Author's Note

Hope you're not mad, just got out of the hospital and took a while to get to it and even longer to think of what to write. Oh well, here it is, the next chapter, finally. And sorry if this chapter's not up to par with the others, I did this nearly all by iPhone.

Coming to terms and making choices

".....and that's it in a nut shell." I told Ace and Sky about my mare problems.(never thought I'd say that) I left out who she was, but just said that it was a mare I saved last night. The two looked to be in deep thought, or rather Ace did, Sky just squinted at me.

Ace was about to say something when I heard a filly call out. "Mr. Onyx!!!" I turn and see Nyx running up to me, a big grin on her face. She slid to a stop, kicking up dust. "There you are!! I've been looking all over for you!" She still had that sweet child like grin.

"Oh? Why's that?" I had a feeling what she wanted.

She beamed. "I wanted to see if you wanted to look around Ponyville!!" That smile showed that she didn't think of anything else. I felt that impulse again, but it didn't feel as controlling as before. Guess it's because I'm not going to say no.

"As you wish, malady." I stood up and she took my hand, pulling excitedly.

"Come on, come on!!!" She kept pulling, eager to show me the town. I waved Ace and Sky farewell and let Nyx guide me around. She took me to what I concluded to be Sugarcube Corner. It looked just like in the show, a giant cupcake with other pastries for toppings. I was tempted to take a bite, but I'd rather keep my teeth. "This is Sugarcube Corner!! Aunty Pinkie works here and she makes the best cupcakes! Let's go and see the others places!"

I held back a smile at her eagerness. "As you wish, malady."

She looked back to me with a slight frown. "Um, why do keep calling me that? I mean, you sound like....some confused ponies from a while back." Well, I was expecting this sooner or later. Might as well get it over with.

"I am your knight. You shield and sword. I'm to follow your wishes, no matter what they may be." She just grew more confused.

"But why? Why do you have to?" Time to see if I can pull that info again.

"I was meant to serve Nightmare Moon, but I never received a 'blessing'. Since Nightmare Moon is no more and you stand in her place, I serve you now. And I will give my life to keep you and those you deem so safe." Her eyes widened and started to tear up.

"You mean....I didn't help everypony? I thought.....I'm sorry." She started to cry and I wrapped her in a hug before the impulses hit me to not touch her. Before I could break off, she returned the hug, so I stayed planted till she calmed down.

I spoke as gently as I could, hoping I wasn't out of practice since the last time I had to do this. "It's not your fault. I chose to become your knight. I wasn't forced. If anything, the fact that you missed me was a good thing. If you had restored me to normal, I wouldn't have been here to save everypony." I felt her calming, her shaking easing. Soon she was still and then broke from me with a smile.

"Heh, thanks. I didn't think of it like that. But I don't like that you HAVE to obey me. Couldn't we do something about that?" She looked to me expectingly.

I held my chin in thought. "If you order me to be able to make my own choices, that might do the trick. I'll still follow your orders when you give them, I'll no longer lock up when I need to do something and still need an order to move. It's like last night, when I saw the fire, I wanted to find your friends, but until you ordered me, my body didn't listen to me. We can prevent that with this simple order." I smiled slightly at the idea, but still had my doubts. This was a long shot, but it was worth the effort.

Nyx grinned and nodded. "Then let's do it!! I hear by order you to make your own choices and not have to wait for my orders, but still listen to me when I need you to." As she finished, a soft dark blue aura covered me and I could feel something change inside.

When it faded, I could still feel the impulses, but they no longer had hold of me. They were now like a small voice in the back of my head. I grinned. "Thank you, Nyx. You have no idea how good it feels to have control again." I stretched out some muscles that were feeling cramped do to those damned impulses holdings back.

She grabbed my hand again and dragged me again. "Let's go!! We've spent enough time standing around and we haven't even seen the farm!!" I chuckled.

"Then lead the way."

