Just Horsing Around

by Darkness Shade

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Adventure, Main 6, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Human, Other, Romance
Length: 308529

Seemingly lost in his life, a young man finds himself waking up in a strange new land populated by some curious residents. When certain truths are revealed and he finds there's more to his appearing there, how will he adjust to his new life?

Ryan was a guy who, while not having a great life, had one that was passable and wasn't anything to gripe about; however he felt lost in what it had all become...but that changes soon enough when he finds himself in a place that's like his world but not, and comes to find friendship with those residing there; in particular one southern gal starts to catch his eye and so a tale of silliness, laughs, love, and even action begins as he adjusts and finds a way to make a new start in Equestria...and on Sweet Apple Acres.

(My first ever MLP:FiM fanfic since this series is just so awesome and AppleJack is also mah fave pony. I go a little crazy with how I set stuff up but I hope ya find it an entertaining read.)
5/11/14: Over 20,000 views?! You guys are crazy, but that's awesome so Thanks!
3/31/15: Over 30,000 views now...good heavens. That's a lot of reads. Hahahaha. Thanks guys! :pinkiehappy:
11/4/15: And now over 40,000 views. And certainly more fans thanks to that. Haha. Awesome!

Published 2013-08-25 19:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-05-07 04:49:52 UTC

4th Harvest

And so a bit of a calm returned when they were back to Ponyville, their lives settling into a normal rhythm for the most part; Twilight was delighted to have such a challenging mission now and so, much to Spike's dismay, started getting a bit crazy with her researching and stuff.

Thankfully, for his nerves sake, Ryan was able to come over occasionally and get her to relax some before she drove herself crazy with her actions.

Rarity had easily finished up the rest of the clothing she had for Ryan, including some winter stuff just to "get prepared" as she said...though Ryan suspected it was to get a winter line set of photos ready for when the time was right.

He was grateful that his location was not revealed to be in Ponyville, despite many a pony pestering Rarity for that information to meet this mystery model of hers.

With all that, in addition to the Cutie Mark Crusaders continuing in their mission of "meddling without really meddling" when it came to him and AppleJack, the month had passed in a blur and so soon enough it was the night before his birthday and he just had to wonder what Pinkie Pie had been up to.

"She's been quite busy with this secret party for me." Ryan laughed softly, sitting with AppleJack outside as they stared at the stars, "I'm sure you know...but where's the fun in spoiling surprises?"

"Heh, that's fer sure Ry-Ry; tomorrow might get a bit interesting for ya so I hope yer ready to, as Pinkie puts it, "party pony style!""

"Well, technically I already did that with Celestia and Luna but...I think it might be a bit crazier being a birthday party."

Noting AppleJack shivering a bit, Ryan put his arm around her and pulled her closer as they lay out in the hay; not far away, AppleBloom was spying as always and seemed rather overjoyed that in the last four weeks her sister and Ryan had gotten closer.

Still, neither one of them had tried to make that move she knew meant somepony was in love...but she had a feeling that tomorrow might just be the day that it finally happened.

'And then I can be his little sister fer sure.' She thought, smiling at how happy her sister looked, 'I always wondered if a guy that struck her fancy would show up...who knew it'd be a human? I got to wonder though, from what he said the Princess told him, maybe that was something that happened often way back when. Well, I don't rightly care; if mah sister is happy then that's what matters.'

And from what AppleBloom could see, with Ryan and AppleJack holding each other close under the starlight, they both appeared rather happy.

"Well, as peaceful as this is...we should get to bed."

"Mmmm, I don't wanna move Ry."

"Heh, what? You wanna sleep out here under the stars?"

"Can we? I mean, we're pretty safe and it's not too hot out tonight. I'm just....really comfy." AppleJack yawned before scooting closer to him, "Please?"

"Haha, well, as long as I'm with you I guess it don't matter much; if you say the farm is safe to sleep out on then I've got no worries."

"Thanks my Apple Ryder."

And like that she was out, though Ryan was a bit amused at the off the cuff nickname she'd just given him; smirking when he noted she was thoroughly asleep, he titled his head back and looked in the direction of where AppleBloom was spying from.

"You should get some rest too little sis, otherwise you'll be too tired for mah birthday tomorrow."

"...how do ya always do that Ryan?" AppleBloom asked in disbelief, "Anyway, I guess yer right."

"Hey...c'mere."

"Hmmm?" AppleBloom was confused but walked over to where Ryan was, "What is it?"

Laughing softly, Ryan kissed AppleBloom on the top of her head before ruffling her mane.

"Good night little sis."

"Hee, good night big bro."

Ryan gave a quiet laugh as he watched AppleBloom run off all happy before getting settled into the hay and joining AppleJack in a peaceful slumber amidst the stars.

The next morning Ryan was awoken by something forcefully nudging his stomach; slowly opening his eyes he saw AppleJack given him a poke and smirking.

"Well morning birthday boy; y'all ready to have a hoot-n-holler type of day?"

"As long as I get to have fun with my family and friends, you bet I am." Ryan yawned slightly before sitting up and stretching, "What time is it anyway?"

"Six; the sun's just about to rise so I figured we'd watch the sunrise together before getting a quick breakfast in."

"What a wonderful way to start my birthday; thanks Apps. Your Apple Ryder appreciates it." Ryan teased, laughing softly at her blush.

"I...I guess I did say that last night, huh?"

"Heh, it's okay; it's a cute apple based pun that my name fits perfectly so don't sweat it hon."

With that said, the two sat quietly enjoying the company of one another as the sun rose yet again to greet them and Ponyville; once the sun was properly up and on its way, the two of them had a fantastic breakfast that AppleBloom and Granny had made just for his birthday.

"This all looks so amazing you two, thank you kindly." Ryan remarked before digging in, "Mmmm, I love apples."

"I'll say." AppleBloom teased, making him cough and blush, "Did I say something wrong?"

"Cute kid, cute." Ryan laughed before picking back up where he'd left off before choking, "So from what I can sense, you and the other girls apparently have some big plans for my birthday....I hope y'all didn't go too out of yer way."

"Shucks Ryan, would we do something like that?" AppleJack giggled, "Oh, by the way."

A bit puzzled by why she had left, he wasn't anymore when she came back with a decently sized box and handed it to him.

"...I still don't know how you carry stuff without having fingers; clearly there is some crazy logic happening here." Ryan teased, "Thank you AppleJack. I wonder what it is?"

"Well open it up silly!"

"I suppose you're right AppleBloom; time to tear into it!"

With that Ryan quickly, but efficiently, opened up the package and found what appeared to be AppleJack's hat but it had been personalized a little.

"Apps..."

"Well, I always knew how much ya liked wearing mah hat all the time so, since I got tons of them, I figured why not give you the one I've been wearing (that ya always seem to end up wearing anyway)...after I had Rarity add a few touches to it of course." AppleJack explained, pointing out the slight embroidering inside the hat, "See?"

"To my Apple Ryder from your sweet southern Apps." Ryan read off, feeling his cheeks heat up slightly, "Apps...thank ya."

Putting the hat on that moment, he gave AppleJack a super happy hug that lingered for a few moments till he heard AppleBloom giggling.

"Right! Sorry...anyway, I think I know what to wear today so if y'all excuse me." Ryan turned to give Granny Smith a hug as well, "Granny, that breakfast was sensational; thank ya."

"Hee, tweren't nothing dearie; now go get yerself ready. Yer friends are waiting after all."

"Heh, right; thanks again everypony."

After Ryan had headed upstairs to get changed, Granny and AppleBloom couldn't help but grin at AppleJack's pleased look.

"...what?"

"He's gotten purty sweet on ya; looks like I was right to give him mah blessing."

"Granny!"

"Oh come on sis, you and I both know ya like him too; I've seen how close you've gotten since he moved in a month ago."

"AppleBloom...well, I know yer right...and it's not like mah friends haven't noticed that either." AppleJack admitted, "I'm just..."

"Waiting for the right moment to ask him huh?"

"Yeah, that; I'm just worried that he might not feel the same way."

"Listen honey, you shouldn't let things like that hold ya back. If the Apple family was worried about things like that, we never would've ended up finding our way here and founding Ponyville." Granny patted her granddaughter on the back and smiled, "That fella doesn't seem to let any differences bother him...and you know there's plenty a proof of that."

"I know...yer both right. Don't worry, I know when my moment will come; today's a good day for him and...I think with the mood he's in he'll be real receptive but...shhh, he's coming back down."

Ryan, being predictable for those that were paying attention, was clad in the first outfit he had originally tried on at Rarity's all those days ago: the dusty brown cargo shorts embroidered with the familiar trio of apples, an orange t-shirt, plaid over-shirt, and rugged sneaker/boot hybrids pretty much made him look the part of a southern country boy.

"And of course, the finishing touch." Ryan remarked, putting on his "new" hat and smirking, "Yee-haw everypony! It's party time!"

AppleJack giggled softly and blushed; while she did like how good those clothes were on him, she wasn't about to inflate his ego...not yet anyway.

"Yer a perfect match for mah granddaughter now sonny."

"Yeah! It's nice to see Sweetie Belle's suggestion to Rarity was taken!"

"Ahhh, so that's really where Rarity got the idea from to include the cutie mark logos." Ryan remarked, laughing softly while ruffling AppleBloom's mane, "The Cutie Mark Crusaders strike again."

"If yer done being a goober, we gotta get moving; we're due to meet the girls at Rarity's and the last thing we want is for Twilight to get all crazy on yer birthday."

"Yeah Apps, that's true; T-Sparks goes a bit bonkers when we don't keep to schedules. Well then, shall be off my little pony?" Ryan cheekily asked before giving a wave and running off, "Later everypony!"

"Hey now! Y'all can't pull that move on me!" AppleJack laughed, running off after him as they headed into town.

"Where are they? They've got a minute before they're late." Twilight huffed, pacing slightly.

"Darling, I wish you would relax a little; it is his birthday and he is with AppleJack." Rarity noted with a grin, "I wouldn't be surprised if she's got him a bit...distracted."

"Besides, you can't go crazy today; I don't think that would be good."

"Fluttershy is right everypony! We've got to give him the best pony party ever since it's his first!" Pinkie added before spotting the guest of honor and AppleJack running towards them, "Look! There he is! Wheeeee!"

That was followed by Pinkie Pie running towards the two of them and bowling Ryan over with a flying tackle-hug; dazed momentarily Ryan recovered to a faceful of pink before deducing what had happened.

"Hello Pinkie Pie; a bit excited are we?" Ryan laughed, standing up and dusting himself off, "Ya know, you could've waited for me to get over there before giving me a hug."

"Why would I do that? This way was so much more fun!"

"Hey now, what's this? You've got a hat on...and so does AJ." Rainbow Dash remarked, "They look the same but...something seems different, like it's twenty percent more Ryan."

"...I'm a quantifiable value now? Anyway, it's an early birthday gift from "my sweet southern Apps for her Apple Ryder." Ryan remarked, amused that AppleJack was blushing.

"Oh good then! He liked the alterations I made dearie!" Rarity exclaimed, "Now then...if Spike-wikey would get back we could get started."

"Where is the little dude? I figured he'd be here since he and T-Sparks are pretty much inseparable."

"He went to go get a few last minute items for our picnic, which is the first stop on our party checklist today."

"That explains the picnic baskets then. Heh, you and your to-do lists; though I can't say I don't admire somepony that knows how to plan out things." Ryan noted before smirking, "Though sometimes I think it's fun to just go off-the-cuff and do things as they come. You should try that sometime T-Sparks, let yourself relax."

"...maybe someday."

"Sorry I'm late guys, but the Cakes needed a few extra minutes to finish up our picnic dessert." Spike explained as he came running up with a large box, "Oh, and Pinkie Pie? Mrs. Cake says that your special thingy-ma-bob turned out perfectly and will be ready for later."

"Super-duper-woooper! Okay! Okay! Let's go!"

"Heh, you guys know how to pick out an amazing picnic spot." Ryan looked over the majestic field bordering a large lake and took a deep breath, "This land is so peaceful and serene...I don't think I ever want to go back."

"...are you honest about that?"

"Heh, of course I am Apps; you are the authority on honesty here after all. Haha, I've been happier in these last few weeks then I have in a long time and, while I still would like to get a message home somehow so mah family doesn't have to worry, I think I'd be quite content staying here with mah friends...and you."

"Ry-Ry..."

"Come on, come on; you two can get all that mushy stuff later tonight. Right now it's picnic time and then swim time!" Rainbow Dash butted in, before looking left and right and glomping Ryan, "Birthday hug!"

"Haha, but of course; this makes my birthday twenty percent cooler now." Ryan replied, squeezing Dashie tightly, "Dashie, you're something else."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm awesome like that; now let's dig in I'm starving!"

And so Twilight and Rarity magically set up the blanket, the food, and other various items one would expect to see at a picnic before everypony got settled and digged in...but Ryan was a might confused at the sandwich AppleJack had handed him after he took a bite of it.

"...A-Apps?"

"Something wrong Ry? You don't like yer sandwich?"

"No, no, it's just...this can't be what I think it is." Ryan remarked as he took another bite, "I would swear this tastes like ham...but...no...I....that's not possible."

"Would ya be upset if it was darling?"

"No Rarity, it wouldn't bother me save for if it made y'all uncomfortable but...it just makes mah brain hurt trying to figure out the details. Are...are pigs not considered anything but livestock? Granted I haven't met a talking one yet so..."

"We don't really get into the details." Twilight admitted, making an odd face, "The short answer is yes followed by a long explanation, the other one is a no followed by a huge 'but'. While ponies usually have a more vegetarian type diet as you've seen, we still do eat fish and well, pork products but on a much rarer basis."

"So then ponies are technically omnivores?" Ryan asked, puzzled but at the same time not really.

"Oh, well, some do...but the ones like myself that really love animals just can't bring themselves to do it." Fluttershy added, "That doesn't mean I frown on those that do, that's just their choice is all."

"Heh, my sister could learn a lot from you about that. Though, I'm not even gonna ask if there are pony butchers since I've never seen one but I'm eating a ham sandwich so they have to exist somewhere." Ryan clutched his head and groaned slightly, "This kind of breaks mah brain gals."

"Well, the reason you don't see it is it's commercialized since a good portion of ponies do get a bit ick thinking on it so..."

"Righty-o....well, don't hold it against me that I'm enjoying this; it's been so long since I've had meat." Ryan sighed but continued his sandwich in peace after that, "Not that, all the alternatives I've found aren't good either but, for a human, nothing beats delicious meat. Haha."

"Now why would we do something silly-willy like that?" Pinkie asked, face-first in a bowl of macaroni salad, "You're allowed to like what you want after all. Mmm, this is delicious though Spike!"

"Thanks Pinkie, I pride myself on my cooking skills after all." Spike remarked before seeing Ryan laughing softly, "What?"

"Nothing, nothing, it's just nice to see another guy that has the culinary skills as well."

"..."

"Now Ry, come on out from there. I know you've gotta have yer swimsuit on by now."

"I know Apps but...even though I don't think y'all care, this is like the first time I've been in such lack of clothing around everypony."

"You've gone shirtless around me...or don't I count?" AppleJack teased, giggling at his exasperated gasp.

"You...you know that's different." Ryan sighed, before walking out from where he had changed, "I mean, I like the design and Rarity got the gist of it right but..."

"Yer looking pretty good to me sugah; I don't know why it is, but purple and black just look so very good on ya. Now come on, it's time to cannonball into the watering hole!" AppleJack stated, nudging Ryan and getting him running towards the water.

"Hey! Apps! I can't....ack!" Ryan shouted, suddenly tumbling end over end before rolling down, up, and then into the water with a loud splash, "....bleck. Well, that's one way to make an entrance."

"Hmmm...I give it a 7." Rainbow Dash remarked from the tire-swing, "It was original, but mostly out of chance and dumb luck."

"Oh yeah? Like you could do better Dashie?"

"Gladly!"

"Uh....she's building up a lot of speed." Ryan noted, before seeing Pinkie grinning widely in the water next to him, AppleJack tossing her hat aside and jumping into the lake, and then the other ladies and Spike hunkering down and pulling out a massive umbrella, "Uhm...I can't help but feel like I'm missing something here."

"Y'all best hold on to yer britches Ry."

"And what is that?" Ryan asked, doing such and making sure his swimsuit was on tightly.

"It's only because she's gonna do her awesome maneuver!" Pinkie explained, laughing giddily, "Her Sonic Rainbomb!"

"Oh no." Ryan stated in bleak thought, "She's going to cannonball at supersonic speeds? Isn't that DANGEROUS?!"

"Well, the only time she's done it before sent us flying in a giant wave and had Twilight so angry she made her fill the lake back up by fetching some rainclouds but...IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!"

Ryan could naught but watch as Rainbow Dash indeed flung herself high up into the sky, going super far before finally heading back down towards the Earth; seeing a buildup of energy forming around here, he was dazzled when she finally achieved the crazy speed that set off her trademark skill.

"It's....beautiful." Ryan gasped, staring in wide-eyed wonder, "So. Inspiring!"

"Yeehaw! Here we go!" AppleJack laughed as Rainbow Dash impacted with the lake, sending out a huge shockwave of water that lifted the three of them up and sent them flying forwards.

"Oh dear God!" Ryan shouted, making sure to hold on to something as they went flying, "...ya know, once the fear of death subsides, this is actually pretty cool."

"Yep! I wonder if we'll go farther than we did last time!" Pinkie giggled.

"Is, uhm...is Dashie going to be okay? That seemed like quite an impact." Ryan asked, looking back to see if she'd surfaced, "...huh...interesting."

"What is Ry-Ry?"

"The fact that because she was going so fast, her voice finally caught up to us. So she can break the sound barrier...fascinating." Ryan explained, before noting their movement was slowing down, "Ya know...I hope the others are alright."

"Ry...aren't those yer fancy swim trunks floating there?"

"...what?" Ryan quickly turned and saw them floating in front of them, "Oh God!"

Quickly grabbing them Ryan pulled them back on before the water finally subsided and set them down quite a distance from where the lake was.

"...do not tell Dashie that she literally knocked my shorts off; I could not live that down if she did."

"Hee-hee, don't worry Rysy-wysy, your secret is safe with us!"

After hiking back towards the others, who were a bit water-logged no thanks to Rainbow Dash's brash moves, Ryan could see that his regular clothing was indeed just as wet; seeing no sign of Dashie, he figured T-Sparks had sent her off to fill the lake back up.

"Everypony alright?"

"We're okay Ryan...I just wish Rainbow Dash hadn't done that." Spike groaned, "Dragon fire and water doesn't exactly mix."

"...I'm just so utterly wet! This is only acceptable at the spa or in the shower! Ahhh!" Rarity bemoaned, falling back on a conveniently placed sofa, "...what?"

"Well, she's paying for her reckless move by having to go round up some rain clouds to fill the lake back up; I can't believe she did something so crazy again." Twilight sighed, "Are you three alright?"

"Wooheee, of course I am! That was one heck of a ride!"

"Of course Twilight! Surfing like that is just super fun!"

"...while it was certainly an experience, and an enjoyable one once the whole "Oh crap!" moment passed, I don't know if I wanna do that again." Ryan laughed softly into a sigh, "Especially since all our clothing, and well your persons, are totally soaked. However...this is not an issue."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well Flutters." Ryan remarked, walking over to his clothing and pulling his wand from the makeshift holster he'd put together, "I have been practicing with T-Sparks for the last few weeks; while I haven't gotten anything super powerful down I do know a lot of practical stuff so it's time I tested it!"

"Just be careful!" Spike quickly added, "I don't want to have another accident like last time..."

"Oh please little dude, that was an honest mistake and besides, we stopped using you as the guinea pig didn't we?" Ryan remarked, "Now then...let's see if I can fix the water-logged issue."

Focusing intently with his wand, Ryan felt the strange aura surround it before he thought of his intent and then pointed at his clothing; in moments they were instantly dry and ready for wear again.

"And now for everyone else!" Ryan remarked, focusing on the others and going through the same motions before they too were dry, "Heh, it still surprises me not so much that magic exists, but that I can wield it. Fascinating."

"I must say you are coming along well my fellow apprentice." Twilight beamed, "You seem incredibly adept at learning so you'll be catching up to me in no time."

"Heh, well, it helps that I'm a hands-on type of learner though. Now then, since I seemed to have dried everything out well enough, and I've had enough swimming for the moment what with the lake waving goodbye to us, I believe Spike mentioned a special dessert?"

"Heh, thinking with your stomach again huh big guy?"

"Ack! Dashie!" Ryan gasped, feeling her dash in and poke his bare tummy, "Do you mind?"

"Nope! So then, how'd ya like my Sonic Rainbomb?"

"It was cool, and the rainbow effect is indeed awe-inspiring; I give it a nine." Ryan smirked, "...don't do it again though."

"Only a nine? Sheesh, you're such a hard person to impress." Rainbow Dash huffed, "Oh well, I heard dessert so let's do this!"

After having a slice of a delicious cake that was adorned by a picture of Ryan and all his friends, the group had taken the moment to relax and enjoy the peaceful afternoon before moving on the next part of their excursion.

"Oh man, I don't know how the Cakes do it but everything from there is just so good. I'm surprised I haven't gotten fatter from all the sweets we get from there." Ryan joked, laying in a pile with the others on the blanket, "Ya know, that is something I've wondered about."

Twilight turned her head slightly to look at him, "Hmmm? Wondered what?"

"About how I haven't had any weird effects from eating things here or any other differences that might have existed between our worlds. I mean, in all honesty, the moment I got here, other than that headache from landing in the forest, I've felt the best I have in a long time; it's almost as if the magical ability that latched on to me (or apparently manifested from me given all the weird relations to Darkness Shade I seem to have) did something to improve my health and make me as if I was always from Equestria."

"...darling, I'm afraid that hurt my noggin a bit." Rarity commented, adjusting a bit as she was caressing Spike's head, "Can you make that simpler?"

"He's basically saying his magic adjusted his body so it could live in Equestria without any issue." AppleJack remarked, much to her friends' surprise, "What?"

"Nothing, I guess that living with him has basically made it so you understand his crazy long talking." Rainbow Dash added from her position curled up against Ryan's right side, "Still, I guess ya have to if you live with him."

"Brat." Ryan laughed softly.

"Says you."

"I guess as long as it means Ryan can be here with us, then that's all that matters. Oh!" Fluttershy sighed, as Ryan was scratching just behind her wings for her, "Yeah...right there thanks."

"This is just too relaxing girls." Ryan sighed happily, "I can't remember the last time a birthday just felt so...right for me."

"Well, we still got plenty of time left mah Apple Ryder so let's keep making it a good one."

"Heh, thanks Apps."

After a short while, and a short nap as well, the friends cleaned up their picnic before heading back to town; after returning the picnic baskets to Rarity's house, Ryan was given her gift for him which was a very stylish holster for his wand that, as he happily found out, was designed so he would wear it along his hip like a sword.

"This is very nice Rarity, thank you very much." He stated, taking her in a big hug.

"Oh my! Heh, you are quite welcome dearie; I was more than happy to make you a much nicer one to replace that quick and dirty one you put together." Rarity explained, a bit flustered by Ryan's bear hug, "Now then...we've had our fun, so now it's time to relax and unwind."

"...huh? What are ya talking about?" Ryan asked, tilting his head in puzzlement.

"Are you sure he's gonna want to do this? I mean, he is a guy."

"Rainbow Dash, I'm a guy and I don't mind going there; it's so relaxing." Spike noted, though Dashie just laughed, "What?"

"Spike, you're a little different so, while that's true, I'm not sure if Ryan's gonna be the same."

"Hmmm? What are you guys talking about? Where are we heading next?"

"...a spa?"

"Yes darling; we thought you'd like a little relaxation. Is that okay?"

"A steam, a soak, and a massage? Name me somepony that wouldn't like that." Ryan joked, "I don't see why you'd think I wouldn't be okay with that Dashie; even us guys like being pampered sometimes...it's just that not all of us would admit such."

"...huh, so he's a bit different like you Spike."

"...I don't really appreciate what's being said there."

"Neither do I little buddy, neither do I." Ryan huffed, "Anyway, hopefully nothing crazy happens here."

"Well, I mean the workers here have seen you around." Twilight noted as they walked in, "So I mean, they won't be surprised; though I'm sure they'll find it challenging working on a human."

"This is where you and Rarity come once a week, right Flutters?" Ryan asked, looking around and noting that it pretty much looked like any spa he'd seen before.

"Yes, it's very relaxing and it should totally energize you too."

"Well then, where do we....ack!" Ryan gasped as he was suddenly grabbed by two ponies.

"We're so glad to have you here Birthday Boy!"

"Yes, you and your friends are right on time for your appointment!"

"Uhm, well that's good to hear ladies, so then...uhm..."

"Ah yes, your friend Rarity made this outfit for you based on what they have so we finally get to try it out."

"Outfit?" Ryan looked and saw a robe and light clothing wear outfit being held out to him, "Oh...well, okay then...I guess I'll go get ready."

"Heh, you're so adorably awkward; I never would've guessed it from seeing you walking about with your friends every day."

"Oh yes, well miss..."

"Aloe."

"...Aloe. Right, that makes sense then. Anyway, yes Aloe I'm usually not so charmingly befuddled but something about situations like this tend to catch me off guard." Ryan laughed sheepishly, "Anyway..."

"Yes, go get ready while we get everything set."

A few moments later...

"Hmmm, comfortable yet functional. Perfect. Though I must admit I look like some fancy-smancy rich person at an expensive resort."

"Hee, well darling I must say you could play the part well."

"Thanks Rarity. Heh...now then...whoa!" Ryan tried to speak before he noted Aloe leading him over to the girls and then to a large room, "...where's the rush?"

"No rush, just have to get the Birthday Boy and his guests going." Aloe remarked as she let them get settled, "A good steam will do you good."

With that the group got settled in as the heat of the room went to work cleansing them.

"Phew, I have to say this kind of heat puts the summers back home to shame."

"What was it like in yer hometown sugah?"

"Well Apps, it wasn't a bad place; it was fairly quiet, had about a million or so people living in it but it was a fairly spread out. My childhood was a bit rough, which is pretty much why I look how I do but my family was pretty caring and I never had to worry about much growing up except being picked on and stuff."

"That's awful."

"Yeah Flutters, but humans can be pretty harsh towards one another, especially children. I've seen it here too sadly but...anyway, not really much to say otherwise; the town had a lot of what most did and I had my fun when I could. I lived somewhere else for a while, it was nice, a little colder and different, but the people out there were a lot different. Not as friendly in the ways that matter I suppose."

"I guess I can see why you wouldn't really be eager to go back home then."

"That's true enough, but as I can tell from the look on Pinkie Pie's face, this isn't the best party talk." Ryan smirked, laughing heartily at the crazy faces she was giving him.

"That's right ponies! I know we're letting all the toxics out and stuff with this steam, but hearing about Ryan's past just makes me feel all mopey and that's not fun!" Pinkie declared, before grinning and pouring a lot of water on the hot stones, "STEAM POWER!"

"Ack!"

"Pinkie!"

"Tarnation!"

"Darling, what was that for?"

"I can't see!"

"Spike, the heat shouldn't affect you."

"Oh yeah."

After thoroughly feeling the same things a potato goes through when being baked, Ryan and the girls were enjoying some fresh, cold water before continuing.

"Pinkie...that was crazy."

"You're welcome!"

"That...I....ugh...." Ryan sighed, flopping back on to his chair and laughing, "I just can't get angry at you."

"That's cause I'm just super loveable!"

"Okay! Phase two!" Aloe shouted, walking in with a few other ponies, "Time to work those muscles and get them all super relaxed."

"Now that sounds like a pleasant idea." Ryan turned around in his chair, "...if you weren't professionals, I'd be a bit more worried that I'm the first human you've done this too."

"Relax dear, you'll be perfectly fine." Aloe reassured Ryan before motioning for another pony to come over, "Lotus Blossom here will take good care of you."

"Right! I'm super honored to meet you Mr. Ryan. You're a big talk of the town after all."

"Oh I'm not really that.....ohhhh." Ryan couldn't talk as her massage had instantly put him into the most pleasant of states, "I....my goodness yer good at this."

"Heh, looks like we know one of Ryan's weak spots."

"Rainbow Dash, that would be completely irresponsible to take advantage of Ryan like that."

"Rarity's right, don't go causing trouble for mah Ry-Ry."

"Apps...." Ryan blushed slightly, but you couldn't tell with his head completely limp in the chair as Lotus Blossom worked her magic, "Sweet heavens..."

"Goodness! There's a lot of tension in your back...especially your shoulders."

"Well, takes a lot of muscle to work those arms of....oh right there!"

"Here?"

"Yeah~"

"Goodness, he's acting just like Spike does."

"What are you talking about Fluttershy, I don't....oooooh~" Spike attempted to get out a retort, but it was apparent by his words that Fluttershy was right.

"Hmm, I wonder if all humans get so docile when pampered like this?" Twilight dared to ask before looking at Ryan's limp, happy self, "...if that's so, then I wonder why they're so uptight from what he tells us."

"So then, is that...hmmm?" Lotus Blossom took a moment when she noticed Ryan had relaxed quite a bit, "Oh my, he's fallen asleep. I didn't know I was that good."

"That just means he's really happy! He's reached party bliss!"

"Pinkie...I don't think that's such a thing. At least...not like that."

"I think AppleJack's right, besides if the big guy is so peaceful he's resting, then let him. We'll wake him up before we take a soak." Rainbow Dash remarked, before sighing, "Yeah, right there on the wings is perfect."

"Hmmm, if you all say so; I guess I'll continue till I'm done then."

About twenty minutes later, Ryan was aware of someone softly shaking him out of the sleeping state he'd been put into and with a yawn he stretched and turned around.

"Did I...I fell asleep didn't I? Heh, I always do that when I get a good massage." Ryan remarked, "Sorry about that."

"Thank nothing of it sir, it's just a testament of my skills if I can relax you that much." Lotus Blossom explained, "Now then, your friends have just left to have a soak to finish up."

"Ah, I'm lagging behind huh?" Ryan joked, standing up and stretching again, "Man, do I feel limber now; thanks Lotus Blossom."

"You're welcome; now quickly, you should join your friends."

"Right, right." Ryan noted, walking a bit and then giving a wave to everypony when he made it to the hot baths.

"Looks like the sleepy head finally woke up."

"It's nice to see you too Dashie." Ryan stuck his tongue out at her as he sank into the hot water, "Oooh! Hmmmm..."

"Relaxing isn't it dearie? And it'll leave your fur so smooth and silky."

"Uhm...." Ryan pointed at his head, "Not much fur, er, hair on me..."

"Oh, well...then I guess it'll help your skin then."

"I guess that works." Ryan laughed softly before sliding down until just his nose up was showing, "Blub-blub-blub-blub."

"I agree Ryan, this is relaxing!" Pinkie replied, laughing softly, "Are you having fun?"

"Blub-blubble-blob."

"That's good to hear!"

"...how do you know what he's saying Pinkie?"

"That's easy Twilight: I speak bubble!"

"I...er....uhm...."

"Twilight, let it go." Spike sighed, gently patting her shoulder, "Pinkie is as Pinkie does remember."

"Yes, yes...you're right."

"Blobble-blob?"

"Ryan, that was an awful pun!"

"...do I even wanna know what ya said Ry-Ry?"

"Blob."

"I'mma guess that's a no."

Twenty minutes later~

"Mmmmm, I feel like I could take on the world now!" Ryan remarked, now dressed in his clothes again and striking a pose, "I might have to make this a regular thing."

"Heh, you and Spike could make it a guys outing." Rainbow Dash teased, though Ryan's smirk told her it wasn't going as planned, "Oh no...."

"That's actually a really nice idea there Dashie, would give the little dude and me a chance to bond like bronies should."

"B-brony?" Twilight asked, "Another odd word you're coming up with."

"Well, I figure y'all see me as one of you, and I'd like to think I'd be a total bro so...bro plus pony equals brony. See?" Ryan explained, "It does make the most sense."

Twilight merely face-hoofed in response before shaking her head.

"I do hope to see you again Mr. Ryan. And Happy Birthday!"

"I'm sure you will Aloe, you run a very relaxing service here. Later." Ryan said his goodbyes as they left and began walking, "Well then, where to next?"

"You...you have arcades?" Ryan paused in his steps and thought for a moment, "You mean like them old fashioned arcades right? Like the fair?"

"No, I assume since you know the word that they're the same; I'm honestly surprised you've never seen it in town."

"Well T-Sparks, to be honest, between working with you on the whole computer thing and helping buck apples...and making sure there's time to spend with family."

"And your sweet little Apps~"

"Yes Dashie, and my sweet little....hey!" Ryan frowned at Dashie's snickering sneakiness, "Anyway, yeah, I haven't had much time to explore all of Ponyville. But...wait...then if you have arcade games then...hmmm...perhaps analyzing those would help us with the computer issue!"

"Even when he's having fun he's still thinking on things like this! Amazing!" Twilight remarked with a grin.

"Only you would be all happy if he was turning something fun into something useful and boring."

"Now now Dashie, electronics are cool...you remember my little device."

"Yeah, yeah...let's just go see if you have any moves with the games. There's one in particular I'd just love to see you try out....and here it is."

Ryan walked up to a rather loud, rather noisy, but rather...familiar looking arcade machine; the flashy lights, the panels on the ground, the pulse-pounding beats; all these things seemed to remind him of a certain something.

"Oh my...this looks ever so complicated." Ryan remarked with a snicker, "How will I succeed in playing this Hoove Hoove Revolution?"

"Heh, I'd like to see if you could keep up with me. There's no way with just those two legs of yours that you could ever beat me." Rainbow Dash admitted as she stepped on to one side of the pad, "In fact, I'll even pay for the round..."

"And if I win?" Ryan asked, still smirking confidently as he stepped up, "What happens if I win?"

