Line 1 - Beginning of The Written Word (Edited... Again.)

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Hello, how are you?

A man slowly cracks his eyes open and yawns, sitting up in bed.

A mare groans as she gets out of bed.

Opening a window, a man's head popped out.

Opening a window, a mare's head popped out.

Both sigh, before saying, "Morning!"

Bright, sunny daylight lies outside.

A man stands in a kitchen, yawns as he makes his breakfast.

A mare sits patiently at a table, yawning.

They sing, "La la la la da la~," in their hearts.

A yellow woman cheers as she eats her breakfast, a man smiling and doing the same across the table from her.

A mare looks over a scroll as she eats some toast.

A mare sleeps soundly in her dark room, happily dreaming.

"Hello, how are you?"

An unassuming neighborhood sprawled out before the dark sky. The sun was not yet risen, and all in the small town that housed this neighborhood was bathed in the light of street lamps and little else. This neighborhood, this block, was not overly grandiose. For all intents and purposes, it was just as average as any small town neighborhood found in the modern world of 2018. But in this neighborhood was a particular boy.

He was young, 19 years old in fact, and a fairly plain boy. Some may call him cute, others unattractive; he tried not to let appearance bother him, though. His hair was thick yet short, barely close to touching his eyes, and dyed a light, silvery blue with gold fringes. His other features were what pegged him as plain, however. He bore glasses, and a clean shaven face. His eyes, sparking with contemplation, were a hazel green.

He wore a light gray hoodie with a design of a particularly well-known wolf known as Sif on the back, blue skinny jeans so worn at the bottom that the tail-end of the legs were torn, but only at the very endges, just above his black, steel-toed hiking boots, with a belt coupled with a buckle on it with the symbol of the Inquisition from Dragon Age.

This young man was, very clearly, a gamer. And he was currently walking the streets of this neighborhood, as he had done for the past 4 years of his life. He had an unreadable expression on his face, but it was clear in his eyes that his mind was elsewhere.

It seems pretty quiet tonight, er, today. He thought himself, tilting his head up to look at the smoky black expanse of sky. ...I wonder how much longer it is 'till the sun rises. He frowned lightly. Can't really see the horizon that well with those huge ass trees covering the western horizon. His mouth returned to a normal, flat line as he shrugged to himself and kept walking. Well, I'll just have to wait 'till later to see the glorious sun, I guess.

His thoughts jumped from one to the next, ranging from whether he would eat later in the morning to what game or video he'd watch or play in the afternoon. And then, he noticed a person, particularly a well-dressed, black haired and pony tailed woman, right on the corner of the street. The boy hummed in thought. Bit weird. It's not that often I see people out and about this early. Much less so well dressed. He squinted his eyes. Huh. Is she a cosplayer or something? Those are pretty rare around this town.

Curious, he walked towards her. She seemed to be watching the sky above, as if waiting for something. When he drew close enough, she looked to him and smiled, her masquerade mask hiding most of her posh looking pale face.

"Hello, my boy. How are you this fine, crisp morning?" she asked genially, smiling. The boy smiled back.

"Good, good, just out for a walk. It's kinda my thing," he answered, coming to a stop in front of her, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Can I ask what you're doing out here so early?"

Her smile widened. "Well, I happen to have a spare pencil someone gave me during my journalism debut at a convention, but I didn't want to just toss it away, because it looked fairly expensive. So I've been wandering around, hoping someone will take it off my hands so I can finally get some rest."

The boy raised a brow. "Huh. Can I see it? Ya got me curious now."

"Certainly," she dug into her fine, red Victorian coat pocket and pulled out a stylish pencil. "Here you are!" The young man took it, looking it over with a fair degree of interest and awe. It was a black and yellow pencil, but with what seemed to be Anglo-Saxon runes carved in gold script into each side. It was sharpened to a fine point, the eraser looked unused and untarnished, and overall it seemed almost...otherworldly. "I take it you like it?" The boy looked up at her, realizing he'd been staring at it for a mite too long.

"Oh, uh, yeah, it looks pretty frickin' awesome," he said with a nod. The woman's cherry red lips curled into a large smile.

"Well, would you like to have it, then?" She asked. "In return, you can give me a hug."

The youth gave her a quizzical look. "A hug?" She nodded. "That's kinda...unusual, to ask."

She giggled daintily behind a hand. "Well, us ladies like to be hugged from time to time, especially from strapping young men like you!"

The boy blushed, but eventually calmed down and shrugged. "Eh, alright then." Thus, he took a step toward her and wrapped his arms around her in a brief hug. She giggled again and returned the gesture, and then they released each other.

"Well, that concludes our deal, my boy," she said, smile turning mischievous. She gave him a two fingered salute as he raised a brow, before he was hit with a wave of drowsiness, and all he managed to say was a mumbled, "Wha-?" before he collapsed to the pavement. The woman giggled once more, twirling a cane that appeared in her hand out of nowhere. "Another successful trade!"

The youth felt as if he were in a dream, for all was black. All he heard were whispers and mutters and murmurs. Never was he able to make out a word or string together a sentence. It was just as if he were walking through a crowd as a criminal, but he didn't recall ever committing any crimes.

He grew worried after what seemed ten minutes.

Afraid after twenty.

Then, just as he was about to try and wake himself up with an old trick he had learned, the voices all stopped. Kaleidoscopes of colors flashed through his mind, so quickly and so brightly that it should have blinded him, and it only hurt more when his eyes were met with utter darkness again, and then the light returned.

Finally, he felt himself start to wake up after the light once again went to darkness.

The young man awoke blearily to the sounds of nature all around him, like he had been camping. But...wasn't I just walking around the block? He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and they promptly widened as he noted the greenery all around him. Trees of various kinds, shrubs and bushes and flowerbeds, all of it dazzled him with the beauty of nature. He wasn't sure how, but despite his mind telling him this had to be a dream, his heart assured him it was real.

It was only made more apparent when he felt a small leather bound notebook impact his head and bounce off to the side of his lap, followed by the same pencil he'd obtained from that woman and a piece of paper that fluttered down to his other side. He slowly grabbed the paper, and opened it up to see a letter.

Hello, my boy.
Let me be the first to welcome you to your new escape from Earth, your new home, Equestria. To clarify things so you don't go all loopy like some other folks I've Displaced; yes, you are not dreaming, and yes, this is real. Deny it all you want, that won't change.
Now, onto your new abilities as a Displaced. That little pencil I gave you earlier? It's enchanted with strong magic. Essentially, you can write on any surface, anything at all, and whatever you write will come into being. Well, with some side-effects. For one, go with something too big, like, "I become a God," or anything that could change your biology or spirit, and the magical backlash will very likely kill you. So try to be careful with that. Of course, there are some exceptions, but knowing your studious nature, I'm sure you'd rather figure those out for yourself. The pencil is also indestructible and will always stay sharp.
The magic of the pencil will essentially draw on your power, your will and mana pool, which will grow with repeated exercise, just like muscles. Also, it'll only work for you, and any sentences already written, whilst they can be erased, the effects cannot be undone without a special ritual you'll get later.
I'd recommend starting small, but hey, your life, dear boy. Anywho, have fun~!
-Trader

The boy stared at the small page for a long time. Slowly, he clenched it and placed it in his coat pocket, and picked up the pencil. He slowly tightened his grip on it as he closed his emerald green eyes and took several long, deep breaths. Then, he opened them, and got to his feet. He then looked to the sunny sky peeking out from the canopy, and spoke.

"...Well... Guess my ideas of having a bit of an adventure finally came true, huh, bro?" He let out a breathless chuckle. "...At least it's in this world, eh?"

With that, he began to walk through the forest, towards his new life.

Line 2 - A Book A Day (Edited)

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Hello, how are you?

A man slowly cracks his eyes open and yawns, sitting up in bed.

A mare groans as she gets out of bed.

Opening a window, a man's head popped out.

Opening a window, a mare's head popped out.

Both sigh, before saying, "Morning!"

Bright, sunny daylight lies outside.

A man stands in a kitchen, yawns as he makes his breakfast.

A mare sits patiently at a table, yawning.

They sing, "La la la la da la~," in their hearts.

A yellow woman cheers as she eats her breakfast, a man smiling and doing the same across the table from her.

A mare looks over a scroll as she eats some toast.

A mare sleeps soundly in her dark room, happily dreaming.

"Hello, how are you?"

The youth of 19 trudged through the brush and shrubbery, pushing aside any wayward branches that stood in his path or obstructed his view. Some he had to duck under, and some trees bore roots so large and old that he had to climb over them. Regardless, he did so, and all the while he smiled thinly, as if enjoying the fact that he was in the wilds and far from home instead of being forlorn and utterly lost. He gained a few scratches here and there from some thistles, and his coat got caught a few times, but he calmly removed it each time, making sure to minimize the damage.

He endeavored to keep his gaze forward, where the light of day was growing brighter. It was an effort marred by the times he had to watch his footing or the like, but it was no trouble, simply a short delay in his work. In time, he came upon a path, a path with picket fences entwined with vines, and after the boy took a closer look, it was obvious whoever took care of the path also took care of the vines to such a degree that they made certain they grew around and on the fencing with style. The young man hummed briefly to himself, before carefully hopping over the fence and onto the well-trodden dirt path.

He turned his gaze to the entrance of the forest, where he could see a sizable garden, more beautiful than any he'd seen in his life. He let out a low whistle in approval, and, after squinting his eyes and seeing a sizable castle beyond the garden, headed towards the garden.

I guess that's Canterlot Gardens and the Castle that way. Has to be with all that marble and grandeur, he thought to himself as he trodded along the path, soon reaching the garden and following the path still, tall hedges on either side of him that melded into the picket fence which melded into an arbor that the hedges covered.

In due time, full of the boy pondering what he would say to the first pony he met, he arrived at a much more open part of the garden, and to his wide-eyed surprise, just a scarce four hundred feet away was an Alicorn with fur and feathered wings as white as the marble of her castle, along with a flowing pastel mane and tail as well as golden regalia. She was sat at a regal table as white as her with gold embellishings, a teacup halfway lifted to her lips before she spotted him with her violet eyes.

They stared at one another for a short while, unblinking. Then, slowly, the mare sipped of her tea, lowered the cup down onto the table, and called to him.

"Hello there! I've not seen you around here before, did you come from the forest?" she asked. The young man paused, sparing a glance back whence he came, before turning back and slowly nodding. "Can you speak?" He nodded once more. She gave him a motherly smile and gestured him over with a wing. "Well, come here then! Sit, talk with me." Another glance was spared towards the way the boy came, before he turned back and slowly approached. He soon reached her and sat down at the table across from her on his knees. She lifted her teacup in a glow of golden magic. "Tea?"

"...Sure," he finally said. She smiled, and in a poof of golden, twinkling magic, something the boy could only smile in wonder at, a second teacup appeared and the mare poured her guest a cup. The man nodded to her. "Thanks." She nodded, and he lifted the cup to his lips and tested the tea. It was bitter, but he was used to that with teas, having sampled them from time to time at home.

"So, since you have me so curious, what is your name, and what are you?" she asked. She placed a golden shod hoof to her chest. "I am Princess Celestia, Ruler of Equestria."

The man paused, staring at the tea in his cup for a scant few seconds, then taking a sip before answering with, "Call me Qudirk. I'm... Well, human."

Celestia hummed, taking a sip of her own tea before placing the cup down gently. "I see... Might I ask where the human kingdom is? And why you found yourself in the Royal Forest?"

Qudirk's head lowered to his lap and he clenched his free hand briefly. "...My home is..." He paused another few seconds. "...The wilds, you could say. My kingdom is of no concern to me anymore. I've been wandering the world for 4 years now, and I one day found myself climbing this mountain."

Celestia quirked a brow. "Oh? For what reason?"

Qudirk smiled, looking back up at her. "The fun of it, really. I love traveling, and telling stories of places I've been."

"That sounds like quite the life," Celestia mused, raising her cup to her lips and taking a delicate sip.

"It is," He took a sip of his own, longer than hers.

"Forgive me," she put her cup down once again. "But you hardly look the wandering type. Most I know would bear some kind of pack and a means of which to defend themselves." She narrowed her eyes a bit and leaned forward slightly, inclining her head.

Qudirk kept his smile as he pulled out his pencil. "My belongings aren't really needed when I can freely summon food or protection with this-" he pulled out his personal notebook. "-and this."

Celestia adopted a puzzled expression as she leaned back. "And how, pray tell, do those do such things?"

Qudirk's smile grew. "Very, very, very well done enchantments."

Celestia stared at him for a moment longer before speaking once more. "Might I look them over?" He nodded and handed them to her, the mare taking them in her magic and closing her eyes a few seconds. Those seconds drew on for a time, before her eyes shot wide open. "My word... These enchantments are stronger and even more complex than most I've come to know..." Qudirk chuckled.

"I'm a lucky one to bear such gifts, a lucky one indeed," he said, before looking to the clear, cloudless sky above. His smile almost seemed to turn sad for a moment, before the sadness disappeared and he looked back down to Celestia. "Might I have them back, now? They're precious to me." Celestia blinked a few times before returning them.

Silence reigned as Qudirk placed them back in his coat pockets and then downed the rest of his tea in quiet. Celestia held a hoof to her chin, brows furrowed as she seemed to be in thought. After Qudirk finished his cup, he cleared his throat, gaining the ruler's attention.

"I have a request, actually, if you'd indulge me, Princess," he began. Celestia gestured with a wing for him to continue. "I'm of the age where I should be settling down, so, would it trouble you too much to maybe provide a home for me? I could even help in it's making." Celestia hummed.

"Well, I suppose, but I'd have to make you a citizen of the country first in order for you to purchase land," she explained.

"I can deal with that. But the place I'd like to live is a bit peculiar, and only the first part of my request," Qudirk continued. "To be plain, I want to live in a tower in that forest. To pay for any services rendered, maybe I could give you some treasures from my homeland? A book or two, even?"

Celestia's brow raised to new heights as she considered this. "Why do you want to live in the forest? I wouldn't be opposed to it, but why?"

Qudirk shrugged, gaining a goofy grin. "I like the outdoors, Princess."

"Well, then I suppose I can allow it," Celestia conceded. She managed a smile. "But I'll be expecting a bit of payment early, just to see if it is sufficient." Qudirk hummed, then pulled out his pencil and notebook. He scribbled something down in the notebook's pages, and after a brief flash of light, a small, somewhat worn tome appeared on the table. Celestia picked it up and read it's title aloud. "'Romeo and Juliet?'" She said, shooting him a questioning glance. Qudirk smiled.

"Trust me, Princess. You'll love it," he said with a smile and a twinkle in his eye.

And thus began the young Qudirk's days in Equestria. With a book given, and more to come along with other "payments", and a home to soon be built, the youth of 19 had made himself a new home in but hours of being in this new land.

And many years would follow.

Line 3 - Questions in the Tower (Edited)

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Hello, how are you?

A man slowly cracks his eyes open and yawns, sitting up in bed.

A mare groans as she gets out of bed.

Opening a window, a man's head popped out.

Opening a window, a mare's head popped out.

Both sigh, before saying, "Morning!"

Bright, sunny daylight lies outside.

A man stands in a kitchen, yawns as he makes his breakfast.

A mare sits patiently at a table, yawning.

They sing, "La la la la da la~," in their hearts.

A yellow woman cheers as she eats her breakfast, a man smiling and doing the same across the table from her.

A mare looks over a scroll as she eats some toast.

A mare sleeps soundly in her dark room, happily dreaming.

"Hello, how are you?"

It had now been three years since Qudirk arrived in Equestria. Over the course of those three years, much had happened. The boy was no longer a boy, for one. He was a man, through and through, though he still looked just as youthful as he had when he arrived.

For another, he now had his tower, not far from the castle and right in the midst of the forest. It stood tall amongst the canopies of the birch trees, towering above them with it's plain gray bricks and Roman Roof tiles. For yet another change, the boy had gained a friend in the Princess, the ruler frequently visiting him in his tower after Day Court was over. They often enjoyed long talks over the many books he had given her over the years.

And that brings us to the greatest change. He had now become a rather well known person among the people of Canterlot, mostly the castle staff, but with the many books he had handed to the Princess, and with her having started to share them during the first year, he had gained something of a reputation. Celestia, when she had read the first book he gave her, had immediately found him the day after and enthusiastically called for more, telling him that such quality books would be plenty enough to pay for his tower if he published them publicly.

He had told her he might, "entertain the idea, once my tower is built," and thus she had become his first reader and friend...and had a new bookshelf in her study full of only all of the books he had given her. One might just say she was a little hooked on human literature.

But he had not forgotten his words to her the first day, and had given her not just books, but two things that had sent blacksmiths and musicians around the country in a tizzy, so to speak. For he had given her a bronze longsword of such enchantingly skillful design and make, that she had sent it to the castle blacksmith for inspection and was given a heartfelt request to meet the smith who had made it in return, with quite a bit of enthusiasm. After the smith met Qudirk, the man had explained that it was a vastly ancient sword called, "the Sword of Goujian", an ancient king of his homeland. And thus the sword had become something of a national treasure.

For the musicians, however, Qudirk had gifted the Princess a CD with a number of songs on it that were nothing short of revolutionary for musicians. They were all a mix of the harsh and frequently loud dubstep or techno, and, to her shock and interest, classical music. She had given it to two acclaimed musicians, a cellist and a DJ, and they had, like the smith, asked to meet the maker of such a master of music.

In short, Qudirk had gained a favorable reputation among those in the fine arts, from smithing, literature, and then to music. And yet, he was still quite a mystery to many. He rarely ever spoke much of his home kingdom, much less his family or life before. Somehow, this had only served to widen the scope of his reputation to reporters and journalists, who had come a few times to his tower as it was being made to ask him questions.

And each time, he had given them all vague or blunt but still short answers. This had painted him in the light of some form of oracle-like being, full of mystery and intrigue. He even had the pleasure of being asked for at times during Celestia's Day Court, though he always declined the offer, telling the Princess to tell them, "If you wish to see or speak to me, come to me yourself."

All this, and a fair bit more, was now swimming around the gleeful, chipper and obviously excited purple unicorn filly who went by the name of Twilight Sparkle. She was on the back of her mentor, heading through the forest on the path to the tower of that mysterious and intriguing man. The filly was so excited she frequently asked her mentor a simple question...

