the toilet for dear life, to stop the world from spinning from the revelation of what he just did. "I don't know why you hate to get drunk so much, you become a literal sex beast when you are." said Pinkie as she put on her pink silk robe. 

"You're not helping matters Pinkie!" yelled Adam with annoyance and shame. 

"It's Pinkamena! Pinkie is dead, remember?" the mare snapped back. "Besides, it has always been my dream since I first met you to fuck you, but SHE always had cuntblock me!" she stated. 

"Where are we?" Adam asked as he looked around the bathroom.

"Oh, we are at my coltfriend's suite at the Lombardy Resort & Casino." she explained before she trotted off. 

"You have a coltfriend?!" stunned by the news as he got up and followed her. "And he owns this suite?" he looked around the large and luxurious place. 

"Not just this suite, but the entire resort!" she clarified proudly. "Although I technically see him as more like a sugar daddy than an actual coltfriend, as long as he buys me everything I want, I will not complain about his severe lack of endurance." she then walked up to a telephone marked 'room service' and picks it up. "Three Continental breakfasts please." she called. "Thanks." she then hanged up. "Hungry?" she turned to the human. 

"No, I need to get going, if Fluttershy finds out-"

"She will never find out." she suddenly hissed. Her eyes pierced Adam's soul, which brought a shiver down his spine. "You will be a good boy and never tell her about this, because if you do, I'll tell her that you said you liked fucking me better than HER!" she growled. Suddenly, the entrance door's security lock was deactivated and the door handle moved. "Shit, he's here, hide!" she then shoved Adam into the small powder room and shut the door before he could protest. 

The door slammed open to reveal a large grayish minotaur with his two friends; a griffon and a diamond dog, but they also brought a friend along; Zephyr Breeze. Adam, who peeked through the door was stunned to see him. "Oh, hun, we have guests." announced the minotaur. 

"Oh Steel, you are here early, normally you would be overseeing the floor by now." Pinkamena said as she acted surprised. "I see you brought a friend." she pointed at Zephyr who looked scared for his life. 

"Yeah, we caught him counting cards just now at the casino." explained the diamond dog. "Although we thought to maybe give him a complimentary breakfast first before we start breaking his kneecaps." the trio force the unlucky pegasus to the dinning room table and forcibly sit him down. 

"Hey! What I did was not illegal!" protested Zephyr. 

"It is in our eyes cheater!" spat the griffon who suddenly slammed the stallion's head on the wooden table. 

"OW!" 

Steel went over to Pinkamena and kissed her passionately. "My, have I missed you." he said with a smile. 

"It's only been 24 hours." chuckled the mare. True, he was very romantic and a great kisser, she just wished he lasted longer. 

"Still, I miss you, besides I need to unwind." he told her. The mare knew what that meant, it meant letting him have his way with her until he finishes within a matter of minutes. But she did not mind since it's quick and easy to get it over with. She lead Steel over to their bedroom. "And you two make sure that cheater stays put!" he ordered his two assistants. 

"Will do boss." said the diamond dog, who suddenly carried a bat. "You have five minutes to decide which knee cap we should break first." he laughed along with the griffon.

"Yo, Duke, I gotta go take a piss, be right back." stated the griffon who then walked towards the powder room. Adam panicked in response as he feared he would be discovered. He needed to come up with an idea to get out of this situation and save Zephyr. Soon, the griffon opened the powder room door and turned on the light, only to have a heavy granite toilet tank lid hit him across the face, which swiftly knocked him out.

"Gustav?" asked a concerned Duke who heard some strange noises that emanated from the room. He looked to see the human walk out as he carried the toilet tank lid. "How did you get in here?!" he growled as he ran up to Adam ready to swing with his bat. Adam reflexively blocked the bat with the heavy granite lid, which caused the bat to shatter to splinters. 

"Woah shit." exclaimed Zephyr in shock as he witness the fight. Adam swung around and threw the lid at the distracted diamond dog. Duke caught it before it hit is face, but saw the human and the pegasus run out of the room. 

"Damn it!" Duke cursed to himself before he ran into the bedroom, walking-in on his boss Steel mounting the pink mare. "Sir, the cheater has escaped and he has this strange monkey-looking creature aiding him!" he urgently told his minotaur boss. 

"Well, what are you doing there watching? This ain't a peep show!" yelled Steel with annoyance. "Alert security and make sure they don't leave my property!" he ordered. Duke nervously nodded and ran off to do as told. 

"Six minutes...new record...good job." commented Pinkamena as she suddenly felt the minotaur finish inside her. 





Adam and Zephyr went down the long stairwell of the building. "What did you do this time?!" exclaimed an annoyed human to his future brother-in-law. 

"I only counted cards, what's the big deal? I was down to my last 100 bits, I had to do it!" he defended as he flew beside the human down the stairs. 

"And where's Mac?" he asked as they continued to climb down. 

"I don't know, I haven't seen him since last night, something about seeing a show." he stated.





At a penthouse suite in a Roman-themed resort, Mac awoke with a large grin on his face as he looked down to see the famous Songbird Serenade herself resting her head on his chest. "Now that's the Las Pegasus dream, eeyup." he nodded. 





Starlight Glimmer slowly woke up to find herself in a different situation. "Ugh...my head..." she groaned as she got up, only to find herself in some kind of holding cell with her hind legs shackled. "What the?!"

The cell doors opened to reveal Spike walk in. "There you are!" he exclaimed with relief. "I was looking all over for you!"

"What happened?" she groaned as she held her head in pain. "Did I win the jello shot contest?" she asked. 

Spike rolled his eyes. "You did." the dragon nodded. "Then you invaded the stage and puked all over the lead singer of the Hayfull Dead." he explained. "Then you started a fight in the orgy tent, which landed you a night in here apparently." 

Starlight went over to the cell mirror to see that her mane was a loose mess and that she had a black eye. "And what about that hedgehog thing we met, uh, Grubber?" she asked as she tried to remember.

"Well...after your victory, you and him went off somewhere together to do something I'd rather not think about." he explained.

Starlight sighed. "Of course I did." at this point she was glad that she did not remember last night. A guard walked in and unshackled the mare's restraints, which signified that she could leave. 

"Come on, let's go home." Spike began as she lead the mare out of the cell. 

"By the way, where's Tree Hugger?" she asked. 

"Going on tour with the Hayfull Dead, where else?" Spike answered. 

The two soon made their way back to Ponyville, and both decided to not speak a work about this to Twilight should she ever ask. 





Both Adam and Zephyr ran across the massive casino floor where ponies and various creatures from around the world came to gamble away their life's savings. "We need to find Mac, get back to our room, pack, and leave town!" explained the pegasus. "As long as we're within city limits, he can do whatever he wants to us." 

Adam looked around and noticed floor security was on the lookout for them. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Don't tell me he works for some criminal gang or something."

"Are you kidding? This is Las Pegasus, it's easier to list the casinos and resorts that are NOT under the control of the minotaur mafia!" he said with worry, he then spotted a group of diamond dog guards run towards their direction. Zephyr, without thought, pushed the human and himself through a door that was nearby that read 'psychic readings'.

Once inside, both the human and pegasus took time to catch their breaths. "Oh, greetings my human friend, glad that you decided to come back." a tall and slender jackal woman walked out from behind a beaded curtain. 

"Have we met?" Adam had trouble as he had no recollection of ever being here before. 

"Oh right, I forgot, you were a little less than temperate when we met last night." she remembered before she sat at her crystal ball. "You asked me what your future would be like and then you laughed at my face and accused me of being a charlatan." she hissed with offense. 

"Yeah, that sounds like me alright." he agreed with embarrassment, since he always considered fortune tellers and psychics to be frauds. 

"And then you tried to grope me, which I usually don't mind, but since you were drunk and didn't pay extra upfront, I couldn't not tolerate such behavior, so I threw you out." she told him. 

"Do you happen to know another way out that isn't so heavily guarded?" Adam asked the fortune teller "Miss..." he looked down to read her name on the placard that was on the table. "...Iset?"

"There is one way out, but it is not pleasant to say the least." she began. "Besides, I assume you have forgotten the fortune I gave you last night?" she started to rub her hands across the crystal ball which caused it to start to cloud in a think fog. "But then again, what's the point in me telling you since you are a self-proclaimed man of science and time traveler." she gave the human a serious look. 

"I don't care about my future because it is never-"

"-set in stone?" she completed the human's sentence. "Because you used your knowledge of how the universe works to prevent Equestria from being destroyed by the changelings?" she continued. "Ah yes, but you see my little time traveler, you do not have your once prized machine with you anymore, and it was in using that machine that you were able to change your future, and now you no longer have that luxury Mr. Gray." she warned as the ball turned gray. "The Storm is coming for you, Adam Gray, and you'll be getting an unexpected yet familiar visitor who has traveled a great distance to see you." she prophesied. "So laugh all you want Adam, but soon it'll be I that gets the last laugh." 

Both Adam and Zephyr stood in stunned silence. "So...about that alternate exist..." began the pegasus. Iset just looked at the pair with a smirk. 





Both the human and pegasus found themselves being shot out of a garbage shoot and into a large dumpster. Luckily, there was nothing sharp or hard in it yet, mostly filled with thrown away food. "She was right about it not being pleasant." mumbled Adam as he carefully climbed out, Zephyr flew out of it instead. 

"Now let's see..." began the pegasus who cleaned himself up. "...Mac is probably at the Colosseum Resort, since that's where the show he went to see is being held at." hypothesized Zephyr. "So, we find Songbird, we find Mac, simple."

"Yeah, but how are we going to get inside, the owners of that place are also looking for us." stated Adam. "Since they control almost all of Las Pegasus casinos and resorts and all."

Zephyr thought long and hard for a new plan.





Big Mac lived the life as he lounged on the king-sized bed of the Julius Duplex suite, the home of superstar Songbird Serenade. For once in his life, he felt like a high-class pony, the 24-hour butler service, the open bar, the fancy food, this was the life, plus add in a famous superstar mare who always took care of his needs and he felt like he was in heaven. 

Songbird soon walked into the room after a good shower, her eyes still covered by her now completely blond mane. "You know you could've joined me there for some more fun stud." she joked as she walked over to her drawer. 

"Ah just didn't want to slow ya down since ah'm certain' yer busy." he smirked as he took another bite of his egg sandwich, which he smeared with a never before tried spread: Grey Poupon. 

"Today is an off day, which is great since it has been a whole month since I had last one, this residency sure can be torturous." she joked before she opened a drawer full of prescription pills, enough to run a miniature pharmacy out of. "Hopefully that'll take the edge off." she said before taking one pill of each bottle as if it was nothing. "So, since I have a day off today, and since you don't have to leave until tomorrow..." she seductively walked up to the big red stallion. "...I'd say we fuck like hamsters in every room of this duplex." she announced.

Big Mac just looked at her with a stunned expression as a giant tent formed from underneath the bed sheets. "This is heaven..." he said to himself.





Downstairs, Adam and Zephyr sneaked inside the Roman themed resort, staffed by mostly pegasi dressed in Roman inspired uniforms. Zephyr was dressed like a member of the janitorial staff, while Adam hid inside the large laundry cart that the pegasus pushed. They both reached a nearby service elevator and Zephyr pressed the button that lead to Songbird's suite. 





"You mean to tell me that the reason that creature was in my suite was because you invited him in to fuck with him?!" exclaimed a stunned and angry Steel to Pinkamena. "How dare you cheat on me!" he said offended as Pinkamena walked into her room to pack her things. 

"Well, how dare you be so horrible in bed!" she snarled back. "I only put up with it because of the money and gifts you always give me!" she started to pack her things. "You think I agreed to be your marefriend because of your charming personality? Fuck no!" she slammed her pink suitcase shut.  "Not only can he last longer than you, but he also knows how to use his hands in more better and creative ways than you can comprehend!" she goes to stomp out the door, only for the minotaur to grab her by the neck and slam her against the wall.

"Listen here bitch!" he growled to her face. "If it wasn't for me, you would still be on the streets whoring yourself out to tourists, like a low class prostitute! So be thankful that I was able to give you a life of luxury!"

Pinkamena just angrily spat on his face. "Fuck you!" she yelled out, only to be met by a swift and hard slap to the face that caused her to fall on the floor. He then pulled her back up by her long straight mane. "Ow! Ow!" she cried out in pain. 

"Now be a good bitch and make me a damn sandwich, or else I'll send you downstairs to be a cum dumpster for my employees!" he warned before he shoved her into the kitchen. 

Pinkamena just responded with a death glare at the minotaur as anger began to build inside her and a smirk began to appear on her face. 





"Oh yeah..." moaned out Songbird as she was pinned down to the coffee table while her big red stallion of a friend pounded her in her ass. She drooled all over the table as she moaned in pure bliss as the large stallion continued his thrusts, practically on top of her in a requested show of dominance. The moment however was swiftly interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. The couple stopped what they did and looked over to see Adam and Zephyr before them in stunned silence, Zephyr's wings were fully open and stiff. 

"We need to go now Mac..." began Adam whose face was beet red from the embarrassment brought on by catching one of his friends sodomizing a celebrity. 

"Ah'm kind of not yet..no wait now ah'm finished." Mac said as he unconsciously climaxed into the singer's ring piece. He blushed with embarrassment. 

"Whatever happens in Las Pegasus, should definitely stay in Las Pegasus." stated Zephyr who looked on with jealousy, especially with what Mac had. "Mind if I have seconds-"

"NO!" scolded Adam before he turned to Mac. "We need to go now, because let's just say a certain pegasus got into trouble with the Las Pegasus mafia." he stated, clearly fed up with the crazy day he had so far.

Mac nodded and pulled out of the singer, some of his seed leaked out of her tail hole. "How much does he owe?" asked Songbird to the group. 

"Uh...about 1,000 bits." Zephyr sheepishly answered. 

Everyone just stared at him blankly before Songbird got up and off the table. "Hold that thought." she told everyone before she trotted to another room. In a matter of minutes, she came back with a gemstone. "Here, this should be more than enough to keep them happy." she turned it over to Adam. "My reward to your big red friend over there who gave me my best non-orgy night in months." she nodded.

"Uh...thanks..." stated Adam. "...how fortuitous of us." he placed it in his pockets before he turned to his two stallion friends. "Come on, let's pay Mr. Steel what we owe him and get out of here." he told them. 

Before they left Big Mac walked up to Songbird. "So uh...will we see each other again?" he asked, bashfully. 

The mare just chuckled in response. "Sorry, I don't do long distance relationships, besides, I don't think my coltfriend would appreciate that." she explained. 

"COLTFRIEND?!" exclaimed Mac in shock. "What?!" 

"It's called an 'open relationship', you see, he's a very busy journalist so he isn't around to take care of my needs, so yeah, I was going to dump you anyways once he returns home from his assignment tomorrow." 

"Oh..." Mac lowered his head in sadness, he felt used. He slowly walked away with his friends to the service elevator without a single word. At least he had the local baker to look forward to once he returned. 





The human and two stallions just stood in awkward silence while in the elevator. "I told you bad things happen when I get drunk." Adam stated to Zephyr. 

"It's your last night of freedom, you seriously need to live a little." defended the pegasus. "When will you ever have the opportunity to party all night and wake up next to a strange mare?"

"I still can't believe that you're my future brother-in-law." sighed the human. 

"I still can't believe that my sister is sexualy active." responded Zephyr. "But I guess we learn something new everyday." 

The elevator stopped on the ground floor and the doors opened up to reveal a line of diamond dog and griffon guards, headed by Duke and Gustav. The three knew that they could not escape this time. 





Out in the desert, Adam, Mac and Zephyr were thrown out of the carriage and into the sandy ground, followed by all of their luggage. "Hope you enjoyed your visit to Las Pegasus." began Gustav. "Because it will certainly be your last." he chuckled before he went over and kicked Zephyr in the stomach. 

"Consider this your warning, because if we ever catch you within Las Pegasus city limits again, you will not be so lucky." Duke laughed in response. "By the way, the nearest train station is about 80,000 lengths in that direction, so I suggest you get to walking." he suggested. 

The entire group got in their carriages, laughing, before they all drove away back into the city. The human and two ponies got up from the ground. "Hopefully we'll find a ride along the way." stated Zephyr as he tried to maintain a positive attitude. 

"Oh, just shut up." snarled Adam, as his patience wore thin. The three took their bags and began their long walk in the semi-arid shrub-land. 





Both Duke and Gustav returned to their boss' penthouse suite to inform him of the news that they have taken care of the trouble makers. "Hey boss, we kicked them out just as you said, and that card counter has paid in full and-" announced Gustav before he turned on the lights and saw their boss Steel on the floor with a kitchen knife on his chest, multiple stab wounds were also on his body. They looked around to see that the only other pony in the building was Steel's marefriend herself. "What happened?" he asked, completely stunned.

"Oh, he tripped and fell on the knife...repeatedly." said Pinkamena without care. "He can be such a klutz sometimes you know." she explained. 

"But-"

"But what?" she snarled at Duke who she interrupted. "Are you questioning your new boss' testimony you big stupid dog?" she spat. Her face had the look of a deranged pony, eyes wide, large intimidating smile. Both the diamond dog and griffon just nervously laughed.

"N-no...ma'am..." nervously said Duke with a small whimper. "...not at all."

"Good...now please take that corpse away before it stinks up my new home." she ordered before she turned back to look out the window, to see that town of sin and gambling that was now under her control. 

The night previously...

Pinkamena walked down to the casino nightclub, when she heard that there was a monkey-like creature there, she knew who it must be, so she went there. She scanned the room and saw the human himself who grabbed a mare's rump tightly with both his hands as she rubbed it against his crotch. She leaned back and kissed the human passionately, who happily returned the favor. The pink mare cleared her throat to get their attention. "No kissing the customers Glow, now get out of here." Pinkamena ordered. The mare nervously nodded and left. 

"Hey, why you got to ruin the fun?" complained a clearly drunk Adam. "It's my last night of freedom you know?" he clearly had trouble staring straight. 

"So, this is where you decided to celebrate your bachelor party? I see you are enjoying it quite nicely." she smirked as she sat next to him. 

"Oh man, the mares here are sexy, like, really sexy," he began. "And very slutty too..." he whispered before he childish laugh escaped. 

"Oh please, they're nothing compared to me." Pinkamena smirked. "Besides," she whispered into his ear. "I always dreamed about being with you..." she cooed as she ran a hoof down his chest. She could hear him moan under his breath. "...showing you how a real mare pleases her stallion." she then nibbled his ear as her hoof started to rub his crotch through his pants. 

"What are you-" he was silenced by a big rough kiss on the lips. She then broke the kissing, leaving the human stunned. 

"Don't speak, relax, and let me show you a good time." she smirked before she reached over for a bottle of wine. "Now drink it all up." she then began to pour it, and Adam instinctively opened his mouth to drink it. "That's a good boy." she said. "And let me give you a taste." she whispered before she went down to his crotch and unzipped his pants to reveal his half-erect member. She hungrily licked her lips, opened her mouth and dove in. 

What happened next was a blur of sweat, moans and foul language. Pinkamena smirked as she thought back to that night, a bit of chaos before the big day, although she did wish that Adam could stay drunk forever, the way he treated her roughly made her withers tingle with anticipation. 

They way he pushed her face against the window while he pounded into her like an animal, they way he firmly, but not tightly, choked her as she lied on her back while he yelled demeaning this at her, the way he pulled on her mane and tail, the way he forced his thick cock down her awaiting throat as deep as it could go while he pinned her down, all of that caused butterflies in her stomach and arousal to drip down to the carpeted floor. 

It was such a shame that he would probably never remember the whole thing, she thought. "





The night, Iset packed her belongings after another long day at work. As she put on her coat, a knock came on the door, and the jackal rolled her eyes. "Ugh...I'm closed for tonight, come back tomorrow morning." she went over to the door and unlocked it only to see, her. "You!" she backed away in fright.

"You couldn't hide from us forever Iset." said the dark red mare with the broken off horn. "And Storm King ordered me to tie up all loose threads." she explained coldly. 

Iset continued to back away. "It's only a matter of time before he turns on you Tempest...what he promised you was all lies so he can have you within his grasp!" she told her. 

"What did you tell the human?" Tempest snarled as what was left of her horn sparked, she completely disregarded what she was told. "We know you can see the near the future, so what did you warn him about?" she asked again, her opal eyes pierced Iset's soul. 

"He will never agree to work with you!" Iset spat as she was cornered against the wall. 

"Who said anything about him agreeing?" she responded with a cold laugh. "He's just a tool to be used for our purposes, now, be a dear and tell me what you told the human." she hissed. "I'll make your death a quick one if you do." her horn began to spark even more. 

"Another human is coming!" Iset gasped out. "Another human is coming!" she revealed. "I also told him that he will soon face his destiny, whether he wanted to or not." she told. 

"And what is his destiny may I ask?" Tempest said with contempt. 

"To be a martyr to the human race..." she said as nervous sweat traveled down her face. 

Tempest just looked at the jackal unsure how to react. "We'll keep that in mind." she nodded before she shoved her broken horn down the fortune teller's mouth. 

A loud explosion rocked the casino, and out of the smoke and panic, Tempest walked out without care. The thought of there being more humans out there pleased the unicorn, since it means extra insurance for her boss. Her observation mission in Las Pegasus turned out to be fruitful after all.





Strong waves crashed against the rocky cliffs of the coast as a blue light flashed brightly to reveal a machine. Inside the machine was a single occupant in a spacesuit, a human. It looked around its surroundings and then looked at the machine's computer. "September 15th, 1,605,404 AD." it said. "Oxygen levels abnormally high and carbon dioxide levels nearly non-existent." it noted before it carefully and methodically removed its helmet to reveal a young woman. She looked around her surroundings one last time before she started to remove the rest of her suit. 

Afterwards, now in her green shirt and green camouflage cargo pants she looked over her maps and supplies. "No GPS to speak of, I have a feeling continental drift has made these maps useless." she noted to herself. She then packed in her military backpack some basic survival gear, military meal rations, measuring equipment, and an old book. She opened the book to the first page to reveal the name 'Adam Daniel Gray' written on it. 

The sea breezes began to pick up and the ocean before her began to grow rougher, they sky grew grayer with oncoming storm clouds. She took that as her cue to leave. 

But as she got ready to set off, she heard the faint sounds of voices. She followed the voices along the shore to a cove. She went down into a prone position behind a rock and used her binoculars to look down on the cover to see a group of parrot like creatures dressed in stereotypical pirate regalia burying a wooden crate in the small patch of sand. Overseeing the group was a single parrot dressed like a pirate captain complete with a peg-leg. The human found such a sight intriguing and quietly watched. 

After the wooden crate was buried, the captain and the crew began to pack up and leave. She then heard the sounds of something walking up to her, she turned around and looked up to see a large parrot stand over her. Before she could react, she was swiftly knocked unconscious by the creature and everything went black.
> Chapter XLVIII~The Wedding Day~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday, March 7, 1999
Spokane, Washington

It was a cold and cloudy as a woman drove her old truck through the suburbs and towards her home. Once at home, she grabbed her bags of groceries from her truck before she carried them inside. Once inside, she placed the bags in the kitchen and walked over to the answering machine. "Hey, this is Johnny, listen, I'm going to have to pull out of this relationship, I can't keep doing this behind my wife's back anymore, I'm sorry, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, so yeah...bye." said the message. 

"Of course, typical." she grunted with annoyance as she reached in her refrigerator to grab a beer. She went over to the living room and turned on the television to see a basketball game already in progress. "Not even my team can catch a break, damn you Timberwolves." she said with annoyance before she chugged down her beer bottle. "Come on Payton, show them why you're the best point guard of all time!" she yelled at the television. 

Her pager suddenly began to vibrate on the table next to her recliner. She went over to the pager where the screen read: "HQ". She rolled her eyes and walked back to her phone in the kitchen. She dialed the number. "Hello, Danni Matthews speaking." she said. She intently listened to the caller, before her face changed to a look of pure shock. "Really?" she exclaimed. "I'll be right there." she nodded before she hanged-up the phone. She ran over to her room and changed into her Air Force dress uniform and then drove off to the nearby base in a rush.





Skies over Equestria

Danni scrubbed the deck of the flying ship with much annoyance, she was still upset over being shanghaied into service over a week ago. She looked up at the quarterdeck to see the ship's captain looking through her spyglass over the horizon. The lunch bell suddenly rang and the entire, mostly parrot, crew lined-up on the main deck to receive their share of the meal. Danni reluctantly followed suit as she was soon served by the ship's cook her meal; mashed fruit with a side of grub worms and seeds. It did not look at all appetizing to the human. "You know I can't eat this." she protested. 

"Too bad." was all the cook said to her with annoyance. "Either give it to someone else and starve, or eat it and shut up." he warned, before she was shoved away by the hungry crew. 

Danni went to a quiet corner of the main deck and ate whatever part of the meal she could eat, which was the mashed fruit and the occasional seed; she was not yet desperate enough to eat the grubs. She then noticed a shadow over her and she looked up to see the ship's captain herself; Celaeno. 

"As soon as we deliver some cargo to Klugetown, you are free to go." she told Danni, coldly. "Now eat up, I need you to polish the cannons." she told the human. 

"How far away is that from Equestria?" Danni asked the captain. 

"That is not my problem." Celaeno said to her before she walked off to her cabin. 

The human just sighed before returning to her meal. "Forgive her, she hasn't been the same since we became cargo haulers for the Storm King." explained First Mate Mullet to her. "She just misses the thrill of adventure."

"She doesn't have to be so cold." Danni muttered before taking what was left of her food and giving it to Mullet. "Here, eat it, I'm not hungry." she got up and went down to the lower decks to do what she was told. 

As soon as she went below deck, Mullet began to hear what sounded like distant rock music. "Ship off the port side!" yelled the lookout from the crows nest. Mullet grabbed his spyglass and looked towards the sky only to see a dreaded sight; another sky pirate ship, but not just any ship, that ship belonged to one of the most feared sky pirates; "Captain Walrus." growled Mullet to himself. He turned to the rest of the crew. "Battle stations everyone! He has arrived!" he announced. Everyone knew what that meant. 

Celaeno heard the commotion from her cabin and she rushed out. "What's going on?!" she yelled at her first mate. 

"It's him Captain, the dreaded Captain Walrus!" he exclaimed as he helped the crew prepare for battle. 