"Well, we'll see if that happens...then we'll figure that out."

"Darlin', ain't none of us ever been able to top RD at this game. So...why ya grinning so much?"

"Haha, you'll see Apps; I'm just full of surprises."

With that Rainbow Dash put in the bits and up came the song select wheel; while Ryan obviously didn't recognize many of the songs, a few of the genres were quite familiar and he recognized at least one artist he'd seen before.

"Oh cool, Vinyl Scratch has some stuff on here; any good DJ PON3 song that'll be a worthy start for us?"

"How about this one?"

"Oh hey, Bass Cannon; that's a good one. Interesting though to see dubstep in a rhythm game. Let's do this!"

Selecting the song and the difficulty, Ryan took a moment to note the layout as the announcer began commentating as the song started.

"All right Everypony! Show us that skill!"

As the song started, Ryan was still smirking, and for good reason, as he had quickly determined the timing of said game and, despite the machine having the panels arranged oddly due to the difference between human and pony physiology, he had no problem keeping up the onslaught of notes as they rose up the screen.

"I was going to call Rainbow Dash out on being unfair for picking such a non-beginner friendly song, but seeing as Ryan is actually making her work for a win I'm just going to sit here and enjoy this."

"Twilight, that sounds a bit...odd coming from you."

"Well Spike, don't you think it would've been unfair?"

"Well, yeah...I guess it wouldn't hurt RD too much to get knocked down a peg or two so she stays somewhat humble."

"Yeehaw! Show her how a human gets their groove going hon!"

Laughing confidently, Ryan decided to make things a bit more interesting and started adding some smooth moves as he transitioned from note to note before the song was over and up came the grading.

"Wha-wha-wha-what?! How did I lose the first song? I never lose on that one!"

"Shall we continue?"

Rainbow Dash merely grumbled at the smug look of amusement on Ryan's face, determined to knock it off him in any way she could.

"Of course! I won't lose to you! Let's play...this one!"

"...Rainbow Factory?" Ryan titled his head, "That cover seems somewhat chilling...what the hell is the Rainbow Factory?"

"Somepony was a bit crazy one day and wrote something all creepy where I'm like an evil version of myself and rainbows are made out of ponies that can't learn to fly in Cloudsdale...I never really read the whole thing but poor Scootaloo was terrified of me for weeks after she stumbled on it." Rainbow Dash explained, "However, some awesome-sauce stuff came from that, what was it called, creepypasta I think; anyway, some awesome things did come of it, like this song."

"...right; well creepypasta exists in my world too but...that's weird having it based on you directly." Ryan cleared his throat, "So then...shall we?"

"Of course!"

With that the second song started, and this one, while slower, seemed to have more complex patterns and a lot of odd speed and timing changes that did throw Ryan off a bit as he wasn't expecting them when they happened.

Of course, he also had a bit of a time paying attention as the video playing in the background was a little creepy with what it was showing/implying as he tried to ignore that imagery.

"I don't know why she insists on playing such a ghastly song." Rarity sighed, turning away from the screen, "How she can like something that paints her in such an awful light I just can't comprehend."

"Well it's just like that cupcake one they wrote about me! That freaked me out forever when I found it! At least it only seems like a few of us were targeted with that not-so-fun nastiness."

"Well, y'all have a point but this is RD we're talking about. It doesn't surprise me that her ego looks pass that type of thing." AppleJack remarked before watching Ryan misjudge a stop and groan slightly in pain, "Ry-Ry?"

"Heh, I'm okay; I lost that one though. Sneaky Dashie, sneaky." Ryan laughed through a groan, rotating his ankle a bit, "So then, final stage..."

"Ya sure you don't want to call it a draw? I'd hate fer ya to get injured again."

"Oh don't worry about me Apps, I've got the mechanics of this game down....bring on a Boss Song."

"...you sure ya want that?" Rainbow Dash asked as she scrolled through the list before ending up on a number of songs that were flashing red, "You can still back out."

"Bring it!" He stated, grinning widely, "In fact...how about that one?"

"Vinyl Scratch's Battle Theme? Well, I..."

"Are you afraid? I can tell that based on the diamond scale this game uses, this song will be most challenging. Even I'm not sure I can pass it...but that simple fact thrills me for the chance to try!"

"Fine then! I'll show you I'm the best!" Rainbow Dash shouted, stamping her hoove and selecting the song, "Let's HHR!"

"Heh."

The song started off quite quick but repetitive before it slowed slightly and then ramped back up to speed with the notes flying everywhere, as it was Ryan was doing his best to keep up but he noted Dashie having troubles of her own.

As the pattern looped for a bit he was able to follow it before it slowed again and did a whole mess of complicated hops and gallop steps that left him hustling; still he wouldn't give up as it seemed he and Rainbow Dash were maintaining their life bars just enough.

"This is too much to take!" Fluttershy remarked, hiding behind Twilight at how intense it was getting.

"I must say that I'm having trouble following all this...who knew someone that could keep up with RD would show up."

"I can follow it Twilight!"

"Well Pinkie, I reckon anyone as hyper as you should be able to follow those hyper-kinetic notes."

"Oh God....huff, how long...huff, is this song?" Ryan gasped, limping about but still hanging on as the song slowed down yet again.

"Heh, give up...yet?"

"Never!" Ryan declared as the music sped up one more time, "Oh God! Hustle Hustle!"

He felt his stamina giving up, but from the sounds of things the song was just about over and, sure enough, he saw the final hold and held tight as the song ended...and then he and Rainbow Dash collapsed against one another.

"Huff...huff....so...who won?" Ryan asked, too tired to look at the screen.

The other ponies, and Spike, gasped as they looked at the screen and couldn't bring themselves to tell either one what had occurred.

"Ladies? What is it?" Ryan asked before finally turning to look at the screen, "...what? How?!"

"What are you getting all bent out of shape about? Did I win?"

"No...we tied."

"TIED?! That can't be!"

Sure enough though, when she looked at the screen Rainbow Dash was beside herself at the fact that Ryan had actually tied her score...which meant they had tied overall.

"Heh, guess we don't owe each other any favors then. Oh well, I guess that means I'm a little more awesome now, right?"

"...maybe." Rainbow Dash smirked, before blushing and shrugging, "And, uhm, you can stop leaning on me at anytime okay?"

After acquiring a cool, refreshing smoothie and getting soundly defeated by everyone in air hockey, Ryan wasn't sure what else today would bring.

"This is...the best day ever." Ryan remarked, before looking around curiously, "Uhm...doesn't it seem as if...I don't know, the town is really quiet fer some reason. Where is everypony?"

"Oh, well...maybe they're all napping?" Twilight sort of hastily said before face-hooving, "I mean...making dinner?"

"...right. Something is going on here, and I think y'all are behind it and I'd more curious as to why it seems Twilight is attempting to lie to me were it not for the fact it's mah birthday." Ryan laughed softly before ruffling Twilight's mane, "I'm quite curious to see what's next."

"Well then what are we waiting for!" Pinkie replied, butting her head into Ryan and pushing him along, "Our next stop is back home, at least for you!"

"...Pinkie!" Ryan gasped, trying his best to keep from being pushed over, "What do you mean home? You mean back at Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Well do ya call anywhere else home Ry-Ry?" AppleJack asked, laughing softly.

"Well, no....okay, you can stop pushing Pinks, I can walk on my own!" Ryan laughed before finally feeling her stop pushing, "So then...if I were a betting man, I'd say we're heading towards the really large barn then. It would seem the most logical place to hold a party."

"Quit thinking, you'll ruin it!" Pinkie lamented.

"Hahaha, okay, okay, I'll stop thinking about it."

And so the group walked along making chit-chat, with Pinkie pushing Ryan every so often to get him moving faster; eventually they got to the farm as early evening set in and, with her hooves over Ryan's eyes, AppleJack helped guide him into the barn before the lights were turned on.

"Surprise sugah!" AppleJack stated before letting him open his eyes.

Ryan looked and noted that, as he'd thought, the people that normally would've been milling about had indeed been helping get the decorations and stuff up; it humbled him a bit knowing that everyone (even the mayor he could see) had come to his birthday party.

"Heh, I had a feeling everypony was in on this." Ryan laughed loudly as they all shouted 'Happy Birthday' as loud as they could, "Thanks everypony, it looks fantastic."

Hearing the general chatter of everypony there slowly building as the party got started, Ryan couldn't help but be drawn to the massive cake that was situated on the center table; eyeing it from top to bottom it just looked amazing.

"So this must've been Pinks thingy-ma-bob Spike mentioned early this morning. Her and the Cakes really outdid themselves this time."

"Well that's nice of you to say."

"That's right, nothing better for us to hear than the words of appreciation for our treats."

"It really is amazing, thank you both." Ryan warmly replied, before feeling the Mayor tugging his arm, "Ah, Mayor, glad you could be here."

"And miss my town's most unique resident's first birthday celebration here? Out of the question; how couldn't I be here, especially when I wish to present you this."

A bit puzzled by what she meant, he watched as she pulled out a card and handed it to him; looking it over it appeared to be...

"Is this...you're making me an official citizen of Ponyville?"

"Of course; as it seems your quite taken with our fair town." The Mayor laughed softly as she glanced over to AppleJack, "As well as its residents, it only seems right to make it official."

"Thank you...I'm...I'm touched."

"Heh, think nothing of it young man; now go, have some fun! It's a party after all!"

As the mayor walked off to join some karaoke, Ryan could only smirk and chuckle to himself, "She's such a crazy pony...but I doubt anyone else could run this town as well as she does."

And so the party was rolling pretty well, music pumping, people laughing, awesome food to be enjoyed though Pinkie had brought Ryan something rather curious that made him give pause.

"...Pinks?"

"Yes Rysy-wysy?"

"Is this...this is a hot dog isn't it?"

"Yep! I found a way to get you one ever since I heard you mention it wayback when we saw the Princess! Happy Birthday!"

With that Pinkie put a mini-party hat on his hot dog before sticking her tongue out at him, winking, then bouncing off to join a conga line.

"...it's bliss." Ryan sighed, enjoying said hot dog after removing the party hat and putting it on his wand, "Heh, those gals are something else."

Looking about and relaxing for a moment, Ryan could see AppleBloom and her friends off and talking with one another...while occasionally pointing at him and then at AppleJack; Ryan smirked and laughed softly, all too aware that they were up to mischief again.

"Something funny mah Apple Ryder?"

"Heh, just little sis and her friends being silly again." Ryan remarked, downing a glass of apple juice, "Hmmm...I feel like I should say some words to everypony."

"It's funny you should say that sugah...as Twilight had the notion you would so, if you reckon yer ready."

With that AppleJack led Ryan over to the cake where Twilight and the others of the Mane Six were waiting; as for Spike, Ryan saw he was currently crashed against a pile of hay with his face covered in frosting and...where those sapphire remnants?

Picking up a glass and tapping on it to get everypony's attention, Ryan waited a moment for the silence to settle before gathering his thoughts.

"First off, I just want to say thank you to everypony for this party...but more so fer being so accepting of someone that's so radically different to y'all."

"Oh darling, it was nothing; you know we aren't so petty as to let something like that affect our judgment."

"Indeed Rarity, though I think that the fact I make such a fantastic model for you plays into that too."

That drew forth a chorus of laughs from everyone, including Rarity who had to admit he was right in that regard.

"Haha, all kidding aside you've all been very welcoming with everything; from the Apple family that kindly gave me a home here." He stated before smiling at AppleJack, "As well as comfort I'd not had in such a long time."

"Whooooo! Ryan and AJ forever!"

"Dashie!"

This brought forth another round of laughter from everyone as Ryan and AppleJack both blushed before he composed himself.

"Thank you Rainbow Dash, for being a gooberish prankster as always. And no doubt, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had a hand in provoking you to say that." Ryan laughed softly, glancing at the three fillies trying to hide in the crowd, "Even your Princesses have welcomed me to your world with open arms and even revealed some things that I never would've guessed could be true. Things like my own magical abilities, that thanks to T-Sparks I'm getting pretty good at."

"...ugh, not when you turn me into a plant." Spike grumbled, "Oh, too may sapphires..."

"Heh, well, can't make an omlette without breaking eggs little buddy. And, of course, despite the fact that thanks to Rarity I've become sort of unintentionally popular you've all done yer best to keep my location here a secret."

"Well, fame is a tough job after all."

"That's right Flutters, it's very stressful, but great cardio. Heh, with all that, given that you don't even treat me different it's almost like you see me as one of you, as a pony...or well brony if you will." Ryan laughed softly, "Even the Mayor has made it so that, as of today, I'm officially proud to call Ponyville my hometown."

To that everyone gave a large cheer and there was a round of applause...or at least the approximate to it with everypony stamping their hooves.

"Thank you. And I mean that, thank you from the bottom of my heart; if T-Sparks and her friends hadn't pulled me from the Everfree Forest, who knows what might've befallen me? I'm only here due to the kindness and friendship they're so capable of. Now then, seeing as I've said my little words of gratitude, and we have this totally awesome confectionary masterpiece made by Pinks and the Cakes just sitting here waiting to be eaten, I say we cut this sucker up and dig in!" Ryan shouted, raising his fist into the air energetically, "Yeehaw!"

And like that, almost instantly, Pinkie went all ninja state as she deftly cut the cake into enough pieces for all those gathered; after having cake the party slowly wound down and the noise in the barn became quieter than before...which Ryan was quite thankful for as he finished his cake and merely sat enjoying the moment.

Looking about he could see those he now came to call friends doing various things: Rainbow Dash was sort of spying on him, but not really as she chatted with Fluttershy about something, Twilight was trying to help Spike after the latter had gotten a tummy ache from eating too many sapphire cupcakes, Rarity was chatting up Aloe and Lotus Blossom and, judging from how Aloe kept glancing over towards where he was sitting, it was either about earlier today or just involved him in some way.

Not that Ryan minded, his friends could talk about him if they wanted, and he even waved at Aloe who grinned and waved back at him; Pinkie Pie was having a blast, literally, with her Party Cannon but he suddenly noticed that AppleJack was apparently missing.

"Now where do ya suppose that sweet lass got off to?"

Standing up, and wincing as his back cracked a bit, he looked left and right but saw hide nor hair of that certain orange pony; seeing AppleBloom and her friends chatting it up he figured perhaps they knew where she went and so he hopped over the fencing they were sitting behind and walked up to them.

"Hey there CMC's, how's it going?"

"...good. It's good."

"...Scootaloo, why do I get the feeling something's up? You're sweating like a nervous chicken."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because she's being awkward when she talks Sweetie Belle." Ryan laughed softly, "Little Sis, have ya seen Apps? She seems to have wandered off and I can't rightly find her; and well, if she's not here mah birthday doesn't feel complete ya know?"

"Mah sister? She should be around here...oh! There she is!"

Turning around, Ryan could see that she had indeed shown back up but she looked a little different: her ponytail was done up all fancy like, her mane wasn't in the ponytail she usually wore, and he wasn't sure how but he swore her coat was almost glowing.

AppleJack looked up from under her hat and met eyes with him, which brought forth a smile that just seemed right on both their faces; going to say his goodbyes to the Cutie Mark Crusaders but noting they'd run out the back door he gave a shrug before hopping back over the fence and walking over to AppleJack.

"Hey there Apps. I was looking for ya."

"You were huh? Uhm..."

"AppleJack, are you okay?" He asked, noting her uncharacteristically nervous stance, "What's on yer mind?"

"...would..."

"Hmm?"

"Would you like to..."

"To?"

"To...come with me?"

"Sure, the others seem to be enjoying the remnants of the party so I don't think it'll matter much if the birthday boy disappears for a bit."

"Sure, okay, cool. Follow me then sugah." AppleJack remarked, still feeling tense but relaxing as she felt Ryan place his hand on her mane and start caressing it, "Mmmmm."

"So what's got ya so tense Apps?" Ryan asked after they'd headed deeper into the farm and had ended up, as he might've expected, at the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse before sitting down as the moonlight filtered in through the windows.

"...have ya been enjoying yer birthday?"

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun; the most I've had in a long time on that day. But Apps..."

"Yeah Ry-Ry?"

"I know ya didn't invite me out here just to ask if I had fun today. What's really on yer mind sweetie?"

AppleJack looked to the floor a bit, slowly running a hoove over the wood flooring before gulping and looking back up at Ryan.

"I...I kind of have been having some thoughts on mah mind darlin' and..."

"And?" He asked, smiling kindly as he looked into her green eyes.

"And...well, I know we've gotten pretty taken with one another over the last few weeks." AppleJack stuttered slightly, staring back into his hazel eyes, "So...I was wondering if...maybe..."

"Maybe?"

"Maybe if ya are feeling the same way as I am that...you'd be open to the idea of."

"Of?" He asked, already knowing too well what she was going to ask.

"If'n you'd like to officially date?" AppleJack asked, blinking and staring at Ryan in the silence as he simply smiled, "...ah shoot, I knew I..."

"Shhhh." Ryan quietly stated, putting a finger to her lips, "Apps, if mah heart were an apple, you've more than wormed yer way into it since that first night you were so kind to me."

"So...yes Ry-Ry?"

"Heh, yes my sweet little Apps...we might be different, but I sense that doesn't really matter much here. Heh, not like I'd let it bother me anyway." Ryan laughed softly, "So yes, I'm more than happy to officially be yer Apple Ryder as long as yer my sweet southern Apps."

"Ryan..."

"AppleJack..."

Meanwhile, outside peeking through one of the windows was AppleBloom and her friends waiting for them to finally seal the deal.

"Come on Ry, don't leave a pony hanging."

"What's she talking about Scootaloo?"

"I think she wants them to kiss."

"Shhh, we can't let them hear us." AppleBloom quietly hushed them before watching, "I just knew they'd be good for each other."

Inside Ryan and AppleJack had been staring at each other, in that way that those who have come to recognize their mutual love do as they try to figure out what, of the myriad things running through their minds, to do next, which was why he hadn't noted the CMC's snooping outside.

As it was Ryan knew what he wanted to do, but was trying to figure out the best way to do it; finally figuring he'd just go for it he put one hand around her waist and another around her neck before leaning in and kissing her.

AppleJack's eyes went wide when she realized he was actually going to do what she'd secretly hoped he would and she relaxed when she felt his warm lips press against hers; she wasn't sure what it would feel like, especially with him being a human and all but, as far as she could tell she liked it...a lot.

"Yes!" AppleBloom shouted which caused her to lose her balance and fall down with her friends to the ground, "Anyway, mission accomplished CMC's! Now then...let us be proper and give the two of them their privacy."

5th Harvest

The sun slowly filtered through the windows as it rose the next morning, it's bright light drifting into Ryan's face and slowly rousing him from his deep sleep; opening his eyes slowly he noted his shirt seemed to be missing but it wasn't far as it was draped over AppleJack who he was currently hugging close to him.

All of a sudden a headache made itself known and that's when he caught sight of the empty ZAP-Applecider bottle that Apps had broken out last night after quite a few minutes of intense making out (apparently AppleJack really liked this whole kissing thing); while he didn't usually drink, she assured him he'd be fine if they split the bottle.

He was still resistant, but after batting those gorgeous green eyes of hers and saying she'd been saving this for a special occasion as apparently Zap-Apples, whatever those were, only grew every so often and that they were notoriously hard to get a good cider out of; as it was the bottle she had she'd been letting age for quite some time and so he conceded and soon enough the bottle had been drained as they laughed and joked (and made out some more) before finally curling up together and happily passing out in each other's arms.

"Ugh...I seriously believe this is the first time I've ever had a hangover. Protip Ry, they suck." He groaned, closing his eyes and nuzzling AppleJack's neck to try and distract his aching noggin, "Mmmm, what a birthday though."

"...got a headache sugah?"

"Mmm, yeah..." Ryan groaned, kissing her neck and pulling closer, "I told ya I don't drink, so I'm not surprised this happened."

"Hee, mah Apple Ryder can't hold his cider." AppleJack teased, "Well, we aren't in a rush; we can sleep it off a bit."

"We? Heh, so I'm not alone in my agony am I?"

"Well...I told ya it's been aging for a while; I reckon I underestimated it just a bit." AppleJack admitted, wrapping her forelegs around Ryan's arm, "Now shhh...that bottle is making enough noise as it is."

"Tell me about it..." Ryan sighed before closing his eyes and falling back asleep along with AppleJack.

As they were snoozing, the other members of their group were finally waking up themselves after having crashed in the barn; after Ryan and AppleJack had left the party had gotten a bit crazy and gone quite a while into the night.

"Ugh...I can't remember the last time a party went on for that long here." Rainbow Dash yawned, "...mmm...what am I laying on that's so soft and warm?"

"Uhm..that...that would be me." Fluttershy remarked, "After you got into a cupcake eating contest with Pinkie Pie, you flew around declaring you were the Ultimate Rainbow Heroine, latched on to me crying about..."

"About what?" She asked, rolling off of Fluttershy and looking at her curiously, "What was I crying about? Not that, ya know, I cry or anything!"

"Oh well..you made me promise not to tell, but it made it clear to me you're still aching a bit about things." Fluttershy suddenly went quiet, "I hope that didn't give it away."

"...hmmm, I see; well, speaking of our favorite human and AJ, where the heck are those two?"

"Oh, well, I only know because I saw AppleBloom and her friends coming back and they said that those two were not to be disturbed? Something like that...they were all blushing so, I'm not sure what happened."

"I see...are the others up yet?" Rainbow Dash gave a huff, dusted herself off, then waited for Fluttershy to do the same.

"Oh yes, they're just outside getting some air; they were wondering where the birthday boy wandered off to but when they heard he was with Apps they just smiled and stopped worrying." Fluttershy raised a hoof to her face and frowned, "I'm still not really sure why they smiled though...I mean, I guess it's because those two seem to get along rather well..."

"Fluttershy..."

"So maybe he just wanted some private time with her...but what would that mean?"

"Fluttershy!"

"Eeep!"

"Sheesh, relax...look, let's just go see the others and then go find the big guy and AJ."

"No, no...this is wrong...all so very wrong."

The girls gave a pause as they (along with the Cutie Mark Crusaders who had decided to tag along) heard what sounded like Ryan's voice groaning in agony nearby.

"...that doesn't sound good."

"Or does it Twilight!"

"...Pinkie, no...it doesn't."

"Darlin', what's the matter?"

"Hey, that was AJ...what the heck is going on in there!? Come on!" Rainbow Dash quickly dashed ahead and flew right into the clubhouse before seeing a rather shaken up Ryan being comforted by AppleJack, "What happend? We heard Ryan groaning really loud and...."

"It's alright sugarcube, Ry-Ry just was having a pretty bad dream from the sound of things; I think it might've been the cider to be honest." AppleJack explained as the others caught up with Rainbow Dash, "Well, h-howdy y'all...y'all come out here to find us or something?"

"...hey, he does have more fur!" Scootaloo remarked, "It's all patchy though..."

"I told ya so; he's just always covered up with them fancy clothes and such."

"AppleBloom, y'all shouldn't be telling other ponies things like that." AppleJack sighed before patting Ryan's shoulder again, "You okay sugah?"

"Yeah, what happened?" Twilight asked, walking over and seeing the clear look of horror on Ryan's face, "Whatever you were dreaming about must have been awful..."

"All wrong, all wrong..." Ryan muttered, rocking back and forth a bit, "Highschool...oddly colored...not ponies...eating bacon...so lost...so trapped...."

"Darling, whatever are you talking about?" Rarity asked, clearly perplexed by his words.

"....a world that nopony should know." Ryan muttered again, "Thank goodness Luna was there to help soften the shock some...I must send her a letter of thanks."

"Sounds like yer coming out of it hon." AppleJack remarked, kissing him on the cheek before he stood up, "Don't scare me like that!"

"I didn't mean to Apps, but...it was a bit scary because I thought I'd lost ya...all of ya...because it just seemed so real." Ryan explained, shaking his head to clear his mind, "Let's just not speak of it again..."

Ryan paused for a moment before tilting his head; for some reason Rainbow Dash was snickering and the others (save for the CMC's) were blushing quite a bit as they looked at him and, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why.

"What's wrong with y'all? Why are ya blushing like that?"

"Uhm, Ryan...while I can pretty much guess why you two went off on your own, uhm...." Twilight tried to explain, though her tongue was tied.

"Dude, you've got hoof prints all over your chest!" Spike remarked, walking over to Ryan and grinning, "So then...I guess you two finally made it official huh?"

"Huh?" Ryan quietly mumbled before looking at the clear marks on his chest, "Oh sweet Celestia...has anyone seen my shirt?"

"Oh relax! Hee, it's not like anypony didn't see this coming you know!" Pinkie admitted, winking at Ryan, "To be honest, it looks like I lost the pool! Oh well, that's okay."

"...pool? What?" Ryan asked, before looking at the grinning Spike who was holding his fist out towards him, "Hmmm?"

"Come on man! You helped me win the pool! Just think of the gems I can get with all those bits!" Spike proudly declared, shouting in excitement when Ryan returned his fist bump.

"Wait, wait, wait....so...y'all were betting on when Ry and I would finally make a...a move?"

"I know, it's not something we should've done but...Pinkie and the CMC's all got the idea in their head and...." Twilight bit her lip and looked at the ground, "I guess my curiosity got the best of me..."

"...even I got wrapped up in this darling; I feel so ashamed now."

Ryan wasn't sure what to think, but he was a little perplexed at something.

"You too Flutters?"

"Oh uhm, I...." Fluttershy gasped, hiding behind Rainbow Dash, "I well...I just...it sounded fun and...Rainbow Dash told me it'd be okay and..."

"Fluttershy!"

"Oh! Sorry Rainbow Dash."

Ryan looked about for a moment and pulled on his shirt before tapping his foot as he thought.

"You aren't mad, are you darling? I can understand if you are though..."

"...no, I'm not upset Rarity. If anything, I'm surprised; surprised mostly though that only Spike made the right guess. I mean, my birthday just seems so obvious." Ryan laughed warmly, smiling at everypony, "A month of us getting all buddy-buddy...to be honest, I had a feeling Apps might take her chance last night and by golly was I right!"

"Yep! That's why I won! It was elemanetery once I thought on it!" Spike added, nodding his head, "Twilight thought it too obvious though, so she figured it'd be another month before anything happened."

"Okay little dude, that was an awesome pun!" Ryan laughed loudly, "Well done! On a more serious note though...I'm kind of glad nopony seems to have an issue with, ya know, me and mah Apps officially dating."

"Tarnation, why would anypony? Y'all both make each other happy."

"Ha, while that is true little sis, I can't say I wasn't just a bit worried."

"Shucks Ry-Ry, ya shouldn't be fretting over something like that." AppleJack remarked, pushing up on to her hind legs and glomping him from behind, "Mah friends aren't like that."

"AppleJack is right, it definitely eases up some tension I've noted now that it's been settled."

"I guess so Twilight, but I'm still watching him!" Rainbow Dash declared, "If you break AJ's heart...I'll break you."

"Sheesh, relax Dashie; I've no intention of doing that." Ryan remarked, smirking as he spun around to kiss AppleJack, "Not when this just feels so right."

"Mah stars sugah, you'll make a gal swoon doing that so suddenly." AppleJack teased, relinquishing her hug on him, "...."

"Hmmm?" Ryan remarked, noting everypony just kind of staring at the fact that he and Apps kissed, "Oh, well...uh...uhm..."

"Huh, so that's how it works. Makes sense to me."

"Woooo! That was all "whoosh!" and romantic!"

"Oh my...."

"You certainly are smooth darling."

"I'll have to take notes; you seem to know what to do."

"Heh, eh maybe little dude." Ryan replied to Spike's comment, but he noticed all but one person (not counting the CMC's who were a bit busy blushing to say anything) had commented.

"....." Rainbow Dash still clearly had ache apparent in her face, but she forced a smile, "Okay, just treat her right alright?"

"I will Dashie, I will. So then...seeing as we slept in quite a bit." Ryan remarked, looking at his watch, "Oh wow...anypony up for lunch for then?"

And it was soon that all of Ponyville knew about the newest couple, but as the girls relayed to him nopony really seemed to care; a few gave odd looks about it but otherwise didn't seem to be too bothered.

As he was soon to find out, one in particular seemed to be kind of stalking him; he hadn't seen her before but apparently she was very interested in humans for some reason or another and it was on this day, while he was watching the Cutie Mark Crusaders play in the park that she finally took the chance to talk to him.

Ryan, for his part, had sat down after chasing the three little fillies all around the park and wearing himself out; taking a break to rest he was currently looking over the local paper and seeing what news was going on.

'Hmmm, they're calling for an early winter? How...wait, they actually mean a literal early call. I...I guess if I hadn't seen Rainbow Dash knocking away clouds and stuff before I'd be more perplexed.' He thought before feeling someone sit down next to him, 'Hmmmm...'

The pony in particular that had sat down next to him was of a vivid, light blue, almost minty color; a unicorn he noted, who seemed to be emulating the way he sat almost to a tee.

'Odd.' He thought before seeing her note he was looking, "Oh, hi."

"Hi." She replied, watching as he gave her a wave and seemingly being super focused on his fingers, "..."

"...okay." Ryan quietly stated, turning back to the paper but catching her staring out of the corner of his eyes, "...can...I'm sorry but can I help you?"

"Oh I....well...I've just..."

"I'm Ryan by the way, but I have a feeling you know that."

"Yes, yes...how couldn't I? Haha, uhm, my name is Lyra."

Smirking and raising an eyebrow, Ryan took her offered hoove but noticed she seemed reluctant to let go.

"Uhm...can I have mah hand back?"

"Oh! Right...I'm...sorry!"

"Look, Lyra...what's going on?" He asked, folding his newspaper, "You seem a bit...distracted."

"Oh well, it's just that...I've kind of wanted to talk to you for a long time and, well, you were finally all by yourself and not with your girlfriend or other friends so..."

"Sooooo?"

"Well, I...I knew about humans before you came; I've been kind of fascinated with them actually but all the other ponies thought I was nuts." Lyra explained with a laugh, "Especially since I tended to imitate a lot of their mannerisms and such."

"Like how I'm sitting?" He teased with a laugh.

"Heh, yes, that. And then...well, I heard about you showing up and couldn't believe it."

"Well, not to sound like Dashie, but I am pretty unbelievable."

This got a laugh out of Lyra and caused her to kick her feet back and forth since the way she was sitting left them hanging over the edge of the bench.

"You're pretty funny huh? I guess that's why everyone really likes you...and why AppleJack was so taken with you."

"Heh, well, I suppose I have my good qualities. Anyway, you were saying?"

"Oh right! Sorry. When I heard you had shown up I didn't believe it but then...I saw you in town one day with those three fillies, the cute one with the red mane up on your shoulders and you were holding her steady with those hands of yours."

"My...hands?" Ryan asked, lifting one up and staring at it, "What's so amazing about mah hands?"

"What isn't?!" Lyra shouted, suddenly taking his right one between her hooves and looking at it, "I mean, it's so much more handy than a hoove; you've got those fingers that can grab and all that awesome stuff! And you're so tall and just the way you look...I never thought I'd see the day when a human actually would show up though." Lyra paused for a moment before noting she did it again and let go of his hand, "...I'm sorry; this crazy interest in humans is what's annoyed a lot of my friends to begin with so...I'm sure to an actual human it isn't fun."

"Heh, hey now, no need to get so down Lyra. I don't mind sharing any info if ya want, but maybe next time you talk with me ahead of time about a meeting."

"You mean that?"

"Well, I'll try to make the time to answer your curiosity; I can't say I'm not curious mahself as to how you knew about humans when so many other ponies didn't." Ryan explained, "So, just send me a note when ya wanna talk and I'll work it out with ya."

"Awesome!" Lyra shouted, "Oh, oh...can we do that high-five thing? I mean, I know I don't have fingers but...we could pretend!"

"Hahaha, you are a curious pony but okay." Ryan replied, slapping his flat hand against her hoof, "Anyway, I can hear Lil' Sis calling fer me so see ya later Lyra."

"Bye." She replied, watching him leave and then staring at her hoof, "...Eeeeeee! I high-fived an actual human....huh?"

Lyra had been broken from her staring when she heard Ryan call her name, looking up to where he was she saw he'd turned around and grinned before giving her a thumbs-up; seeing that she promptly squeed again before hearing him laugh and then run off towards the CMCs.

The month slowly passed, and Ryan was a bit busy helping buck the apples as apparently it was almost cider season...which certainly reminded him of that memory of sharing the Zap-Applecider with Apps.

AppleJack had laughed when he asked if the regular cider they made would have the same effect on him and she assured him the regular brew they made and sold was much tamer, so much so that they were even able to sell it to the little fillies; well, that fact seemed to help energize him further as he became a bit of a machine.

In fact, between him, Big Mac, and AppleJack combined they were able to harvest more apples for cider making then they had in a long, long time...which was good as what was about to happen would make that fact very helpful.

"Alrighty, just a few more trees." Ryan huffed, squaring back and kicking another one hard, "Phew...I'll say this much, my legs are freaking machines now after all this bucking."

"Eyup!"

"Macintosh is right, you're easily keeping on pace with us Ry-Ry." AppleJack added, hefting up another basket of apples, "Okay, that's mah last one for the day; you boys get yer last trees harvested and then we'll get these washed off for tomorrow's cider production."

"Sounds good, right bro?"

"Eyup!" Big Mac replied, rearing back and kicking his last tree...and bending it a little, "Uh, whoops."

"Heh, whoops indeed; sheesh dude." Ryan laughed softly, "Remind me to never get you upset; I'd probably get kicked clear to Canterlot if I did."

"Funny."

"Aw, you know it is."

"Nope!" Big Mac replied, but his grin showed he felt otherwise.

"Mah humor is impeccable. Yer just jealous because...." And that's all Ryan got out before he kicked his last tree and felt an unbearable pain rocket up his leg, "Oh damn!"