"Are we there yet?" came the adorable query, so blatantly filled with childish excitement.

Celestia tittered as her golden shod hooves trodded through the packed dirt of the path. "Nearly, my sweet pupil, nearly."

Twilight bounced a bit. "Oooh, I can't wait! I have so many questions for him! Like, what his species is like, or how many places he's been!"

Celestia let out a short chuckle. "I'm sure he'd love to indulge you, Twilight."

He has, after all, told me he has a soft spot for children. She thought with a smile. Said smile turned slightly mischievous. He might even let out a few secrets he's held back on telling me.

The walk continued, typically with the excitable filly asking, "are we there yet?" over and over with increasing excitement. Soon enough, they came upon a small glade, wherein the tower stood tall and proud. A small garden spread out along the path to the front door, the sides of the well-worn path lined with many flowers, some of which even Celestia did not know the names of. The path tapered off nearest the door to go around to a more open area of the garden, where a simple yet well made and lightly decorated stone bench sat, and a budding flowerbed lay in front of.

On either side of the ashen wood portal were picture windows, and above the door was a small banner of white silk bearing an emblem of a cog surrounding an open book and quill. Celestia trotted up to the door as Twilight marveled at the simplistic beauty of the tower, lightly rapping her hoof against it twice.

Not long after, a window a fair bit higher above the door opened, and a baritone voice called, "Be right there, just a moment!" before the window closed. Celestia patiently waited, and after some time the door was opened by Qudirk, wearing a light blue dress shirt and a set of jeans that clashed with the shirt. His face was as clean shaven as always, the bridge of his nose holding up his glasses that framed his forest green eyes, though his hair was a fair bit thicker and longer than usual.

"Hello there, Princess," he greeted with a smile, before quickly noticing the filly on the mare's back and widening his smile. "And hello to you too, young one. What is your name, hm?"

"I'm Twilight Sparkle!" she chirped, smiling so wide it caused a cutesy 'squee' sound as she stood up a bit more. "I've heard sooo much about you, Mr. Qudirk! Is it true you have a special magic that works based on writing?"

The man chuckled. "Indeed, young Sparkle," he said, stepping aside to let the two into his abode. "Come in, come in, make yourselves at home."

Celestia smiled and nodded her thanks to him as she stepped inside the tower, young Twilight hopping off of the mare's back and immediately starting to wander around the spacious room.

Bookshelves lined nearly every wall, tall and towering and made of finely made dark oak, filled with books upon books upon books. The bookshelves even bore little etchings in silvery script to organize everything. However, on opposite ends of the room were well-decorated stone pedestals, holding large tomes with gold plaques. Near the windows by the door were small lounge chairs of dark blue, and two couches of similar colors were in the middle of the room with a table between them. Stairs spiraling upwards were on the far end of the room opposite the door, leading to the above rooms. A black, iron trapdoor was near it, just between the stairs and a bookshelf. A painting detailing a snowy evening in a cabin hung above the trapdoor.

The young filly zipped over to one of the pedestals on the left side of the room, straining to stand on her hind legs and just read the plaque. Qudirk chuckled quietly at this, walking over as Celestia simply surveyed the bookshelves for a bit.

"'Critically-Acclaimed Story: The Fall of the House of Usher?'" the filly read aloud, muzzle wrinkling a bit. Qudirk smiled, picking the book up carefully.

"Indeed. It's not written by me, but by my favorite poet," Qudirk began, hand running over the cover in fondness. "It's a classic back home, and, coincidentally, quite famous here after I gave out a few copies." He smiled down at the filly and kneeled to her level, offering the book and winking to her. "Why don't you give it a read? I'll lend it to you. Just be warned, it's pretty dark."

The filly squealed in excitement, hooves going to her face with a wide smile. "Really?! You'll let me borrow it?!"

Qudirk chuckled and nodded. "Certainly. I have a duty to whet the appetite of young readers and show them new worlds." The young Twilight quickly scooped the book up and hugged it to her barrel before smiling up at the man.

"Thanks Mr. Qudirk!" she said gratefully. Qudirk smiled and lightly ruffled her mane.

"Of course, young Sparkle," he said warmly. Celestia watched him with her own warm smile, idly noting how he had grown a bit more muscular over the three years he'd been here as she watched the two. It wasn't to any great amount, but it was a fair increase compared to how he had been before.

Qudirk stood up, hands on his hips. "So, what brings the two of you to my tower?"

"Well, I wanted to show my new student around, and thought I'd introduce you two. She's been telling me for days how much she's wanted to meet you," Celestia explained. She tittered. "Almost begged, really. She seems to idolize you a bit."

Twilight blushed a bit. "A-A little..." she quickly perked back up. "And I have so many questions for you too, Mr. Qudirk!"

Qudirk kept his warm smile as he looked to the filly. "Please, call me Mr. Q," he said, before adding, "And I'd be delighted to answer your questions, child." As Twilight squealed once more in delight, Celestia gained her mischievous smirk once more. "Let's head up to my study, first, then. It's not terribly comfortable down here." He said, before picking the filly up and holding her in his arms, garnering a squeak from her. Celestia smiled as he lead them upstairs while Twilight nuzzled into him, still holding her newly procured book. They passed a few dozen floors with various rooms before finally reaching the study, near the top of the tower.

Celestia had been here many times, but to Twilight, it was like a playground. Like the first floor, it had many bookshelves. But, it also had a fireplace with a very well decorated sword above the mantle. It had a purplish, ghostly blade, transparent in appearance, and the hilt had hand-wrapped cloth fastened around it, and crow feathers tied to it with a tight black string. In front of the roaring fireplace was another set of couches, both trapezoid shaped and a dark, deep blue with diamond designs on them. A coffee table of fine and classically aged mahogany sat between them, a white embroidered table cloth covering most of it, and a reclining chair of light blue sat in front of the table, the couches, and the fireplace. Above the sword of the fireplace was a painting of a strange, star-filled sky, swirling in many places. The plaque below it read, 'Starry Night - By Vincent van Gogh.'

On a far side of the room was a polished ebony wood desk, though it was covered in so many papers and scrolls and notebooks and in such an unorganized fashion that it was hard to make out the color of the wood without looking at the feet, legs, or edge.

Celestia giggled daintily behind a hoof. "Still as unorganized a workplace as ever, hm?"

Qudirk rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "Please, a little controlled chaos never hurt anyone." Celestia simply giggled again. He walked over to the fireplace, setting himself down in the chair with Twilight, Celestia seating herself on one of the couches. "So, young Sparkle, you said you have questions?" he asked eventually, reaching a hand behind her ear and scratching it a bit. She cooed and nuzzled into him more, before eventually answering.

"Yeah, like, what is your species like?" she asked first. Celestia summoned some tea to her, pouring herself a cup of her favorite while she watched and listened with interest.

He's never answered this question directly to the press, and he's always been so teasingly vague about it with me. Let's see if a child can weasel it out of him, she thought to herself deviously, hiding a smirk behind her teacup with a practiced sip.

Qudirk hummed in thought, tilting his colorful haired head back and forth. "Well, we're a sort of mixed bag, really," he began honestly, Twilight settling more into his strong arms, prompting him to continue. "We have a lot of different ideas about a lot of things, and back home there are so many of us it's become hard to call any of us ultimately special." He started scratching behind the filly's ears again as Celestia intently listened. "We have more varieties of jobs here than you all do, for one, mostly because of our advances. But at the same time, that doesn't mean there's a lot of jobs open, since there are just that many of us." He paused for a moment, seeming to collect his thoughts. "Really, I'd say the most important thing about humans is what we as individuals believe makes us human."

"What do you think makes you human?" Twilight asked next. Qudirk hummed in thought, once more tilting his head back and forth. Celestia's interest reached ever higher into the metaphorical sky of her mind. She wanted to know what he thought of his species in truth.

"...Well, in typical me fashion, a lot of things," he started again. "Our ingenuity, both in thought processes and actions, is a good part of it. Our need for answers would be another. But I suppose you could say that what I think is the most defining trait is our innate need for struggle, for conflict." Celestia's ear pricked up at this, her curiosity growing, but she kept quiet and sipped more of her tea while her student unknowingly continued with her mentor's own unspoken question.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked innocently. Qudirk chuckled lightly, as if he'd heard something funny.

"Well, we as humans need conflict to truly survive, to grow and not stagnate. We need change every once in a while; diversity. Without all that, most of us go a little crazy in multiple fashions and ways," he answered. He adjusted his glasses for a moment before continuing. "In essence, and to sum it up, to be human, to me, is to struggle, in some way or form."

"That sounds... Kinda sad," Twilight said eventually, wilting a bit and voicing some of her teacher's thoughts as well as her own. Qudirk shrugged.

"Sadness is something that is typical for life, and I happen to like the appeal of it," Qudirk said honestly. Celestia and Twilight frowned at this.

"But... You don't seem like a sad pony, er, human," Twilight pointed out. Qudirk chuckled again.

"I've managed to keep myself quite complacent over my time here, so I've really not been saddened all that much," he said, before ruffling the unicorn's mane lightly again. "But don't go worrying about me, I'm quite fine."

"Mmm... Okay," she relented, before starting once again by saying, "So, next question!"

The next three hours passed quickly, and the young Twilight Sparkle had soon fallen asleep to the gentle crackling of the fireplace, right in Qudirk's arms. Celestia had finished her tea well before now, and her and the man sat in companionable silence. Qudirk was idly petting Twilight's mane as she slept soundly, the man staring into the flames of his fireplace with a small smile that Celestia had grown accustomed to seeing on him.

Finally, she spoke. "So, it seems I've finally learned something about you and your kind today."

Qudirk's smile turned into a smirk. "I was wondering when you'd voice your intents." Celestia chuckled.

"I suppose it became obvious to you after you noticed my silence?" she ventured, smiling back at him. He nodded.

"Indeed. I decided that it's been long enough in our friendship where I can reveal more of my mysteries," he answered. He winked at her. "Just don't expect me to gush out all of my secrets, I have to keep things exciting after all."

Celestia let out a light and short laugh. "Perish the thought." She soon looked to the fire briefly, and then the sword above it's mantle. "You know, I must say that sword of yours still worries me quite a bit."

"What, the cursed Darkdrift?" Qudirk queried, following her gaze before looking back to her. He waved a hand dismissively. "Ah, it's harmless."

"I know, but it just seems so... Alien, and wrong," Celestia voiced, frowning. Qudirk rolled his eyes.

"Relax, Princess, it's not like it will sprout grotesque black tentacles and start consuming things," he assured. Celestia turned a pout unto him. He idly thought it to be a bit cute.

"I really wish you didn't say things like that so casually. It's a bit disturbing," she said. Qudirk laughed.

"Oh be calm, Celly, you know I'm just joking," he replied. Celestia sighed and managed a smile. She enjoyed it when he used her nickname. It made her chest feel a bit warm.

"So, how goes your research?" she asked. Qudirk gained a small yet eager smile.

"Oh, quite well. It's been a bit of a drain on my mana, but I've managed to create some very interesting enchantments of various objects just by including descriptions in the sentences," he explained.

"Do you think I could get a prototype of such an object?" Celestia asked, eager herself. The man nodded, still smiling.

"Certainly. I might even hand over a new weapon to young Twily's brother," he mused, smile growing. "Who knows, maybe something for her adoptive brother too."

Celestia smiled. "Always so big hearted."

Qudirk chuckled merrily. "I try."

Celestia slowly got up from the couch and walked over to him, taking Twilight in her magic and placing her on her back. "Well, I'll be heading back now. Twilight's parents will be wanting her home soon, and I have a full day ahead of me. See you again tomorrow?"

The man nodded. "Of course. Take care, Celly."

Celestia smiled and nodded, walking down the stairs and soon out of the tower. Qudirk stood up and walked over to the window by his desk, watching her go with a fond smile.

"...Long may your sun shine, Celly," he turned around, gazing at Darkdrift. "...And may the moon soon rise."

Line 4 - The Time Is Coming...

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Hello, how are you?

A man slowly cracks his eyes open and yawns, sitting up in bed.

A mare groans as she gets out of bed.

Opening a window, a man's head popped out.

Opening a window, a mare's head popped out.

Both sigh, before saying, "Morning!"

Bright, sunny daylight lies outside.

A man stands in a kitchen, yawns as he makes his breakfast.

A mare sits patiently at a table, yawning.

They sing, "La la la la da la~," in their hearts.

A yellow woman cheers as she eats her breakfast, a man smiling and doing the same across the table from her.

A mare looks over a scroll as she eats some toast.

A mare sleeps soundly in her dark room, happily dreaming.

"Hello, how are you?"

Ten years came and went quickly for those in Canterlot. Twilight, now 18, and her adoptive brother Spike the dragon, now 10, had come far in their respective studies. Twilight had come to truly idolize Qudirk, nearly as much as her mentor, and she almost saw him as a second father. Spike shared this view, mostly due to the fact that for the moment he was living almost entirely in the castle, and thus frequently visited the man.

Twilight's brother, Shining Armor, now a high ranking officer in the Royal Guard, had in fact received a bit of training from Qudirk, as well as a weapon he had gained ten years back and come to love; a seven-branched sword of light purple metal, with a blade decorated with a silver lightning bolt engraving, a simple tang with a gold covering barely resembling a hilt, and a single runic character at the base of the blade that glowed with arcane power. According to Qudirk, it held an enchantment that had made it effective against unholy beings. Shining Armor had absolutely fallen in love with it, and after going to train with the man a fair few times, he had come to see him as a fatherly figure as well.

Now 31, yet still bearing no glaring changes to his body save more muscle, (something Celestia found odd, considering what he'd told her about human lifespans) Qudirk had been experimenting even more heavily than before with his abilities. He had created countless artifacts over the years, from swords, shields and armors, to necklaces, talismans, and simple yet beautiful jewels and jewelry. Some had made it to museums, which was a fact that greatly pleased him.

He had placed a few new things in and around his tower, as well, such as a sword pedestal in the flowerbed of the main part of the garden - which held a baselard made of mithril - a number of strange yet alluring statues, and a strange stone pedestal by the front door with nothing but a gold covering on the top. His greatest achievement in the ten years span, however, was that he had published his first true book, written by himself with a type-writer. It was titled, quite simply, 'Tales and Legends of Afar'

It was an instant hit. He gained even more fame than he had expected he would for it, and quite a pretty penny to show for it. Though, he did not entertain visitors all that much, or even go to any events. But, it was this very book of his that a familiar white alicorn was reading in her study. She hummed as she read, laughing at some bits of the page, before the sounds of a light tapping came from her balcony window. Curious, she looked over to find a raven at the balcony doors, with a piece of paper wrapped around it's leg.

Celestia tilted her head for a moment in slight confusion before placing a bookmark in the book, then getting up and trotting over to the balcony, opening the door. The raven squawked at her. She blinked a few times before looking to the paper on it's leg. Growing more intrigued, she gently removed the slip of paper from it with her magic, and rolled it out before her.

Hello, Celly. Come to the tower as soon as you can, I want to show you something special. Trust me, it'll make your day.
-Q

Celestia paused, rolling the slip back up in her magic. "Odd, what could he possibly have to show me?" she asked herself, before looking to the raven. It squawked at her once more, then hopped onto the railing of the balcony, then hopped off and flew off towards the tower. "Using a raven to call me to the tower is a bit strange, too..." She hummed, before shaking her head as her horn lit up with a golden light.

With a pop of magic and a flash of light, she was at the front door to the tower, where she found Qudirk sitting on the stone bench in his garden, waiting. He stood up and smiled at her. "Great to see you, Celly." He motioned her to follow him with an arm. "Come on, follow me."

Celestia stood a bit puzzled as he started to walk away and down a path she'd not seen there before, before slowly following and trotting up next to him. "What in the world is going on, Qudirk?" She asked him.

He simply smiled and held a finger to his lips and winked at her. "You'll see." He said simply, continuing to walk. Celestia pouted a bit, but soon enough they arrived at a small, strangely circular lake, with morning glories ringed all around it. The moon shined down liberally on the silvery waters, and as Celestia was taking in the view, Qudirk spoke up.

"I made a quick jot on one of my notebooks with the pencil earlier this night," he began.

"And?" Celestia said, urging him to go on. He smirked.

"I made a little change to your situation with your sister," he said. Celestia's eyes widened instantly, mouth opening a bit in shock.

"Y-You...What?" she stuttered, flabbergasted. She looked to the moon above, still bearing the Mare in the Moon on it's surface. "Did you...?"

He shook his head. "No, bringing her back would take way too much mana. It'd likely kill me." His smirk increased tenfold. "What I did was almost as draining, though." He raised a finger. "I made it so that once every month, your sister is able to send a short message via the waters of this lake."

Celestia's jaw dropped fully. "W-What?!" she cried. "But-! How-?!" she then noticed his complexion. It was paler than normal, and he had a light sweat on his brow. "You... You did all this...? You spent so much mana on...me?" He nodded, smirk turning into a grin.

"Yup!" he replied simply, popping the 'p.'

"I...I can't believe..." Tears started to fill her eyes, and Qudirk smiled, walked over, and wrapped her in a hug. She reciprocated, wrapping both her wings and her hooves around him in a tight hug. "Thank you...! Thank you so much...!" She was crying into his signature dress shirt now, soaking it with her tears. He rubbed her back.

"Anytime, Celly," he said softly. Eventually, she stopped crying and they released each other, the mare wiping her tears with a wing.

"So... She's going to write a message tonight?" she queried. He nodded.

"Should be anytime now," he responded. Celestia's gaze went to the lake, watching it's waters intently and intensely. Qudirk smiled and sat down in the grass by the edge, both of them now waiting eagerly.

Slowly, the light of the moon intensified on the lake's waters, and even more slowly, some of the water rippled and started to flow upwards. The water started to form letters, and thereafter words. Three, simple words.

'I miss you.'

Celestia broke down into tears once more, and Qudirk once more held her. Throughout most of the night, they stayed like that, and Celestia was the happiest she'd been in a very long time.

Line 5 - A Strange Visitor (Edited... Again)

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Hello, how are you?

A man slowly cracks his eyes open and yawns, sitting up in bed.

A mare groans as she gets out of bed.

Opening a window, a man's head popped out.

Opening a window, a mare's head popped out.

Both sigh, before saying, "Morning!"

Bright, sunny daylight lies outside.