Down below deck, Danni was suddenly roped into loading all the cannons as she saw the other ship fly up towards them, and to her surprise, from what she could see from the open cannon port holes, the crew was mostly made up of anthropomorphic raccoons. "You've got to be kidding me." she muttered in disbelief. 

Above deck, Celaeno rallied her crew as both ships neared each other. "Fire the cannons!" she yelled. 

The cannons on both ships fire as cannon balls hit their ships. Below, Danni took over behind several barrels of rum as explosions and splinters showered the lower decks. 

Several raccoons swaged over to Celaeno's ships and boarded with their swords at the ready.  "Attack!" yelled Celaeno to her crew as she took out her sword at the ready. Her crew then started to fight off the enemy boarders. 

Danni took the commotion from above deck to find one of the ship's lifeboats. She soon found it and the large canvas balloon it was attached to, only to see a large whole has pierced it, followed by the tip of a sword poke her back. "Paws up where I can see them!" said a gruff voice. Danni nervously and slowly turned around only to see a short raccoon pointing his sword at her. "There's no escaping this time." he smirked. 







Chapter XLVIII







At night, both Adam and Fluttershy arrived at Adam's home after a nice rehearsal dinner at Sugarcube Corner. "So...tomorrow is the big day." nervously began the pegasus mare, she was anxious for it. "Are you ready for it?" she smiled. 

Adam just smiled in return, brushing her long pink mane from her eyes. "Of course I am ready for tomorrow." he assured. "Relax."

The mare took deep breaths to relax herself. "I'll see you at the wedding then." she nodded before floating up to the human and passionately kissed him. 

"Can't wait to see you in your dress." he smiled after he returned the kiss. "Good night." he said before he hugged her. 

"Good night." she responded back before she flew off back to her cottage to get a good night sleep before the big day. 

Adam waved her off with a smile before he walked inside. He promptly got ready for bed. 





At the same time at the local bar, Twilight sat at a corner table as she nursed her drink. "Twilight, what are ya doin' here?" asked a familiar voice. Twilight looked up to see that it was Big Mac who trotted up to the table and sat down across from her. "Not expectin' a bookworm like ya to be drinkin' the night away." he chuckled. 

Twilight just sighed. "Just trying to forget my screw-ups." she explained as she looked down at her drink.

Mac nodded. "My sister told me what happened, such a shame." he began. 

"Do you think I can be selfish at times?" she asked the stallion, curious. 

"Well, from what my sister tells me, when somethin' doesn't go yer way as planned, ya start to act like it's the end of the world." he answered. "Even though that's not how life works."

She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I need to work on that." she sighed sadly. 

"Now Twi, cheer up, at least yer still young an' there's plenty of fish in the sea." he assured. "Or so they say."

Twilight nodded in agreement to that statement. "Yeah, but who would want a scrawny egghead like me?" she asked. 

Big Mac just looked at her with a blank expression.





The next morning, Celaeno, her crew and Danni were held in the brig, their airship being towed by the enemy ship captained by Captain Walrus. "Okay! Rise and shine prisoners!" yelled the raccoon who captured Danni yesterday. "The captain wants to speak with Miss Celaeno." he announced as he opened the brig door. 

Celaeno calmly walked out without a word, she carefully straightened out her clothes and hat before following the raccoon to her former captain's quarters that now inhabits Captain Walrus. 

Walrus was inside behind Celeano's desk as he read the charts and ship cargo manifest. He was a large rotund creature with massive tusks, although half of the left tusk was gone, he also smoked a large ivory pipe. "Thank you Rocket." he mumbled through his jowls. The raccoon saluted his captain before he scurried away, leaving the two captains alone. 

"You know it won't be long before the Storm King's officers realize that the ship and its cargo are passed due." she warned him. "Once they see what happened, they'll come after you."

"I'm already wanted by them, so what will they do? Increase the bounty?" he chuckled as he took another puff of smoke. "I'm already at 500 million." he smirked. 

"What do you want from us?" Celeano snarled impatiently. "Easy, to take everything of value and then return you to your home so you can be tried and hanged like the treasonous parrot you are." he snarled in return. "Want to know what your bounty is currently at?" he asked with a smirk. She just stayed defiantly quiet. "One and a half BILLION." he chuckled. "And all for killing your King's favorite son."

"His son was a sick pervert who took advantage of every female he came across." she snarled as her anger started to boil. 

"Including his own sister?" he began. Something inside Celeano snapped as she stabbed her sword into the desk and then grabbed the large walrus by the collar and pinned him against the wall. 

"You don't have a clue about how much I want to just choke you until all the life is gone out of your fat ass." she growled. "I don't care what happens to me afterwards." 

She was then shot in the back by a laser weapon, stunning her as she collapsed to the floor. Walrus looked to see his first mate Rocket who blew the smoke that emanated from the muzzle away. "No one lays a claw on my captain." Rocket chuckled sadistically. 





In Ponyville, the sun shined brightly into Twilight's room. Twilight groggily woke up with a pounding headache, everything that occurred the night before was a blur. She got up only to hear the loud sounds of snoring. Confused, the mare looked next to see to see Big Mac fast asleep, splayed out on his back, drooling. That is when all the memories flooded back. "Oh no...I didn't..." she mumbled with shame. 

She got off the bed and quietly trotted over to the bathroom. Her eyes were bloodshot and her mane was a mess. She took some morning after herbs and washed her face before she went back to her room and started to gently shake the stallion awake. 

"Mmm...good mornin'..." he said groggily as he stretched and yawned. "...is breakfast ready?" he asked before he realized that he was not in his room. "Oh..." he blushed once realized where he was and who he was with. 

"Yeah..." Twilight awkwardly began. 

Silence fell between the two as they tried to figure out how to properly handle what just happened. "So...how was it?" he asked.

Suddenly, Starlight barged into the room. "Hey Twi, we're out of cheese whiz again-" the mare stopped in her tracks to see both Twilight and Big Mac in the same room together. The sight of it all caused Starlight to sneer at the sight. It only made the whole situation much more awkward than before.





Dash struggled to calm down a five-month-old foal the refused to stop bawling. "Come on Zap! Mommy has an important day today and I can't drop you off at the foalsitters if you keep crying!" said a sleep deprived Rainbow Dash who was desperate to attend her best friend's big day. She tried to rock the foal's crib to calm him down, but that still did not work.

A knock on the door broke the constant bawling and she quickly got to the door. "Make this quick!" she groaned as she opened the door to see Fluttershy's younger brother Zephyr in his tuxedo, clean-shaven and with combed back mane. "Now what?" she rolled her eyes, she was in no mood to deal with the stallion's flirting. 

"Uh...sis asked me to check-up on you and all..." he smiled sheepishly. He obviously noticed the loud bawling coming from Rainbow Dash's foal. "Well...that must be your foal." he said as he trotted over to the crib to see the little foal, crying out loudly. 

"He wouldn't stop crying all damn day and night!" complained an exhausted and frazzled Dash as she crashed on the couch. "I don't know what's wrong!"

Zephyr just started to gently rock the crib. "I think I know what's wrong." he nodded before he leaned his head into the crib and began to make funny faces at it. It wasn't long before the shrills of tears were replaced by laughs of joy. Dash was confused. 

"What?!"

"Little Zap here was complaining about being bored." Zephyr explained. "And that you always diaper him too tightly." he continued matter-of-factly. 

"How the buck would you know that?" asked a skeptical Dash.

"Oh, I understand 'foal'." he smirked. 

Rainbow Dash's face fell into confusion. "You're kidding...?"

The stallion picked little Zap up and placed him on his back. "Back in high school I took all four years of home economics." he explained as he started to expertly rock the foal on his back to lull him to sleep. "Sometimes they just need a warmer place to sleep." he smirked.

Dash was stunned yet slightly impressed at how Zap was at long last asleep, but a thought still nagged her. "Why would you decide to willingly take four years of Home Ec?".

"To meet mares." he smirked, trying to be smooth. 

"How did that work out?" Dash said skeptically. 

"Hit and miss." was all he said about his prospects. He then gently and easily placed the foal back into the crib. "There we go, he should stay asleep for at least an hour or two." he tucked the foal in. 

"By the way, how come you never became a foalsitter or nanny, or stuff like that?" Dash said, as she tried to hide how impressed with the stallion she was. 

"Parents are far less willing to let a stallion foalsit than a mare." he explained with a shrug. "So," he began with a smirk at Rainbow Dash. "need and stress relief before we go?" he flirted. 

Dash responded with the only way he would understand...with a buck to the face.





"Look, Mac...about last night..." Twilight began nervously and awkwardly. After a quick shower and an awkwardly silent breakfast, Mac was about ready to leave. 

"What about last night?" Mac began. "Ah guess this was yer first one-night roll in the hay?" he chuckled as he remembered his first one-night stand and how awkward that was. 

Twilight blushed. "Yeah..." she hid her face from the sheer embarrassment. 

"Look, it was just a roll in the hay, and nothin' more." he assured her. "Ya had a need and ah did the polite thing and help ya out." he explained with a reassuring smile. 

Twilight sighed, nodded, and accepted his explanation, since he was the expert in those kinds of things after all. She highly doubted that there was a book about such things. "So...just move on and pretend that what we did was no big deal?"

"Twi, it's just sex, it's no big deal." he chuckled before he turned to leave. "See ya around." he bowed slightly at the mare before he walked out the front door.

Twilight looked on, still not sure. She just sighed dejectedly before she walked off to her room to hide from the embarrassment. "Hey Twi, what's wrong?" asked Starlight who followed her up the stairs.

"Me and Mac used each other to fulfill our carnal desires and he treats it like it is no big deal, how is that possible?!" she asked Glimmer with confusion and confoundment. 

"So I am guessing you are not the type for that stuff?" Glimmer assumed. "Well, it's called 'emotional detachment', you have a need, he/she has a need to fill, you both happened to be available, you fuck, that's all." she shrugged. 

"You know Glimmer, I don't want endless one-night stands, I just want companion ship." Twilight sighed with shame. "And I feel my heart pulling me in a certain direction..." she said cryptically as a realization came upon her. 





1999

Danni was lead down the long bustling corridors of the secret underground facility at the nearby Air Force base by her boss. "We just received intelligence reports from Israel that a double agent working for the Chechens has stolen a copy of the Grey Book." explained Danni's superior while Danni read the file she was given earlier. 

"So why me again sir?" she asked. 

"Because Vidal is out with measles and Madison is on leave." he explained as they reached a large mission control room and laboratory full of scientists and technicians. "You are all we got."

"And why would they steal that book?" she asked as she followed her officer to his office that overlooked the large room. 

"Why else? To get the bomb." he explained bluntly as he closed his office door once the pair was inside. "This morning we got word that Russian physicist Vladimir Belinski was kidnapped from his Italian residence a few days ago." he broke Danni the news. "If there is anyone who could build them a time machine, he is the best bet."

Danni looked at her superior with worry. "You know the only way the Chechens could've known about Project Chronos and the bomb is if someone within the Israeli intelligence community leaked information to them." she explained. 

"That's what they are investigating now, but we have no time to waste." he turns over to a large metal safe behind him and opens it to reveal an old journal. "Your mission is to travel to the year 1,605,403 CE, rendezvous with Adam Grey himself, and use him to help you deactivate the bomb before the Chechens get it, understood?" he asked as he handed the journal over to Danni. 

"Understood, sir." she stood up and saluted to him before she accepted the journal. 





Danni methodically and carefully attempted to pick the lock on the brig door as the rest of the captors nervously looked on while they kept watch. Danni probed the keyhole with some metal pins, until she soon heard a small 'click' sound. "Got it." she whispered happily as she then pushed the door open. 

She and the entire parrot pirate crew quietly rushed out and grabbed whatever weapons they could find. 

They soon quickly knock out any raccoon they see without disturbing the rest. Danni carefully peeks above deck to check the area to see Captain Caleano herself tied up to the main mast with about a dozen raccoons maintaining the ship while they kept watch for any suspicious activity. 

"Okay, on my signal." Danni whispered to the parrot crew as she waited for the perfect opportunity to surprise them. She was just about to give the signal when the ship's bell rang out.

"Storm King's ship dead ahead!" yelled the lookout. Suddenly, the entire raccoon crew got into battle stations. 

"CHARGE!" yelled Danni, giving her parrot allies the signal, and with weapons drawn at the ready, the entire captive crew burst out from below deck and used the distraction to fight off the enemy raccoon. Danni looked out across the sky to see a black and purple airship with what looked like turquoise glowing eyes on it. Then she saw what looked like canons being aimed at her. "Oh shit..." she said with dread as the enemy canons fired.

For a brief moment, everything slowed down, and everything went into a deafening silence. She felt herself get thrown clear across the deck from the sheer invisible force that punched at her chest. She found herself clinging to the deck railing as the commotion around her unfolded in agonizingly slow motion. She felt her stomach turn as the ship began to fall out from beneath her. Falling?!

She shook her head to re-focus herself and saw that the ship was indeed in a state of free fall. Suddenly, the ship in its free-fall listed to port and she suddenly found herself off the ship and plunging to the Earth below in a state of shock. 





In Ponyville, Adam got up to be greeted by another warm sunny day, a perfect time to hold a wedding. He happily took a shower, shaved, combed his hair and then methodically put on his suit to look immaculate for his bride-to-be. He looked at his reflection with a smile, glad that he was finally able to experience this day that he waited for so long. 

He rushed out the door and got on the rented carriage that waited for him outside of his home. The carriage then traveled to an area just outside of Ponyville, his and Fluttershy's favorite spot to be when they needed to be alone and relax, both of them felt that it would be fitting to hold the ceremony there. 

Once he arrived, he saw Fluttershy's mother and brother, along with Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, with Princess Luna herself at the altar ready to officiate the wedding. 





At Fluttershy's cottage, Rarity helped her friend Fluttershy, the bride-to-be, into her wedding dress. "Rarity, this dress is gorgeous, it's just what I wanted!" said the pegasus in complete awe at how well her friend made it. 

"Anything for my friend's most important day." Rarity assured with a smile. 

Fluttershy went over to the nearby mirror to check herself out. Her mane long and flowing, with flower clips all over it, and butterfly shaped earrings. She almost cried tears of joy from the sight, her lifelong dream was about to come true. 





At the apothecary shop, Zuberi dusted all of the glassware when he heard the front door open. He looked up to see Twilight trot inside. He just re-focused on his task. "I have a vow to fulfill first you know?" he began.

"Look, I know that." Twilight began, nervously. "And..." she struggled to find the right words. 

"And what..?" he looked at her with apprehension. 

"And...I want to keep it platonic between us until then." she admitted as she walked up to the counter the zebra stood behind. "And when the day comes that you fulfill that vow, I'll be waiting." she blushed. 

Zuberi looked at the mare, stunned. "Twilight, you are a wonderful mare, but, you don't know how long that'll be, it could be years for all I know." he began, still apprehensive about this. 

"I'm in no rush, I just enjoy your company is all." she give him a reassuring smile. 

Zuberi smiled back. "Well, want to help me clean around and then maybe grab some lunch at the nearby cafe?" he offered her. 

"More than anything, more than anything." Twilight beamed.





The wedding went by without a hitch as both Adam and Fluttershy ran down the aisle as rice rained down on both of them. They soon reached their white carriage as they waved to all the guests. The plan was for the newlyweds to spend a nice long night consecrating their marriage at Adam's home before leaving in the afternoon to take a train to Canterlot so they can catch an airship to Neighpon and spend two weeks there for honeymoon. 

The carriage soon took the couple away as they waved their wedding guests and family farewell, although it was about ten minutes later that they arrived at Adam's house. Adam got off the carriage first before Fluttershy floated over to the human and landed in her arms. "Now I'm going to show you how we humans carry your brides through thresholds." chuckled Adam as he carried the mare bridal-style to the front door.

"Oooh, this feels much more romantic that riding on someone's back." happily giggled Fluttershy who blushed. 

Adam happily carried his new bride inside his home and open the stares, trying to make sure to focus on not only his bride, but also where he was stepping as he carried her up the stairs. "So, you want me to delicately take the dress off, or roughly rip off into shreds?" he smirked as he carried the mare to his room. 

Fluttershy thought about it for a minute. "Hmm...I'll let you surprise me." she smirked seductively. 

The human chuckled at that. "Non-stop until dawn I am guessing?"

"Plus one hour afterwards." smirked the mare. "Your new bride demands it!" she said jokingly in a snotty tone. 

Adam kissed the mare as he finally took her inside his room and locked the door behind them. 





Danni looked up to see a clear night sky above her. She could not remember anything past the initial impact of the water as the ambient sounds of the forest became clear as well. She slowly looked around and saw a burning fire with her own clothes perched on sticks presumably to dry them. Although that quickly brought a new realization to her, she looked underneath her thick blankets to see that she indeed was completely nude. 

"Good evening sleepy head." said a familiar voice. Danni looked over to see Caleano, also nude in nothing but her feathers and without her peg leg, eating mashed fruit and smoked bugs. "About time you woke up." she said seemingly without much care. 

"What happened?" Danni said confused as she tried to sit up, body sore. 

"You plunged into a lake and I saved you." she explained as she ate. 

"And the rest of the crew?" she was concerned since it was just her and the parrot. 

Caleano just glared at the human female. "You're all I found." she answered ominously. "And don't worry, I've seen you mammals naked before, it's no big deal, we're both females." she said as she finished her food. "Here, I got you some meat." she gave Danni a piece of cooked meat on a stick. 

"What's that?" Danni asked suspiciously as she got out from underneath the blankets and reluctantly accepted the offering. 

"Raccoon." Caleano smirked. 

Danni looked at the parrot captain with concern, but decided to not press further since it'll probably the only protein she would get in a while. She took a bite of it and started to eat. "So where are we?"

"Don't know don't care, all I care about is finding the nearest port town I can find and start a new crew, the Storm King probably thinks I'm dead so now I am finally free to do whatever." she explained like it was no big deal to her.

"Well, all I care about is getting to Ponyville as soon as possible." the human revealed to the former captain. 

"Ponyville? Is that in the equine ruled diabetes inducing fantasy land called 'Equestria'?" Caleano asked. "Why would you want to go there for?"

"Because a member of my species is there, and I have a mission to complete." Danni answered sternly and coldly. "The survival of my species depends on me completing this."

The parrot tried to absorb what she was told. "How about this..." she began. "...we stick together until we reach port, and then you go on one ship, and I'll go on another." she proposed to the human.

"The sooner the better." she added. 

"By the way, here's your bag." Caleano said before throwing Danni her large duffel bag. "Found it hanging from a branch."

The human caught her bag and then opened it to see that all of her items were still intact and appeared functional, especially Adam's diary, and her personal CD player. She took it out, placed the headphones on her ears and began to play the first song on her custom CD.





Adam towered over Fluttershy, especially when on top, but that made it all the more exciting for the mare as she felt her mate deep inside her. She gave out a serious of cute yelps and moans, especially when the human would nip at her neck and ears. She felt like she was in complete bliss, like she and him were in their own little world where they could forget all of their problems for just this one magical night. "Harder..." she grunted in a low husky tone, she loved how guttural her voice sounded when in the mood. 

The human just kept his pace, the sound of his body slapping against his bride echoed across the candle-lit bedroom. He tried his best to please the one thing in the world her cared about most, but became increasingly difficult as her insides began to form a tight squeeze around his member, surely a sigh that she was ready to peak again at any moment and milk him for what it's worth. 

"Oh...I love you..." he blurted out suddenly. 

"Just don't hold back..." grunted the mare. "...I want it all..." she said through clenched teeth. 

It was not long before both lovers arrived at their end, both emitting loud primal grunted as he pumped his seed inside of her. The mare just turned her head and made-out with the human, exhausted and full of fundamental lust for each other. Once the mare let her inner grip around her lover go, he pulled out and got off from on top of her but never once stopped the make-out session as he did. That seemed to be the cycle so far for this night, foreplay, mate, make-out, repeat, non-stop.

"Round six?" Fluttershy smirked teasingly between passionate kisses. 

"You know I'm not a stallion, I can't recharge as fast." Adam smirked in return as he brushed the mare's long pink mane. 

"Yeah, but at least you have more endurance than one." she said as she went over and nibbled the human's neck, one of his weak spots. "And you promised me all night long." she said with an innocent tone that hid an inner kinky side to her. 

"You horny little mare." smirked the human as he spanked the mare's rump, eliciting a cute yelp from her. 

"Oh, you're just asking for it!" she smirked as she ran her hoof across the sensitive tip of his member, eliciting a soft moan and shivers from him. 

Adam just blushed from that before he leaned in and started to resume the make-out session with his new wife. He felt like today was a new chapter in his permanent stay in Equestria, and he was going to savor every last minute of it when possible. 

To be continued...
> Chapter XLIX~The Blue Bayou~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the middle of Equestria's famed bayou, an elder stallion sat on his flat boat on top of wooden crates as he fiddled around on his banjo. It was the best way to pass the time around these parts since there was not much in terms of excitement otherwise, plus not too many ponies were visiting the bayou as often to require his boat driving and guiding skills lately. It seemed that for most 'civilized' ponies, they only came to these parts to gawk at how poor and backwards all the residents were when compared to the rest of the kingdom. 

The elder stallion was then interrupted in his banjo noodling with the shadows of two figures that stood before him. He looked up and saw a parrot and a strange ape-like creature, both female, stand before him. "Celaeno?" he asked the parrot, stood to be seeing her again. 

"Nice to see that not much has change Rivi." smirked Celaeno. 

"So, what shall I do for you two ladies today?." he got off the crates and bowed politely at the two females, showing some of the famed 'bayou hospitality'. 

"To take us on the quickest way through here to get to Smugglers Cove." the parrot sky pirate told the elderly stallion. The human, Danni, looked on at the stallion, old, missing some teeth, and looks as if regular bathing was a secondary concern to him. 

"You know dat route involves going past...you know who." Rivi warned her. 

"Good, then maybe she can give me a good luck charm to assure a prosperous bounty or something, I just want to get there and start a new crew." she rolled her eyes. 

"What's da bounty set at?" Rivi asked as he trotted off to get the flat boat ready for the passage. 

"One and a half billion bits." she groaned with annoyance at being asked that. 

"Un milliard et demi de bits!" he exclaimed in Prench from the sheer amount. "Und I doubt you have da protection of da Storm King himself." he explained. Which was true, now that Celaeno is no longer employed for the Storm King, any bounty hunter was free to pursue and capture her. "Und I never seen such a creature at you, what's your story?." Rivi asked Danni suddenly, eyeing her suspiciously. 

"Oh...just travelling with her, on my way to Ponyville." Danni answered, not exactly used to seeing what looked to her to be a talking horse. 

Rivi just sneered at that. "It's always dose parts of Equestria dat get all da attention, ignoring da good old hardworking ponies down here." he mumbled with annoyance. "They think they're better than us with their fancy ways like indoor plumbing, electricity und reading." he ranted as he got the boat ready.

Both the parrot pirate and human went aboard without saying a word before Rivi used the boat's massive steering oar to push off from the shore and begin the voyage through the swampy blue mangroves of the Equestria Bayou. 





About a half hour later, Danni sat on a barrel as she wrote down notes while music played through her headphones she had on. She looked over at Celaeno who looked distant. The human went over to her to at least make some kind of conversation. "So, how did you end up becoming a pirate worth one and a half billion bits?" Danni asked her as she removed her headphones and sat next to the parrot. 

"My bounty actually started at thirty million before I became a pirate out of necessity." Celaeno revealed. 

"What did you do to earn that thirty million bounty?" Danni asked stunned.

"Murdered my would-be rapist...who happened to be the eldest son of the king..." she said coldly at the human before taking a deep breath to mentally prepare herself for what she would say next. "...and my brother..." Danni looked on wide-eyed at her. "Yeah I know." she responded without much care as she returned back to observing the landscape around her.

Danni looked out at the swampy shores to see several old wooden shacks with ponies going about their day. She saw one with an elderly couple in their back porch doing nothing but sitting on their rocking chairs. Another had a middle aged mare washing laundry on the shore in the swampy waters. While a third had a stallion on a makeshift dock sleeping with a fishing line in the water. The one thing all of them had in common was the severe poverty they were in and how 'off-grid' they were.

"Here in da bayou, we don't accept anyone's charity." Rivi began. "We believe in pulling ourselves by our own bridles, und making do with what we got." he explained. "All government handouts do is make one lazy like dose city folk."

"Every time the Equestrian government offered some kind of aid to improve the standard of living around these parts, the ponies here would protest, saying that they're happy with their current situation and that they don't need 'big nanny state government' to interfere." explained Celaeno with a shrug.

"Yeah, I guess things never change no matter what time period you are in." Danni mumbled to herself. 

"We're doing just fine thank you very much." said Rivi as he turned the flatboat to a thicker part of the mangrove swamp. The landscape around them darkened slightly from the thick canopy blocking the sun.

Little did the group knew, but there was a figure that secretly watched them from the shore. 





It was dark out, and Rivi tied his flatboat up against a thick mangrove tree. Apart from the torches that lined the boat, it was pitch black since the thick canopy also blocked out any moonlight. The only light source being the occasional lightning bug that would fly by. 

Inside the flatboat, Danni sat back on her cot and stared at the ceiling while Celaeno took off her clothes, leaving her only her pants on, and then sat down to remove her emerald peg-leg. "So, how did you lose your leg?" Danni asked, curious. 

"Foolishly caught it in some rigging you know." she responded nonchalantly. "What made you decide to join the military?" she asked back. 

Danni looked at the ceiling. "My father was in the military, army, and he was highly decorated, so I wanted to live up to that legacy, despite being a woman." she responded. "His biggest regret was having four daughters and no sons."

"Ah, your species is patriarchal I'm guessing?" the parrot laid back on her cot. 

"Well, we're slowly but surely working our way past it." Danni explained. "Still a long way to go."

"Any romantic partners?" Celaeno asked as she then tucked herself in.

"Uh...more like friends with benefits." Danni blushed. "I kind of have no time for a relationship but I still have needs and stuff..."

Celaeno just laughed at that. "I understand, I'm the same way too." she leaned over and turned off the room's lantern. "Good night." she said. She was starting to develop respect for the human, considering that it was just them two keeping each other company for the last few days.