"...Eh?" Big Mac noted, hearing the swear quite clearly and turning to see Ryan flat on the ground, "Ryan?"

"Ugh....damn, that hurt bro." Ryan grunted, grabbing his ankle and rolling it slowly, "It doesn't feel like anything is broken. That's good."

"Eyup!"

"Heh, yeah but...." Ryan slowly leaned against the tree and stood back up, but putting any weight on the ankle sent a burst of pain through it, "....I sprained it or something; I can't put any weight on it for now."

"Here." Big Mac motioned, gesturing towards his back, "I'll help."

"Heh, thanks bud." Ryan groaned, limping over and grabbing hold of Big Mac, "Heh, go figure I hurt mahself on the last tree."

"Eyup."

As the two limped slowly back towards the farmhouse (as the trees they were on were quite a distance away given how hard the three of them had been working), things were silent for a bit, but then Ryan had a thought he hadn't really thought on in the last two weeks since he started dating AppleJack officially.

"Hey Big Mac."

"Yup?"

"I know most ponies don't seem to mind, and actually are supportive, but I don't think ya ever told me what yer thoughts are on me dating yer younger sister."

"Well, to be perfectly honest, that first night ya came home I was a little curious as to what ya were, but I was with our grandma and didn't see any reason to get all bent out of shape and just welcomed ya to our home." Big Mac explained, surprising Ryan by how well-spoken he truly was, "And ta be honest, after that first night I saw the twinkle in mah sister's eyes whenever she'd look at ya or talk about ya; I'm old enough to know what that meant and then when I saw that look in yer eyes as well? Heh, well I didn't think it'd take long before you two hit it off."

"Wow...that means a lot to me. Also, I think that's the most words you've ever said to me in the whole time I've been living here at Sweet Apple Acres."

"Haha, well, I only talk when I need ta after all."

"I like that, you'll make a good brother."

"Eyup!"

"...and from what I can tell, you feel the same way."

"Eyup! You'll treat her right, of that I can tell....otherwise you'll be getting an express trip to Canterlot."

"Ahhhhh, see! I knew you liked mah joke!" Ryan noted, sharing a hearty laugh with Big Mac as they finally pulled up to the farmhouse.

"There y'all are I..." AppleJack started to say before seeing Ryan leaning on Big Mac and going wide-eyed, "Mah Apple Ryder! What happened?"

"Oh, thanks Granny; that ice feels good." Ryan sighed, placing the ice pack on his ankle as he sat, "I guess I won't be bucking for a few days everypony...sorry."

"Hey now sonny, part of being a good farmer is knowing yer limitations; you won't do anypony any good if ya try to work on a hurt leg and then get even more injured." Granny Smith noted with a nod.

"Granny's right; ya just gotta heal up big bro."

"Eyup!"

"Don't worry Ry-Ry, we've got more than enough apples harvested so just rest that ankle. You've helped plenty."

"I know, I just...I don't like feeling useless." Ryan frowned, before AppleJack walked over and kissed him, "Apps..."

"Now don't ya ever say anything like that about yerself, okay? Yer far from useless mah Apple Ryder; besides, there's other stuff to help with in terms of making our cider, as you'll see, so you'll still be able to help out."

"Heh, thanks. I'm lucky to have a family like y'all."

"Awwww!" AppleBloom giggled and hopped into his lap to hug him, "I'm glad yer here with us too!"

"Eyup!"

"Yer certainly an Apple family member as far as I'm concerned sonny." Granny Smith added, patting him on the head, "Now then, I've gotta go make a super duper dinner so we can get ya healed up and feeling like yerself again."

"Eyup! Come on AppleBloom, let's go help Granny."

"Awww...oh, okay."

With that, Ryan and AppleJack were left alone with one another; seeing Ryan scoot over on the couch she took his offer and sat down next to him before leaning on his shoulder.

"Heh, leave it to mah big strong guy to get himself hurt on the last tree."

"Yeah, yeah, I know; Big Mac was laughing with me about that too." Ryan joked, putting his arm around her and nuzzling her mane, "Mmmmmm."

"Hee, it's nice to see yer ankle hasn't affected yer cuddle abilities."

"Goober."

"As Big Mac would say, 'Eyup'. I can't help it though." She giggled softly, "I am just a sweet southern belle that loves her shy southern boy after all."

"Oh, right in my blushing." Ryan laughed softly, feeling his cheeks heat up, "Turning mah words on me I see."

"Well mah Apple Ryder, all's fair in love and war right? And we ain't a-feuding so this must be love."

"Apps~"

With that AppleJack stretched out with her head in his lap as he caressed her mane and just enjoyed a simple moment with his gal; a short while later they heard the call for dinner and so they headed into the dining room, AppleJack helping Ryan limp his way there before they all settled down to a nice, home cooked meal with family.

"Hmmm, so that's part of the secret of why your cider is so talked about huh?"

"Yep; it's a close-kept secret so don't go spreading it around."

"Heh, now why would I do a silly thing like that Apps?" Ryan asked, capping off another barrel of cider, "...I know ya said this stuff is tame, but it still smells strong to me. I suppose that's just the secret ingredient."

"Eyup!"

"Ugh..." Ryan groaned softly, still feeling his ankle grumbling at him as he rolled the barrel over with the others, "I just wish I could do more than cap the barrels and help sort the apples. If I could help run with Big Mac we'd be churning out so much more."

"Relax Sonny, with yer help we're ahead of schedule this year with our harvesting so quit fretting." Granny Smith remarked, looking over the apples and making small noises as she picked out the best ones.

"I know Granny; I guess I am still helping....oof!" Ryan grunted when he felt somepony hop on his back, "...lil sis, what are you doing?"

"Just trying ta cheer ya up with a hug...is it working?"

"Hahaha, I suppose it is; now come on, let's keep on moving and make enough cider for everypony!"

And continue on they did, processing cider almost nonstop for the next week; even though Ryan still felt hampered by his injury, AppleJack was always quick to remind him that having his extra set of hands (she actually used the word hands, even though she said it felt mighty weird to say) around meant that they were always ahead of schedule.

Thus, it was with great fanfare, that early one morning he and Big Mac helped roll out all the barrels and get them set up while the others readied the tap and booth; Ryan had to do a bit of a double take however at seeing the long line of ponies that had apparently camped out for the cider.

"Dang, I didn't know the family cider was this popular." He laughed softly before noting the first tent was abnormally pink, "...or I think, mayhaps, that a certain pink pony is at work here."

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Did I hear someone say pink? And in a certain silly-willy human's voice?" Pinkie shouted, unzipping her tent and dashing at Ryan, "It is!"

"Ack!" He sighed, going down once again, "Can't...can't ya say hi normally to me just once Pinks?"

"Who wants normal Rysy-wysy? This way is so much more fun! Anyway! I know how in demand the cider is and thought I'd camp out! So when a bunch of other ponies heard about that they decided to do it too!"

"OH COME ON!"

Turning to the sudden outcry of rage, Ryan saw Dashie looking quite annoyed as she fluttered about near the front of the line; clearly she had not anticipated this many ponies camping out in line.

"If I don't get any cider this year I'm gonna explode!"

"Oh, oh! Are you gonna do it twice?!" Pinkie asked, hopping off of Ryan and back to her spot by her tent.

"...you can explode twice?" Fluttershy asked, having followed along with Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah! It's the most amazing thing ever!"

"...I'm not going to ask how she knows that." Ryan huffed, standing up and dusting off the hoof-prints, "Anyway...we about ready to open Apps?"

"You betcha!" AppleJack shouted, ringing a bell, "Cider Season is officially OPEN!"

And with that the day rolled on, the bits coming in left and right while cider left in the same fashion; as to be expected of something in such demand, however, just as poor Rainbow Dash was about to finally get her glass...

"Sorry, we're all out sugah."

"NOT AGAIN!" Rainbow Dash raged before hanging her head, "Always...always..."

"Dashie, calm down before you pull a wing." Ryan rolled his eyes at her overreacting, "Look, we've been able to make a lot more than before with mah help, and we'll have more made up tomorrow, so don't worry."

"Apple Ryder's right sugarcube, y'all can't rush our cider; it's made with love and care after all otherwise it wouldn't be so good."

"That's what you said last year, and the year before that. You always run out and I always get left high and dry!"

"Rainbow Dash is right!" Shouted the crowd, "You always run out!"

"Yeah, not everypony gets cider!"

"...oh man, this is getting a bit rough." Ryan remarked, "Angry customers are the worse."

"Y'all just settle down and come back tomorrow when we'll have....do y'all feel a rumbling?"

"I thought I sensed something but...where is it coming from?"

Looking about Ryan couldn't seem to see any source of the growing rumble until...

"What in tarnation....is that a car?"

Up rolled, amidst all the chaos, a very curious looking form of locomotion that rolled up to a stop right next to their cider booth; with that two ponies dressed in a manner that Ryan right away did not trust in the least hopped down and gave the crowd wide grins.

"That thing of theirs has a very Doc Brown vibe to it..." He mumbled before noting them talking and decided to listen...for now.

"Well lookie what we got here brother of mine, the same in every time."

"Ponies with thirsts, dry throats and tongues with not a drop of cider to be found." The other said, moving about the crowd and interacting with some of the ponies.

"Maybe they don't know that there's no need for this teary despair..."

"And the key that they need to solve the sad cider shortage you and I will share!"

Ryan looked at the two ponies, took note of their demeanors, the way the crowd was getting their full attention, and he shook his head.

"I know exactly where this is going hon...and I don't like it."

"What y'all talking about Ry-Ry?"

"Watch...they're about to start singing to pull in the crowd."

And, sure enough, they began to go into an elaborate song to build up the crowd and gain their trust...and damned if it wasn't super catchy.

"...I don't like this...and their names don't help either Apps." Ryan remarked, tapping his foot to the beat of the song, "...and how dare he kiss mah lil' sis's head."

"Ry, whatcha talking about?"

"Their names are Flim and Flam...which, if it means the same thing here, a flim-flam is a scheme to take people's money; and judging by that machine of theirs they've got a doozy of a one brewing." He sighed and shook his head, "Even Dashie is getting sucked into it. This isn't good."

"Eyup."

"That machine of theirs is supposed to be a cider making machine?"

"That's right my strange looking, tall fellow! The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 can make more cider than you'd think in the blink of an eye!" Flim remarked before turning to AppleJack, "Young filly, if you would allow me to borrow some of those delicious, and might I add spell-bindingly fragrant apples for our little demonstration here?"

AppleJack glanced at Ryan and Granny before seeing the two nod, "Uh, sure, I guess."

"Hmm, as I suspected." Ryan mumbled, noting them use the apples to make their own cider and show off their supposed quality control of their own, "They've won the crowd over...so I reckon they'll try to persuade us to "team up" with them."

"The most important thing is what Apple Acres is known for, our quality and care sonny! Yer fancy machine can't match that no matter what ya say."

"I'm glad you brought that up Granny, I say I'm glad you brought that up! I'm sure you'll see the quality if you just try a cup."

"Oh that's not gonna help." Ryan face palmed after seeing Granny smile when she drank a cup of Flim and Flam's cider, "...modern world indeed. Peh, they're just a bunch of shysters. I'm a bit disappointed in Twilight and Spike getting caught up in the song though."

With the end of their little song and dance done, and the crowd unfortunately eating out of their hands, Ryan and the other Apple family members weren't sure what was going to happen next.

"Big bro...what's gonna happen?" AppleBloom asked, tugging on Ryan's pantleg.

"Nothing, that's what; automated nonsense can never compare to homemade no matter what." He explained, hefting her up on to his shoulders...and noting Flim and Flam uncomfortable close to them, "Uh dudes...personal space."

"How about we make a deal?" Flim asked, rubbing his hooves together.

"Oh great, a deal offer from the con-men."

"I find your tone of voice very offensive sir...we simply want what's best for both of us." Flam replied.

"Best for y'all most likely."

"Well of course, we would be doing the heavy work after all; you'd merely supply the apples." Flim explained, giving a grin, "How's about we split the profits 75-25?"

"...gee, let me guess; you're the 75?" Ryan scoffed and shook his head, "I already know what mah family is thinking so no deal; that money helps out during the winter and I won't stand by and let them lose the farm."

"Heh, that's mah Apple Ryder; he knows how things are so no deal you...shysters?"

"Shysters Apps."

"Yeah, we won't let ya fool us into anything."

"Well I'm sad to hear that I say; I guess we'll just have to run you out of business then." Flam vaguely remarked before bowing goodbye with his brother and disappearing with their locomotive monstrosity.

"...I didn't like the way he said that."

"I'm in agreement little sis but hey, Apple family quality tops everything."

"Yer right sonny, so let's go make some quality care!"

"Heh, Granny, yer a crazy old mare...but dang if you ain't awesome." Ryan laughed, walking back to the barn with everyone.

"Darn tootin' youngin'!"

And so the next day came, and more cider was sold, and like before it ran out before everypony was able to get a glass...which is when they showed up again trying to sell their cider; of course AppleJack pointed out (much to Rainbow Dash's dismay when her bought mug was knocked out of her hooves) that Flim and Flam had no legal right to use the Apple Family apples to make cider.

"Well then, if you're so confident in that cider of yours how about a contest?" Flim asked, hoping to goad them into a fight.

"Heh, like we'd fall for something silly like that." Ryan scoffed again with a smirk, "Even being the emotional human I am, I know better than to fall for yer low-handed tactics."

"A human huh? Not like that matters, I mean...it's not up to you is it?"

"Of course not, but I know mah family." Ryan remarked, putting his arm around AppleJack's and Granny's neck and hugging them tight, "And I know they aren't foolish enough to fall for yer tricks."

"Ah, but big bro...they're trying to say bad stuff about us."

"I know AppleBloom, but they're just words. Who cares what they say?"

Figuring the matter was over with, Ryan and Granny turned back their attention back to getting cleaned up and ready for another day of cider selling tomorrow until...

"Heh, look brother...do you see what I see?"

"Why yes, I don't see a pony or whatever a human is...."

"Indeed, I just see two chickens!"

The air suddenly grew quiet, the camera panning to show both Ryan and Granny pausing in their steps as their faces suddenly became quite serious; turning around the pair stared hard at Flim and Flam before Ryan smirked.

"Yep! I guess I'm just a chicken then!" Ryan remarked, putting his arms to his side and flapping them like wings while clucking, "Ba-kawk! Or maybe you'd prefer Cock-a-doodle-doo~?"

Of course, unfortunately for the Apples, Granny was not messing around with her reaction to their words and marched right up to the two before poking them in the chest.

"Nopony...calls me...chicken!" Granny shouted, "Y'all are on! We'll kick yer butts any day all day!"

"Heh, tomorrow then...we'll see who can make the most cider." Flim remarked, a smug smile on his face, "And whoever wins gets exclusive rights to Sweet Apple Acres!"

"...oh my." Granny remarked, now feeling upset she let herself get goaded into it.

"Don't worry Granny, we'll show them what for!"

"Apps is right, we won't let those guys win!"

"Eyup!"

"Are you guys going to be alright?" Twilight asked, running up after seeing that little exchange.

"We'll be fine; we're not gonna lose to those guys T-Sparks. I've dealt with their kind before back on my Earth so..."

"I hope so Apple Ryder...this farm is our life, our home."

"Hey now." Ryan softly stated, kneeling down and kissing AppleJack, "This place is mah home too ya know? Heh, I'll fight with all mah might to protect it; in the end justice will see us through."

"Justice huh?" Spike noted, "You seem to like that word Ryan...maybe yer cutie mark will have something to do with that?"

"Haha, well I'm sure if humans could have them mine would certainly sync up with justice little buddy. Now then, let's get a good meal and a good night's rest so we can send those Flim-Flam foals packing!"

"Yeehaw! I like the sound of that sonny! You've re-energized this old mare! I am sorry though fer losing mah cool."

"Don't sweat it Granny; after all, nopony's perfect."

The next day came and the fated hour had arrived; with the Mayor herself watching over and judging the competition it was nearly time to see who could produce the most in an hour...with the fate of Sweet Apple Acres hanging in the balance.

"Are ya sure yer up to doing both those things Ry-Ry?" AppleJack asked as Ryan stretched his limbs out in preparation.

"Yeah, I'll be fine; it's not hurting like it was and by both bucking apples for AppleBloom to move and helping run alongside Big Mac we should be able to keep up with that contraption of theirs." Ryan replied, frowning as he finished, "...what bothers me the most is that the mayor and the other pony residents would even allow the Flim-Flams to try and run us out of business."

"What can I say darlin'? I guess that's just the downside of angry customers."

"Yeah but...Dashie is part of that angry crowd and she's our friend so...it bothers me how odd they're acting."

"Everypony! It is time to start the competition and see who can make the most cider in an hour!" The Mayor declared before turning to each team, "Are you ready?"

"Yer darn tootin' we are!" Granny shouted, readying herself.

"My brother and I are more than ready." Flim remarked, both he and his brother sitting comfortably on their machine.

"Then let the contest begin!"

And with that all sorts of craziness was started, with AppleJack and Ryan bucking trees as fast as they could, AppleBloom getting those apples to Granny, Granny sorting the good ones from the bad, and then Big Mac running the press and capping the barrels; of course, when Ryan got a decent length ahead so AppleBloom would have a buffer, he would help out and cap the barrels so Big Mac could keep on running...and occasionally take over so Big Mac wouldn't wear himself out.

In contrast, Flim and Flam were pretty much kicking back and relaxing as their machine did all the work.

"Do you think they can win Twilight?"

"Well, considering how Ryan's pretty much running himself ragged to help out, and how quickly they seem to be flowing thanks to their plan...it'll be close." Twilight admitted, frowning slightly, "As far as I can tell they're nearly keeping pace with one another, but every barrel from Flim and Flam is coming out a few seconds faster than AppleJack's..."

"And since they aren't machines...they're going to slow down huh?" Spike huffed, "This whole contest is so stupid...it doesn't make any sense; Granny Smith may have said some words she shouldn't but they were just words, not a contract!"

"I know Spike, but I guess this has become a matter of pride; I just hope our friends can hold out."

"...Man Twilight, you're making me feel bad when you say it like that." Rainbow Dash mumbled, digging at the ground, "I guess things did get out of hand over cider, huh?"

"That's for sure."

"...dammit." Ryan grunted, kicking another tree before wiping the sweat from his eyes, "...we're just too slow!"

"We gotta do something then!" AppleBloom shouted, "What if we take a shortcut and not be so nit-picky?"

"Nuh-uh." AppleJack shook her head, "We shouldn't taint our quality like that."

"Apps is right...let's just keep going as hard as we can!"

Sadly though, as hard as they could wasn't exactly working out well with them getting tired...and it seemed they were going to lose until...

"How about letting honorary family members help out?"

Turning to see Twilight talking to the mayor about helping, Ryan had to wonder if the Flim-Flam bros would agree to it; smirking when he heard them get over-confident, he felt his energy returning as Twilight began assigning all their friends different parts to help with based on their talents.

"Huff, nice of ya to join the party T-Sparks."

"Well, we can't just let our friends down right?"

"I'll say!" Pinkie shouted, helping scoop up some apples, "But hey, I forget to say: next time you play at chicken Ryan let me join along! I've got an awesome costume for just such an occasion."

"Heh, will do; now let's go everypony!"

With the added help of their friends, they were making cider like nopony's business and had begun catching up to Flim and Flam who suddenly started looking a bit less confident.

"Alright, we're catching up!" Ryan declared happily before grunting in pain, "....ugh!"

"Ry-Ry!" AppleJack gasped, running over to him as he leaned against the tree he just kicked, "Are ya alright darlin'?"

"Ugh...heh, yeah; I just aggravated it finally. I can walk...but I can't kick anymore trees." Ryan sighed, before smirking, "I don't think it'll matter though."

"Sugah, I knew ya weren't fully healed up yet." AppleJack frowned slightly before smiling and pushing up to hug him, "Thanks though mah Apple Ryder..."

"Heh, just do one thing for me Apps..."

"What's that?"

"Win and send those phonies packing!" He whispered, kissing her softly, "Now go, I'll be alright."

Giving him a nod, AppleJack redoubled her efforts and as Twilight began to calculate, they had increased their rate fivefold...which meant they had not only caught up to Flim and Flam at this point, but they were ahead!

"I dear say brother of mine, I think we might lose."

"Well, there is always the one option..." Flam remarked, staring at a big red button.

"But then....hmmm....I guess otherwise we lose..."

"No choice then!" Flam shouted, pushing the button and turning off the quality control of the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 which sent it into a bit of a frenzied overdrive, sucking up whole trees at a time.

Meanwhile, from his now spectator role, Ryan had witnessed their folly and laughed softly at their hastiness.

"As I expected..."

"They're cheating!"

"Now now lil' sis...don't ya fret none." Ryan reassured her with a smile, "You'll see that this means we've won."

"If ya say so."

Soon enough the bell rang, signaling the end of the hour and the end of the competition...but hopefully not the end of the Apple family.

"...our barrels are still less than theirs." Twilight sighed, "AppleJack, I'm sorry."

"But we were going so fast!" Rainbow Dash huffed, "How could we lose?"

"It's because they cheated!" AppleBloom grumbled, "It's not fair!"

"I know, but we gotta honor our word." AppleJack admitted, though it pained her to do so.

"I'm sorry dearies...this is mah fault for losing my temper." Granny sighed before she felt Ryan patting her neck, "Hmmm?"

"Hey, it'll be okay; as long as we got each other, that's what matters most." Ryan reassured her, before feeling AppleBloom glomp on to his leg, "And I know, they did cheat...but Apps is right; we needn't sink to their level."

"Eyup...even if it don't feel right."

"I know Big Mac...well, I guess we better get packed up then." AppleJack turned around slowly, walking towards the farm, though she did smile when Ryan began to caress her mane, "Thanks sugah."

The crowd wasn't really sure what to make of it, as they were pretty hard hit when they realized what this whole competition had resulted in...though some, being fickle in mood as any human ever was, suddenly changed their tune when the Flim-Flam brothers began offering their cider for sale.

Of course, anypony with a brain could look and see that their cider looked less than appetizing with the branches, rocks, and other assorted awful bits that just were not quality-controlled at all; as such, it should come as no surprise that not only was it all spat out as soon as it was drank but that Flim and Flam suddenly found they were in a bit of hot water.

Without a single word, the two shysters hopped aboard their machine and high-tailed it out of Ponyville....exactly as Ryan, who had foreseen such an event coming, had pointed out to his family with a grin.

"Well tarnation, you were right sonny!"

"Heh, as I figured; just like any con-man on my Earth, they always get lazy and finally get bit in the rear by their plans." Ryan laughed loudly, "Told ya it'd be okay lil' sis."

"Yay! This means we get to stay here at Sweet Apple Acres!" AppleBloom cheered, "We did it y'all!"

"Eyup!"

"And, I just noticed a nice side-effect of this little competition."

"What's that Ry-Ry?"

"Seeing as we went above and beyond producing all this cider...I reckon we've got enough here for everypony! So, how's about we make us some money and happy customers?"

"Sounds like a plan to me! Okay everypony, cider's on!"

And so everyone was served, though when Rainbow Dash got to her turn the tap was dry; she was nearly on the verge of tears when Ryan gave her a tap and noted he just had to put another barrel in.

"Dashie, you really are a sweet gal underneath that brash attitude aren't ya?" Ryan teased, "Otherwise why would you get all sad when we clearly have plenty of cider left to serve?"

"I...that is...just...shut up and give me my cider!" Rainbow Dash huffed, happy to have her mug...but she turned and smiled at Ryan, "...you might be right though. I mean, there had to be something that brought on my crush on you."

"Dashie..."

"A-anyway, get yourself some cider too! You were working pretty hard out there...so it's no wonder you and AJ get along so well."

"Heh, I suppose some cider would be nice after all that." Ryan laughed softly and took up a glass with all his friends as they cheered and happily downed their cider, "Yeehaw!"

"That's mah Apple Ryder for ya!"

"Apps!"

"Heh, just be glad that ain't mah special brew from the other night."

"Oh darling, you just blush so easily when dear AppleJack is teasing you." Rarity giggled, "Then again, I know a certain Spikey-wikey that gets that way around me so..."

"...Rarity...why do you have to say things like that?"

"It's because the both of you are just so cute when that happens." Rarity remarked, hugging Spike who protested...but not very hard.

"Haha, you gals are something else."

And so with that another cider season came to a close, and from what Granny had deduced they had made enough money and then some to help them get through another winter season.

"Oh Apps, I'm super sore tonight, that's for sure." Ryan groaned softly, slowly making his way to bed and flopping down on it, "I'm glad our home is okay though."

"Ry, are ya sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine; we won't be bucking for quite a while so my leg will get some rest."

"Well, I know ya say that but...maybe I can help." AppleJack moved down towards the end of the bed and started massaging his ankle the best she could, "Ah know I'm not as trained as them spa ponies but I still thought it'd help."

"Mmmm...well, you certainly are putting just the right amount of pressure." Ryan laughed softly, "But ya don't have to do this."

"I know, but I want to. Can't a gal make her big strong guy feel better?" AppleJack asked, batting her eyes at him.

"Uhm, well...yeah, of-of course ya can!"

"Then relax darlin'."

"Yes ma'am." Ryan teased before remembering something from earlier, "So I couldn't help notice that AppleBloom seemed a bit down even though everything turned out alright for us."

"Ah, she's probably all down in the dumps because whenever cider season rolls around it reminds her that school is about to start up soon." AppleJack explained as her hoove brushed against his foot...and heard a slight giggle, "Oh mah stars...are ya ticklish?"

"N-no...." Ryan attempted to lie, but she wasn't being fooled, "...Apps no!"

"Hee." AppleJack giggled, tickling Ryan who tried to kick free of her grasp but wasn't finding much success with his aching ankle, "I'm sorry mah Apple Ryder...I guess hanging around you has given me a bit of a mischievous streak."

"Haha...hah....haha.....oh Apps." Ryan laughed softly as she crawled up the bed and nuzzled against him, "Yer lucky I love ya or I wouldn't let ya get away with such things without recompense."

"Oh I don't know...maybe ya just say that to all the cute fillies?"

"Ya know I don't; I suppose I'd let our friends get away with some things, but yer special." Ryan remarked, caressing her mane and laughing as she hummed softly, "Ya do know that, right Apps?"

"Heh, of course I do sugarcube; it was pretty clear from what happened on yer birthday~"

"Good...now then, perhaps we should do something to help keep AppleBloom from getting the school blues?" Ryan mused, thinking while continuing his caressing, "Ah! I've got it...how far away is the nearest beach?"

"The nearest beach? Ya thinking some fun in the sun might help?"

"Well, the beach is always fun right? Making sandcastles, playing volleyball, burying each other in the sand...and of course taking long walks on the beach with one you love, the sun setting behind you as the waves crash quietly on the sand."

"If'n I didn't know better, I'd swear you've thought about this before." AppleJack teased.

"Well, it's on mah list of things I've wanted to do but..."

"I hear ya hon. Anyway, there's some kind of resort or something a few hours from here on Saddle Lake. We actually passed it on our way to Canterlot before we went through the mountains."

"A lake beach huh? That should work...hmm, but a resort; that sounds pricey."

"Actually, the gals and I have gone there before and it's not too bad; besides it's been a while since we hit the sands so I think AppleBloom would be excited."

"Okay, I'm game then! We should talk with the others tomorrow to sort it out."

"Heh, you and Twi with yer plans and stuff." AppleJack teased, caressing his chest and laughing, "Oh well, that big brain of yers is pretty handy...and smarts are attractive."

"...I think that's 3 to 1 for you tonight Apps." Ryan chuckled softly before reaching over and turning off the lamp...or he would have if AppleJack hadn't stopped him, "Hmmm? What is it hon?"

"I just remembered I have to write a letter to Princess Celestia." AppleJack remarked, hopping up and grabbing a pencil and paper.

"A letter to Celestia? What for?" Ryan asked, slowly getting up and walking over to her at the desk, "Here, let me write; mah hands are a bit better for that."

"Thanks sugah. Anyway, we help Twilight out with her letters about friendship every so often and send what we learned to the Princess to read." AppleJack explained, "Understand?"

"Yep; that sounds pretty good though...I'll have to get in on this." Ryan laughed, "Ready when you are!"

"Okay...ahem, 'Dear Princess Celestia, I wanted to share my thoughts with you....I didn't learn anythin'! Ha! I was right all along!'"

"...well, that's pretty frank but I suppose you are right." Ryan snickered, writing as he was told, "Hmmm...oh, I know what to add! 'While Apps is right, I suppose what she's trying to say is that it was reaffirmed for us that if you take the time to do things right, then your work will speak for itself. That and the fact our friends will always have our backs no matter what the crisis.'"

"That's pretty good Ry-Ry. Do you think we should write anything else?"

"Naw, I think that pretty much covers it." Ryan noted, signing his and AppleJack's name before writing a little P.S. and rolling it up, "So...I suppose we'll have to ask Spike to send this tomorrow then."

"Right! For now sugah, let's get to bed...I'm one pooped pony."

Watching as AppleJack flopped into bed, Ryan hobbled back over, turned off the light, and lay down before the two of them got comfy and were soon fast asleep.

The next morning, Ryan, AppleJack, and AppleBloom were heading over to Twilight's to meet the others and see who was up for a beach trip; as it was AppleBloom was pretty excited when she had heard their plan and was eagerly looking forward to the beach...especially since it meant some possible new ways to work on getting her cutie mark.

"You sure yer okay today sugah?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay Apps; just a little slow, that's all." Ryan ruffled her mane, "Not that I don't appreciate the concern though."

"Well, I just don't want ya injured badly mah Apple Ryder." AppleJack noted before knocking on Twilight's door, "Howdy Twi!"

"Good morning you three; come on in. The others aren't here yet, but they should be soon."

Walking in, Ryan saw Spike bringing out some tasty looking breakfast items and that only reminded him of the fact they'd delayed eating to join their friends for breakfast; still, remembering the favor he needed done, he walked over and waved hello.

"Hey little buddy, I was wondering if you could do something for me?"

"Sure! Always happy to help out. What do you need?"

"Can you send this to Celestia for me?" Ryan asked, handing him the sealed letter, "Something Apps and I came up with after all the craziness yesterday."

"Sure thing! Just a second!" Spike noted, tossing the letter in the air and letting loose his firey-breath, "There we go! She should get it any minute now!"

"Perfect!"

Meanwhile...

"Hmmm, I wonder how he's getting along?"

"You mean Ryan?" Celestia chuckled, "You would be thinking about him."

"Sister!"

"Heh, I'm sorry; I shouldn't say things like that. I know how much you've missed him all these years."

"Yes...I know Ryan is a different person, but....anyway, it was nice to see that I'm not the only pony that fell for his charms."

"Haha, well with Dark as a predecessor of sorts, it's no surprise." Celestia remarked before watching as a letter appeared, "Hmmm? What's this? A letter from Twilight Sparkle?"

Opening it up, Celestia gave a note of amusement when she saw it was from somepony else, and started laughing loudly at what was written; snickering when she got to Ryan's part she couldn't help the laughter or the smirk from appearing on her face.

"What is it that has you so amused dear sister?" Luna asked, slightly perplexed.

"Well, let's just say Ryan has been getting into some fun it would seem...and bringing dear AppleJack long for the ride." Celestia remarked, "In addition, he says to say hi to you and hopes you're doing well; apparently he also thanks you for help with a certain disturbing nightmare he had?"

"Oh yes, I recall that one...what a strange thing to dream about. I'm glad to hear from him though."

"My! I must hear of this strange dream then."

"Well, you see, it apparently had to do with a high school setting....and we were the principals..."

Back in Ponyville...

"Spike, you've outdone yourself again." Rarity remarked, "These muffins are just simply scrumptious."

"Yeah! They are pretty good and I know cupcakes!"

"...but these are muffins Pinks."

"I know, they're awesome right?!"

"I...uhm...but...."

"There there big bro, it's okay." AppleBloom attempted to soothe his broken mind, "So what do y'all think?"

"I think it'd be great to spend time on the beach with everyone!" Scootaloo shouted, "As long as Rainbow Dash is coming!"

"The beach huh? I suppose I could hit up the surf a little." Rainbow Dash remarked, smirking as she looked at Ryan, "Are we gonna get to bury Ryan in the sand?"

"You would want to do that." Ryan dryly replied, sticking his tongue out at her.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt." Fluttershy timidly added, "I do need to work on my tan a little."

"How does a pony tan?" Ryan asked, though he was largely ignored.

"Hmmmm, all that sand...and water....and it gets everywhere...." Rarity remarked, frowning slightly till she saw Sweetie Belle looking at her pleadingly, "Ugh...oh very well; a little sun and sand never hurt anyone anyhow."

"Rarity's going?" Spike remarked, getting a pretty big smile on his face.

"Heh, I bet I know what's going through his head." Ryan snickered, nudging his little buddy, "Just contain yerself little dude; save it fer the beach."

"I...just...that....I hear the dishes molding!"

Ryan merely shook his head as he watched Spike run off and out of sight.

"Then again, if he was thinking what I think he was...I can't rightly blame him."

"And what might that be mah Apple Ryder?" AppleJack smirked at him, "Hmmm?"

"I do not think that is important mah dear." Ryan cleared his throat, "So then...is that everyone?"

"Wheee! I'm down for a beach party!" Pinkie shouted, "I've even got the best outfit to wear!"

"I guess it's unanimous y'all! We'll leave in two days then so get yerselves ready for a rip-roarin' time!"

"HOORAY!"

"Oh, by the way T-Sparks, did ya get that thing I sent you? What with all the excitement I totally forgot to ask the other day."

"Hmmm? Oh that thing? Oh yeah, I got it on the computer and as I expected, it was super adorable. Thanks for sending it to me."

"Ry-Ry, what do I have the feeling this involves something that happened between us?"

"You remember Apps, since T-Sparks helped me she had a simple request and so I fulfilled it when ya were taking yer little snooze."

