> A Man's furry lovers
>  by PuzzleMaster98
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The journey begins.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was early in the morning in Equestria. The sun was just coming up, its rays stretching across the land. In a decently sized cottage on the edge of Ponyville, a strange figure was just waking up.

It stretched and sat up on its bed with a yawn, before getting up and heading to the bathroom. Once it reached the bathroom, it flipped on a light switch, revealing itself in the mirror.

It was a bipedal creature, a little over 6 feet tall, with light brown hair, blue eyes, and tan skin.

It reached out to the faucet on the sink with one of its hands, and turned on the cold water, before scooping up some of the water and splashing its face, causing it to wake up more.

"Ah, that woke me up," said the creature with a young male voice. He then opened up the mirror and grabbed some deodorant before putting it on.

Once he had finished his business in the bathroom, he returned to the bedroom, and opened his wardrobe. He picked out his clothes, and put them on, before looking at himself in the mirror.

He was wearing a light green short sleeve shirt, white socks, tan pants, and light blue sneakers. He smiled, and said, "I must say, Rarity did an excellent job on these clothes."

He then turned, and started to walk out of his room, but stopped to look at the calendar. He noticed that he had written something on today's date, and read it.

"Gavin, you've been in Equestria for 3 months now," he read aloud. Gavin stood there, and thought back to his arrival in Equestria. It had been an interesting day for him.



3 months earlier
Gavin had had a slow day so far. Nothing interesting had happened at all that morning. So, he just spent time sitting in his room, reading his new books he had gotten for his 18th birthday the previous week.

A knock was heard at his door, and he said, "It's open." The door opened, and his mother walked in.

"How are you doing Gavin?" his mom asked.

Gavin sighed. "I'm bored. I've read all these books now, and i don't know what else to do."

His mom sat at the foot of his bed in thought, and then said, "How about you go for a bike ride?"

He thought about it, and nodded, having nothing else to do.

"Thanks mom!" He said with a smile as he got off the bed.

His mom smiled warmly at him, and said, "You're welcome son." With that, Gavin left his room, his shoes on. He went to the garage, and opened it.

Then he got out his bicycle, and left the garage, making sure to close it after him. He went down the driveway, and turned to the right, deciding to go up the hill to the end of the neighborhood.

As he rode his bike, he started singing 'Fireworks' by Katy Perry. He was getting into the song as he rode his bike to the end of the neighborhood, and had just finished singing when he turned around to head back home.

Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled backwards. He got off his bike for better stability, and looked behind him to find that there was nothing behind him to pull him. He turned around, and tried to grab his bike, but he had been pulled away from it.

He looked behind him again as he was slowly being pulled back, and saw a glowing hole in the ground behind him. He tried to run against the force, but didn't make any ground at all. Soon he was tired out from the running, and looked behind him to see how close he was to the hole.

He screamed when he saw that he was only a foot away from the hole. The force suddenly intensified, and he found himself falling backwards into the hole.

Next thing Gavin knew, he was slammed into the ground with a loud Crash!! He felt himself hurting everywhere as he laid there in the ground, not able to move from the pain. He could hear voices all around him though.

"Oh my gosh!! What was that?!!"

"What made that noise!!"

"Did anypony get hurt?"

That comment caught his attention. 'Anypony??' Gavin thought in confusion as the voices continued, he not being able to catch most of what was said.

Soon, he heard a voice loudly say, "Hey everypony!! There's something over here!!"

Gavin stiffened at that, which made him groan internally at the pain. What were they going to do to him? He could hear their footsteps getting closer.

"Let's get a better look at... whatever this thing is."

Suddenly, he felt himself getting picked up by something that made him tingle all over. His body was flipped over, allowing the sun to hit his eyes, causing him to squint.

Through his squinting eyes, he could see several different people, but they were different colors. Some also appeared to have horns or wings, which he chalked up to his squinting eyes.

"What the world are you?" he said in confusion.

He heard several gasps, and then they all started talking at once, making him unable to hear what they were saying. 

Eventually, they all quieted down, and he could see someone coming up to him. It was a purple person, but when they got up right in front of him, he was tilted forward, allowing him to stop squinting.

He was able to clearly see now, and saw that the people surrounding him were indeed different colors. But they were also anthro ponies. They had muzzles, pony ears on the sides of their heads, tails, and hooves for feet.

His attention was then drawn to the anthro pony in front of him. This one had a horn and wings, was covered in purple fur, had purple eyes, and was wearing what looked like a schoolgirl outfit. He also noticed that this one had breasts, so it must be a mare.  He looked at her, and said, "What's going to happen now?"

She stared at him, her eyes having widened a bit. She pointed at him, allowing him to see her hands. He noticed that on her right hand she had a strange symbol, a light purple star surrounded by 5 white stars. He raised his eyebrow at that. Was that a tattoo?

"You can talk?!!" she asked, drawing his attention back to her face.

He nodded, and said, "Of course I can talk. I am a human after all."

As soon as he said that, a mint green mare with a horn on her head squealed in delight.

"A human!! A real life human!!"

The mare proceeded to make her way through the crowd, pushed aside the purple mare with a "Sorry Twilight!", and got right in his face.

"So what are you doing here mister human?" she asked excitedly, a smile on her face.

"I honestly don't know ma'am!!" Gavin said. "I was just riding my bike back home when I was suddenly pulled by some weird force into a glowing hole!! Next thing I knew I had crashed into the ground!! I'm freaking out here!!"

She managed to calm him down, and asked him another question, to which he replied. They then continued to ask each other questions and give answers while the purple one just stood there in shock. And that was how Gavin arrived at Equestria.



Smiling at the memories, he continued to make his way to the kitchen to make some breakfast. He opened his fridge, and pulled out some milk, before going over to the cupboard and grabbing some Raisin Bran. He made his breakfast, and went onto his front porch to eat.

He sat down in his porch chair, and started eating, watching the town of Ponyville wake up. He could see Derpy in her mailmare uniform moving from house to house, occasionally hitting a mailbox or two. With a smile, he got up and walked up to his mailbox.

Derpy arrived a few minutes later, crashing into the mailbox again.

"Good morning Derpy," Gavin said with a smile.

Derpy quickly got up, and replied, "Good morning to you too Gavin!!"

"Anything for me today?" he asked.

Derpy shook her head. "Sorry Gavin. Not today."

He sighed, and said, "It's fine Derpy. You have a good day, and tell Dinky I said hi."

Derpy smiled, and nodded. She then took off, and flew to the next house.

Gavin watched her fly for a few seconds, and then he sighed again. "Nothing again. Oh well."

Gavin walked back inside, grabbing his empty cereal bowl as he did so. As he made his way to the kitchen, he paused as he passed by a glass cabinet.

This glass cabinet held things he had found on each adventure he had with his friends in Equestria. He had a crystal from the Crystal Empire that he had gotten during the crystalling. He had a dragon scale and lava rock from the Dragonlands he had gotten during the Dragon Lord Tournament. He had some other things as well, but these were just a few of the many he had.

He realized that he had never been on a journey alone while in Equestria, which saddened him. He decided there that he would go on a solo adventure starting tomorrow. But where would he start?

As he walked over to the sink to wash his bowl, he thought about where he could start. Ponyville? No, too close to home. Manehattan? Nah, didn't really like the place. Appleloosa? Yes, that could work. He did want to explore the plains.

He nodded, his decision having been made. He would go to Appleloosa tonight, and start the adventure tomorrow.

For the rest of the day, Gavin filled his backpack and small duffel bag with essentials. He made sure to bring a canteen, knife, hat, sunglasses, clothes, food, compass, a book for if he got bored, and other necessities for a journey.

That afternoon, Gavin left a note on his door telling everypony where he was, and how long he would be gone. He also put a letter in the mail explaining to his work that he would be gone for a while. He then locked the door, and went off to the train station, full pack on his back.

He purchased a train ticket to Appleloosa, and got on the train. After the conductor had taken his ticket, he went to the bed he would be sleeping on for the night, and placed his pack on it. He then went to the dinner car to get some dinner.

After dinner, he went back to his bed and closed the curtains before changing into a shirt and boxers. He then got under the covers to go to sleep. But before he went to sleep, he thought, 'I can't wait for tomorrow. Because tomorrow, i start my own journey.' With that thought, he fell asleep.



The next morning

Gavin got off the train at Appleloosa station, and watched it leave the station. He shouldered his pack before turning away from the town, and started heading towards the plains. With a song in his head, he started whistling as he walked off, not knowing where he was going or what exactly he was looking for. But he was ready for an adventure.
> Ruins and a riddle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gavin shrugged his shoulders as he trudged through the plains. His pack was starting to hurt his shoulders a bit, but he had only been walking for about 3 hours. He wanted to make it at least 5 hours before he had a break.

He looked around him as he walked, and saw that there were just shrubs and trees and rock.

To make time fly by, he began to sing "Circle of Life" by Elton John. As he got into the song, he began to walk faster. Soon the minutes turned into hours as he sang song after song while walking.

Eventually, it was lunch time.

Gavin sat down on a flat rock, and pulled out a grilled cheese sandwich. Every so often, he would drink some water from his canteen. After eating the sandwich, he continued on his way.

About 30 minutes later he came across a stream, which gave him the perfect opportunity to fill his canteen. He got down on one knee by the stream, and set the opened canteen into the water. He had to wait several minutes since this was no ordinary canteen. This canteen was magically enhanced to hold 10 gallons of water. After the canteen had been filled, Gavin crossed the stream, and continued to walk.

After walking for several more hours, he had to set up camp for the night.

This occurred for 2 more days, but on the third day it changed.

Towards the end of the third day, Gavin noticed that the landscape was changing. Instead of there being tons of shrubs and trees, there were fewer and fewer. The rocks were also becoming shorter and shorter.

When he looked ahead of himself, he could see sand in the distance. Excitedly, he ran to it.

After running for about 15 minutes, he collapsed on his knees in the sand.

He had made it to the desert!!

He set his pack and duffel bag down next to him, and then went back to the plains to get firewood. He made four trips before he was satisfied with the amount of firewood he had found.

With the wood he found and the flint and steel he had, he made a small fire right as the sun went down. He then pulled out his sleeping bag and opened it, setting it close to the fire, but not too close.