"Night night." Danni responded as she returned back to staring at the ceiling in deep thought. But then, she noticed a faint green glow appear. She sat up in her cot and looked out the opening and saw an eerier green light coming from the top deck. She got up from her cot, and slowly and stealthily walked out to see what was going on. She peeked out into the top deck to see a strange sight; a pony but with scales, digging through the flatboat's supplies.

Danni was just about to say something when she suddenly found herself in the middle of the last place she wanted to be; a funeral home. She looked and saw a closed casket in front of her, decorated with flowers. She always found it unfair that her father, a highly decorated member of the United States Special Forces who served many tours of duty in Vietnam, would end up gunned down in the line of duty by a cowardly meth addict. Such a thought made her skin crawl, knowing how cruel the world could be, and learning about it at only 10-years-old. November 18th, 1985, the day that the world stopped for her. 

"Danni? What are you doing out here?" asked Celaeno, breaking Danni out of her momentary trance. She turned around and looked at Celaeno. 

"Sorry...just needed some fresh air and all..." she looked out at the pitch black surroundings, it was quiet apart from the frogs and crickets. Without a word, she went back to bed to sleep and get her mind off of what happened. 





The next day, Rivi cooked up a mixture of flour and water, what looked like tortilla to the human. Both she and Celaeno each took a third of the flour pancake and quietly began to eat. "We're getting close to her place." warned Rivi to Celaeno. "You sure you want to continue, oya do you want me to plot a course around?."

"Who again?" asked Danni, confused.

"Da witch of da bayou, of course, da most powerful wielder of magic for lengths around." Rivi explained. 

"I don't mind encountering her again, I just want to get this over with." Celaeno sighed.

Without another word, Rivi released the boat and began to steer it down the thick mangrove swamp. "You met her before?" asked the human to the parrot. 

"She's one of the greatest voodoo practitioners in Equestria, every sailor goes to her for advice and blessings before going off on their travels." she explained the human. "She even gave me sanctuary when I needed it most."

Their surroundings grew darker as the canopy grew thicker and soon, a fog began to settle over the water. Rivi turned on all the lanterns on his flatboat to see better in the dense fog until the shape of a wooden cottage on stilts appeared before them. The structure looked dilapidated, covered in moss and ivy as it stood about three meters above the water. The only sign that it was inhabited was a lit candelabra on one of the windows, and on one of the balconies, stood a unicorn mare, mane in dreadlocks, face painted as a skull and a snake coiled affectionately around her neck. "Nice to see yuh again suh soon Celaeno." smirked the mare before she kicked down a rope ladder for them to use.

"Not soon enough Vitrine." said a bemused Celaeno as she grabbed the rope ladder and began to climb up it. Danni decided to follow suit, while Rivi stayed behind to watch the flatboat. 

"At least it's nice to have yuh back ina de dark side of de law." the mare licked her lips hungrily at both her parrot and human guests. "Make yourselves at home, ma maison est ta maison." she lead her two guests inside her cottage to show that it was lit with nothing but wax candles, with the thick odor of too many incense burning hitting both guests hard. "Never thought mi'd get ah human here." smirked Vitrine at the human as her pet snake hissed.

"You've heard...of Adam Gray?" Danni asked, slightly intimidated by the snake. 

"Hear of him? Why, he helped kill mi only child." Vitrine responded with a chuckle as if that fact never bothered her. 

"I see you're taking it...well..." she gulped, disturbed. 

"Death a never something to be mourned." she responded before she went over to Celaeno. "Came to receive mi blessing?" she grinned at the parrot, showing off badly taken care of teeth, Celaeno was slightly taken aback by that. 

"Do you have anything to protect me from the Storm King?" she asked dryly. 

Vitrine thought about it for a minute before she stumbled into an idea and began to look around her cluttered cottage. She then suddenly appeared with what looked to be a stuffed doll of the Storm King himself. "Just poke it wid ah pin an dat mean old Storm King will not bother yuh." she grinned as she offered the doll to the parrot. Celaeno reluctantly accepted the doll and then the mare turned over to Danni, her pet snake hissed in her ear and Vitrine listened to it as if it was whispering to her. "Tuscania tells mi dat yuh ah on an important mission." she smirked as she walked over to the human in an almost sultry manner.

"And how can you tell?" Danni responded skeptically. 

Vitrine then suddenly blew white powder all over Danni's face, and next thing Danni knew, she found herself in the last place she wanted to be; the funeral home.

"Yuh have journeyed ah long way across time." began Vitrine, who was nothing but a voice. "Subconsciously, yuh have always been striving to impress yuh fada, even after he died." she cackled.

Danni just marched off to the funeral parlor exist, annoyed at this trickery. She opened the door to see herself in a park, her nine-year-old self playing one-on-one basketball with her father. He still had his police uniform on since he just arrived back from work at the Washington State Patrol. "What do you want?!" she yelled at the sky. 

"To understand wat yuh heart truly desires." she explained as Danni's surroundings grew dark. "Yuh fada's approval...or de bomb." Danni then found herself in the middle of a savanna, she looked over to see some human soldiers in their 1940s attire, held at spear-point by armed pony guards as a large white alicorn stood before them, and right behind her was the nuclear warhead itself. 

"Any survivors your highness?" asked a guard to his boss. 

Celestia looked at the eight human soldiers, scared and weak from their defeat. "There are no survivors." she revealed bluntly. The guards nodded and swiftly brought down their spears at them, as Celestia trotted away to her carriage while levitating the bomb along with her. 

Danni just looked back in utter shock as she fell to her knees, she desperately wanted to absorb what she just witnessed, but could not, until she felt hands rub her shoulders. Danni looked up in confusion to see the last person she expected. "Dad?" her eyes lit up as she looked at the man before her and without second thought, hugged him as tight as she could. 

"Hey there my little Dee Dee." he smiled as he called her by her childhood nickname. 

"I'm doing my best..." she whispered as tears began to fall down her cheeks. "...to live up to your legacy."

"Please don't..." he began. "...I just want you to make our country proud while still being yourself, don't do things on account of me..." he assured. 

Danni let her father go and looked at him stunned. "I'm sorry you never had the son you always wanted." she said.

"Looking back on my life...I did things I shouldn't have..." he explained with slight shame. "...and one of them was being focusing too much on what I could have, instead of what I already have." he smiled at his daughter, his eyes glistened with happiness. "Now go make the Daniels family proud, and go make America proud while you're still alive." 

Danni nodded in agreement at what her father said before she suddenly realized something. "Wait...still alive-" Before she could complete that thought, she suddenly shot up awake in the middle of Vitrine's floor as she gasped for breath. "What the fuck was that?!" she exclaimed.

Celaeno just placed her talon on Danni's shoulder to calm her down. "Relax, it's normal, she's just helping atone for your past is all." she explained.

"Yuh have ah destiny to fulfill an mi couldn't allow yuh past to get ina de way of dat." Vitrine began with a large grin. 

"A destiny?" Danni asked, confused, as she got herself back up.

"Wi aal have destinies to fulfill." she answered cryptically. 

Danni looked at the unicorn mare quizzically. "Do you know what's going to happen to me? Will I succeed in my mission? Will I survive this mission?" she demanded.

"Dat mi cannot say." answered Vitrine. "Now, who wants some salted pomme de pin?" she offered to her guests. Her guests just looked at the mare with confusion. 





After a quick meal of something other than 'pomme de pin', Danni and Celaeno get back on the flatboat and row away out of the thick center of the swamp. Vitrine just saw them off from her balcony. "Now, now, Tuscania, mi'll be getting mi vengeance against Adam soon enough, mi just can't let de death of mi only child go." she smirked before she gave her pet snake a peck on its head. 

As the boat continued down the swamp, the landscape began to brighten and the trees became fewer in number as the mangrove swamp turned into marsh with its tall grasses. Rivi then steered the flatboat over to the first dock he saw as the sun began to set. "Here we are, dis is far at i'll take you." announced the stallion as he moored the boat. "It was nice being of service to you Celaeno." he nodded to the parrot as both she and the human got off the boat. 

"Thank you once again Rivi." the parrot pirate said before she walked off. Danni quickly followed her as they went down a dirt path towards a small town in the horizon.

By the time the pair reached the town, it was night, the pair looked around to see that it was a sleepy fishing village, except for the tavern which sounded as rowdy as usual. "The best place to get a crew and information, the local tavern." Celaeno explained with a confident smirk as she opens the front door and walks inside, with the human that followed close behind.

The pair looked on at the drunken revelry before them, full of off-duty fishermen and locals enjoying their drinks a little too much for their own good, along with loose mares to keep all of the stallions company. "CAPTAIN CELAENO!" yelled a familiar voice and suddenly, the entire room went still and silent as everyone's eyes stared at the pair. 

The pirate parrot looked over at the liar's dice table and saw who it was that called out her name. "Rocket..." she groaned with annoyance at the raccoon. "...you survived." she went over to the table and noticed that the raccoon looked twitchier than usual. "Although I think the landing may have short circuited some of the cybernetic implants."

Rocket just took out a document and placed it on the table. "The Storm King knows you're being AWOL, so he raised your bounty to three billion bits." he announced to her. 

Celaeno just rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, you're going to try to capture me so you can bring me to him and collect the money?" she chuckled slightly at that. "That's nice." she sat down across from him. 

"No, Storm King doesn't want you back." he responded, this made the pirate suspicious. "He just wants anyone to capture you and do with you as they please." he smirked with overconfidence. "But I'm a fair sentient Procyon, so maybe we could play a little round of liar's dice to decide your fate." he offered.

"You forget that I am too good at this game." Celaeno smirked, also with overconfidence. She grabbed a blue cup with five blue six-sided die. Rocket likewise grabbed a yellow cup with yellow die inside. "Never lost a game in years." she chuckled. "What are stakes?"

"If I win, I impress you into my crew and collect the three billion bits." he wagered. "That's enough to buy me a fleet of airships."

"And I guess if I win, you let me continue on my way, but you will also allow me first pick in crew." she suggested. Danni just watched from the crowd. 

"Let's play then." Rocket began as he shook his cup and Celaeno did the same. They both slammed their cups on the table and quickly took a peak inside. "Three fours." Rocket began with the opening bid. The parrot just smirked as she only had two fours. 

"Four fours." she responded. 

"Five fours." her opponent bid.

"A little loose with the truth there my cybernetic friend, I challenge." Both players lifted up their cups and revealed their hands, they both only had two fours each, totaling four. "I suggest you give up now while you can." she chuckled as Rocket discarded one of his die, leaving him with four. 

"Oh, you think you are so confident, I see you need to be knocked down a few pegs." the raccoon smirked. He would have loved to use his eye to see through her cup, but decided that it would be far more satisfying beating her without resorting to cheating. Both opponents shook their cups and slammed them down on the table. "Four threes." he bid without ever looking inside his cup. 

"Pretty ballsy of you." she nodded. "Okay then, five threes." she responded, also never having looked inside her cup to see her hand. 

"Six threes." he countered quickly. 

"Let's just cut the manure, I challenge." she smirked as they both grabbed their cups and lifted them up simultaneously. Everyone gasped...there were actually seven threes. Celaeno looked on in shock, this was the first hand she lost in a long time. Rocket smirked at her, but on the inside he was relieved, he got lucky this time, but he hoped that that one lucky win would shake the parrot's confidence enough for him to win. 

The pair were down to four die each as the third round began. Danni watched as Celaeno became more doubtful with her bids, she seemed like she was now bidding randomly and hoping that it sticks, she looked increasingly flustered as she lost the third round and again on the fourth round. 

They both rolled their fifth hands, Celaeno was now down to only two dice, and once again, both refused to look under their cups. "Three sixes." Celaeno started. 

Rocket just laughed at that. "I challenge that bid." Both revealed their hands and there was actually two sixes. Everyone cheered for the raccoon. "Celaeno, you're nothing but a liar that likes to shit out of your beak!" he cackled. The parrot said nothing as she was now down to her last die. "You fall apart and crumble the moment things do not go your way, you're also nothing but a damn dirty coward who just runs away from their problems!" he teased. 

Celaeno just stared at her last remaining die, still stunned, the words he spat out stung her, maybe she was indeed a coward who became a pirate to prevent herself from dealing with her problems...

"What are you doing Cel?" Danni said to her. "Are you just going to let him win?!" the human was also stunned at how easily frazzled her travelling companion could get. She did not respond. Danni decided to take matters into her own hands, she grabbed a green cup with green die and slammed it on the table. "Final round, all three of us, all-or-nothing." Danni wagered impulsively. 

That snapped Celaeno out of her trance. "Huh? What are you doing Danni?" she looked at the human confused. 

"Fine, last round it is, with eleven die total." Rocket accepted as he shook his cup. Danni did the same along with Celaeno. All three then slammed their cups on the table simultaneously. All three decided to not look under their cups and let fate decide this one. 

"Three ones." Danni guessed. 

Celaeno looked at Danni skeptically. "Don't be a hero Danni, please." she warned.

"I'm in the Air Force, I was trained to be a hero." Danni insisted. "Now are you going to bid or challenge me?"

The parrot looked at the human before she sighed with defeat. "Five ones."

Rocket just laughed at the bid before he decided to brazenly remove his cup and reveal his four dice to everyone. "I have three ones and I challenge." he smirked. The raccoon goes over and removes Celaeno's cup to reveal that her sole remaining die was a six. The entire crowd gasped. "You better hope that your ape friend here has two or more ones." he hissed. All attention then turned to the human. 

Danni slowly and nervously removed her green cup to reveal that she had zero ones in her hand. The enter crowd gasped in shock. Danni turned to her friend with a look of shame. "I'm sorry..."

"Congrats Celaeno, your friend here is an even bigger liar than you!" gloated Rocket. "YOU LOSE!" he mocked as the entire audience erupted in laughter. "Tie her up and strip her down." he ordered the crowd. Some of the crowd grabbed Celaeno and did as told, they tied up her wrists behind her back and ripped off her clothes. "And take off that emerald peg leg, she doesn't need it on my ship." Rocket added.

Danni wanted to help and interfere but was quickly held down in her seat. "Don't worry about me Danni, just focus on doing what you were sent here to do, be a hero to everyone, not just me, I'll be fine!" Celaeno yelled out at the human, trying to reassure her as she was dragged away by the crowd, presumably to Rocket's new ship to begin her time as a member of his crew. 

Once the crowd was gone, along with Celaeno, the tavern was quiet as Rocket lounged in his seat as he chugged down some cider. He then snapped his fingers and a pony runs in with a large map of Equestria and gave it to Danni. "Map of Equestria, should help you navigate to where you need to go." he told the human without second thought. "And unless you want to suffer the same fate as your cowardly friend, I suggest you forget about her and leave."

Danni got up and leered at the raccoon. "Luck can only get you so far." she said in a low voice, cryptically. She took the map as she stared threateningly at him and then turned to walk away without saying another word. 





Several days later...

It was a warm autumn day in Ponyville as both Adam and Fluttershy returned back from an amazing two week long honeymoon. They were happily greeted by their friends, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash, who waited for them at the station, except for Twilight, who wanted to avoid any awkwardness and ruin the joyous mood. 

"How was Neighpon ya two newlyweds?" asked Applejack.

"Yes, how did it go, tell us what you did." Rarity said eagerly while she hugged Fluttershy. 

"Don't worry, we'll tell you all about it over milkshakes at Sugarcube Corner." Fluttershy smiled while she nuzzled her human husband. Adam blushed at that and responded with a scratch behind her ear. 





After the milkshakes and story telling, the newlyweds walked over to Fluttershy's cottage. "Well, I had an amazing time, but I kind of have animals that are probably waiting to tackle me into a hug inside." the mare chuckled sheepishly. 

"It's okay, I know how much you care for them." the human assured while he pet her and stroked her mane. "So, you okay with moving in with me and leaving this nice cottage to your animals?" he asked.

"It doesn't make sense for a married couple to be living apart, so of course I'll be moving in with you, although I'll probably take my time with it, lots of stuff to move in, and lots of things to do in order to convert this cottage into an animal sanctuary and all." Fluttershy explained.

"There is no rush." he smiled before he knelled down before the mare and kissed her passionately on her sweet lips. The mare sighed happily from the kiss. "See you tomorrow Mrs. Adam Grey." he teased after breaking the kiss. 

The mare blushed at that and internally squealed with excitement that she was finally married. "See you tomorrow." she nodded happily before she picked up her bags and walked away into her cottage to reunite with the animals under her care. 

Adam walked alone back to his house, still exactly the same he left it two weeks ago. Once inside, he took off his long coat and placed it in his coat closet. The place was silent apart from the sounds of a grandfather clock from the living room. He unceremoniously dropped his bags down on the front foyer floor and goes upstairs. He enters his room and drops down on the bed, exhausted and jet-lagged. It was not long before he noticed that the room was littered with completely melted candles, rose petals and some torn up pieces of wedding dress, along with the faint smell of sex. He remembered that he and his wife were in such a rush to make the train that they did not bother cleaning up after themselves. "Ugh, I'll do it after my nap." he groaned with exhaustion, for the first time in his life, he truly felt old. 

He then mustered up enough energy to get up off the bed and open his bedroom window to bring in the fresh autumn air. He took in a deep breath in of the crisp air and felt himself relax. He then remembered that it was at about this time at he arrived in Equestria for the first time two years ago. He was still thankful that he ended up here, because now he truly found happiness and stability in his life. 

A knock on the front door interrupted his train of thought. He wondered who it could be as he reluctantly walked back downstairs to get the door. He opened the door and then suddenly froze at the sight before him. 

"Adam Grey?" began Danni, who stood before Adam, grateful and relieved to have finally found him. She had a long journey to get to him. Adam said nothing in response, but just promptly fell backwards and fainted before the sight of another human. "Adam?" she leaned over him with concern and confusion. "Adam?!"





Meanwhile, in the desert mesas of a faraway land, Rocket and some of his loyal crew watched as their former ship floated away from them. They were on the wrong side of a successful mutiny lead by their newest crew member; Celaeno. 

On the ship, Celaeno confidentially looked at her new crew, the crew that helped her overthrow and exact revenge on the raccoon. "Where to now captain?" asked a pony crew mate whom she named as her first mate. 

The parrot strutted over to the ship's wheel. "Well Mr. Cotton, wherever the wind is blowing." she smirked at her crew. Everyone stared at her silently for about a minute, before Mr. Cotton broke the silence by loudly exclaiming to the crew their orders. The captain watched the scene with satisfaction as she took the wheel and began to steer the ship. "My name is Celaeno, and I'll live on in history as the most successful sky pirate ever." she smirked with determination.
> Chapter 50 ~The Awkward Reunion~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seven o'clock and Adam woke up to his alarm clock. He groggily turned it off and got out of bed, in his blue stripped nightshirt and stretched. He opened the window curtains to reveal a beautiful autumn landscape, all the trees now with their bright fiery leaves. After he took in the view, he went downstairs to brew himself some tea to get his day started. Although once at the kitchen, he was swiftly reminded that he was not alone.

Before the human was the sight of someone bent over and raiding the fridge. He just blushed when he saw the shapely blue physical training pant covered behind. Adam quickly cleared his throat to get his roommate's attention. 

"Oh hey, you're finally awake." said Danni as she got her head out of the fridge with a bottle of energy drink on one hand and a basketball cradled in her other arm. Adam still blushed, he had not seen a human female in years up to this point, and found it awkward to be living with one. "Sorry if I woke you up or anything, just pretty used to getting up very early to work-out, military routine and all." she apologized before she chugged down her energy drink. "Mind if I go shower first?" she asked.

"Uh...sure, go ahead." he nodded. His eyes could not help but wander across her body, he was also not used to seeing a woman who was not his lover wear so little by his 19th century standards. "I'll be making tea." he quickly went over to the kitchen to grab a teapot, to keep himself distracted.

Danni could sense the awkward tension between them, but said nothing as she quietly nodded and walked off up the stairs to the bathroom. 

"Easy there Adam, calm down, you're married to a beautiful mare and this arrangement is only temporary." he mumbled to himself as he took deep breaths to calm himself down.





It had been about ten days since Danni showed up unexpectedly at Adam's door, and she seemed to have adjusted to life in Ponyville quite easily, to her it was like living in an old-fashioned farming village, but with ponies instead of people. Although  she found it quite helpful that Adam guided her, plus lived in the only house in the area designed for human habitation, she kind of found it annoying to bend over or look down when navigating a pony house or talk to one.

After a nice ten minute hot shower, she came out and quickly went into her room that was right next to the bathroom. The room was bare, it had not been used much since Rainbow Dash wintered over here two winters ago, and it was planned to become Fluttershy's own room for the few nights in their marriage where they were not having sex or cuddling. Danni felt a bit guilty that she had to temporarily put those plans on hold. 

She quietly got dressed, and thought about how endearing it was that Adam was still not used to the 'liberated' woman of the 20th century. So much as changed in the one hundred years that separated them. After she got dressed, she got out of her room and ran down the stairs to see that Adam was finished with the tea. "Smells lovely." she smirked as she walked in and sat down at the dinning room table before she grabbed her cup of what smelled like lavender tea. As she drank her tea, she soon noticed the awkward silence between them, and how Adam seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her. "Adam, I know this must be hard to get used to, but I am here for a very important reason, I know there's a culture clash between us, but you are stuck with me for a while." she explained.

"It's not that," Adam began with a sigh. "it's just that I finally found some semblance of stability in my life." he looked down at his wedding band. "only for it to be thrown off once again."

"I know." she then placed her hand on Adam's. "But the fate of the world and of the past is counting on me to do this."

"I thought you can't change the past?" Adam looked at her quizzically. 

"You can't change your past, but your past is someone else's present, like what you wrote in your journal; 'you may not be able to change the past...'"

"...but you can change the future." Adam completed the quote as he looked at her with realization. 

"We need to find that bomb before they do." she warned.

Adam suddenly pulled his hand away from hers, got up, and walked off upstairs. "I'll be at my wife's." he mumbled, he still had trouble accepting the call once again, he did not want to jeopardize everything he worked hard to get. 

Danni sighed with frustration before she got up, put on her sweatshirt, and walked off outside in the crisp autumn air.





As Danni walked outside and through the park that she was at earlier that morning while she also occasionally dribbled her basketball, she soon heard the sounds of two fillies who argued with each other, she looked over to see the two fillies who fought and argued. 

"No! I don't wanna play with you anymore!" yelled a pink filly to her friend.

"Why not?! You love playing hopscotch!" yelled the light gray filly back.

"What's going on here?" asked Danni as she walked up to the two fillies. They just looked at her a bit stunned at the new non-pony stranger before them. "Now don't be afraid, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on and how to fix this." she assured them as she crouched down to them. 

"My EX-friend Coconut doesn't want to play anything else with me because she's afraid to losing!" the pink filly explained.

Her friend looked on completely offended. "That's not true Toola and you know it!" she snarled back. 

"Playing games isn't about winning or losing." Danni explained to them. "It's about having having fun with your friends, and if someone is no longer having fun, then you play a new game." she gave the fillies some words of advice. "Like basketball." she showed the fillies her ball and then spun it on her finger.

The two ponies looked on in awe at the skill. "We never played basketball before, how do you play it?" Toola asked the human. 

"I'll show you." she smirked.





About a half-hour later, Twilight walked through the park and then saw before her, the human passing the ball at one of the fillies, who would then bounce the ball off of their snout and into the basket. "Excellent Toola, three points." the human laughed, having fun, the two fillies also giggled, also having fun. 

Twilight looked at the sight, pleased that Danni had begun to fit in quite nicely. After a few minutes, the two fillies had to leave for lunch, leaving Danni alone in the court, who began to shoot three-pointers. "Watch out Gary Payton, I'm coming for you." she mumbled to herself to pump her up.

"You're really good." began Twilight. 

Danni stopped what she did and looked over at the unicorn. "Oh hey Twilight, how are you?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm fine, the usual." she nodded in response. "I see you're holding up well."

The human smiled at that. "Yeah, I just wish I could say the same thing about Adam." she sighed with concern. 

"Give him time, he wasn't expecting to see another human ever again, and he needs a while to get used to the fact that you're here and all." Twilight explained. 

"I know that, especially since I am a human female from the late twentieth century." Danni clarified. 

"I've been meaning to interview you about what things were like a hundred years after Adam, I'd really like to study your species." she offered. "Maybe talk about over tea at my place?" she offered.





At Las Pegasus, Pinkamena lounged on her office chair as she looked over the city skyline and the main street lined with resorts, casinos and clubs. "Look here Mr. Jack Pot, we're trying to attract a more youthful crowd to my resort, and let's just say, magic shows are SO 980's." she explained to the light blue unicorn stallion who was in shock at the sudden sacking.

"But I've given nearly eight years of hard work for this resort during my residency!" he exclaimed. "And this is how I get repaid? By being replaced by a rapper who proclaims himself as the 'based god'?" 

"Well, there's also the fact that your former partner Big Bucks couldn't keep his hooves to himself around the gray manned mares." Pinkamena stated. "Now you have two choices, finish out the rest of your contract quietly, or get a crash course reminder over what happens when resort employees get 'uppity'?" she referred to her two bodyguards, a diamond dog named Steel, and a griffon named Gustav, who looked at the magician with intimidating looks.

Jack Pot knew he had no other choice, he just got up from his seat and left the office. "It was a pleasure working for your resort." he tipped his top hat to her and then left the room. Once in the hallway, he saw a formally familiar sight of a unicorn mare with her face painted as a skull, and a snaked coiled around her neck. "Look, I am in no mood." he sighed as he just walked passed her and down the hallway. 

But as he walked, the mare suddenly appeared in front of him. "Revenge waits fi nuh one." she said, as her snaked hissed intimidatingly at the stallion. "Even fi deadbeat fathers like yuh." 

"Look Vitrine, I want nothing to do with my past anymore okay? The moment the tabloids hear that I was once bayou trash, my career is ruined." he snarled at her. 

The snake just lunged at Jack Pot, its face dangerously close to his. "Suh yuh're going to let our daughter's murderer get away wid dis?" she responded, offended. "Or ah yuh going to embrace yuh voodoo roots an do something about dis injustice?" she then materialized a talisman. "It's not like yuh have better tings to do."

Jack Pot looked at the mare. "What do you want me to do?" he accepted the talisman and placed it around his neck. 