"I see sugah...just don't let it get around Twi."

"....what are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked as she literally butted in, "I feel like I missed out on some big secret."

"Heh, maybe you'll find out someday, maybe not." Ryan cryptically mentioned, "Now then...I'm hungry so it's muffin time!"

With their rooms reserved, their bags packed, and everypony of their quite large group packed on the train with the prospect of having fun; as such there was much chatter and talking to be had depending upon the groups: Ryan and Twilight were discussing their shopping plans as well as everything to do once they checked in...with AppleJack along for the talks thanks to Ry, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were chatting it up over tales of awesome, Rarity was whispering something to Spike that had him blushing much to Sweetie Belle's amusement, and the others were just discussing all the things they wanted to do for the few days they'd be there.

Soon their short trip was over and, after having gotten off at the train station, they had checked into their rooms and began unpacking things.

"Once everypony gets settled we'll go shopping for our meals while we're here so don't dawdle too much." Twilight noted, looking over her checklist before seeing Ryan look at her, "Oh, uhm...well...I mean..."

"I think that's a wonderful idea." Ryan remarked, patting her neck, "Help keep us on task with this stuff T-Sparks."

"Will do!"

Setting his and Apps's bag in their room, Ryan opened the sliding glass door and took a deep breath of the (sort of) sea air.

"Wow, this place is ever more beautiful than I thought it would be." Ryan remarked, stepping out on to the balcony and admiring the view, "Amazing that this is a lake, given it looks like any ocean based beach I've ever been to."

"Well that's just the beauty of magic darling; friendship isn't the only magical thing around here after all."

"Cute Rarity, cute."

"Are y'all done chattering Apple Ryder? We've got all our stuff settled in so let's go get our groceries so we can go bust up that beach! We're wasting quality time!"

"She's right big bro! Come on!"

Laughing, Ryan closed the balcony door, scooped up AppleBloom, stuck his tongue out at Apps, and then dashed out the door with the others not far behind...

"As expected of a resort town, y'all do have something resembling a commercial grocery store." Ryan remarked, though he seemed a bit confused on how the cart works, "Uhm....this looks a little off."

"Oh, yeah; you've never shopped at a place like this...at least here anyway have you?" Twilight asked, "I think there's an old saying that fits here....about the cart before the horse?"

"Oh...right...you guys don't really move like I do...normally anyway, so you pull yer carts." Ryan nodded his head, "I suppose we'll take turns but anyway, what should we eat for the few days we're here?"

"Candy!"

"...Pinks...CMC's...we can't live on just candy."

"But...but...it's tasty!"

"I...that is...."

"Ry, I think this is one battle yer losing." AppleJack teased, patting his back, "We'll get some snacks, but we need meals first."

"Ooooh, okay."

"...I suppose it should worry me more that she has the mentality of a child as well but then again, that's Pinkie for ya." Ryan sighed and shook his head, "How about grilled cheese one day for lunch? And then we can do sandwiches?"

"Ooh, that's a good plan!" Twilight pulled out a list and began writing out what was being called out, "What else?"

"Oh, can we splurge and have crab?!"

"Now wait a minute Scootaloo, we don't know if everypony is okay with that." Ryan remarked, having to pry her from his person, "Are there any objections?"

Sensing none, he nodded at Scootaloo who was rather excited her idea was accepted before returning to her spot, riding on Rainbow Dash's back.

"...I'm not a taxi, kid."

"But Rainbow Dash, you're just so awesome...and I wanna stick by ya!"

"...ugh, fine, whatever kid just watch the wings."

"Right...we'll figure the rest out later."

"Yeah, come on guys! Let's get our food and go! The beach is calling my name and that name is Pinkie Party Pie!"

"...I...but..." Ryan sighed before helping push the cart as they continued along.

After about an hour of chaotic shopping, somehow they were all able to get more than enough food for their little beach trip...and then some.

"So...is there anything else we missed? Anypony got any other things they want?" Ryan asked as they pulled up to the checkout, "Last chance for anything else."

"I'm good Apple Ryder."

"The three of us are happy Big Bro!"

"I've got more than enough snacks! Yay!"

"I'm awesome....and okay as well."

"I...I think I'm okay too Ryan."

"We should have all I need darling."

"And I've got everything on the list checked off." Twilight added, rounding up the group, "Perfect!"

"What about you little dude? You've got yer share of munchies?"

"Me? Yeah, I'm good; I brought plenty of gems along to snack on...but I got a few things here too so I'm good."

6th Harvest

"Ry-Ry, ya didn't have to pay fer all the groceries like that."

"Yeah, we all would've pitched in." Rainbow Dash added, "I know you were probably doing it be all cool and stuff but...where did you get the money like that anyway? I mean, you live on the farm so you help harvest to keep it running but..."

"Well...I've acquired a few means of income thanks to my uniqueness: Rarity gets a commission with the pictures of me she sends in to those magazines so I get a cut from that and Pinkie and the Cakes cut me a slice of the profits with the 'Ryan Special'...plus Apps does give me a small allowance to do with as I want." Ryan explained, putting away the last of the cold groceries, "With all that, and then the fact that Celestia has sort of green-lighted the little projects T-Sparks and I are working on has given us a little bit of a bankroll as well...I've got bits in reserve; ta be honest, I basically keep it for an emergency since most of mah basic needs are met, but since this is a nice little trip with all of y'all I figured it'd be a nice use as well."

"I must say darling, that's quite generous of you."

"Well, you've all helped me get that money in some way so in a round-about way it's all getting evened out." Ryan joked before pulling out a delicious red apple, "Now then, I've had a hankering for an apple for a while now so..."

"Is AJ not enough apple for ya Ryan?"

"Dashie!"

"Oh my!"

"I'm with Fluttershy, that was pretty bad Rainbow Dash." Twilight sighed before laughing when she noticed Ryan was as well.

"Cute Dashie...hey, wait...where's the CMC's?"

"Oh, my sister and the others stated they wanted to get a head-start on their vacation so they went out to the beach tonight for a little early evening fun." Rarity explained, "That sweet Spikey-wikey offered to watch them when I asked, so they'll be fine."

"Well then, that's good; we are here so lil' sis and them can have some enjoyment before they get back to school."

With that Ryan sat down and stared at the delicious apple, already imagining the sweet taste of it as he went to bite into it...

"Oh dear!"

Ryan blinked and turned around to see Rarity swooning and acting overdramatic in the kitchen as she stared at the refrigerator.

"Rarity, what the hay is wrong with you?" Ryan asked, his attention drawn away from the tasty apple in his hand.

"Oh it's just so awful darling! The bottled water isn't my favorite brand!"

"....Rares, when we went shopping you had ample time to get what kind you wanted...and ya didn't...so..."

"But Ryan~" Rarity whined before huffing when she saw he wasn't going to let her get away with it, "Oh fine!"

"See? It's just water; it won't kill ya to drink a different..."

KA-RUNCH!

"..."Crunch?"" Ryan asked, turning back around and seeing a pony-sized bite missing from his apple, "....APPS!"

Turning to his right, he could see a very guilty looking AppleJack slowly chewing; as his eyes met her she swallowed before grinning at him, the bits of the apple skin stuck in her front teeth a dead giveaway to her "crime".

"Yes mah Apple Ryder?"

"...there is a pony-sized bite missing from my apple...and you have bits of apple showing on yer mouth."

"...and? Whatcha hinting at sugah?"

"That a certain apple loving goober could've asked a certain other apple loving goober for a bite without having to nab it when he was distracted."

"...uhm, I'm confused; which one of those goobers is me?" AppleJack asked, sticking her tongue out at him.

"The one that I love, obviously." Ryan laughed giving her a kiss before taking a big bite of his apple as well, "Here, let's just share it."

"Sounds good ta me Ry-Ry."

"Awwww, isn't that just so cute?" Fluttershy remarked, though Rainbow Dash wasn't sure how to feel.

"Yeah, yeah, it's all mushy and sweet...I'm gonna go see how Scootaloo and the others are doing."

"I think we should all get to bed early so we can get up at sunrise and enjoy the beach as soon as possible; sound good everypony?"

"I suppose that would work darling, but then I should get to bed early so I get enough beauty sleep." Rarity remarked, drinking the bottled water she had to settle with, "Hmmm, I suppose you were right Ryan...this isn't too bad."

"See? Water is water."

After a quick dinner, and sorting out all the room arrangements, everyone was quick to settle in and get some sleep...though some more than others seeing as poor Ryan was never one to easily sleep well in a different bed than what he's accustomed to.

Nonetheless, his natural clock ensured he woke up before the others and, quietly making his way out of AppleJack's snuggly grasp, he gave her a kiss before having a quick breakfast and getting dressed for the beach.

"Ugh...Ryan?" Spike mumbled when he saw he was up and moving, "Aren't ya up early?"

"Got to be little dude, it's the guy's job to make sure a primo spot is set up so all the ladies are happy when they come down to the beach." Ryan explained, pulling on his hat and smirking, "Care to join me? I'm sure Rarity would certainly enjoy her Spikey-wikey being so considerate."

Well, that was all the encouragement Spike needed as he hopped up and followed Ryan out the door and down towards the beach; getting some help from the ponies setting up the chairs on the beach he and Spike made sure that they had some good spots near the water ready for when the girls showed up.

"Here ya go gents, thanks for the help." Ryan remarked, handing the two gentlecolts some bits, "We'll be here for a few days so I look forward to yer help each day."

"Yes sir! Just let us know if you need anything else."

"Will do." Ryan replied before setting down a few things and noting Spike's odd look, "What's up little dude?"

"I guess I've just never seen you act so professional before."

"Heh, well...I did learn a thing or two from mah father; he used to do the same when we'd go to this one beach resort when I was younger so...I just learn from his example. They were both quite willing to help out, so I don't feel bad giving them a few bits to ensure their continued help and eagerness. Now then, till the ladies show up, I think I'm gonna go float a bit."

"Alright; I'll just be lounging up here then big guy."

A short while later, Ryan had come up and was leaning back with Spike as he was trying to figure out where the gals were at; while he wasn't sure how early the others got up, he reckoned at least Apps should've been up and down here already.

"I don't get it little buddy, what's taking them so long?"

"I don't know but...hey, what gives?"

"What are you talking about?" Ryan remarked, lifting up his hat and noting that a good number of ponies had turned their attention away from their beach activities and were staring back towards the resort, "What in....tarnation?"

Apparently what had been catching everypony's attention was AppleJack and the other gals coming out...and apparently wearing some pretty impressive bikinis that, based on the designs, Ryan was certain Rarity had cooked up.

"...heh, I reckon seeing that is better than those thoughts ya had the other day, eh Spike?"

"Shhhhhhhhh, tease me later; let me enjoy this Ryan."

"Heh, fair enough." Ryan remarked with a laugh as he watched the girls continue on, a number of colts either fumbling over themselves or attempting to hit on them, "Heh, I doubt anypony will get lucky with those lame lines. Huh?"

"What do you mean no?"

"Ah already told ya, I'm here with mah boyfriend so back off bucko! I don't care how many little boats ya got, yer nothing compared to mah Apple Ryder."

"Who the heck is this guy that he's better than me?"

"I don't gotta explain nothin' to ya so..." AppleJack halted her retort when she felt Ryan place a hand on her shoulder and smile, "Oh, hi darlin'."

"Ya shouldn't be talking to a lady like that dude." Ryan remarked, unable to hold back the smirk when he saw the colt look at him with confused, wide-eyes.

"Who the heck are you? And what are you?" the colt growled, "Mind your own business you freak!"

"Oh, I kind of am seeing as yer harassing not only mah friends...but mah gal as well." Ryan replied, leaning down to kiss AppleJack, "I don't appreciate loud-mouths like you; you okay sweetie?"

"Yeah, I'm okay Apple Ryder; this pony's just not worth the effort. So then, where have ya got us set up?"

"Hey I'm still talking here!" The colt demanded, but he'd been completely blown off by all of them and that irritated him even more, "....what the heck is he anyway? How is he better than me? And how does he know all of those lovely fillies? This makes no sense! Argh...I'm going out on my jet ski, my money and I don't need this!"

"Heh, right up front; I didn't get up early for no reason ya know." Ryan laughed, as they walked back to their spot, "...and I don't know why, but you look even more eye-catching in that bikini. No wonder y'all took yer time getting down here...you were hoping to pull a fast one on me and Spike."

"Well darling, I do so like a chance to show off my skills after all."

"Heh, that's true Rarity; I must say you've done quite a job this time. Poor Spike over there is practically all red after he caught sight of you."

"Ryan!" Spike gasped, burying his head in the sand, "Ugh...."

"I know we don't normally wear clothing, but Rarity said it would make a splash?"

"Wait, let me get this straight T-Sparks....Rarity made a pun?"

"That's right Rysy-wysy! It was amazing! I'd never heard her make such a joke before but I think your humor is rubbing off on all of us!" Pinkie added, "Now then...I'm off to the water! Wheeeee!"

"Wait up Pinkie..." Fluttershy quietly stated, fluttering behind her and lightly jumping into the water, "Yay~"

"So Ryan...do ya think mine looks good too?" Rainbow Dash asked, nudging him slightly, "I mean...I know it's awesome but if you think so too then that's twenty percent more proof."

"Heh, I have to say it does match you well." He remarked, noting the clouds and rainbow motif Rarity had gone with, "I think it's safe to say you've got your twenty percent more proof."

"Right! Awesome...so...time to make a splash!"

"No Rainbombs!" Ryan and Twilight both shouted at Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah, yeah...I wouldn't want to blind everyone with my dazzling self."

"Heh, ya did good sugah." AppleJack remarked, setting her hat down next to Ryan's on the chair, "Now come on; let's get a proper swim in! Those waves look pretty darn inviting after all!"

Chasing after her, Ryan hopped in the waves and enjoyed some simple floating as the current bobbed them back and forth; he was amused that, seeing as it was a lake, they could pretty much just float in a complete circle if they wanted to.

"It still confounds me how y'all make a lake seem like a beach...I guess it's more of that magic at work; I mean, you can control the weather so how hard is it to control a lake?" Ryan mused, treading water with Apps and watching Rainbow Dash zooming across the water, adding to the waves.

"I don't rightly know sugah, but at least it saves us having to travel all the way to the coast fer some beach action." AppleJack replied, looking back to shore and seeing Rarity and Fluttershy wave as they worked on their tans, "Well, nice to see everypony is having some fun."

"...I still don't know how they tan giving their fur but...anyway, where did lil sis and them get off too? I haven't seen them Cutie Mark Crusaders since y'all came down here."

"I think they said they were gonna go build a sand castle? And then...something about Sea Ponies..."

"Sea Ponies?"

"Yeah, Rainbow Dash got some nonsense into their head last night about Sea Ponies living at the bottom of the lake." AppleJack sighed, "Leave it to her to stir up some mischief."

"Well...I can't blame her for wanting to have a little fun; let's just hope they don't do anything too crazy."

It was at that point that Ryan suddenly felt himself get splashed...but not by a wave; turning around he saw Pinkie and Twilight trying hard not to look suspicious but that wasn't really turning out well.

"Darlin', I know what that smirk means on yer face." AppleJack teased, "Fancy some backup?"

"Oh quite mah dear Apps." Ryan laughed softly as he and Apps closed the distance between them and Pinkie and Twilight before he gave a mighty roar, "Wave goodbye!"

With that he sent quite a decent size of water splashing right towards Twilight and Pinkie; Pinkie was just laughing the whole while as she tried to fight back but Twilight was trying her best to avoid getting hit by teleporting about...but that did no good as AppleJack saw that coming and nailed her when she plopped nearby.

"Ack!" Twilight screamed before laughing and sending a wave of water at AppleJack, "Pinkie Pie! You said this would be a good idea!"

"It totally is Twilight; look at all the fun we're having!" Pinkie replied with water-logged giggles, "Although...I think I'm losing the battle here."

"Truce?" Ryan asked as he slowed his laughter.

"Trucey-wucey!"

Having had enough water for the moment, AppleJack and Ryan had headed back to shore to relax and dry out a little bit; meanwhile the CMC's had shown back up saying they'd made a totally awesome sand castle that was sure to lure out the Sea Ponies.

"Oh sweetie, I know you made a great castle but the Sea Ponies are just a legend." Rarity remarked to her younger sister, "Dear Rainbow Dash is just having some fun with you."

"But why would she do that?"

"Well Rainbow Dash does love to pull a pony's leg after all." Scootaloo noted, "Anyway, will someone come take a look at our castle?"

"I'll come along." Fluttershy stated, "I think I've been tanning long enough."

"...I still don't get how that works." Ryan sighed before winking at Apps, "I'll come along too lil' sis; it'll let me test out the gadget me and T-Sparks brought with us."

"Gadget? What's that?"

"Well, we finished a computer...which was surprising to me so we started work on making a stand-alone camera." Ryan explained, pulling something out of one of his bags, "It actually should be useable by anypony to be honest, that's what the little harness is for but...ya know, since I've got hands I don't need it. Haha."

"Ooooooh, it's so shiny! Well come on! Let's get a move on!"

With that the CMC's led Ryan and Fluttershy down a ways to where they'd been working on their sand castle; of course, the three little fillies had apparently gone quite crazy and built something massive.

As it was, by the time they were right next to it, the castle was about as tall as Ryan was and he was pretty impressed by that fact.

"Sweet apple pie little ones, this is...how did you get it so tall?" Ryan asked, taking a picture and being pleased that it seemed to work, "Hey, it didn't explode!"

"It...it could've exploded?" Fluttershy asked, hiding behind Ryan.

"Well, the first few prototypes had some bugs in them...and might have..kind of...exploded into a puff of magic that stung just slightly." Ryan took another picture and laughed softly, "Thankfully, this one seems to be pretty flawless."

"Oh, oh! Take a picture with the three of us in front of it!"

"Okay Scoots, line up y'all."

Getting them lined up with their creation, Ryan took the photo...and then another...and another as the girls kept rearranging the way they were posing; after one last silly pose he went through and showed them how they turned out.

"That's pretty amazing; it's like a moving picture frame." AppleBloom noted, "It's kind of bright too."

"Yeah, getting the screen right was a bit harder than we reckoned but T-Sparks was persistent." Ryan replied before looking around, "Hey...I just realized Dashie kind of disappeared."

"Hmmm, that's strange; she was right here before we went to go look at the castle." Fluttershy added before looking around, "I wonder where she disappeared to?"

"Hmmm, well...I suppose she'll show up when she wants to; let's head back, it's time to hit the waves again!"

"Then can we bury ya in the sand big bro?"

"Haha, yes AppleBloom, then ya can bury me in the sand."

"Yay!"

"You coming with me?"

"Nah, you go hit the waves Ry-Ry, I'm gonna take a nap."

"Okay then."

"Wait!" AppleJack shouted before putting on the camera, "How's about a picture of ya? Just, I don't know...stand out in front of the waves and I'll take a shot...hopefully."

"Well, it's no fancy mathematics so you shouldn't have a problem." Ryan joked, walking towards the water before stopping, "Right here?"

"Yeah Ry-Ry; that's perfect!" AppleJack replied before trying to line up things correctly, "Now shoot...how the heck do ya work this contraption?"

AppleJack was fiddling with the camera and trying her best to figure out how to work it; even though Ryan swore up and down when they brought it to test out things that anypony would be able to use it without any trouble, poor Apps was having a bit of a hard time getting it all working right.

"Okay...like this I think?" She stated, watching as Ryan gave a wave and she took the picture...only to see a large portion of it was blocked by her hoove that she had thought was out of the way when she looked at the screen, "Oh APPLE PIE!"

"Something wrong?"

"I got it, I got it! Just gimme another try!"

This time AppleJack was able to take his picture correctly, and was a bit marveled at how simple it actually did seem once you got the hang of it.

"Let me get some more when yer in the water..."

Ryan merely laughed and headed into the waves, looking up at the clear skies before turning around and waving at AppleJack again who was quite focused on getting a good shot of him.

"Okay one more....what in tarnation?"

Just as she pressed the button, a bright flash pretty much plowed right into poor Ryan and with that a huge explosion of water as he and, as the photo she took now showed to be Rainbow Dash, headed deep into the depths of the water.

"Boubohblugh (Dashie!)" Ryan gasped underwater, before realizing breathing was now a priority seeing as she'd knocked him deep under the water with her.

"Bloeughobhohyg (Oh relax...I just wanted a partner to help me search for the sea ponies!)"

"Blub-bouhoobhug (The sea ponies aren't real...and I'm probably going to drown now!)" Ryan started swimming upwards towards the surface before he heard a strange noise, "Bluuuup (The hell?)"

There, swimming up to them from the depths of the lake, were what Ryan could only describe as Sea Ponies...and they were singing!

"Shoop-bee-doo-shoop-shoop-bee-doo! Call upon the Sea Ponies when you're in distress!

Helpful as can be ponies - simply signal SOS!"

"Blubble-blob (You've got to be kidding me!)" Ryan huffed, completely stunned that they were real!

"If you find you're past the drift and haven't got an oar (oar), count upon the Sea Ponies - they'll see you to shore! Shoop-bee-doo-shoop-shoop-bee-doo!"

"I told you they were real Ryan!"

"...wait Dashie, how are you...talking...under water............"

"Push!"

Ryan was dimly aware of what sounded like Twilight's voice before he felt something pressing to his mouth and trying to give him air; finally feeling his mind come around he gagged and coughed horribly loud as he expelled the water from his lungs and kept coughing for quite a while until finally he lay back panting as he stared up at the sunny skies.

"Was that...real...or just fantasy?" He asked in his still delusional state.

"Oh thank Celestia yer okay mah Ry-Ry!" AppleJack shouted, glomping to him and crying, "You weren't breathing when Dashie pulled ya from the water...I was so worried I was gonna lose ya!"

"Heh...ugh...I was a little worried mahself Apps." Ryan coughed slightly as he hugged her tight, "Dashie...what in the hell were ya thinking?"

"I...I just..." Rainbow Dash looked at the ground, drawing aimlessly in the sand, "I just wanted to find the Sea Ponies with you...the CMC's decided I wasn't telling the truth so they went off to do something else. I'm sorry Ryan...I almost got you killed...and that...I just..."

Ryan could see the tears forming in her eyes, the regret clearly obvious in her heart; coughing slightly as he stood up, he gently lifted her head up and smiled at her as she looked up at him.

"It's okay Dashie...heh, you are reckless but not heartless after all; I know how much you must be hurting yerself inside for doing this so it's okay. Heh, I forgive ya for doing something so crazy." Ryan calmly stated before giving her a hug, "Next time hon, when you feel like searching for something, just ask first...don't dive-bomb me into it."

"Sniff, I gotcha...just...a few more seconds." Rainbow Dash sniffled out, wrapping her front leg around him and hugging back, "I'm just so sorry..."

"Hey, I'm alive; humans are tougher than we look after all. Haha...though, I think I'm done with the water for today; I know they say you should stay hydrated in the sun but I think the way we tried was a bit overkill."

"You idiot...making a joke even when you got all beat up." Rainbow Dash chuckled, though it was watery from her tears, "So...can I bury you in the sand then?"

With the moment of panic over, Ryan allowed Rainbow Dash and the Cutie Mark Crusaders to bury him in the sand; after finally getting a big enough hole dug that he'd fit in, it didn't take long for everypony involved to help bury him...and leave him kind of stuck.

"Hmmm...." Ryan grumbled a bit, struggling to move but having no luck, "Well then, I may not have thought this through all the way."

"And why's that darling? Don't you want to get ahead in the fashion industry?"

"Oh God, it's happening...mah puns are escaping to others; Rarity, run and save yerself." Ryan teased, laughing at the whole group's teasing, "So...uh....yer gonna help dig me out now right?"

"Well, we could do that Apple Ryder." AppleJack smirked as she looked down at him and kissed the top of his head, "Or we could see if you'll grow into a tree."

"Oh! Oh! A Ryan tree sounds like it'd be awesome fun!" Pinkie happily jumped about before tripping on Ryan's head, "Does that mean we'd get more than one Ryan? Oh! That would be the best thing ever! Then we could each have our own Ryan!"

"...I think it best if we keep our number of Ryans down to one." Twilight remarked, "As interesting as humans seem to be, I don't know if Equestria is ready for more than just him right now."

"Well, I suppose I have to agree with that T-Sparks...especially if the other humans would just be more mes." Ryan grumbled again, trying to shake the sand loose, "I wouldn't want some fake copies of me running around; the original is all anypony should need....but seriously gals, help me out of here!"

After finally letting Ryan out of his sand prison, he toweled off for a bit before heading back to their room while the others still enjoyed the last two hours of sunlight left; after getting cleaned up Ryan took a look out of the balcony where they were all having fun and smiled at the old memories it dragged up from his youth.

"Heh...leave it ta me to get all reflective again; some things never change huh Ry?" He remarked to himself before getting back to the task at hand, "Right! Time to get dinner cooked up for mah friends!"

Pulling out the cookware and such he got busy, baking the potatoes, cutting up some fresh vegetables and tossing together a salad, and then getting a pot boiling for the main dish: snow crab!

"Ah reckoned this is what ya were up to sugah." AppleJack remarked as she walked in, "Always thinking of ways ta help yer friends...I like that about ya."

"Heh, what else do ya like about me?" Ryan joked, turning around to give her a kiss before focusing back on his cooking, "And well, I figure y'all would be hungry after everything that happened today so why not get an early start so you can enjoy yerselves as much as possible?"

"But what about you Ry-Ry?" AppleJack helped carry the salad bowl to the table before looking back at him, "What about yer fun?"

"Apps sweetie, I've had plenty of fun so far...and besides, getting to cook fer mah gal and all of our friends? Who says that isn't fun either?"

"Well, I reckon that's true; I like helping the pony folk and such as well."

"Right! You get it. Well, everything else is ready so, since cooking this crab doesn't take long, just gotta kill time till everypony comes back in...which I reckon won't be long now that the sun is setting."

Sure enough, stepping out on to the balcony, Ryan and AppleJack could see their friends packing up for the day while admiring the beautiful sunset they were being graced with; while there were a few clouds that momentarily blocked out the sun, there was no denying that it was a beautiful sight as always.

"Celestia does some good work there." Ryan noted, wrapping an arm around AppleJack, "Heh, then again Luna does too as a moonrise is just as nice."

"Heh, was getting to watch a sunset with yer special somepony ever on that list of things ya wanted to do Ry?"

"How'd ya know?" He teased, before seeing the others coming up, "Alrighty then, time for Master Chef Ryan to get ready! Hungry Ponies are coming!"

"...Master Chef? Really?" AppleJack laughed softly, "Though I do reckon you look pretty nice in that fancy-smancy hat."

"Alright everypony, dig in...or...something like that." Ryan remarked after they'd all sat down for dinner, "...hmmm..."

"What's the matter big bro?"

"Well AppleBloom, I can see how y'all would crack the crab as those hooves of yers are pretty sturdy but...I might have a bit of a problem here since I don't have the right tools." Ryan explained staring at his crab and frowning, "In all the excitement, I didn't really think about that fact."

"Is that all? Shoot, I can help ya with that Ry-Ry." AppleJack noted, making short work of cracking open Ryan's crab-claws.

"...well, that works." Ryan laughed before looking around and smiling that everypony was enjoying his cooking, "Hmmm..."

"S-something on your mind Ryan?"

"Huh? Oh well...it's nothing important Flutters."

"That smile says otherwise big guy."

"Well, okay, ya got me there Spike. I was just thinking about the beach trips mah family took when I was little and seeing y'all here enjoying yourselves just made me think of that."

"...do you miss them darling?"

"I do a little bit Rarity; I mean, I'm happy here with y'all but I still wish I could find a way to get a letter to them."

"Couldn't the Princess help you out with that one?" Sweetie Belle asked, fiddling with her crab before watching it go flying across the table, "Whoops."

"I did ask them about it but as far as their knowledge goes they don't know how to send messages across realities." Ryan explained, blinking as crab smacked him in the face, "...I suppose being crabby about this would be too expected?"

"Whooo! Puns Puns Puns!" Pinkie shouted, her mouth full of potatoes, "Puns make any dinner even better!"

"Anyway, they do have all the info T-Sparks and I figured out building that computer and apparently it's quite easy to replicate things with magic once whatever yer making is actually constructed; pretty handy thing to be honest."

"But uh, Ry-Ry, how did ya send that picture to Twi?" AppleJack asked, tilting her head, "Usually messages can only travel long distance when Spike fire-breaths them or somepony uses magic."

"That part was a bit hard to figure out, I must admit; T-Sparks was the one that finally found a way for it to work."

"Well, from what Ryan told me and what I got from examining things it seemed that this inter-net thing was just electronic signals and magic is pretty much the same thing only a lot fancier so after a lot of tinkering we got it right....but since nothing exists that it could interact with, we had to build a lot of...what's that word you used?"

"Infrastructure."

"Right, that; basically things that would do what we tell those program things to do and stuff. The easy part was getting the computer to do all that...reconfiguring Ryan's little device was more of a challenge than we thought."

"But T-Sparks is pretty talented...and, well, she pulled a few all-nighter's she shouldn't have."

"I'll say."

"Heh, funny Spike, funny." Twilight huffed, "Anyway, the Princess is still looking over everything we sent to see if we missed any potential bugs. I think Ryan called it 'Beta Testing'."

"Bugs? Where?!" Pinkie gasped, hopping on to Rarity before giggling, "Hee..."

"Now Darling, that's something ponies would've expected me to do but I'm a bit more sensible than that." Rarity scoffed before placing Pinkie back in her chair.

"I don't doubt that Celestia or Luna could figure out a way for me to send a message back home but...it's been about a month since we sent all that and with them being Princesses I'm not holding mah breath that they'll figure it out anytime soon; they've got a lot on their plate." Ryan sighed before staring at everypony's empty plates, "Wow...was it that good?"

"You bet big bro!" The CMC's noted before grinning widely, "So! So! We finished our meal! Can we have some sweets now? Please?"

"Hnnnnnnnnnggg." Ryan mocked grabbed his chest and laughed, "Oh Celestia, right in mah cute sensors. Yes, yes...we can break out some snacks in a little bit."

"Yay!"

After having what only Pinkie would describe as her signature sundaes (which, strangely enough, they had all the ingredients to make even though Ryan didn't remember picking up half the things she used) two things happend: One, Ryan discovered that fried grass is not as awful as it sounds on ice cream, and two, everypony got to bed early as the forecast called for rain tomorrow and they didn't want to miss out on any beach time.

Sometime around five in the morning, just before sunrise Ryan awoke and clutched his stomach before sliding out of AppleJack's grasp and heading straight for the bathroom; about twenty minutes later he finally emerge looking better but sleepy.

'Ugh...note to self: Fried grass really not that bad in taste, but bad in terms of its exit strategy.' He thought with a grumble before getting dressed and heading into the kitchen...only to see Dashie there eating some breakfast.

"Huh? Oh hey Ryan."

"Hey Dashie...yer up early."

"Oh well, I couldn't sleep. Pinkie's nice and all but who knew she snored so loudly?"

"I'll have to remember that if we ever end up at a sleepover together." Ryan remarked, pulling out some oatmeal, "Anything good in the local paper?"

"Not much, some odd story about strange occurrences...some kind of local myths or something." Rainbow Dash scooted over to give him room at the bar, "Other than that, the weather is the same as last night's report."

"So some rain this afternoon, nice." Ryan began eating his breakfast, pausing to snatch an apple from the nearby basket to add to it, "Hmm....that article is weird. Some kind of strange acts of randomness? Unexplained at that...hmmmm."

"...did you have a thought on it big guy?"

"Maybe but I'll hope I'm wrong." Ryan thumbed through a few more articles, "Hmmm...a rainbow shortage in Cloudsdale?"

"Yeah, I saw that; the device they apparently used to make rainbows malfunctioned so there won't be as many rainbows at least until winter rolls around."

"The more I read about it, the more curious the way you can control natural phenomenon gets." Ryan cleaned up his plate and dug through the fridge for some water.

"Humans can't control the weather?" Rainbow Dash asked, watching him curiously, "And what are you doing?"

"As for yer first question, nope. On mah Earth the weather is something we can only hope to predict and survive depending on the situation. As for the second one, I'm getting some water for mah run; care to join me?"

"A run huh? Well, normally I fly..."

"I know, Apps usually goes with me but she woke up in the middle of the night feeling a bit off so I'm letting her sleep in some. Even with how much I've improved since I ended up here, I don't doubt you'd outrun me. Apps still does, but she's nice enough to go mah pace...and help me get a little faster each time."

"....okay, I'll join ya; might as well do something since I'm up at this ungodly hour. Toss me a water."

Pulling another one out, Ryan threw it in Rainbow Dash's direction and just shook his head at how easily she caught it in her hoove...even though certain logical reasons kept yelling in his head that what he just saw was impossible.

"What?"

"Haha, nothing, it just kind of still makes mah mind go all weird when I see you guys do that." Ryan explained, putting his water in his pocket, "No fingers and yet ya can still grab things...this world is a mystery indeed."

"It's not that weird...we've always been able to do that...as far as I know. Ugh...I don't like thinking like this so early in the morning."

"Or at all." Ryan teased, laughing as Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "Anyway, let's go."

"Wait...aren't ya gonna put on those funny shoes you always wear?"

Looking at where Dashie was pointing, Ryan laughed as he wiggled his toes.

"My sneakers? Nah; we're on a beach...might as well feel the sand on mah feet while we run."

"Well, okay...but I still can't figure out how you move with such weird, fragile hooves."

"Heh, that's all part of being a human...I just hope there's no glass on the beach."

With the sun just beginning to rise, the gentle breeze and crashing of the waves was all the noise to be had save for the occasional 'smack' of two feet and four hooves hitting the wet sand as Ryan and Rainbow Dash began their run around the lake.