He got out his food, and started to eat when he heard a small bark.

Looking towards the desert, he saw two small foxes sitting close to him. When he saw them, he was able to identify them as fennec foxes by their big ears.

He set his food down, and turned to put more wood on the fire. When he turned back to his food, he caught both of the foxes trying to get his food.

Gavin chuckled at this, and the foxes froze in place, having been caught. He slowly reached out, and pet them on the head, saying, "It's ok. I just can't help but think you guys are so cute! Enjoy the food. I have more."

With that, he turned back to the fire, having eaten his rationed portion for the day.

The foxes stared at him in surprise and confusion. This male creature wasn't mad?? They continued to eat, but they kept watching him as he sat at the fire, tossing on a stick every once in a while.

These foxes were sisters, working together to survive the desert. They had never gotten a chance to eat a meal like this, or met a creature as kind as this one was.

Soon, they had eaten all the food they had gotten, and were very full. They looked at the fire, and could feel its warmth.  They heard the man say, "If you want to, you can come lay down by the fire for warmth. I promise i wont do anything to hurt you."  They looked at the man, and one of the sisters had a strange thought.

How warm is the creature?

She shook her head at this, catching the attention of her younger sister, who asked her what was wrong. When she said, "Nothing," her sister then said, "If it's nothing then how come you are blushing?"

She quickly looked away, and said she wasn't blushing, causing her sister to chuckle silently.

Gavin could hear them whine and bark at each other, which he figured meant they were talking to each other about something. He looked to see if they had finished eating, and chuckled to see two stuffed foxes looking at each other.

He picked up the plate the food had been on, and wiped it off with a paper towel from the side pocket, before tossing the towel into the fire, and placing the plate into the duffel bag.

He then turned to the foxes, and said, "You guys were hungry, weren't you."

The foxes looked at him, and nodded their heads, causing him to smile. 'Well, i know you like the food," he said, smiling.

"If you want to, you can come lay down by the fire for warmth. I promise i wont do anything to hurt you," Gavin said, his tone getting serious at the end.

One of the foxes said something to the other, causing it to turn its head away. He could have sworn he saw a blush on its face, but he dismissed it as the firelight.

He then turned his head to look at the fire, while the sisters had their own talk about what  they were going to do.

The blushing sister said, "Let's go over by the fire."

The younger sister nodded, and said, "Ok, fine. But just because you want to be by the man. Right sister?"

The sister said, "Oh come on. Let's just go by the fire." She then got up, and started walking towards the fire, her sister following her.

Gavin saw the foxes come up to sit by the fire out of the corner of his eye, and smiled. He had company.

They sat in silence around the fire for what seemed like hours, but had really only been 30 minutes, before the foxes started to move again.

Gavin had just added some more fuel to the fire, when he felt something crawl onto his lap. Looking down, he froze.

The fennec foxes had gotten into his lap, and were looking at him.

Gavin relaxed. "So, would you like to know more about me?" he asked them. The foxes nodded, and yipped in response, making him smile.

"Well, ok, but i have a question for you two?"

The foxes stared at him, waiting for the question.

"Ok. Well, are you boys or girls? Yip once if your a boy, and yip twice if your a girl please."

The foxes immediately yipped twice, telling Gavin that they were girls.

"Ok little ladies. Thank you. Now, about me." And he proceeded to tell them all about him. What he was, what he was doing out here, and other things like that.

After he had finished telling them about him, he yawned and said, "Well girls, I'm glad you listened to my history, but I'm afraid I have to go to bed now. It's getting late. And I want to get a good start in the morning."

The foxes whined, and made such adorable pouty faces that Gavin almost gave in. Almost.

"I'm sorry, but i need to go to bed. Am I going to have to pick you up to do that?" he said, looking at them. They nodded. "Well, here I come." With that, he scooped them up in his arms, causing them to squeal in delight, and placed them on the ground next to him, before getting up.

He waved to them, and said, "Goodnight girls." He then went over to his sleeping bag, got in it , and went to sleep, the fox sisters watching him.

The older one turned to the younger and said, "I don't want him to leave, do you?"

The younger shook her head. "I don't want him to leave either. I like him, and I know you do too."

She blushed, and said, "Well, we can't stop him, but maybe we can come with him."

"How sis?"

She went over to the open side pocket he had forgotten to close, and said, "We can hide in here. Gavin won't notice us in here till it's too late. I'll go first."

She entered the pocket, and wormed her way to the end before curling up into a ball to sleep, hidden from view. Her sister followed her soon after, curling up into a ball and hidden as well.

Soon all three were fast asleep, and in the land of dreams.



Gavin woke up the next morning, and yawned loudly before stretching. He had slept ok the previous night, but had been mildly uncomfortable.

He pulled out some fresh clothes, and changed his old ones with them. Now he was wearing light blue shorts, thin gray socks, his blue sneakers, and a white short sleeve button shirt

After eating breakfast, he packed up his stuff, noticing that the foxes were gone, and started to make his way into the desert, completely unaware of two little hitchhikers in his pack.

After an hour had passed, he came upon a cactus. This cactus looked strange though. It had long spines all over its body, and its branches looked like arms with spines for fingers. As he got close to it, the branches started to move towards him, causing him to quickly back away and pass by it.

A few more hours went by, and it was lunch time. Gavin pulled out a picnic blanket and a small umbrella from the duffel bag. He spread out the blanket, and placed the pack on it, before opening up the umbrella and holding it over him as he sat down.

He opened up the pouch on top of his pack, and pulled out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. After he closed his pack, he began to eat, drinking small amounts of water every now and then.

After he finished eating, he packed everything back up, and continued walking.

Suddenly, the wind began to blow, causing Gavin to stop. He looked in front of him, and saw a sand storm coming his way. He quickly kneeled down in the sand, placing his duffel bag and pack before him, and opened the umbrella in front of him.

The storm hit him in the next minute. He could feel the wind pushing against the umbrella. He tightened his eyes shut, waiting for the storm to end. and as fast as it had hit, it was gone.

Gavin closed the umbrella, and put it on his belt. He got up, feeling sand fall off his legs. He patted his things to get sand off them, and then continued on his way.

2 more hours went by before anything interesting happened.

He walked over a sand dune, and found himself staring at large black ruins. He quickened his pace, and found himself at the edge of the ruins, allowing him to see that the ruins were made of a black stone.

He walked around the edge till he came upon a fairly sturdy-looking awning.

Walking under it, he found a door to the ruins, and went over to try and open it. But he couldn't figure out how to open it. He could not find a visible or hidden keyhole or latch. So he sat down in the shade provided by the old awning, to rest and think about how to open the door, looking at it as he did so.

To his surprise, he noticed that there were several carvings on the door. He looked at them closer, and saw that they were words. But they were in a language he could not read.

Gavin sighed, and traced his fingers on one of the carvings in thought.

The carvings suddenly started glowing, startling Gavin. He quickly stood up, and stared at the glowing carvings. He watched as they began to change shape, and realized that they were becoming English words. Once the glowing had stopped, Gavin read the words.

Answer this riddle, and the door will open for you.
Fourty white ponies on a red hill,
first champ, then stamp, and then stand still.

What am I?


Gavin read and reread the riddle several times, making sure he had all of it before he made his answer.

He stood in thought for a few minutes, thinking of what it could be. He ran his tongue over his teeth, and his eyes widened.

He knew the answer!!

He looked at the door, and said, "The answer to your riddle is teeth!"

The carvings glowed, and then the door began to open, rumbling as it did so. Gavin watched as the door disappeared into the ground, before the rumbling ceased.

Gavin walked to the edge of the doorstep, and peered inside. He didn't see any traps, so he went inside.

As soon as he had gone inside, the door rose back up, blocking his exit and leaving him in darkness.
> Traps, puzzles, gems, and plants
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Shit!" Gavin said, looking at the now sealed entrance. "Now I can't get out." As soon as he had said this, words glowed onto the door.


To leave this place, one must obtain the heart of the Temple,
And bring it to this door. Only then will you be allowed to leave.
Or, speak your true love's name, and you can leave.


Gavin read those words to himself, before nodding his head in understanding.

"So all I have to do is find this 'heart' and bring it here," he said. "That's not so hard." Looking at the words again, he continued, "Or, I can say my true love's name." He shook his head at that. "But I don't know who my true love is."

"So, the heart it is then!"

He then looked around him, but was unable to see a thing.

"But it will be hard navigating through the dark, and any traps along the way."

With that, he reached into his pack for his flashlight, and pulled it out. Turning it on, he pointed it around the room.

The room he was in was rather small, with no visible windows or doors. It did, however, have a pedestal in the middle of it, which Gavin approached.

Once he reached the pedestal, he noticed that there was a pot on it. Looking into the pot, he smelled tar. Leaning back, he wondered aloud, "Now, what am I supposed to do?"

Words glowed on the pot, saying,

Light this with no magic and you may enter with guidance.
Light with magic, and you will suffer.


Gavin shuddered at the 'use magic and you will suffer' part, but grinned at the 'no magic' part.

"I don't have any magic at all. So I have nothing to worry about."

He reached into his side pocket, and pulled out the flint and steel he had used last night.

He struck them together over the pot. Once!! Twice!! Three times he struck. The third time, the tar caught on fire. Gavin was barely able to avoid getting his hands burned, but he was able to avoid it.

The fire burned in the pot, and then spread along troughs in the walls and floors that Gavin had overlooked. They lit up the room, and he turned off the flashlight since there was light in the room. He then put it and the flint and steel away.

A rumbling sound was heard, and the back wall split in two, revealing a lit hallway to him.

"Yes!!" he cheered. "I can move on!"

As he cheered, he heard something in his pack whimper, causing him to stop.

He slowly took his pack off, and set it down on the ground. Carefully, he opened the top pouch, but found nothing. He checked the duffel bag, but again found nothing.

"Where the fuck is that noise coming from?" he whispered to himself.

He heard the whimper again, and looked at the one place he had not checked. The side pocket. Carefully and slowly, he reached out and opened the pocket.

Two fennec foxes came out of it!!

Gavin stared at the foxes in surprise. He recognized them as the foxes that had eaten with him and sat by the fire with the previous night.