"Wat yuh did best." she grinned cryptically, her badly cared for teeth showing. 





Danni looked around at all of the books and tomes in the library shelves. "Do you think there's a way to use magic to time travel?" she asked Twilight who walked into the room with a teapot and began to serve it. 

"Well, apart from you and Adam, and myself briefly, the only other individual I know of that time traveled is Star Swirl the Bearded, and it is said that it took him twenty-six years of his life to finally achieve the feat." Twilight explained, since she was an expert on the legendary magician. 

"I wonder what a unicorn would do with a time travel spell?" Danni pondered to herself, as she said that, the front door opened, and walked in Starlight Glimmer and Spike.

"Hey Twi, we're back from the market with fresh produce like you requested." said an exhausted Starlight, she was about to plop herself down on the couch, until she noticed the new human. "Still not used to seeing two of you humans around." she mumbled with annoyance. 

"Don't worry Starlight, whatever happened between you and Adam is now in the past, and you're both moving on from that." Danni assured the unicorn. She then turned to Twilight. "It would be nice to time travel anywhere without using a machine." she professed. "Or at least a way to send intel to the past to inform my superiors." 

Starlight was intrigued by the discussion about time travel. "I'll go write a letter to Luna and maybe she'll send me some relevant scrolls about it if you wish." offered Twilight to the human. "Anything to help you on your endeavor."

"Sure, it's worth a try." Danni nodded, grateful at the offer. 

Before Twilight went off to her room to write the letter, she looked back at the human. "You read Adam's journal right?" she asked curious. 

"No I have not, why do you ask?" Danni asked, confused. But before Twilight could make up an excuse, the front door to the library opened to reveal Fluttershy who wore a light green scarf. The entire room fell into awkward silence, Danni, Spike and Starlight could feel the thick tension in the air. 

"I-I just wanted to talk to Danni." Fluttershy nervously stuttered from the tense atmosphere. She looked over at Twilight, her former friend that she formally trusted. "Alone..." she added. Danni just nodded and followed Fluttershy outside to the back of the library to talk privately. Once out back, Fluttershy took a deep breath before she spoke. "I don't care what Adam says, he badly needs human companionship...no matter how much he denies it." she began.

This intrigued Danni. "So what are you proposing?"

"Come over for some dinner at my cottage tonight." she proposed. "I just want to see him spend some time with his own kind for once."

"I understand, but I think he's afraid that I might unintentionally ruin the good life he has built for himself here." Danni told Fluttershy as she looked around at her surroundings. "Especially your marriage."

"Well, I do sometimes feel like he's TOO devoted to me..." the mare began nervously. Danni gave her a look of confusion. "...I occasionally tell him that he's free to start a herd or be with someone for a night...now don't get me wrong, I feel honored by his unwavering devotion and loyalty to me, but I just feel like he's unnecessarily limiting himself."

"So you Equestrians are into more open marriages with the occasional polyamory thrown in?" Danni assumed.

Fluttershy nodded. "So I wouldn't mind if you and him..."

"Just because we're both humans doesn't mean that we're just going to do it." Danni reminded bemused. "Besides, I didn't come here to play 'The Dating Game', I came here to fulfill an objective."

"I understand..." Fluttershy said, a bit embarrassed. 

"By the way, what happened between you and Twilight?" Danni asked, curious. 

"Oh well..." she paused to think about the right words. "...she used me to get to him." was all she said. "See you tonight." she quickly turned around to hide her look of shame and anger and walked off. 

Danni looked on with concern, but decided not to bother her. She sighed, it seemed like Adam generated a lot of drama among his wife's friends. She decided to just go back inside to talk with Twilight, who was upstairs to compose a letter to Princess Luna. She knocked on the bedroom door. "Come on in." said Twilight from inside.

The human female let herself inside. "Writing the letter?" she asked the unicorn.

"Yup." Twilight nodded as her magic moved the quill across the letter.

"Can I ask you a quick question?" she asked as she sat down at the foot of Twilight's bed. 

"Sure, go ahead." she nodded as she put the letter and quill away to focus on the conversation. 

"You still love him do you?" she asked directly. 

Twilight's face fell, she knew what the human meant. She just sighed. "...it was our destiny..." she mumbled with shame.

"Twilight, what matters more to you?" she asked. "You fulfilling your destiny? Or having one of your friends finally find true happiness in her life?" 

"But I doubt she would ever want to talk to me after what I did..." she trailed off.

"Did you ever even try to talk to her?" she asked bluntly. Twilight's ears and face fell, it was a definite 'no'. "You know, if Fluttershy won't try to talk to you or extend an olive branch, then maybe it should be you that does it, there's no need to wait, sometimes you need to be the one that takes the initiative."

"So what do you suggest I do?" Twilight was completely unsure of what to do, but she did knew that something must be done or else her friendship with Fluttershy would remain strained. Twilight was met by a devious look from the human.





The sun began to set as the crisp autumn air turned cold. The days have become noticeably shorter now as Adam and Fluttershy were at Fluttershy's cottage as they finished up the final preparations for a simple dinner, expecting their guest to arrive at any minute. As if on cue, someone knocked on the front door. "I'll go get it." smiled Fluttershy, she thought it was Danni. She happily trotted over to the front door and opened it but her mood quickly changed as she saw the guest and quickly started to slam the door. 

"No wait!" yelled the unwanted house guest who used her magic to swiftly prop the door open before it could slam shut. "I'm sorry for using you!" she exclaimed to her former friend with a look of pleading and shame. Fluttershy looked at her with suspicion, hearing out Twilight. "And I wanted to give you this at the bridal shower." said Twilight as she levitated over to the pegasus her intended gift; a red journal. 

Fluttershy looked at the journal and knew what it was. "Y-you knew I always wanted a new journal..." she was stunned, all this time she has forgotten that Twilight was one of her best friends for a reason. 

"I just want us to start rebuilding our friendship...or least be on speaking terms again." Twilight proposed. 

Fluttershy looked at Twilight in deep thought before she gave a warm smile and quickly enveloped Twilight into a hug. "About time you finally apologized." she said. "Friends forever." she then whispered into Twilight's ear. The unicorn could not help but to smile at that.





The dinner between Adam, Fluttershy and Twilight went by normally and uneventfully, mostly filled with all three catching-up and mending their estranged friendship. Now the three were in the living room, in front of the fireplace, all three slightly tipsy from the wine. Adam sat down, with both mares on both sides of him underneath each of his arms. All three were silent, just enjoying the company and the warmth of the fire and each other. "This is nice." said Twilight to break the silence.

"Hey Adam..." began Fluttershy who looked up at her husband. She was nervous, wondering how her husband would react. 

"Yes hun?" Adam responded as he rubbed his wife's back.

"How would you feel, just this once, have Twilight join us for some well...fun?" she blushed at the proposal. It could not have hurt to at least ask. "You know...a threesome?" she clarified to Adam.

Adam looked at his wife in deep thought and then looked at Twilight. "I don't know..." he answered unsure. "...are you sure?" he said apprehensively. He was worried about jeopardizing a good thing he currently has. 

Fluttershy looked at Twilight, who just silently nodded in approval. "We're both sure." Fluttershy answered reassuringly. 

Adam smiled at that and began to both brush each mare's manes. "Just give me some more of that wine and I might reconsider." he said jokingly, but both mares just giggled as Twilight levitated over another glass of wine and began to pour it for him. Adam took the glass and began to drink it while both mares whispered into each other's ears. They obviously were up to something. "What are you two girls planning?" he smirked at the two. 

The two mares just smirked back at the human before both mares leaned in and their lips touched. Adam watched in stunned silence as his wife began to kiss Twilight. The human was yet intrigued by this, he found the sight erotic in a way as both mares began to get more passionate with the kiss. "Never knew you could do that hun." he said to Fluttershy. 

She then broke the kiss and looked at her husband. "Only with potential herd mates." she smiled. But Adam's face soon fell upon a realization. "What's wrong?" asked his wife, concerned.

"Shy, hun, I don't want a herd." he began as he brushed her cheek. "At least not right now..." he clarified.

Twilight felt guilty. "I don't mean to intrude, but I understand if you're not ready." she nodded in agreement with full humility. "You get the final say."

Adam looked over at Twilight and looked into her violet eyes, the same eyes that his old love used to have. "Twi, I think you are an amazing mare, and I feel blessed to have met you, but right now, I am happy and content with my current situation. Right now, I just want it to be just me and Fluttershy." he explained. Twilight silently nodded in understanding. "But..." this suddenly made her perk up. "...that doesn't mean we can't come up with an arrangement." he proposed. 

Both mares looked at the human with confusion. "What kind of arrangement?" asked Fluttershy.

"I don't want you two to have a falling-out ever again, so I am willing and open to consider any proposal you two girls come up with...short of forming a herd of course." he explained.

Both mares looked at each other and agreed to the proposal. "If it means that we get to repair our friendship, we'll gladly work something out." Fluttershy nodded. "But as the married mare in this situation, I get to set the initial terms." she smirked over at Twilight.

Twilight chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Okay, what do you propose Mrs. Fluttershy?" she asked playfully.

"Term one, you are free to have sex with Adam but only with my approval and only if Adam promises to rut me within 24 hours after." she set the first term. "Two," she turned to Adam. "should I ever be away on a trip that lasts at least a week, you are free to rut Twilight whenever you want and without my approval, as long as you rut me within 24 hours of my return, of course." she smirked slyly at the human. Adam just blushed at that. "And don't worry Adam, hun, it's not cheating if it's a threesome or the wife knows about it." she winked. 

"Is that all?" asked Twilight.

"Twilight, the only thing I ask from you is that you throw in full access to your impressive toy collection and a fortnightly mutual masturbation session." she smiled at Twilight. 

"My wife sure knows how to make a tempting offer." Adam chuckled. 

Twilight chuckled as well. "Make it at least monthly and you have yourself a deal." she nodded as she extended her hoof out. Fluttershy nodded in return before she extended her hoof out and tapped it against her friend's.

"So, what now?" asked Adam as he petted both mares. 

Both mares looked up at the human and smirked seductively. "Well, that's ultimately up to you." said Fluttershy in a husky voice. The human blushed crimson red at that.





The next morning, just after sunrise, Danni was once again out in the park at the basketball court as she threw free-throws at the basket. "Gary Payton shoots and he scores!" she said to herself as she made another basket, she then ran around the court as she made crowd-noises to herself. 

"You're up early." Adam smirked as he walked up to the court. 

Danni smirked back as she picked up her basketball and chest passed it him, which Adam promptly caught. "Good reflexes." she joked. 

Adam just held the ball under his arm. "By the way, very sneaky of you in sending over Twi instead of you." he said, fully aware at what she did. 

"You never told me you could be such a ponies man." Danni joked. 

He chuckled at that. "Yeah don't remind me." he walked up to her and handed her her ball back. "Especially when drunk apparently."

"Anything interesting happen last night?" she asked as she resumed her free-throw attempts. 

"What occurs between me, my wife and her best friend is none of your concern." he answered cryptically with a smile. 

"Regardless of what happened, you're still one lucky son-of-a-bitch." she pointed out. "Married and surrounded by friends."

"Sorry for being so cold to you at first." Adam apologized suddenly. "I was just afraid of having a good thing get ruined."

"It's okay." she accepted the apology. "Besides, I intend to not stay around here long, have a past and country to defend, plus I have season tickets to the Sonics that I don't want to waste." she joked.

"So basketball has become a huge sport during the last hundred years I see." he noted, during his time, basketball was just sport played at local gymnasiums and athletic clubs. 

"A lot of things have become huge in the last hundred years." she responded.

Adam nodded his head as he silently watched her, the first human female he had seen in years. "Want to go to the cafe and get some tea once you're done?" he suddenly offered her. 

Danni stopped what she did. "About damn time you asked me to hang-out." she smirked. "You paying?"

"I wouldn't be a Victorian gentleman if I didn't." he chuckled. He then politely offered his arm to her, which she gladly accepted and locked her own arm with. The two humans then walked off back into town to spend some quality time together and hopefully form a new friendship and come to an understanding together. "So, tell me more about this Gary Payton."





Luna paced her chambers, she was anxious and in deep thought since next week was the first official Nightmare Night since her sister's passing over two years ago now. Luna still felt like it was too soon for such merriment dedicated to her, but she felt like it was best to bring as much normality as possible. The only other pony in her chambers with her was one of her most trusted guards; Gleaming. Luna looked at him. "I believe it is past your shift, you are free to go." she told him. 

"You sure ma'am? You have been looking increasingly troubled." he explained with worry. 

"I am sure, I just want some alone time to collect my thoughts." she assured as she tried to put on a brave face for her most loyal guard. 

Gleaming nodded and trotted out of the chambers. Once out of the room, his eyes glowed green and a large grin formed on his face. 

At a hidden cave just outside of Canterlot, Gleaming walked in and once he was certain that no one followed him, began to change form while enveloped by a green glow, as he changed back to his real true form as a Changeling. "Soon, at next month's Cultural Exchange festival, I, Thorax, will finally exact my revenge." he hissed as he stared at his secret weapon, something he found among the ruins of Celestia's secret vault, a weapon that was designed by a long extinct species to cause massive death and destruction. "Kill off my kind, and I'll kill off yours Luna." 

Before him, was a large nuclear warhead, something the humans brought over centuries ago, but was confiscated by Celestia and kept hidden, until Thorax re-discovered it. The changeling then went over to a special container that contained the pit of fissile material. He just gleefully grinned at it, if Luna did not die in the initial explosion, then watching her have severe radiation poisoning and die a slow and painful death from the inside would just be as entertaining. He had nothing else to lose, he was the last of his kind, but he was adamant to take Luna down with him if he had to. 

Thorax rubbed his face against the pit, the potential radiation did not effect him at all, being a bug does indeed have its advantages. After that, he kissed the pit before he walked off out of the cave so he can be at the barracks where the other off-duty guards were at. He changed back to his pony form, a form he has used for nearly five years now, and trotted off. He just secretly hoped no one would dare ruin his plans for the bomb. 





June 11, 1999
Somewhere in Chechnya, Russia

"The machine is ready sir..." nervously stuttered a scientist to a tall and muscular man in army fatigues and a large mess of curly hair who was in the middle of a series of pull-ups. The man got off the pull-up bars attached to the wall and looked over at the scientist. He grabbed a towel, wiped the sweat off of his face and walked over to him. 

"Right time and space coordinates?" he said in a deep gruff voice as he began to get dressed in his old military service dress. 

"Give or take a year or two..." the scientist gulped, completely intimidated by him. 

The big man then placed a hand on the scientist's shoulder. "Relax my Chechen friend, tell your boss that the money will be wired to him shortly." he grinned. "And you now have all the tools and knowledge necessary to build your own nuke." he then grabbed a duffel bag and walked out of the room. After he walked down several corridors of the underground bunker, he arrived at the central room, where a makeshift time machine stood, ready to be used. 

All the scientists and guards stood as they watched this man, who promised them funding and nuclear weapons for their cause against the Russian government, slowly walk up to the machine they have built under his direction. He then turned around and looked at the crowd before him. "I love my country, I love my nation and my faith so much, that I was willing to commit high treason against it in order to save it from those who would love to see my nation, and my peoples, exterminated." he began. "See you all on the other side comrades." he nodded before he stepped into the machine and turned it on. 

He disappeared in a flash of red light, never to be seen from again.

To be continued...
Next time: The Nightmare Night
> Chapter LI~The War Game~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A sandstorm blew through the narrow streets of Klugetown, a settlement located in the middle of the desert that is known as being 'outside the law' according to its locals, many of whom have came here to continue on their nefarious ways away from civilization. 

In one store, a rat manned the register, he did not except much business that day due to the storm outside, but still kept his store open just in case. He was snapped out of his boredom by the sound of the door chimes ringing and the sounds of boots on the wooden floor. He looked up to see a strange creature he had never seen before, almost looked like a hairless ape apart from the large mess of curly hair on his head. The strange creature just calmly walked up to the rat store owner.

"You have any maps?" the creature calmly asked the owner in a flat, almost bored, tone.

"What kind?" the owner asked suspiciously. 

"Maps of Equestria." he answered plainly. 

The rat just raised an eyebrow. "Equestria? Why would anyone want to go to that saccharine place? Look, buddy, Equestria is too good for you and-" he was swiftly silenced when he suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol. 

"Did I stutter? Maps, now." the creature said in a more threatening tone. 

"Okay, okay, just give me a moment." he said as he went down under the counter only to instead reach for a wooden bat. The creature promptly shot the rat right through his hand before he could reach it. "Fuck!" he screamed out in pain as he saw a large bloody hole in his hand. "Look, buddy, if you came here to rob the place, just take what you want and leave okay?" he whimpered in pain. 

The creature calmly put down his pistol and walked over behind the counter to get what he requested as the store owner just kept out of the way. He grabbed the appropriate maps and stuffed them all in his bag. He then placed a red gem on the counter. "This should help pay for the hospital bills, pleasure doing business." he said before he calmly walked off. 

Once outside, the man placed a rag over his mouth and nose, and a pair of sunglasses over his eyes before he walked off in the dusty streets of the town.

He soon found himself in a seedy motel, his room bathed in the red neon lights from the signs outside. He looked over some old military files that he stole a few months back as he studied over the schematics of the bomb that was left behind in this strange land of the far future. He then grabbed his cup of coffee from the nightstand and drank from it while he turned his attention to a newspaper. He could not read its contents but the headline did include a photo of the one person that interested him and he smirked. "Adam Grey..." he said as he looked forward to meeting him. 





"Thanks once again for teleporting the time machine here Princess Luna." nodded Danni as she checked out her machine to see if it was still travel worthy. 

"No problem." responded Luna with a smile as she and Adam looked over at her and the machine. They were all in Luna's study, since later during the night, there was to be a masquerade ball to commemorate the first Nightmare Night since Celestia's passing. Luna felt that it was time to move on from mourning and return to normality for the sake of everyone. 

Adam walked over to his human companion. "Everything looking okay?" he asked as he gazed upon the machine, and how advanced it looked. 

"Works perfectly." Danni smiled as she sat down on the leather seat. She then got up and stepped out of the machine. "So, your highness." she turned to Luna. "Do you know where Celestia would've kept the nuclear bomb?" she asked her as she got down to business.

"Ever since the palace was destroyed, any personal documents that may have indicated where she kept it were lost, and me and Royal Guard Gleaming did our best to recover as much as we could from the ruins." she thought back. "We found nothing."

"The bomb had to have survived the explosion, or else there would've been an even bigger bang." Danni stated while in thought. "Maybe I'll go ask your guard Gleaming if he saw anything." she proposed, it was the only other solid lead she got. 

"He should be in his private quarters on the top floor." Luna directed the human. 

Danni nodded and started to walk off, leaving Adam and Luna alone. Once Danni was out of the room, Luna turned her attention to the other human. "Must be nice being reunited with a member of your species, especially a female one." she began. 

"It is, but also complicated at the same time." Adam admitted. "She can be a little too...liberated for my tastes." he explained before he turned to leave. "See you tonight your highness." he bowed slightly to her before he left the room. 

As Adam walked down the hallways, he caught up with Danni who was about to head up to the top floor. "Hope to see you tonight at the ball?" he asked her. 

Danni turned around. "Why of course Adam, I'll be there." she assured. 

"By the way," he began. "Once this whole thing is over, once your mission has been fulfilled, you are free to stay here if you want." he offered. 

Danni smiled at Adam. "I'd love to, but unlike you, I actually have a life back in my home time period." she explained. "But thank you for putting up with me though, I appreciate it." she nodded, thankful for the hospitality given to her.

"Just don't get into any trouble while you're up there." Adam smiled in return.

"I'll try, but I can't guarantee it." Danni joked before she turned around and ran up the stairs.

Adam shook his head in disbelief and walked off. "I've been away from other humans for far too long..."





On the very top floor of the castle, where the ceiling was low to the point where Danni had to crane her neck, she came across the private room of one of Luna's loyal guards; Gleaming, she then knocked on the door. 

"What?" was the response she got from the room's occupant.

"Just wanted to ask you a few questions, this is Danni, one of Luna's human guests." she explained. 

After about a minute, the door opened, and Danni ducked through it to enter the small room, it was about the size of a standard dorm room from her Air Force academy days, but felt slightly more cramped than usual due to the various pieces of basic furniture and posters lining the walls, and apart from a small skylight, there was no source of natural light giving the room a slightly darker atmosphere. "Well, ask away." Gleaming said as he sat down on his bed, he still had on his normal guard uniform. 

Danni just sat down on the bed next to him since there was no other comfortable place in the cramped room. "You helped Luna in the recovery of any items that survived the old palace's destruction right?"

"Yeah, me and some other guards, but I was the one that oversaw the entire thing." he stated. 

"Did you ever encounter something...unusual?" she tried her best to explain. 

"Like in what way?" he asked suspiciously, his eyes suddenly narrowed. 

"Oh you know, something that is not of this kingdom, planet or...time period." she specified. "Something big, heavy and made of metal."

"Look, I've been a loyal member of the guards for five years now, and I have never once found anything fitting that description." he assured. 

"Yeah, I thought you wouldn't." she sighed as she began to casually look around the room, walls plastered with photos of pony, griffon and minotaur pin-up models and pro-guard propaganda posters, just like the typical guard...maybe too typical, she thought to herself. She then turned to see a large stack of books on his small desk, they were the equally typical military themed books, but something underneath the books caught her eye, it looked like advanced schematics, schematics that looked awfully familiar to her. And this is the bomb that they left behind in the future; a Mark 4 nuclear bomb... she remembered the mission briefing and the projector that showed her almost the exact same schematics. 

"Any other questions you wanted to ask me ma'am?" Gleaming asked with suspicion as his eyes briefly gave out a greenish shimmer. 

Danni snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh no, it's nothing, I guess I'll get going." she then got up and began to walk out of the room only to see something fall out of the room's wardrobe and crash on the floor. 

"Help...me..." it gasped, an emaciated version of Gleaming begged, too weak to move. Danni stood back in utter shock at the sight, only to bump into the other Gleaming. She turned around startled only to see a bug-like creature before as it lunged and hissed at her.





After Adam tried on the costume Rarity made for him, he walked into his guest chambers only to be met by the sounds of a beautiful sweet voice that hummed a tune. The human smirked as he knew exactly what it was, he happily looked around the room and saw his lovely wife in front of a mirror as she brushed her long wet pink mane, fresh out of the shower. 

"So you had a shower without me?" Adam teased as he sat down on the bed to rest. 

"Well, if I did, we wouldn't get out and we'd missed the party." Fluttershy winked as she finished brushing. "Although I wouldn't mind that at all." she blushed.

Adam laid back on the bed and stared at the gilded vaulted ceiling. "I just want to get this fancy masquerade thing over with, I had a hard enough time making through that Celestia memorial statue unveiling as is." he sighed as he felt guilty of being part of a lie to protect Celestia's reputation. 

Fluttershy sensed her husband was trouble and she floated over to the human and cuddled up next to him on the bed to comfort him. She placed her head down on his chest as the human began to stroke her back, she knew that would comfort him. 





Luna walked into her private chambers, relieved that she finally managed to find a few hours of alone time during her busy schedule. All the windows in her chambers were blacked out to simulate the night time, but she navigated the dark room quite well. After she made sure her pet opossum Tiberius was fed, she went over to her bed to rest and think of something she could do during her free time. 

"Princess Luna?" said a voice that startled the princess. Luna got up and quickly lit up her horn to brighten up the room, only to see her faithful guard Gleaming before her. 

"Gleaming? How did you get in here without my permission?" she asked suspiciously. 

"The same way you do of course." he chuckled as suddenly his horn changed to be an exact copy of Luna's horn. The princess' eyes went wide in shock and she quickly got out of bed and ready to fight.

"You're a changeling are you? For how long?" she snarled as her horn glowed brighter. 

"Three years." Gleaming smirked. "So long enough to know a lot about you."

"Any other changeling spies I should know about?" she asked.

"Nope, I'm the last of my kind." he explained. "Which means I have nothing to lose." he smirked.

"And what do you want from me?" she growled. 

"Tell the truth about what really happened to Celestia, tell your loyal subjects about how she went crazy and was murdered." he chuckled. "Tell them that their precious princess didn't die as a hero, but as a villain."

"And if I don't?" Gleaming used his new horn to teleport in the room the nuclear warhead. Luna was stunned by the sight, the bomb that Danni wanted to find, the bomb that Luna knew would completely wipe all of Canterlot off the map. "You don't know what power you're dealing with...." she warned.

"I don't give a damn about that, if I die, I would be glad to take all of Canterlot with me." he snarled angrily at Luna. "This whole thing could've been avoided if you had giving my queen the love she wanted, now it is time to pay for your kind's misdeeds, you have until the ball tonight to tell them the truth, or else this whole city will become a smoldering crater, and don't you dare tell anyone about this." he warned before he and the bomb disappeared. 

Luna just stood there as she tried to absorb what just happened. 





Starlight Glimmer lounged in the palace's new conservatory as she basked under the warm sun, the outside air of the garden was a bit too crisp for her especially with autumn having started. As she lounged, she had a large tome levitating before her, it was an old advanced spell she got from the archives than explained the radical magic that is 'time magic'. 

As she read, her mind readily absorbed everything written inside, although the fact that it was written in 'Middle Equestrian' made it slightly harder to comprehend.  

Travelling through time is like teleportation, but with an added fourth dimension the tome read. That was easier said than done for Starlight. "Come on Glim, you can do this, it'll be all worth it..." she mumbled to herself. 





Danni slowly woke up to find herself in what appeared to be a cellar with large metal pipes that ran along the walls, she assumed that she was in the utility corridor of the castle. She tried to get up, but soon found herself stuck, she looked over to see that she was shackled by the wrist to one of the nearby pipes. "Well, not the first time I woke up like this." she mumbled. 

"I see you are finally awake." said Gleaming as he worked on the large nuclear warhead.

"So, you're a shape-shifting bug, what else should I know about you?" asked Danni as she sat up into a more comfortable position. 

Gleaming turned to look at the human. "The name is Thorax, and yes I am a shape-shifting bug, and you should consider yourself lucky because we can't shift as bipedal creatures, only quadrupeds." he explained as he got back to arming the device. 

"So why keep me tied up?" Danni wondered. 