"I figure an hour out and then an hour back, that's roughly what me and Apps run on the farm; I'm not bucking apples as much with the season over...so I've got to keep up mah exercise."

"Heh, well, you're a lot faster than I thought you'd be; I'm not having to slow down too much to stay with you."

"For knowing how fast you can move, I'm pretty sure yer lying...but that's sweet of ya Dashie."

"Yeah, well....I just want to keep talking with you, that's all!"

"Haha, yer such a goober too." Ryan teased as he watched her blush, "Heh."

"...crazy human." Dashie stuck her tongue at him and smirked as she hopped in the air, flipped upside down, and started flying just in front of him, "Still can't be as awesome as me though."

"Give me time...if Dark learned how to fly, I know I can eventually as well."

"That'll be the day." She smirked, "Though then maybe we could really have a race...be more fair that way."

"Yeah...at the very least I would like to visit your hometown someday; seeing as your house is probably modeled after Cloudsdale I imagine it's pretty amazing."

"Heh, you don't even know...but how would you even visit? Only Pegasi can walk on clouds..."

"Uhm, hello...I can use magic; from what I know from T-Sparks there is a spell to walk on clouds...I believe she used it before as well to visit."

"...oh...right."

"Heh." Ryan huffed, stopping at their halfway mark to have some water, "Thanks for coming with me by the way....taking these runs aren't nearly as fun alone so it's always nice to have company."

"Well, getting to spend some alone time with you is nice."

"Huh?"

"Oh feathers, I mean...." Rainbow Dash sighed, falling to the ground in her panicked state, "...."

"Hahaha, are you okay?" Ryan asked as he helped her back to her hooves, "And hey...look...I'm aware ya still like me."

"..."

"And...if I could do something to make ya happy at the same time me and Apps are happy I would....but I know there isn't a way for that to work."

"...I know." Rainbow Dash sighed, "It didn't help that I felt even worse after that stupid stunt yesterday. I know I can't have you but...if I took you away from my best friend? I'd be so uncool I'd just die."

"Heh, Dashie...don't be so hard on yerself. And besides..." Ryan smiled as he knelt down and kissed her cheek, "You'll find yer special somepony...a gal as awesome and stuff as you? I have no doubt there's a guy for ya out there."

"Ryan...." She blushed, touching her cheek and blushing even further when her wings fluttered at her thoughts, "...but...yeah, I know; I just...a guy like you that doesn't seem turned off by my attitude...I haven't met anypony like that before."

"Heh, well unless morals change to where I can have more than one girlfriend, I can't really think of anything that will make us all happy." Ryan joked, though he noticed Rainbow Dash making an odd face, "...what's with that face?"

"...just...a thought...about how things are here in Equestria...ya know, because technically ya could..."

"Dashie...if yer thinking what I think yer thinking, stop; it'd only hurt somepony in the long run." Ryan sighed and shook his head, "I know that on my Earth horses and ponies and stuff are more open uh, relationship wise because of how it all is and, judging by yer comment it's not too different here apparently but...yeah, I can't do that to Apps. I love her too much to hurt her like that."

"I'm sorry, I feel pretty stupid. That was a really dumb thing to say...I should just stop talking huh?"

"Dashie, I know what it's like to have a crush and want it to work out somehow no matter what...but I wouldn't do that because I also wouldn't want to hurt you like that either."

"...that doesn't make sense!"

"Maybe not now but I'm sure you'll understand what I'm saying someday; yer mah friend and I want you to find the one that'll make you the happiest."

"But you!"

"There is a difference between a crush and being in love." Ryan explained, smiling at Rainbow Dash before staring at the lake and frowning, "You have a crush on me, but I don't believe it's love; you don't have that look in yer eyes like Apps does when she looks at me."

"...well...dammit." Rainbow Dash grumbled, sniffling, "I...I know...but...it..."

"As ya said, I've been the first guy that hasn't been put off by your attitude right?"

"Yeah..." She gulped, sniffling some more, "I know what you're saying is true...but the truth isn't cool by any percentage sometimes huh? God, it feels like someone tore a hole in my chest..."

"No it's not, and I'm sorry about that hon..." Ryan smiled and hugged her tight, "The ache from a crush unfulfilled fades eventually; it's not like we won't be friends...and besides, as mah friend you'll still get plenty of snuggly hugs and such. As I've noted, all six of you are quite happy falling into a pile of fluff when prompted to."

"Hahaha, you're such a dork." Rainbow Dash laughed softly before nuzzling his cheek, "Thanks for being so understanding about this...and so kind too."

"Heh, like I said, I've been there." Ryan felt a tear slip down his cheek, his memories finally getting the better of him, "But I've got Apps now...and all of you as friends so it's all good. Anyway, come on Dashie! I imagine they'll probably be waking up soon enough and we don't want to miss any beach time right?"

"Right! Race you back!"

"Hey! No fair! I'm barefoot and I can't fly like that! Hahahaha!"

7th Harvest

After getting changed into his swimsuit, Ryan joined the others who were already on the beach and doing various things; spending most of the day relaxing under the umbrellas, he just enjoyed the sights and sounds while getting a little rest after waking up earlier than usual.

As the clouds slowly began to roll in, Rainbow Dash finally got him to come out and splash about in the water for a little bit before they felt the rain begin to fall; with that it was a bit of a mad dash to get everything they'd brought down and then get back to the rooms before it all began to pour.

"Ack! I'm getting absolutely soaked!"

"Rares, we were already wet from the waves."

"...and?"

"Anyway, did we get everything?"

"CMC's reporting we did big bro!"

"Hey wait...where's Spike?" Twilight asked as she looked around, "Wasn't he behind us?"

"...he's hiding in this bag." Ryan rolled his eyes and dumped his little buddy on to the floor, "Spike dude, what were you doing?"

"...hiding from the rain? Look, I told you dragons and water don't usually mix."

"...at least that explains why it felt so much heavier sugarcube." AppleJack remarked before staring out the window, "Tarnation it's coming down."

"Well, let's get cleaned up and start dinner early just in case the power goes out."

With that Ryan took his leave to get cleaned up in his and Apps' room while the others unwound or went to get cleaned up themselves; all the while the storm raged on, thunder clapping and lighting flashing which left a few ponies feeling a bit jumpy.

"Eeep!" Fluttershy gasped at a particularly loud clap of thunder, "Oh...rain, rain, rain..."

"My.....pony.....little...pony...."

Those in the living room were looking about, curious where the singing was coming from but as far as they could tell they weren't sure who was singing.

"Is...is it a ghost?" Fluttershy asked from her spot hiding behind the couch.

"I reckon ghosts don't sing Fluttershy...it sounds like it's coming from the room I'm sharing with Ry." AppleJack noted, looking puzzled when the singing got louder, "What in tarnation?"

"Dude, is Ryan singing?" Rainbow Dash chuckled, "Oh! There was this function he showed me."

Fiddling with the camera, she was able to get it on and flicked a little switch to a position over what looked like a film reel.

"Rainbow Dash, what are you intending to do with that camera?" Twilight asked, sighing as she could sense more shenanigans in the air.

"Just catching some gold for future use." She snickered in reply, heading towards the closed bathroom door, "As I thought."

Sure enough, Ryan was indeed the one singing...and a familiar song at that; opening the door a crack, Rainbow Dash made sure she was catching this for future studies.

"My little pony~, My little pony~. Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, Ahhhhh~! I used to wonder what friendship could be. My little pony, yeah my little pony! Till you all shared it's magic with me. My little pony, yes mah little pony!" He sang, though in a different style than those realizing the fourth wall is being broken might know, "Big Adventure! Tons of Fun! A Beautiful Heart! Faithful and Strong! Sharing Kindness, it's an easy feat! And Magic makes us all comple-e-ete~! My Little Pony! My Little Pony! Don't you know you are mah very best friends! My little pony, mah little pony...don't you know you are mah very beeeeeest friends!"

"...he's actually got a nice singing voice." Sweetie Belle remarked although Scootaloo gave her a look, "What? He does."

"...darlings? Darlings? Oh, here you all are." Rarity asked, walking in to the room with a towel wrapped around her mane, "I didn't see anypony in the living room and..."

"Shhhh...Rarity, listen; this is hilarious." Rainbow Dash shushed her before listening as Ryan continued singing.

"My little pony, friendship is our way. Mah little pony, yeah mah little pony! That's all it takes for us to save the day! Mah little pony, yes mah little pony! Honesty and Loyalty, Laughter and Generosity, Kindness and Magic make the Harmony which marks the end of villainy-yyyyy~! My little pony, my little pony, don't you know you are my very best, very best, very best, very best, yeah! Mah little pony, mah little pony, we'll be friends to the end! Mah little pony, mah little pony, there is nothing our love cannot defend! Friend-ship! GO!"

Not really sure where all that came from himself, Ryan felt pretty proud about the fact that it almost sounded like some epic battle music that represented his friends well; as he shut off the water he couldn't help but hear the undeniable sound of snickering and laughter being held back.

"What the hay?" He noted, peeking his head out of the shower curtain and seeing the door open, "Wha...? I thought I closed...that..."

It was then he caught sight of the light shining on something and that was when he realized what he was seeing.

"Rainbow Dash!"

"Oh man, we're busted but that was amazing!" Rainbow Dash giggled, quickly stumbling over the others as she tried to get away.

"Just you wait till I get dried off and dressed you goober! And don't think I don't know Apps had a hand in this as well!"

"Oh buck...ahm gonna get it fer sure." AppleJack huffed, giggling herself as everypony made way to clear out of the bedroom before Ryan was able to act on his words.

Twilight looked up from the book she was reading and could only shake her head as she heard Ryan's irritated yelling and then the trouble-makers causing such irritation trip all over each other before landing in a heap in front of her.

"...you do realize I won't be helping you when Ryan decides to get revenge right?" Twilight remarked, looking over at Pinkie Pie who was cooking dinner, "Out of all of you, I'm quite surprised though that Pinkie was the only one to behave."

"Oh that's because I could hear him quite fine! It was a lovely rendition of our theme song. I especially liked those new lyrics he came up with."

Everypony there looked at her oddly before Rainbow Dash spoke the question they were all thinking.

"What do you mean by our theme song?"

"Oh nothing! Anyway, it's a good thing I'm cooking this for dinner tonight, it should totally help calm Rysy-wysy's ragey-wagey. Otherwise he'd probably turn you all into plushies or something! Hee-hee!"

After drying off and getting dressed, Ryan calmly marched out into the living room and saw everypony acting super innocent as they waited for dinner to finish; upon seeing him, a good number of them began to act pretty nervous...including Apps who kept looking at him and glancing away.

"So......" Ryan smirked and turned to Pinkie, "What's cooking?"

"Oh just what seems to be yer favorite!"

"....I do have to question where ya keep getting hot dogs Pinkie." Ryan laughed softly, "Especially since we didn't buy any."

"Oh, I get them where I get most things from...you should know where I'm talking about."

"Haha, from there huh? I must say, that's pretty clever."

"Yeppers! It's where I got the veggie dogs for anypony that wants those instead from as well."

"Heh, well, let me know when yer done grilling then because I'm starving."

"Okie-dokie-loki!"

Still smirking, Ryan walked over and plopped down on the couch between AppleJack and Rainbow Dash who were a little unsure as to why Ryan was being so calm after being so livid earlier; gulping when he put an arm around each of them they could hear him laughing quietly.

"So gals...seeing as I figure you two were the masterminds...tell me...how'd ya like mah performance?"

"Uhm...I....it was...."

"And tell me...just what were y'all planning to do with that video?"

"Well, I...it just....we were...."

"I see....so then...is the video still on the camera?"

"Yeah, it's still their Ry-Ry."

"Hmmm." Ryan mused, picking it up and playing back the video, "Good, good....I should send these lyrics to Vinyl Scratch and see if she could come up with an epic battle theme to go with them then. Thanks."

"I er...what?"

"I'm with AJ on this one...say what?"

"Oh, well, I was a bit annoyed that ya butted in on mah shower time Dashie...but as I got dressed I had a thought and was all "well shoot, that means they're already recorded down fer me" which saves a heap a time in asking."

"So then...yer not upset with us?"

"Well I wouldn't say that." Ryan glanced at the two of them frowning, "I can't imagine you'd like it if I invaded yer private shower time ladies."

"...I bet sis wouldn't."

"AppleBloom!"

"Hahaha, okay, okay, maybe not but still, y'all get what I'm saying right?" He made a point to look them both in the eye, "Right?"

"Yes'm!"

"Good!" Ryan remarked, hugging them tight, "Now then, those dogs ready Pinks?"

"You betcha! And I got plenty of mustard and ketchup! Woooo!"

And it was at that moment a huge bolt of lightning cracked through the air and the room was shrouded in darkness; Ryan was dimly aware of someone jumping in his lap after screaming and when Twilight illuminated the room with her horn he wasn't too surprised to see Fluttershy sheepishly staring at him.

"Oh, u-uhm...sorry Ryan."

"Heh, it's okay Flutters; that was a mighty powerful showcase of nature. Somepony get a lamp out so we can see better."

"Already on it Ryan!" Spike noted, waddling back with a large lamp and turning the switch, "Huh? Oh dang it!"

"What's wrong Spike?" Twilight asked as she walked over to him, "Is it dead?"

"Yeah! But I don't get it! I just charged this thing before we left."

"Mind if I lend a hand?" Ryan asked, pulling out his wand after he carefully set Fluttershy down on the couch, "I've gotten pretty good with how magical electricity works after all."

Focusing for a moment and pointing at the lamp, Ryan sent out a burst of magic and enveloped it in it; slowly but surely the lamp flickered and then turned back on giving the room enough illumination to see.

"Thanks Ryan; being a nightlight is not one of my job descriptions." Twilight joked, "So I guess we should eat before it gets cold."

"Way ahead of ya!" Rainbow Dash remarked through a stuffed mouth, "I love barbecue chips!"

"So...since the powers out, and we're eating hot dogs, how about we tell a story?" AppleBloom suggested as she got settled around the light.

"Hmm, but what story?" Scootaloo wondered before grinning, "How about a Rainbow Dash tale?"

"Nah. Nothing against Dashie but I've heard plenty of her tales." Ryan snickered when she glared at him, "How about you Rarity?"

"Me darling? Hmmm....I don't know if I have anything that anypony but my sister would like."

"Your bedtime stories are really nice." Sweetie Belle took a bit of her hot dog before shrugging, "I don't know...with the low-light I'm thinking maybe a scary story would work."

"Scary, you say?"

"Oh sweet applesauce; ah know that look on yer face Apple Ryder...what have you concocted now?"

"I think I have a somewhat spooky tale I can weave...if'n yer game."

"Wheeee! Scares are just as fun as laughs after all...especially on campouts!"

"...Pinks, this isn't a campout."

"Close enough!"

"...anyway, this is a story that takes place one day as the sun was setting one day in Ponyville, near the Everfree Forest..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<"Why did you wave yer hands all about?">

<"Duh, Rysy-wysy was making it seem like the scene was dissolving into another, duh!">

<"....I haven't even started yet and you guys are already interrupting. Sigh...and you said duh twice Pinks...">

"Well howdy there Twilight; where ya off to?"

"Hi AppleBloom. I'm heading to Zecora's to return these books I borrowed."

"Really?" AppleBloom gasped, "Can I come with ya?"

"Well...it's very dangerous in the Everfree Forest."

"Please...?"

"And it's almost sundown as well."

"PLEASE?"

"It's just that it won't be safe."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

"...very well, come on."

And so little AppleBloom and Twilight made their way through the mysterious Everfree forest, eventually finding their way to Zecora's house and returning the books.

"Thanks Zecora, these books were quite an interesting read."

"Of this you are welcome, Twilight my dear; although with great haste you should leave from here."

"Is something wrong Zecora?"

"Little AppleBloom, this forest is quite tricky; and with how things are tonight staying would put you in a situation most sticky."

"If you think there's danger ahoof we'll leave as quickly as possible. Thanks again."

With that AppleBloom and Twilight left, though the little filly was not really sure what Zecora had meant by sticky situation; as it was she walked right into Twilight who had stopped to remove a log in the road.

"This is easy enough!" She remarked, lifting and tossing it aside...only to see more in the way ahead of them, "Oh for crying out loud...this might take a while."

As AppleBloom paced in her impatience, she caught sight of a young filly that quickly ran into the forest after being spotted.

"Hey, wait up!" She shouted, though the other filly did not stop, "Now I think she went this way."

Little AppleBloom ran and ran for what seemed forever until finally she came out in a brightly lit...town?

"Where in tarnation am I? It kind of...looks like they're having a party."

<"Oh! I love parties!">

<"Pinkie...stop breaking the atmosphere! Ahem! Where was I?">

"Why hey there little filly, welcome to Sunny Town!" A grey colt greeted AppleBloom as she walked in, "My name is Grey Hoof, I hope ya enjoy yourself!"

AppleBloom was a bit taken aback by his super upbeat attitude...but something else sat in her mind and set her at unease; it was the fact that despite being roughly the same age as her big brother Macintosh, this colt had never found his cutie mark.

<"Whoa, whoa, whoa...wait! No cutie mark?">

<"...yes Scootaloo, no cutie mark. Ugh...any more interruptions?">

<"Big bro...why does this story have me in it?">

<"Because using someone you know makes it more tense, now shush; I'm approaching the climax!">

Looking around, AppleBloom could note the cake and punch on display seemed a bit off; taking a bite and a sip confirmed that as she spat it out and threw her cup angrily at the ground.

"That was awful..." She mumbled, venturing further into the town and noting two ponies staring at each other, "Well what's that all about?"

After inquiring with the colt, whose name was Roneo, about the situation, it turned out that he was missing a red stone he was going to give to his gal; realizing she'd picked something like that up while she was wandering earlier she gave it to him and watched as he excitedly ran over to her and they both fawned over one another.

Rolling her eyes a bit, AppleBloom wandered into the house and noted it was almost like a maze...as if somepony wanted to keep something a secret; after winding her way around everything (and picking up an oddly placed metal crank of all things) she found a pony chained up and who seemed pretty sad about something.

"It's not fair....the same thing..."

"Mam, are you alright?"

"The same thing! OVER AND OVER!" the mare shouted before going back to heavy sobbing.

"...alright then, I'll just be leavin'."

Still not sure what to make of this town, and wondering where that filly from before she saw was, AppleBloom continued forward till she ended up back in the Everfree Forest; the glow from the lanterns lit up where she was standing but the rest ahead of her was the same inky black as before...and then she saw her!

"Hey wait! Come back!" AppleBloom shouted as she chased after her...and came to a dead end at a cottage that looked to be in pretty bad shape.

The creakiness as the drafty wind rattled the shingles, the vines that had slowly consumed the outside of the house, and the cracked panes of the window made it clear that this house had not been lived in for some time.

"Darn it! Locked!" AppleBloom grumbled after she tried the door, "Ah wonder how I can get in there?"

Searching about and seeing a well that didn't have a crank, she put two and two together and sure enough...CLINK!

Winding the crank, she slowly brought up the bucket and, of all things to find, there was a key sitting in it; figuring that it couldn't possibly be what she needed, she still put the key in the door and sure enough it opened with a slow, creepy creak.

"...that wasn't unsettling, not at all." She remarked as she walked in, only to cough at all the dust, "This house doesn't look like anypony has been living in it for a long time...but I know I saw her come in here! But...it's empty. Everywhere I look it's empty!"

Giving a huff, she plopped down in front of the burning fire and stared at it, trying to make sense of this whole situation; that was when she saw something in the logs, that themselves seemed like they were not all that right either, and she leaned in to take a better look.

"What in tarnation....some kind of white...oh no."

AppleBloom paled as she realized these white things formed a shape of some kind.

"No, no, no, no, no."

A shape that she recognized all too well.

"No, no please..nonononono!"

They were the bones of a pony...somepony that had died...or as she figured, somepony that was murdered!

Knowing she had to find somepony, anypony that would listen, she made a beeline for Sunny Town; yet, as she made her way to where it had been, she only saw darkness as the town revealed it's true self.

The collapsed and crumbling ruins of the buildings, the now thick stench of rot permeating the air, and the once vibrant grass was now sticky mud and dirt; all life had disappeared from here.

"She was going to spoil it..."

AppleBloom jumped out of her skin as she heard the creepy, distorted voice and began running...only to halt in her tracks at seeing...whatever this was.

In front of her was what had once been a pony, but was now a hideous, distorted vision of rotten flesh, torn muscles, and exposed bone covered in layers of grime.

"The curse...it befell her this night..."

"I...I...."

"She had the mark...she had to go....stay with us AppleBloom...we'll protect you from it. You can live with us...FOREVER!"

That was all AppleBloom had to hear as she began to run for her life, dodging more zombie ponies as they rose from the ground; as she neared the entrance back to the forest she skidded to a stop when another rotting pony stood in her tracks.

This one seemed different though, she wasn't nearly as rotten and her eyes were different; though red like the others, a single tear fell from hers and AppleBloom knew it was the one from before who had been crying.

"Even in death these fools have not learned. I should have protected her, but I made my choice." She spoke, her voice not echoing like the others, "This is our punishment for the sins we've committed...what we deserve."

Walking passed AppleBloom, she gave a sigh as she saw the others approaching and readied herself.

"NOW RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

Not taking one moment to look back, AppleBloom ran as fast as she could, dodging the zombie ponies that arose in front of her until she finally found the moonlight poking through the thicket.

"Ahm almost there, almost...ack!" She gasped, feeling a slimy hoove wrap around her and drag her down.

"We'll protect you for-"

"Shut yer trap!" AppleBloom growled, rearing back, cracking the pony's head and thus breaking free from its grasp.

Unfortunately for her, she could not seem to find any way out...and indeed it seemed the forest has completely surrounded her.

And yet, the noises from before, the moans and groans, they had passed...and in the light up space she saw hoofprints leading her out...possibly.

"What have ah got to lose? I'm lost anyway." She huffed, following them and then finding a ghost, but this ghost seemed...familiar.

"Hi."

"It's you! From before!"

"I'm sorry about all this. I was just curious."

"Ah shucks, it's okay; ah don't blame ya." AppleBloom remarked, smiling as the ghost filly smiled back, "I'm AppleBloom by the way."

"My name is Ruby. As you can see, my cutie mark is a magnifying glass."

"So it is! That's amazing!"

"Thanks...but I know now what that means." Ruby remarked as the low moaning slowly built back up, "I'll find a way out of this for you!"

Just as the zombie ponies surrounded them, and seemed poised to finish them off, a bright white orb appeared over AppleBloom and exploded like a firecracker, crumbling the ponies to dust and lighting the forest back to normal.

"APPLEBLOOM! Where are you!"

"Twilight!" AppleBloom shouted, running towards the purple mare when she saw her, "Ahm so glad ta see ya!"

"What are you doing out here? Didn't I say to stay put? This place is dangerous, especially at night!"

"Ah know...ahm sorry."

"Heh, it's okay, come on! Let's get out of here!" Twilight remarked, making sure AppleBloom was ahead of her this time as they made their way back to Ponyville.

Just as they exited, AppleBloom took a moment to turn back and saw a golden glow coming from the forest; there stood Ruby, smiling happily.

"See you later...friend."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And that, mah dear mares and fillies (and little dragon dude), is the Story of the Blanks."

"B-Big Bro? Ahm...feeling kind of off now."

"I can't blame ya AppleBloom." Scootaloo shivered, "That story was pretty messed up; and you were in it!"

"Ah know!"

"....uhm...was it, maybe, too creepy y'all?" Ryan asked, a bit worried he overdid it.

"I don't think so Ry-Ry, but it was pretty atmospheric." AppleJack admitted, "Even I feel a bit freaked out."

"I wasn't scared at all!" Rainbow Dash boasted, despite being curled up tight against Ryan, "Well...I mean...I knew the big guy was a bit shook up telling the story so I had to comfort him!"

"Haha, yeah...I bet." Ryan teased, "Any who, it looks like the storm is still gonna keep on going...and it's gotten a bit late. Man, that story took a long time to tell."

With that Ryan yawned, patted Rainbow Dash on the head before gently tugging her off of him, and then stretched before smiling at everypony.

"Goodnight y'all; hopefully the rain lets up tomorrow. Nothing worse than being at the beach but stuck all cooped up in the room." Ryan remarked, motioning for Apps to join him as they headed to their bedroom.

"R-Right! Need that sleep and stuff." Rainbow Dash nervously replied, "Goodnight big guy."

"...AppleBloom, are you okay?" Sweetie Belle asked, noting her friend's shaking form.

"Y-yeah, of course I'm okay!" She wavered in her reply, "It's just a story...nopony is gonna hurt us for getting a cutie mark so...we...we're fine!"

"Come on Spike, I'm tired too." Twilight yawned, "See you in the morning everypony."

With that they all slowly made their way back to their rooms as the storm raged on outside; while Ryan and AppleJack had been able to fall asleep easily enough, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had huddled up together hoping to calm their nerves.

Indeed, even though others had claimed they were okay, the darkness of the night mixed with the intermittent flashing of lightning had them all on edge.

"Hmmmm?" Ryan grumbled, feeling something small nudging his arm, "Who? AppleBloom?"

"Big bro...we're all a little on edge from yer story." AppleBloom whispered, "Do...do ya think we could sleep with ya tonight?"

Sleepily smiling as he looked at the three fillies whose eyes were full of fright he slowly nodded and shifted with Apps to make room for them.

"Yer such a sweetie." AppleJack quietly teased, "Like ah said, good with kids."

"Heh, funny."

"Oh thank ya big bro!" The CMC's remarked as they curled up around him, "...good night."

"Goodnight you little goobers."

About an hour and a half later...

Ryan felt somepony else nudging him from his slumber and he couldn't say he was surprised to see who it was.

"Hey Dashie...come to make sure I could sleep?"

"...." Rainbow Dash said nothing, but her eyes spoke all they needed to about the situation.

"...and I see yellow so Flutters is with ya. Heh...thank goodness we've got such a big bed in here; come on, join the fluff puddle pile."

"Th-thank you." Fluttershy remarked, settling in near the foot of the bed.

"...heh, it's getting a bit crowded eh Apple Ryder?"

"Well, I can't say no to mah friends when they need me Apps." Ryan quietly replied, laughing when he felt Dashie nuzzle his hand, "Hey."

"Shhhh, maybe now you'll finally get some sleep." Rainbow Dash teased before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

"I bet he will!"

"...Pinks? When did you get here?"

"I came with the CMC's; did you think I'd miss out on a sleepover slumber pile?"

"...silly me. Now shhhh, I'm sleepy."

Meanwhile...

"....I know I said that story didn't bother me but..." Twilight huffed, rolling about in her bed, "...darn it Ryan, why did you have to tell it so well? And have me in it as well?"

That's when Twilight had an idea, she'd seek out Spike, who was no doubt afraid from the story, and then he'd want to not sleep alone out of fear so then she wouldn't be by herself: it was brilliant!

Or it would have been if she hadn't found Spike was with a quite nervous Rarity who was squeezing him rather tightly.

"Ack!" Rarity screamed when she saw the glow from Twilight's horn, "Oh darling, it's just you Twilight."

"Are...are you okay?"

"...Ryan is a dear man, but his storytelling is too good at times; even my poor Spikey-Wikey can't stop my jumpiness."

"...I kind of can't breathe." Spike gasped with a huge grin on his face, "But I'm loving every moment of this."

"Well, maybe if we go ask to sleep with the others it might calm our nerves; we can't be the only ones panicking."

"That's a great idea dearie!"

Rarity hopped up, though kept her hold on Spike as they slowly walked to where Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were sleeping...and didn't see them there.

"Oh dear....you don't think...." Rarity looked about and screamed when lightning flashed through the room.

"Rarity, relax; maybe they had the same idea." Twilight tried her best to stay calm but Rarity's nervous state was setting her off as well, "Come on...let's try with Pinkie and the CMC's."

But, as with the previous room, this one was empty as well with no sign of anypony which didn't help Rarity at all.

"Oh goodness; they're going to come for us next!" Rarity bemoaned, hugging Spike closer, "Oh Spikey-wikey I....oh...hold on."

"....gasp!" Spike took a deep breath after feeling her grip loosen, "Rarity..."

"Sorry Spikey; so what now Twilight?"

"Well, there's only one last room to check...." Twilight didn't want to say she was getting nervous, but their rooms had been too quiet and everypony was missing, "...let's just go check Ryan and AJ's room; I'm sure they all just had the same idea."

As they were crossing the living room, Twilight went wide-eyed when the lighting illuminated a shadow that looked just as the zombie pony Ryan had described and freaked causing both of them to bolt into Ryan and AJ's bedroom and quickly climb in with the others.

"Oof!" Ryan grunted in pain, "Who's poking me with their hooves? And is that a horn jabbing me...huh? T-Sparks?"

"I'm sorry, it' s just your story!" Twilight cried from the stress and flopped on her friends for comfort.

"Hey sugarcube, it's alright." AppleJack remarked, gently caressing her mane, "Come on, this bed is plenty big fer all of us so relax."

"Oh thank goodness. I'd begun to think you'd all been eaten by those awful zombies." Rarity remarked as she slid in with the others, "...I feel a bit silly. It's so unbecoming being a grown mare and afraid of ghost stories. "

"Heh, well, I can assure you that's no rarity, Rarity." Ryan joked, "I must admit, if I didn't have Apps to begin with I'd be a bit wrecked by mah own story."

"Hey...quiet down you guys." Rainbow Dash groaned, rolling over and laying her head on Ryan's stomach, "I was having this great dream about being awesome..."

"Sorry." Twilight squeaked out before getting settled, "...heh, this would make one crazy letter to the Princess, that's for sure."

"I'll say...now shhh, let's get back to sleep everypony." Ryan whispered, closing his eyes and smiling; despite it being a bit crowded now, he couldn't be happier to be surrounded by all his friends...and his sweetie-pie Apps.

Soon enough, the rainstorm wasn't even an issue as everypony drifted into a peaceful sleep...

The next morning everypony was still sleeping soundly as the rain continued falling outside; while some of them had woken up thanks to their natural rhythms, after hearing the storm still continuing and realizing how warm and comfy it was with everypony, they just closed their eyes and went back to sleep.

Eventually, around noon, the rain began to taper off and the sun finally started poking through the clouds; at this point Ryan finally figured it was time to get up but there was just one problem with that.

"...well, this is a curious situation." Ryan remarked as he realized that with how everypony was in bed, he was effectively in the middle and fully surrounded, "...how to get out? Hmmm..."

'...and just why would you want to get out of such a pleasant position?'

Ryan blinked and looked about again, hearing that same gruff voice he had heard way back at the art gallery but this time he swore whoever was saying this had to have been grinning by the sound of things.

"That....hmmm...."

"Shhh, I'll help." Twilight remarked, winking as she concentrated and lifted everyone off the bed just high enough for Ryan to slip out, "There you go."

"Thanks T-Sparks." Ryan made a quick stop in the bathroom before heading into the kitchen to work on some lunch as he was pretty sure everypony would be up soon.

'What to make for lunch? What to make, what to make?' Ryan poked about what they had left for their final full day here and eventually settled on pancakes, 'After all, we missed breakfast, so why not breakfast for lunch?'

As he waited for the griddle to heat up, he went to work cutting some of the fruit they had up to go with it and pulled out some eggs as well to go with them; soon enough he was working like crazy cooking up enough food for all of them and smirked when he heard a few murmurings coming from the bedroom.

"Mmmm, something smells good."

"Tarnation! Rainbow Dash yer butt is in mah face!"

"Sorry AJ, but at least yer view is twenty percent cooler."

"Hey, where's big bro?"

"I bet he's the cause of that delicious smell."

"Darlings, please, so much noise in the morning."

"U-uhm...Rarity, it's after noon; it just seems like the morning because it was raining for so long."

"Oh then...it would seem we've overslept then my Spikey-Wikey."

"Gosh Rarity, I don't mind that."

"Heh, you would lover boy." AppleJack teased before stretching, "Well come on everypony, y'all should get up so we can eat and go enjoy the beach while we've got the sun back in our favor."

"She's right! Time for Cutie Mark Crusaders Chow Time!"

With that everyone began to pile into the living room and eagerly stared at the huge plate of pancakes Ryan had cooked up as well as all the rest of the lunch he'd gotten prepared; making sure everypony was good he then joined them and enjoyed a quiet lunch with his friends.

"I assume y'all slept well?" He asked with a smirk, "I certainly did; maybe I should tell scary stories more often."

Ryan didn't even bother ducking when AppleJack threw a strawberry at him, even going so far as to just catch it and eat it.

"Well, that's a yes from Apps; anyone else?"

"If it gets me more snuggle time with Rarity, you can tell all the scary stories you want Ryan." Spike joked, fist-bumping him and sharing a smirk.

"You two are just incredible." Twilight sighed, even if she was smiling at how well everypony got along, "...I do appreciate your understanding last night; even with all my knowledge I still get wrapped up in such illogical things."

"Hey, what are friends for, right?" He winked before finishing up, "Besides, when it comes to the human...pony...er...when it comes to the mind it can often be a very illogical part of a person."

"Yeah, especially with Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash joked, to which Pinkie just smiled and stuck out her tongue, "Okay! Time to hit the surf!"

"Yeah!"

And so their final day their went along swimmingly, though apparently Fluttershy and Rarity had made an error with their tanning and burned themselves slightly.

"I....that...I still don't get how that works! You have hair...fur....same difference so shouldn't that...ya know...keep it from happening? And why did the fur turn red like it burned?" Ryan had asked in complete disbelief, his head short-circuiting at the lack of logic, "I....I guess it doesn't really matter."

Sensing he needed a break from that, AppleJack had suggested they go scuba-diving with Rainbow Dash to adventure at the bottom of the lake in search of, what else? Sea Ponies.

"Only this time there won't be a risk of unpleasantness." Ryan remarked with a laugh, though he had some trouble with the equipment, "Hmmm....time for a little magical reworking!"