Twilight's POV

"....and he's really sweet with Nyx, he even made breakfast this morning." Cadence looked like she wanted to hunt Onyx down and lock him in a room with me. Her grin was bordering Pinkie levels, which was starting to scare me.

She clapped her hands on my cheeks, mashing my face in. "Twilight, from what you've told me, this Onyx sounds like a hot piece of flank. We need to find him before another mare tries to snag him." Her tone allowed no argument.

She used her magic and we were teleported out of the library and out on the streets. "Look, Cadence, we really don't need to look for him. I'm sure he's with Nyx." Cadence wasn't listening.

"Now where would-*PANG*" She collapsed after I hit her in the head with a pan I made from my magic. I grabbed her and teleported back to the library, sighing at her pushiness. She woke up not long after, rubbing her head. "Ow, what hit me?"

"I did." She snapped to me and saw my slight glare. "You were getting out of control. If I hadn't stopped you, you might've scared Onyx off." She had the decency to be ashamed.

"Sorry. Guess I was so excited a stallion caught your eye that I just went a little crazy." She smiled sheepishly. I sighed.

"It's alright. Just be more subtle. I still don't know if I have a shot with him." I sighed. "I know you said he's conflicted about me, but that could mean anything."

Cadence got up and smiled after placing a hand on my shoulder. "Don't doubt yourself. Your more attractive than you give yourself credit for. Just be yourself and you'll nab him. Although...." She placed her free hand on her chin and grinned. "I think we can make it even better. Make over!!!!"

Next thing I know, I'm Cadence's make over doll. Celestia give me strength.

Onyx's POV

I really need to talk to Twilight about giving Nyx so much room for error. The whole trip has involved me getting hurt somehow. Sweet Apple Acres? Got hit in the face by a left out rake, not funny. Rainbow Dash's cloud home? Got zapped by lightning. Quills and Sofa's shop? A piano landed on me. I'M NOT SHITTING YOU, A PIANO LANDED ON ME AND NEARLY CRUSHED ME!!!! We were just at the edge of the Everfree Forest, wanna guess what happened?

We were now being chased by ten, TEN, manticores!!! "I swear, Nyx, Twilight will hear about this!!! What were you thinking taking us near the forest after everything that's happened?!" I was carrying Nyx on my back with one arm, the other free for defence.

Nyx yelled back at me. "I'm sorry!!! I thought they would stay away since the fight was so scary!!'" I hate child logic for two reasons. The first is that it can sometimes shut you up because it's right and the second is because it can sometimes piss you off because it's so horribly wrong.

"I can't begin to tell you how messed up that reasoning is!!!" I jumped to avoid a swipe of claws. "Let's just focus on getting out of here alive with all our limbs attached!!!" I jumped again and did a round house kick that would've made Chuck Norris proud, sending a manticore through a tree and leaving nine left.

Now, normally I could handle odds like this, but with Nyx in danger, I have to keep my distance. I seriously hate my life. "Up there!!" I look to where Nyx pointed and see a tall and large tree. I jumped as high as I can and sunk my claws that I pulled out in mid-jump to climb up, Nyx holding for dear life, because at this point she is.

I reach a high and thick branch and set Nyx and myself on it. I look down and sigh. "It's a good thing they're not good climbers, plus the branches give us a good shield since they can't just fly through it." I sigh and look over to see Nyx shaking and close to tears. I pull her into a hug. "You okay?"

I knew that was a stupid question, but it got her to talk.

"Yeah, just a little shaken up. How do we get out of this?" She pointed to the manticores.

I sighed, not liking what I was about to do. "I want you to close your eyes, cover your ears, and sing a song to yourself. Don't stop till I tell you. Okay?" She had a slight fearful look, but nodded and did what I asked.

As she started singing, I jumped down and landed before the manticores. I rose and brought out my fangs and claws, turning back into a monster. I had already made my choice, time to carry it out."Alright you Muppet rejects, come and get me." I charged and met the beasts head on.