A man stands in a kitchen, yawns as he makes his breakfast.

A mare sits patiently at a table, yawning.

They sing, "La la la la da la~," in their hearts.

A yellow woman cheers as she eats her breakfast, a man smiling and eating his own across the table from her.

A mare looks over a scroll as she eats some toast.

A mare sleeps soundly in her dark room, happily dreaming.

"Hello, how are you?"

A week or so after Qudirk showed Celestia his gift for her, Qudirk was heavy into his experimentation. He had been at it since the afternoon, and it was now into the middle of the night. He was trying to create a description for what would be his 'Token', a thing he had learned was common for Displaced to have thanks to a new letter from Trader - that had earned him a heavy frown as a wave of memories hit him - and thus he had thrown himself into the experimentation with a bit of gusto. He had thought about making a copy of his special pencil, which he had come to call 'The Dreamer's Helper', but he disregarded that idea. He wanted it to be something more. Thus, he came up with the idea of adding a notebook with it, but he had had trouble figuring out what sort of style of notebook it would be, as well as the term for a notebook with a pencil holder built in, but he eventually found out that there was no such term, so he just wrote it as is.

No, what he was experimenting with was the secret enchantments on the Token. He leaned back in his chair and scratched his head a little. "Mmm... I'm not really sure how to word this..." He crossed his arms, idly tapping the eraser of, 'The Dreamer's Helper' against the side of his forearm. "Hmmm..." He sighed after a short while, coming up with nothing.

Then, out of nowhere, a loud, constantly blaring alarm went off, and his eyes widened a bit. "That's the statues! Something's outside!" He placed his magic pencil on the desk, ran over to Darkdrift, took it off the mantle and stuck it into the sheath of his baldric before rushing down the long set of stairs in his tower. Soon he made it to what he called the lobby and rushed to the front door, opening it quickly and racing to his garden. He stopped for a moment, eyes wide in surprise and shock as he looked at what was in front of him.

There, laying on the ground in a groaning heap, one foot on the bench while the rest of her was splayed out across the dirt path, was a Majin girl. She had soft looking pale yellow skin, strange, fleshy hair of similar color with long thick strands, two in particular going down past her face and framing it, and a few more that cascaded down her neck. She had cute, large glasses on her face, a cute human-like nose - something Qudirk idly remembered Majins didn't normally have - and unique clothes.

The top article of clothing seemed like a black vest of sorts with a high back collar, a purple heart design and a thick yellow stripe going down the middle. Two deep black forearm guards, similar in style to a ninja's, were on her arms, tight golden yellow cords tied around the wrists. Her legs were largely uncovered, though she had a pair of deep, dark purple and tight fitting long shorts coupled with a tighter, literally golden sash protecting her modesty. Covering her feet were a set of golden yellow boots with purple cords wrapped around them just above the ankles.

'What in God's name is going on...?' Qudirk wondered idly, before he blinked once and his eyes widened further for a short moment. 'Could she be a fellow Displaced?' He shook his head and slowly walked over to her, snapping his fingers to dismiss the alarm. "Excuse me, Miss? Do you need a hand up?" The woman groaned, before opening her eyes, revealing them to be pure black, while the pupils were large and a deep, enchanting red.

"Huh...?" She sat up, before taking the hand he offered and pulling herself up. "Thanks, uh..."

"Qudirk, Miss...?" Qudirk replied then queried.

"Abrina, Abrina Nicole," she answered quickly as she gazed around. "Wow... This place is really picturesque, like those gardens in Black Butler..."

Qudirk chuckled softly to himself. "Well, thank you, Miss Abrina. I put a lot of work into making it all."

Her head snapped to him. "You made all of this?!" He gave her a strange look, but nodded slowly. "That's freakin' amazing! Dude, you're like one of those refined kind o' guys, with all the artsy-fartsy stuff! That's so cool!"

Qudirk raised a brow and gave her an amused smirk. "Well, I'm glad you find me to be refined, at least."

"Well, dude, you have a friggin' sword in a pedestal over there! Ya know how often ya find that stuff in the modern world?" she crossed her arms in an 'X' formation. "Practically nada! Zilch!" She lowered her arms as she gave him a huge, excited grin. "And you made it all! That means you made the sword, the statues, the pedestal-" She gestured wildly to the flowers. "-Even the freakin' flowerbed! That takes a lotta dedication man!"

Qudirk chuckled a bit more. "Well, thank you. Though we should probably talk about your... Ahem, situation." Her eyes widened.

"Oh crap, you're right!" She looked around again. "I was at a costume store, how the hell did I end up here?" She crossed her arms and gained a ponderous expression. "Hmmm... All I remember is that fancy lady giving me this weirdly golden sash, and then nothing..."

"Well, there's a fair bit more to it than that, my dear. Might I suggest giving yourself a look over?" Qudirk gestured to her body and getup.

Abrina gave him a quizzical glance. "What're you talking about-" she then looked down at herself and her eyes widened. "Holy fucking shit! Am I...?" she felt up her face, and her hair. "Ohmygod I am! I'm a Majin!" She looked down at herself again, gaining a somewhat giddy look as she idly grabbed her breasts. "And my girlies are bigger! Sweetness!" She managed a blush as she looked up at Qudirk, who was watching her with a raised brow and an amused look. "Uhhh..." Her dark yellow blush grew and she swiftly removed her hands from her chest, a hand going to her neck. "Ehehe, sorry, made things weird now, hehe..."

Qudirk shook his head with a smile. "It's fine, it was sort of cute, really. Besides, I can understand your excitement." His smile turned to a smirk. "Though not so much in terms of endowment." She flushed a deep dark yellow, and he laughed heartily, though he calmed quickly. "Regardless, my first time being Displaced was rather... Well, sudden, and unusual, but it quickly became fascinating and exciting." He smiled and ushered her to follow him. "Come, let's head inside, we have a lot to talk about, my dear."

She kept quiet as she was still blushing a bit, following him and trying to keep her eyes elsewhere. He shot her a playful wink as they reached his door, making her blush intensify briefly before he opened the door and they walked in. She looked around in wonder, blush being lost to her amazement.

"Woah... You have a TON of books..." she breathed. Qudirk smiled and walked to her side.

"Well, I am a writer, and a lover of literature and the fine arts," He explained.

"Dude, with a home this good looking, you gotta be freakin' loaded with cash!" she exclaimed.

The man breathed out a short and crisp laugh. "Well, after my first book became an instant hit and bestseller, I would suppose so." He started to walked towards the stairs. "Come, let's head to my study, we can talk more there." She nodded and followed after him, gazing at the many rooms and fine decorations and furniture as they climbed up.

Eventually they reached his study, and her eyes sparkled. "Wow..."

The man smiled before trodding towards the couches and sitting down on one, offering for her to sit at the other. "Go ahead, sit, make yourself comfortable."

"Huh?" she looked away from one of the armor stands he had placed earlier in the week. "Oh, right."

She walked over and sat down on the other couch. "So, the first thing I should explain is that we are not on Earth, or likely even the same universe Earth resides in." The man started, leaning forward with his hands clasped together. "We are on a planet called Equus, in a country called Equestria. To put it more plainly, we are in a My Little Pony universe." The Majin's red eyes widened immensely.

"Woah woah woah, what?!" she cried. She slammed her hands on the coffee table. "So we're in a friggin' little girls show with colorful ponies talking about friendship and junk?!"

Qudirk simply nodded. She slumped back into her seat, eyes still a bit wide. "Damn, that's..." She gained a goofy grin. "That's freakin' awesome! That means I have the chance to ride a real pony!" She fist pumped. "Awesome!"

Qudirk laughed at her reaction briefly. "Ah, the young..." He shook his head a bit to clear his mind. "I'm sorry, my dear, it's just that you seem so preciously cute," he said honestly.

And once more, her face lit up with a flaming blush. "Wh-wha?!" she squeaked. He chuckled again.

"Oh, that's even more adorable," he shook his head once more as she blushed more, burying her face in her hands. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't tease you so much, but truly, it's just so fun." He chortled. "Maybe Celestia is rubbing off on me." He once more shook his head. "Regardless, we are essentially in a My Little Pony universe, and that means there is magic and much more abound."

"Um... So, if there's magic, and you came here too..." she ventured, blush slowly dying away. "Did you uh, get anything special too?"

The man nodded. "Indeed. I was given a very special pencil that can bring anything it writes to life, with some restrictions, but not any too restricting."

Abrina's eyes widened a bit and slowly sparkled once more. "So THAT's what you meant by being a writer..." She giggled to herself. "That's SO cool!" Qudirk smiled and stood up, removing his sword and placing it back upon the mantle.

"Well, I do try to keep an air of mystery to myself," he turned his head to her and shot her a playful wink. "Helps to keep myself entertained as well as to gain the attention of cute girls like you." Again, she flushed a dark yellow, and he laughed as he sat back down. "Sorry, sorry, I'll stop now. Anyways, there's a bit more to tell you, but-"

Suddenly, a loud pop sounded out accompanied with a flash of golden light, and a familiar alabaster alicorn appeared. "Qudirk! What happened? I heard an alarm and-!" she noticed the Majin girl, who was looking at her with sparkling eyes and a wide grin. "Um, Qudirk, my friend, who is she?"

"Well-," he began, but Abrina interrupted him and zipped over to the mare with unnatural speed.

"Hi! I'm Abrina Nicole, nice to meet you! Are you a pony princess?" she gasped loudly, "Ohmygosh, can I ride you? Just for a teeny bit? Pleeeeease?" Celestia looked between her now laughing friend and the strange new girl she'd not seen before.

"Um, perhaps another time?" Celestia responded eventually. Abrina deflated.

"Awww..." she said sadly. Celestia looked to Qudirk.

"My friend, who is this girl?" she asked.

"Well, she's what you might call a... Mutant, of sorts, from my homeland. She came here thanks to a magical mishap," the man explained.

"Wha? I'm not-!" Abrina started, but Qudirk shot her a look that plainly said, 'play along' and she clammed up.

"Oh, so she's new here, then?" Celestia asked, sounding relieved for some reason. Qudrik nodded.

"Correct. I was thinking of letting her stay here," he answered. Celestia's eyes widened.

"W-What?" she stuttered. Qudirk raised a brow at her.

"Is that a problem, Celly?" he asked next.

"Yeah, is it?" Abrina followed up.

Celestia rapidly shook her head. "N-No, not at all! You're a grown man, I have no misgivings with you gaining a roommate! None whatsoever!"

Qudirk's brow raised further, before he eventually shrugged. "Well, then would you mind coming again later tomorrow? I'd like to get her settled in, and I think tomorrow would be a good time for you to introduce her to young Sparkle and little Spike."

Celestia slowly nodded. "R-right, well, I'll be off then." She then swiftly trotted out of the room and down the stairs. Qudirk smiled as he watched her go and shook his head with mirth.

"Silly old mare," he mumbled, before turning to Abrina once more. "Now, let's see... We'll have to get you some more clothes in the future, and if there are any in particular you'd like just let me know, I can quite easily make some by writing it with my magic pencil." He looked to the clock by his desk. "Hm, though it's getting a bit late..." He looked back to her. "I'm afraid I need to go to bed, and there isn't really enough room or anywhere suitable for you to sleep, so, you'll be sleeping with me in my bed."

Abrina gained a blush that covered her entire face, stuttering up a storm. "Wh-wh-wha?!" She waved her hands frantically. "N-No, I couldn't! I-I can just sleep o-on a couch or s-something! I-I mean, I've never even s-slept in the same room as a guy before, a-a-and-!"

The man shook his head. "Perish the thought. I won't have a guest and future roommate sleep on a couch of all things, it's highly rude of me as a host." He walked over and grabbed her hand, her blush going to supernova levels as she kept stuttering. "Come on now, don't be so stiff." He told her as he dragged her up the stairs to the final and uppermost floor of his tower; his bedroom.

A large, four poster queen size bed with golden pillows and silk, light blue covers was on one end of the room, whilst on the other was a couch of golden color with, surprisingly, a 75 inch, plasma screen TV on the wall near it, and a number of consoles set up under it on the bottom and in the middle of a very large, vinyl-finished ebony entertainment center, with game cases and many more all held in shelves on the sides. On either side of the entertainment center were similarly vinyl-finished mahogany china cabinets with a number of even more games all held inside.

And then, on another end of the room was a door which likely led to a bathroom, and near that was a computer desk, set with what looked to be a top-quality gaming computer with three monitors and even a gaming chair. On the side nearest what appeared to be a short bridge to another, smaller tower was a walk-in closet. Qudirk smiled as she gazed around his room in a bit of wonder once more.

"So many gaming things..." she breathed. He let a breathless laugh escape him.

"Well, I am a fairly avid gamer, though I've not really been all that focused on gaming since I came here," the man admitted. He walked towards the closet. "Feel free to use the bathroom if you feel the need, my dear. I'll be out in a moment." He then walked in and closed the doors behind him.

Abrina blushed as she remembered what she was just about to do. 'What am I even doing?! I barely know this guy, heck, I just met him today, and now I'm sleeping with him?!' she buried her face in her hands. 'Oh, mom would be so disappointed!' She lifted her head from her hands for a moment, a pitiful look on her blushing face. 'Ooh... I don't know what to do! I mean, I've had boyfriends before, but I've never slept in a bed with one yet! And again, I don't even know this guy! Heck, how old is he anyway? He looks like he's in his twenties...' She flushed a deep dark yellow as she saw him come out wearing only a pair of boxers, revealing his toned and muscular body. 'Oh...! Oh God he's super hot!'

Qudirk quirked a brow at her staring, then shrugged and walked past her to the bathroom. "Well, if you don't need to go, I'll be in the bathroom. Go ahead and look around for a bit if you so wish." He then walked inside.

Abrina's heart beat a million miles a minute as the image of him nearly nude was burned into her brain. "So... Sexy..." she breathed, staring after where he went. She rapidly shook her head. "No, no! Bad Abby! Head in the game, girl! Out of the gutter!" She slapped her face a bit to compose herself. "Alright, alright, I can do this, it's one night with a really, really cute guy, nothing I can't handle!"

Qudirk then came out of the bathroom, finished with his nightly preparations. "Did you say something, Miss Abrina?" he questioned.

She yelped before turning to him and rapidly shaking her head. "N-nope! Not at all! Everything's good!"

He raised a brow once more, before shrugging and walking over to the bed and getting in it, placing his glasses on the nightstand. Abrina kept her massive blush as she slowly and stiffly walked over to the bed, climbing in and trying to not look at his body, facing away from him. She placed her own glasses on the nightstand on her side.

"Well, have a good sleep, Miss Abrina. See you in the morning," Qudirk said, followed by a yawn, before he soon fell quiet.

Abrina took quite long to fall asleep, what with her ever pounding heart and flushed face coupled with frenzied thoughts, but in time, she too fell asleep.

The light of the moon shined through the balcony doors and onto the duo, bathing them in soft, silvery light. Their slumber would be restful, and many things would require rest...

As much was on the horizon.

Line 6 - "And From The Night She Shall Come..." (Edited)

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Anger fills the air of the once gentle night.

Sorrow is briefly flashed on the moon's surface, as if it were a face capable of expression.

A dark cloud swirls overhead in the dimly lit sky.

Stars shine and twinkle in tune to an old lullaby, sung with mocking hatred.

Six mares stand before an ebony pillar of pain and anguish.

A man and a woman step up and stand with them.

The fight for light of day ensues.

3 years now had passed. The once young Twilight was young no more. Indeed, she was now a fully-fledged 20 year old mare, capable of setting out on her own. Spike, however, was only 13 years of age as of now. Furthermore, the situation with Abrina had only become stranger and stranger as well, which was a somewhat recurring worry of Qudirk's.

Abrina had grown used to living with Qudirk, yes, that much was true, though there was still much that she was not used to. For one, seeing him sleep in just his boxers. For another, seeing him train. Still, after he had given her her own room using his special brand of magic, she was much more comfortable. The two of them had actually grown quite close, and were now very good friends.

Strangely enough though, Qudirk had found that he had not received as many visits from Celestia in all that time, her instead inviting him over. He wasn't particularly bothered by it, but it did worry him that something might be amiss.

Still, he kept such thoughts to himself for the most part, and instead continued to tinker - or rather scribble on - with his experiments. Recently, just a scarce few months ago, he had used a chunk of his mana just to see if he could create some form of life, and to his surprise, it worked. He had created a golem, small though it was. It was made of simple hewn stone bricks, with a light blue, glowing gem as it's core.

Abrina had been the one to name the golem, calling it "Charles" and then giving it a small top hat out of nowhere. Qudirk had laughed heartily and decided to give it a little of a personality in return, and thus it was now a very tiny butler of stone. Nowadays, the golem was given menial tasks, like cleaning up the tower and more. But that was not the extent of Qudirk's experiments.

For he had not been experimenting with just his magical pencil, but with an enchantment center that he had made 10 years prior and placed in the secondary tower, as well as a forge that lay below the trapdoor in the tower lobby. The man had told Abrina - once she had explored the tower more and found these rooms - that, "I want to be able to do things without my pencil, in case something happens," and he left it at that.

Today, however, Qudirk had been in the castle, leaving Abrina back at the tower. He had not told her any reasons for why he had left, for he left before she had woken up, leaving only a vague note that said...

Abby,
I'm going to the castle for a bit. I'll be back soon, likely later in the afternoon. Be ready for my return.
-Q

Abrina thus had decided to wait for him while doing some basic martial arts exercises. She had always been a fan of martial arts ever since she first saw Dragon Ball Z. It had become a hobby of hers, and according to her, she was a black belt in Taekwondo as well as Aikido.

She was currently practicing some punches and kicks in the garden near the statues, a light sheen of sweat lining her forehead.

"360... 361..." she counted as she punched the air with a constant and controlled rhythm and form. "361 and a half..." she continued as she lashed out with a high kick, before going back to punching. "362...! 363...!" This rhythm continued for a solid twenty minutes, where she had made it to 428, before she saw Qudirk coming up the path and stopped, grabbing a towel from the bench near her and wiping her face off before smiling and walking towards him. "Hey, Q! So what's-?" she started, before stopping as she saw his serious look. "Whoa, what's with the face?"

"Remember what I told you of this world? The show it's based on?" he started, stopped in front of her. She slowly nodded.