Focusing with his wand, Ryan did his best to reconfigure his scuba set to be more human friendly and, though it wasn't as good as he had hoped, it still worked enough for him to go diving with the two of them.

Under the water it was pretty peaceful and it surprised him just how quickly Dashie could move through the water as well; as it was they saw a few things resting at the bottom of the lake: a ship wreck, though there was no treasure, lots of what appeared to be seaweed, plenty of fish, but no sea ponies.

"I told ya we wouldn't find any." Ryan remarked, amazed at how clear his voice came out, "Huh."

"Ah think Ry-Ry's impressed we can talk underwater with these things." AppleJack remarked before pointing towards something shining in the distance, "What do y'all think that is?"

"I don't know but let's find out! It could be sunken bits!" Rainbow Dash took off, with Ryan and Apps doing their best to catch up to her.

The shining turned out to be something partially buried in the sand that took a bit of tugging for them to break it free; when they did they couldn't believe what they had found.

"A treasure chest!" Ryan had shouted, "Should we drag it back with us?"

"Buck yeah!" Rainbow Dash replied as the three began pulling it behind them back to shore, "...this thing is kind of heavy."

"I'll say...thank goodness it isn't bigger though."

"I'll say Apple Ryder...then we couldn't move it at all."

"I say darling, is that AppleJack and the others slowly coming ashore?"

Fluttershy peeked up from under the umbrella she was avoiding the sun with and saw a distinct rainbow-colored mane poke up above the along with a blonde one and a darker blonde one.

"I...I think it's them; did they find something?"

"Hey gals, look what we found! It's pretty heavy..even more so with it out of the water." Ryan noted before finally getting it settled with Apps and Dashie's help, "I wonder what's inside?"

"Well open it!" Scootaloo shouted, "I bet it's a whole bunch of bits!"

"It could be anything huh big bro?"

"Well that's true AppleBloom, but it seems like it's locked...and we don't have a key." Ryan smirked before looking at AppleJack, "We don't need a key though when we've got Bucky McGillicuddy and Kicks McGee to lend a hoove."

"Sure enough sugah, let me at that lock!"

AppleJack readied herself, reared back, and kicked at the chest as hard as she could; at first it didn't seem as if she'd busted the lock but soon enough the lock cracked a little and then shattered leaving the treasure chest to spring wide open and shine forth with the flashing color of...

"Gems? Just gems?"

"Uh...what do you guys mean by just gems?" Ryan asked, a bit puzzled, "Do you know how much those gems would be worth in mah world? Like...it'd be enough to set somepony up for twenty lifetimes!"

"Ah yes darling, but don't you remember?" Rarity asked, looking them over, "I'm always putting gemstones in my dresses."

"Yeah, and I eat them as snacks." Spike added, "Why would they be so worthwhile on your Earth?"

"...I guess I never really thought about it." Ryan mused as he picked up a bright orange one and smiled, "Gemstones seem super abundant here so they're pretty worthless as currency huh?"

"Yep! That's why the Princess uses bits as the currency."

"So then gold is your currency T-Sparks?"

"No, gold's about on par with the gemstones in terms of rarity." Twilight explained, "I'm not sure what bits are, but it's what the Princess came up with to keep the economy stable."

"Not that I've noted people charge much for things anyway; y'all are pretty friendly and such when it comes to trade." Ryan nodded his head, "Anyway, I'd like to keep this one if nopony cares; as for the rest feel free to share them how ya wish."

"Really darling? Oh that would be so wonderful." Rarity gasped as she began rooting through the gemstones, "So many beautiful gems; I can only imagine the outfits I could create with them."

"So Ry, are gemstones rare on yer world?" AppleJack had asked after picking out one for her own reasons and walking off with him to take a rest under the umbrellas.

"More or less; it all depends on the type. We actually learned how to make artificial ones that are almost indistinguishable from the real thing unless you've got a keen eye. Anyway, I've been thinking about something and this shade of orange is perfect for what I want to have made."

"Do tell?"

"Heh, well it's something I'd like to have to protect mah friends if I have to fight......what the?"

"Sugah?"

Looking in the direction he was staring, AppleJack blinked as well as the water of the lake seemed to be changing color somehow; it started blue, then faded to red, purple, green, yellow, orange, and then flashed rapidly before finally going back to blue and stopping.

"Ah...did anypony else see that?"

"You mean how the lake got all Technicolor?!" Pinkie nodded her head rapidly, "Of course! Who couldn't miss the lake having fun as well?"

"Lakes aren't supposed to do that...." Twilight huffed, tilting her head in thought, "Weird."

"....that did seem odd; and then there was those weird incidents reported in the paper the other day." Ryan frowned, his thoughts thinking on something, "Hold on a second."

Pulling out his device, he quickly typed up a message and sent it to Celestia; a few moments passed before he got a reply and, while it surprised him, his frown remained all the same.

"What was that all about big guy?"

"...nothing Dashie, just...just something I had to confirm with Celestia." He explained before putting it away and smiling, "So then, who wants to play some volleyball?"

While his words hadn't reassured all of them, they decided to let it go at his mention of volleyball...all but Spike that was.

"Ryan...is this about...ya know...at the castle gardens?"

"...I asked her if he was still there and she said he was...but...these acts...they seem right up his alley if I'm not mistaken." Ryan grumbled, "...still, it could just be something else though. All the more reason to start training the other way I want to."

"Other way?"

"Heh, don't sweat it little bud; now come on, let's go have some fun with everypony."

After a game of volleyball in which poor Ryan ended up getting beaned something fierce by a spike from Rainbow Dash, he had simply watched the others play before the sun began to set; realizing this was his chance to get that sunset walk in with his sweetheart, he and AppleJack had headed off down the beach.

They walked a while, making foot and hoof prints in the sand as the waves quietly splashed on shore; the setting sun seemed to make everything glow as it slowly descended in the distance.

"Heh, Celestia sure knows how to put on a show huh?"

"I'll say Ry-Ry." AppleJack remarked, before pushing up and glomping him from behind, "So then...is this how you imagined it'd be when ya always thought of talking a sunset beach walk with yer sweetie pie?"

"Goober." He reached behind himself and tickled her belly, smirking when she giggled, "But yes...it's pretty nice; this has been a fun trip."

"Hee, you silly man, tickling me like that." AppleJack laughed softly before nuzzling his neck, "Mmmm...that gal you were with must've been crazier than Screw Loose."

"What d'ya mean hon?" He asked, a bit puzzled as he caressed her mane and stared at the sunset with her.

"Yer clearly a sweet fella...and caring ta boot. How she could be crazy enough to toss that away I just can't rightly figure out."

"Well, humans, much like ponies, can be very irrational at times; all I know is I'm glad I'm not alone anymore." Ryan whispered, turning around and kissing her deeply as the sun finally dipped below the horizon, "So magical."

"Hee, the sunset? Here? Or little old me darlin'?"

"Haha, all three mah sweet little Apps." Ryan chuckled, kissing her again before letting her down, "Now then, I think we should head back to our friends; I'm ready fer dinner!"

"When aren't ya sugah?" AppleJack teased, poking his tummy with her head and smiling at his amused laughter.

"True...but I tend to forget mah appetite when a certain pony has mah attention." Ryan smirked, and put his arm around her as they walked back, "Ah wonder who that could be?"

"Ah don't know darlin', but she sounds like a lucky mare."

"Oh she most certainly is, and he's a lucky stallion."

"A stallion huh? Hee, I suppose that's fitting fer ya mah Apple Ryder." AppleJack winked, laughing as she took off running.

"Such a goober." Ryan remarked, shaking his head before chasing after her.

Dinner was pleasant and rather quiet as most everypony was now rather tired from their adventures the last three days; as it was Ryan and the others had no trouble falling asleep that night.

The next morning they all awoke rested and ready to head home; after packing up and making a sweep to make sure they didn't miss anything, they checked out and headed to the train station to head back to Ponyville.

"So lil' sis, you and yer friends have fun? You feel less mopey about school starting?"

"You bet! This was really fun with everypony here!"

"...it's just too bad we never saw the Sea Ponies." Scootaloo grumbled, "I guess they really aren't real huh?"

"Hey, never give up hope kid." Rainbow Dash ruffled her mane, "Maybe we're just looking in the wrong place."

"Rainbow Dash is right; if you believe hard enough who knows?"

"AppleJack, I hardly think that believing hard enough will make something happen."

"Uh, Twi, I hate to say this, but hasn't that kind of been the guiding way fer us in all the troubles we've dealt with?" AppleJack retorted, smirking as Twilight fumbled over her words, "Right! The train's here y'all; all aboard."

As they boarded the train, Ryan noted that Twilight seemed a bit bothered by something as she looked over her checklist one last time.

"Something wrong T-Sparks? Heh, Apps' words getting to ya?"

"Huh? No it's not that, it's just...we followed my checklist perfectly except....there's this last thing that I don't remember being on the list but it's there and I'm not sure how to accomplish it."

"Let me take a look." He stated, putting his bag away and taking the list, "...what the hay? "Have Pinkie mention a moment that breaks reality and makes no sense"? So we're just waiting for Pinkie to be Pinkie..."

"I know, weird right? I didn't write that but it's in my handwriting." Twilight gave a sigh and rolled up the paper, "Oh well."

Getting settled in their seats, Ryan and the others looked out the window as the last images of the lake began to disappear from view; tilting his head at something he had to do a double-take.

"Uhm, Dashie...are ya...are ya seeing what I am?" He asked, pointing specifically at the lake.

"Ryan, what are you....sweet rainbooms!"

"What has gotten into...you...two?"

"Tarnation! They're real!"

Sure enough, in the distance they could see, dancing on the top of the lake, what was clearly Sea Ponies; even though it was impossible for it be true, they could almost swear they heard the "Shoop-be-doo's" as they bounced back and forth.

"I....this doesn't...how can?" Twilight fumbled for an answer, her head short-circuiting from the realization, "I....."

"Hee, don't ya see Twilight?" Pinkie asked, waving at the Sea Ponies, "If ya believe hard enough, anyone can break the fourth wall and change reality!"

Twilight went to form a response, couldn't think of anything good, and so just checked the last box on her list before stuffing it away and then covering herself with a blanket as the others continued staring at the Sea Ponies till they were out of view.

Author's Note

The Story of the Blanks isn't mine obviously, it belongs to Donitz (http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/573755); I just figured it was a good story to use to induce the whole cuddle puddle pileness of warmth and happiness that is also magically friendship based. X3

Also, this version of the theme was what Ryan was singing to: (http://youtu.be/5UAXJHF--5A). As for the second verse, yeah, I hammered that out mahself because why not? XD

8th Harvest

"Apple Ryder, you've got a delivery!"

Stopping what he was tinkering with, he put aside his goggles and walked over to see Derpy holding a long package for him; giving his signature he thanked her and then shook his head as he watched her wobble back and forth as she flew away.

"That girl is something else...hell of a mailmare though." Ryan noted, opening up his package, "Yes! It finally came."

"What are ya talking about?" AppleJack asked, watching as he tore open the packaging and pulled out a long black box, "What's that?"

"It's for training." Ryan explained, opening the case to show off a beautifully crafted katana, "While nothing terrible has happened yet, from all them tales y'all have told me since I've been here it does seem like yer pretty good at attracting trouble."

AppleJack merely nodded, her gaze looking over the blade as he lifted it from the case: the bright silver sheen of the blade, the red handle swirled with yellow stripes, and then the most eye-catching part was what appeared to be an apple made of an orange jewel.

"Ah! So that's what ya were using that gem we found for!"

"Yep! I figured why not get it customized to match mah family." Ryan remarked, stepping back so he was clear of everything and giving it a test swing, "It's nice and light too, but from what the blacksmith in town...oh what was his name? Tarnation, I can't remember; anyway he assured me it would be quite resilient to any number of things."

"But what's got ya so worried darlin'?"

"Well, some weird things have been happening lately...and I want to be wrong; however, just in case I'm not, I want to get some practice in so I'm not useless if somepony tries to hurt mah friends and mah home." Ryan explained, sheathing the sword and strapping it to his back, "Plus, I figure it'll help me focus mah inner self too and that should help with my magic somehow; ya know, try to catch up to T-Sparks and such. Hahaha."

"Just don't go hurting yerself Ry-Ry." AppleJack nudged him and laughed, "I know how crazy ya can get at times when yer focused."

"Cute Apps, cute." He laughed, ruffling her mane, "Well, back to what I was working on!"

The days slowly dragged on, being hotter than ever but as far Ryan could deduce, he figured it was just part of that early winter being called for so they had to get all the hot days out of the way when they could; as it was September rolled around quickly enough and the trees began to change color, their leaves fading to a vivid mixture of reds, browns, yellows, and oranges.

"So then...I can't help but notice the leaves haven't fallen despite changing color." Ryan asked one day while walking to town with AppleJack, "Don't tell me you guys handle that as well?"

"Sure enough sugah; in fact we have an annual race to help bring the leaves down: The Running of the Leaves! I bet with all the running we've been doing in the mornings you could probably at least keep up with most of the herd at this point."

"So basically a marathon? Hmmm...well, it would make sense then that the vibrations from everypony running would shake the leaves free; sounds like fun." Ryan paused a moment, "Would they allow me to enter?"

"Heck yeah! This is Ponyville and yer a citizen remember? Other than that crazy Lyra, most everyone sees ya as a pony...or should I use brony instead?"

Ryan sighed and rolled his eyes at Apps' teasing, shaking his head that he ever used that word to begin with.

"Well then Apps, just make sure I'm signed up; I might not win, but I reckon I'll have some fun!"

"Sheesh, it's like everypony in town is here to race." Ryan remarked as he stretched, a giant number 573 plastered on his chest, "...as the lone human (and a slightly huskier one at that) amongst a herd full of ponies, I'm not sure the odds are in mah favor."

"That's just hogwash Ry-Ry; yer a pretty quick runner even if yer only on two legs." AppleJack scoffed, "Besides, it's not about who wins ya know."

"I know, I know, it's about having fun and shaking the leaves so fall can officially get underway...which means we can get to winter and Christmas!"

"...whatmas?"

"Christmas....it's in December, usually near the end on the 25th?"

"Oh, yer thinking of Hearth's Warming Eve!" AppleJack giggled, "Christmas...is that another one of yer human words?"

"Heh, I guess so Apps; I just hope y'all celebrate it the same way." Ryan replied, taking one last stretch before noting he couldn't stand up, "The hay? Dashie. Haha, about time ya showed up."

"Yeah, yeah, so I'm a little late; mah alarm clock didn't go off like it should. I'm here though...it'll be nice to see if you've improved any since the beach trip."

"Well, as long as ya don't bust out them wings of yers, I think I'll be ok; I'm being realistic though about all this."

"Don't count yourself out yet, I mean, last year we both lost to Twilight of all ponies."

"Yeah, but that's because you and I were feuding over the race sugarcube." AppleJack sighed, "It was pretty foolish of us...but this year it's all fer fun."

"Let's hope so."

Waiting for the rest of the racers to show up, Ryan gave a wave when he saw Twilight and Spike show up...and while Twilight was numbered for the race, Spike was dressed in what could only be described as a sports blazer.

"Ah, more competition, I mean fun." He joked, "So little buddy, what's with the get-up?"

"Oh, after I did so well commenting last year on the race, I was asked to be the commentator for it again!" Spike proudly noted, "Hopefully it'll be a good clean race this year...but I'm ready for it to start! To speak in the role I so aptly fit in!"

"...yer worrying me little dude." Ryan teased at Spike's more professional demeanor, "Just don't fall out of the balloon."

"Oh don't worry, Pinkie wouldn't let that happen to me."

"Pinks? Oh Celestia, she's commenting as well? Hahahaha, this will be most excellent."

"My thoughts exactly! The fun will be doubled!"

"Ack!" Ryan gasped, getting glomped by Luna of all people, "L-Luna! Um..."

"Sister, please; I don't think poor Ryan can breathe." Celestia sighed, shaking her head, "Hello my little ponies, it's nice to be here again for another Running of the Leaves."

"Princess!" Twilight gasped, rushing over to her, "It's nice to see you too; I wasn't sure if you were going to come this year or not."

"Heh, and miss my favorite season?" Celestia chuckled, "And besides, Luna was rather curious to see if Ryan was going to run or not."

"Sister!" Luna gasped, before returning to glomping Ryan though in a manner with which he could breathe, "But yes...we were quite curious to watch the first ever human participant in the running in over a thousand years."

"...Luna." Ryan mumbled, "I know yer happy to see me, but yer still hugging too hard."

"Oh! Sorry!" Luna quickly let go of Ryan who caught his breathe, "...I'm not sure what it is when I'm around you."

"I'm pretty certain ah know." AppleJack remarked with a smirk, "Yer just thinking of that fellah he looks like...I can't blame ya, since mah Apple Ryder is pretty charming but ya do realize he's a different person right Princess?"

"Of this I know; I am not sure why I keep letting myself become so emotional." Luna grinned sheepishly, "It is not becoming for a Princess to act this way."

"It's okay Luna, no harm done; just...no more glomping like that okay?" Ryan laughed, rubbing the back of his head, "...so, is it race time yet?"

"Alright mares and gentlecolts! It's time once again to bring in fall!"

"That's right Spike, and we don't mean fall as in falling over, or falling in love...but fall as in that time when the leaves get all pretty and need shaken like yer rear in a conga line!"

"...what?" Spike blinked at Pinkie's description, "Anyway, today should be a really interesting race as for the first time in over a thousand years we have the first human participant taking part in the running!"

"That's right Spike; Rysy-Wysy might look a little strange and walk upright but he's just as much a pony as you or I! And he makes awesome treats! Seriously, has everypony had that Ryan Special yet...I had like three for breakfast and..."

"And to view this historic event." Spike continued, letting Pinkie trail off, "Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are here to watch; it's so exciting, just who will win this year?"

As the race prepared to get underway, Ryan heard an all too familiar squee as they lined up at the starting line and was not surprised to see Lyra there, her friend Bon Bon sighing as she desperately tried to hide herself.

"Oh my gosh, Ryan!" Lyra gasped, glomping Ryan, "I was hoping you'd run this year! Oh, oh, do you mind if I try and run like you do?"

"On two legs? Well, I don't own the rights to that...and besides, I've seen ponies walk on their hind legs plenty of times...y'all seem pretty at ease doing that."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know...but we can't run all that fast like that; not like humans can!"

"Lyra...don't you think you're putting poor Ryan out just a little bit?" Bon Bon asked, smiling politely at Ryan, "I mean, after what I caught happening when he came over...what you pretty much cute-bullied him to do."

"Ahem! I thought y'all agreed to never bring that up again after we barged in on it?"

"Yeah, I'm with Apps; it was a bit of an unfair situation anyway. When yer one of a handful of guys in a town full of mares...and then you have a total weakness to batted eyes and cute smiles...it's no wonder I'm always doing things for everypony." Ryan sighed, sheepishly smiling, "Anyway Lyra, run how ya want...that's what I'll be doing."

"Okay! High-five!"

Rolling his eyes, Ryan couldn't help but smirk as he gave her the desired high-five and watched Lyra get supercharged for the race; with that everypony got ready for the countdown.

"On your mark everypony! Get set!" The Mayor shouted, raising the flag high before throwing it down, "Gallop!!!!"

And like that the dust cloud whooshed up as everypony ran forward; as he expected a good number of ponies ran passed him quite quickly (led by Rainbow Dash and AppleJack, though that didn't surprise him) but he was keeping pace with a good number...and ahead of one or two like Lyra who was determined to run on her hind legs.

"Come on Lyra, kick them legs!" Ryan teased, giving her a friendly pat on the back before picking up the pace a little bit and settling in his speed with Twilight of all ponies, "Hey Twi; yer pretty good, better than I expected from someone that's always got their nose in a book. Haha."

"Oh ha, ha, ha...funny Ryan." Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled, "Well, last year when I paced myself I placed fifth!"

"That's the best way ta do this racing stuff...unless yer Apps and Dashie and have more stamina and energy than the sun."

"At least they're being civil this year...last year they were way out of hoove with their rivalry."

"Well, considering all I've heard it doesn't surprise me." Ryan let out a laugh, "I'm just glad that friendly rivalry they have didn't extend to fighting over mah love."

"...that would've been trouble."

"Indubitably."

"And Ryan is keeping pace, staying steady in the middle of the pack and doing pretty well all things considered; as for the race leaders, AppleJack and Rainbow Dash are neck and neck just like last year...but at least they aren't trying to beat each other up."

"That's right Spike! Oh! I wonder if I tied a hot dog to his head would Ryan run faster? Oh! Oh! And add some cheese to that hot dog too! Then he'd be turbo-charged!"

"...Pinkie, you certainly do put the color in color commentary." Spike joked, laughing nervously, "And with most of the racers reaching the halfway point, the leaves are falling nicely; it looks like this race is well on its way to being a successful one!"

"Yeppers-peppers! With them heading into the Whitetail Woods who knows what kind of lead changing might happen? Oh, I just realized what else might go good on that hot dog!"

"Enough about the hot dogs." Ryan groaned, shouting up at their balloon, "Sheesh...that gal is nice and all, but she just gets something and runs with it huh?"

"That's true...but that's Pinkie; heh, and you don't have to keep running with me ya know? I know ya want to try and catch up to AppleJack."

"Haha, that transparent huh?" Ryan laughed softly before smirking, "Well, I'd like to run some of the race with her...so...see ya at the end T-Sparks; let's hope I can place as well as you did last year."

With that Ryan ramped up his speed slightly, slowly catching up and passing a few other ponies as they wound through the woods; he grunted and groaned a few times as he had to duck branches and ran into a few others as he slowly made his way forward.

Wondering if he ever would catch up to his gal, he eventually saw what appeared to be her particular shade of orange appear in the distance; noting he was slowly catching up to her, she must have slowed to pace herself and once he was close enough he called out to her.

"Hmmm?" AppleJack mused, looking back and seeing Ryan waving at her, "Apple Ryder!"

"Heya Apps! I finally caught up with ya." Ryan huffed slightly, catching his breath as he matched AppleJack's pace, "Where's Dashie?"

"Oh, she just had to burst ahead as usual; she can win if she wants but, ta be honest, I was kind of hoping I could cross the finish line with you."

"Did you slow down so I could catch up?"

"Eeeeeemaybe."

"Hahaha, what a sweet thing to do." Ryan remarked, leaning down and kissing her cheek as best he could while they kept running, "Let me catch mah breath a little and then we can try to catch Dashie, alright?"

"Sounds like a plan sugah!"

And so the two ran along, not caring about much else other than shaking the leaves loose and enjoying one another's company as they ran.

"And it looks like Rainbow Dash might be the winner this year as AppleJack seems quite content to finish it out with her special somepony."

"I guess so Spike!! I guess it just goes to show that love is more powerful than any trophy....although if the trophy was a giant super awesome tasty cake then I'd wonder if they'd think the same thing."

"I don't know Pinkie...as tasty as some of those gem cakes you make are, I think I'd do what they are if I was racing with Rarity."

"Awwwwwwwwwwww." Everypony cooed, much to Spike's embarrassment.

"I...I mean! Oh look, Ryan and AppleJack have quickened their pace and...hey, that's Twilight too! It looks like they're all catching up to Rainbow Dash who finally seems to be tiring out." Spike noted, hoping to distract everypony, "I wonder who'll win!"

"Hey, there's Dashie! Heh, I caught up to her somehow after all!"

"Wha...is that Ryan I heard?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking over her shoulder to see Ryan waving at her, "Oh man, I must've really slowed down."

"I'mma gonna glomp ya across that line Dashie!" Ryan shouted, laughing as he and the others tied with him began pushing it to catch up to her, "Come here!"

"I don't think so! I'm not gonna lose like that!"

With that Rainbow Dash gave it her all, running as fast as she possibly could (she was not going to cheat with her wings this time) but was still disgruntled they were gaining on her.

"Especially Twilight...I can't lose to her again!" She gasped before grinning at the sight of the finish line, "Yes! It's all mine!"

"Nope!"

"Apps is right, we're gonna catch up!"

"...even if it is a bit silly, I can't help but feel myself get caught up in the sportsmanship rivalry." Twilight added, "Okay! I'm giving my all now!"

With that the four of them ended up nearly neck and neck, the dust kicking up with the leaves as they all neared the finish line.

"This is going to be a heck of a finish!" Spike shouted as they followed above, "It's anypony's race at this point!"

"Oh I can't watch! My stomach hasn't felt this twisted up since we all ate those Baked Bads!"

With one final push by everyone, it seemed as any one of them were to be the winner until...

"What was that grey streak?" Ryan asked moments before the four of them tumbled into each other and over the finish line...and got trampled by the ponies behind them as they caught up, "....ow."

"And from out of absolutely nowhere comes Derpy Hooves to win it all!" Spike gasped as they landed the balloon, "What a finish!"

"...ugh...that hurt sugarcube." AppleJack groaned, slowly getting back up and helping the others, "Everypony okay?"

"I'm fine...just my pride again." Rainbow Dash sighed before smirking, "Oh well, good job Derpy!"

"Yes! I'm quite happy too, I came in third!" Twilight added, "A nice improvement from last time."

"Heh, I guess that means me and Apps came in fourth and fifth." Ryan deduced, "Hey, fifth place in mah first running...as I recall, T-Sparks noted that's admirable!"

With a grin, Ryan walked over to shake hands with Derpy and congratulate her but was a bit curious about the brown stallion that seemed rather chummy with her.

"Well done Derpy my dear; that was most remarkable with that last burst of speed."

"Yes, that was pretty nicely done Derpy; I suppose there's a reason yer one hell of a mailmare." Ryan remarked, shaking her hoove before turning to the stallion, "By the way, I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves; I saw you at the Cider contest but was so busy I never got to say hello. I'm Ryan."

"Ah yes, the lone human in our world. Well, you can call me the Doctor."

Ryan took the offered hoove but smirked at how awkward this pony seemed to be in regards to shaking hands...and just how oddly he looked at him.

"The Doctor? Doctor Hooves then in some sort of delightful, cosmic pun?"

"Just...the Doctor if you will." the Doctor remarked, though Ryan could tell he seemed nervous...and then a strange thought clicked in his head.

"It can't be...there's no way. Hmmm..."

"Are you okay young man?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine; but tell me." Ryan leaned in close so only the Doctor and Derpy could hear, "Is the TARDIS still the, how did you put, the "sexy machine" that she always has been?"

"...I don't know...w-what you're talking about...good sir."

"Yer an awful liar, but that's okay; I've seen plenty in mah short time here to realize anything is possible." Ryan smirked, giving him a wink, "I won't say anything, and while I don't really know all that much about your show in mah world, I imagine some people would freak out something fierce knowing you exist in another reality."

"...Doctor, how does Ryan know all this? Is it because he's a human?"

"I'm not really sure Derpy...look, let's assume you are right in what you say, I'm with dear Derpy: how do you know this?"

"Oh, it's easy: like I said, in my world you're a television character, or at least your humanoid self is, been so fer....fifty something years? I'm not a fan per se, I've watched on occasion and know a few things but...yeah you don't really exist in mah world, outside of fiction obviously."

"....that makes my brain hurt a little." Derpy remarked, frowning and tapping her head in thought, "So he doesn't exist in your world?"

"That's the gist of what Ryan has explained; curious then but I can't expect an incarnation of myself to be in every reality." the Doctor mused, "Anyway, that's all assuming what we're talking about is real...which we aren't."

"Haha, we can play that way...like I said, it's not like I'd say anything." Ryan laughed softly, "Just maybe, one day, you'll let me see what it's like when something is "a lot bigger on the inside". Breaking the laws of physics has always intrigued me after all. Anyhow, good job Derpy; hopefully I'll be the winner next year."

With that Ryan walked back to his friends who were excited as they looked over their ribbons, all the while the Doctor and Derpy tried to make sense of Ryan and whether or not he was a risk knowing what he knew.

"...it'll be okay Doctor; I've seen enough of him to know he'll keep his word." Derpy nodded before putting a hoove on his shoulder, "I might not be the smartest or the sharpest wit but I can tell when someone has good character. Ever since I first saw him I always seem to bump into him or nearly knock him down but he's always so nice about it and never getting angry at me."

"Very well Derpy, I won't let it bother me then."

Meanwhile, a thought had struck Ryan while chatting with his friends that one of them seemed to be completely missing from the group; in fact, she wasn't anywhere to be found at all and that bothered him.

"Gals...where's Rarity?"

"That's a good question." Twilight tapped a hoof on the ground before frowning, "Even though she's not one to run like this...she would've been here for support."

At that moment, a distance away at Rarity's boutique, said missing pony was slowly waking up; turning to look at her alarm clock she gasped and panicked at what time it was, swooning and stating how this was just the worst possible thing ever!

"Oh my, they'll never let me hear the end of it if they find out I slept in; how terribly dreadful!"

While there was some good-natured teasing towards Rarity when they'll all met up later that day for dinner, the group of friends still had quite a good time enjoying their victories and another successful fall getting underway and looking forward to what it would bring.

Speaking of, one day at the schoolhouse...

"And let's see...who would like to volunteer to have a family member come in first this year?" Cheerilee asked.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I do Miss Cheerilee!" AppleBloom shouted, "I'd like mah big brother ta come in since I know everypony is curious about him!"

"...why would they be curious about Big Mac sweetie?"

"Not MacIntosh, mah other big bro!"

"...hmmm? You have another brother?" Came the murmurs from the other kids.

"I bet she's talking about that weirdo looking pony that lives on their farm with them." Stated a rather snooty looking filly.

"Ya take that back Diamond Tiara! Mah big bro Ryan is not a weirdo!"

"Ooooh yes, our resident human." Cheerilee nodded, "I didn't know he was family now."

"Well he's dating mah sister, so why wouldn't he be? Even Granny said he's officially an Apple family member."

"I think that's an excellent idea AppleBloom; I'm sure many of you would have some good questions for him."

"Whoo! I'll ask him when I get home tonight! And he'd love that, big bro seems to like talking fer some reason."

With that the bell rang, Cheerilee dismissing all of them for the day; saying goodbye to her friends AppleBloom ran right home to ask him.

Not seeing either of them, she wandered back to the barn and didn't see them there either...even though she saw evidence of whatever it was Ryan was working on in secret, parts and pieces of who knew what lying about; giving a shrug, she eventually just went into the farmhouse and saw the two of them lying on the couch taking a quick nap.

"Haha, big bro looks so peaceful." AppleBloom giggled softly, tip-toeing over and lightly nipping his hand, "Wakey-wakey."

"Ugh...hmmmm?" Ryan groaned softly, "Apps...mah hand isn't an apple."

"Mmmm, it's not? But it's tasty." AppleJack mumbled out in her sleepy state, "...needs jam."

"...what in tarnation are you two dreaming about?" AppleBloom asked, before nipping his hand again, "Come on! Wake up!"

"Ack! Too hard!" Ryan gasped before blinking and seeing AppleBloom staring at him, "Oh hey lil' sis....wait, did ya bite mah hand?"

"Mmmmaybe...I wanted to ask ya something!"

Letting out a little groan when she hopped up into his lap (AppleJack had simply been leaning against his right side), Ryan shook his head before ruffling her mane.

"And what is so important it couldn't wait until I was done napping with Apps?"

"Will ya come speak to mah class this year?"

"Huh?"

"Well, ya see, every year we have someone from our family come talk to the class, like a family appreciation thing...at least we have the last three years or so...and this year I wanted mah big bro to come talk to them! Ya know...talk about being a human and what have ya."

"Heh, that sounds like a right fine idea, eh Apple Ryder?" AppleJack laughed softly, "I reckon them fillies and colts are mighty curious about ya after all. Though, considerin' our Granny was the one to do so last time...you've got yer work cut out for ya."

"Well then, I'll just have to wow them with my epic human-ness!" Ryan remarked, "...even if that didn't make a lick o'sense."

Having a bit of a laugh at his silliness, the three of them hung out for a while and enjoyed some quality family time....which ended up with them napping once again.

A few days later, Ryan was on his way towards the schoolhouse when AppleBloom said he had to show up; looking over himself and checking over the bag he had brought along one more time, he gave a knock on the door and smiled when Cheerilee waved him in.

"It's good to have you here Ryan, thanks for coming in."

"Heh, anything for mah little sis. It's also an honor to meet the fine mare that's ensuring she gets a proper education." Ryan took her hoove and shook, before kissing it like the silly human that he was, "I appreciate it m'lady."

"Oh dear...I had heard you were quite a charmer from Lyra and Bon Bon." Cheerilee joked, "Now then, if you'd like to go ahead and take a seat and start talking."

"Psst, AppleBloom." Diamond Tiara whispered towards her, "He's so sappy...told ya he was weird."

"He is not weird!"

"That's sweet little sis, but I'm pretty goofy so I'm not sure that is completely true." Ryan joked, much to the younguns amusement...and AppleBloom's slight embarrassment, "Anyway, I can only guess that y'all must have a ton of question for me."

"What's it like being so tall?"

"What's a human anyway?"

"Why do you always wear clothes?"

"Is it weird dating a pony?"

"Why are you such a weirdo?"

"Diamond Tiara!"

Ryan had to laugh, they all had pretty good questions (except for that Diamond Tiara filly); thinking on it, he'd seen her and that other one laughing along with her teasing his little sisters the CMC's quite a bit but he was never really sure why.

Upon thinking about their names though, he had an inkling of an idea but he was going to ignore it for now.

"My my, those are all such very good questions." Ryan noted, "Let's start with a simple one: a human is a mammal much like y'all. In fact, on my Earth there's a whole bunch of us; as the ponies seem to be here, on my Earth humans are the predominant species."

"Pre-pre...dome-in-ant?"

"Haha, it means we're the ones at the top more or less. Anyway, what else? I'm also warm-blooded..."

"I'll say! He's so fun to snuggle with."