"What in the world are you doing in there?" he asked them, surprise in his voice.

The sisters were stretching, having been cooped up in the pocket for several hours. They turned to see Gavin looking at them in shock. With happy yips they ran at him, causing him to bend down and pick them up.

Once he picked them up, they started licking his face, causing him to chuckle.

"Well, you shouldn't have hidden like that. But I did miss you girls too," he said, looking at them.

This made the sisters jump down, and yip happily. He smiled, and closed up the side pocket before turning to the girls.

"Alright girls. I need to tell you something." This made them stop, and run over to his feet, looking up at him.

Gavin squatted down and said, "I found these ruins, and made this my adventure. The thing is, I can't leave unless I find the 'heart' of the Temple. So, basically we're stuck in here until we find it."

The girls looked troubled at the revelation.

"I want you to know that there may be traps and other dangers along the way. So, if you want to get into my pack, now is the time."

The girls looked at each other, yipped between themselves, and then walked up to him. They then tried to get into his shirt, startling him.

He knew that they would want to be protected, so that's why he had offered them his pack. But he didn't expect them to do this.

He stood up, and looked at them, but regretted it instantly. The sisters were using the power of cuteness to win him over. They were making PUPPY EYES!!!

He would not give. He would not give. HE WOULD NOT GIVE!!!

Gavin sighed, and tucked in his shirt, tightening his belt so it would stay tucked in, before getting down on his knees.

"Come here," he said, reaching out with his arms. The sisters ran over to his arms, and he unbuttoned the top of his shirt before placing them inside it. He then left the top buttons unbuttoned so that they could look out if they wanted to.

"Does that work for you girls?" he asked them, getting yips in response.

"Well, ok."

The sisters were so happy!! They were with Gavin. They could revel in his scent!! They were so glad!!

Gavin put his pack back on, and began walking down the lit hallway, the foxes snuggling with him as he walked.

Gavin soon came to a part of the hallway that looked.....suspicious. He took a pebble lying on the floor, and tossed it in front of him. As soon as the pebble landed on the floor in front of him, a large axe swung from the wall and into the ground.

Gavin and the sisters sighed in relief when they saw that he had been right. He picked up more pebbles, and made his way down the hallway, tossing them every few steps, causing each axe trap to be triggered, and allowing them to pass safely.

Suddenly, the hallway came to a dead end. Gavin frowned at this.

"A dead end?" He said, reaching out and touching the stone wall.

Words glowed on the wall, startling them.


Fix the image shown before you, and you will pass
Fail to do so, and you will die.


"What image?" he wondered. At that moment, a large chunk of the wall glowed bright, before stopping. In its place was the image of a sphinx.

Gavin watched as the image suddenly turned into a bunch of puzzle pieces, and landed on the floor. Above the image, a counter appeared, saying, "0/500 pieces correct."

The sisters looked up at him, worried he might not be able to do it. Gavin had a huge, shit-eating grin on his face.

"This will be fun. I love puzzles!!" he said. Looking down at the girls, he said, "Don't worry. I got this."

With that, he proceeded to begin the puzzle.



1hour and 30 minutes later
Gavin had a huge smile on his face as he placed the last piece into the puzzle. The sisters yipped in happiness, and jumped up, licking his face before diving back into his shirt.

With a loud Click!, the wall started to move to the side with a loud rumble. Once the wall had disappeared, another lit hallway was revealed.

He looked at the girls and said, "Lets keep on going, shall we?" The girls yipped in response, causing him to continue down the hallway.

As he walked down the hallway, he tried to see what was on the walls, but the flames blocked his view.

Soon they came to a room that had many, many gems on pedestals in it. In the middle of the room was a giant diamond on a pedestal.

Gavin walked up to the pedestal holding the diamond, awestruck by its size.

"It's....so big!!" he breathed out, the sisters agreeing with him.

He looked down at the pedestal, and noticed glowing words on it.


Make this Diamond glow with bright light,
so the path before you can be set alight.


"So, the path leading from here is dark right now. But to light it, we have to get this beautiful diamond to glow," he said.

"Alright, so how do I do that?"

He looked around, and noticed that each pedestal holding a gem was emitting a light into the gem, which was focusing the light into a beam.

Gavin smiled when he saw this. He knew what to do.

After several minutes of effort, he was able to move three of the pedestals so the beams of light hit the diamond. It glowed a dull white, meaning he needed to aim more beams at it.

After 1 hour of work, he was able to move the rest of the pedestals so the beams of light hit the diamond. It glowed with a bright light, and a rumbling noise was heard in the distance, before the rear walls split down the middle, revealing a lit hallway.

"We did it!" he cheered, raising his hand in the air. The sisters hadn't doubted him on this one, and yipped in response.

He then made his way to the hallway, and went down the hallway, shadowy figures by the diamond silently watching them with interest.

Gavin and the sisters soon came to a room with a large skylight in the roof, the light coming from it landing on a large patch of trees and other plants. Beyond the plants, sat a door.

He walked over to the patch of plants, and stepped on a stone, triggering a pedestal to rise from the floor.

He looked at the pedestal, and words glowed from it.


Sing a song to the plants, their reactions may vary.
Sing good, and they will let thee pass.
Sing bad, and thou will never pass


"So, I have to sing well in order to pass through the plants," he said. Looking down at the girls, he said, "I have to sing now, just so you know."

The girls yipped excitedly. They hadn't heard him sing before.

He drank some water and cleared his throat before he started to sing a song he remembered having heard one time while in Canterlot.





Lullaby for a princess


Fate has been cruel and order unkind
How can I have sent you away?
The blame was my own; the punishment, yours
The harmony's silent today
But into the stillness I'll bring you a song
And I will your company keep
'Til your tired eyes and my lullabies
Have carried you softly to sleep

Once did a pony who shone like the sun
Look out on her kingdom and sigh
She smiled and said, "Surely, there is no pony
So lovely and so well beloved as I"
So great was her reign and so brilliant her glory
That long was the shadow she cast
Which fell dark upon the young sister she loved
And grew only darker as days and nights passed

Soon did that pony take notice that others
Did not give her sister her due
And neither had she loved her as she deserved
She watched as her sister's unhappiness grew
But such is the way of the limelight, it sweetly
Takes hold of the mind of its host
And that foolish pony did nothing to stop
The destruction of one who had needed her most

Lullay moon princess, good night sister mine
Rest now in moonlight's embrace
Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth
Through cloud, and through sky, and through space
Carry the peace and the coolness of night
And carry my sorrow in kind
Luna, you're loved so much more than you know
May troubles be far from your mind
And forgive me for being so blind

The years now before us
Fearful and unknown
I never imagined
I'd face them on my own
May these thousand winters
Swiftly pass, I pray
I love you; I miss you
All these miles away

May all your dreams be sweet tonight
Safe upon your bed of moonlight
And know not of sadness, pain, or care
And when I dream, I'll fly away and meet you there
Sleep
Sleep
Sleep


Once he had finished singing, he looked down at the sisters, and saw tears coming down their cheeks.

"It's ok. I'm here," he said to them. "Dry your tears girls. There's no need to cry."

The girls wiped their tears using his shirt and their paws. Gavin smiled at them, and then looked up to see what the verdict was.

The plants were all drooped over, as if in sadness, and had moved far apart to make a path to the door.

Gavin was surprised, and impressed. He loved that song, but he didn't know it was that powerful. He quickly walked over to the door, which slid open for him, revealing yet another lit hallway.

He began making his way down the hallway, while figures stepped out from among the plants with tears in their eyes, having heard the song he had sung.

Gavin eventually came up to a large door in front of him that had glowing words on it.


Beyond this door lies your last challenge.
Succeed, and you have rightfully earned the heart of the Temple
Fail, and you will die
When you are ready, knock on the door


Gavin looked at the sisters, and asked, "Are you ready?" The sisters nodded. They were ready.

He took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. The door split in two, and slid apart revealing....
> Riddle me this
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

....a large room with a large skylight in the roof. The room had velvet carpets, and purple curtains hung on the walls. In the middle of the room was a large bed. Behind the bed was another door, presumably leading to the 'heart'.

Gavin walked inside the room, the sisters still in his shirt, and the door shut behind him quickly, making all three jump and turn around in surprise.

"Well, hello there sirrr," said a seductive, velvety voice. Gavin turned around, and his and the sister's jaws dropped.

There on the bed was a Sphinx!!!!!

She was easily a little smaller than an elephant. Her fur and wings were maroon with a gray underbelly and tail fluff. Her face was a mare's, with golden cat eyes. The jewelry, headdress, and makeup she wore were reminiscent of something a pharaoh would wear.

"H-h-hello," he managed to say.

"May I know who and what you are?" she asked with a sly smile. He nodded, and took a deep breath to calm himself before responding.

"My name is Gavin Woodring, and I am a human being."

The Sphinx raised an eyebrow at that. "A human you say. Why, I’ve never seen a human before. Very interesting.” Her sly smile increasing as she spoke.

"Well, as much as I would like to learn more about you, we have a challenge to do."

He nodded.

"So, I am your final challenge," she said with a grin.

Gavin nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"Well, I will be doing a riddle challenge. I will give you three riddles. If you get even one of them wrong, it's bye-bye life. If you get all three right, you then have to tell me three riddles. If I can't get one right, which is highly unlikely by the way, then you will have won the challenge."

Gavin nodded, and said, "Alright. I'll do it. But I need to do something else first."

The Sphinx raised an eyebrow at that, confused as to what he was talking about. He reached his arm into his shirt, and pulled out one of the sisters and set her on the floor, before reaching back in and pulling out the other one, setting her alongside her sister.

"Sorry for taking so long girls," he said to them. "I would have let you out sooner, but I didn't know if there were more traps or not, and I don't want you to get hurt."

They yipped back a reply, but then noticed the Sphinx in the room, who was looking at them in surprise.

"Did you ride in that man's shirt all the way here?" she asked them, shocked.

They barked to her that they had ridden with him since they met him in the desert. The Sphinx was able to understand their barks, and was indeed impressed with the man for his patience with them, since fennec foxes can get a bit antsy.

She turned to look at the man, curiosity and interest rising in her.