"Yeah, why?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Well, I discovered that tonight is the night that Luna returns," Qudirk explained, walking past her towards the front door. "Come, it's time I gave you a little present." Abrina followed after him as he opened the door and walked inside.

"A present? Why? And why is Luna returning such a big deal?" she rattled off, growing more confused.

"Well," he began, making his way to the iron trapdoor and opening it. "For one, it's the time when Celestia goes missing for a solid few hours, banished to some other plane," he said, climbing down the ladder, Abrina soon following after him as she listened. "For two, it also means that young Twilight will be moving out on her own, and facing down the corrupted version of Luna." He walked past the numerous stands of armor, display cases full of weapons and talismans, and weapon racks, stopping in front of a single case that held a strange, sabre like blade in a well decorated sheath made of black finished wood and gold. "Thus, we're going to follow her and make sure that nothing too bad happens to her or her new friends." He opened the case's lid and took the blade, handing it to her. "Here."

She took it gently, marveling at the simple yet beautiful design of the sheath, before unsheathing the blade within, revealing it to be a Chinese war sword made of dark purple metal. The blade, strangely enough, was bearing a fuller that was decorated with black, thorn-like designs. The hilt was pure gold, and shined in the dim light of the basement. "Whoa... This is..." She ran a finger across it's length, eyes wide in awe. "It's beautiful..."

"The blade is called Dimlight. It'll produce a small orb of light if you channel your ki into it, and if you say it's name it will erupt in gold and black flames," Qudirk explained. The Majin's eyes sparkled at this.

"I love it!" she chirped, before gaining a puzzled look and looking up at him. "But, um, why are you giving this to me?"

"Because we might encounter some things while we observe and watch over Twilight," Qudirk explained, before walking to another display case and opening it, pulling out a necklace with an emerald gem in the shape of a wing and placing it around his neck. He then walked back to the ladder leading up, and motioned for her to follow. "Come, we haven't any time to lose." She slowly nodded and sheathed her new blade, putting it through her golden sash and tightening the sash so it wouldn't fall out, then following after him.

They made it up and went back outside, where Qudirk went to the garden and stepped up to the sword pedestal and easily withdrew the large baselard blade of silver and green damascus-like metal. It let out a short song, so faint Abrina could barely make it out, but before she could comment on it he sheathed it in his baldric, canceling the song and looking to her. "Try to keep up, alright?" He looked skyward. "Fly." He then rocketed up into the sky, leaving Abrina behind.

"H-Hey, wait up!" she called after him, before using her ki to shoot up as well. She was glad that she had learned the basics of ki, as if she hadn't she wouldn't have been able to have followed him, nor have so many great memories, like when she blew a hole in the tower with a ki blast. She shook her head at those thoughts, focusing on keeping up with her friend.

'I've never seen him so serious before... I hope things go okay...'

The duo were soon flying high above a small town full of small town houses with thatched roofs, watching as the carriage holding Twilight and Spike slowly alighted below into the town. Abrina looked about the town below them with her typical childlike wonder, whilst Qudirk calmly observed their surroundings and Twilight below.

"This place is so cute! I just want to grab a pony and hug 'em and squeeze 'em!" Abrina declared, hugging herself with a smile. Qudirk sighed, though he had his own small, small though it was.

"Much as I enjoy your enthusiasm, we need to stay alert and keep our minds fresh," he told her. He hummed as he looked about once more. "Mm, we're too obvious up here. Let's head down there and find someplace to hide and quietly observe things." With that, he started to descend, landing in an alleyway where Twilight was soon to pass. Abrina pouted as she landed next to him, but kept quiet all the same, albeit with crossed arms.

Soon after, Twilight and Spike came by, and Qudirk and Abrina hide behind some dumpsters to remain out of sight. A pink pony approached Twilight and Spike, Spike seemingly motioning for the purple mare to say something, but as soon as she did, the pink pony gasped loudly, then zipped off like a rocket.

"Well, that was both weird and a little rude of her," Abrina commented with a hushed tone. Qudirk simply nodded as he watched Twilight continue on. He looked to his friend and roommate.

"Come, we must follow her," he said, before expertly creeping out of the alleyway and tailing the two purple individuals, Abrina joining him as they dived in and out of alleyways and behind any cover they could find and use effectively. Soon enough they reached a large apple orchard, spanning what must have been a solid hundred acres. Thankfully it gave the secretive man and woman more cover to hide behind, and thus they went completely unnoticed by Twilight and Spike as they approached an orange, Stetson wearing Earth Pony mare. The two mares talked briefly before the Earth Pony started to shake Twilight's hoof rapidly, making Abrina chuckle along with Qudirk.

'Well, everything seems fine so far...' he managed a smile as he watched the purple mare interact with the farm pony. 'I'm glad she's finally on the way to making friends.'He shook his head as his serious demeanor returned. 'Still, I need to stay vigilant. Anything could happen now to set things off track.'

Soon enough a loud ringing came, along with a cry of, "Soup's on, everypony!" and following those two sounds was the sound of a stampede of hooves on dirt. Countless ponies zoomed over to Twilight, Spike, and the farm pony, from all over the orchard no less. Qudirk idly wondered why these ponies were in the orchard, as he only ever recalled seeing the farm pony and her mediate family in and around the farm. He shook his head as he watched the scene unfold, the farm pony introducing all her family members to Twilight while each one placed more apple-related dishes on the table.

"Jeez, that's a huge family..." Abrina muttered to herself. Qudirk simply nodded. The two waited as Twilight gave in to the many ponies around her, staying for a long while to eat the food with them. Afterwards, she was walking slowly towards the main area of town with a somewhat bloated looking belly. Qudirk smiled at this, before motioning for Abrina to follow him as they continued to follow Twilight and Spike.

Soon after they arrived at a square in the town, where Twilight was idly talking to a rainbow-maned Pegasus of light blue fur. The blue mare seemed to have crashed into Twilight and covered her in mud, and the Pegasus grabbed a cloud and rinsed her with rain from it by bouncing on it a few times. Abrina seemed shocked to see this, having not seen a Pegasus ever do such things, but she became more amazed when the prismatic Pegasus then zoomed around Twilight like a small tornado of rainbows, quickly drying Twilight off and leaving her mane and tail poofy and frazzled. The cyan mare and Spike then fell to the ground, laughing hysterically.

Eventually, it seemed Twilight issued a challenge to the Pegasus afterwards, and the blue mare then zoomed around the sky, kicking clouds to vapor in rapid succession, soon leaving a very clear sky around the town. Twilight and Spike were now staring with wide eyes and gaping mouths, while the mare simply landed on a cobblestone bridge and polished her hoof on her chest in a prideful manner.

"She's pretty fast..." Abrina noted, looking at the cyan mare intently. Qudirk nodded.

"Indeed. Rainbow Dash is a wellspring of talent, that much is certain," he replied, the two peeking from around a corner in an alleyway as Twilight and Spike eventually continued their walk. Qudirk motioned for Abrina to follow him quietly, which she did as they trailed after Twilight and Spike, who went into a large and towering wooden building that Qudirk quickly explained to Abrina was the town hall. The duo crept up onto the balcony and to one of the large windows, peering inside.

Inside, they saw a pretty marshmallow white mare with a purple coiffed mane and tail along with light purple mascara, the mare carefully arranging the decor around the room inside the hall. Twilight approached her while Spike just stared at her with an obvious love-struck look. The Unicorn mare soon turned to her, let out a short cry of alarm, and then pulled Twilight away and out of the room and hall to the streets.

"Come, let us follow them. If we lose them, there's a high chance something could happen," Qudirk said, jumping off the balcony and falling into a practiced roll. Abrina nodded.

"Got it!" she whisper-yelled as she followed his example. The two trailed after Twilight, Spike, and the Unicorn as they arrived at a building that looked to be made from a carousel. "Eugh, why the heck would ponies make such a creepy building? Don't they know what carousels are?" Abrina asked in a quiet tone as her and Qudirk watched the ponies and dragon enter from a rooftop.

"That, I do not know," Qudirk replied, before jumping off the building. "Hurry, we need to keep an eye on her." Abrina frowned, but did so.

"Remind me again why we're doing this?" she asked as she landed next to him.

"Because for all we know, some cult of Nightmare Moon could come and do harm," Qudirk explained. "We need to be careful and tread lightly. Just our appearance in this world is enough to change countless things, so we need to be wary and take precautions." He rushed over to the carousel laden building, gesturing for Abrina to come over.

"Okay... But we don't even know if anything will happen!" Abrina continued. She sighed as she walked over. "I'm sorry, Q, this just feels... Weird, to me, is all. I mean, nothing's happened yet, right?"

"True, but we must still be careful," he said, peering into one of the windows of the building. Abrina sighed.

"Alright, fine, if you say so," she conceded. The two watched as the white mare dressed Twilight up in all kinds of outfits, but in time she ran off to get something and Twilight and Spike snuck out. Spike was obviously still love-struck as he rode on Twilight's back out of the building, Abrina and Qudirk silently following after them.

They all came upon a lovely scene of a buttery-yellow Pegasus mare with a long pink mane and tail orchestrating a group of birds as they sung. Twilight soon stepped up and scared the birds away on accident, and the other mare let herself slowly fall to the ground as Twilight introduced herself, only for the other mare to shyly mumble something in return. Qudirk managed a small smile as he watched Twilight try to get the mare to respond, before she gave up and walked off, calling Spike over. However, the Pegasus mare saw Spike and finally spoke up, rushing over to him with obvious excitement, asking him all sorts of questions.

Abrina giggled lightly at this. "Well, she sure seems to like seeing new creatures."

Qudirk nodded. "Fluttershy is an animal caretaker and enthusiast, so it's only natural." The mares and the dragon soon started to walk off, and Qudirk inclined his head towards them. "Let's catch up to them." Abrina nodded, the two of them following the other group all the way to a large oak tree that looked to have been made into a home and library. After a swift chat with Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike stole away into the literal tree house. Qudirk smiled, then looked to Abrina. "Alright, we have some time until midnight, so we're going to stay around here and keep an eye on things."

"But it sounds like they're having a really fun party in there!" Abrina whined, pointing to the tree house which was now vibrating with loud music, chatting, and more.

"I'm sure you'll survive," Qudirk said as he sat down against a brick wall in the alleyway, inclining his head a bit and closing his eyes.

Abrina pouted and crossed her arms with puffed out cheeks. "Mmmm, fine! Meanie!" she said, turning away from him with a "Hmph!" Qudirk let out a low chuckle, before opening his eyes and looking to the tree house.

'The time will soon be upon us...' He thought to himself, steeling his gaze and narrowing his eyes. '...Let us hope all goes well...'

A few hours later, four stars were growing ever closer to the moon, and the party was starting to die down. The night was gaining more and more life by the minute as more ponies filled the streets, trotting towards the town hall. Soon enough, Twilight, Spike, and many more filed out of the tree house and towards the town hall. Qudirk looked to Abrina and nudged her awake with an elbow.

"H-Huh? Wha?" she looked about swiftly, before her eyes reached Qudirk's. "Oh, is it time yet?" She asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Qudirk nodded.

"Correct," he said, standing up. "Come, the night is just beginning." He said, offering her a hand up. She yawned a bit, before taking his hand and letting him pull her up. Soon after, the duo snuck and crept their way to the town hall, and made their way up the balcony and peered inside one of the windows.

They watched as the Summer Sun Celebration began to get underway, seeing ponies cheering and stomping their hooves in approval as a mare with a silver mane and tail and tan coat gestured to a balcony inside the hall, whose curtains slid away to reveal an empty balcony. A number of cries and gasps of shock and surprise sounded out, before Qudirk looked to the moon to see the face of it no longer bearing the signature Mare in the Moon. He then looked back to the inside to see a dark blue, twinkling mist swirl around the balcony, deep and evil yet smooth laughter following it as a dark shape soon took form.

Blue armor covered her form, a large pair of ebony wings coupled with a pointy and long horn adorning her sides and head, and with her fangs, slitted cyan eyes and flowing, blue star-like mane and tail, it was obvious to all who this new alicorn mare was.

"Is that...?" Abrina began, looking to Qudirk.

He nodded, looking at the mare intently with a serious expression. "Yes, that...is Nightmare Moon."

Line 7 - "And From The Night She Shall Come..." Part 2

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Anger fills the air of the once gentle night.

Sorrow is briefly flashed on the moon's surface, as if it were a face capable of expression.

A dark cloud swirls overhead in the dimly lit sky.

Stars shine and twinkle in tune to an old lullaby, sung with mocking hatred.

Six mares stand before an ebony pillar of pain and anguish.

A man and a woman step up and stand with them.

The fight for light of day ensues.

Nightmare Moon cackled once more as she looked down at the ponies beneath her. Qudirk and Abrina both watched as she surveyed and talked to those below her like she had already won. Soon enough three Pegasus Guards rushed her, aiming to arrest her, but they were struck down with magical lightning while the black mare cackled once more. Abrina turned to Qudirk.

"Q, we gotta do something!" she whispered to him urgently. He shook his head.

"No, we have to let things run their natural course. We should only step in if something that isn't supposed to happen comes to pass," he replied.

"But what if she kills all those ponies? Or brings eternal night?!" Abrina pressed.

"She won't," was his simple answer.

"How do you know that?" Abrina asked, eyes narrowed.

"Because I watched the show. The most she'll do is zip out of the building and trail along Twilight and her new friends," Qudirk responded easily.

"But-!" Abrina started, but he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Abby, trust me, if anything does happen, we'll step in and stop it. I promise. I won't stand by and let them get hurt, but in this case this all needs to happen. You simply need to trust me," he promised softly, smiling gently at her.

Abrina looked into his green eyes, searching for any hint of dishonesty, and finding nothing, slumped a bit. "...Okay, fine." she looked up at him, steel in her cherry red eyes. "But if anything happens to them, I'm telling Celestia it was your fault."

Qudirk chuckled. "Wouldn't have it any other way," he replied, patting her shoulder, before looking back to the window to see Nightmare turn into a cloud of sparkling blue mist and zoom out of the town hall, followed by the cyan mare and Twilight. His gaze steeled at this. "Come on, let's follow them," he said, slowly floating up with the help of his enchanted necklace. Abrina nodded and did the same, using her ki to propel herself upwards. The two then tagged along a safe distance behind Twilight and the other mares, keeping a watchful eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

After reaching the tree house and watching as the blue mist that was Nightmare Moon zoom off towards the woods, the duo were soon at the Everfree forest themselves, hiding in the trees near the entrance and waiting for Twilight and the five other mares to appear. Soon enough they did, and soon enough they all slowly trotted inside. Abrina and Qudirk followed them from the shadows of the foliage and trees, and just when the girls started to talk, Qudirk and Abrina heard the clopping of hooves behind them.

Qudirk whirled around, drawing his blade quickly and pointing it at whoever was behind them, Abrina did much the same. To their surprise, they saw Nightmare Moon there, smirking a fang-filled smirk at them.

"So, it seems there are other players in this game..." she started, taking a step forward. "Ones who seem to be eyeing those fools..." She took another step forward, "Are you protecting them? Or do you wish to join me and crush them?" It was a question but at the same time a warning, made all the more obvious by the evil glint in the mare's slitted cyan eyes.

Abrina leaned towards Qudirk. "This is bad..." She whispered. He nodded.

"We'll need to keep her busy. We can't have her getting to the others," he told her, before looking back to the black alicorn mare. "We're protecting them. And I'd suggest you back off, before you get hurt." He warned. The alicorn let out a chortle.

"Oh, such bravado!" Her smirk turned feral. "It's too bad it will all go out the window soon. You could have been the first to join me..." She sighed and shook her head. "Very well. If a fight is what you want, a fight is what you shall have." Her horn lit up a ghostly blue, and a focused beam of magic shot out towards Qudirk. He blocked it with the flat of his blade, sending the blast into a tree and scorching the bark. "Hmm, seems you're a cut above the rest, creature." The alicorn noted, looking briefly to the trunk of the tree. She turned back to the duo. "It's too bad you chose to oppose me. You could have been a great officer in my armies." She shook her head once more, as if shaking the very idea off." Well, enough of that." She regained her smirk. "Let's continue." She zoomed towards Qudirk, aiming to impale him with her horn.

"Not today, Moony!" Abrina cried, speeding out to meet the mare and uppercutting her, sending her flying upwards. The mare cried out in pain and stopped herself with her wings, flapping them to stay afloat.

Nightmare spat to the side after stopping herself, glaring at Abrina. "How annoying you are." Her horn glowed once more. "Begone, pest!" She shouted, firing a large beam towards Abrina. Abrina deftly dodged it, only to yelp when the beam split into smaller beams, all of them homing in on her. She rolled and dashed between the beams, but many of them were still after her.

"Abrina! Block with your sword!" Qudirk cried, in an intense duel with Nightmare Moon, who had summoned a blade to use against him.

"Wh-!" Abrina dodged another beam, only for it to circle around and try to hit her again. "Why?!" she managed to say.

"Just do it!" he urged her, parrying blow after blow from the Nightmare, gritting his teeth from each heavy blow.

Abrina swiftly moved her blade in front of her like Qudirk had taught her to all those years ago, closed her eyes, whispered a prayer, and then tried to block the beams coming at her. She felt the impact of the beams against her blade, felt the heat of the magical energy, but nothing afterwards. Opening her eyes, she saw her blade now glowing a faint, luminescent blue. "Whoa..." she breathed, staring at the blade in amazement.

"Abrina!" came Qudirk's call, snapping her back into reality.

"I'm coming!" she replied, rushing over to help.

Nightmare Moon growled when Abrina came close, swiftly turning into mist and reappearing a few hundred feet away to avoid the swipe of both the Majin's blade and Qudirk's. She was shaking with anger. "You insolent, scum-sucking beasts...!" She summoned an array of sleek black lances. "Die, you fools!" She then launched them. Qudirk and Abrina rolled to opposite sides and ran around the clearing as the lances continued to come at them. "Die! Die die die!"

Qudirk grunted as a few lances managed to nick him and give him shallow cuts, but he pressed on, continuing to run and dodge to the best of his ability.

Qudirk then rolled through a volley of lances, Abrina simply knocking them all aside with waves of ki, before the two rushed the dark mare, Abrina lashing out with a high kick to the chest to knock her back, and Qudirk uppercutting her with the pommel of his blade. Nightmare stumbled back, now sporting a bleeding lip.