"Why?" he asked incredulously. "So I can feed on your love to sustain myself." he smirked as he then walked over to the human. "Don't worry, this won't hurt...much." he chuckled. Danni's surroundings suddenly went dark for her, as she felt herself gradually fade away into a black void. 





Music began to play as the Nightmare Night masquerade ball, all of the invited ponies wore masks that covered their eyes with the mares overtly elaborate ball gowns and stallions in flamboyant court dress. Luna was the only one unmasked as she stood by the ballroom entrance and greeted all of the invited guests. 

Outside in the ballroom patio, Starlight just looked out into the Canterlot skyline and the especially beautiful night sky that Luna made for the occasion. The mare just sighed out of boredom, she was not in the mood to socialize. 

"Starlight? Is that you?" asked a masked unicorn stallion. Starlight looked over with confusion. "It is you!" he said with surprise as he took off his mask with his magic. "It's me, Sunburst, my goodness, it has been so long." he smiled, glad to reunite with a foalhood friend. 

"Oh hey." was all the mare could say apprehensively, she was glad to see her old friend again, but felt like she did not deserve such a reunion, especially after all of the success he has achieved in relation to her. 

"Aren't you glad to see me again Star?" he asked a bit surprised by the reception. Starlight cringed slightly from her foalhood nickname being uttered. 

Starlight sighed. "I am, don't get me wrong Sun, it's just that...I think it's best that you have nothing to do with me." she explained as she looked away in shame. 

"Star, we all make mistakes, I understand-"

"I forced someone to snap their lover's neck!" the mare snapped. "I think that's more severe than just a 'mistake'." she refused to look at him. "Now just leave, you were right to abandon me when you earned your cutie mark."

Sunburst looked at his old foalhood friend with stunned silence. "When you are ready to move on and relive old times again, just let me know." was all he said before he sadly trotted away back inside. Starlight just shook her head and turned to look back out at the balcony, but something got caught in her periphery vision; a flash of light. She looked down to the ground far below to see something carry a torch inside one of the sewage pipes. This roused her curiosity.





Danni tried to free herself from the pipe, but she knew it was futile without a key or a pick. She sighed with defeat and looked over at the bomb, the thing she was sent to recover, teasingly near her yet so far away. "Oh well sir, you see, there was this shape-shifting bug who wanted to blow up the kingdom for revenge, it was no big deal." she played the scenario out to herself. 

She then saw the room start to brighten up as she saw someone that carried a torch walk up to her, and to her astonishment, it was another human, one that was not supposed to be here. He stood before her as he looked both at her and at the bomb. "So, I see the Americans have sent a woman to do a man's job?" he said dryly but with a slight hint of mockery in his tone. 

"If you want, I can go to the kitchen and make you a knuckle sandwich." she snarled back. "You must be the traitor?"

"Traitor?" he laughed off the accusation. "More like savior, all in the name in giving my people their homeland they were promised." he said as he went over to check out the bomb. 

Danni shook her head in disbelief. "Well of course you have to be a Zionist." she muttered.

He gave her a serious look and crouched down beside her. "You say that like it is a bad thing." he said in a low voice before he got up to look over at the bomb. "I see someone got this all nice and armed for me." he said, somewhat surprised at the positive turn of events for him. He then heard someone walk in and quickly hid away in a dark corner. He then quietly motioned Danni to remain silent. 

Danni was confused, but quickly acted as if nothing happened as Thorax trotted in. "Time to make my showstopping debut." he chuckled as he went over to the bomb and carefully and methodically removed the bomb's core. He was careful not to make any sudden movements least he destabilizes the entire thing. Once the entire core was removed, Thorax began to laugh maniacally. "Soon, I, Thorax, will finally avenge my hive's destruction and-" he was ruthlessly cut short from a bullet that caused his entire head to explode in an explosion of blue colored slime and mist. 

The man calmly walked out of the shadows completely unfazed, unlike Danni who was wide eyed in shock with some blue slime on her. He picked up the slime and exoskeleton covered core and gently placed it in his pack. Danni desperately tried to free herself from her bounds. The man saw that and suddenly shot the pipe open, causing Danni's bounds to slip off, freeing her. He then pointed his gun at her. "You're coming with me, now tell me where your time machine is." he demanded, he motioned to the sensitive core in his bag. 

Danni looked at the man with disgust, but she reluctantly went over to him, she felt that it was best to cooperate with him for now, least he blows up everything that she has become attached to during her stay in Equestria. "I'll lead you to it...just be careful with that thing..." she referred to the bag. 

The man forcibly grabbed her by the arm and practically dragged her out of the room, but his way was suddenly blocked by an unwanted sight; Starlight Glimmer. 

"Okay, what's going on here?" the unicorn demanded, her horn glowed, ready to attack. 

"Starlight, please no." Danni pleaded, she did not want her to get hurt, especially since Starlight did not seem to know what she was dealing with. 

"You let her go!" Starlight ignored the pleads as she growled at the mysterious curly haired man. 

"How about no!" he responded before he drew his weapon and shot Starlight square in the chest. The bullet flew by too fast for Starlight to react and generate a shielding spell. She fell to the floor with a face of shock permanently etched on her. 

Danni froze in pure horror as she was dragged away, too much in shock to put up a fight as she was a friend dead on the floor. 





At the party upstairs, everything went by smoothly as if nothing happened. That is until Luna used her magic to loudly tap on a nearby champagne class to grab all the guests' attention. The crowd and the band went silent to allow everyone to hear what their princess was about to say. "Thank you, thank you all for making this a successful masquerade ball." she began. The crowd murmured in agreement. "As you all know, this past year has been a great adjustment for not only myself, but for all of you, but I have been doing my best to be the best ruler I could be." she explained humbly. She sighed and looked down at the notes she hastily wrote down on her napkin, where she paid attention to one word in particular; 'abdicate'. 

She looked at the crowd who waited with baited breath as to what she would say next. Adam, and Twilight and her friends also looked at her. She took a deep breath and was about to say what she wanted to next, but the silence was suddenly broken when someone barged through the large banquet doors. 

Everyone looked to see Starlight Glimmer limp herself inside, a long trail of blood followed behind her. "We have...a problem..." she panted, exhausted and weak. Before she could say anything else, she collapsed on the floor. 

"Someone get a doctor!" yelled a pony in the crowd. One of the first ponies to come to her aide was Sunburst himself. 

"Help me get her to my chambers, quick! The longer we wait, the less effective my treatment would be!" he demanded as he wrapped an unconscious Starlight in his cape. "Now!"

Adam quickly run up to Sunburst and helped lift Starlight off the floor, and helped carry her up to Sunburst's room. 





Starlight felt herself float endlessly through a void. "Hello?" she said as her words echoed across the vast emptiness. 

"Hello Starlight Glimmer." said a new voice. 

Starlight turned around and was stunned at the sight before her. "Princess Celestia?" her jaw dropped in surprise as before her stood the former princess herself. 

"What's left of her." she explained ominously. 

"Am I..." she gulped, intimidated by the sight before her. "...dead?"

"Yes, but not too far gone." she stated. "You want to live?"

"Well, yeah I want to live." Starlight stated. "I can't just die without exacting my revenge." she continued. "Not when HE is alive." she mumbled.

"Adam?" Celestia asked for clarification.

"Who else?"

Celestia thought for a moment. "Then I will let you live, and I will give you whatever ability you want...for a price." she offered. 

Starlight smirked, the offer was much too good to pass up. "Any ability?" The alicorn silently nodded in response. "And what's the price?"

"For someone to die." Celestia responded. "And I think you and I both have someone in mind for that."

"Then I have one ability in mind." Starlight began.

Three days later...

Starlight slowly stirred awake, her head pounded, and her entire body felt sore and limp. "Ugh...I feel like I got run over by a train..." she mumbled to herself. She looked around at her surroundings only to find herself in a different room in the palace, and only to see her old foalhood friend on a chair next to the bed, asleep. The mare tried to get up, but found felt some pain shoot across her body and groaned in response. 

"Starlight?" Sunburst slowly stirred awake from the sounds of the groans. 

"Get Adam for me...now!" Starlight demanded weakly. 





Adam stood in thought after he took in everything Starlight told him about Danni and the other human who shot her. "He took Danni's time machine." Adam explained to the mare. "We don't know where his time machine is..."

"What if you don't need a time machine to get to them?" Starlight began. Adam looked at her with confusion. "What if time travel without the aid of a machine was possible?"

"You're talking about using magic to achieve this feat are you?" the human said as he looked at her.

"I know it's a long shot, but I've been studying the spells, reading everything I could, and I think I may know how to do it." Starlight explained.

"But Twilight said that's-"

"It's not impossible if you use it efficiently." Starlight interrupted. "Besides, finding his machine could take months, and the more that machine stays idle, the less reliable it becomes."

Adam thought about what Starlight said, his only hope so far lies with a mare he did not have a great past with. "How can I be sure I could trust you?" he asked her.

"Because I'm all you have." Starlight was quick to point out.

The human stared at her, but realized that there was no better option left, he needed to save Danni and stop the man as quickly as possible before that bomb gets used. 

"If only I had known about that bomb sooner, I could've destroyed it..." Luna said with slight shame as she barged into the room. Both Adam and Starlight looked at her.

"You couldn't have known..." Adam tried to assure her.

"Look, I have a feeling that a small talking unicorn would attract too much unwanted attention in the human era, so I want Starlight to drink this potion shortly before you two leave." she instructed as she then produced a vile filled with a peach colored liquid. Adam grabbed the vile and looked at it closely. "You have 48 hours before the potion wears off."

"Which means we have 48 hours to find the bomb before we get exposed as being strangers to the time period." Starlight added. 

Luna nodded before she turned to look out the window. "I wonder what other secrets my sister has kept from me." she asked herself as she looked at Celestia's former sun.

"Don't worry your highness, we'll fix this, and we'll stop him and save Danni." Adam assured. "Now the question we should be asking ourselves is this; WHEN did they go?" he asked. 






June 11, 1999
Allentown, Pennsylvania


A young man with spiky hair drove his van down the Pennsylvania countryside as he banged his head to the beat of the latest alternative hit that blared from his stereo. He enjoyed the song so much that he briefly forgot to pay attention to the road, and looked up to see two figures that stood in the middle of the road. "Oh shit!" he yelled as he successfully swerved around the pair and stopped the van. He quickly got of the van to confront the pair. "Hey, what the fuck is your problem? You're standing in the middle of the street!" he complained to them.

The man with curly hair quickly pulled out a gun and pointed it at the young man. "Woah there, what's your deal?" the young man reflexively put his hands up in fear. 

"I need your van." he demanded in a dry yet menacing tone. 

"Okay, okay, fine, you can have it, keys are in the ignition!" he pleaded as he watched the man with the gun drag his female companion over to his van. 

"Please doing business." the man said before he pointed his weapon down and shot the young man in the foot. 

"Fuck!" he yelled out in pain as he collapsed on the pavement. "These were new Converses you asshole!" he cradled his bloody foot in pain as the man and his hostage got in the van and drove off.

The van sped down the road, as Danni looked at the man and then to the bomb laid on the backseats. "My name is Zechariah, what's yours?" he asked, his eyes glued to the road.

"Danni..." she answered as she still tried to take in her current situation, and the fact that she was back in her home time period, although off by three months. 

"Well, Danni, just be a cooperative hostage, and nothing bad will happen okay?" he instructed in a threatening manner. "Right now, you're just a shield, this has nothing to do with you."

"Bullshit." she exclaimed. "This had everything to do with me the moment I was sent on this mission!" she snarled at the man. 

"And here I thought that you Americans were supposed to be our allies." Zechariah began. "You were the ones who shared with us the time travelling technology, you were the ones who let us borrow some of your weapons, you were the ones who protected us, but I guess I was wrong, you Americans are more concerned about covering your asses than protecting our homeland." he growled in a low voice. "Anything else you want to say to me?"

Danni just looked at the man in stunned silence, he was determined to get what he wanted. "Mind if we listen to some sports talk radio?" she nervously asked. For now, it was best for her to just be quiet and go along with whatever he demanded, least she'd risk angering him further. It was good to be back home.

To be continued...
> Chapter LII~The War Game~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

June 11, 1999
Allentown, Pennsylvania

In a bright flash of light in a city alleyway, Adam stumbled out of the light and landed on a pile of garbage cans, covered in frost with steam that emanated from him. This felt much worse than the regular teleportation he was barely used to. He suddenly keeled over and vomited all over the pavement floor. "That was horrible..." he coughed as he tried to regain his balance. He slowly got up on his two feet and looked around. "Starlight? You alive?" he asked as he scanned the alleyway. 

"Barely..." groaned Starlight as she crawled out of the darkness on her hands and knees, to Adam's surprise, Luna's potion worked, she was now a human. Adam ran up to her and helped her up so she can be on two feet. "...how do you humans do it? Stand on two feet?" she asked as she leaned up against him. 

Adam blushed once he realized that Starlight was naked, of course ponies don't usually wear clothes, but now that she was human, her nudity was even more noticeable. "Come on, let's find you some clothes before someone sees you." he looked around the alleyway to see a back entrance with the words 'thrift store' written on the window. 





After a successful break-in, both Adam and Starlight raided the store to look for clothes that they thought would be considered conspicuous for the era they are in. Starlight, being mostly clueless on human fashions just picked whatever caught her eye, a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert shirt and a pair of ripped denim jeans, and no underwear. 

Once done, both Adam and Starlight sneaked out of the store and out into the streets of downtown. "By the way, what's with these things on my chest?" asked Starlight as she looked down at her bust. "Are these my teats?"





Pottstown, Pennsylvania

Outside of a motel, just outside the town, Zechariah went in to a phone booth and dialed in the number while he kept an eye on his hostage Danni, who sat inside the van bored. He waited patiently for someone to pick up the phone on the other end. 

"Hello? This is Yavin Altmann speaking." said the person on the other end, unsure in who is calling. 

"Brother, it's me, Zechariah." he began in Hebrew.

"Brother?!" Yavin was stunned. "What are you doing calling me? The CIA is already watching me because of what you did and-"

"Don't worry Yav, I won't be long, I just want you to get the machine ready." he instructed his brother. "And I know you have access, being diplomatic staff and all." he pointed out. "Now get it done, goodbye brother." he said before he swiftly hung up the phone before his brother could protest.

He left the phone booth and walked over to the van and Danni. "Now, come along and don't do anything stupid." he threatened her as he dragged her out of the van by the arm. 

"Is this how you treat your dates?" Danni snarled.

"Just be quiet and act normal." he growled as he took her into the reception desk of the motel. 

The receptionist sat back as he read the latest issue of Time Magazine. Zechariah tapped the bell to get his attention. The receptionist looked up at both him and Danni. "A room for the two of us for tonight." he requested in a low voice. 





At a local diner, Adam and Starlight sat at a booth as Starlight gorged on some food, the time travelling has apparently made the mare turned human hungry from the amount of energy expended, she went through several meatless dishes, including several stacks of pancakes.  

"You know, once you get used to walking on two feet, being a human isn't so bad." she said as she tried her best to use her new hands to eat. "So what now?" she asked Adam.

"Try to figure out where Danni and the bomb are being taken." Adam explained. "Now, if I were a wanted man with a nuclear weapon, where would I go?" he thought to himself. 

"Well, I'd assume the embassy of his home country to claim asylum." Starlight suggest with her mouth full. "That's what I would do." she shrugged. 

Adam looked at her before the thought crossed his mind. "Starlight, if that's the case, then they're on their way to Washington, the capital." he explained, he then waved over at one of the waitresses. "Excuse me ma'am, how far is it to Washington?" he asked her.

"About a three hour drive." she answered. "So, you two ready for the bill?" she asked the pair. Both Adam and Starlight suddenly looked at each other when they realized that they do not have any money on them.





Adam and Starlight quietly walked down the road outside of town as they waited for some kind of ride to pick them up, although since it was the middle of the night, it was increasingly unlikely. 

"First time I dined and dashed in years." smiled Starlight. 

"I just hope you are full and charged." Adam said bemused, he felt guilty for leaving that diner without paying.

"I bet you still don't like me." Starlight assumed. 

"Well of course I still don't like you, after everything you've done to me and my wife?" he said annoyed. "I'm only putting up with you because you're our only method of getting back home."

She sighed in response. "I understand." she agreed. "But we sure had a good time together...at least at first..." she thought back. 

"What we had at first was a loveless carnal relationship, if only I had known that you were just using me for your own gain." he said with shame. 

"And if I didn't manipulate you?" she asked. "Would that carnal relationship evolve into something more?"

Adam looked away with even more shame before a large semi-truck suddenly stopped by the road next to them. A large rotund man with a thick white beard and Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap popped his head out of the drivers side window. "Looking for a ride?" he asked the pair with a gruff voice. 

"We're heading to Washington D.C. good sir." Adam answered. 

"Well, I am heading to Baltimore which is on the way, so hop on if you don't mind spending the night at the nearby truck stop first." he explained to the couple. 

Adam and Starlight decided to take their best hope for a ride and they both climbed into the cab. Adam sat on the passenger's seat while Starlight made herself comfortable in the truck's sleeper compartment. Once everyone was settled in, the driver began to resume its drive down the Pennsylvania countryside with country music the blared from the radio. 





At a motel room, Danni was on one of the beds as she watched the small television that played the latest Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She then looked over to see Zechariah still by the window as he kept watch. "Do you sleep?" she asked him. 

"Only when off-duty." he answered without his eyes breaking contact with the outside.





Starlight was soundly asleep in the sleeper compartment of the truck as it sped down the highway. "You got yourself a pretty nice catch." chuckled the truck driver, as he tried to make small talk with his mostly quiet passenger. 

"Come again?" Adam asked confused by what he meant. 

"Her, your girlfriend." he clarified, referring to Starlight. "You got lucky." he smirked. 

"Oh no, she's not my girlfriend, she's just a travelling companion is all." Adam insisted. 

"Right." the driver chuckled in disbelief, but decided to play along. "In my experience, a girl as beautiful as her doesn't stay as a travelling companion for long." 

"And you say that because...?"

"Twenty-five years ago I married my travelling companion, she was a hitchhiker just like you two, and oh boy, did we hit it off instantly. Of course, that was back before I got this keg and before I nearly lost my foot due to diabetes." he joked as he pointed to his round belly. "Believe me, I was quite the lady killer back then."

"Well, I am already married, and me and her are only together because we happen to be going to the safe place, coincidentally." Adam said as made up a more believable story. 

"Oh? Does your wife know you're travelling with a pretty little number?" he teased. 

"She does." Adam answered.

The driver chuckled at that. "Sounds like a pretty understanding wife." he said as he drove down the highway.





June 12, 1999
Washington D.C.

Both Adam and Starlight got out of a station wagon and found themselves in front of Lafayette Square with the White House in the distance. "Thanks for the ride." Adam said to the driver before the driver sped away down the busy street. Starlight looked around, impressed by the city layout and architecture. Adam was more concerned with the mission at hand. "I've only been to the nation's capital once, about 110 years before now, back when Israel as a country didn't yet exist,  much less have an American embassy." he looked around in confusion. "Do you know where we can find directions to the embassy?" asked Adam to Starlight.

"Well, I see a building over there with a sign that reads 'human knowledge in your finger tips, with two dollar coffee'." she pointed to a sign that had directions to a nearby internet cafe.





In another part of the city, Danni sat in the van as Zechariah waited for a black car to drive up to him. Once the car was parked, another man got out. "Brother!" he exclaimed before he wrapped Zechariah in a tight hug. 

"Yavin." he responded back as he then broke the hug as he wanted to get straight to business. "Is the time machine ready?"

"I just want to know what you're up to brother, I'm concerned." he explained with worry. "Like what purpose do you have for our time machine?"

"I'll show you." he told his brother ominously as he lead him over to the van. "By the way, don't mind the girl, she's just a shield in case I need it." he said, much to Danni's annoyance.

Zechariah took out his bag and unzipped it to reveal the nuclear bomb's core. Yavin nearly passed out from the shock, his brother smuggled in a dangerous weapon into the American capital. "You brought a nuclear weapon into DC?!" he exclaimed in disbelief. "What for?!"

"Go back to 1993 and bomb the accord signing." he explained without remorse. "Then use the bombing as pretext to finally fulfill our prophecy of a truly Jewish homeland."

Yavin shook his head in disbelief. "That's...madness..."

"That's destiny!" he snarled at his brother. "We've been promised a homeland brother! Our parents sacrificed their lives to make it come true, only to have their legacy spat upon by those accords!" 

Yavin sighed. "Look brother, I am not doing this for you, I'm doing this for our martyred parents. Just please, do NOT get me any more involved in this!" he then reluctantly handed his brother the access card to the facility. "I'll give you the card, but you deal with security yourself." he warned. He then turned and went back into his car without a goodbye. 

"So...you're willing to kill your own former prime minister?" Danni looked on at the man, who showed no remorse for what he was about to do.

"He was a traitor to his country." was all Zechariah said as he zipped up the bag and then grabbed Danni by the arm. "Come on, we have no time to waste, let's go." he said as he practically dragged along towards the Israeli embassy.





At a local internet cafe, Adam, after a ten minute crash course on how to use the internet from the barista, was on Google as he looked up the address to the embassy. "Typewriters have change a lot since my time." he mumbled as Starlight looked on.

"Didn't you once say that one cannot change the past?" asked Starlight as she lounged back on her chair.

"Only if it affects your means of getting to the past in the first place." he explained. "If you do something in the past that ends up culminating in you not having the tool needed to get there, then it risks causing a massive paradox, one that the universe will naturally protect itself from." he lectured. "Now changing the future on the other hand..." he was quickly interrupted once the computer displayed the embassy address. "Found it, let's go." he quickly wrote the address down on a scrap piece of paper along with the directions, and quickly got up. Starlight followed.

"By the way, you never answered my question from last night." Starlight reminded him. 

"Why must you know?" he stopped in his track and turned towards her. She just looked back at him without saying a word. "If you must know, if you hadn't manipulated me and used me, then yes." was all he said before he walked away.





Outside the embassy, both Danni and Zechariah looked at the building. "Remember, we're an Israeli couple living abroad who have come here to register, understood?" he instructed his hostage. 

"Like I would ever be in a relationship with you." Danni snarled, slightly disgusted. 

"The feeling is mutual." he said annoyed as he dragged her towards the building. 

Little did they knew, but both Adam and Starlight were already there going through security. After a brief security screening, they were now both in the lobby of the embassy and a bit surprised by the amount of people that were there.

About a minute later, Danni and Zechariah were in security. "What's inside the bag?" asked one of the guards as he pointed to the duffel bag. Before the man could respond, he looked into the lobby and saw to his surprise Adam. He assumed Adam was there to stop him and that assumption caused him to snap. 

The guard opened the bag to see the nuclear bomb and a stash of weapons. "What the...?" was all the guard could utter before he was swiftly shot in the head by the bag's owner. 

Once the shot rang out, panic erupted in the lobby among the crowd. Zechariah used the panic to use his military training to swiftly subdue all of the guards and then jump through security. "Mr. Gray!" he yelled at Adam. 

Just as Adam turned to face him, the man quickly shot at Adam, but missed once Danni pounced on her captor. 

"Adam! Get to the time machine! I'll try to keep him busy!" yelled Danni as she tried to put her captor in a choke hold. 

Both Adam and Starlight ran down a random hallway.

Zechariah just flipped Danni off of his back and slammed her down on the floor. He then swiftly knocked her out with the butt of his gun. "You've served your purpose." he growled as he ran off to try to find his true target; Adam.

As Adam and Starlight ran down random corridors, they were soon blocked by Yavin and three guards who pointed their weapons at the pair. Both stopped in their tracks with their hands up. "Son of a bitch, you're THE Adam Gray are you?" asked Yavin. 

"You have a time machine in this building?" Adam responded, slightly intimidated.

After a minute of silence, Yavin put down his handgun. "Stand down everyone, believe it or not, this man wants to see what we've done to his invention." he explained. "Escort him there, I'll go keep my brother busy." he ordered. 

The guards looked at each other with confusion, but did as told as they took Adam and Starlight deeper into the building. 

Yavin walked down the other direction until he suddenly found himself face-to-face with his own brother. He pointed his handgun at him. "Zech, stop." Yavin warned.

"And here I was hoping you'd be supportive of me." he shook his head, disappointed. 

"I know what happened to our parents was horrible, but using their deaths as an excuse to fulfill an ancient prophecy is just wrong!" Yavin pleaded. "So please brother, stop this, don't make it any worse!"

The pleas seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. "You know what's the difference between you and me brother?" he asked rhetorically. Before Yavin could answer, Zechariah drew his handgun and shot his brother in the chest, he watched without remorse as his brother fell to the floor. "I don't hesitate, even for family." he said coldly as he continued on his way. 





In a sub-basement, the guards lead Adam and Starlight to the embassy's most well kept secret; their time machine. Adam was stunned that it practically looked like his own former time machine, but with a more contemporary design with enough passenger seats to fit up to five, and computer system. "Who else has one?" he asked one of the guards. 

"United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China and India." one guard answered. 

"This is not what I had in mind when I invented this." Adam explained with disgust. "Does anyone have any idea of the consequences, or was everyone too busy focusing on trying to one-up each other?" he continued, angry that his invention was being used for purposes that sounded far from peaceful. 

Suddenly, the door to the room burst open Zechariah walked in and showed off his marksmanship as he quickly dispatched all three guards in quick succession, leaving himself, Adam and Starlight still standing. "Good, you're here to see your greatest work be used to do something great." he smirked at the pair as he pointed his weapon at them. "In the machine, now." he ordered. 

Both Adam and Starlight did as told as they got on the machine and sat down. The man was about to sit down with them, but stopped when he heard a gun get cocked. He smirked as he turned around. "Stop right there you son of a bitch." warned Danni who stood ready to fire, with a bloody wound on her forehead. "Adam, please explain to this bastard why his plan to blow up the 1993 accord signing that takes place right here in this city is a bad idea, explain to him why no matter how much he tries, the past will not change!" she demanded.

"Because it would destroy the thing that got him to 1993 in the first place." Adam answered as he broke the news to the man. But little did everyone knew, but Starlight slowly and quietly dragged the duffel bag with the bomb and all the weapons over to her with her foot. 