"Girls, the Sphinx and I are having a riddle game right now, so don't interrupt us, ok?" he said to them as he put his pack down.

They yipped once, and then leapt onto the duffel bag to watch.

Gavin turned his gaze from them to the Sphinx, thinking, 'I have to win, not just for myself, but for them as well.'

"Give me the first riddle."

The Sphinx sat up, and said, "Until I am measured I am not known, Yet how you miss me when I have flown. 
What Am I?"

He thought and thought for several minutes, thinking of all the things he missed when they have flown. Finally, after 5 minutes of thinking, he got the answer.

"Is it time?" he asked. The Sphinx looked at him with no emotion, and said, "That is correct. On to the next riddle. It is much more difficult."

"Bring it," he said.

The Sphinx said, "Name an eight letter word that has kst in the middle, in the beginning, and at the end."

Gavin thought hard for several minutes, trying to think of words with those requirements. He was scratching his brain thinking of words that could work. But none of them could. He realized then that he was acting like Twilight when she was late with an assignment, which caused him to chuckle before pausing.

He thought about what she used when writing the assignment, and found the answer.

He turned to the Sphinx, who had a smirk on her face, thinking she had won, and said, "It is 'inkstand'."

The Sphinx's smirk fell, and she growled in displeasure. She was certain that he would have lost. No matter. She still had her big one.

"Alright, human. Here is your last riddle," she said, sneering a little.

"Voiceless it cries,
 Wingless flutters,
 Toothless bites,
 Mouthless mutters.
"

Gavin stood there in thought for several minutes. Eventually the Sphinx got impatient and said, "Well, what is it?"

He looked up at her, and said, "Wind."

She growled at that. "That is correct! Now you must tell me three riddles."

He sighed. "Alright, here's the first riddle."

"This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down."


The Sphinx sat there for a few seconds, and then said, "Time."

Gavin sighed. "Yes. That is correct. On to the second riddle."

"What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?"


The Sphinx sat in thought for a few minutes before she grinned. "The letter m."

He sighed again. "Yes. That is the answer. Now, let me think of the third one." He stood there, trying to think of a difficult riddle for her to try and solve.

After several minutes, he had almost given up hope when he remembered a riddle he would ask ponies in Ponyville and in Canterlot, and they would never get the right answer.

He looked at the Sphinx with a sly grin. "Alright. I have it!! The riddle that you will fail at. It's my favorite one. Not even Princess Celestia got it right."


"A box without hinges, key, or lid,
yet golden treasure inside is hid."


The Sphinx's eyes widened, and she sat there thinking for several minutes. Eventually, Gavin decided to end it, and said, "What is your answer?"

The Sphinx looked at him in anger, and said, "I. Don't. Know!"

"Well that means I won the challenge!" he said happily, to which she nodded with a frown. "Would you like to know the answer to the riddle?" Again she nodded. "It's an egg."

She stared at him for several seconds, before face-palming herself. Hard.

"Are you ok?" he asked in concern.

"No!" she cried out. "I can't believe I lost. And to a stupid riddle like that!" With that, she put her head in her paws and started crying.

He couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her as he watched her cry. So he carefully approached her, and wrapped his arms around her as best he could. This caused her to stop crying, and look at him, her makeup slightly smeared.

"Why are you hugging me?" she choked out.

"Because you need to be hugged," he replied. "Losing hurts. Especially to dumb reasons. But we can move beyond them, and grow. So dry your eyes, and calm down." He reached out and patted her paw.

She smiled at him. "You are free to go now. I'll be fine." With that, she wiped her tears out of her eyes.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Cause I can be with you for a few more minutes if you need me to." She shook her head.

"No. I'll be fine. Go on, Gavin Woodring."

"Alright," he said as he picked up the girls. "I guess we will be leaving now. See you again?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Alright then, goodbye." With that, the foxes hopped back in his shirt as he grabbed his things to leave. He walked around the bed to the door, which rumbled open for him. He turned to the Sphinx one last time, and waved goodbye as he went through the doorway.

As the door rumbled shut behind them, the Sphinx got up from the bed, and pulled one of the bed posts, making a section of the wall divide, revealing a hallway for her.

As she left the room, she said with a grin, "We will meet again soon, my king."
> The heart of the journey
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gavin had been walking down the hallway he had entered from the Sphinx's room for a few minutes, and he was getting a little bored.

He looked down at the sisters snuggled up against his stomach, and examined them more closely.

One of them had an orange spot on top of her head, while the other didn't. He realized then that he hadn't named them.

"Girls," he said. "I want to talk to you about something."

They looked up at him as he continued to speak, their large eyes looking at him.

"I was wanting to name you, if that's ok."

They looked at each other and then back at him, nodding their heads. They were fine with being named.

"Great!! Well, you (pointing at the one with an orange spot) are going to be Kyu, and you will be called Lea. Are those names acceptable?" They nodded their heads excitedly at this.

"Excellent!! Now lets see where that 'heart' is."

A few minutes later, they found themselves in front of another large door. Glowing words were engraved on it.

In this chamber lies the heart of the Temple,
an artifact that will help you find your true love,
and change their form to be together.
Give respect, and it will respect you.
Disrespect, and it will hurt you.


Gavin looked at the sisters with surprise on his face.

"Wow! Who knew the heart was that important." Kyu and Lea nodded in agreement. "But, it's the only way we can get out of here. So, here we go."

With that, he touched the door, causing it to slide down.

As it did so, they were allowed to see the room beyond it. It was a simple room, with some windows and a pedestal in the middle.

Gavin walked in, and started heading towards the pedestal. As he did so, he couldn't help but notice that there were at least three more doors leading to this room, and he wondered where they led to.

When he reached the pedestal, he was able to see the heart.

It was beautiful!!.

Shaped like the Crystal Heart, it glowed a soft orange as it sat on a velvet pillow. It looked as if it was made of some orange crystal.

"Wow!! The heart of the Temple," he whispered in awe.

Suddenly, glowing words appeared in front of the heart.

One final test you must take,
Before you can make your escape.
This heart is full of unimaginable power
If you take it, what will you do with this power
Your heart will give you the truth to say
So say it and receive your gifts right away"


Gavin read that, and stood there, thinking about what had been written. He needed to answer truthfully, and he would get what he deserved from whatever he said.

'Alright Gavin, you can do it,' he thought. Taking a deep breath, he spoke.

"Honestly, if I had unimaginable power in my world, I probably would have been a bastard. I would have wanted to rule the world. Here though, I would want to be judged, and helped with this power. To control it. In this world, I have friends. Actual friends who will help me when I need them. Back home, I didn't have any friends like that. But here, I have friends who give me guidance. Friends who helped me out when I first arrive on this world, scared and alone. Heck!! Even now I'm still lonely!! I haven't found love, nor do I ever think I will. But I want to be able to help others out. I know I'm not worthy to have this power. I'm just a human that ended up in a different world. That's all I am and that's all I can say. It's up to you to decide what happens now." Having finished his speech, he stood there, and closed his eyes, waiting to be punished for not being worthy for the heart.

After several seconds, he felt something tap his head, confusing him. Opening his eyes to see what was going on, he saw that the heart of the Temple was floating in front of him!!?? He gasped, having not expected this to happen. Glowing words appeared in the air above the heart.


You have spoken the truth, and we have seen your thoughts
Nothing has been kept from us, we have seen all you have done and want to do.
You spoke the truth when you said you would have been a bastard with the power in your world.
But in this world, you would not because your friends would help you, like they have since you arrived on this world.
Because of the truth you spoke, and the humility you showed,
We bestow the heart of the Temple upon you, Gavin Woodring
Use it well, and remember to ask your friends for guidance
And love your soulmates with all your heart.
We are the makers of the heart, able to rest in peace now that it has been bestowed.
Farewell


With that, the glowing words faded into nothingness, and the heart of the Temple floated over to Gavin, who reached out with his hand to take it.

As soon as he took it, he felt himself let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Suddenly, the heart started to glow, causing him to cover his eyes from the light. The glowing soon stopped, allowing him to uncover his eyes, and look at the heart again.

He gasped, his eyes widening in surprise.

It had changed form!!

Now it was a gold crown with small orange crystal hearts all around it.

With crown in hand, he turned around to let the girls out so he could talk with them and show them the crown, but stopped moving once he did so.

They weren't alone.
> The others
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gavin stared at the others in the room. He recognized the Sphinx, who smiled at him. He recognized the Diamond Dogs, but they looked different from the ones he had seen. These were wearing bras that covered their 6 CC-cup breasts, and were wearing short jackets with gems. He also recognized the timberwolves, but they also looked different. They looked bigger than normal timberwolves, and had a flower behind the left ear. He did not, however, recognize the last one.

The last one was wearing a cloak that covered their whole body, preventing him from seeing what they were.

The girls stuck their heads out of his shirt to see what was the matter, and froze when they saw that they had company.

The Diamond Dogs chuckled at this, while the others just smiled. The one wearing the cloak started walking towards Gavin, Kyu, and Lea, who were frozen in fear. They didn't know what to do.

The cloaked one stopped right in front of them, and reached their hand out towards his free one, revealing a yellow furred hand with black spots. Once they reached his hand, they pulled his hand towards them a little bit, making his eyes widen in surprise.

"You're not going to hurt me, are you?" he asked the figure, who shook its head in response.

"Oh thank goodness!!" he sighed in relief, visibly relaxing. "I was afraid I was going to have to fight you. And I knew I wouldn't win if I did. I'm not much of a fighter."

He looked back at the crown in his other hand, and whistled.

"This is a nice crown. But why did it become a crown?" he said, holding the crown up for them to see. The cloaked figure let go of his hand, and practically leaped back in shock at the sight of the crown, while the others gasped.

"What?" Gavin asked them, confusion on his face.

The cloaked figure turned to him, and walked up to him before removing the cloak from them.

The figure was an anthro cheetah girl. She had 2 DD-cup chests, which she covered with two training bras made of woven grass, was covered in cheetah fur, her face looked like a cheetahs, had paws for feet, a tail, and she was wearing black running shorts.

"It became a crown for the one who will use it for good and will be fair and just," she said, making him nod in understanding.

"Alright. Thanks for the explanation, Miss....," He trailed off, not knowing her name.