"Grrr..." she growled, before her eyes widened slightly and she looked to something in the distance. Her growl then returned with full force, and she turned back to her opponents. "This isn't over, you wretches! I'll be back to carve your hides into rugs!" With that, she disappeared in a flash of light with a pop.

Qudirk panted lightly as he stabbed his blade into the earth, leaning on it a bit and reaching a hand to one of his cuts. He winced, but recovered quite quickly. "At least they aren't fatal..." He muttered, before looking to Abrina. "Come on. We need to find Twilight and the others, make certain that they are safe."

Abrina frowned. "Are you gonna be okay?" she asked worriedly.

He nodded, waving off her concerns. "I'm fine, just some shallow cuts here and there. I'm just glad those lances weren't poisoned."

She frowned more, but slowly nodded. "Alright, if you're sure."

"I am," he said, standing up fully and pulling his blade free before sheathing it expertly. "Come, we have to hurry." He then lifted into the air once more and flew off. Abrina followed after him.

They flew for a few dozen minutes before the man pointed to a ruin in the midst of the forest. "There, that castle!" he said, yelling over the din of the wind. Abrina nodded and the two sped up, reaching the castle in just a scarce few minutes. They found a hole in the ceiling where bright lights continued to flash, from purple to blue, and Qudirk stared at the opening for a time, thinking.

'This Nightmare Moon is stronger than the one they portrayed in the show... I can't allow her to run free, I need to stop her here, or else many more than just the new Elements will be hurt.' He thought. He looked to Abrina. "Are you ready?" He asked her. She nodded. He looked back to the hole, a frown briefly flashing on his face before his mouth went back to being a thin line. "...Then let's go." Abrina nodded again.

They descended into the hole, landing on the tiled floors of a throne room, right between Twilight, her friends, and Nightmare Moon.

"Mr. Q, Ms. Nicole?!" came Twilight's cry of shock.

"Who?" the Elements echoed, confused.

"You two..." Nightmare growled. She pawed the ground with a blue shod hoof, her horn glowing dangerously. "You pests just keep coming back up like bugs!" She growled louder, before snorting. "Well, no matter. I won't be stopped! The world will be bathed in my beautiful night! Take this!" She fired beams of concussive magic one after another at Qudirk and Abrina, the two managing to block them all, the mares behind them only watching in shock and awe. Qudirk looked back to them after batting an errant beam into the wall.

"Hurry! Use the Elements!" he swatted another beam away.

"We can't hold her off forever!" Abrina told them, grunting and knocking beam after beam aside.

"R-right!" Twilight said with an affirmative nod, before turning to her friends. "Come on girls!" They all nodded and soon enough started to glow as they focused on the feelings within themselves.

Nightmare noticed this, and roared. "No! I will not be imprisoned again!" She summoned a lance and fired it at the girls. Qudirk's eyes widened at this, seeing it headed for Twilight.

"No!" he shouted, jumping in front of it. He knocked it aside with his blade, but as he did, Nightmare disappeared. "Wha-!?" he started, before he felt something impale his side and lift him up. "Gu-hack!" He coughed up blood, looking down to find Nightmare with her horn in his side, smiling devilishly at him.

"Q!" Abrina cried in alarm. She rushed over and kicked Nightmare off of her friend, causing the mare to fly into a wall bodily and Qudrik to fall to the ground with a faint thud. Twilight saw this, her own eyes widening in horror.

"No!!" she yelled, tears starting to form in her eyes. Eyes that soon hardened with rage as the magic of the Elements swirled around her and her friends. "You... You monster!" she roared, before the Elements powered up fully and they lifted into the air, and soon the orbs of stone turned into jeweled necklaces and clasped themselves around their respective bearer's necks, Twilight gaining a crown instead as her eyes glowed white. Soon after, a beam of prismatic magic ripped through the air and rocketed towards the groaning and prone form of Nightmare Moon, who opened her eyes just int time to see the light envelop her.

"No! No no no no no!" The magic surrounded her, swallowing her in a storm of rainbows. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" she wailed. Soon, the magic faded, and all that remained was a blue alicorn mare.

But the others did not worry about her, instead rushing over to Qudirk, who was bleeding profusely as Abrina cradled him. "Hold on, Q! Just hold on!"

"Mr. Q!!" Twilight exclaimed. She stopped in front of the gasping man, tears flowing down her face. "H-hold on, I'll heal you!" Her horn glowed, and she tried to heal his wound. Thankfully, it worked, and the man started to breath easier as the wound closed up.

"Oh thank God..." Abrina breathed, hugging him tightly. The man looked around with a soft, yet tired smile as Twilight joined in on the hug.

"I was so worried..." she said, sobbing into his back. He let out a low chuckle, wincing slightly at the action, but he answered nonetheless.

"Well, I'm fine now, young one," he said softly, rubbing her back. He looked to one of the stained glass windows, where the light of day was starting to rapidly grow and shine through. He patted Twilight's back. "Help me up, please. I'd like to see your teacher while on my feet, not on my rear." Abrina and Twilight let out brief giggles before carefully helping him up. He rubbed the spot where he had been pierced and grunted. "Mm, that'll be sore for a some time, I imagine..." He shook his head.

"Mr. Q, you said the Princess was going to be here, but I don't see her," Twilight said, looking around for her teacher. Qudirk chuckled, pointing to the growing light outside the ruined castle's windows.

"She's on her way, young Sparkle," he said, smiling as they all turned to the bright light that erupted in the room, growing quickly into the shape of Celestia. As that was happening, all the Element Bearers bowed.

Celestia smiled as she looked at her subjects, while Twilight rushed over to her mentor. "Princess! I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student," Celestia said with motherly warmth as she embraced the purple mare. After they separated, Celestia kept her smile as she looked down at Twilight. "I knew you could do it."

"But you told me it was all an old pony tale," Twilight pointed out, confusion written on her face. Celestia's smile grew.

"I told you you needed to make some friends, nothing more," she replied. "I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her. But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart."

"Something we've both been telling her over the years," came Qudirk's remark as he approached Celestia.

"Indeed-" Celestia started, before her eyes widened as she saw the blood on her friends shirt. "-Qudirk, what happened to you?!"

"Hm? Oh, nothing much, I was just impaled a little on Nightmare's horn. Your student healed me quite well, so I'm fine," he replied with an easy smile. Abrina slapped him upside the head.

"Don't downplay it. The tough guy act won't work with us," she said sternly. Qudirk simply let out a short laugh.

"Well, it was worth a shot," he said with a grin. Celestia frowned and sighed, hoof meeting her head.

"We're going to talk about this later," she told him, shooting him a look. He shrugged.

"As you wish. But should our attention not be on the younger alicorn in the room?" he said, gesturing to the blue alicorn mare lying on the floor among broken and smoking pieces of Nightmare's armor.

Celestia frowned and trotted over to her. "Princess Luna." The now named Luna opened her eyes with a start as Celestia continued. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this." She lay herself down in front of the blue mare. "Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister."

"Sister?!" whisper yelled the Elements, while Qudirk simply smiled as he looked on.

Celestia continued. "Will you accept my friendship?" she asked, standing up.

Luna stared into her sister's eyes for a short time, before closing them in what seemed to be conflicting emotions. Then, she opened them and rushed to her sister, embracing her as tears streamed down her face. "I'm so sorry!" she cried in a smooth yet archaic voice. "I missed you so much, big sister."

Celestia let her own tears fall as she responded and returned the embrace, "I've missed you too."

Qudirk smiled as he watched on, as did Abrina and the others. The following days would be hard for the returned Princess of the Night, but, at the same time, they would be some of the happiest in her life.

And much was still in store for them all. Much indeed.

Line 8 - To Clear A Name... (Edited)

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Hello, how are you?

A man slowly cracks his eyes open and yawns, sitting up in bed.

A mare groans as she gets out of bed.

Opening a window, a man's head popped out.

Opening a window, a mare's head popped out.

Both sigh, before saying, "Morning!"

Bright, sunny daylight lies outside.

A man stands in a kitchen, yawns as he makes his breakfast.

A mare sits patiently at a table, yawning.

They sing, "La la la la da la~," in their hearts.

A yellow woman cheers as she eats her breakfast, a man smiling and doing the same across the table from her.

A mare looks over a scroll as she eats some toast.

A mare sleeps soundly in her dark room, happily dreaming.

"Hello, how are you?"

The days following the return of Luna, and the subsequent return of a diarchy in Equestria, were, in one man's words, "paradoxical." On one hand, many were overjoyed to have not only been saved from eternal night, but given a new princess. On the other, many were also wary of this new princess. They had heard only frightful tales of the Lunar Princess, tales of a dark mare eating foals whole, tales of dark and bloody war and rebellion...

...And Qudirk planned on giving the ponies something else to believe. However, he needed to prepare, before that could happen. Thus, the days after the return of Luna saw him almost exclusively in his study, and every now and again the castle library, writing up papers and pamphlets and more. Abrina knew better than to interrupt him, even if she did grow bored frequently and quickly.

Celestia had tried to contact him herself, and even Luna had once or twice, but even when they came to the tower they found naught but a sign that read in bold letters, "Disturb Me Not." This, of course, was not taken all too well by them, and even more so by Luna. Celestia tried to assure her sister that this was a common theme with the man, though in truth she was just as hurt and upset as her sister.

And thus, three weeks passed, and Qudirk finally finished his task and sat up from his desk. He grunted as he popped his neck and back, getting up from his chair and giving his works a once over. With a satisfied smile and nod, he uttered, "These should do nicely indeed." That said, he grabbed his leather satchel, carefully placed the papers inside, secured the straps, and nodded to himself. He looked to the clock. "Hmm, I suppose it's as good a time as any." He then picked up a regular pencil from his desk and a spare scrap of paper and wrote a quick note for Abrina. After placing it in an exceedingly obvious place so the oblivious girl wouldn't miss it, Qudirk made his way out of the tower.

He passed Charles on the way, the tiny golem standing upon a very tall stool as he washed the dishes in the sink. "Afternoon, Charles. Would you mind making certain Abrina knows I'm going to be out for the day? I left a note, but just in case she misses it, remind her for me, would you?"

Charles turned his head and nodded. "Certainly, sir. I'll make sure I do that. Do have a good one."

"You too, Charles," Qudirk said with a smile before continuing his descent of the tower.

It did not take him long to descend the whole tower and make his way out the front door, nor did it take him long to make it out of the Royal Forests nor the Royal Gardens. As he walked off of the expertly trimmed grass and towards the cobbled pathway leading to the Castle Courtyard, Qudirk checked the straps of his satchel one final time, before nodding to himself in satisfaction.

The walk down the path to the courtyard was quiet, but not as serene as the man would like. He had taken quick notice of the Day Guard patrolling the castle's grounds, many of them chatting amongst themselves as they walked. At least, until they noticed Qudirk, then they would silence themselves.

Every time, however, they failed to keep their hushed whispers from Qudirk's listening ears. They were talking about Luna, and not in the brightest of lights, either. With a frown and eyes full of determination, Qudirk quickened his pace.

The rest of the trek away from the castle and down into the city was not much different, the air filled with ponies chatting with each other. Certainly, many were simply talking about the day-to-day issues, but just as common was the talk of Luna and her return.

Qudirk's frown only grew at this. 'Such baseless claims.' He thought to himself as he traversed the streets of Canterlot, overhearing a few nobles speaking of how Luna was just waiting for the moment to strike. 'Luna has no reason to try and revert to her old ways, much less eat foals whole.' His grip on the strap of his satchel tightened. 'With any luck, these will help enlighten them.'

Qudirk passed many a building as he strode ahead, from shops, restaurants and hotels to manors, apartments and the rare few simple abodes. He did not often come out into the city proper, thus the large, sprawling city was a bit confusing for him to navigate through.

The stares of the ponies around him didn't help much, either. To him, it was all just too bright and confusing. Thankfully, with the help of a map he packed into his satchel, he soon found the building he was looking for.

"Equestria Daily Inc., good, I found it," He noted, stashing his map back into his satchel. The building was, oddly enough, rather simple and unassuming compared to the more colorful designs of most buildings in the city. Simple white stucco made up the walls, and the massive sign that announced the company's name was just a white backdrop with the words in cursive black script. The only item that stood out was the picture of a rolled up newspaper between the words 'Equestria' and 'Daily.'

With a shrug, Qudirk approached the door. "Well, Q, old boy, it's time to put those skills of persuasion to use," he muttered to himself as he pushed the door open.

The next morning, when Luna came into the dining hall, she was hit with a wad of newspaper right on her muzzle. "Ow!" she cried, stumbling back and rubbing the place of impact with a hoof. She glared up at her sister, whose smile was brighter than ever. "And what in the name of mine moon was that for, sister?"

"Read it!" Celestia urged, shoving the paper in her face again.

With a grumble, Luna did so, taking the newspaper with her magic and beginning to read. As she did, her eyes slowly widened. Then, they began to water, and Luna fell on her plot as she held a hoof to her mouth in shock as tears fell from her eyes.

Celestia smiled and walked over to her sister, sitting down beside her and wrapping a wing around her younger sibling, who cried into the embrace.

On the headlines of the paper were the words, "Resident Human Reveals Truth! Princess Luna War Hero!" Detailed below the headlines was how Luna lead the charge in the war with the Griffons millennia ago, as well as how she once protected a whole village of ponies from an invading force by her lonesome.

Many more of Luna's heroic efforts in that war were detailed, and all of this was due to the work of Equestria's resident human, Qudirk. The days to come would be filled with many a pony thanking Luna whensoever they saw her, the Day Guard especially, whom mingled with the Night Guard and gained even greater respect for her as they told their own stories of the Lunar Princess.

Luna, after several weeks of agonizing guilt since her return, was finally gaining acceptance from her subjects.

Line 9 - Sleepover

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I woke up with Asada curled up next to me, and I scratched her ears. "You're getting big," I noted. "You are not the cub I once saved. In fact, you could probably do security here, if needed." She kept on sleeping. "Well, time to go get ready for a lazy day."

I got out of bed, grabbed one of the comfy bodysuits I'd come to love, and went to the bathroom. As I was showering, my thoughts wandered around my Displaced situation, and everything that had changed for me. From my physical changes to my willingness to stand up to what's wrong, and even fighting. I'd come to love the full auto shotguns, something I wouldn't have even touched before. I was still a peace first type, but I had power now, and it felt good.

After drying off, and while I was getting dressed, a thought crossed my mind. The different standards of clothing between men and women. A guy wearing a bodysuit, if not for a costume, or some kind of messy job, would be seen as weird, but I could get away with it because I looked good with it on. A plethora of clothing double standards crossed my mind, and it was boggling.

"Come on, Yang. This is a lazy day, not an introspective day. It's bed, then breakfast. Or maybe lunch." Thoughts cleared, I opened the door and fell into a vortex. "Oh, this. I hope it's not cold wherever I'm going."

After what felt like five minutes of freefalling, I dropped out of the portal and landed on a soft bed, the comfy sheets falling over me perfectly after impact. "This will do." I closed my eyes and let sleep come to me.

Sleep, however, did not come. A girlish squee and flying tackle got in the way. "Ahh, it's Yang Xiao Long! Sugoi!"

I looked at the literally yellow skinned blonde girl that had tackle hugged me out of the bed. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, this is good enough for now!"

For a while, I let the fangirl hug me, since it seemed innocent enough, if a bit tight and excited. Finally, I asked, "So, who are you?"

"Ah!" She seemed to have a moment of sudden realization, and in the blink of an eye, had backed out of my personal space. She was wearing a small tank top exposing some midriff, and a pair of short shorts. "My name is Abrina, and I summoned you, I guess. I mean, I picked up this choker I've never seen before, heard something, said a thing, and boom! You appeared!"

"Yeah, that's how it works. So, what do you want to do since I'm here?"

"Well. . . Umm. . . I dunno,” Abrina adopted a very contemplative pose, brow furrowing. Then, her red eyes widened, and she snapped her fingers. “Aha! I know! There’s this sleepover that’s supposed to happen tonight with a bunch of ponies, and me and Q are hosting it! Wanna join in?”

I smiled at the idea. “Well, you won’t hear any objections from me. I’ve been in pony piles before, and they are great! Also, who’s Q?”

“Q’s the guy I live with,” Abrina explained, gesturing to everything around them. “He and Charles care for me, and Q made pretty much everything in this room for me.” She sighed, smiling widely. “He’s a really nice guy. You’ll like him.”

“Everything here, eh? Do you think he could make some stuff for me? I might have some ideas.”

Abrina shrugged. “Maybe. He’s usually pretty open to new ideas.” Abrina jabbed a thumb to a door on the other side of the massive bedroom. “The main tower where he is is out there, across the bridge.” Abrina started to float over to the door, motioning for me to follow. “Come on, I’ll show you to him.”

“Sounds good to me.” As we went across the bridge, I voiced a question. “So, what are you? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Abrina giggled. “I don’t. I’m a Majin. It’s a race from the Dragon Ball franchise, one that came about from Majin Buu and Lady Buu basically continually pulling off pieces of themselves and making them into more Majins.” Abrina waved a hand airily. “Think of me as a magical bubblegum girl with the best bod around.” She winked at me.

I mulled her words over a bit. “Okay. No idea who Majin Buu or Lady Buu are, but I think I have the gist of it. What kinds of powers do you have?”

Abrina opened her palm, a bright pink orb of energy appearing in it. “Well, I can easily manipulate ki to make blasts of energy, fly, and stuff like that. I can also turn things into candy, and transform into other people, though all that’s with my natural Majin abilities. The ki stuff is just basics for any Dragon Ball character. Majin’s are just known to have it innately.” She giggled behind a hand daintily. “Heck, if I wanted, I could blow up the moon, or this planet, or both.” She smirked at me, sticking out her tongue. “I just happen to like this planet too much to do either.”

“Well, that’s a lot of power.” I conjured some flames into the shape of a clipboard and pen and started writing. “Note to self: stay on Abrina’s good side.” With the little act done, I dispelled the fire. “I also have music. Listen to this.” I decided to go with an upbeat song, and started moving with the music. A few drumbeats and a guitar started it off.

After a few seconds, the lyrics kicked in, and I sang along. “I’d drive a million miles, to be with you tonight. . .”

Abrina started bobbing to the infectious tune as well. “Ooh, this sounds good.”