"Now please stand down and surrender now." she ordered. Zechariah thought about it before he shrugged and get on the machine anyways. Danni, stunned began to fire her gun, but found that it kept misfiring. "What the?!"

He then swiped the gun off of Danni. "It won't fire with the safety on, I guess you were too caught up in the moment to notice?" he chuckled before he turned off the safety and pointed the gun at her. "Now get on as well, join your friends for a front row seat of history in the making." he smirked at the group.

Danni reluctantly sat down as the man turned on the machine. He pulled the lever and the machine was suddenly enveloped by a bubble before the computer read began to countdown away from the present date. Starlight, who happened to be sat behind the man quietly took out an army knife from the bag. 

"We should be there in less than two minutes." Zechariah explained to his unwilling passengers with a smirk. But his personal celebration was short lived when he suddenly felt a knife plunge straight into his right forearm. "AHHH!" he looked to see that it was Starlight that did it. "You bitch!" he growled angrily as he tried to grab at her, only to find that the knife went through his arm and is embedded in the arm rest beneath it. 

Adam and Danni took the opportunity to grab the bag and remove the bomb from it. Zechariah quickly removed the knife from his arm and suddenly placed Starlight in a choke-hold with his only good arm, he did not care that a lot of blood seeped from his wound. Adam held the bomb. "All of this trouble for what? Religious destiny?" Adam said to him, as the computer display passed 1993. 

"My people were chosen by God, you gentiles would never understand that!" he snarled at the two. 

"Maybe you should understand something about me first..." Starlight growled before she bit down on one of her captor's fingers hard, which caused him to reflexively let her go in pain. "...I bite!" she said as she got away from him. 

The man quickly grabbed his handgun from the dashboard and aimed it at Starlight. "Glimmer, watch out!" yelled Danni as she suddenly got in the way. A shot rang out and then everything went quiet. 

Danni looked down to see that she was shot in the chest. She suddenly collapsed to the floor. Zechariah began to stumble around clumsily as the blood loss began to take a toll on him, he tried to aim again, but soon he too fell to the floor, unable to get up. Adam quickly gave Starlight the bomb so he could go over to the controls to get the machine to stop, which was easier said than done since the controls were in Hebrew, and the calendar used was Hebrew.

Starlight looked over to Zechariah who looked longingly at the bomb she held as he grew increasingly weaker. "You want this?" she smirked as she taunted him. "Well, you can't have it." she chuckled as she then tossed the bomb out into the time stream. 

"Starlight no-" Adam yelled in shock before a massive explosion rocked the machine, and shut down its electronics. The machine began to slow down to a stop. As soon as the machine stopped, the controls suddenly caught fire. "Oh crap." he muttered as he stood back away and then used his jacket to smoother and extinguish the flames. 

Starlight got up from the floor, a bit bruised from the hard landing, but fine. "When are we?" she asked as she looked at the surroundings outside of the machine to see that it was now empty woodland. 

"I don't know, the machine used a different calendar system than I am used to." he said as he went to Danni to check on her. He felt for a pulse only to find that she was still alive. "Danni? Can you hear me?"

Danni stared blankly at the clear blue sky above her. "I've never seen a sky so blue and clear before..." she said weakly. 

"Danni, just hold on okay?" Adam held her hand. 

"Adam it's okay, I think I was always destined to die..." she said as she thought back to what that voodoo priestess told her back in the bayou. "Besides..." she smiled at her fellow human companion. "...I've actually never felt better..." she assured before her smile suddenly disappeared and her body went limp and motionless. 

"Danni? DANNI?!" Adam yelled out in desperation. 

"Is...is she dead?" Starlight asked before a shot rang out and she fell back. Adam quickly turned around to see Zechariah was back on his two feet. He then shot at Adam several times, only to suddenly realize that he was out of bullets. 

Silence fell between the two men, before Adam suddenly got up and ran off into the woods. Zechariah quickly grabbed his bloody knife and ran after him. 

Adam quickly ran through the woods but suddenly stopped in his tracks once he found himself on top of a cliff with raging rapids down below. He was about to turn towards another direction but was suddenly caught off guard by a rough tackle from Zechariah that caused both men to fall off the cliff and into the rapids below. 

Both men landed in the water and started to be swept by the fast moving currents of the river as they both wrestled with each other. Both did not see that a waterfall approached, and soon both went down the falls.





Next thing Adam knew, he found himself on the river bank, just downstream from the falls. He coughed up some water, and got up. Everything was quiet, aside from the sounds of birds and the rapids. He sat down on the grass as he took a minute to catch his breath, but quickly noticed that every time he took a breath, pain surged throughout his body. He lifted up his shirt to see a massive bruise on his side. He gave an annoyed grunt, but was at least relieved that his injuries were not any worse. 

Suddenly, the silence was broken when Zechariah popped out of the river with a loud primal scream, only to be swiftly shot several times in the chest and once in the head, where he then promptly fell back into the water, and silence once again took root. 

A stunned Adam turned around to see Starlight, with a flesh wound on her arm, who held the gun. "That was for shooting me...twice..." she breathed heavily. She then threw the gun away and walked over to Adam, to help him up. "You're lucky I managed to find you in just the nick of time." she smirked as he helped Adam up. 

"Thanks Glim." said a grateful Adam. "So I guess, seeing as the machine is dead...we wait until you're a pony again and we go back to Equestria." he said. 

"I guess so...although it's going to be a while since I have at least a day in this form to go." she explained. 

"But I would love to go back to 1999 to give Danni the proper funeral she deserves." he sighed. He did not feel like it was proper to just abandon her body like that. 

"Right now, we rest and find shelter." Starlight stated as she looked at the river and the large rocks in the river. 

"Yeah, I could use a rest." he agreed as he clutched his sore side. He then began the long walk back to the machine, only to be swiftly knocked out by a large rock by Starlight. She stood over his unconscious body with a smirk, she showed no remorse at what she did.

"If you weren't such a moral person, you and me could've been amazing lovers, ruling Equestria together, spreading the message of equality to all ponies across the kingdom." she shook her head. "Such a shame." she then began the long walk to the machine by herself, leaving behind the unconscious human. 





As the sun began to set, a nude Starlight stood before a massive bonfire, she quietly watched the machine turn into a burnt husk of metal, while the body of Danni that was inside also burned away. All of this time, Starlight thought about nothing but her deal she made with Celestia and what she planned to do once she was back in Equestria. But at least with Adam out of the way, she could finally focus on exacting her revenge and to finally bring equality to the kingdom. Once the fire began to die down, Starlight just quietly walked towards a random direction to look for a temporary place to shelter in until the potion wore off and she was a pony again. 





Danni stood before her childhood home with a look of content on her face. She calmly walked over to a nearby log to appreciate the landscape before her, drenched in the light of the setting sun. 

"Hey Dee Dee!" yelled a warm familiar voice. She turned around to see her father as he got out of his patrol car. 

Danni with a smile ran up to him and gave her a massive hug. "I did it dad, I helped make my country proud, just as you wanted." she nuzzled him as tears of joy filled her eyes. "Now we can be family again."

He brushed his daughter's hair and then lead her inside the house to catch up on everything he missed since he passed away. 





July 16, 1999
Undisclosed Location

Danni's superior officer looked on as one-by-one, each time machine the American military had was methodically destroyed, he watched the machines get disassembled with the Secretary of Defense and some of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in attendance to make sure the job was done. Also, copies of Adam Gray's notes on time travel were burned, along with all relevant records of Project Chronos. 

The same thing was done in the other countries with a time machine, all of them, but one, agreed that such a power was too dangerous a liable for abuse. Israel's only time machine was gone, but they kept the documents in case the need ever arose to build another one. The only nation among them to not destroy their time machine was Russia, but none of the other nations knew about that.

"Congrats on your promotion to Major general Dean" said the Secretary of Defense to Danni's superior. He then walked along with the joint chiefs. 

"To bad no one will ever remember you or your sacrifice Matthews." he sighed at the fact that all of Danni's hard work and sacrifice would never be known. He looked on as the final machine began to get disassembled before he put on his hat, gave one final salute in memory of Danni, and walked out of the hanger, ready to serve his country in his new role.





"I thought I heard some loud noises around here." said one male voice in a strange language that Adam never heard before. 

"Who is that?" asked another as Adam made out three figures through his blurred vision, but he can not make out who or what they are.

"Never seen such a pale person before, or these clothes." said the third one as they checked his body out for signs of life, everything went black again for Adam.





Adam's eyes suddenly shot open and found himself in strange surroundings, inside a wooden domed structure, on an elevated wooden platform and covered in blankets that looked more like animal skin. He also noticed that he was naked. Confused, he tried to get up but suddenly felt his head throb with what felt like a splitting headache and collapsed down on the dirt floor. He tried to get himself back up, but then looked out at the opening to see a teenage girl in native clothes. "Help me..." Adam gasped out. The girl just ran away as she screamed something in a strange language. 

Adam's head was spinning as he got up and sat down on the wooden platform, cradling his head. Suddenly, he found himself surrounded by several native men, who looked at him suspiciously. Adam tried to think about how he got here, but then suddenly realized that he could not. "Who...am...I?" he asked himself in shock. 

The men looked at him with confusion. "Who am I?" Adam said again, much more loudly, as he hoped someone could understand his predicament. 

"WHO AM I?!" he yelled at the ceiling in desperation. 

June 13, 1499
Shawnee village

To be continued...
> Chapter LIII~The Nine Months~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Do you think Shy will be okay Princess?" asked Twilight with concern to Princess Luna. 

"Give her time, that's all we can do right now." Luna explained as she looked over at a catatonic yellow pegasus mare who just stared blankly at the horizon from the balcony. 

Twilight felt bad for her friend, Adam was gone, sacrificed his life to save his fellow humans, or at least that is what Starlight told everyone when she came back from the past. Something about the story made Twilight suspicious, but she had no other choice but to take her word for it. 

Starlight listened in as she pretended to sleep, she for one was glad that Adam was stranded back in whatever distant year she left behind, that meant one less thing to worry about as she slowly began to plan out her vengeance, but before she could begin, she needed to regain everyone's trust, especially Twilight's, but she was a patient mare and she would wait for however long it took. 





Month one...

In a desolate mountainous and snowy wasteland, in a castle on top of a mountain, the Storm King stood in his balcony as he surveyed the landscape before him. He smirked as everything he could see for miles around was his, all of the lands, all of the riches, all of the power, his. But there was one crown jewel that alluded him, one prized land that waited to be claimed.

His peaceful observation and thoughts were interrupted when someone joined him on the balcony. "We found something..." said a red unicorn mare with a broken off horn. 

The Storm King turned to his second-in-command. "It better be good." he said with some annoyance, still upset that his plan to invade the land of Equestria has been postponed indefinitely every since the human he wanted was no longer around. 

"What if I told you that there's a way we can get what we wanted without that human?" she began cryptically. The satyr looked at her with suspicion. "Another human has left us a gift." she clarified.





In the Storm King's throne room, a time machine stood proudly in the center, surrounded by his guards as everyone marveled at it. The satyr walked in and laid his eyes on it. "So, this is how the human got here in the first place, time travel, where did you find it?" he asked his second-in-command Tempest.

"Several lengths outside of Klugetown, abandoned, and unfortunately, the human that rode it here had the foresight to disable it to prevent others from taking it." she explained. "But it is salvageable, don't worry." she assured her boss.

The Storm King paced around the machine. "Why have one human, when we can use it to get many of them, and extract as much of their adrenaline as we want?" he asked his group rhetorically. "I want the best scientists my kingdom has to offer summoned here to try to work this out, understood?" he ordered everyone. All of the guards nodded and marched off to do as told, the king then turned to Tempest. "And I want you to find me a unicorn who can time travel, just in case." he smirked. 

Tempest nodded. "It'll be difficult to find, but I will do my best sir." she bowed before she trotted out of the room to fulfill her king's orders. 





Autumn leaves fell across Equestria, Twilight walked into Zuberi's apothecary shop for her weekly supplies only to see the zebra stallion himself pack everything up. "Beri...?" the mare began as she looked around the room filled with boxes. 

"Your order is all wrapped up on the counter." Zuberi said as he packed up a box. 

"You're leaving?" Twilight began, stunned. 

The zebra sighed. "The human is gone, so there is no point in staying here, I no longer have purpose." he explained. 

"So what? You're just going to pack up and go back to Zebrafrica?" she said with concern. "What about our friendship?"

The stallion walked up to the mare as he glared at her with annoyance. "This isn't about you Twilight, and I am sorry we couldn't be more than friends like you wanted." he said coldly before he turned around to resume the packing.

"Trying to kiss you was the stupidest thing I could've ever done to be honest." she mumbled with embarrassment. 

"And why is that?" he asked as he packed, he did not bother to look at the mare.

"I don't know, I guess because of how awkward it was and because it was just too, well, impulsive of me, I just wished I had confessed my growing feelings for you before blindly doing that." she explained, unsure of herself. 

Zuberi turned around and walked over to the mare. "You are a wonderful mare Twilight, and it would've been an honor to be with you, but it can never work out between us."

"You don't know that..." Twilight mumbled as she tried to look away in shame.

"You're right, I don't." he said before he placed a hoof underneath Twilight's chin and then suddenly kissed her passionately on the lips. Twilight was stunned at first but soon responded back with a kiss of equal passion. The mare felt herself slowly melt away as the world around them dissolved, but that was soon swiftly shattered as the stallion broke the kiss with a pained look of remorse. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that..." he mumbled as he stepped away from the mare. 

Twilight looked at him with a look of hurt in her eyes. "But I love you..." she confessed with pain in her voice. 

"Take your order and leave." he stated flatly as he turned to resume his packing. 

"But-"

"JUST GO!" Zuberi suddenly snorted threateningly. 

A stunned Twilight took the hint that she has overstayed his welcome, and quickly took her order and left. Zuberi watched her with annoyance every step of the way. 





Later that evening, Twilight walked into the local bar and sat down at the counter. She ordered her drink and just quietly drank to herself as she thought back to her recent string of bad luck when it came to love. "What's the point of putting up the effort when it'll just end badly...?" she sighed. Her ears perked up when she heard a loud slap, she looked over to see a mare angrily walked away while a unicorn stallion rubbed his bruise cheek. 

Twilight knew who that stallion was, months earlier she used her magic to painfully squeeze his orbs for sexually harassing her, but tonight she did not seem to care. She walked over to the stallion and sat down on the stool next to him. "What did you do this time?" Twilight began incredulously. 

"Well, if it isn't the librarian who couldn't take a compliment." snarled the stallion. "Came here to needlessly torture me because I had the GAUL to compliment you?"

Twilight was stunned at how the stallion failed to see the severity of what he did to her, but she decided not to bring that up since she knew it would be pointless. Normally she would scold and remind the stallion of how he harassed her but after everything that went on around her, she could care less, maybe she did deserve to be harassed she thought. Maybe she was never suited for lasting love in the first place. "Look, I have been going through a tough time lately, and I apologize for lashing out at you." she then took a deep breath to mentally prepare herself for what she would say next. "But I want to take you up on that offer."

The stallion perked up when he heard the sexy librarian say that. "Oh, really?" he smirked as he could not believe the sudden change of luck. 

"Let's just get this night over with please." Twilight rolled her eyes. She did not wanted do this because she genuinely wanted to, she wanted to do this because it felt like an appropriate punishment for her. Maybe her string of bad luck with relationships was her fault?

"Then lead the way sexy." he grinned as he used his magic to spank the mare's rump. Twilight just reluctantly accepted the unwanted contact and lead the stallion back to her home. 





Month two...

It was the week before Hearths Warming, and Starlight and Spike cooked breakfast in the kitchen. They both heard hoofsteps walk down the wooden stairs and both turned to see a strange random stallion strut by with a grin, that was the fifth one this month. Once he left out of the front door, Twilight appeared and walked into the kitchen and sat down at the breakfast table without uttering a single word. 

"So...who was that?" asked Spike with concern as he went over and served the mare some orange juice. 

Twilight pushed the juice away. "Peanut butter and banana smoothies please." was all she said, her face distant. Spike noticed that her eyes were bloodshot, her mane and tail a frazzled mess, she even smelled like sweat and musk. 

"Hey Spike, how about you go for a bit, me and Twilight are going to have some mare-talk." Starlight said as she walked up to Twilight with her requested smoothie. 

Spike rolled his eyes and walked away, but he was still deeply concerned for the well-being of his surrogate sister. 

Starlight sat down next to Twilight at the table. "So, how was last night?" she began. 

Twilight leered at her as she chugged down her smoothie. "If you came here to slut shame me, go ahead, if not, then please be quiet and get your snout out of my business, I'm a grown mare and it's my body, I can do whatever I want to it." she snapped. 

"Oh no, I'm not here to shame you, in fact, I'm glad for you, you're putting my lessons into practice." Starlight assured, although it was obvious that this is what Starlight wanted all long, Starlight knew she did not do it because she liked it, she did it as a form of punishment. 

"It's all I'm good for right? If I can't have love, then I guess this is the next best thing." Twilight shrugged without care. 

Starlight placed her hoof on Twilight's hoof. "Whatever makes you satisfied Twi, I won't stop you." she smirked. 

Twilight pulled away from her roommate and walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of alcohol and chugged it down, as she did that, Starlight noticed how red and bruised her rump was, but said nothing. 





Month three...

It was the new year, and Starlight along with a random stallion blindly stumbled into a darkened library as they tipsily made-out with each other. "Mmm, let's take this upstairs..." Starlight said between lustful kisses. The stallion happily agreed, but then the lights were suddenly turned on and the couple found themselves with an audience that consisted of two armored yeti-like creatures, plus a red unicorn, also in armor, but with a broken off horn. 

"If you wanted a gang-bang you could've told me earlier..." said a confused stallion. The two guards suddenly grabbed the stallion and shoved him out the front door before they locked it shut, they then grabbed a nearby chair. 

"Sit down Miss Glimmer." began the red unicorn mare without care. 

Starlight, still slightly tipsy, decided to see where this was headed towards, so cooperated and sat down on the chair provided by her. The mare looked at the armor that the yeti creatures wore and instantly recognized them. "You work for the Storm King don't you?"

"We've come here to tie up some loose ends." the unwanted visitor began. "Where's Miss Sparkle?".

"Celebrating the new year in Canterlot, why do you ask?"

"Where's the human?" she said as she did not waste any more time.

"He's dead, now please tell me what's the point behind these questions?" Starlight said annoyed.

"Are you sure he's dead?" she asked bluntly. "Because I don't take too kindly to liars."

"Just tell me what this is all about." Starlight snarled as her patience wore thin.

"Have you ever wondered how the human was able to break free from your magical control?" the guest began. "Why he became immune to your magic all of the sudden?" Starlight was stunned to silence, that was indeed something she would occasionally wonder about. "Glad to know that got your attention."

"I just thought that it was because of me, because my magic wasn't as powerful as I thought." Starlight explained.

"No, it wasn't your magic, we believe it's because humans, specifically their adrenaline, may have anti-magic properties, and we really wanted to test that out for ourselves." she told. "So where's the human?"

Starlight looked at the mysterious hornless unicorn. "Haven't you heard? He died, I was there, he died while being the big damn hero that he usually is." she said incredulously. "Sorry." The mysterious unicorn looked at her guards and then back at Starlight. The red unicorn raised her eyebrow before she nodded to her guards. The guards suddenly rushed over to Starlight and grabbed her. "Hey! What gives?! Let me go!" she snarled. 

"You think lying is going to get you far Miss Glimmer?" she began. "You think that lying is going to protect your precious human forever?" she continued. "When and where is that human Miss Glimmer?" she snarled.

"All that human will bring you is trouble!" Starlight spat defiantly. "Trust me, it's better for both of us if he's gone and out of the way!"

"You and I share a lot in common you know?" began the intruder. "We had difficult foalhoods, we both lost loved ones, we both dislike friendship, and we both are willing to do whatever it takes to get what we want, so why fight again me when you can work with me?" she offered. 

"Like I would ever work with a hornless FREAK!" Starlight spat. 

The unicorn's eyes turned red with anger, clearly enraged. "Throw her down the stairs." Starlight's eyes went wide at the order as the guards dragged her over to the basement door. Starlight tried to struggle free as she was forced to the top of the long stairwell to the basement. 

"Okay, okay, okay, he's alive!" she finally admitted as she pleaded for her captures to let her go. "I don't know when exactly, but I abandoned him several centuries before the home year of that other human who came here." she spilled all in an attempt to get out of physical harm. 

The other unicorn chuckled at how easy it was. "Now that wasn't so hard wasn't?" she smirked. "Your cooperation will be rewarded handsomely by the king." she then walked off. "Oh, and guards, you can take her away now." she ordered. 

"Wait! No!" she was about to protest, but a rag covered her mouth and snout. She tried to struggle but soon found herself and her surroundings fade into darkness. 





Month four...

Grubber and a squad of Storm Guards march into their master's domain as they pulled along a cart filled with the latest plunder of artifacts from their latest conquest. The Storm King sat on his throne as he awaited their arrival, Tempest stood patiently by the throne while the group bowed before their master. 

"Did you find it?" began the Storm King to his smallest servant. 

Grubber smirked and motioned for one of the guards to give him the mythical item his master longed to find for the longest time. One of the guards gave the hedgehog a black case before he presented it to the Storm King himself. "Courtesy of Grogar himself sir." bowed Grubber. 

The conqueror got up and personally took the case. "With this, all of our dreams can finally come true." The king chuckled to himself as he carefully opened it to reveal an ancient staff with a crystal at the end of it. The king grew giddy with excitement at his new toy and weapon. "The Staff of Sacanas, it's finally mine to wield." he chuckled as he took the staff out of its case. "With this, I can finally conquer the only real threat to my ultimate goal...Equestria and its magic."

"The staff and the obsidian orbs will be useful in that goal, but we're still be at the mercy of their magic." Tempest explained. 

"Right of course." the Storm King nodded in agreement. "How's the work in restoring the old time machine going along Tempest?"

"Slowly sir," Tempest explained. "We just don't have the technology and human knowledge available to restore it."

"Well, there's no need now." he chuckled as he was fixated upon the staff. "Take me to her." he ordered.





Tempest lead her master down to the dungeons where those who try to usurp and undermine the Storm King are kept. The unicorn lead the king over to the dungeon at the end of a long corridor. The storm creature guards unlocked the door to reveal their prisoner inside, both her back legs chained up to the floor, her body covered in bruises and lashes from the hard work she was put through, her ribs showing from under her skin from lack of food. 

The prisoner looked up with worry, intimidated at the sight of the Storm King himself who smirked at her as he held his new staff. "Today is your lucky day Miss Glimmer." he growled. "You are free to go."

Starlight looked on with a mixture of relief and suspicion as the guards walk in and unchain her legs from the wall. "W-what is that staff for...sir...?" she stuttered weakly, she could barely stand straight without risking passing out. 

The Storm King look at Starlight with an evil grin before she slammed the end of the staff down on the stone floor and it began to glow. The satyr soon began to laugh manically with pure joy as it glowed brighter by the second. Starlight and everyone else in the room reflexively stood back as the room was soon enveloped by a bright white light. 





In another room, Grubber passed some of the magic held in the staff's crystal over to a set of other crystals and gave each of them to a group of storm creature soldiers. "You're job is to travel back in time and find the human Adam Gray." The Storm King began to give his orders to his troops. "If you find him, come back and report back to either me or Tempest so we can extract his adrenaline, you all have four months to complete this task, if not, we'll just go ahead and invade Equestria regardless." Everyone quietly nodded. "You all know when to go, good luck." he said before turned around and left. 

Then, one by one, each of the storm creatures activated their crystal and disappeared. "And what of Miss Glimmer?" asked Tempest to her master. 

"She's useless and no longer a threat without her magic, you are free to dump her somewhere outside my domain and leave her to die." he said coldly as he continued to walk away with his new staff.

Month nine...

It was a bright, sunny and cloudless day in Canterlot as the entire capital city bustled with activity. Today was the first annual Friendship Festival, as decreed by Princess Luna, who wanted an alternative celebration to replace the old Summer Sun Celebration now that Celestia was no longer around. 

At the Canterlot fairgrounds, Twilight studiously oversaw the festival preparations as ponies from all over Equestria began to gather and set up their booths and tents. She wanted this festival to be a success, all to make Luna proud and to bring back some normality to her life. 

"All the vendors are here and accounted for Twi." announced Spike. "All is going according to schedule." he assured his surrogate sister. 

"Hopefully this event will go uneventfully, unlike the last one." she sighed, the last such celebration was nine months ago, last time she ever saw Adam. 

"You okay Twi?" asked Spike with concern as he sensed that something was wrong. 

"I just feel like what's the point of it all, Pinkie moved away, Adam dies, then Fluttershy disappeared, and then Starlight ran away...all of my friends are disappearing one-by-one." she sighed. 

Spike patted Twilight's side. "I know it's hard going through all of that, but we're all here for you Twi." he assured.

"Yeah? But for how long?" she said as she walked off and refocused herself on her assigned task. As Twilight walked along the festival grounds, she saw Applejack ready to sell some cider, Rarity as she decorated the main stage, and Rainbow Dash with her now one-year-old son as they tried out some of the carnival games. Twilight just shook her head, she had not seen or heard from Pinkie Pie for nearly a year, and Fluttershy has been gone since Adam's death. Plus, she felt like she had grown more distant from her three remaining friends. 

"Hey Twi, want some cider, ya look like ya need to take the edge off." suddenly offered Applejack from her stand. She already had a mug ready to serve her.

The mare looked like she had no other choice and walked over to the stand and grabbed the mug with her magic. She looked at her drink to see her reflection, she did no longer recognize the pony in the reflection. "I want to be happy...but I don't know who I am anymore..."

"Well, yer one of my best friends Twi." Applejack began. "That ah am certain." she assured with a warm smile. 

The unicorn could not help but smile in return at the orange mare, but she still looked troubled. "Why do we even have friends and loved ones if we will eventually lose them?" she asked.

"Because as my Granny used to say, it ain't about makin' it last, it's about enjoyin' it while it lasts an' not bein' afraid to make new friends and lovers along the way." she answered as she shared some folksy wisdom. 

"I guess I've been squandering our time together these past few months have I?" Twilight chugged down her mug of cider. 