"Scootaloo!" Ryan laughed, as did most of the class, "While I won't deny that, come on...I'm blushing here. Any who, as you've noticed I walk upright all the time and don't have nearly as impressive a mane as ponies are capable of. As for the clothing, well...for a human it's not decent to go around without clothing on. I wouldn't want to scare anypony after all."

The group of children giggled at his friendly manner and energetic way of talking.

"As for dating a pony well...apparently the fellow that is mah past self/predecessor/whatever y'all want to call him was pretty close to Luna so..."

"Wait, wait...Princess Luna?!"

"Yes Silver Spoon, that Luna; as such, it doesn't seem I'm too far off following in his footsteps." Ryan joked, "Besides, Apps is a sweet gal and human or not, I don't know how anypony could resist her charms."

"But doesn't it get tiresome being so much taller than her? How do ya kiss?"

At that question the class giggled as children do when talking about romance and such topics; Ryan took it all in stride though, amused by their curiosity.

"Well, it's not as bad as you'd think with her being about 2/3rds mah height; when she's on her hind legs we can kiss pretty easily."

"I'll say!"

"AppleBloom! Ahem, anyway it's probably no different than how anypony kisses...I love Apps so it just doesn't really bother me about our differences. Heck, y'all pretty much act like humans anyhow with a lot of what ya got so it all seems normal ta me."

"We do?"

"Eyup! While ya don't seem to have all the same technologies, me and Twilight Sparkle have been working on that; as such I brought something to share with y'all today."

"Peh, it's probably some silly doo-dad or such." Diamond Tiara scoffed as Ryan pulled something out of his bag, "What in all of Ponyville is that?"

"This is a camera."

"It looks different from mine!"

"That's right...Featherweight was it?" Ryan noted, smiling when the little colt nodded his head, "Heh, this one is a bit different from the one T-Sparks and I finished up; it's got similar properties but it actually prints the picture after taking it....at least it should."

"It should?" Cheerilee asked, a bit worried at his word usage.

"Yeah, it'll...it'll be fine; it's a prototype so it's not designed to be used by anyone that doesn't have hands yet...but if'n y'all would like it I can take a photo of all of us for yer classroom."

"I think that would be a wonderful idea...I hope." Cheerilee nervously noted, "Okay everypony, line up in the front while Mr. Ryan gets his camera set up."

"Heh, just call me Ryan...adding that mister makes me feel old. Haha."

With that Ryan lined up his camera, got everypony in focus, crossed his fingers and hit the timer; hurriedly making his way over to the group he kneeled behind the CMC's and smiled.

The camera beeped for a few moments before the flash went off and the picture was taken...and then the camera sparked, billowed out black smoke and flooded the classroom forcing everypony to run outside for fresh air.

"Ack...sorry...cough...sorry everypony." Ryan coughed a bit, watching as the smoke finally dissipated from the schoolhouse, "Like I said...it's a prototype. Sorry Cheerilee."

"Oh it's okay; what is technology without it's issues right? As long as nopony was hurt."

"Thanks fer being so understanding; mah camera is a bit wrecked but hey! On the plus side, the picture did come out everypony!"

Sure enough, as he held it up for all the kids to see, the picture had taken perfectly and printed...as far as he could deduce Equestria wasn't ready for a piece of tech this awesome though and had seen fit for it to slightly explode as a result.

"Oh well, back to the drawing board...huh?"

Looking over, he could see the CMC's (particularly AppleBloom) arguing with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon about...him?!

"He is not a spaz! He's really smart! It's not his fault his gizmo blew up! And even then it still worked!"

"Heh, whatever, he's just a freak that likes to hang out with a bunch of loser blank flanks; what's even more pathetic is he's so lonely he has to date outside his own species! I bet he was a loser back on his world too!" Diamond Tiara taunted, smirking at how angry AppleBloom was getting.

"Why you...?!" AppleBloom gasped, making to jump her but getting stopped mid-air by Ryan, "Big bro?!"

"AppleBloom, let it go." Ryan noted as he held her and then hefted her on to his shoulders before looking at Diamond Tiara, "...you really shouldn't antagonize people so much DT; if you don't, one day you'll find yourself with nopony at all who cares about you...and I mean honestly cares about you. Trust me, I saw too many friends go down that road growing up..."

"...." Diamond Tiara didn't quite have a comeback for that statement and just glared at him.

"Hmmm...." Ryan mused, looking at the other two CMC's and smirking before turning back to Diamond Tiara and her friend, "Hey, I was gonna take mah little sisters to get some ice cream...and I think I've got a few extra bits so would you like to join us?"

"Yer inviting them?" AppleBloom gasped while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo just stared at him.

"Of course; when you do things with somepony else it's always more fun. Thus more ponies equal more enjoyment. As Luna would say, the fun is doubled!"

"....why would I want anything to do with you?" Diamond Tiara asked, "Why would you even ask me when I've acted how I have towards you?"

"Heh, I have mah reasons...so are you two game?"

"Diamond Tiara?" Silver Spoon asked, noting her friend thinking his offer over.

"...I suppose it would be better than going back to an empty home....fine, but I want whatever flavor I want and all the toppings I can pick."

Ryan gave a slight laugh and smiled warmly, "Of course....well then, Cutie Mark Crusaders Ice Cream Connoisseurs go!"

Noting that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walking ahead of them, AppleBloom leaned down and whispered in Ryan's ear.

"Big bro...what in tarnation did ya ask them along fer anyway? They're always making fun of us."

Ryan looked at the two fillies walking in front of them and sighed, "...I knew a few kids in high school that were like them; born into money and all that. Money may be nice, and a problem solver, but it can cause other problems that are even worse than needing money. Heh, I even had family like that."

"I don't understand...."

"Well, let me put it this way: they were always lonely, because they're parents were never around as they were so focused on making money. And judging by how DT is acting, I think her father isn't around too often. He's some super business pony from what Granny told me so that's got to affect her...make her lonely."

"Come to think of it, I've never seen her mother...and nopony ever picks her up from school." Sweetie Belle noted, "...Do you really think it's that simple?"

"Maybe...but perhaps an offer of friendship and kindness is all that's needed to make a change." Ryan replied before noting they were just about at Sugarcube Corner, "Anyway, we'll talk about that more later."

"...I'm not sure what you losers are talking about back there, but you're making us wait! Right Diamond?"

"Right Silver Spoon! Come on...let's get this ice cream! Or did you change your mind human?"

"Ladies first." Ryan remarked, holding the door open for them, "Now then, hopefully our favorite sweet treat server is here."

"My ears are burning!" Pinkie shouted, hopping out of the kitchen, "...no seriously, they are...for Celestia's sake get me some water!"

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Ryan gasped, setting AppleBloom down and quickly grabbing a pitcher of punch sitting there, "Here!"

Tossing the punch at Pinkie's head, he sighed in relief as the flames sizzled out and left her looking strangely no worse for wear; thoroughly confused he sat the pitcher down and shook his head.

"What....what in Equestria were you doing?!"

"Me? Oh that's an easy one Rysy-Wysy! I was trying to make edible flames!"

"I....uhm....erm.....we're sorry, the human you're attempting to converse with cannot be dialed as desired. Please, hang up, and try again." Ryan joked, his brain sizzling at the insanity Pinkie came up with yet again, "Pinks, you are crazy...but anyway, I've got business fer ya! See these five little fillies? Give them whatever ice cream treat they desire!"

"Okie-dokie-loki! I'm your Ice Cream Mare! Wooo!"

After ordering six decently sized sundaes (well, more like five and then the simple one he was left with since he had slightly overestimated the amount of bits he'd brought with him), Ryan sat with the five fillies who ate in what he noted was a slightly tense silence; eating one of the cherries from his he tried to think of a way to break the ice.

"Hmmm...." He mumbled, before groaning at the spoonful he just ate, "Ah, mah head!"

"Sheesh, it's just brain-freeze you big weirdy." Diamond Tiara scoffed, before blinking as she too got it, "Owies."

"Heh, I thought it was just brain-freeze." AppleBloom teased, much to DT's annoyance.

"Well he's a grown...whatever you'd call him."

"Adult."

"Yeah, sure, fine, adult....I'm just a sweet little filly so of course it'll affect me harder."

"Hahaha, it's funny...but to be honest, with how you two argue I'm surprised you aren't friends." Ryan mused, eating his other cherry and smirking as the two fillies looked at him oddly.

"That don't make a lick o'sense big bro."

"I find myself agreeing with the blank flank; why would we be friends because of that?"

"Wait, wait...I think I got this!" Scootaloo interjected, "Is it....because only good friends would tease each other like that?"

"Something like that." Ryan nodded, "It's sort of a rule that the more two people argue, the closer their friendship can be."

"But...I thought Miss Cheerilee taught us that opposites attract and likes repel?" Silver Spoon asked, pausing with her spoon in her mouth as she thought it over.

"Well SS, while that is true with a lot of things, when it comes to hu-I mean ponies, sometimes those with similar attitudes actually got along better because of that." Ryan explained, finishing up his sundae, "In all honesty...I wouldn't be surprised if you all became friends."

"...that's just ridiculous." Diamond Tiara huffed, poking around the melting remains of her sundae, "..."

"Is it? As far as I can tell, the only reason you make fun of them is their lack of cutie marks." Ryan nodded again, "If you were all, as you so put it "blank flanks", I don't see why you couldn't be friends."

"...Diamond?" Silver Spoon asked, noting her friend's contemplative state again, "...what are you thinking?"

"And to be honest, it shouldn't matter that you do and they don't....heck, where I'm from, humans don't get any kind of sign that they've found what they're good at."

"You said something like that before." Sweetie Belle looked at Ryan and nodded, "Humans don't get cutie marks."

"That's right...we just have to hope we find what we're good at. Sadly, some people never even do and we just have to flounder through life best we can despite that; so the fact that y'all can get a sign when you've found yer calling is pretty cool. It means you have proof that the dream you desire is the correct one so you don't get sidetracked..."

"Big bro?" AppleBloom saw his somewhat forlorn look and nuzzled against him, "You okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking on dreams I had when I was yer age that...fizzled for one reason or another. Nothing fer ya little ones to worry about. That was then, this is now, and the future is limitless right?"

"...you say a lot of strange things Ryan." Diamond Tiara noted, finally looking up from her thoughts, "...anyway, the sundae was a nice treat....thank you."

"Yer welcome. Would ya like us to walk ya home? I'm in no rush so..."

"No, no, that's fine...my father might be there and...well, I don't know why I'm telling you this but he...he seems to not like you for some reason."

"...well that's odd; I don't think yer dad has ever met mah big bro."

"I know AppleBloom, but he..." Diamond Tiara shook her head before frowning again, "Anyway, this...this was nice but...don't think it changes anything."

"Heh, of course not." Ryan joked, laughing softly as he watched DT and her friend walk away, "Yer welcome to join us anytime ya feel like it you two; get home safely."

Diamond Tiara paused for a moment to look back at the waving Ryan; needless to say the CMC's were quite surprised when she gave him a smile before disappearing from view.

"Big bro...how did you do that?"

"It's easy Scootaloo: with situations like this, kindness and compassion are often the strongest weapons at yer disposal."

Well, while Diamond Tiara hadn't let up her teasing of the CMC's, she did seem to have dialed back a bit; Ryan had explained that change was hard for a lot of people after they'd been in their ways for so long...and especially so if they aren't sure the kindness offered is genuine or not.

As it was, October had finally made its way here and with it the start of the chilly weather; Rarity was thrilled as it meant her hard work was finally going to be worn by her "star" model though Ryan was just thrilled about wearing his leather jacket again.

As it was he awoke one morning, a slight chill in the air despite being huddled under a blanket with AppleJack; yawning he went to open his eyes and noted something seemed amiss.

"I can't put my finger on it, but somethin' doesn't feel right." He quietly remarked, looking around slowly, "Hmmm...room looks normal...I look normal...Apps is normal."

"Tarnation, what are ya going on about?" AppleJack mumbled, nuzzling his chest and staying under the covers.

"Something just feels wrong....and I....!"

That was when it finally clicked in his mind what was off: they were on the ceiling, but for some reason they had not fallen to the floor even though gravity...

"Stop that thought!" Ryan told himself, "As long as I don't think it, it can't affect me. Pinkie's guide to reality 101 after all."

"What are ya talking about Pinkie fer?"

"Apps, whatever you do, when you look from under the covers, do not think falling is possible."

"Falling? Why would I think..." She groaned, pulling her head from the warmth and blinking, "Ah, that's why. So...uhm...what do we do sugah?"

"Simple...at the count of three, I want you to think that we fall slowly, but only us, not the bed or anything else. If my calculations are correct, we should be fine...I reckon."

"Well, yer usually pretty smart about things like this so...okay."

"One....two...three!"

With that Ryan and AppleJack pictured themselves slowly floating down to the ground and, sure enough, despite physics breaking they did indeed slowly drop down till gravity fixed itself; not taking any chances Ryan quickly got dressed and the two made their way through the house to see if the others were still okay.

Waking them up, they all headed outside to see the Sweet Apple Acres seemed to be okay, upside down, but okay.

Of course, the sky wasn't looking itself either.

"Okay, I don't understand; why is the sun smiling?

"I think a better question is why does the sun have a face Ry-Ry."

"That's true too Apps; do ya think something happened to Celestia?"

"I don't know sonny, but this all seems kind of odd; maybe y'all should go see yer friends and make sure they're okay?"

"Will you three be okay here?" Ryan asked, looking a bit worried as he turned to Granny.

"Tarnation, we're not helpless! Besides, that look tells me ya know what might be goin' on so go! Big Mac will help us out!"

"Eyup! I've got the farm covered bro."

"Well, just stay on yer guard." Ryan noted, straightening his hat and nodding at AppleJack, "Come on Apps, let's get moving!"

As they continued on in to town, that bad feeling sitting in the pit of Ryan's gut would not go away; as it was Ponyville seemed to be how it should be when he got there...but something felt off in the air.

"Ya feel it too huh Apple Ryder?"

"That weirdness floating about?"

"Yeah, that...like somethin' crazy is about ta happen. Let's try Twi's first since it's the closest!"

Following her, the two came to Twilight's house but noticed the tree was not the right kind of tree it had been before: now it was a pine tree and was all decorated like for Christmas.

"Hearth's Warming Eve."

Whatever, the audience gets the point.

"Ry-Ry...who were ya talking to?"

"Nopony, nopony at all." Ryan grinned before knocking on the door and feeling the door knock back, "Ow...T-Sparks are you in there?!"

"Ryan?! AppleJack!? I'm a bit busy here!"

Well that's all the noise they needed to hear, if the door wasn't going to open nicely, they were going to use force; AppleJack tried to buck it open but that only had the same result as Ryan's knocking.

"You okay?"

AppleJack blinked the stars from her eyes as she lay in Ryan's arms, "Ah think so...never thought I'd feel what it's like to get a taste of Kicks McGee though."

"Anytime guys!" Twilight shouted before shrieking, "Spike look out!"

"Okay, that's enough." Ryan pulled his sword out and took a diagonal swipe at the door, smirking as it cut in half, "And in we...what the hell?"

Inside the library, Twilight and Spike seemed to be fighting a dragon...made entirely of the books and other various items that were normally in her house; seeing help finally showing Twilight ran as fast as she could (with Spike in tow) towards the open doorway.

"Hey T-Sparks, what...." Ryan tired to ask before seeing the dragon turn its focus to him, "Oh lovely; and they said reading was safe."

Sensing he wasn't safe, Ryan ran along with the others and was a bit dismayed that the dragon had destroyed the library and was chasing after them.

"So I reckon y'all had an unpleasant wakeup call as well sugarcube?" AppleJack asked, rolling to one side to avoid getting slammed into the ground.

"...you guys had trouble too?"

"Heh, nothing like this little dude; we just woke up with everything flip-flopped...and of course the sun having a face."

"...seriously?" Twilight huffed, stopping in her tracks, "You simply wake up upside down and I! Wake up! To find all my books! Turned into a damn monstrosity! ARGH!"

Gulping, Ryan, Spike, and AppleJack quickly backed away from Twilight who was looking pretty pissed off; seeing her turn around and face the dragon she growled and let loose a huge burst of magic that pretty much blew it apart into many little pieces of crumpled paper.

"Huh....huh....huh....that was strangely therapeutic." Twilight sighed before noting her friend's raised eyebrows, "...what?"

"...okay, that solved that issue. So then...shall we try to find the others?" Ryan asked, "If we've both encountered some craziness then who knows what they've run in to!"

"Right! I'm not really sure what's going on but we need to make sure everypony is okay." Twilight gave a nod and started running off, "Let's go check on Pinkie Pie next..."

As they ran, Ryan and Spike shared a worried glance and so, just to see if their thoughts had come true, he quickly sent a message off to Celestia hoping that her reply would set things straight.

When they got to Sugarcube Corner, however, things were looking a bit bleak for Pinkie as she seemed to be fighting a giant...muffin? With frosting limbs?

"Oh dear! I told her not to do it but she still did!" Ms. Cake remarked, trying to explain everything to Twilight, "She pushed us out of the way and now that awful thing has her!"

"Oh man, I knew all those sweets would be the end of me one day, but never did I think it'd be like this!" Pinkie shouted, screaming as the muffin tossed her about, "Help!"

Jumping into action, Ryan and AppleJack did their best to get Pinkie down: lassoing the muffing and holding it steady for Ryan, AppleJack watched as he jumped up and tried to slice it's arm off.

Unfortunately, his sword went right through it without any noticeable damage as it healed itself...and then backhanded him into the ground.

"Ryan! No!" Pinkie shouted, "Oh you baked bad! Stop hurting my friends!"

Ryan groaned, slowly picking himself up as a worried AppleJack and Twilight ran over to him; waving them off he pointed back at Pinkie and that they should focus on how to best help her.

"Elemanetery good sir; I believe your help has arrived."

Turning around, Ryan could see the Doctor and...was that Derpy flying super fast towards them?

No, she flew passed them and then made her way towards...of course!

"Muffins natural predator....the DERPY HOOVES!" Ryan shouted, laughing as Derpy made short work of the muffin man monster.

"Ha! I did know the muffin man...till one of my friends gobbled him up!" Pinkie laughed gleefully as the monster was no more, "...oh wait! Now I'm gonna fall!"

Screaming for her apparent doom, Pinkie was unaware that Derpy had caught her and was slowly lowering her back to the ground; opening one eye, she saw she was okay and sheepishly laughed.

"I guess when I didn't feel that sudden stop I should've known I was okay! But oh my gosh! What's going on?!"

"A good question indeed...these acts of randomness certainly are disruptive are they not?" the Doctor noted, "I'm going to look more into this; in the meantime go find your friends."

"Should I go with you, Doctor?"

"No Derpy, I think they made need your help at the moment."

"Oh man, oh man, oh man."

"Rainbow Dash..."

"Come on Fluttershy, keep flapping those wings; if you do it can't catch us."

"I know but...I'm getting tired."

The thing chasing them, which seemed to be made of very angry storm clouds, bellowed and spat lightning at them as it hounded them through the outskirts of Ponyville.

"What about our friends? Can't they help?"

"You know I don't want to lead this thing into town; that'd be so uncool." Rainbow Dash huffed, grabbing hold of Fluttershy when she began to slow down, "We can't let it attack the town!"

"But...but...we're done for without some help!"

"I know but...huh?"

"Enveloping Flames!"

Rainbow Dash barrel-rolled out of the way as a blast of red magic flew passed them and impacted with the cloud creature; hearing it roar and hiss, a large hole was now visible in its mid-section.

"Finally, some totally awesome help!"

"Nice shot Ryan."

"Thanks T-Sparks, but...I think I just made it angrier." Ryan sighed, "Let's see...it's a storm...what stops storms?"

"...another storm?" Rainbow Dash shrugged, "I mean, I can dissipate clouds with a self-made tornado like it's nothing...but this guy is pretty big."

"Heh, is the great Rainbow Dash saying she can't handle it?" AppleJack teased.

"I never said that! Just keep him busy and I'll pull him apart!"

With that AppleJack and Ryan ran diversion techniques with Fluttershy and Derpy, while Twilight kept zapping it to keep it weakened; all the while Rainbow Dash was doing her best to get a tornado going.

"Apps, look out!" Ryan shouted, knocking her out of the way and getting blasted by some lightning, "...."

"No!" Rainbow Dash growled, going faster and faster before sending the tornado flying at the beast, "Eat this you jerk!"

"Ry-Ry!" AppleJack shouted, walking over and noting that he seemed to be okay, "Huh?"

"That was close." Ryan grunted, slowly getting up with his wand in hand, "Didn't think I'd get that shield up in time."

Stumbling a bit, he grabbed on to AppleJack for support and winced.

"Okay...still hurt even with that shield. Lightning bad, real bad!" He gasped a bit before getting glomped by Rainbow Dash, "Haha...I'm okay Dashie; good job."

"You need to be careful Ryan, I know you've gotten better with your magic and everything else but lightning is still dangerous." Twilight chided, though she was relieved her friend was okay, "So that leaves everypony except for Rarity."

"We lured that thing away from Scootaloo, hopefully she's okay out there."

"If you want, I can go look for her while you check on Rarity." Derpy suggested, "You said that Sweet Apple Acres was okay so I'll take her there when I find her."

"Are you sure? Going off by yourself isn't a good idea."

"Trust me. The Doctor had a theory whatever is happening is focusing on you seven for the moment, so I should be okay." Derpy reassured them, before flapping into the air, "Let's just all meet at the farm then since it seems to be the most safe at the moment."

"Well, okay Derpy." Ryan nodded, "Just stay safe."

"Okay then...so..back to Rarity."

And that's when everypony heard a very shrill scream that couldn't be mistaken for anypony other than their last friend.

"Come on! Rares is in trouble!"

"Where's Pinkie at anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked as the group made their way to Rarity's Boutique, "Did you already find her?"

"We saved her from a giant muffin...but then she said she had to go secure something and she'd meet up with us at Sweet Apple Acres." AppleJack explained, "She wouldn't say what she was doing...that the fourth wall had ears...so hopefully she'll be okay."

"...I'm more worried that I haven't heard from Celestia yet." Ryan added, frowning as he checked his device, "She's usually pretty good about responding...or even having Luna respond but...it's bothersome."

"Maybe she's just busy?"

"I thought about that T-Sparks...but even when she's busy she finds a way to reply."

As they approached Rarity's Boutique, they saw a large portion of it missing and Rarity was in quite the bit of trouble.

"Rarity!" Spike shouted, staring at her in the grasp of a giant beast made entirely of gems.

"This is crazy!" AppleJack grumbled, "What in tarnation is going on?"

"...wait a minute...crazy....random....my Celestia! This is what you would call chaotic." Twilight gasped, "Ryan..."

"Yeah, I deduced the same thing but was hoping I was wrong; even with the events earlier I had hoped they were just odd happenings but...." Ryan shook his head, "I won't say it until I know fer sure; and I won't know till I hear back from Celestia and Luna."

"Excuse me! Remarkably beautiful pony still in a life and death situation here!" Rarity shouted, "SOMEPONY SAVE ME!"

Attempting to blast her free, Ryan and Twilight's magic simply bounced off and back at them causing the group to scatter; even trying to cut her free led to Ryan's sword bouncing back as well before he once again got back-handed into the ground.

"Ugh....I'm getting a bit sick of this." He huffed, pulling himself free and sheathing his sword, "...wait...this thing is made of gems!"

"Yeah, we've figured that out Ry-Ry..."

"Think about it...gems...."

Slowly turning to face Spike, Ryan grinned widely before lifting him up and readying to throw him.

"R-Ryan...what are you doing big guy?"

"Oh nothing little buddy, just counting on yer massive appetite for gems to save the fair maiden." Ryan explained, "You do want to save yer fair maiden do you not?"

"Save...Rarity? And eat gems?" Spike's face became determined and he gave a salute, "I'm ready! Fire away!"

"Spike Cannon Fire!"

Throwing with all his might, Ryan threw Spike right at the monster...and grinned when he saw him latch on and start chomping away at the monster.

"Om-nom-nom-nom-nom!" Spike was a machine, going to town on it and eventually gnawing the hand holding Rarity off.

"Gotcha sugarcube!" AppleJack shouted, running underneath and catching Rarity, "You okay?"

"Oh it was the most terrifying thing! I was making a new winter outfit for dear Ryan when the gems in my chest came to life! Oh I was so scared!"

"Haha, I think the only scared one now is the monster." Rainbow Dash remarked, laughing as it tried to escape Spike but couldn't until it was all gone.

"Dang little dude, way to go!"

"Oh..it was....ugh...nothing. I'd do anything for Rarity." Spike mumbled out, though he couldn't move at all, "Someone...carry me please..."

Thankful that they hadn't had any trouble getting to the farm, the group of friends were quite relieved to see Derpy with the Cutie Mark Crusaders as well as Pinkie and the other Apple family members.

After hugs and sayings of happiness that everypony was alright, the group began to figure out what their next course of action should be.

"Well I had a feeling we'd need these!" Pinkie shouted, showing a certain book to Twilight, "After I found out all these crazy things were going on, I just knew something had to be up!"

"Wow, that's pretty observant Pinkie."

"Yep! That and the awesome chocolate milk clouds came back!"

"...chocolate milk clouds?" Ryan asked, slightly perplexed, "Anyway...what's in that book T-Sparks?"

"The one thing that might help us if what you and I have deduced to be true is." Twilight noted, taking the book from Pinkie and opening it, "The Elements of Harmony."

Sure enough, inside the book shined six beautiful relics that each represented one aspect embodied by each of the Mane 6; Ryan had heard mention of them before but to actually see them was a bit interesting.

"The Elements of Harmony...."

'Oooh, there's a new one! Still as breath-taking as always though.'

"...that's getting bothersome."

"What is Ry-Ry?"

"That strange gruff voice I keep hearing every so often...anyway, I still haven't heard from Celestia or Luna...I'm not liking this."

"As you all should."

Looking about, Ryan couldn't see the source of this voice...and he seemed bothered by how much it unsettled his friends as well; holding his wand at the ready he kept looking around for whoever this was to appear.

'...so he is behind all this.'

"Oh my, are those the grumbling thoughts of a human I haven't seen in so long?"

"...you heard that too?" Ryan asked, still seeing no sign of the voice's owner.

"Of course I should dear boy...I did get rid of him after all, so how...could I possibly...forget my dear friend Darkness Shade?"

With a bright flash of light and burst of confetti, in front of them appeared the one behind all this, the one chaotic creature that reveled in such misfortune, the one...the only...

"Discord." Twilight growled, "I knew it."

"It's not like it took too much to connect the dots, although I'm quite surprised to see another human."

"Yeah, I know." Ryan spat back, "Yer reaction that day made it quite apparent."

"Reaction?"

"Oh yes my dear ponies, did...Ryan is it? Did your dear friend Ryan not tell you that I detected him...and who he was that day in the garden?" Discord taunted them all, snaking his way around them as he talked, "He seemed eager enough to share the fact with the little dragon."

Ryan grunted and slapped Discord's tail off of his shoulder before glaring at him, "What do you want anyway? Everything I've heard about you hasn't been nice in the least...and I know about yer tricks so I doubt you'll be causing any troublesome thoughts for us."

"My my, such a temper; you're just like him however." Discord scoffed, smirking at Ryan, "What I want is what I always want...to sow chaos, to create havoc, to let the world unwind as it should, to have fun!"

"...and to be the king of it all." Ryan growled, surprising himself and his friends, "You've lost twice already...it's foolish to show up and think you have a chance."

"Oh why...because you have these silly little things?" Discord swiped at Twilight, attempting to get the book from her and merely knocking it away.

"You wouldn't call them silly unless you knew they could beat you." Rainbow Dash remarked, glaring at him, "I haven't forgotten what you did to me...to us last time so we won't go down easy."

"Blah, blah, blah...as quick tempered as always I see. How boring..." Discord huffed, knocking everypony back and smirking, "Heh, you did surprise me, that much is true; I will give you credit for that. I won't lose again though."

Sensing what he was up to, Ryan ran towards the book and threw himself between it and Discord, wrapping himself around it.

"Stubborn fool...even after all this time you still act the same." Discord growled, swiping at Ryan and scratching his back before he could get away.

"Damn...that hurt." Ryan grumbled, glaring at Discord and trying to ignore the pain he felt, "And you ruined mah jacket...you're gonna pay for that one."

"Oh boy, threats too; idle ones, much like his I'm afraid. Face it boy...you aren't him...and you're just useless."

"Bite me!"

"Well, if you insist."

"Wait, what?" Ryan gasped before screaming as he felt something clamp down on his arm, "You bastard."

Annoyed by Discord's smirking self, Ryan tossed the book towards Twilight before pulling out his sword and stabbing him with it; hearing him growl in pain he felt Discord toss him away angrily as he landed in a pile near Spike, his sword clattering next to him.

"Apple Ryder!" AppleJack shouted as she attempted to run to him but was stopped by Discord, "Out of mah way!"

"Oh ho hooooo, what is this then?" Discord mused as he looked between Ryan and AppleJack, "I see Dark's interest in the ladies passed on to you as well...it would seem that you and the little cowgirl have gotten close."

Looking at the glares coming from both Ryan and AppleJack, Discord laughed loudly at his discovery.

"Quite close. I wonder if she'll make the same face Luna did? Ya know, when I killed her precious Darkness?"

"What? No!" AppleJack growled, trying to buck him out of the way, "Don't ya dare Discord; that's goin' too far!"

"Discord!" Twilight shouted, now wearing her element, "I won't let you do something so despicable! These chaotic pranks are one thing...but murder is something I will not allow!"

"Heh, ah yes, blah, blah, blah, morals and the right thing and friendship~" Discord scoffed, tossing AppleJack back at her friends, "Don't expect any free shot this time my dear Twilight; I'm not going to be playing around with you six like last time."

"Good to hear, but we'll be sending you packing. Girls!"

The six of them all focused with their Elements of Harmony, channeling their power to send Discord packing once again.

"Ah, ah, ah. If you send me away, then I'll be taking some company. So don't miss...we wouldn't want to hurt the cowgirl's little human." Discord scoffed, poofing over and grabbing Ryan's beaten up form, "So then girls, what's it going to be? Your friend? Or your world?"

"You snake!" Ryan spat out, trying to squirm free.

"Thank you! I do try my best."

AppleJack looked at Twilight and then turned towards Ryan with a sad smile.

"Apps, don't!" Ryan groaned, before screaming in pain as Discord tightened his grip, "...bastard."

"Shhhh, the grown-ups are talking. So ladies, what will it be?"

"Now Twilight!"

Ryan blinked and before he knew it he felt Twilight's purple glow surround him; staring at the girls he saw AppleJack mouth something to him and smile before he was gone from sight.

"...now that's just not playing by the rules." Discord grumbled at having been tricked, "I'll have to enforce a penalty!"

9th Harvest

A distance away in Canterlot...

"Apps...." Ryan groaned, lying on the castle courtyard grounds in quite a bit of pain, "...why...?"

"Ryan!" Spike shouted, having been teleported with him, "Somepony! Please! Princess! Guards! We need some medical help!"

"...Spike...send me...back...."

"I can't do that! Even if I knew how to you're in no shape to fight him!"

"I...don't...care!" Ryan grumbled, trying to stand up and falling right back down, "...dammit...Apps...."

With that Ryan finally succumbed to his injuries and passed out; Spike was frantic until finally he saw Princess Celestia show up and gasp at what she saw.

"Spike, what has happened?" Celestia questioned before motioning towards her guard, "Quickly! Summon a medic!"

"Yes Princess!"

A few moments later, the medic had arrived (as did Luna once she saw the commotion) and Ryan was quickly rushed to the castle's ER; thankfully most of his injuries were superficial and it seemed his unconsciousness was mostly the product of shock and grief at not being able to help his friends....and his gal.

Luna seemed quite shaken up by seeing Ryan in such a state and she stood watch over him once he was stable; Spike had done his best to explain what had happened in Ponyville and Celestia was taken aback at the news.

"Hmmm, I did not receive such a message from Ryan today. But I don't understand...Discord is still in the garden." Celestia mused before frowning, "Come, let us investigate."

Heading into the courtyard, the statue of Discord was still there...but as they approached Celestia frowned at what she saw.

"What's wrong Princess?"

"This statue...it is..." She took a bite of it, "Ah...it is made of marshmallow."

"So then Discord was gone for quite some time?"

"It would seem so...so he may be responsible for those odd occurrences Ryan wrote to me about."

"I'm worried about the girls...Discord didn't seem too phased around the Elements of Harmony this time."

"We can only hope they win Spike; they alone control them...for now we must wait and tend to Ryan's wounds."

As Ryan lay there, still asleep, his mind replayed that last moment over...and over...and over...

'I'll always love ya Apple Ryder.'

Thoughts ran through his mind at that: Why did she say that....and why like that? Did she not think they would win? Did she think they wouldn't see each other again?

Most of all, though, was the thought that even with all the training, all the practicing, all the effort to prepare himself for the possibility of defending all that he loved and cared for...it was all for naught.

He was not able to help...and had gotten injured in the process; he was angry at himself for failing, for not being able to do anything...and for letting Discord have his way.

'Discord...if you harm mah family, harm mah friends, harm mah Apps...I will destroy you. As long as I still draw breathe, I will not...give...up!'

"Sister, you need to eat."

Walking in, Celestia could see Luna sitting by Ryan's bed though she was asleep, her front half laid out next to him as she slumped over on the mattress.

Smiling softly, she sat down the plate she'd brought in and pulled a blanket over her sister as her thoughts drifted back to so long ago and how this very scene had been played out that first day Darkness had shown up at the castle.

'She sat by his side then too...I only wish we had been stronger then.' She frowned, trying to hold back a tear at her thoughts, 'Perhaps things would have been different if you and he could have been together as you wished.'