“So if you’re feeling low, turn up your radio. . .”

As we kept going, we both started dancing in our own ways. It wasn’t long before Abrina started singing along to the best of her ability, which was pretty good, and well synchronized with my singing.

The song ended and we stopped dancing just as we came to a closed door. “Well, that was fun,” I said with a smile. “Really should use that more often.”

“I’ll say,” Abrina agreed with a huge grin.

“Anyways, is Q in here or something?”

“He should be up in his study,” Abrina explained, pushing the door open before walking in. Inside was what seemed to be a glorified workout room that was nearly a gym in and of itself. Abrina paid it little mind, however, and walked past all the equipment towards a set of stairs leading up. “Come on, it’s up here.”

I took a moment to look at all the equipment as I followed her up the stairs. It was impressive, to say the least. “I’m going to guess Q made all this as well, right?”

Abrina nodded, grinning. “Yup. He and I like to stay fit.”

“Same here. When the weather’s good, I like to run laps around Ponyville. It’s fun and relaxing, you know?”

Abrina giggled behind a hand. “You’re talking to a girl who routinely runs laps around the circumference of Mt. Canter for some cardio.” She winked. “So, yeah, I get it.”

“Cool.” I didn’t have anything else to say on the way up.

After passing numerous rooms with various furnishings - ranging from a kitchen, an armory, and what seemed to be a study - we reached the top floor, where I could see a pretty well-made bedroom. Golden carpet, silvery wallpaper, sky blue ceiling, a four-poster queen sized bed, and in one corner, a man sitting at a desk, writing something down furiously on a notebook.

“Hey, Q! I met someone!” Abrina said, floating over to his side.

“Hm?” ‘Q’ turned, and I could easily tell how ripped he was. Being bereft of a shirt probably helped. Thankfully, he had pants on. He had brown hair, and glasses as well as pale skin. “Ah, a Yang Displaced. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. I heard something about a sleepover with ponies happening.” I mentally smacked myself for not having a better way to break the ice with Q.

Q, thankfully, didn’t seem to mind as he chuckled. “Indeed. Young Twilight invited us over not too long ago.” He stood up, then started to walk towards what seemed to be a walk-in closet. “One moment, if you don’t mind. I’d like to be fully dressed before we get down to brass tacks.” Without any other words, he disappeared into the closet.

I briefly looked over my own bodysuit, then turned to Abrina. “Hey, if we’re going to be walking through town, should I wear something else? This isn’t exactly the kind of outfit you wear out and about.” I'd seen women wear bodysuits in public before, and it didn't look good in my opinion. Well, it could look good, but at the same time, it didn't.

Abrina looked thoughtful for a bit before a mischievous look came over her face. "Are you saying I can choose something for you to wear?"

"Preferably something reasonable. I know I look good, but I don't want to wear clothes that are more. . . Appealing in public."

"Hmmm. . . Alright. Just let me think of something real fast, okay?"

Abrina then zipped through the balcony doors and down to her tower. Roughly a minute later, Q came out in a white T-shirt that said, ‘Dreamer at heart’ in starry letters. “I see Abrina left. Might I ask what for?” he queried.

"She's getting some other clothes for me to wear," I explained. "I don't want to go out wearing just this. Aaaaaand I think I just gave her carte blanche for what I'm going to wear." A mild feeling of dread came over me. "Well, may as well see what she comes up with. It probably won't be so bad."

Q smirked, hand going to his hip before he leaned to the side, looking over my shoulder. I slowly turned around, wondering what could be waiting for me.

It was a yellow tube top. One that looked a size too small. With short shorts of a black color, also looking a size too small. Abrina grinned as she held them up. “Sooo? Whaddya think, Yangy?”

It didn’t take long for me to look the pieces over, they were so small. “Not my usual style. I’ll go try them on anyways.” I accepted the pieces and went into the attached bathroom to change.

Both pieces were definitely a little small on me. The tube top left an inch or two of midriff exposed, and the shorts were fairly clingy. It was a little uncomfortable, mostly around my chest, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle, though preferably not for long.

I stepped out after folding up the comfy bodysuit. “Well, it’s not bad. Just need some shoes now.”

Q let out a short breath of laughter. “You know, it’s good to be right sometimes.” He said, taking a pocketful of gold coins from Abrina, who grumbled and looked away, crossing her arms. Q shook his head. “They look good on you.”

“There’s no way I can deny that,” I admitted. “What was the bet?”

“Whether or not you’d fit the outfit without it tearing. Naturally, I bet that it wouldn’t,” Q looked to Abrina. “Honestly, if you were that invested in seeing her even more revealed, wouldn’t it be better to just ask?”

Abrina blushed deeply, before slugging Q in the shoulder. “Don’t say it out loud, you jerk!”

Q simply laughed again.

I felt a blush of my own come on at the details of the bet. "Well. . . Okay then. What are we going to do until the sleepover?"

“Well, that depends. How do you feel about video games?” Q queried, still smiling.

"They're fun. I prefered puzzle games before my Displacement, but I'd be willing to give something else a try."

Q chuckled. “Well, we have a few good ones.” He looked to Abrina. “Abrina, mind getting them out?”

Abrina pouted, crossing her arms and turning away from him. “Dun wanna.”

Q snorted in amusement. “You know all that does is make you look cuter, right?”

Abrina’s blush grew. “Sh-Shut up idiot…”

I watched the conversation happen. “Okay, now I’m curious. What are they talking about?”

“I am not cute!” Abrina cried, stomping a foot in a petulant manner.

Q rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, Abrina.”

“But I’m not! I’m sexy dammit!” Abrina affirmed.

Q hummed, tilting his back and forth, as if in consideration.

“How the fuck is that even giving you pause?!” Abrina cried, her face a bright orange.

Q suddenly leaned right into her face, making her blush skyrocket...and then gently poked her nose. “Boop.”

Abrina, in response, simply stood there, furiously blushing, before turning on her heel and marching to a corner of the room, grumbling loudly to herself.

“Thank you, dear,” he said melodiously.

“Shove it up your pale ass, ya fuggin’ annoyingly sexy jerk…,” Abrina grumbled, rummaging through what seemed to be a cabinet near a large TV set, complete with a console.

“Well, that was something.” I followed Abrina over and tried to look over her shoulder at what she was rummaging through. “So, what are you getting?”

“Smash Brothers 64, Mario Kart 8, ya know, all the good Nintendo stuff,” Abrina replied, before glaring over at Q as he set up the consoles. “Still not giving up on beating your ass into the ground in Smash Bros. you jerk!”

Q chuckled. “You’re welcome to try, Abrina.”

I decided to sit down on the couch in front of the TV as my hosts set everything up. “Can’t say I’ve played Smash Bros before. I’ve heard it’s good, but, well, I guess it’s time to try a new cup of tea.”

“Well, knowing how most of my challengers end up, you will either want to strangle me, quit, or both. Or, in Abrina’s case…” Q looked towards Abrina, who groaned.

“I’ll endlessly fail to beat you and endlessly amuse you, blah blah blah,” Abrina monotoned, making a ‘blah blah blah’ movement with her hand for effect.

“Well, that sounds amusing,” I noted. It wasn’t long before the game was on, and I was ready to learn something new.

I learned that I was definitely in the wrong league. Q beat Abrina pretty easily, and then just as often dealt with my stumbling around character as an afterthought. In spite of that, and learning a somewhat odd and slightly unintuitive control setup, I still had fun. “So, what next?” I asked as the game was turned off.

The sound of a doorbell rang out, and Q smiled as he stood up. “Simple, we greet our guests.” With that, he made his way to the stairs. “Come on now, you two.”

I stretched a bit as I followed Q and Abrina to the entrance, presumably. “So, are you going to tell me who our guests are or am I just going to have to wait and see?” I asked Abrina.

“Well, there’s the Princesses, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack,” Abrina began counting off each pony on her fingers. “Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, but aside from that no one else.”

“Sounds like a few familiar faces to me.” A plan started forming in my head, and it involved Rarity’s talent. One way or another, I was going to leave with something new and stylish for winter.

Abrina grinned. “I know that look. Every girl gets it. You’re looking for something new and sexy to wear, right?”

“It’s a bit of an addiction,” I admitted. “I just get ideas and I want to see them brought to life for me to wear. That, and I want some new winter stuff. . . That’s kind of my excuse.”

Abrina giggled. “I have some sexy winter wear up in my room if you want to try it later.”

“I’ll take a look at it. Who knows, you may just have what I’m thinking of.”

Abrina giggled again and winked at me.

“Anyways, let’s get ready to welcome them. It’ll probably be more like introducing me to them, but still.”

Soon enough we reached the ground floor, and Q opened the door. A plethora of colorful figures were revealed by it’s opening, all of them bearing saddlebags for what must have been the sleepover on their backs.

“Hello everyone. Please, come in, come in,” Q greeted.

“Thanks for inviting us, Mr. Q!” Twilight chirped.

“Yeah, thanks! We haven’t gotten out of the darn library in ages!” Pinkie said, grinning as she walked in.

“Oh?” Q queried, raising a brow as he took some of the bags from Rarity, as she had the most with her.

“Yeah, we had to try and keep Egghead here from bringing half her library with her,” Rainbow said with a grin as she flew inside.

Q chuckled. “I see.” That was when they all seemed to take note of me finally, and stopped to stare.

“Qudirk, is she another traveler from your homeland?” Celestia queried, turning narrowed eyes to him. “You never told me about her.”

Qudirk raised his hands in placation. “Easy now, Princess. She only just got here.”

It was time for me to introduce myself. “I’m Yang Xiao Long, just visiting for a bit, and I’m looking forward to an enjoyable night.” I caught a few snickers coming from the resident Majin. “No, not that kind of enjoyable night, Abrina.”

Abrina shrugged. “Hey, I didn’t say anything. That was all you.”

“Ah don’t follow,” Applejack said, giving the two a confused look.

“Probably a smart move,” I said. “Innuendos can lead your mind from the roof to the gutter fast.”

Applejack turned to Twilight. “What’s an innuendo, Twi?”

“Innuendo, noun, an allusive or oblique remark or hint, typically a suggestive or disparaging one,” Twilight said as if she was reading from a dictionary or Google. For all I knew, she may have memorized the dictionary. “The innuendo, in this case, was the phrase ‘I’m looking forward to an enjoyable night’.”

“But how does that. . . Ohhhhh. . . Ah get it now.”

“Yes, well, I think it best we move on,” Rarity intervened before anyone else could comment. She looked to Qudirk. “Where should we place our things?”

Q smiled and gestured for everyone to follow him. “Right this way, ladies.” He said as he made his way back upstairs.

As they all filed in, chatting amongst themselves, I noticed that Luna seemed particularly quiet as she followed the rest of them. To add to that, she had considerably less volume to her saddlebags than the others.

Abrina and I followed them, and I couldn’t help but wonder about the bags, a line of thought quickly superseded by wondering what games were going to be played.

“We- I’m sorry, but...what is all this?” Luna asked, looking at the array of consoles, games and controllers.

Most of them were much bigger than the ones that me, Q, and Abrina had used earlier, and all of them Q had pulled out of a separate drawer nearby.

“I’m kinda wondering that myself. I’ve never even seen stuff like this,” Rainbow admitted, poking one of the controllers with a hoof.

Pinkie was already mashing buttons on one of them, and surprisingly, it wasn’t breaking from said mashing. “I don’t know, but mashing these things is really satisfying!” She chirped with a big grin.

“They look almost like those Joyboys that have been going around recently…” Twilight mused, picking one controller up by the cord and inspecting it.

“Joyboys, hm?” Celestia frowned as she looked at the array of equipment. “Can’t say I’ve ever tried using one of them.”

Q smiled. “Think of all this as more advanced versions of those. Ones you can simply bring home and plug in and play.” He picked up one of the bigger controllers. “I had to make controllers that would fit your anatomies a bit better, but in essence, these are, I suppose you could say, Joyboys from my homeland.”

Rainbow, Rarity and Applejack frowned as they took in the words.

“I’m not really one for that weird game stuff, though,” Rainbow admitted, crossing her forelegs over her barrel.

“Me neither. Always have too much work to do, and whenever Ah did have free time, I’d usually spend with you girls,” Applejack agreed.

“I’m not sure it’s really for me, darling,” Rarity concurred, primping her mane. “A lady can’t be seen with such things.”

Q hummed. “Well, how do the rest of you feel about it?” He asked, looking around.

“I wouldn’t mind trying it out, if I’m to be honest,” Celestia mused.

“We- er, I, am curious as well,” Luna added.

Twilight frowned, looking between her teacher and said teacher’s sister, before looking back to the gaming equipment. “Well...I guess I could give it a shot.”

Abrina spoke up. “There’s a lot of different kinds of games, you know. The ones you guys have here are mostly action or roleplay, right? Fantasy kind of stuff?” At their nods, Abrina grinned. “Well, we’ve got tons more of a variety. There’s party games with loads of minigames packed in, there’s games for making your own little civilization, or village, or managing a farm,” She looked to Fluttershy and Applejack, who perked up at those words. “There’s also sports games, and even a good few exploration games,” Abrina finished counting off on her fingers before looking to Rainbow.

“That is...a surprising amount of variety,” Luna admitted, looking at the consoles and games in a new light.

“Sports games and exploration, huh?” Rainbow rubbed her chin, before grinning widely. “Ah heck, why not then!”

“Ah wouldn’t mind trying it out then, Ah guess,” Applejack agreed.

“I, um, think I’ll try it too,” Fluttershy said, moving some of her curtain-like mane out of the way with a hoof.

“You had me at party games!” Pinkie said with a large, almost comical smile.

“Hmm...making my own civilization...that has an oddly nice ring to it,” Rarity mused, smiling devilishly to herself.

As the rest of them voiced their consent, Q smiled, before looking to me. “Well, since we have a new friend here, why don’t we let her decide which game we play first?” He offered, gesturing towards me.

I felt the pressure as all eyes turned towards me. “Umm. . . You know what, I’m going to dare to be stupid and go with Smash. I may have gotten trounced earlier, but I’m willing to try again.”

“That’s the spirit, Yang!” Abrina cheered.

“I am not going to come in last again!”

“Smash?” The ponies all queried, tilting their heads.

Q only grinned.

“How?” I moaned from my spot in the middle of the group after five rounds. “How am I still coming in last every time?”

Rainbow was laughing her rainbow tail off. “Dude, even Fluttershy beat you! That is hilarious!”

“I-It was an accident!” Fluttershy cried, trying to defend herself.

“No need to be ashamed, Fluttershy,” Celestia assured, wrapping a wing around her. “You did only what the game expected.” She shot a look to Q. “Though somepony should learn to hold back.”

Q shrugged. “Do not blame me for doing what the game expected, Princess,” Q shot back with a smirk. He looked to Luna. “Though you did much better than I thought you would, Princess Luna.”

Luna smirked triumphantly, sitting pretty at second place. “Why thank you, Sir Qudirk.”

Celestia only sighed and rolled her eyes.

“What’s the next game?” I asked. “Hopefully not one where I can accidentally walk off the stage again.”

Q hummed. “Well, for now, I believe we are in need of snacks,” At this, he stood up. “Why don’t you all wait here and discuss it amongst yourselves while I go downstairs to see if Charles is in any mood to make some for us?”

Abrina saluted. “I’ll keep everything civil, boss man!”

Q chuckled. “I’m sure you will.” With that, he walked off, heading downstairs, leaving all ten of us alone.

I looked at everyone and decided to take the initiative. “So, does anyone have anything they’d like to ask me?”

“Ooh! I have tons!” Pinkie chirped, raising a hoof.

Twilight nodded, raising a hoof as well. “Me too!”

I took a moment to decide between the lavender and pink ponies. “Alright, how about you first, Twilight?”

“Why is your skin so different from Miss Abrina’s?” Twilight queried, summoning a quill and notepad.

“I’m human, she’s majin. Different species, similar shape. Next?”

“So she’s not a mutant, but a different species entirely?” Celestia queried, raising a brow at me.

Abrina immediately jumped in. “W-Well, uh, we’re different in so many ways that we might as well be different species, but I’m still from the same place as her, ya know?” She added before nudging me, giving me a look that said, ‘play along’.

“Think of it like. . . the different kinds of ponies, but ramped up a bit,” I explained. “She’s got a more. . . I guess you could say fluid body while I’m more solid.” I pulled Abrina’s arm and stretched it out like bubblegum. “Pulling my arm to do the same thing is tougher, but when my defense there runs out, I could lose that arm permanently.” I looked to Abrina to see if it was good enough of an answer.

She nodded. “Think of me as like a…” She frowned, tapping her chin. “...Like a human made of magic bubblegum, or something.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed before she shrugged. “I see.”

“Ooh, ooh ooh ooh! Me me me!” Pinkie urged, bouncing in place with a hoof still raised.

“Yes, pink one,” I said.

Pinkie giggled. “Ooh, pink one, I like that.” She shook her head. “Anyways! What kind of food do you like? Oh! And in terms of parties, are you more of a ‘WHAM, BASH!’” She struck the air twice at these words. “Kind of mare, er, female, or a more ‘eheeheehee!’ kind?” she asked, looking up expectantly at me.

“Well, I do have a bit of a soft spot for barbecue. I even ran my own successful restaurant before coming here. Fridays during summer were awesome since I opened the patio then and cooked outside for my guests. As for parties, well, I’ve had some bad experiences with surprise parties, but otherwise, I prefer smaller, tame ones with at least some advance notice. Any other questions?”

All the ponies, save Rainbow, Celestia and Luna, gagged at the word barbecue.

“Eugh, so you’re a carnivore?” Applejack asked, a little green around the gills.

“Omnivore, actually,” Abrina supplied. “We both are. Er, well, my particular offshoot of humans eats...well, everything. Like, literally. If I wanted, I could turn this whole tower into candy and eat it.” She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly at this as the ponies all stared blankly at her.

“So yeah, she’s one of the super omnivorous types,” I added. “Next question?”

Rarity shook herself, then raised a hoof. “Wherever did you find such clothing, darling? It’s very unique. I’d love to meet its designer.”

I poked a finger into Abrina’s shoulder. “I made the slight mistake of letting her choose what I would be wearing here tonight. I’d prefer to have something more modest on, truthfully.”

Rarity blinked. “Modest? Why ever would you need to be modest, darling?”