"Just go and enjoy yerself, we'll always be there fo' ya." Applejack nodded. 

The unicorn nodded in return and trotted off to resume her organizational duties. 





A few hours into the festival, and Songbird Serenade was into the third song of her live performance, the rest of the festival went by smoothly, but Twilight oversaw the entire event from a nearby hill just outside the city. She felt like she needed some time to think to clear her head. As she scanned the city skyline and landscape, she soon noticed something in the distance, a dark storm ominous cloud approaching. "That's odd...we're not supposed to have any clouds period for the duration of the festival." she said to herself with confusion as the cloud grew closer. 

What she could not see was the fact that the dark cloud shielded a massive airship. On the airship, the Storm King stood on the top deck as he injected himself with a freshly harvested batch of magic resistant serum. Everything has gone almost according to plan at this point for him as his ship approached the capital. 

It was not long before everyone at the festival started to noticed the approaching storm cloud shroud the sky in darkness. Suddenly, out of the clouds emerged a single large airship as it landed over a clearing next to the concert stage. Everyone in the audience grew nervous as the ship landed and a single passenger disembarked, a small hedgehog. He calmly walked to the stage to oversee the crowd. He promptly swiped a spare microphone and addressed the crowd. "Greetings citizens of Equestria, we have come on behalf of the great Storm King to meet with Princess Luna herself." he stated. At the same time, Tempest, flanked by a few storm creatures disembarked the ship. 

From the distance, Twilight was stunned at the sight and was ready to run down there, but was quickly grabbed and dragged into the bushes by someone. "Hey! What gives!" she turned to the stranger only to see who it really was. "Starlight?"

Down at the festival, everyone was nervous as Luna suddenly teleported on to the stage in a blue light. Tempest and Gruber waited for her. "You demanded an audience with me?" Luna began with suspicion. "Who are you and what do you want?" she asked in a serious tone, ready for any surprises. 

"The immediate surrender of your kingdom and your magic." Tempest answered, sternly and cold as usual. Luna thought they were joking, but they were serious. 

"I demand to see the Storm King himself." Luna snarled. 

"Okay, suit yourself." Tempest shrugged without much care as soon, more airships appeared out of the clouds, several dozen of them as they all floated over Canterlot and the fairgrounds, they entire crowd soon dispersed in panic. 

"My word..." the alicorn princess was stunned as she did not see this invasion force coming. Then, another airship landed nearby and out came the Storm King himself in full armor. "You..." she at least knew who he was. "...you finally got bored with what you conquered and came for the top prize didn't you?"

"You know it." he smirked. "So just try to stop me, I dare you." he laughed as he approached the princess without worry or care. 

Luna took that challenge and fired a magic beam at the satyr, which caused him to be pushed back, but otherwise unhurt. The alicorn was stunned. "But that should've burned a hole into your chest..." she stepped back. "...h-how?" 

"That's for me to know, and you to find out." he laughed as Tempest used the distraction to grab an orb and turn Luna into a statue. Luna's stunned face forever petrified. The king turned to his second-in-command. "Find me the elements of harmony, get them before they try to stop us." he ordered.

"But what about him?" Tempest asked. 

"Keep an eye out for him." he said cryptically before he ordered his storm creatures to conquer and raid the city. 





"Starlight, what the buck is going on here?" demanded Twilight as a cloaked Starlight lead her to a same location away from the invasion in progress underneath a tall bridge. "You disappear for six months, and now you're leading me away somewhere?"

"Saving us all." was all Starlight said as she took out of her bag two peach colored potions, the same one that Twilight saw her take before she time traveled back to the human era. Starlight gave the other mare the other bottle. "You need to drink this if you want to blend in." she instructed.

"We can't just leave Equestria to be conquered, what about Luna? What about my friends?" she exclaimed with worry. 

"I can't believe I'm saying this but..." Starlight sighed with annoyance. "...you need to trust on me on this, now drink that potion" Starlight soon chugged down her bottle of potion.

"Just please tell me what we're doing exactly." Twilight demanded, still suspicious. 

"Assuring that Equestria has a future." she said as her horn started to glow. Twilight, feeling like she had no other choice, quickly chugged down the potion as they were suddenly enveloped in a blue orb and promptly disappear. 





It was pandemonium in the festival grounds, as Applejack, Rarity, Dash and her foal all try to find a way to escape without encountering the menacing storm creatures. The three soon spot an exist and run towards it, only for the way to be quickly blocked by a large storm creature. They tried to turn back to run, but were suddenly blocked and soon surrounded by three storm creatures. The three mares quickly braced themselves to face their fate, but then, a strange yet familiar creature in animal skins and a hairy face painted red, jumped down, and using its clubs and axes, began to fight off and make quick work of the three storm creatures, knocking them out or cutting a vital artery. 

Once all three storm creatures were dealt with, the creature turned to the three mares, the creature may have a large bushy beard and long wild hair, but they all still recognized who it is much to their surprise.

"Adam?" asked a stunned Rarity. 

To be continued...





Night in the middle of the foggy bayou, and Vitrine gleefully crushed some bones into powder in her mortar and pestle in her candlelit cottage, when a sudden gust of wind temporarily caused the flames to get extinguished. Once the wind settled down and the room was once again fully lit, the mare turned around to see an unexpected guest. "Neva expecting yuh suh soon." she smirked at her visitor.

The guest's cloven hooves loudly tapped the wooden floor with each step as he approached her. "I gave him the staff as you ordered Vitrine." he said in an old gravelly voice. "Now where's the artifact you promised me?" he demanded.

"Now Grogar yuh need fi memba dat mi di one dat makes di rules round here." she said as she seductively approached her guest. "Mi did di one dat give yuh life an mi a di one dat cya tek it away." she warned him as she then placed a hoof on his cheek, which much to Grogar's horror, caused his cheek to start to desiccate. He reflexively jumped away from her touch as his cheek began to slowly repair itself. 

"You promised me the bell." he said with annoyance. 

"Ongle afta yuh kill di human dat kill mi ongle child!" she said sternly as she walked back to resume her task before she was interrupted. "Yuh ave 100 days fi get it dun or else it back tuh being bone an dust." she warned.

"You do know that I can't do this alone Vitrine, he has the princess and the Elements of Harmony behind him." he explained. 

"Yuh relax an mek yuhself comfortable inna dis time period mi wi handle all di rest." she gave him a smile that showed off her bad teeth. "Wid Adam an fi him friends outta di way yuh cya finally once again be di rightful rula of Equestria."

Grogar chuckled at that idea. "Thank you for the second lease on life." he nodded gratefully. "So when can we start?" he asked.

He was only met by a large grin from the mare.
> Chapter LIV~The Nine Years~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ohio River Valley
November 25, 1508

A wooden hook covered in bait floated calmly in the quiet smooth lake until a fish came up and swallowed it. It was soon pulled up out of the water and into a dugout canoe. On the canoe, a man with a large bushy graying beard and long hair grabbed a rock and smashed the newly caught fish. He added the now dead fish into a water filled bucket with the other fish he caught inside it, and promptly paddled over to shore.

Once he beached his canoe to the shore near his wooden cabin home, a young native woman looked on at the sight with a smile. "I see you are doing well Achak." smiled the woman, happy to see the lone man again.

"You finally settled nearby to winter over I'm guessing?" he chuckled. "Good to see you again Nadie." he smiled back as he then walked over to his small cabin with his recent catch. Nadie walked along beside him.

"I hope these last six months haven't been too lonely for you." she began. "I'm guessing you still haven't encountered your kind yet?"

"You get used to being mostly alone after nine years, and no, I've scoured this entire river valley, and nothing, just more of your kind and the occasional Cherokee." he explained as he opened the animal hide covered entrance and lets Nadie in first.

Achak followed her inside and took off his hide coat and placed the fish by the fire pit in the middle. "My tribe is holding a celebration tonight, and you are always free to come visit us, if you want." Nadie began as she sat by the fire pit across from the man. 

"You know I usually say no to such invitations, I have interfered in your culture enough already." he sighed as he stoked the fire with a stick. 

"But it would mean a lot to not only me, but my father, to see you." she explained.

"What do you mean?" Achak asked with slight concern.

"His health is starting to fail him." she revealed with slight pain in her voice.

He looked at her with stunned silence. "Then I will go and visit him and your tribe tonight." he nodded. 

With a smile, Nadie got up and wrapped the man in a hug. "Thank you." she whispered happily to him. He awkwardly hugged her back in response. 





That night, in a flash of light, five yeti creatures landed on the leaf covered ground of the broad-leaf forest. They looked around at their surroundings before they went off to fulfill their mission, find humans. 





Nadie happily lead her friend back to where her set up camp, there was about thirty or so people at the camp, all the wigwams in varying stages of construction, but everyone in a joyous mood as all of the food was being gathered for tonight's celebration. 

As soon as Nadie and Achak set foot in the camp, everyone happily greeted the pair and embraced them with open arms. An older woman was first to come up to the pair. "Glad you managed to convince him to join us for the night, your father wanted to see him anyways." she explained to the young woman. 

"What for?" Nadie was a bit suspicious of the news.

"He demands to speak with him privately." was all the older woman stated. 





Inside one of the wigwams, the tribe's chief was in bed as he coughed violently. His skin paler than usual. He looked over at the entrance to see Achak walk in. "You wanted to see me Chief Mingan?" he asked as he kneeled beside him.

"So good to see you again Achak." he smiled at the mysterious man. He reached out and grabbed his hand. "Glad to see that you are doing okay for yourself." he chuckled before he suddenly coughed intensely. He lurched over and hacked loudly, only for some blood to spray all over the floor. 

Achak knew what was going on. "How long have you been this ill?" he asked with concern as he took the chief and laid him down on his back again. 

"Never mind that, don't worry about me, my time has been destined for me long ago." he croaked as he wiped his lips with his hand. "I asked you here for a favor." he said as he got right down to business. 

"And what is that?" the visitor asked with concern.

"I want you to take my daughter's hand." he told Achak. He looked on stunned at the news. "Please, you've always been there to protect her whenever I couldn't, I know she'll be safe under your care." he pleaded. 

"I can't, you know that, I don't want to interfere." he explained to the chief. "Why not have her marry Pannoowau, he's the war chief and of her age."

"He may be a great warrior, but I don't trust him around my only child." he rolled his eyes. "Please, as a favor, take her, care for her, protect her." he continued to plead.

Achak signed as he knew that it was hopeless to change his mind. "I'll think about it." he tried his best to give the chief a reassuring smile before he got up to leave as the celebration began outside. 

As soon as he stepped out, he found himself face-to-face with Pannoowau himself, who looked at him with contempt. He did not say a word to the bearded stranger as he shoved past him and entered the chief's wigwam.





"You are seriously going to give that outsider your daughter instead of me?!" Pannoowau snarled with frustration at the bedridden chief.

"I don't want my daughter to marry a warrior." he responded as he explained his reasoning. "Plus I know you only want her to strengthen your claim as tribal chief." 

"Can't you see your interest in this outsider is clouding your judgement?" he told him. "He's going to lead this tribe astray with his strange ways."

"That's enough!" he exclaimed. "As long as I am on this mortal realm, I have the final say in this!" he said before he went into another coughing fit. 

The young warrior could not help but look at his chief with contempt. He found it shameful to see his chief in such a state. He shook his head and stormed outside as the chief was left alone in his coughing fit.





Everyone was gathered around the communal fire as they ate, talked and danced. Achak quietly watched the proceedings as he ate his venison stew that was provided for him. Nadie sat next to him. "So what did my father wanted to talk to you about?" she whispered to him as she did not want anyone else to know about a personal subject. Before Achak could answer, a blood curdling scream emanated from the distance. "That sounded like your sentry." she muttered as a severed head landed in the wire that sent embers and cooked food flying, much to everyone's horror. 

All of the tribe's able-bodied men went off and quickly grabbed their spears, arrows and tomahawks to neutralize the threat. Pannoowau lead the group only to suddenly have the way blocked by three massive yeti creatures who carried their own spears. The native humans stood back at the sight of such creatures, not sure what to do. One of the creatures grabbed Pannoowau's spear and crushed the wooden object in its hand. 

Meanwhile, Achak and Nadie ran into the chief's hut only to be met by the sight of a creature as it plunged its metal spear into the chief's stomach. "Father! No!" Nadie screamed out in horror, only to result in the creature to turn to them and charge. Achak grabbed Nadie and quickly dragged her out of the hut just before the yeti creature could get them. 

The entire village erupted in panic as everyone dispersed into the surrounding forest, while the tribe's warriors get mercilessly crushed by the massive and strong creatures.  Pannoowau managed to escape the massacre with a gashed side and a broken ankle as he cowardly limped away into the forest. 

At the same time, Achak lead Nadie by the hand into the dark woods. "What are those things?!" exclaimed a panicked Nadie. 

"I have no idea, and I'd rather not find out." was all Achak could muster as he focused on escaping back to his camp before he suddenly slammed against something hard. Achak looked up to see another creature as it towered before him, metal spear at the ready. 

Before the creature could plunge his spear at his target, a glass flask was suddenly hit him and he abruptly burst into flames and gave out a loud blood curdling scream as it quickly turned into dust before the pair, dead.

"I call that a 'dragon breath' cocktail." mused a female figure who wore a poncho and nothing else. To Achak this figure was familiar as it reached out her hand for him. Being thankful for the help, he gladly accepted the hand, but at the exact moment of contact, new memories flooded before him. 

In a fit of panic, he shoved the stranger away from him and stood back. "No, no, no, you have got to be kidding." he exclaimed in shocked. 

"What's going on Achak, you know her?" Nadie asked with confusion. 

"Unfortunately, I do." he tried to calm himself. "She's the one that left me here for dead."

A second female figure who also wore nothing but a poncho ran in. "Adam?" the second figure asked, stunned. "Is that you?"

"Who's this 'Adam'?" asked Nadie, even more confused as she squeezed Achak's hand tightly.

"That would be me." Achak revealed. "My name is Adam Gray, and these two women were my old friends, Starlight and Twilight." Nadie was in complete shock at the turn of events.





Sometime later, Adam lead the three women over towards his cabin by the lake. Twilight, now in human form, did her best to keep up on two legs and walked next to her old friend. "You don't seem to be that happy to see us." Twilight began. 

"Well, how can I? SHE knocked me unconscious and then abandoned me in this time period." he snarled back as he looked over at Starlight. "And let me guess, she never told you that fact?" 

"How long have you been here?" she asked with concern.

"Nine years." he answered bluntly. "Nine long years."

Twilight was stunned by the answer. "I thought we were more accurate than that." she turned to Starlight. "You said that we should only be off by a year."

"So my accuracy isn't the best, but the fact that I had over a million years to work with, I think I was damn close considering." Starlight rolled her eyes. 

Twilight turned back to Adam. "Look, Adam, we came here because Equestria is in danger and you're the only one that can save it." she revealed as the group navigated through the woods. "Those creatures are minions of the Storm King who is harvesting human adrenaline to make himself magic proof." Twilight continued. "That way, he can conquer Equestria with relative ease."

Adam shook his head. "Great, I've been gone for who knows how long from your perspective and already things fall apart." he snarled. Soon, the group reached Adam's makeshift home and got inside. All three of Adam's guests made themselves comfortable before Adam threw spare furs and clothes at Starlight and Twilight. "Here, put these on, can't have you two running around in the cold woods in the nude." he instructed.

Adam went to the other side of the one-roomed shelter and changed shirts. Twilight noticed that he was older than she remembered. She sighed and began to put on her new clothes.





Tempest stoically overlooked the carnage and destruction that the storm creatures caused to the village. "Don't bother chasing after the ones who ran away, we need humans who will fight when endangered, they have the best and most potent adrenaline." she told three of the four surviving storm creatures. The fourth creature marched up as he dragged a wounded prisoner and then shoved him over to the unicorn mare. The creature grabbed the man by his long black hair and pulled hard. "And who is this?" she asked with suspicion to her storm creatures.

One of them grunted and growled to her. "What are you...?" the human asked, stunned at the sight of a talking horse-like creature. 

"You know of someone that might be of interest to us?" Tempest went right down to business. The creature that held the human captive suddenly placed a spear tip against his neck.

"Yes." he gulped nervously. "His name is Achak, and he's an outsider just like all of you." he explained. "I know where he lives."

"An outsider?" she was intrigued. "In what way?"

"He just showed up injured to us nine years ago, pale skinned, wearing strange clothing, speaking a strange language." he explained. 

Tempest turned to her creatures. "Let him go, this human has now become useful in our schemes." she ordered. The yeti forcibly let the native human go. "And what's your name human?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Pannoowau." he revealed.

"Well, Pannoowau, your help will be highly appreciated." she smirked. 





Shortly before dawn, Adam tended to the fire in his cabin as Nadie sat down next to him. He looked over at her with curiosity. "Couldn't sleep?" he asked.

"What are you, really?" Nadie asked as she demanded answers. 

Adam sighed. "Well, believe it or not, I can travel through time." he revealed.

Nadie smirked in response. "Considering what happened today, I could believe that." she looked over at Adam. "I knew since the moment I saw you wake up from your long sleep, that you were out of place here." she explained as she placed her hand on his cheek. 

"Nadie, there's something you must know, it's about what your father said to me." he began as he held her hand as nuzzled his face against it. 

"What did he want from you?" she was curious.

"He wanted me to marry you." he revealed. "Because he wanted you safe, and he trusts me to take good care of you."

She let go of Adam in response, stunned. "I'd love for you to marry me, it's been one of my dreams actually, but I can't." she revealed as she looked away. "You don't belong here, and marrying me will just tie you down here, and I don't want to feel like a burden."

Adam placed his hand underneath her chin so she could look at him. "You are never a burden to me." he revealed. Nadie just grabbed him and held him close. Both did not say a word and just enjoyed each other's warmth as they slowly fell asleep in their embrace.





Just minutes after dawn, Adam stood by the lake as he urinated in it to relieve himself. He then heard footsteps that sneaked up from behind him. Instinctively, he turned around, grabbed the stalker by the neck and push them down on the ground. He looked to see that it was Starlight that he had his hands on. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't strangle you for what you did." he growled.

"Because I'm the only one that can take you back to Equestria." she muttered out as she felt his hands start to squeeze. She could see the anger in his eyes as some guilt flowed through her. She probably did deserve this fate.

"You manipulated me, you used me, you made me kill my wife, you abandoned me and took away nine years of my life!" he said in a low piercing voice. 

"Adam, no!" exclaimed Twilight as she ran up to the pair. "We have more important things to deal with at the moment, we need her." she pleaded. "Now let her go!"

He looked at Twilight before he reluctantly let his grip go. "I want her punished when we get back." he said before he went over to inspect his canoe. "There's a Cherokee village down river from here, we should go there to get reinforcements." he said to the pair.

Starlight got up from the ground as Twilight noticed red hand marks around her neck. "The only reason I abandoned you here was because I made a deal with Celestia." she suddenly admitted as she tried to catch her breath. 

Both Adam and Twilight looked at her with confusion. "What?!" they exclaimed in disbelief simultaneously. 

"After I was shot, I wasn't in a coma, I was DEAD." she began. "I was dead and ready to accept my fate before Celestia just showed up out of nowhere and offered me a deal." she revealed to the pair. 

"And what was that deal?" asked Adam incredulously.

"I get to live with a new ability, but in exchange, Adam dies." she revealed. "I didn't just abandon you Adam, I abandoned you and left you for dead, but I guess I was wrong because you managed to not only survive, but thrive here."

"Celestia wanted Adam dead?" Twilight was confused.

"Makes sense, since I was the one that killed her." Adam revealed. 

"Our Grandmother is demanding a sacrifice in order to bring the world into balance again." Nadie suddenly showed up. "She demands that someone take Starlight's place in the afterlife." she told the group.

"Look, Nadie, no one is going to die, not on my wa-" all of the sudden, Adam's cabin exploded from being hit by a massive bolt that sent shrapnel everywhere and knocked Nadie down from the force of the blast. Adam turned to see Tempest and three of her guards march up to them as they dragged Pannoowau with them.

What was left of Tempest's horn began to spark. "Well, not expecting to see Miss Glimmer so soon, you should be dead." she said to Starlight. She then looked at Twilight. "And you must be Twilight Sparkle, one of Equestria's legendary Elements of Harmony, glad we could finally meet." she snarled with disgust. 

"You leave them out of it, this is between you and me." Adam said to the unicorn. "I know you came all the way here to get me." he went and stood between Tempest and the girls. 

Nadie looked up from the ground to see Pannoowau with Tempest and her guards. "And you call yourself a warrior." she snarled with disgust at him.

"Guards, please reward the prisoner for leading us to Mr. Adam." Tempest ordered. One of the storm creatures nodded before he suddenly grabbed the native man by the head and swiftly snapped his neck. His body collapsed on the ground much to everyone's horror. "He was too much of a coward to be of any good for us, we prefer adrenaline from a human that would fight in the face of danger, more potent." she explained as she eyed Adam. "And that would be you."

Adam looked back at the girls before he looked back at the unicorn. He then placed his hands in the air. "If that's what you want, then I'll give you what you want, so long as no harm comes to Starlight, Twilight or Nadie." he bargained as he slowly walked up to Tempest.

"Adam, what are you doing?" exclaimed Twilight in disbelief, but then she remembered that back in Equestria, the Storm King already got himself an anti-magic serum. The timeline began to come together. 

"If Celestia wants someone to die, then who better than me." Adam explained. "A life for a life, only fair." Tempest motioned to her guards as the giant pair grabbed Adam and then tied his wrists up with rope.

"It was pleasure doing business with you all, but now I must go and help the Storm King fulfill his goal in conquering Equestria. Your human friend here will be remembered for his contributions to the cause, rest assured." Tempest smirked. 

Nadie saw the entire thing unfold in disbelief, she could not allow the thing that killed her father and destroyed her village get away with this. While the unicorn and her guards were distracted, she crawled over to the body of Pannoowau and searched him for anything useful, and found a sharp stone arrowhead. "And what do you think you are doing?" said Tempest who suddenly stood over the woman. She was caught. Nadie slowly got up. "Trying to come up with a way to save your friend here?" Tempest asked incredulously. 

"You killed my father." she growled at the hornless unicorn. 

"Well, he got in the way, so what did you expect?" Tempest answered without remorse. "Now kindly step away or else I'll zap you out of the way." her horn began to threateningly spark. 

Nadie suddenly placed the arrowhead between her fingers and then swiftly slashed it across Tempest's cheek, which caused a deep gash across it.

In a fit of rage, the unicorn fired a bolt at the woman and blasted her clear across the shore to a nearby tree. The two storm creatures, in a panic, began to drag Adam away from them, but he elbowed one in the stomach and stomped on its foot to get himself free. "Get the weapons from the canoe!" he yelled at Starlight and Twilight as he ran over to them.

At the same time, Tempest calmly walked over to a barely conscious Nadie who had the entire top right side of her torso burnt. "A fighter, impressive." she nodded to herself. "If I can't have Mr. Gray, then you will have to do." Starlight grabbed a tomahawk from the canoe while Twilight had a spear. Adam used his teeth to untie his wrists as the two storm creatures charged up at them. The creatures got ready to attack when they suddenly heard Tempest whistle at them. "Guards, pull out!" she ordered as the creatures obediently did as told and went back to her.

Adam to his horror saw an unconscious Nadie draped on Tempest's back. "NO!" he yelled out as he grabbed a spear and chucked it at the unicorn. Tempest and her guards quickly used their crystals to teleport out of there, the spear which would have it Tempest right between the eyes, instead went through her as she disappeared and embedded itself in a tree.





"Get this human into one of the airships, we'll extract it en route!" Tempest yelled angrily at her guards the moment they found themselves back in their castle. The guards quickly took their prisoner away and dragged her out of the room.

"What about Adam?" asked Grubber who was in the room as she appeared. "What happened?"

"What do you think?" she growled at the hedgehog, her patience wore thin. "I knew we should've killed her instead of letting her go, but the Storm King had to be an idiot!" she vented as she went over to a mirror to check her cheek wound. "I want medical in my chambers." she ordered before she stomped away to her chambers.

Once in her chambers, she stripped out of her armor and then proceeded to smash everything in within reach to vent out her anger at the unexpected turn of events. "That unicorn and that human has been a thorn to our sides for far too long, next time I see them, I will not hesitate to kill them myself." she growled to herself.





Back in the past, Adam sat on the ground, dejected, as he looked out towards the lake. Starlight and Twilight stood by near him. "How long until you turn back into unicorns?" he asked them. 

"Tomorrow night, roughly." Starlight answered. 

"Then we leave for Equestria first thing the morning after." he said as he got up, gathered everything he packed out of the canoe and began to walk away into the forest. The girls had no choice but to follow him.

"Where are we going?" asked Twilight.

"Something important." Adam answered cryptically. 

After a hike, the three return back to what was left of the village. Adam went over to what was left of the chief's hut and looked around wreckage to eventually find what he looked for; a cloth bundle. 

"What's that?" Starlight asked as she looked on. 

"The tribe's sacred bundle, it contains items the tribe finds sacred or important, passed down through the generations, the most important item a tribe or clan can have." Adam explained as he took the bundle and carefully placed it in his bag. "We camp here tonight and the next night, let's get a shelter built." he told the pair.

Later that night, Adam sat in front of the fire in his own shelter as he looked through the items inside the bundle, to his surprise, one of the items was a silver Star of David necklace. "I'll save you Nadie, don't worry." he mumbled to himself with determination. He then turned his attention to the entrance as he saw Starlight walk in. "What do you want?" he asked with suspicion, to say that he did not trust her was an understatement. 

"Just wanted to check up on you is all." she explained as she sat down across from him by the fire. "What's that in your hand?" she asked, referring to the necklace.

"It belonged to that crazy guy we fought, the people here assumed he was a friend, so they gave him a full traditional burial." Adam said. "I don't know why they decided to keep this." he then saw Starlight's hand on his and looked at her with confusion.

"Look, I know our relationship has been rocky to say the least, and will probably never get fixed because of my actions, but I support you and respect you, and yes, if you didn't betray me to stop me, I would've happily started a relationship with you and-" she was suddenly silenced by a finger on her lips.

"How about we get back to Equestria and defeat the Storm King before we talk about this okay?" he stated. Starlight quickly nodded in agreement to the idea before she went over and gave Adam a hug. 

He wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug as he held her close to him. 





Once Tempest's cheek was stitched up, she was summoned to the Storm King's quarters in his air ship as it awaited launch for its journey to Equestria. She calmly walked into the cold dark room. "You wanted to see me sir?" she asked with slight nervousness in her voice but a stoic demeanor. 

"Where's Adam Gray? You promised me that you'll capture him." he said as he looked out his window without looking at her general direction.

"An unexpected change of plans sir, you see-"

"I would rather not hear your excuses!" he snarled as he turned to face his second-in-command. "I expected a lot more from you Tempest, and yet you do me a sloppy job on an important mission." he scolded. 

"I know you expected nothing but near perfection from me." she tried her best to hide her shame for such a botched job. "But I can assure you, the serum we made from that other human will be just as good."

"It better or else you can find yourself in a sweatshop manacled to a textile mill working 16 hour days!" the Storm King warned her. "Spending the rest of your life as a hornless freak with no hope!" 

Those words stung the mare as she felt like she disappointed a father-figure rather than a ruler. "Please sir, anything but that, I do not want to lose favor with you, I promise to never let you down for as long as I live. I will gladly die fighting for you." she pleaded. 

"Then help me finally conquer Equestria, and I'll gladly help you regain your horn." the Storm King offered. 

Tempest quickly went down to the floor and prostrated herself before the Storm King. She was willing to do anything to become a normal unicorn again. "As you wish your majesty, I will happily do whatever it takes to see Equestria under your powerful rule." 

The king just chuckled at the sight. "Now go out there and do not let me down." he ordered. 

"Yes, sir." Tempest nodded before she got up and quickly trotted out of the room. 

The Storm King then looked back out his window. "A very loyal supporter, such a shame that I'll be getting rid of her once Equestria is mine." he chuckled to himself.





As the airship lifted off to its destination, a group of guards strapped Nadie face down on a table. They ripped open her clothes to expose her back as medical professionals loyal to the Storm King get ready to perform the procedure. Anesthetic was not needed since she already was drifting in and out of consciousness. "The adrenal glands should be about here." said one cat doctor to his rat colleague.

After the surgery, they removed one of the adrenal glands and placed it in a small cooler. "Take this to the lab to get it processed, we only have ten hours before we arrive to our destination." ordered one of the doctors to a nurse. 

With two hours to spare before the deadline, Grubber entered the Storm King's quarters on the airship. "Is it ready?" was all the Storm King asked as he looked out the window. 

"Nice and freshly extracted." smirked the hedgehog as he carried a cooler filled with some vials and placed it on his boss' desk. 

"Good," began the Storm King. "let's get this invasion started." he nodded, satisfied that months of planning has finally came together.





It was pandemonium in the festival grounds, as Applejack, Rarity, Dash and her foal all try to find a way to escape without encountering the menacing storm creatures. The three soon spot an exist and run towards it, only for the way to be quickly blocked by a large storm creature. They tried to turn back to run, but were suddenly blocked and soon surrounded by three storm creatures. The three mares quickly braced themselves to face their fate, but then, a strange yet familiar creature in animal skins and a hairy face painted red, jumped down, and using its clubs and axes, began to fight off and make quick work of the three storm creatures, knocking them out or cutting a vital artery.

Once all three storm creatures were dealt with, the creature turned to the three mares, the creature may have a large bushy beard and long wild hair, but they all still recognized who it is much to their surprise.

"Adam?" asked a stunned Rarity.

To be continued...
> Chapter LV~The Storm King~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Storm King calmly walked down the main street of Canterlot as his guards and soldiers pillaged everything in sight and ponies ran away in a panic. The chaotic sounds calmed him in a way, and the sight of such a beautiful and rich city brought him joy and pleasure, the fact that it now all belonged to him. Nothing will get in his way.

He gleefully shot a beam of magic from his staff over at a nearby store and destroyed it in a fiery explosion. "Score!" he cackled cheerfully as ponies ran around in random directions in terror, none of them seemed willing to face him. "You ponies are so weak and pathetic." he grumbled as he continued his slow march to the castle up ahead. 





Adam gathered up his weapons after he made quick work of the storm creatures and strapped them back onto himself. 

"Adam?" asked a stunned Rainbow Dash who cradled her foal. "What happened?"

The human turned to the three mares but did not say a word. 

Then, Starlight and Twilight ran in. "You guys okay?" asked a concerned Twilight to her friends. 

"Yeah darling, we're okay, but what is going on here?" demanded Rarity. 

"I and Starlight went back in time to get Adam back here to help us." Twilight began as she saw Adam search the bodies of the creatures. "They tried to get him back there."

Adam found that all of the creatures had some dark 20-sided crystals on them. "What are these, why do all of them have these?" he inquired to Twilight.

"Those are communicator crystals, they use them in order to keep in contact with each other and their boss." explained Starlight. 

Adam just placed them in his small bag. "Twilight," he turned to her. "I need you to find Nadie, I assume she's in the airship they came in on." he ordered the mare. 

"And what will you be doing?" asked Twilight who was confused and concerned about what he had planned.

"Confronting the Storm King, what else?" he began to walk off towards the distant Canterlot Castle. "Now do any of you know a quick way to get there?"

Twilight ran over and stood in the human's way. "Adam, please don't be a hero, we lost you once, we don't want to lose you again." she pleaded. 

"I'm not trying to be a hero Twi, I'm trying to fulfill a promise I made, now please do me a favor, and do what I say." he looked at her with world-weary eyes. 

Twilight could not help but see the stubborn determination in his eyes, it was quite clear that he already made up his mind and that it was futile to change it. With a heavy sigh, she stepped out of the way and allowed the human to walk past her. "There's a secret passageway in the back of a local bakery, should give you express access to the castle." the mare instructed. 

"Got it." was all the human said with conviction. The five mares looked at each other with bafflement.

"Well? What are you standing around for?" demanded Starlight. "Let's get going!" she ordered the mares before she ran off in the direction of the Storm King's airships. The rest just shrugged and followed her along.





Tempest stood around in the middle of the town square as chaos reigned around her, random ponies who ran away from the creatures, royal guards in their futile attempts to repel the invasion, this was all typical for her by this point. She just sighed without care. 

"Isn't this great?" exclaimed Grubber as he walked in wearing various pieces of valuable jewelry on him. "This feels less like an invasion and more like sport." he chuckled with pleasure. 

"Yes." she nodded along despondently. 

"What's bugging you? Shouldn't you be glad to see the home that rejected you be brought to its knees?" the hedgehog asked with concern. 

"I only care about one thing, and one thing only, and you should know what that is." she explained as she then turned to walk away. "Let's get back to the airship before that human shows up to rescue her." she ordered. 

Grubber just shrugged. "Whatever you say boss." he said before he scurried off after her.





The Storm King gleefully stepped through the gates of the royal palace. The ultimate prize was close, the one thing that was missing from his vast holdings; the Equestrian throne. He felt more invincible than he ever felt before, with his staff and his immunity to magic, there was nothing that could stop him. 

He met token resistance along the way, but he quickly dispatched anyone that tried to get in his way. He pushed open the heavy main doors of the palace and stepped inside. "Oh honey, your new ruler of Equestria has arrived!" he yelled into the empty palace, long since evacuated. "Note to self, get an Equestrian war bride to respond to such statements." he told himself as he walked to find the throne room. "And also redecorate this place, not enough of my trademarked face."

After several minutes of wandering around the empty palace, he soon stumbled upon the large heavy gold doors. With a smirk, he pushed the doors open and strutted into the throne room. "Equestria is officially mine!" 

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." said a new voice. The Storm King looked up at the throne to see the human himself on it. 

"You!" he hissed. "The human that has been giving Tempest a lot of trouble lately." he wanted to use his newly acquired staff on him, but he knew it would be pointless on him. 

"Trouble?" he responded with disbelief. "You sir have no clue what I've been through this past decade of my life." he got up from the throne. "You know how it feels to lose nearly a decade of one's life, stuck, stranded, abandoned, all because someone wanted you to be left for dead?" he began as he walked down the steps. "Do you also know how it feels to have someone you cared about to be taken away? How it feels to lose someone you were tasked with protecting?" he approached the Storm King without much care. "Now let me tell you something sir, at this point in my life I have nothing to live for, so I will ask you this once and only once..." he stood close to the creature and looked up at him to look into his eyes.

"And what's that?" asked the Storm King with disbelief.

"Abandon your invasion and leave, leave and never come back." Adam warned. 

"And if I refuse?" he smirked in response. Adam just shook his head and walked back to the throne. 





Twilight, Starlight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity arrived at the surprisingly unguarded airship of the Storm King. They carefully and stealthily got on board to find the place guarded by only about a dozen guards. The mares, lead by Starlight, quickly took care of the few guards as they went deeper inside the ship. 

"This all feels too easy." said a skeptical Applejack as she and her friends trotted down a long corridor. 

"Yeah, this is too good to be true." agreed Dash. 

The five mares soon reached the lowest deck of the ship that housed the ship's brig. They methodically checked each cell, one at a time, only to find all of them empty, except for one. 

"Girls, I found her!" exclaimed Starlight to the group as she saw a weak and catatonic Nadie in nothing but a patient gown. Twilight quickly used her magic to pick the lock open and open the door. 

"Don't worry Nadie, Adam sent us to save you." assured Twilight as she tried to get her off the floor. But then Nadie's back ended up exposed, which revealed two surgical scars along her back. 

"What is that?" asked Rarity at such a sight.

"They removed her adrenal glands." Twilight explained with disgust. "Her prognosis doesn't look good."

"Then we have to get her out of here fast." said Dash as she helped get the limp human up on both her's and Applejack's back. "Let's go." The mares quickly ran towards the exit of the brig, only to be blocked by the last thing everyone wanted to see; Tempest. 

"So, where are you mares going?" she asked coldly to the group. "How did you get in here?" her rage slowly built up inside her.

"What did you do to her?!" exclaimed a disgusted Twilight. "She doesn't have much time to live without her adrenal glands!" she explained. 

"Sacrifices had to be made." was all Tempest said as she walked up to the group. She then eyed Twilight with interest. "You all must be the famed Elements of Harmony, we all have heard of you, yet you don't look like brave and strong warriors." she was unimpressed.

"Not brave and strong?!" exclaimed an offended Rainbow Dash. "Go fuck yourself!"

Tempest just laughed at the outburst. "Once everything has been settled, I will." she shook her head. "Now where's the male human?" she began. "The creature that has been a thorn to my side lately."

Before anyone could answer, a nearby cauldron spewed out a cloud of smoke, much to everyone's surprise as smoky projections of the Storm King and Adam appeared. 





"You were never going to restore Tempest's horn were you?" the human suddenly asked as he walked up the steps to the throne. "You were just using her to get what you want."

"And risk having her use her restored horn to overthrow me the first chance she got? No way, as soon as I get that throne, I'll liquidate her like all the other soldiers who have outlived their purpose." he explained with glee. "Why you ask?"

"Because I know what it's like to be used." Adam said in a low growl.

"You know, you could've been a great henchman, you have such great potential as a warrior, cunning, intelligent, always ready to do what needs to be done, I can see it in you, the eyes of a warrior." he smirked. "You have so much more potential than Tempest."

"I am not a warrior, and I'll never be a warrior, no matter what happens." Adam suddenly snapped in response. "I just want my life back."

"Then join me on my quest to conquer that world as my second-in-command, and I'll give you everything you desire." the Storm King offered.

"Like I would ever trust a selfish coward who would dispatch his closest allies as soon as they outlived their usefulness." Adam just leered at him before he turned his back on the Storm King and went to sit back down on the throne.

"What Tempest doesn't know, won't kill her." the yeti laughed. 

"Then why don't you tell her yourself?" Adam asked rhetorically as he pointed behind the creature. 

Confused, the Storm King turned around to see what the human pointed at, only for his heart to sink as before him, stood a clearly irritated Tempest, her horn sparked with rage. "I've given almost my entire adult life to your service, and this is how you repay me?" she growled as she tried to hold back her tears. 

"Now Tempest, ignore everything you heard, it was all a trick to divide and conquer us." the Storm King slowly stepped back to grab his staff, only to be taken away by an aura of magic. He looked over to see Starlight and Twilight were also there. 

"Not so powerful now without your precious staff Mr. Storm King?" teased Starlight. 

The creature just laughed. "Your magic can't work on me, I'm immune remember?" he continued to step back, over towards the two alternate exists, only to trip on the small indoor water streams and fall flat on his back. All three unicorns mares slowly walked over to him. The Storm King quickly got up and ran up the ramp, only to bump into Adam. In a panic, he suddenly grabbed the human and wrapped his hairy arm around the human's neck. "Don't come any closer! Or I'll crush your precious human's skull!" he warned.

Adam was unimpressed. "I don't think so." he growled as he took out a sharp stone arrowhead, wiggled himself out of the Storm King's loose grasp, and stabbed him in the one part of his body not covered by armor; under his armpit. 

The Storm King yelled loudly in pain as he stumbled and fell off of the throne platform and to the floor, as he bled out severely from his wound. "I guess human adrenaline can't protect you from everything." said a despondent Tempest who stood before him with rage.  The Storm King tried his best to get back on his two feet despite his wound.

"You traitor!" he snarled as he lunged over to the mare, only to quickly falter and fall back on the floor, the marble ground covered in a growing pool of blood. 

"Pathetic..." was all Tempest said to herself before turned around to walk away as her former boss laid on the floor, dying.

The Storm King sat himself up against the wall as more blood squirted out of his wound. He looked over at the human on the throne platform. "You truly are a great warrior..." he began in a weak voice. "...whether you want to be one or not..." he smirked with glee before his face fell, his body went limp, and his eyes glazed over. The king was dead.





Adam looked around the palace to find Tempest as she sat in the hall of stained glass windows, her armor and battle gear in a pile next to her on the floor. He saw some tears flow down her cheeks. Tempest's ear perked up and she turned to face the human. "If you want to kill me go ahead, I have nothing left to live for." she snarled through her tears. 

"Like killing you would erase every sin you have committed against me, my friends, and all of Equestria." Adam said as he walked up to her.

"I'M A FREAK! I'M A HORNLESS UNICORN FREAK!" she exclaimed with despair. "I have NOTHING, no family, no friends, no purpose, so I implore you, kill me now!" she demanded. The human just stared at the mare with stunned silence before he shook his head and walked away. "The Storm King was right, you are a warrior, a warrior to be feared, you say you are not one, but your actions say otherwise, enjoy this peace for as long as it lasts because there's only one way a warrior's story can end!" she yelled out to the human who left the room. 

As Adam left the room, a group of royal guards stormed in to formally capture and arrest the mare. Tempest did not put up a struggle, as the human just sighed as Tempest's words sunk in.





"I'm sorry Mr. Gray, but there is nothing we can do, even if we do save her, she'll just live the rest of her life with crippling pain and a whole host of adrenal disorders." the nurse explained to Adam at the Canterlot Hospital. "She's most likely not going to survive the night at her current state." 

Adam lamented at the news. The one person he promised to protect, could not be saved. There was only one thing left to do for Nadie. "Is there a way to painlessly put her out of her misery?" he asked with great reluctance. But he hoped that the joy of her being reunited with her father would make the decision worth it. 

The nurse nodded. "I'll go get the paperwork." she said as she trotted off. 

Adam walked into the room and sat down next to the hospital bed, as Nadie slept quietly under heavy sedation. He grabbed her hand and gave it a light squeeze. "Thank you for making these past nine years bearable, I don't know where I could've been without you." he mumbled as he tried to hold his tears back. Life has been especially cruel to him as of late, how many more loved ones does he have to see die?





Later that night, Adam sat in front of the fireplace to his guest chambers in the castle. "I knew at that point that I was probably left for dead, as the months turned into years..." related Adam as he wrapped a blanket around him. Princess Luna quietly provided for him an audience. "...I knew that I was going to die there, either get injured, killed by a wild animal, get sick with an illness I was not immune to, but I did realize that I can still control when and how my inevitable death was going to occur." he confessed. Luna just quietly nodded along. "One day, I attempted to hang myself off of a tree branch, but through some miracle, Nadie discovered me and caught me just as I dropped and the tree branch snapped."

A smile formed upon his face as he related that story. "Her saving me, made me realize that I needed to live because at least there was one person in that time period that cared about me, would never abandon me..." he took a sip of his hot chocolate. "...again all logic, I realized that I need to live because you never know when one's luck could turn for the better." he confessed to Luna.

"We are all glad that you are back with us Adam." Luna said. "Thank you for everything, and I'll always be here to talk should you ever need to." she assured. 

He smiled at Luna before he looked over at the fireplace, deep in thought.





At the same time, Twilight walked into Starlight's guest chambers. "Hey Glim, want to join us over at my room to hang out and..." she stopped as she saw the mare busily pack her things. "...what's going on?"

"Leaving." Starlight began. "Leaving to reunite with an old friend from my past, going to do some much-needed soul searching." she told Twilight as she placed her things in her saddlebags. "Don't bother stopping me, I already made up my mind."

"Can't you wait until morning or something?" asked a stunned Twilight.

"The sooner I leave, the less damage I could cause, it's for the best." she explained to her. "Thank you for putting up with me, but it's time to be my own mare." Starlight grabbed Twilight into a tight hug. "Adam is your problem now." she whispered in her ear before she let Twilight go. "Good night." she said as she walked past the mare and out the door.

Twilight did not protest. "Hope to see you again." was all she said to Starlight as she walked away. 





Adam walked out of his attached bathroom, now clean-shaven for the first time in nearly a decade. He went over to his guest chambers, only to see Twilight on the bed as she read a book. "You know breaking and entering is a crime right?" the human teased. 

"Not my fault you left the door unlocked." Twilight rolled her eyes as Adam sat down on the bed next to her.

"Hard to believe that I've only been gone for nine months from your perspective." he sighed as he turned to the mare. "You held a funeral for me?"

Twilight reluctantly nodded to confirm it. "Starlight told us that you died, what else were we going to do?" she shrugged. 

"And what about my wife, Fluttershy?" he asked. He was concerned since he had not seen her since he arrived. "Where is she?"

"She couldn't take it anymore, so she just left town, she didn't tell anyone where she was going, didn't even leave a note." Twilight broke the news to the human. 

Adam sighed. "I guess I have a life to get back now." he said as the mare suddenly enveloped the human into a tight hug.

"We're here for you Adam, always," she whispered into his ear to comfort him. Adam said nothing but rub her back.





A few days later, Adam arrived back at his home. It was still cleaned and well maintained, everything left the exact way he last left it. He went over to the kitchen and opened the fridge to see his favorite foods, foods he no longer had to hunt and gather for, he grew used to getting his own food that way. The house was quiet, only the ticking of the grandfather clock could be heard as he walked upstairs. 

He looked into every room of the upstairs, including the guest bedroom which still had some of Danni's belongings. He had no idea what to do with her stuff, and neither did whoever helped maintain his home while he was away. The room was supposed to be Fluttershy's before Danni made her unexpected arrival. The thought made him miss her even more.

"Where would she go...?" he mumbled to himself as he walked back to his room. He looked over at his full body mirror to see himself. For 45 years old, he did not look half-bad, maybe a few more forehead wrinkles and hair a slightly lighter shade of brown than he remembered, but still looked good for his age. "It's going to take some getting used to..."

That night, Adam slept on the living room floor by the fireplace, he was so used to sleeping in firmer places, that he felt that his bed was too comfortable for him, plus he could keep his mind from getting restless. He just looked at a portrait of Fluttershy, bathed in the light from the fire. The first time in nearly a decade that he laid eyes on her, although it helped that he had forgotten about her during most of that period thanks to his amnesia. It was not long before he slowly nodded off to sleep. 





The next day, Adam was in Golden Oaks Library as he drank some tea with Twilight. The calm silence was interrupted when Rarity burst in through the front door. "Twilight! I have come with some important news!" Rarity exclaimed as she threw a fashion magazine on the coffee table. "I have found out where Fluttershy is! Look!" she implored at the pair to look at the magazine.

Both the human and mare looked at the publication skeptically and saw a full-page ad for a fashion show to be held in Manehatten next week. "Okay, a fashion show, what about it?" asked a confused Twilight to her friend.

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Darling, look at who's the designer and organizer of the fashion show." she pointed her hoof at the text.

"Showcasing the fashions of a new rising star in the fashion world, with her designs taking Manehatten high society by storm, the one and only Miss Fluttershy will be exhibiting her fashions next week, and also modeling her creations as well." Twilight read as her eyes went wide in shock. She turned to Adam. "Fluttershy is in Manehatten!"

Adam was stunned at the revelation. "Then I guess I know where I am going, Manehatten." he sat up with determination and began to walk towards the door. 

"Adam, wait!" exclaimed Twilight as she stepped in the way. "You need to understand, you were declared legally dead, and we all accepted that you died."

"So?" he asked with confusion.

"Because of your legal death, you and Fluttershy are no longer legally married, which means that there could be a possibility that she may have well..." she took a deep breath as she braced herself for what she would say next. "...moved on?"

Adam was taken aback by the mere suggestion. "Fluttershy would never do such a thing!" he exclaimed with great offense. 

"We all thought you were dead, dead and not coming back, and that was over nine months ago!" Twilight tried her best to explain. "You may have not moved on, but judging from that advertisement, Fluttershy sure did!"

"Fluttershy would never betray me like that." he shook his head, unable to accept what he just heard.

"There is only one way to find out." began Rarity. "Go to Manehatten and pay Fluttershy a visit." she suggested.

"Then I guess I'll be going there." Adam promptly walked out the door, only for Twilight to run after him. 

"You're going now?" said a dismayed Twilight to the human. 

"The sooner I get to her, the better." was all Adam said as he walked down the street towards his home. The mare looked on dumbfounded but know that stopping him would be pointless.

"Just be careful out there..." she muttered under her breath with concern.  





Deep in the dungeons of Canterlot Castle, Tempest just sat on the cold stone floor, all of her legs manacled to the floor, the stump of her horn covered in a magic dampening cap. She just remained there as she quietly contemplated where her life went wrong and whether she deserved whatever fate Princess Luna had in store for her. 

Then, she began to hear the loud clacks of hooves that paced around on the masonry floor. Pale eyes with piercing red pupils came out of the shadows followed by a blue old ram, with a strange bell tied to his collar. The ram just circled around the unicorn, as if inspecting her. "How the mighty have fallen," he mumbled in a gravelly voice. 

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" asked a confused Tempest.

"Long ago, I used to be the most powerful creature in all of Equestria, I had everything, all of the power, all of the magic, all of the fear from my subjects until it was wrongfully taken away from me long ago..." the ram explained. "Emperor Grogar is my name."

"You can't be real... I thought you were a character in a fairy tale." explained a confused Tempest. 

The ram's eyes twitched and he loudly snorted, teeth clenched in disgust. "So they relegated me to mere myth and legend, they'll soon learn what a mistake that is." he snarled as the manacles around Tempest's legs were suddenly released, freeing her. Tempest looked on dumbfounded.

"What do you want from me?" she asked with suspicion. 

Grogar smirked and then cackled with delight. "To help me defeat the human, the elements, and help me take back my rightful place as ruler of Equestria." he revealed. "And unlike the Storm King, I for one can actually keep my promises."

Suddenly, before the unicorn's eyes, a horn floated in front of her. She was in awe as she reached out to touch it, only for the vision to disappear. The ram looked on contented. "What was that?" Tempest demanded to know.

"Do you want to help me or not?" was all Grogar asked. "If not, then enjoy rotting in here for all I care, I can find someone else and-" he warned.

"I'll do it!" Tempest exclaimed and pleaded. "I'll do it."

Grogar smirked at the answer. "Very well, follow close to me." he instructed as he began to walk towards a random wall only for a portal to suddenly open up. The unicorn quickly accompanied the ram through the gateway and she suddenly found herself in a cavern-like lair. "Make yourself comfortable, we'll be here for a while." was all the ram said as he walked up the stone steps to his throne. Tempest looked around in awe. 

"Where are we?" she asked him.

"Everywhere and nowhere." another pony said cryptically, as a scrawny gray unicorn stallion trotted in. "Grogar here has been traveling the multiverse looking for the perfect ponies to aid in his mission." he explained to the mare. 

"Multiverse?" Tempest had no clue what that meant. But before the other stallion could answer her, Grogar suddenly slammed his hoof down on the stone floor. 

"Stygian!" Grogar boomed with authority. "Did you retrieve the magical artifacts of the old pillars?"

"Yes sir." the stallion nodded. He then produces a large burlap sack filled almost to bursting. 

"Good, good, we need all of the tools we could get, we must never underestimate the human and the elements." Grogar explained with a large smirk. Tempest looked on, unsure of what she agreed to, but was at least glad to have been given a second chance. 





In a small town, Starlight nervously trotted in, a place that brought back many memories for her, some good, and most bad. She took a deep breath and walked towards one of the houses. With a deep breath, she anxiously knocked on the door and waited for a response. The house still looked exactly the same as she last saw it, she was not surprised.

The door opened and before the mare stood her father. "St-starlight?" he stuttered with sheer surprise.

"H-hey..." she nervously mumbled, before she was swiftly enveloped into a tight hug by her father. "Dad! Can't breathe!"

"Oh, my wittle cutesy-wutesy Glimmy is back!" he cooed as he hugged his daughter and then promptly let her go. 

"Dad, I'm 25 years old, I'm not a little filly anymore!" she protested as she tried to get her breath back from the tight squeeze. 

"Oh, I apologize, it's just been so long as I last saw you." her father said with slight embarrassment. "But what brings you back here?" he was pleasantly surprised to see his daughter again after so many years. 

"A lot of soul-searching and atonement." Starlight confessed. "And I thought I can start with you, dad." she smiled, at least glad to see him again. 

Her father smiled back. "Then come on in pumpkin, I just made some tea, you can have some." he led her inside.

"Just please don't treat me like a little filly." she begged. 

"Sorry, can't help it, you'll always be my little filly to me, no matter what." he chuckled. "But I'll try."

Starlight just enveloped her father in a more loving hug this time. "I'm sorry for everything..." she whispered in her father's ear as she held on to him tightly. 

"I know, I know." he whispered back as he held her close, savoring a moment that he had surely missed after all of these years, father and daughter reunited again. 

To be continued...