"My name is Cream," the cheetah girl replied.

"Well thanks again Miss Cream for explaining that to me," he said with a smile. But it soon change to a look of confusion when he said, "So, why are you all here? Are you going to take the crown from me?"

They all shook their heads.

"No," chuckled the Sphinx. "We're all here for the same reason."

"And that one reason is?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Kyu and Lea also raised an eyebrow, wondering too what the reason was.

Cream blushed, and said with a giggle, "Why, you of course!!"

Gavin and the fox sister's jaws dropped upon hearing that. "W-wait waitwaitwaitwaitwait," he said nervously. "You mean to tell me that all six of you came here for me."

They all nodded. "But why? I'm nothing special," he said. The sisters disagreed, and hopped out of his shirt, landing on the ground in front of him. They turned to him, and started yipping at him. How dare he say he wasn't special!! They would tell him just how special he was!

"That's where you are wrong Gavin," the Sphinx said as she started to move towards him, drawing everyone's attention to her. "You are special. You beat me in a game of riddles. It's not every day that someone beats a Sphinx in riddles. And those two foxes there are saying that you are very special to them."

He looked down at Kyu and Lea, and said, "Kyu, Lea, do you really think so?"

They nodded their heads up and down quickly, wagging their tails as well. He smiled at that, and said, "Thanks girls."

The Diamond Dogs then spoke up, heading towards him as well. "We watched you as you solved the gem puzzle. We were interested in what you would do with the gems. When you complimented the diamond, we felt happy. So we followed you to here."

The Sphinx then pointed to the timberwolves, who were also moving towards him with wagging tails, saying, "These two girls were in the plants you had to sing to. They heard your song, and wept at its beauty. They followed you from then on, interested in you."

Finally, Cream spoke. "I was hiding in the shadows in this room. When you first arrived, I didn't know what to think about you. I had never seen anything like you before."

Gavin nodded his head at that, knowing that she would have never seen a human before since they didn't exist in Equestria. Well, only he existed.

She continued. "When you started talking to the heart, I was struck with how sincere you were, and how truthful you were to the heart. And when you mentioned how lonely you felt, I was saddened by that. No one should have to be alone. Once you had finished your speech, I had hoped that you would not be punished. To my amazement, you were given the heart!! I knew then that you were special, for the heart would only choose someone worthy of its power, and they must be special. So, you see Gavin. You are special."

Once she finished, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug, surprising him. He slowly wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug. He noticed that she mildly smelled of lavender.

After a few seconds went by, they broke the hug, both of them smiling.

"Thanks," he said calmly.

"It's not a problem at all," she replied with a smile.

The Sphinx then said, "My turn!!"

Before he knew what was going on, he found himself being held against the Sphinx's chest with her paw, which he saw was as large as his head. He looked up to see that the Sphinx had a large smile on her face as she looked at him. He wrapped his arms around her chest as best he could, and he could swear he could hear her purring!!

After several seconds, she put him back down on the ground, where Kyu and Lea were waiting for him, along with the Diamond Dogs and Timberwolves.

Once he was safely on the ground, he found himself sandwiched between the Diamond Dogs, who pressed themselves against him. He could feel their breasts, and had to will himself to not pop a boner.

"It's our turn," one of the Diamond Dogs said. She was slightly taller than the other one, and had brown fur, with yellow eyes.

"Yes it is," said the other. She had gray fur and green eyes. "My name is Sasha."

The tall one said, "And I am Sapphire."

"N-nice to meet you, Sapphire and Sasha," he said, doing his best to keep his cool. Luckily, they didn't catch his stutter. Instead, they put their heads on his shoulders, and snuggled with him.

After a few minutes of snuggling, they let go of Gavin, and stepped back from him.

He watched with slight fear as the timberwolves made their way towards him. But that fear went away when they began nuzzling him.

He smiled, and sat down on the ground, crown still in hand. The wolves went up to his face, and started licking him with their smooth leafy tongues, getting chuckles from him in return.

He started petting them while they did this, and felt their fur. It felt soft, like grass, which made sense, since they were timberwolves. They did this for several seconds, and then went back a few steps, allowing Kyu and Lea to get to him.

The two foxes jumped into his lap, and put their paws on his chest while licking his chin. He chuckled and picked them up, earning a few surprise yips from them. They continued to lick him though, until they decided to stop and look at the crown in his other hand, curious about it.

Gavin noticed that they were looking at the crown, and decided to tell them what had happened. Once he had finished telling them about the crown, the girls were looking at it with awestruck faces.

He chuckled at their faces, and they looked at him as he chuckled.

"Sorry. It's just that you look so cute with those faces," he said, slightly chuckling. They glanced at each other, before looking back at him and yipping at him.

Gavin looked at the Sphinx, and said, "What did they say?"

The Sphinx said, "They said that they liked the compliment, and that they also want you to put the crown on."

After she said that, Kyu and Lea both nuzzled the crown in his hand, drawing his attention back to it.

"So, you two want me to put the crown on?" he asked them, only to receive yips in response. "I'll take those as a yes. But first, let me get up."

Kyu and Lea hopped off his lap, allowing him to get up while leaving his pack on the ground.

"Alright. I'll put it on."

With that, he placed the crown on his head, and adjusted it, so it sat comfortably on his head.

"How do I look girls?" he asked them all.

"Like a king," the Sphinx said, the rest agreeing with her.

Gavin blushed. "Thanks, but I'm not a king. I'm just m-."

Just as he was about to finish speaking, the crown started glowing.

They watched in awe as the crown started glowing brighter and brighter. Suddenly, 8 orbs of light shot out of it, and went into the girls, causing them to cry out in alarm.

"Girls!!!" he cried out, panicking at what was happening.

He took the crown off, hoping it would stop. But it didn't.

He could only watch in fear as the girls began to glow bright. Soon they were shining brightly, causing him to cover his eyes.

After a few minutes, the glowing stopped, and he uncovered his eyes. When he looked at the girls, his jaw dropped, and he said, "Holy shit. What in the name of Celestia happened??!!!!"
> Changes and revelations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The girls looked, different than from before. Cream now had a slightly larger ass, and her busts had increased to FF-cups, making her bras strain slightly. Sasha and Sapphire's busts had increased to GG-cups, and their asses had increased slightly in size as well. But the rest of them had significantly changed.

First off was the Sphinx. She had shrunk down a bit, and now was humanoid in shape. She still had her maroon wings and tail, but she had hands. Her belly was still gray, as was her tail fluff, and her face was still a mares, with all her makeup, jewelry, and headdress on her still. Also, her breasts were at least an HH-cup, with large, dark purple nipples.

The timberwolves had changed drastically as well. They were humanoid as well. They still had paws for feet, but their hands had long nails on them. They still had their grass-like fur on them, but one of them had green hair, while the other had brown. Their faces looked like a smaller version of a timberwolf's face. Their breath didn't smell though. They also had their tails, and the flowers were still behind their ears. Their 6 breasts had grown to become EE-cups, with large black nipples. Their asses had also grown a little bit.

Kyu and Lea hadn't been spared from the change either. They were now anthro foxes. They had the face of a fox, with their large ears on top and fur covering their bodies. Their tails had gotten longer, and reached their calves. Kyu still had the orange spot, but it was now on her right hand. Their busts had also increased. They now had 6 DD-cup beasts with large pink nipples, and their asses had grown a little bit as well.

Overall, to say Gavin was surprised would be an understatement. He quickly turned around so that he wouldn't pop a boner. All of them were unconscious, but they were showing signs of coming to.

One by one, they started waking up. Eventually they were all awake, and he asked them, "Are you all okay?"

They looked at him, and replied, "Yes," and "Of course!!"

He sighed in relief. "Good. I was worried about you all." He stayed facing away from them to preserve their dignity.

Cream asked him, "Why are you not looking at us?"

Gavin said, "I'm respecting your dignity."

"Why are you......" the Sphinx trailed off, noticing her changes.

The air was soon filled with screams, causing Gavin to instantly clap his hands over his ears and turn to see who was screaming.

Not surprisingly, it was all of them. They had apparently noticed their changes, and were freaking out about them.

Cream was staring at her changes in shock, jaw dropped. Sapphire and Sasha were also looking in shock at their changes.

The ones with the worst reactions were the Sphinx, timberwolves, and Kyu and Lea. Kyu and Lea were holding onto each other, and shaking slightly. The timberwolves were doing the same.

But the Sphinx? Poor, poor Sphinx. She was curled up in a ball on the floor, wailing away about losing her large size.

This broke his sensitive heart. He hated seeing anybody crying. He braced himself for the pain his ears would have to endure, and took his hands off his ears.

The sound!!! Oh the sound!! It was so loud!! How had the Sphinx not brought down the roof with her cries?!!

He walked over to her, and sat down on the ground next to her. He reached out, picked her up, and gently pulled her into his lap.

He started gently rubbing her back and wings to try to calm her down. It seemed to work, for she started to stop wailing. Soon she had stopped completely, and raised her head to look at him, her makeup smeared all over her face.

"Why are you comforting me?" she choked out.

He smiled at her. "It's because I know what it's like when big changes happen to you suddenly."

This caught her and everyone else's attention.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Kyu and Lea looked at each other. They knew exactly what he meant.

"Let me tell you my story." And he proceeded to tell them all his story. How he had been brought to this world suddenly, and had to adjust living in a world full of magic, while he himself had no magic. How he had made friends that helped him through the changes.

Once he had finished telling his story, the girls were looking at him with awe. This man had been through so much, yet he still was happy. Why?

The Sphinx said, "Why are you still happy after those changes, and not miserable?"

Gavin sighed. "I won't lie. I wasn't happy at first, especially when Twilight told me that there was no way back for me. But I learned to accept the change, and make the best of it."

Looking at them all in the eyes, he said, "And you should accept them as well. Change happens, sometimes big, and sometimes small. But if we make the best of it, we can pull through."

They smiled, and nodded. He was right!! They shouldn't worry about these changes. They should instead make the best of them!!

"Thank you!!" the Sphinx said with a smile. In a lower voice, she continued, "My king," forgetting that he was able to hear her since she was so close to him.

His eyes widened in surprise, and he looked at her in shock.