Luna nodded. “We art curious as well. Clothing is clothing, ‘tis it not? ‘Tis not as if having less or more is scandalous, save for showing status amongst nobles.”

I thought for a moment to come up with a good answer. “As different places and species have different cultures, so too do I. You may notice that I have no fur on my body. In place of that natural protection, clothing was made. It’s been around so long that it’s simply part of the culture. Jobs, status, fashion, all of it. I’m actually very weak against the cold, so I need clothes in order to efficiently keep myself warm and alive.” Memories of the cold shower incident briefly came to mind. “But aside from that need, I actually have a bit of a. . . I suppose you could call it a fashionation with clothes.” I watched for reactions to the pun.

Rarity and Abrina giggled, whilst Pinkie giggle snorted, Celestia let out a quick bark of laughter, and Rainbow and Luna, along with Applejack, simply groaned. Twilight and Fluttershy just seemed confused.

After recovering, Abrina added, “Aside from that, our kind simply prefer having something to cover our naughty bits.” She grinned. “Q, for one, only has clothes to cover his bits. No sheathes like stallions have.”

Immediately, all the ponies blushed, many of their eyes going wide.

“That too,” I added. “And the modesty/coverage rules are different for him than Abrina and I.”

Applejack took her hat off, fanning her face much like Rarity was doing whilst Rainbow fell solidly to the floor on her plot - without falling over - wings outstretched. Similarly, Celestia and Luna’s wings had fanned out, along with Fluttershy’s, whom was hiding behind her mane as best she could.

Pinkie simply stared straight ahead at where Q had left, along with Twilight.

“...” Twilight’s horn lit up, a note pad and quill appearing in a flash of light, before Abrina gently grabbed both objects and lowered them in the mare’s hold.

Abrina looked to the others as she heard footsteps coming. “Try to think of something else, ladies, Q and Charles are almost back!” She whispered, but loud enough they could all hear.

Celestia and Luna blinked, before Celestia cleared her throat and forced her wings down, Luna soon following.

Rarity, for her part, came up with an idea: distraction with conversation. “So,” she began, looking across them all. “What would all of you prefer for winter wear?” She looked to the Princesses. “I’m dying to know what Your Majesties would like, as well as you two,” She said, looking to me and Abrina.

“As long as it keeps me warm and looks alright, I’m cool with it,” I answered, the pun getting the same reactions as before. “In fact. . . Abrina, permission to rant a bit?”

“Oh please, rant as much as you want, Miss Xiao Long,” Q’s voice answered from behind. He lowered a bowl of ribs to me. “Just don’t forget your food, hm?”

“Ooh, this looks good.” I accepted the ribs and set them down in front of me. “Anyways, something I’ve seen a lot of before, and I can’t figure out why it seems so common, is long sleeves paired with shorts or a short skirt. And I mean short, like what I’ve got on now. I’ve seen women and girls wearing that kind of combination and I just don’t understand it. I mean, sure, your upper half is warm and stylish, but almost all of your legs are exposed! And I’ve seen it quite a bit in the cooler parts of Spring and Autumn, and it looks bad. It also looks lazy, like they decided to just put on a long sleeve top and call it a day. It’s an unbalanced look, and it’s just. . . It’s bad when women do it, and I’ve also seen men with a similar look. It’s still not good either way, and it’s just ugly.” I picked up a rib and slurped the meat off of it. “Mmm, thish ish good. Rant over.”

Rarity blinked a few times. “Well… I can’t say I’ve seen these combinations to truly know what you mean, but, they do sound unbalanced as you say.” Charles walked over, offering a glass of iced tea. “Thank you, darling.”

“Of course, m’lady,” Charles said, tipping his hat to her. Rarity giggled as he went on to give everyone else drinks and Q gave them their food.

“Personally, my favorite winter wear is a fur coat,” Abrina admitted. Immediately the non-royals stopped cold and stared in shock at Abrina, who waved her arms. “N-Not from anything with thoughts or emotions, of course! Just, ya know, animals.”

Fluttershy frowned hard at that, glaring at Abrina. “Animals have feelings too, you know.”

Abrina faltered. “W-Wha- Well, I-”

Q walked over, placing a hand on her shoulder as he offered her a ham and cheese sandwich before looking to Fluttershy. “Apologies Miss Shy, but our people come from a place where animals simply aren’t as, well, sapient. Most animals back home are either pets, beasts of burden, or livestock.”

All present gasped. He raised a hand. “Again, all animals where we are from do not talk in any way, and are not sapient. I know it is hard to swallow, but that is a fact ingrained in our ways and cultures.”

Luna spoke up after a brief silence. “So...thou’rt a more bloody and chaotic people?”

Q’s lips set into a thin line. “...More than I’d care to admit, yes.”

Celestia frowned, looking down at her daffodil sandwich. “...Noted.”

I looked towards Abrina. “You do know they make synthetic fur, right? Looks the same, feels the same, insulates the same, but doesn’t come from any animals. Is there any synthetic fur around here?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, we have lots of that around here.”

“It’s become easier to make in recent years as well,” Rarity supplied, taking a sip of her tea.

“And even less pricey at that,” Applejack pointed out.

Pinkie blinked. “Huh. Didn’t think you’d know about that, Applejack.”

Applejack blushed lightly, looking away. “W-Well, Ah just saw it in one o’ them magazines once is all.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes at the farm mare. “Really now?”

“Y-Ya-huh, definitely!” Applejack assured, sweating a bit now.

I looked to the fashion mare. “Hey, Rarity, if I tell you my idea for some winter wear, could you make it for me? I think it’s a pretty good idea.”

That seemed to pull the conversation back away from Applejack, as Rarity answered, “Ohh, darling, I’d love to!” She said, clapping her hooves together as she set her tea down with her magic.

“Okay, so. . .” I looked to the audience around me. “Is anyone else interested in hearing this idea? Aside from Abrina?”

“We would not mind hearing it,” Luna admitted.

“Nor would I,” Celestia added, smiling warmly at me.

“It will take me a while to set the games up, but I can still listen,” Q replied, going about doing just that.

I started explaining my idea. “Okay, so: The first layer would be an insulated black fur top and leggings. Synthetic, of course. On top of that would be a marbled brown fur qipao-”

Rarity interrupted. “I’m sorry dear, but what’s this qipao you speak of? I’m not familiar with that.”

“Ah, well, it’s a type of dress where, um. . .” I wracked my brain a bit for the right words. “Okay, so it opens in a line going from the neck and down the side of the front of the body.” I traced the line along my own body for her. “Then the skirt, well, skirts, don’t make a full circle around the legs. Well. . . Take a straight skirt and make a cut along each side from the hip down to the bottom hem, and that’s the skirt portion.”

“Hmm. . . Mhmm. . . I can see it. What about the sleeves?”

“Any style, but usually very short or none. So, I don’t want sleeves on this qipao, but I would like an attached hood. Then, with the same material, elbow length gloves and knee high boots.”

“That’s. . . Yes, yes, I can see it! The only thing I can’t quite see is how to make the bottom of the boots, but with a reference, I can do it!”

I caught a glint in Abrina’s eyes. “Don’t worry, I can help with that. Give me a moment.” She tossed her partially eaten sandwich up in the air and zipped off. She returned just as quickly with a pair of what looked like hiking shoes and caught the sandwich with the greatest of ease. “Here you go, Rarity.”

Rarity looked over the shoes. “I can’t help but notice that these aren’t exactly shaped the same way as your feet from the sides.”

“Those shoes have wedges in them, about four inches high in the back and an inch in the front. It’s a style thing, and I think they would make Yang’s new boots look great.”

“I was hoping for a flat sole. . .” I sheepishly said, already certain that the design’s fate was sealed.

“Hmm. . . Yang, I can see this looking good in two ways, and I want you to decide,” Rarity said. “It will be yours after all.”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you want the wedge in beige to go with the fur or black to match the base layer?”

I looked to the ceiling as I thought it over. “Well. . .”

Abrina leaned in and whispered, “Black would bring out the shape of your foot quite nicely from the sides. It'll be sleek and sexaay!”

That tipped the scales for me. “Black. It’ll look better.”

“Excellent,” Rarity cheerfully said. “I’m not going to start on it right now, but when I do, I’d like you there, Yang.”

“Of course.”

“There we go, all set up,” Q announced, bringing our attention to the menu screen of a Wii, complete with all the channels one would have. The words ‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’ was present on one of the channels.

Q started to hand out controllers and explain how they worked to the ponies.

I declined the offer to play, as continually getting smashed in Smash did not sound fun. Thus, myself and Rarity went to another room that the little golem, Charles, showed us to.

Once Rarity was done adoring the quality of the synthetic furs, she decided that it was time to start on the project. “Apologies for the wait, dear.”

I shrugged. “Eh, it’s okay. Let’s get that base layer started.”

“I’ll start with your measurements first.” She floated a tape measure up and started measuring me. At the same time, she also made adjustments on a mannequin Q had provided. “And don’t worry about taking anything off. Those clothes are small and thin enough that it won’t significantly affect the measurements.”

“Thank you.” I suppressed a shudder at the memory of being hit with a measurement spell.

“I still don’t fully understand the whole modesty thing you have going on, I will admit. I can understand the protective and style elements, though. Did you want this to be form fitting, by the way?”

I considered my words for a bit. “Well. . . kind of? Like, not a second skin level of form fitting, but also a snug enough fit that it doesn’t completely hide my shape underneath.”

“And you want that for the whole design?”

“Yeah - no, wait, not quite the same for my chest. How do I?” I wracked my brain for some term or description for what I wanted, stopping when Rarity tossed a section of fabric at my face. “Hm?”

“A picture’s worth a thousand words, dear. Save yourself the effort and show me what you mean.”

“Oh, good idea!” I brought the fabric around my chest, making a soft fitting contour fit. “Yeah, this looks about right.”

“Now see how easy that was?” Rarity hit the fabric with a spell and levitated the stiffened sample over to her. After looking it over and setting it aside, she started working on the leggings. “Do you mind doing some stretches for me? I need to see what kind of movement range I’ll need to work with.”

“Alright.” I did as Rarity requested while she worked. The stretches actually felt pretty good, and even after Rarity was done, I continued doing them.

It wasn’t long before Rarity finished. “Here’s the first part. Tell me how it fits.”

I accepted the fur leggings and went to an adjacent room to put them on. “Well, they fit quite well,” I reported before coming back out. "And they're comfortable. Carry on."

"Gladly!" In short order, Rarity had a matching top made, and like the leggings, it fit comfortably.

"Alright, I like this," I said as I hugged myself. "It's fuzzy, it's comfy, and it's warm. So toasty."

"Might I suggest you take those pieces off for a bit? I'd hate for you to overheat."

"I can't overheat. I'm immune to heat and fire. Besides, this is much less revealing."

"Heat immunity, you say?" Rarity asked with intrigue. "I can't begin to tell you how many summer days that would have been a blessing for me." She levitated some paper over and started sketching something. "Now, the gloves and boots will be difficult to mess up, so I'll save those for later. I want to make sure I have the. . . Qipao, was it?"

"Yes, and I understand. It's literally the centerpiece of the ensemble."

"I want to make sure I have the design right." The pencil started flying across the paper, making a very good drawing of the qipao shape over an outline of my figure.

"Looks good." I pointed to the head area. "Don't forget the hood."

"Of course, dear." As Rarity sketched out the hood, she seemed to get an idea. "You said this is a winter ensemble, right?"

"Yeah, thus the furs. What's up?"

"There's nothing to protect your face. What about this?" She sketched out a mask attached to the neck of the dress. With a spell, she duplicated the picture, erased the mask, and drew a small, loose scarf. "Protection outdoors, style indoors."

"Yes yes yes, all of the yes! Please?" (Maybe some indication of her excitement here besides words?)

Rarity sighed. "Oh, alright, but only because you asked nicely," she said with a hint of sarcasm. "If you don't mind, I'd like to remeasure you with the base layer on. I'm going to build this dress on the mannequin."

"Go ahead." As Rarity took her remeasurements, she readjusted the mannequin. "Now, putting this together is going to be the long part, but getting the perfect section of the synthetic fur is going to be the hard part. Any random section will not do by itself. It has to be a perfect balance of light brown and white." She started chuckling. "And here I thought brown was a terrible main color for a dress."

"I can pull it off. Of course, a good design helps."

"Naturally." She smirked as she floated up the three bolts of synthetic brown and white fur and started moving it around, looking for some part to start on. "While we're here, I have a few other questions. . ."

Rarity went above and beyond on the winter dress. I stuck my right arm in one arm hole and my head through the scarf, brought it around my back, got my other arm in, and continued the wrap once more. Closing it up was done in a modern, easy way with a smooth zipper that got neatly covered by a line of white fur.

I looked at myself in the mirror and fiddled with the scarf/mask and hood. Surprisingly, the mask didn't make breathing as difficult as I was suspecting it would. Not something to sleep with, but it wasn't bad either. With the wrap style dress, I was also able to keep most of my hair hidden underneath, and the hood fit quite neatly. Even with all my hair spilling out the front (a look Rarity and I agreed wasn't good at all), it fit well.

"This is excellent," I stated. (Same for here. Some kind of segway into her next words, like placing her hands on her hips and a smirk or something.) "Bring it on, winter! As soon as I have my gloves and boots!"

"So, how is it?" Rarity asked after I put the completed gloves and boots on.

"Well, I still wish I had flat soles on the boots," I said as I rocked side to side to get used to the angle. "That being said, these aren't bad at all. I have worn heels higher than this before."

"I'll take that as a good sign. And the gloves?"

I admired one of the elbow length hand covers. "Very good as well. I like how you slicked the fur down on the palms and fingers. Grabbing things is kind of important, after all."

"Why thank you. I do like to take everything into consideration, after all."

"Overall, I give it a %1,000 approval rating."

Rarity started hyperventilating. "A. . . A thousand?" The giggling started. "That's so far beyond good. . . Heeheehee. . ." Then she passed out from the sheer amount of happiness in her.

I checked the clock. "Well, it is pretty late. Better go find everyone."

Abrina walked in at that moment. "Hey, Yangy, we're about to play some truth or dare. Want to join? Offer's open for you too, Rarity." Before I could say anything, Abrina gasped, zipped over, and started rubbing herself on me. "Oh, you're so fuzzy and soft now!"

"Uh, Abrina?" I tried pushing her off of me to no avail. "Personal space, please?"

"You're like a sexy blonde teddy bear now! This is awesome!" Then she noticed Rarity was passed out. "What happened to her?"

"I told her how much I liked the ensemble. She just finished it."

Abrina giggled. “How naughty.”

“. . . I don’t get it.”

Abrina simply giggled again. “Nevermind that. Let’s just head back to the others. Everyone’s waiting.” She looked to Rarity, frowning. “Hm, can’t leave her down here…” Walking over, she tossed the mare over her shoulder. “Hup!” She then turned to me, grabbed my hand, and pulled me along up the stairs.

Soon enough we reached the top, where I saw the rest of the group gathered around an empty bottle of Apple Family Cider. Q was the first to notice us. “Ah, there you are. Come come, sit,” he said, patting a spot next to him.

I sat down near where Q suggested, leaving enough space for Abrina to sit next to him after she found some place to put the fainted fashionista. "Truth or dare with an Apple Family product. Heh." I considered the choice to be highly appropriate.

“Ah still don’t know about this, girls,” Applejack said, staring at the bottle.

“Why? Tis a simple enough game,” Luna mused, looking at the farmer.

“Got a lot of dirty secrets, AJ?” Rainbow teased, elbowing the mare.

“Wh-Wha? No! Not at all!” Applejack assured, blushing brightly.

“I’m personally more curious to see what our host has to offer for truths,” Celestia said with a smirk at Q.

“And I for yours and your sisters,” Q said with a similar smirk.

The others oooo’ed at this. Twilight seemed nervous in general, as did Fluttershy.

“I call first spin!” Abrina chirped, reaching out and spinning the bottle.

Immediately, all eyes turned to me as it stopped spinning, neck pointed towards my feet.

Q smiled. “So, Yang, Truth, or Dare?”

I thought about the question with mild intensity for a few seconds. “Truth.”

“Who was your first kiss?” Abrina said, an insatiable grin on her face as she leaned towards me.

“Well. . .” I sighed and took a moment to collect myself and organize my thoughts into something that would keep up the appearance Abrina had going. “His name’s Shamrock, he was a descendant of a pirate, and was eager to follow in his. . . I think his grandfather’s footsteps and do some piracy. The first kiss was on a train from a nearby city back to my hometown after we had a fancy dinner at a fancy place. The date was very nice.”

All present giggled, save for Q, who simply kept smiling.

“A pirate, you say? How intriguing,” Luna said, smirking.

“Dashing, at that,” Celestia agreed.

“I’ll say!” Abrina concurred, nodding sagely.

“I sense there’s more to it than that, though,” Q said, looking me in the eyes.

“Yeah, there is,” I said with a slightly tired tone. “He went back to his country for a time and fixed up his grandfather’s ship with his crew. Months passed, and then he came back, with the offer of a trip to one of his favorite places. That trip was. . . okay. It was some old buried ruins that his grandfather took him to once, far to the north. It was a cold trip there, the campground, while protected from the weather, was still rather chilly, and the trip back was cold. The ruins themselves, somehow, weren’t all that cold.” A sigh escaped me. “I had to break it off with him after that. His enthusiasm for the place got in the way of the trip actually being fun. He’s a good guy, though, and when we went our separate ways, it was on good terms as friends.”

I felt Q put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m glad you parted as friends, at least.”

Abrina squirmed, a frown on her face. “S-Sorry for reminding you of something so sad, Yangy…”

“You have our apologies as well,” Celestia said, dipping her head a bit.

“We had no idea,” Fluttershy added, giving me a sympathetic smile.

“It’s okay,” I assured. “Like I said, we left on good terms, so there’s no bad feelings. Maybe a little melancholy on my part, but nothing I can’t deal with. So, do I get to spin the bottle now?”

“Yup, go for it,” Q urged, removing his hand from my shoulder.

I eagerly rubbed my fur gloved hands together and gave the bottle a good spin. “Who’ll it be? Who’ll it be?” The bottle stopped on me. “Bad spin. Retry.” I spun the bottle again, without chanting, and it landed on Applejack. “Truth or dare?”