"Why did you call me your king?" he asked her, surprise in his voice.

The Sphinx's eyes widened as they all looked at her in surprise. Shit!! She hadn't meant for him to hear that!!

She bit her lip as she looked at him nervously.

"Well?" he asked. "Why"

She gulped, and said, "I called you that because you are my mate."

"Wait. What!???" he shrieked, confusion thick in his voice. "When did I become your mate?"

"When you beat me in the riddle game," she said. "For Sphinxes, riddles are our passion. I had decided that if a male beat me in a riddle game he would become my mate."

He stared at her in shock. Well, he would have had he not been distracted by Kyu and Lea leaping at her!!

All three girls rolled off his lap, fighting with each other.

"Get the fuck away from him!!" shouted Kyu. "He's mine!! I've wanted him since we met in the desert."

"Yeah!" shouted Lea. "We've known him longer than you have. So he's ours!!"

This made his eyes widen as he watched them fight.

'They've wanted me that long?' he thought in surprise. 'I never knew. I mean, I'm flattered, but I never thought THIS could happen. Oh what do I do, what do I do? If I say no to Kyu and Lea they'll be heartbroken. Same with Sphinx.'

He looked at the crown in frustration. 'Oh why oh why did you change them like this?' he thought. 'At least then it would make sense as to why I would refuse them. I am a human. They weren't then. Oh why did you change them into thi-'

His eyes widened, remembering something important from earlier abut the crown. He looked at the girls, and then at the crown, and thought, 'Could it be?'

The crown flashed once, and the words appeared in his mind.

"In this chamber lies the heart of the Temple,
an artifact that will help you find your true love,
and change their form to be together."


'That's right!' he thought, his eyes widening at the revelation. 'The heart finds your true love, and changes their form so you can be together.'

Looking back at the girls, he thought, 'They need to know.'

Gavin got up, and looked at Kyu, Lea, and the Sphinx, who were still fighting. He walked over to where they were, and yelled, "Stop it!!"

The girls stopped upon hearing him yell at them, and broke apart from each other. He looked sternly at them and said, "Thank goodness you didn't hurt each other badly."

Looking around the room he said, "I want you all to come over here. I want to tell you what I remembered about the heart of the Temple."

They all quickly got around him, and he had to tell himself not to pop another boner as their breasts bounced and jiggled.

Once they were all around him, he spoke again, "I remembered that there were words on the door leading into here that described what the heart did. And this is what they said, 'In this chamber lies the heart of the Temple, an artifact that will help you find your true love, and change their form to be together'."

The girls looked at him with faces that said, "Really."

He sighed. He should have know they wouldn't believe hi-.

The crown flashed again, and those very words appeared, glowing in the air in front of the girls.

Gavin smiled at that. "See. I was right. That's why you have changed!! That's why! Do you know what this means??!!" he asked excitedly.

The room was silent for several seconds, before one of the timberwolves spoke, "It means we're mates?"

"Yes!!! That's exactly what it means!!" he said. He fell to his knees, and opened wide his arms, saying, "We're no longer alone. Come here."

They all jumped him, knocking him onto his back in their excitement. They quickly got off him, allowing him to sit back up, and resumed hugging him.

He smiled, and said, with tears in his eyes, "I'm no longer alone."

They nodded, and Kyu said, "Yes, because you have us now."

"Thank you so much!!" he cried, hugging them tighter. HIs tears quickly dried up, and he found several pairs of breasts pushing on him, causing him to blush.

A few minutes later, they broke the hug, and got up. Gavin quickly looked away from them, not wanting to see their chests at the moment. He turned, went over to his pack, and got it on, saying, "Well, we better get going."

"Going where Gavin?" asked the Sphinx, the others wondering as well.

"Why, back to my home of course. Where else?" he said, still not looking at them. "Since you're my mates, you're going to be living with me. Alright?" he said, looking at them in the eyes.

They nodded, and Kyu and Lea squealed, saying, "We have a home! A real home!!"

"Great!! Now that that's out of the way, we need to find some clothes for you girls."

"Clothes," the timberwolves asked. "What are clothes?"

He smiled, and pointed at himself, saying, "These are clothes. They keep me warm when its cold, and dry when its wet, Kind of like your fur." The timberwolves nodded, understanding now what clothes were.

"But why do we need them?" Kyu asked.

He said, "Because if you went out in public like the way you are now, ponies might try to cope a feel of your chests."

They frowned at that, and Cream said, "If they did that they would need to run really fast to avoid getting caught. I am a cheetah after all."

Gavin chuckled at that thought. "Yes you would, and the pony that tried to feel up your chest would have to deal with an angry me. And you don't want me to be angry. Its not pretty."

The girls shivered at the thought of him being angry.

"Anyways, now that that's out of the way, where do we find clothes for all of you?" he said, looking at the three other doors.

Cream spoke up again, saying, "I think I saw some clothes in the room where I got the cloak. Let me show you the way."

Gavin nodded his head at that. "That's perfect. Let's go!!"

With that, Cream led them through one of the doors and down a hallway, before entering another room that held many clothes. "This is it," she said with a smile.

Gavin, who had been looking at the walls to follow the girls to avoid looking at their assets, nodded and said, "Thanks Cream. This is perfect."

She smiled, walked up to him, and kissed him on the cheek before joining the rest of the girls with the clothes, who had missed the exchange.

Gavin stood there for a few seconds in shock, before a large smile made its way onto his face, as well as a large blush.

'I think I'm going to like this.'
> The trip home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The trip back through the Temple didn't take nearly as long as Gavin remembered it being. The girls had quickly picked out clothes for themselves to wear, and they were quite pleased with what they found.

The Sphinx was wearing a loose, white silk dress with gold embroidery on it that helped cover her large breasts. Sapphire and Sasha were both wearing light blue jackets that reached to their knees, leaving them open for now. They would close them once they reached civilization. The Timberwolves had decided to wear some blue shorts they had found that fit perfectly around their asses but allowed their tails to stick out. They had also found some light blue shirts that covered their large breasts. Cream was still wearing her sports bras, and had picked out some yellow shorts to wear. Finally, Kyu and Lea had decided to wear matching orange sundresses they had found.

Overall, they looked very nice with their clothes on.

'They looked pretty nice without them as well,' he thought, before shaking his head. Now was not the time to think dirty. They still had a long ways home.

They soon reached the door, which rumbled open when he touched the crown to it. Once it opened, they could see that it was early in the morning. They had been in the Temple an entire night!!

Gavin turned to the group and said, "Alright. It should take us a day to get to the plains, and three more to get to Appleloosa and the train station. Are you ready?"

They nodded, and cheered, "Yes we are!!"

"Then lets go!!" he cried, turning around and starting to follow the edge of the ruins. The girls trailed after him, not wanting to lose him. He was able to find the ruins that he had found the previous day, and found his footprints as well.

Using his footprints as a guide, he started following them, the girls trailing behind him.

As they walked, he decided to get to know Cream a bit more.

"So Cream," he said, getting her attention. "Tell me about yourself. What are your hobbies? What foods do you like to eat?
Stuff like that."

Cream walked in silence for a few minutes, before responding. "Well, I didn't always look like this. I was born and raised in the wilderness as a young cub. I was taught by my parents to hunt and run. I eventually became old enough to live on my own, and I went on a journey to find a place to live. On my journey, I came across a weird looking statue. I don't remember what it looked like, but I do remember trying to get on top of it to get a better look around. We cheetahs like to get up high to look out for potential prey and predators."

Gavin nodded at that. It did make sense that they would get up high to look for prey and predators. "But what happened?" he asked.

She continued, "Well, as I was attempting to climb the statue, I started feeling weird. Like my legs were cramping. Suddenly, I felt pain all over my body. I blacked out when the pain increased. When I came to..."

"You were like what you were when I met you," he finished for her. She nodded.

"Yeah. I freaked out at first, screaming and crying. But I eventually calmed down, and tried to walk away, but I didn't know how in the new body I had. But an old zebra mare found me, having heard my screams and cries. She took me in, gave me the bras I am wearing, and taught me how to write, read, walk, and many more things. Until one day, she told me that she had taught me all she could, and said that I needed to continue my journey." Cream's face was one of sadness, so he went over to her and wrapped his arm around her, prompting her to go on.

"I protested at first. I didn't want to leave her alone. But she told me that she wouldn't be alone. She had her memories of me. But then I said I didn't know where to go. So she told me a tale about a heart in the desert rumored to have the ability to show you your true love. When I had that, my interest was piqued. So I left, waving goodbye to her as I ran off to the desert. A few days later, I reached the desert. I started my search, and for three days found nothing. But on the fourth day, I came across some ruins. I was able to find a large crack in one of the walls, and squeezed my way through. Once I got out of the crack, I found myself in a large hallway with a door at the end. I went over to the door, and opened it, only to find that I was at the room where the heart was. I quickly ran through, shutting the door behind me. I ran up to the heart, and reached out to grab it, only to find that I couldn't touch it. Glowing words appeared before me, telling me that I was not to be the bearer of the heart. Instead, I was to be with the one the heart chose. I didn't quite understand what they meant at the time. But now I think I do." She looked at him with a smile as they continued to walk.

"What do you mean?" he asked, slightly confused.

Her smile grew. "I think now that they meant that the one to be the bearer of the heart was to be my mate."

"Well, that is how it turned out," he said with a smile. "How long have you been waiting at the Temple?"

She shrugged. "About three days. I was running out of food, and had gone searching the Temple for more when I found the room full of clothes."

"Good thing I came when I did then huh," he said, smiling a little. She giggled at that.

"Yes it is," she said.

"Just out of curiosity, how old are you?" he asked politely.

Cream giggled and said, "Well, I'm 19."

"So you're 19? That's a nice age," he said with a smile.

She turned away with a blush, and said, "Why thank you!"

"You're welcome, and thanks for telling me and the rest your story," he said. "Now I know more about you than before. Thank you."

"And it helped pass the time too," said Kyu. Pointing ahead of her, she said, "Look, we're already at the last footprint."

He sighed as he saw that they had reached the last footprint. This must have been where the sand storm hit him. No problem!! All they had to do was go in the same direction the prints had been coming from, and they would reach the plains by nightfall.