“Ah, eh, um, d-dare,” Applejack squeaked, squirming on her cushion.

“So much for my question.” I thought about it for a bit. “I dare you to. . . Wow, this is surprisingly difficult.” I thought about it some more, then came across an idea. “I dare you to give Fluttershy a kiss on the lips. Five seconds minimum.”

“Wh-What?!?” both mares squeaked out.

Q, Abrina, Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, and even the Princesses laughed.

Pinkie even started chanting. “Do it! Do it! Do it!”

Both mare’s faces were such a bright red, one could mistake them for the red portion of a police siren. The two looked at each other, and Fluttershy froze up, blushed so bright her whole body turned red...then collapsed.

Applejack simply giggled nervously. “W-W-Well, she’s out cold, s-so I guess it’s off the table, h-huh?” She said, slowly tipping her hat down.

“No, it isn’t,” I said. “You still have to kiss her on the lips for at least five seconds. Or, if you want, you could go for Truth instead? No take-backs if you don’t like the question.”

Applejack’s blush became so luminescent that one could feel the heat even across from her. “F-Fine...t-truth…” she conceded, fully pulling down her hat to cover her face.

“Alright. The question: How do you know so much about synthetic furs?”

Applejack squirmed mightily, face still steaming as we all waited for her answer. “Ah...may like to dress up...on occasion...a-and Ah have a friend wh-who...likes to, too…”

“Really? You like to dress up? Ha! That’s hilarious!” Rainbow slapped a hoof down on the floor.

“Let’s not go laughing at her, girls,” Celestia intoned lightly. “Many mares are the same.”

“Still, who’s this friend of yours?” Pinkie asked as Twilight silently and gently pushed Fluttershy off to the side with Rarity.

Q raised a hand. “I think that’s enough hassling her, everyone. Let’s simply continue.” He gestured to Applejack and the bottle. “Applejack, if you’d please.”

Applejack gave him a thankful smile, then reached a hoof down and spun the bottle. It landed on Abrina. “Alright, Abrina, Truth or Dare?”

Abrina grinned devilishly. “Dare me, cowgirl.” Her grin grew. “I dare you.”

Applejack gained a grin of her own. “I dare ya to kiss Mister Q here. Ten second minimum.”

Abrina went stock still. Swiftly after she froze, her entire body turned pink, and the holes on her arms emitted steam. “U-Um, I, er, uh, that is, I mean, I could, uh-!”

Q rolled his eyes, turning to face her. “Come now, Abrina. It’s a simple kiss, not like it needs to mean anything.”

Celestia seemed to be shocked, if the wide-eyed stare she gave the two was any indication. Luna looked surprised as well, though not as much.

Twilight simply smiled, whilst Pinkie, well…

“Do it! Do it! Do it!” She was chanting again.

“Come on! Come on! Do it!” So was Rainbow Dash.

Applejack was grinning smugly, chuckling to herself. “Ah ain’t letting ya go back on this one, filly.”

Abrina stared at Q, his face, his lips, then slowly, nervously, leaned forward.

As I patiently waited for the event to pass, I idly inspected my gloves, and thanked whatever powers that be that I could not overheat.

“Q-Qudirk, you-” Celestia began, before Abrina closed her eyes and lunged forward, wrapping the man’s lips up in a kiss.

Ten seconds passed slowly for four of those present, and none but one would say why. Q eventually tried to pull away, and Abrina whined at this, but when he placed a hand on hers, she opened her eyes like she’d just gotten a shot and immediately pulled back, blushing brightly again and turning her head away, playing with a strand of her strange hair.

“Well, that was something,” Q mused, hand over his lips.

“Ah’ll say,” Applejack said, still grinning smugly. “Yew two looked about ready to actually make out.”

Abrina whined at this, covering her face.

“Y-Yes, well,” Celestia cleared her throat.

“I believe tis th-thine turn, Lady Abrina,” Luna urged.

Abrina shakily nodded, reaching down and spinning the bottle. It landed on Celestia. Abrina cleared her throat. “A-Alright, Princess, Truth or Dare?”

Celestia blinked, then shook her head, as if it bore some fog. “Ah, um, Dare.”

Abrina gave a small smile. “I dare you to sit on Yang’s lap.”

Celestia blinked again. “I...beg your pardon?”

Instead of voicing any concerns, I went the other way. “Come on, Princess. I’m tough enough for you. I won’t break under the pressure. I WILL DO THIS WITH HONOR!”

Celestia blinked again at this. As did Twilight and Applejack. Rainbow, Pinkie, Q and Abrina simply snickered.

“You’re really funny, Yangy,” Pinkie said, giggling behind a hoof.

“Amen to that, sister,” Abrina agreed.

“Double, uh, whatever you just said,” Rainbow added, smirking at me.

“Spontaneity can be a good quality,” Q said sagely, smirking himself.

Celestia eventually sighed and stood up. “Very well.” She walked over to me, then gently sat down in my lap. She was certainly heavy, but not ‘OH MY GOD I HAVE A HORSE ON MY LAP’ kind of heavy. Much lighter than that, thankfully, but, still heavy enough to notice.

“Hmm. . .” I was half tempted to pull Celestia into a hug, but I couldn’t really do that with ease, nor would it really feel appropriate to me, given where I would have to grasp her for it. “This isn’t bad. I can deal with this. How long do you have to be here, Princess?”

“For the rest of the game,” Abrina said with a returned grin, not unlike a smug anime girl’s.

Celestia sighed, whilst Luna giggled. “All’s fair, dear sister,” she sing songed.

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes. Now, it is my turn, correct?”

Abrina nodded. “Ya-huh. Go ahead, spin ‘er up!”

As the bottle spun, I wondered what the call would be if it pointed to Celestia and me. My curiosity, however, would not be sated, but not because I couldn’t see the bottle. “Who gets it?” I asked as I heard the bottle wind down.

I could see Celestia’s head turn to Q. “Qudirk,” she answered.

A flash of inspiration (or stupidity) struck me, and I decided to try and scratch the base of Celestia’s wings. Thankfully, I was able to reach up just enough to do that, and just as she started talking too.

“Truth or DAAAAAAAAre, oh, Goddess that’s good~,” Celestia moaned.

Twilight stared in shock. “P-Princess?!”

Rainbow blinked, wings slowly spreading out, and eyes glued to the scene.

Luna cleared her throat, placing a hoof on my hand. “Miss Yang, if you’d please,” She urged.

“Okay, okay.” I relented and withdrew my hand.

Celestia whined a bit at this, but swiftly seemed to notice what had happened as she tensed up. Slowly, she coughed into a hoof. “A-Ahem. Apologies, everypony.” She looked to Q, seeing his very large smile. “N-Now, Qudirk, Truth or Dare?”

Q simply smiled. “Truth.”

I listened in with great intensity, wondering what the mysterious guy would reveal, or if he would chicken out on the question.

“Who was Ganon?” Celestia asked.

Q suddenly went stock still. Not even from embarrassment, but shock. His eyes were wide, but there was no blush on his cheeks. Slowly though, his eyes hardened. “...Where did you learn that name?” His tone was different. Gone was the cheer, the laughter that always seemed to fill his voice. Gone was the doting father-like figure. All that remained was a rage so cold and intense that I shivered, even under the layers of fur I was wearing.

I couldn’t help but feel that this Ganon character was not a video game thing.

I wasn’t the only one. All the girls seemed scared now.

“M-Mister Q-?” Q raised a hand sharply.

“Be silent, Twilight,” he said harshly. Twilight flinched as his eyes narrowed on Celestia. “Where did you learn that name, Celestia?” Celestia frowned, slowly getting off my lap. She nodded to Abrina. Q seemed to bristle. “...You found it, didn’t you.” Abrina winced at this. “You found it, and invaded my privacy.”

“I-I didn’t mean to-” Abrina began, but Q would have none of it.

“Go back to your room, Abrina,” he intoned. “We’ll have much to talk about.”

“Qudirk, don’t go punishing her so harshly for simple curiosi-” Celestia began, but Qudirk shot up to his feet.

“Curiosity? Tell me, what curiosity propels a woman to raid a righteous man’s grave?” Q spat.

I decided to make a wise move and simply left the room. I didn’t like being angry, and I didn’t like being around people that were angry, even if I wasn’t the target.

After wandering around the tower aimlessly for what was probably an hour, I found myself on the ground floor. I would have continued my aimless walking into another area if the sight of Q storming by, still radiating rage, didn’t stop me. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice me (or at least not care that I was there) as he went by and left into the forest outside. He didn’t slam the door closed, but the force behind the sound still spooked me a bit.

Soon enough, I saw Abrina, Luna and Celestia come down. They all looked very worried. Abrina, usually chipper and spritely, looked very broken, tear stains on her yellow cheeks and short, strange fleshy ‘hair’ seeming to droop.

“I take it he is not here?” Celestia said, a frown on her face.

“I think he went for a walk,” I said. “Not going to lie, I’m a bit concerned about this mess, but I’m not going to get involved in it. The best I can probably do is offer free hugs.”

Abrina sniffled. “I-I just… I just feel so bad…”

Luna wrapped a wing around the Majin, pulling her close. “Shhh, shh…”

I decided to take a proactive approach with the free hugs and edged my way into the wing wrap and gave Abrina a hug, her body feeling squishier than before. As much as I also wanted to give her a little speech about how everyone makes mistakes and learning from them is what matters, it didn’t feel appropriate to make that speech.

“I-It’s just...I could s-see him when he went outside on S-S-Sundays, and he always loo-looked so sad, and...when I went to check where he goes one day, I just… I j-j-just wanted to know, so I could help him, y-ya know?” Abrina said, fighting back a new onrush of sobs.

“Hush, you.” I gently put her head on my shoulder so she could cry into it if she needed to. As much as I adored the new winter outfit, I knew it could be cleaned, and there were two princesses that could easily do it with magic if I politely asked. “Get the tears out if you must.”

And so she did. She buried herself in my neck, sobbing and crying like she’d just lost a friend. For all I knew, she might have. I stood there and let her get it out of her system until she wore herself out and fell asleep. When she did, I picked her up and started walking back up the tower to find her room and put her to bed.

The Princesses didn’t follow.

After what felt like hours later I found myself nearly falling asleep on Abrina’s bed, until the doors to the room opened and the Princesses as well Qudirk walked in. Q’s face was unreadable, but the Princesses looked like they were both concerned and tired.

The three of them walked over, sitting down next to me. Q looked to Abrina’s sleeping face, then to me.

“Could you wake her, please?” He asked gently.

I turned to the sleeping Majin and poked her face. “Wake up.” She didn’t respond immediately, so I poked with a bit more force. That didn’t work either, so I decided to go to a more drastic measure, pulling her up to a sitting position by her hair. “You’re late.”

“Ow ow ow ow ow! Hey, stop pulling, hair’s sensitive you know!” Abrina cried as she woke up, grabbing my hand and pulling it off. Then she noticed everyone around her, and seemed to shrink on herself as she noticed Q. “O-O-Oh...H-Hey, Q…”

Q simply stared at her for a time, before sighing, clasping his hands together in his lap and staring down at said lap.

“...I’m sorry I made you cry, Abrina,” he finally said after a few tense moments.

“N-No! It’s okay! It was my fault for-!” Abrina tried to say, waving her hands frantically.

Q interrupted her. “It wasn’t. Ganon wouldn’t have wanted me to hide such things, nor get so angry about it.”

Celestia frowned, studying Q’s face. “...Who was he?”

“...My brother.”

I had no clue what to say about the revelation, and after a bit of thought on the matter, I found myself not really caring about it. It did seem like a bit of a cold thing to do, but it was also true. Since I didn’t want to get caught up in the drama, I decided silence was the best policy while they sorted it out.

“I’m sorry, Qudirk, I didn’t know-” Abrina began again, but Q once again interrupted.

“Don’t be. I’ve...always been too closed off and icy when it came to him and his...death,” he sighed, looking up to the ceiling. “Truth be told? He was a lot like you, Yang.” He glanced to me.

“Eh?” I pointed to myself. “Me?”

Q smiled and nodded. “Yes. Never seeking a fight but always willing to help, always thinking of others.” He chuckled. “He was just as awkward and bad with jokes as you, as well.”

I felt the lightening of the mood and seized the opportunity. “Whaaaaat? That can’t be possible. I worked hard to be as bad with my jokes as I am. The cram sessions were no joke, everyone looked at me funny, and I had to attend board meetings in lumberyards at the same time. The chairs had terrible lumber support as well.”

Abrina and the Princesses laughed whilst Q simply held his smile. “My point exactly.”

“Well, I think it’s good that we’re on the positive side of things. On a side note-” I turned to the Princesses. “Abrina’s bit of crying left my winter furs a bit sticky.”

Abrina looked a bit downcast at that. “I’m sorr-”

I dramatically pointed at her and used a firm voice. “Don’t apologize for that! You needed it, and I was willing to provide a shoulder. Now, I want you to apologize for trying to apologize for your tears leaving a mess on my dress.”

She tilted her head in confusion. “What?”

“Okay, that’s good enough. Apology accepted.” I turned back to the Princesses. “Anyways, I was wondering if one of you would be willing to magically clean the mess for me.”

Luna and Celestia giggled before sharing a look, then looking back to Yang.

“We see no issue with this, just a moment,” Luna began, horn glowing, before the mess on my clothes seemed to just evaporate. “There. Now,” She looked back to Q. “Why would you hide this from us, Sir Qudirk?”

Q went silent for a time, frowning as he thought. “...It never felt right to me to let others know I was sad, I suppose.”

“You know, there were times when I could have put up a strong front and just powered through things,” I said as memories of my arrival in Equestria crossed my mind. “But if I did it that way and turned down any help that was offered, well, who knows what kind of mess of a woman I’d be now?”

“Exactly. Qudirk, you can’t simply ignore your pain, even if it’s for others,” Celestia said, nodding as she wrapped a wing around the man.

Q didn’t answer, simply remaining quiet.

“Q?” Abrina spoke up, placing a hand on his. “Just...don’t hide this stuff from us anymore, okay?”

“...I’ll...keep that in mind,” He finally said, sighing.

I looked around for a moment before clapping my hands together. “So, we’ve got the troubles buried for now, we’ve made peace, and I have no idea what to do now.”

“...We could all sleep in my bed and give Yangy a nice goodbye in the morning?” Abrina suggested, looking across us all.

I considered the idea. “No objections.” As soon as I was comfortable in the bed, I was out like a light. I barely registered the others debating the idea as I fell asleep. I also barely registered them one by one joining me in sleep. I simply snuggled into the most comfortable position among them.

The next day saw me standing in Q’s garden with Q and Abrina smiling at me, a portal just behind me. The others were still upstairs, still asleep.

“Sorry we had to wake you so early, Yang,” Q said apologetically. “I know I promised, but Displaced and the multiverse are one thing I don’t think this world is ready for.”

“And yet, here you are,” I said, followed by a yawn. “Yeah, knowledge and all that. Well, drama aside, I had fun, and I got some nice winter clothes out of it.” I did a little curtsey to show off the outfit a bit.

Q chuckled. “Indeed.”

“But that’s not all you’re getting out of it!” Abrina zoomed up to me, bear hugged and lifted me off the ground, then let go. When she did, I felt something new in my pocket. Abrina only grinned as she watched me expectantly, Q smiling from the sidelines.

I reached into the pocket and pulled out a little chibi version of Abrina, a steel pencil held in its grasp. It didn’t take long for me to come to a conclusion. “Tokens, I presume?”

Q nodded. “Correct. And…” He snapped his fingers, and with a flash of light two boxes dropped onto the ground in front of me, both made of what seemed to be silver, and both roughly 10 inches by 5 inches.. “...Farewell gifts from me. Open the one on the right after you return to your world.”

I pocketed the tokens and picked up the identical boxes. “Well then, I guess I can just play it safe and open both at home. Welp, until we meet again.” I gave a casual salute and jumped backwards into the portal, ready for home.

As I tumbled through the Void, I swear I saw some masked, gentlemanly looking woman wave imperiously at me, before she was gone. “Weird,” I said seconds after she disappeared.

I gently landed on my bed, glad it didn’t make too much noise, and set to work putting things away. The tokens went in a drawer with the other tokens I’d collected, and I looked at the boxes. “Okay, right one last, left one first. . . Which one was the right one?” After some deliberation, I opened one of them. The bodysuit I’d gone over there with sprung out of the small box, along with a note from Q. “Hey, you forgot this. I went ahead and cleaned it for you as well. I also made a Saiyan monkey tail that you can put on and take off with ease. If it’s cut, it will heal. If you have it on under the light of the moon, it will grant you incredible power, speed, and durability.” I tipped the box over and the monkey tail fell out. While it looked and felt fairly realistic, it was also kind of creepy. It went into another drawer.

With the first box empty, I opened the second box. As soon as I did, there was a loud pop and an explosion of confetti, surprising me. A piece of paper was stuck on my face, so I took it off and read it. “Hello again, Yang. Before I woke you and Abrina, I decided that I had to find some way to make it up to you, since you got caught up in the drama over my brother. Since you seem rather fond of apparel for your own enjoyment, which I don’t blame you for, I wrote up the ensemble you’re now wearing. It’s designed to be worn for riding a motorcycle, or just looking good and showing off. I’m sure you’ll like it, and if there’s someone else in your life, I’m sure they’ll like it on you too. Sincerely, Q.”

“Huh.” I looked around and saw the winter fur set neatly folded up and sitting on the bed.

My door was slammed open by Searing. “Is everything okay, Yang? I heard a loud bang and. . .” she trailed off as she looked at me. A few red drops appeared on the floor under her muzzle. “Everthinglooksfinehaveagooddaybye!”

I went over to my mirror and looked at myself. “Well. . . Can’t say I blame her.”

After I was done admiring the outfit, which I decided to call Rider, I started inspecting it. “How do I get this off?”

Anthology

by Timeless Lord Slayer

Line 1 - Beginning of The Written Word (Edited... Again.)

Line 2 - A Book A Day (Edited)

Line 3 - Questions in the Tower (Edited)

Line 4 - The Time Is Coming...

Line 5 - A Strange Visitor (Edited... Again)

Line 6 - "And From The Night She Shall Come..." (Edited)

Line 7 - "And From The Night She Shall Come..." Part 2

Line 8 - To Clear A Name... (Edited)

Line 9 - Sleepover