They stopped for lunch there, and they ate lunch out under the sun. Gavin watched as the girls ate ravenously, and sighed. Looks like table manners would be one of the first things he taught them when they got home. As he ate his lunch, the girls finished their meals, and started to lick themselves, causing him to stop eating.

"Woah woah woah!!" he cried, getting their attention as they stopped licking themselves to look at him. "Don't clean yourselves like that!! Use these napkins instead."

He got up, and pulled out some napkins from his pack before going over to Kyu and Lea. He knelt down, and wiped the crumbs off their faces with the napkin, before getting back up and going to the other girls to do the same.

Due to the sunlight on their faces, he failed to notice the blushes they had after he wiped their faces. Standing back up, he said, "It's time we move on, but when we get home, I'm teaching you all some table manners. Okay?"

They nodded. "Alright then. Let's pack up, and move out."

They scrambled to their feet, and helped Gavin put everything away, before continuing on their way.

Gavin and the Sphinx were in the front, followed by the rest of the girls.

She hooked her arm around his, causing him to lightly blush. As they walked, she said, "Gavin, what is that in the distance?" She pointed at what appeared to be a man in the desert, causing him to crease his brow in confusion.

"I don't know, but we're getting closer, so we'll know soon enough," he said to her. She nodded, deciding to trust him.

They soon arrived upon the "man," but it turned out to be the same cactus he had encountered the previous day.

"Well I'll be," said the Sphinx in surprise. "It's just a cactus!!"

"Yeah. But from a distance it does look like a man," he said with a smile. It soon changed to a worried look however, when he saw the timberwolves and Cream getting closer to it.

"Girls!! Get away from it!!" he cried out in panic, causing them to turn around in confusion. "That cactus is dangerous!!"

"If you're talking about the spines on it, we know," the greenhaired timberwolf said, turning her attention back to the cactus as they continued to get closer to it.

"No, you don't understand!!" he said, letting go of the Sphinx, and running after them. "It will kill you if it gets the chance!!"

"What?!!" they all cried, turning to look back at Gavin as he ran at them, stopping in their tracks. Suddenly, they heard a growl behind them, causing their fur to stand on end. Slowly, they turned around, only to be greeted with a terrible sight.

The cactus had a large, gaping hole in its front, with long spines for teeth. It reached it's branches out at them as they stood there, paralyzed with fear.

Just as the branches were about to reach them, they found themselves being pushed to the side by someone. After they hit the sand, they heard Gavin say, "Stay away from my girls, you overgrown pincushion!! If you touch them, you will DIE!!!"

They looked up to see that he had pushed them away from the cactus, and was standing in front of them with his arms at his side, his hands balled up into fists. They got back up, and looked at the cactus, only to be surprised.

It had moved its arms away from them, and had closed the hole in its front. It was shaking slightly from the anger and rage in the man's voice.

"Lets go girls," he said, causing them to jump.

He turned to them, a smile on his face. "Lets go."

They nodded, and they quickly got back to the others, who had watched the whole thing with fear. They went around the cactus, giving it a wide berth, and left.

As they left it behind, the girls heard him say, "Sorry about what happened back there girls. I just didn't want you to get hurt."

They shook their heads. "Its ok. We didn't know, and you protected us. That's all that matters."

He sighed with a smile, and said, "Alright then."

Later, they arrived at the edge of the desert, and were greeted with the sight of the plains. Gavin stretched his left hand out, the other holding the crown, and said, "These are the plains. We'll camp here tonight, and continue tomorrow."

With that, they set up camp for the night. While Gavin spread out his sleeping bag and the picnic blanket, he had Kyu and Lea go and gather firewood for the fire. When they returned, he set some firewood aside, and used his flint and steel to light the fire.

After they ate dinner for the night, they sat around the fire. Gavin had offered the girls his sleeping bag, which Cream gladly took. She was fast asleep, as well as Sasha, Sapphire, Kyu, and Lea. Sasha and Sapphire had fallen asleep next to the fire, curled up in two balls. Kyu and Lea had fallen asleep next to him, worn out from the walk they did today. Only Gavin, the Sphinx, and the Timberwolves were awake.

Gavin was feeding the fire every once in a while. The rest of the time, he was either looking at the crown or at the fire, thinking about what had transpired.

A thought occurred to him that he hadn't gotten all their names, and he sat up, turning to look at the Sphinx, who was sitting on the picnic blanket.

She saw him looking at her, and said, "What?"

"I just realized that I never got your name," he quietly said.

"Oh. Is that all?" she said. He nodded.

"Yeah. What else would it be?" he said, to which she giggled.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe something romantic," she said in a suggestive tone.

He blushed, and looked away. "As much as you would like that, this is neither the time nor the place."

She fake pouted, and said, "All right. My name is Nazo."

"Nazo," he said with a smile. "That's a lovely name. Perfect for such a lovely Sphinx as yourself."

Nazo blushed, and hid her face with a wing. "Why thank you." She got up, still hiding behind her wing, and picked up the blanket, before moving over to Gavin, and spread it out next to him before getting on it.

He looked at her closely, and saw that she had a sad look on her face. "What's wrong Nazo?" he asked.

She sighed. "I'm still upset about the fact that I am no longer my original size."

He sighed. "While I can't relate to your problem about losing your size, I can tell you this. That everything will turn out ok."

She looked at him, a questioning look on her face. "Really?"

He nodded his head. "Really. You just have to make the best of things. For example, I don't have any magic, yet I live in a town full of ponies that do. It's almost impossible for me to find a job around town. But I do find jobs for me to do."

"Like what?" She asked.

"Well, I help my friend Rarity gather gems for her dresses every once in a while. I help my friend Fluttershy with tending her garden and help her with her animal friends. I also help my friend Pinkie Pie run Sugarcube Corner, which is a bakery."

"That's a decent amount of jobs," she said, looking at him with surprise.

"Yeah. But this is about you, not me," he said with a grin. "Let's see, what are the pros for having this size?"

"Pros?" she inquired.

"The good things about it," he explained. "The bad things about it are called cons."

"Oh," she said, a look of understanding on her face.

"Well anyways, what are the pros?" he said. "Well, for starters, you can enter places that you couldn't when you were at full size. You can also now talk with ponies without them worrying that you are going to eat them. And you could enter beauty contests now since your smaller. Those are the pros I can think of for you. Now on to the cons. Let's see, for cons you may not like all the attention you receive since you are smaller, and that's all I can think of. Does this help you out?"

As he said those final words, he turned to her.

She sat there in thought, before slowly nodding her head. "Yes. Yes it does," she replied.

He smiled. "Great! Glad I could help."

"Thanks again for comforting me about my size. Good night Gavin," she said with a yawn as she laid down on the blanket.

"You are welcome, and good night Nazo," he said with a smile. He watched as she fell into a deep sleep, before turning his attention to the wolves, who were sitting near him as well.

"May I know your names as well?" he asked them.

The brown haired one said, "My name is Winnie."

The green haired one said, "And my name is Ivy."

"Winnie and Ivy. Those are wonderful names," he said with a smile. "May I ask what the flowers are for?"

Ivy said, "Not at all. The flowers are just for show. We just wanted to make it easier to tell the difference between a male timberwolf and a female one."

He nodded, understanding where they were coming from. "Alright. Not a bad way either. May I ask why you were in the Temple?"

They nodded. "We were born in the forest in the temple, and had lived there for over 20 years," began Ivy

"So you girls are 20 years old?" he asked. They nodded.

"Yes, we are 20 years old," they said.

"Alright. Anyways, continue with your story," he said.

Ivy continued. "We lived there waiting for the day that our parents had told us since we were young. When the one who was to bear the heart would come, and pass through the plants. One day, after our parents had taught us how to hunt, they disappeared. We searched for them in the forest, and eventually found them. But something had happened to them."

"What happened to your parents?" he inquired.

They looked down sadly. "They died."

"I'm sorry for your loss," he said sadly. "Do you need a hug?"

They shook their heads. "No, we're fine. We accepted that they were gone a few years ago."

"Alright," he said, slowly. "But if you ever need to be comforted, I'll be there."

They smiled at him, and said, "Thanks."

Ivy said, "Now where were we in the story?"

Winnie said, "We were at the part where we had found our parents."

"Thanks Winnie!" Ivy said, hugging her sister. "We found them, and buried them in the forest. We mourned for them for two years, and finally moved on. We played, hunted, and slept in the forest for the next few years. Till you came."

Winnie spoke, "When you came, we had just about given up hope that someone would come to get the heart. But when our door opened, and you walked in, our hope was restored. We hoped you would pass. We hid behind the trees, waiting to hear your song. If it pleased the forest, we would let you pass. But if it didn't, we would kill you."

He shivered at that, but kept silent.

Winnie continued. "When you started to sing, we were immediately impressed. You sang beautifully. As the song progressed, we noticed that the plants, and even the trees were starting to droop over. As you went on singing, we began to cry silently from the sheer power of the song. Once you had finished, we watched with watering eyes as you passed through to the other side. When you went through the door, we came out, and went over to where our parents had told us there was a tunnel that led to the heart. We were to only use it if one passed through the plant safely. We entered it, and it led us to the heart's chamber, where we found you looking at the heart, and you know the rest."

Gavin sat in silence, absorbing what they had told him. He looked at them, and said, "Wow. I didn't know that me passing through the plants was so important for you."

"It was," Ivy said. "But it's now over, and we can rejoice!! We not only fulfilled our duty, but we also got a mate!"

He smiled at that, and said, "Yes. Yes we can."

"Um Gavin," Winnie said, drawing his attention. "Can you sing another song for us? We loved the last one you sang, and we would like to here another."

"Sure. But it will have to be just one, alright?" he said.

"Alright Gavin. Just one," Winnie replied.

He cleared his throat, and began to softly sing.


Children of the Night





Come, little children, I'll take thee away
Into a land of enchantment
Come, little children, the time's come to play
Here in my garden of shadows

Follow, sweet children, I'll show thee the way
Through all the pain and the sorrows
Weep not, poor children, for life is this way
Murdering beauty and passions

Hush now, dear children, it must be this way
Too weary of life and deceptions
Rest now, my children, for soon we'll away
Into the calm and the quiet

Come, little children, I'll take thee away
Into a land of enchantment
Come, little children, the time's come to play
Here in my garden of shadows
 

By the time he finished singing, they had fallen asleep.

"Good night girls," he said, a smile on his lips. He put more wood on the fire and looked at the crown that had changed his life.

"I don't know if you can understand me or not. But I want to thank you for what you have done. You have given me a family. That's more than I could ever ask for."

With that, he fell asleep. The crown glowed for a few seconds, before stopping. It had heard what he had said, and was glad.



The next morning
Gavin woke up to see that the sun had just come over the horizon. He got up and stretched, before going over to his pack and grabbing some breakfast for everyone. Once they all woke up, they ate breakfast and packed up camp. With crown in hand, and pack on his back, they left, heading for Appleloosa.

This happened for two more days. They would walk for a few hours, then stop for lunch. They would then continue on their way till nightfall, when they would then set up camp for the night. He would tell them stories about his life at the fire, and would teach them manners before they would sleep. The girls were all quick learners, and quickly grasped most of the manners and concepts he taught them.

At the end of the third day, Gavin was talking with Kyu and Lea about the desert when he, out of the corner of his eye, saw the train station in the distance.

"Girls. We're almost to the station!!" he said, turning to them. "Let's pick up the pace. If we hurry, we can make the train to Ponyville."

The girls cheered, and they picked up the pace.

After a few hours, they made it to the Appleloosa train station, out of breath, but they made it. Luckily, the train station was deserted, with only the attendant there, so the girls didn't have to worry about any perverts. Sasha and Sapphire closed their coats when they reach the ticket booth.

Gavin purchased 8 tickets for Ponyville, and thanked the attendant, who had been staring at the girls in surprise the entire time.

They boarded the train, and gave their tickets to the conductor before quickly heading to their car for the night, not wanting to draw attention.

"Well girls, this is it," he said, looking at all of them as they sat on their beds. "Tomorrow morning you will be seeing your new home."

The girls cheered, and they wished each other a good night before closing their curtains and turning off the light.

Gavin went to bed that night thinking, "I'm going to need to buy some things tomorrow when we get into town.' With that, he fell asleep.



The next morning
Gavin and his girls got off at Ponyville station, ready to see their home. The girls looked around with excitement in their eyes.

As they walked into Ponyville, several ponies started to whisper while looking at them.

"Why is Gavin with those girls?"

"Are those foxes?"

"Is that a Sphinx?"

"What are Diamond Dogs doing here?"

"Timberwolves!! Run!!"

He ignored the comments and panic they were causing, and gave the girls a tour. He showed them Carousel Boutique, where they went inside to get several outfits from his friend Rarity, who Gavin had to calm down when she saw the Diamond Dogs. She had had a traumatic experience with some Diamond Dogs in the past, so it was hard for her to deal with them. After being reassured that they mean no harm, Gavin purchased several outfits for the girls.

Next, he took them to Sugarcube Corner, where they each got served a yummy treat by Pinkie Pie, who whispered to Gavin that their surprise party would happen later that week.

Then he brought them to the furniture store, where he put in an order for a bed big enough to hold all of them. He paid for it up front, and was assured that the bed would be delivered and installed tomorrow morning. With a grateful smile, he tipped the store as they left.

After showing them around for a few hours, he brought them to a crystal castle, and knocked. The door opened to reveal Princess Twilight Sparkle, who was wearing the same outfit she had on when she first met Gavin. He introduced her to the girls, and told her that he had finished his adventure, and wanted to tell her about it. He had even found a powerful artifact!!

That peaked her interest. When she asked what was the artifact, he smiled, and said he would show her inside the castle to which she agreed. She let them inside, and led them to a nice sitting room, where all the girls sat down while he stayed standing.

He pulled out the crown and showed it to her, telling her that it was called the "heart of the Temple." When she heard the name, her eyes widened, and she gasped.

"The Heart of the Temple!!???" she practically yelled. "You found it!!??" He nodded and said that he would be glad to tell her about it.

She nodded frantically, and said to wait for a few minutes while she contacted the princesses.

When he asked why she needed to contact them, she said, "You'll find out. Be right back." With that, she left the room.

Nazo spoke up once she had left. "Do we need to worry about the princesses, Gavin?"

He shook his head. "No, we just need to give them the proper respect they deserve, and we will be fine."

A few minutes later, she came back into the room, accompanied by two other alicorns. The taller one was white, with a constantly moving light rainbow mane and tail, and had a motherly look on her face, with a sun on her right hand. The smaller one was dark blue, with a midnight mane and tail that moved constantly, and had a sterner look on her face, with a crescent moon on her hand.

Twilight introduced the two as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who gave their own greetings to them. Gavin and the girls bowed and greeted them in turn.

Princess Celestia said, "Twilight here told me that you have found an ancient artifact. Is this accurate?"

Gavin nodded. "Yes it is princess. Here it is." He held up the crown. "May I present to you two, the Heart of the Temple."

The princesses gasped. "Are thou certain it is the true heart, and not a fake?" Princess Luna inquired.

Gavin opened his mouth to respond, but the crown started to glow, stopping him from saying anything.

They all watched as the crown glowed bright, and then dimmed as a large ball appeared in the air, showing them something.

When he looked closer, Gavin realized that it was showing the princesses the ruins he had found it in.

After it had shown them that, the ball disappeared, leaving the room in silence.

Princess Celestia shook her head, looked at the crown first, and then at Gavin, saying, "Well, that is proof enough that it is the real thing. But why did it pick you?"

The crown glowed again, and glowing words appeared yet again in the air.

You have spoken the truth, and we have seen your thoughts
Nothing has been kept from us, we have seen all you have done and want to do.
You spoke the truth when you said you would have been a bastard with the power in your world.
But in this world, you would not because your friends would help you, like they have since you arrived on this world.
Because of the truth you spoke, and the humility you showed,
We bestow the heart of the Temple upon you, Gavin Woodring
Use it well, and remember to ask your friends for guidance
And love your soulmates with all your heart.
We are the makers of the heart, able to rest in peace now that it has been bestowed.
Farewell


"Well, that answers my question," said Celestia with a smile.

Twilight, on the other hand, was confused. "Why did it bestow itself to Gavin? What made him worthy?"

The large ball appeared in the air, and showed them all the events from when Gavin had entered the room to when he took the heart and it changed form, before disappearing again.

"I believe that answers your question, Twilight Sparkle," Luna said with a smile at the corners of her lips. "But may I ask Gavin, why are these girls with you?"

Gavin sighed, took a deep breath, and said, "They are my mates."

Twilight's jaw dropped, and her eyes widened, while Celestia smiled and Luna gasped.

"We haven't done the deed yet, but we are mates. The crown showed me that," he explained. "Let me tell you the whole story." And so, Gavin told them all about his adventure. When he got to the part about having to sing to pass by, Twilight gasped.

"I knew that you were a good singer, but I didn't know you were that good," she said. Gavin smirked.

"How do you think I earned all my money? Working around town? I earned some of it that way, but I also won a singing contest in Manehattan. The trophy is in my cabinet at home. I won 2 million bits there," he said with a grin, shocking everyone.

"What!??" Twilight shrieked. "You won 2 million bits!??" Gavin nodded.

At this moment, Celestia, who had been looking at Gavin with a strange look on her face when he had mentioned the song he sang to pass through the forest, said, "Gavin, where did you here that song?"

He looked at her, and said, "I heard you sing it when I was visiting Canterlot for the first time. I hope it didn't offend you."

Celestia shook her head. "No Gavin, you didn't offend me. On the contrary, it pleased me. Please continue with your story now."

He nodded, and continued telling them his story, getting gasps from them when he got to the part about the crown activating and changing the girls, and awes when he realized what the crown had shown him. When he got to the end of the story, he looked at the crown, and then at Celestia and Luna, and said, "I guess you'll want this." With that, he held out the crown towards them.

Celestia shook her head with a smile. "No, my friend. You were chosen to bear it. Keep it." Gavin had tears come to his eyes when she called him her friend, but managed to hold them back, thinking, 'I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry.'

He said, "Yes Celestia. Thank you. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't," she said with a smile. "Now, we must be off. Till some other time, farewell."

With that, Luna and Celestia walked out of the room.

After they watched them go off, Gavin turned to Twilight and said, "Could you help me later this week with using its power?" She nodded, and said that it was not a problem.

"Alright then. Girls, lets go home."

With that, they left the castle, and went to his cottage.

When they saw the cottage, they were in awe.

It was beautiful!!

In front of the cottage was a small garden, with a few flowers next to it. Ivy and Winnie saw the garden, and asked, "What is that Gavin?"

He smiled and answered, "It's my garden. I use it to grow fruits and vegetables." They smiled at that.

He brought them inside the house, where they looked around in curiosity at the various things.

He showed them the various rooms, and where the kitchen was, as well as where his room was.

He then showed them where they would sleep for the night till the bed was delivered, and showed them where the bathrooms were and how the showers, toilets, and sinks worked. They immediately wanted to take showers, so he let them, telling them that dinner would be ready in a hour. With that, he went downstairs to prepare dinner.

An hour went by, and dinner was ready. Right as he was about to yell out that dinner was ready, they came into the kitchen for dinner.

During dinner, Gavin taught them how to use silverware, and how to not eat messily.

After dinner, Gavin wrote down on the calendar that the new bed would come tomorrow. He then went to his bedroom, emptied his pack, set the crown on his dresser, and took a shower, making sure to take a long one. Once he finished, he came out wearing a shirt and boxers, only to find all the girls in his room.

"What is it girls?" he asked them.

Kyu said, "We just want to wish you a good night."

"Oh," he said. "Okay. Goodnight girls."

"Goodnight Gavin," they all said. They then walked out of his room, and went to bed.

Gavin sighed with a smile at that, and started to go to bed, when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.

When he turned around, he was greeted with a kiss on the lips by Nazo, causing him to freeze.

They held the kiss for a few seconds, before she released it, and said, "Good night, my king."

She then turned around and left for bed, swaying her hips and tail side to side.

Gavin stared after her and touched his lips before shaking his head and going to bed, thinking, 'Tomorrow is going to be interesting.'