Celestia's moment of contemplation was suddenly broken when the sensors attached to Ryan went off and then finally, he opened his eyes and woke up.

"Ugh...w-where am...." Ryan groaned, clutching his head, "Ugh, I feel like shit. Hmmm? Oh...Luna....Celestia?"

"What?" Luna mumbled, slowly coming to before seeing Ryan up and awake, "Ryan!"

"I am quite relieved to see you awake again. You've been out for almost three days."

Ryan turned to Celestia (after gently patting Luna's mane to reassure her he was okay) and frowned, "...three days? And...the girls...are...?"

Celestia did not answer and simply looked away from Ryan.

"I see...so they didn't come back." Ryan growled, pounding his fist into the mattress, "Dammit! I have to go!"

"You just healed...and you didn't stand a chance last time!" Luna gasped, "Don't rush off recklessly..."

"Luna...I'm not; I want you and Celestia to teach me everything you can in as quickly a time as possible. It might not be much, but if we have the time I have to get better."

"...under the circumstances I think we can but...there's no guarantee you'll learn all we'll try to teach you."

"I know...mah magic...it's not...not as good as Dark's was...but I can't give up! Not on them!" Ryan sighed and leaned back, "I'm surprised Discord hasn't attempted to attack us."

"Well, your friend the Doctor showed up with those from the farm that were able to escape while Twilight Sparkle and the others fought Discord. He's actually kept Discord from coming here somehow...he wouldn't say how though."

"Heh, it's okay; you can trust the Doctor. So then he's waiting...he knows I'll come back to face him." Ryan nodded, "Let's get to training then...oh, but where's Spike? I want to make sure mah little buddy is okay too."

"He is fine." Luna remarked, helping Ryan get out of his bed and to his feet, "He's been doing his best to help Derpy Hooves keep your sisters and the others calm."

"Heh, that sounds like him." He replied, taking his sword when offered it by Celestia, "Thanks for getting this for me as well...I was a little worried when Discord tossed me that I lost it. I guess T-Sparks made sure to send that with me as well..."

Now fully dressed and ready for action, Ryan gave a nod to Luna and Celestia and then off they went to, as he hoped, help make him stronger so he could save their friends.

'Apps...wait for me...I will rescue ya!'

Ryan was almost like a pony possessed as he put all his effort into helping his friends: if he wasn't in the secret library reading through Dark's journal and personal spell book, he was casting (or at least attempting to cast) magic with Luna and Celestia, and if that weren't enough he was even practicing his sword fighting techniques with the captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard.

"Maybe we should take a break; you look pretty tired."

"No Shining, I'm fine!" Ryan replied, grunting as he readied his weapon, "I can't stop; I have to get better!"

"But you're already pretty worn out; you barely take the time to stop to eat and get sleep as it is."

"...every day I take to get better, is another day Discord is doing who knows what to AppleJack and the others...and that includes yer sister remember?"

"...I haven't forgotten that." Shining Armor remarked, turning away.

"...I'm sorry, I...."

"No, it's okay...heh, I should be thankful you have the courage to try and face that monster. The Royal Guard has its hooves full making sure everypony in Canterlot stays safe...but even if we had the ability to go fight him I know he'd beat us. Twily and her friends were the ones to beat him last time. Only the Elements of Harmony can do it after all. Heh, she's done a lot of growing up in the time it's been since we've last talked."

Seeing him motion for Ryan to attack again, he obliged and brought his sword to bear with Shining's lance as a loud clanging noise rang out.

"It kills me I wasn't strong enough to help." Ryan groaned, pushing Shining back and dashing at him, "Discord did a number on me...and probably would've killed me if he could have. I knew he was crazy from what I was told...but apparently murder is something he's familiar with."

"I don't know everything about him." Shining popped right up and ran at Ryan full speed, clashing with his sword and slowly pushing him back, "The Princess doesn't talk about him much...but I know he's trouble."

"That's fer sure." Ryan noted, swiping Shining's lance away and trying to land a hit but missing and getting knocked back to the ground, "...ow."

"Are you alright?"

Nodding he took the offered hoof and slowly stood up, giving a sigh he sheathed his sword and bowed.

"That's enough fer today; you've got a point about how hard I've been pushing myself. It's been...five days now? I just...don't want to be useless. Apps needs me...mah friends need me...I can't just sit around too long."

"Hey, I understand; the big brother part of me is just torn up over the fact that there's been no word from Ponyville. I'm really worried about my sister."

Ryan nodded and put his hand on Shining's shoulder, "I know that feeling all too well; don't worry, I'll find her. I just hope I'm ready."

"Haha, with how you've been throwing yourself into training I know you will be."

"Now then I...hmmm?"

Looking to see what caught his eye, the two could see Derpy Hooves flapping over and waving at Ryan to get his attention.

"Ah, so the Doctor wishes to help me somehow does he?"

"Yeah, he said to bring you here." Derpy explained, leading him to where the Doctor and the others had been given temporary housing, "Also...he figured he might as well indulge your curiosity...whatever that meant."

Seeing an oddly out of place blue police box, Ryan couldn't help the smirk form on his face.

"Oh, I think I know exactly what he meant Derps; well then, this should be curious."

Knocking on the door, he watched as it slid open and so he walked in with Derpy; taking a glance around, he had to say it was something else to behold.

"Ah, my good chap; so glad you could come aboard. Welcome to the TARDIS." the Doctor remarked as he fiddle around with the controls, "So glad you could join us; is it how you expected?"

"I must say...it certainly fits in line with a lot of what I've seen these days that's fer sure." Ryan laughed, "And yer right...she is sexy."

"But of course. Now then! Seeing as your quite hell-bent on facing Discord, and I can't exactly give you back up seeing as I have to at least keep this spacial area free of his influence, I figured I'd at least aide in you in some manner. Your sword please."

"Mah sword?" Ryan shrugged, but handed it to him anyway, "Well, they always do say to trust the Doctor so..."

"Rightly so! Nice to see this show you spoke of got things right! It'd be rather dreadful if my name was sullied by some poor quality showing."

With that Ryan watched as he placed the sword on something that raised out from the console and then it disappeared inside it; hearing a variety of interesting noises as the Doctor typed away at the console, he had to wonder just what he was doing to it.

After a few more whirring sounds, the lights flickering in the TARDIS, and the Doctor saying 'oops' before quickly pushing a few other buttons there was an oddly out of place 'ding' and Ryan's sword reappeared from the console...but looked pretty much the same.

"Uhm...well, that was lucky!" the Doctor laughed, "For a second there I almost screwed up...almost."

"Almost?" Ryan blinked, gesturing at his sword, "Well, I imagine whatever you did to it didn't change its outward appearance."

"Ah, you're sharp; I do miss that human wit. Yes, as you've noted I've left it virtually identical to its original form but I've reinforced the blade with the hardest material I know of; I'd try to pronounce it for you but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't sound like a word so I'll save you the headache and bloody nose."

"...okay, anything else?"

"Yes, besides being nearly indestructible...."

"Wait, you said it was made with the hardest material you know of. How would it be nearly indestructible if it's so tough?"

"Like I said, the hardest I know of. There could be something out there harder than the TARDIS has records on; I may be a Time Lord but heaven knows there's still plenty to see out there."

"Oh, okay then."

"If I may continue, I've also added an interesting function for it that you might be curious about; I stumbled into this one reality a long time ago and the fighters there were quite remarkable: they had the ability to manipulate their swords into other forms and I always found that fascinating."

"Wait...so mah sword can change form?"

"Sort of...I'll explain it to you in a bit."

"...so you've decided then?"

"Yes Luna...I've done all I can. It's been a week and I can't wait any longer; I just hope they're still okay."

"If I know Discord, he's kept them alive; he never had a problem with ponies...but humans always rubbed him the wrong way for some reason."

"Hmmm, I wonder why that is?" Ryan pondered, staring out the window at the full moon in the sky, though he frowned at how Discord had ruined it with graffiti, "I just hope it's enough."

"You have done well in learning what you have." Celestia noted as she walked into the dining room, "I'm glad you at least spent the last two days not pushing yourself as hard; though we did not say as much to you when we should have, those of us in the castle are relieved that you relaxed. You were looking quite the worse for wear."

"...probably not as bad as the girls must be; stuck with that creep for a whole week." Ryan sighed, joining the two of them at the table, "I assume the scouting reports are the same as they were two days ago?"

"Yes." Celestia hung her head and sighed, "Any attempts to find out what happened end up with the recon team being sent back and Discord mocking you, stating that he was awaiting the human's return when he stopped being such a chicken."

"...his attempts to goad me out have been irritating to be sure." Ryan poked at his food, not feeling too hungry with all these thoughts in his head, "I suppose there's no sense worrying about it now."

"...Ryan?"

"Yes Luna?"

"...be careful tomorrow...okay?"

"Hey, it's me...I'll be fine."

Luna's memories played with her mind at that moment, a different scene being overlaid this one, a different human saying the exact same thing, and giving her the same exact grin with that same warm laugh.

"Hey, it's me...I'll be fine. I'll come back to you Luna...it's not proper for a gentlecolt to leave his lady waiting after all."

"...Luna? Luuuuuna?" Ryan asked, waving his hand in front of her face, "Equestria to Luna."

"Huh? Oh I'm...I'm sorry I just...please, excuse me!"

With that Luna got up and quickly made her way towards her room, not wishing for her sister or Ryan to see her crying of all things.

"Was...was it something I said?" Ryan asked, puzzled at her reaction, "Celestia?"

"...it's okay; you couldn't have known. Darkness he...he said those same words to her the night before he found the Elements of Harmony for us...the night before he was killed by Discord." Celestia explained, glancing in the direction her sister ran off in, "It's hard for her, even after all these years, to forget that love. As with all creatures, forgetting your first love is a very hard ordeal."

"...I'll say." Ryan sighed softly, frowning at the explanation, "So I was right...they were in love."

"Yes...even if he wasn't royalty she didn't care...and neither did I. I was happy to see my sister smile so much...and open up to somepony else; when she lost him...she changed."

"I see...so I was right in assuming that too...about Nightmare Moon."

"Yes...while not the single act to lead towards that unpleasant time, I have no doubt it was the first start in the slow descent towards her emotions overwhelming her." Celestia took a deep breath before smiling at Ryan, "I can tell from the look in your eyes you wish you could help her."

"Yeah...being the cause of an aching heart is something that just kills me. I wish...I wish there was a way to bring Dark back...so she could be happy. I know there isn't a way though, huh?"

"You are him...or at least were him; I know it's weird but we were unable to bring him back then much to her dismay."

"And so we can't now either; dammit."

Ryan lightly pounded his fist on the table, his heart giving him turmoil over that fact as well; sighing he stood up and walked over to the window again, staring up at the moon.

"Ryan...you should not take it so hard."

"How can't I when I just want my friend to be happy?"

"Heh, now I see what AppleJack saw in you...it's no wonder she fell in love with you so fast." Celestia got up and took him into a hug, "You have a good heart...and that is why Discord is afraid of you."

Ryan just relaxed into the hug, happy for the slight comfort it brought to him, "Afraid? Of that? Why?"

"It's why I suspect he really banished the humans from our world: he knew that someone like Darkness could become more, that one person could become many, and with that many who's hearts were strong enough to stand against him and his tricks that he could never win, no matter how many of their friends, their family, those they co-existed with he turned."

"I...I still don't quite understand; he couldn't fool them?"

"The spirit humans possessed was similar but different to ours, this made their hearts less likely to be discorded."

"...I've heard that word before." Ryan sighed and looked up at Celestia, "Strange that humans here would be like that...those from mah Earth, I think he'd have a field day with them. Heh, not to say all of them are bad, but...let's just say I'm glad I'm here."

"I see then...so...you should get some rest for tomorrow."

"I know, I know." Ryan smiled, turning around and returning her hug before bowing, "I bid you good night dear Princess."

"Haha, always the charmer. Good night Ryan."

Glancing back to see Celestia staring up at the moon as he was, Ryan slowly made his way towards his room...and paused a moment when he heard crying coming from Luna's room.

Seeing it cracked open, Ryan's heart ached at seeing her face down in her bed, clutching something to her chest as she wept; he wanted to talk to her, to try and help her but...he knew that even his mere presence seemed to sadden her.

Not knowing what to say, Ryan resumed his walk to his room before he felt something grab hold of his pants; turning around he could see that Luna had bitten his belt and looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"...I'm sorry, I heard you going by and I...I don't know what I'm doing." Luna huffed, releasing him and frowning, "You aren't him...and I can't have you...and it just kills me inside realizing just how much I truly did miss him all these years."

'Luna....'

"What...was that....?"

"Heh, you heard it too?" Ryan laughed softly, "I've been wondering on it for a while, but when I seem to need help the most or need a suggestion I've heard that gruff voice."

"...Darkness?"

'Heh...don't cry Luna...tears don't fit a face as lovely as yours.'

"Darkness...."

'Be strong...I'm...I'm sorry...that I...didn't keep my promise. But there is one thing, that will never change even though I'm gone.'

"...Darkness..." Luna was on the verge of tears at hearing his voice.

'I will never stop loving you.'

Luna gasped as Ryan had kissed her, though he and she both knew it was Dark doing the one thing he had never done before: take control of Ryan's body; however, given the circumstance, Ryan didn't mind lending Dark his body for this.

"Darkness...until the end, I will love you too."

'Heh, don't be so sad...we'll meet again one day my sweet Woona....now Ryan has been patient enough so smile.'

"I will Darkness...I will."

'Perfect, like the moon you control so well...'

And like that Dark was quiet once more, his voice gone till he was most needed; Luna was unsure of how to act but for the first time in a long while she felt a calm in her heart she had long forgotten.

"Thank you Ryan, for allowing us that moment."

"Hey, we're friends right? What's something like that if it makes mah friend happy?" He laughed softly, especially when she hugged him, "Now then, I think we need some sleep; I've got a lot to do tomorrow...and you and your sister will need to be ready as well."

"Right, right...thank you again."

"Heh, anytime."

Celestia watched from around the corner as Ryan ruffled Luna's mane (just like Dark somehow he knew just how to do that to their otherwise ethereal hair) and then headed off to his bedroom; tears pooled in her eyes at seeing her sister smile and at hearing Dark's voice once more as well.

"I miss you too old friend...watch over him and keep him safe."

The next morning, Ryan was dressed and ready for action, Spike standing by his side as well as they stood opposite Celestia and Luna.

"You're still going through with it?"

"I have to Luna...nopony else can get in; he wants me and me alone to show up."

"I'm coming with you though!" Spike shouted, "I won't just be left behind...I'm worried about Twilight and the others too!"

"Haha, I won't stop ya; just be careful little buddy. It's probably gonna get pretty messy once we get there...and I don't want you getting caught in the crossfire."

"I'll be okay, I'm a dragon: fire is my expertise."

Smiling at Spike's eagerness, Ryan turned to Celestia and Luna and nodded, "Princesses...if...if I can't help them...if I don't come back then...."

"You will come back." Luna remarked, "Dark will make sure of that...I...have something for you."

Motioning towards one of the guards, Ryan watched as Luna took something from him and handed it to him.

"This...this was his jacket; he tossed this off before his fight with Discord and...so it's all that's left besides his wand." Luna explained, watching as Ryan pulled it on and was surprised at how perfectly it fit him, "I figure it's only fitting you wear it seeing as your other one was destroyed."

"I don't know what to say Luna...thank you." Ryan remarked, looking at the well-worn but cared for jacket he now wore, "I'll be back with everyone, I promise."

"Do take care dear boy, don't forget about what I told you."

"Right Doctor, I'm sure it'll come quite in handy against him. Thanks again for yer help."

"Thank nothing of it, I'll be busy as it is keeping things stable here."

"Big bro...kick his fanny!"

"I will AppleBloom...now then, there's no more time to waste. Go ahead and send me there as we discussed Celestia."

"Very well...good luck Ryan."

"Hey, it's me...lucks always on mah side."

"...lucks always on my side....as long as I have you.”

'Darkness...' Luna thought, her memories eating at her again, 'Protect him and those he loves...'

With that Celestia focused her magic on Ryan and Spike, her power glowing around them before they vanished in a bright flash headed for Ponyville...

Discord was beginning to get a bit bored; that's not to say that all the havoc he had unleashed wasn't an utter delight, nor was it not satisfying having fun with those ponies again, yet he was still irritated by the fact that not only had he gotten away no thanks to those meddling ponies but that a week had passed and still the little human had not returned.

"...perhaps he's not as similar to him as I thought." Discord mused, pausing to sip his juice box before throwing the apple juice away once the box was gone, "I'd have thought he'd come back to give me a little fun...humans always were the most enjoyable to torment after all."

And that was when he sensed it, a build-up of energy that he recognized all too well.

"Ah, that smells like Tia's...which I think means I'm about to be quite entertained."

With a flash Ryan and Spike landed...with a boombox in tow; raising an eyebrow (and then his whole eye) at this curious addition, Discord was a bit confused when an energetic beat played epically and a wind billowed about, flapping Ryan's jacket around as he stared at his opponent.

'My Little Pony, mah little pony.....'

"And just what, pray tell, is that nonsense you've got playing there?"

"What every hero needs Discord: theme music. Vinyl Scratch was kind enough to lay it out for me..."

"Hmmm, how cute...however." Discord scoffed, snapping his fingers and smirking as the boombox grew wings and flew away, "I can't allow you to think you have any chance mister..."hero". That just wouldn't be fun...for me anyway."

"...and that boombox was brand new." Spike huffed, "What have you done with the girls?!"

"The girls? Oh yes, what have I done with them? Why I've just given them such a lovely makeover...but I dear say they seem to be a bit angry at a certain person...someone that ran off and left them to fight all alone."

"...Discord, where are they? Where is Apps!?"

"Oh my, so touchy...they're right here you silly human." Discord smirked, snapping his fingers and poofing them up behind him...though they looked quite off.

"Spike...why are they that color?" Ryan whispered, looking down at his friend.

"He must have discorded them again...but how could he do that when they had the Elements?"

"That's what discording someone does?"

"Care to share with the rest of the class?"

Ryan and Spike both jumped and dashed back from Discord who had appeared in front of them suddenly; glaring at him Ryan clenched his fists.

"...release them."

"And why would I do that Ryan? They have no desire to leave...in fact, they've been free to do so ever since you left. They, unlike most ponies, have seen that my way is the most sensible."

Discord snickered, poofing behind Ryan and pushing him towards them, "Come on...talk to them...you'll see."

Grimacing, he shook Discord off and walked the rest of the way to his friends to see they still did have the Elements on them.

'At least that's something of a plus, we know where they are.' He mused, walking over and noticing them all eyeing him oddly....save for Rarity who seemed obsessed with what appeared to be a can full of garbage, '...weird.'

"Girls? Are you alright?"

"Of course! Never better Apple Ryder!" AppleJack spat out before biting her lip and staring away from him.

"...why do you care anyway?" Fluttershy gruffly asked, glaring at him, "Why would a coward care about our well-being?"

"Flutters? Apps? What in tarnation is going on?"

"...they just realized that there's no point in fighting." Twilight sighed, slowly flopping to the ground, "...you should just give up too Ryan."

"...T-Sparks, what kind of nonsense is that to say?"

"No more nonsense then hoping your friend is going to save the day."

"Dashie..."

"Shut up you wuss! We hoped saving you meant there was still a way but we were stupid to trust you...."

"Oh my....such harsh words for their dear friend."

"Shut up Discord!" Ryan growled before walking over and kneeling in front of AppleJack, "Apps...honey...it's me. I know this isn't you."

"Sure it is! And don't honey me! We're not close like that! Nope, not at all! You totally aren't mah special somepony. Ah never liked ya anyway."

"...AppleJack." Ryan sighed softly, his mind (and a certain old hero) reminding him they were just words of trickery.

"Such a sad sight, the human's heart being broken by the one pony he loved the most. It would almost make me cry if it wasn't so delightful." Discord cackled, waiting for the moment he had planned to happen...but it never did, "...what? Why...why are you laughing? You're not supposed to laugh!"

"Hahahahaha, you really are just a..." Ryan smirked as he stood up to face him, "One-trick pony after all aren't you? Did you really think that your little discording act would really work? I must admit, I'm surprised you pulled it off on the gals again but I was told all about you and yer tricks."

'And of course, he's got a little help from me.'

"Dark!" Discord growled, annoyed that he'd been outsmarted, "...that's cheating but it doesn't matter. The Elements are the only thing that can defeat me...anything you try is just a waste of energy."

"You are right about one thing." Ryan remarked, cracking his knuckles and smirking, "The Elements are the only thing that can beat you...but I don't have to beat you, I just have to hold you enough to get through to Apps and the others."

"Hahahahaha, an admirable thought...but do you really think you've gotten better in just a week's time? You were useless when I first showed up...and I'll toss you aside once...." Discord taunted, before gasping when Ryan had his sword pressed up against his throat, "How did...."

"Let's just say I've got some powerful friends...I think you know two of them."

"Ah yes...Tia and Lulu." Discord growled, knocking Ryan back and glaring at him, "So you're a little quicker...so what?"

"I'm more than quicker now; come on!"

With that Ryan ran at him again, his sword clashing with Discord's claw as the two held each other at bay; Spike watched wide-eyed wondering if his friend would be able to hold out till...well, come to think of it Ryan hadn't told him of any kind of plan specifically.

"Well that's great...what is he going to do then? He can't just be playing it by ear can he?" Spike wondered, though blinked when he saw something flash on the back of Ryan's jacket momentarily, "What...was that?"

Ryan went flying back from Discord's attack, his feet skidding along the ground until he finally came to a stop only to take a stance once more.

"Heh...and your stronger then ya look. Impressive."

With that Ryan ran at Discord again, only to be locked in a stalemate once more.

"Come now boy, you've got to have some other plan...and you accused me of being a one-trick pony."

"Oh, I've far more tricks in store Discord." Ryan smirked, bringing up his wand in his other hand, "Rending Ice!"

"...ah yes, magic; how expected." Discord remarked, watching as a wave of ice traveled up Ryan's sword, "So you made it cold, so what?"

Ryan merely stared at him before uttering one word, "...shatter!"

Discord growled as the ice exploded out in jagged spikes, hitting him and knocking him away; though it didn't do much to injure him Ryan could see he was rather upset at that little attack.

"...you certainly have his tenacity...and his capability to be ever annoying." Discord huffed before disappearing from sight.

"Dammit..." Ryan looked about, trying to stay on guard since he had no idea what Discord was up to, "....wait a minute...Spike!"

Seeing his friend out in the open, he dashed as fast as he could towards him and knocked him out of the way just in time taking the brunt of Discord's attack full-on; groaning a bit, he rolled across the ground before slowly pushing himself up to see a smug looking Discord.

"Good to see that weakness of always protecting friends carried over as well."

"Ugh...Spike, are you okay?" Ryan gasped, seeing his friend running over, "Heh..."

"I'm sorry! I'm just a liability aren't I?"

"Nah, not yer fault. You just want to help...in fact, while I distract him see if you can get through to the girls."

"Are you sure? You look pretty beat up."

"Heh...this is nothing...compared to what'll happen if I give up now. Now go! See if you can help them!"

Spike paused for a moment before nodding and running off towards where the girls were still sitting, not even caring that their friend was fighting somewhat for his life.

Discord saw the little interruption and went to break it up only for Ryan to zap the ground in front of him with a spell, "Ah, ah Discord, yer fight is with me."

As Ryan continued to hash it out with Discord, Spike was trying to wrack his brain on how to help snap Twilight and the others out of it.

"...last time we had all those letters but without a way to get information back to them, I doubt we'll have that luck this time." Spike mused, "You've got to snap out of it...especially you Rarity. That's garbage you're rolling around in."

"Oh Spikey-Wikey, how can you possibly call such beautiful gemstones garbage? Hmmmph, it's like I don't even know you...and I don't so stay away from these!" Rarity grabbed the lid and pulled herself into it, "These are my gems! Mine!"

"Heh, maybe we should entertain ourselves with a little pin the tail on the dragon?" Fluttershy mused, cracking her hooves and staring at Spike menacingly.

"Ah man...this isn't fun." Spike huffed before turning to Twilight, "Come on Twi, you know this isn't right!"

"...we failed, so why bother?"

"What about friendship? Everything that's happened to us?" Spike shouted, "Don't you remember anything that happend last time?! I don't understand how he got into your heads again!"

"He didn't!" AppleJack quickly stated before glancing around everywhere, "We've always been like this...just hiding it...so that the mole people didn't find out."

"...mole people?" Spike asked before hearing a loud crash and turning to see Ryan being held by Discord, "Ryan! Grrr....AppleJack, that's your special somepony out there...don't you care at all that he's being beat up!?"

"Nope! Not a bit! He's not a pony so why would he even be mah special somepony? He's just a weird looking guy that's probably here to cause mischief!"

"...that's what I kept saying! Sheesh..." Rainbow Dash grumbled, "Right Pinkie?"

"...whatever."

"...so much for helping." Spike huffed, watching as Discord placed his claw on Ryan's head, "Oh no!"

"Hohoho, this has been cute boy, but it's time to make you like your dear little friends." Discord gloated, feeling he'd finally won, "Any last words?"

"...this isn't over yet." Ryan laughed, mocking Discord with his grin.

"Stubborn fool!" Discord shouted, his eyes going all weird as he stared at Ryan, "...."

Ryan blinked and tilted his head (at least as much as he could in Discord's grasp) before speaking, "Uhm...if you're trying to do what I think you are, it doesn't work remember?"

"...bah! You're just like him to the very core!" Discord growled, winding back and chucking Ryan towards Spike and the others.

Ryan grunted loudly as he landed on his back before hearing Spike run over, letting out a quiet laugh he slowly got back to his feet before psyching himself back up.

"What happened? How come he couldn't discord you?"

"It's easy little buddy; Celestia told me he couldn't turn Dark because of his heart....and that's most likely the real reason he got rid of the humans here. He was too afraid enough would exist that could fight him as Dark did....isn't that right Disky?"

"...oh you think you're sooooooo clever figuring that out? Pah! So what? Even if you can't be turned by force I'll still beat you into the ground."

Not saying anything, Ryan reached down and picked up his sword before getting into a ready stance again; motioning for Spike to step back he thought about what the Doctor had informed him and really hoped it would work as he explained.

'What's he doing?' Spike thought, watching as Ryan lifted his other hand to the sword's hilt, '...and there's that mark on this jacket again....weird.'

"Propogate...Malus Domestica!" Ryan shouted, the jewel in the hilt of his sword glowing an odd color before he charged Discord once more.

"...apples?" Discord scoffed, "Apples? Apples are your secret weapon? I've seriously underestimated how badly you must have it for the cowgirl if you're talking about apples at a time like this. And what did you even do? That puny thing you call a sword is still the same."

"Heh, is it now?" Ryan asked, bringing his sword down and watching Discord block it as before, "Perfect."

"...perfect? What are you up to?" Discord mused before seeing another sword come swinging his way, "What the Tia?"

Quickly blocking it, he was stunned to see a nearly identical sword with one difference: instead of orange, this sword's apple jewel was green.

"I must admit I'm quite pleased that worked. Not so smug now, huh Disky?"

"Hmmm, more surprised by your cleverness, that's all." Discord rolled his eyes before knocking Ryan away with his tail, watching as the sword in his right hand went flying and imbedded itself in the ground, "That all you've got? I must say, it's slightly more clever than what Darkness came up with but still...you're outclassed."

"Am I now? Heh, we'll just see about that."

Spike had to admit he was surprised by what he saw but considering the Doctor was a curious pony, this little addition to Ryan's skills seemed helpful.

"Come on Ryan! Do it! Keep at him!"

Clashing again, Ryan pulled out a third sword this time (the apple jewel red on this one) and slashed away at Discord over and over, slowly pushing him back before hearing him roar loudly.

"Oh my, did someone lose their cool?" He teased, grunting when he was kicked in the gut hard, "Ow..."

Ryan slowly skidded back, his second sword landing across from the first one before he looked at Discord and laughed.

"I seem to have touched a nerve...where's that calm, cool, collected attitude now?"

"You're toying with something you cannot fathom boy; I'm going to enjoy ending your pathetic life...then you and Darkness will both be out of my hair once and for all."

'Pah! You're just a fool and a coward Discord...'

"I agree with Dark, there's nothing pathetic about fighting for your friends and justice."

Ryan struck a pose, ready to take one last charge at him again; steeling himself, he ran as fast as he could and saw Discord do the same.

As the two met, a loud clang was heard before the two stood opposite their original positions; Discord did not seem any worse for wear but as for Ryan his last sword was now also stuck in the ground and he was grabbing his right shoulder while grimacing.

"If that's the best you've got...then I'm disappointed. This victory is mine boy! I have won this game!"

"...haha...is that so?" Ryan remarked, seeing that his swords were in the perfect position, "If you believe that, then ya aren't as all powerful and knowing as ya preach you are."

"The ramblings of a fool at his end....what could you possibly have left to fight with?"

"Bloom Arbor Pomifera!"

While initially puzzled at yet another reference to apples, Discord was shocked to find himself walled in by magic on three sides...and glared at Ryan when he realized the three swords he'd "lost" in the ground were forming the triangle imprisoning him.

"Really? You think some magic spell you know can trap me? Honestly, I expected...." Discord cut himself off when he snapped his fingers and found himself unable to escape, "What the hell did you do?!"

"You can thank mah good friend the Doctor for this little trick; turns out he found a way to channel some of Celestia and Luna's power into mah sword to help form a barrier to keep you contained." Ryan explained, limping over slowly and staring at the pissed off draconequus, "Guess I win our little game huh?"

"You've won nothing; all you've done is trap me in this...how can you have won when I still exist?"

"...you don't get it do you? This isn't just a trap..." Ryan scoffed, before bringing his hand up and snapping his fingers mockingly, "Blossom..."

With that Discord gasped as he felt something close to pain run through his body as a massive apple tree began to sprout and grow inside the barrier, twisting around and entombing him within itself as it slowly filled the enclosed space.

"Damn you boy....you...haven't....won....."

With that the tree finished growing and all that was heard was silence as the barrier's energy ran out, its purpose fulfilled; the swords no longer flashed brightly as Ryan could only smirk at where Discord once stood.

"It's been such a tree-t to match wits with you, but I'm not sorry to see you leaf." He joked, laughing before clutching his chest, "...okay, laughing bad."

Seeing Spike run over to him, Ryan couldn't help another chuckle before falling to one knee and groaning in pain; he may have been hiding it in that moment but Discord hurt him more than he let on so he was rather glad his little trick had worked.

"That was incredible! I don't even know how you did that!"

"Well little buddy, I've got the help of a lot of friends. I only did what I could thanks to them having mah back." Ryan coughed, groaning again, "I'm just glad that's over..."

"Me too...the girl's aren't back to normal yet but we'll find a way to fix that; though...why did your move only have three sides?"

"Heh, that's easy Spike: so that way he couldn't use the Fourth Wall to save himself." Ryan quipped, though all he got in reply was the silence of the battlefield (and Rarity still claiming that garbage was all hers), "...man, if Pinks wasn't all messed up she'd be rolling on the floor from that one. Anyway, let's go see if we can snap the girls out of his..."

And just as the two of them were in front of their friends, a sudden burst of wind and energy exploded from the tree Ryan had used to trap Discord; not liking the looks of this Ryan made sure Spike was behind him as he looked on with a grimace.

The tree slowly lit up and cracked, before shattering to pieces reveling a very, very pissed off Discord; the draconequus roared in frustration before setting his sights on Ryan.

"...shit....I thought we'd have more time." Ryan groaned before getting his wand and striking a pose, "Spike! Hide!"

"There's one thing you should know boy: I hate to lose!" Discord growled before he was immediately on Ryan, grabbing him and throwing him around roughly, "Usually I'm mellow, so calm...but you humans...you always seem to bring the worst of me to the surface! And now you'll see why that was a terrible idea."

"Ugh!" Ryan coughed, spitting up blood as Discord kicked him hard, "...such a sore...loser..."

"It's amusing you even held your own against me...it's too bad you have that idea of justice stuck in that skull of yours; you'd probably be just as delightful in terms of craziness as he was if only you two weren't poisoned by notions of "goodness" and "friendship"." Discord grumbled, wrapping his tail around Ryan's throat and lifting him off the ground, "And now...to return my Equestria back to its human-free state."

Ryan clawed at Discord's tail as hard as he could, feeling the lack of precious oxygen starting to affect his body; even trying to cast a spell was too hard to focus on and after a few moments he felt his mind slipping.

'...Apps....I'm...sorry...I....failed....' Ryan thought, a single tear slipping down his cheek before he hung limply in Discord's tail, '...'

"RYAN!" Spike shouted before running towards Discord, "NO!"

"Peh....just like the rest; pity, much like his predecessor he was a worthy enough challenger." Discord mumbled before tossing Ryan's motionless body at Spike, "...in the end he was just as foolish....to think of peace...and friendship...and love."

Spike tried to catch his body as best he could, getting knocked down as Ryan skidded and landed on him; shaking him as hard as he could he tried to bring him around.

"Ryan! Wake up! Wake up!" Spike pleaded, pounding on his chest to no avail, "...no...no...this...this shouldn't be happening."

"Oh come on...I'm the embodiment of chaos...and he was just a stupid mortal human. No matter how you look at it, there's no way he could hope to face me and survive."

"..." Spike slowly got up, watching as Ryan's limp body rolled facedown and balled up his fist, "...I will find a way to win my friend. DISCORD!"

"Hmmm? Now what's this? Don't tell me the little dragon is foolish enough to fight me on his own?"

"I won't just stand here after you...you...."

"Go ahead, say it; it's not like that word doesn't exist here after all...everypony is just too eager to forget that fact for the sake of pleasantness." Discord teased as he floated towards Spike, "After I murdered him."

"...you can't! Nopony does something that horrible anymore!" Spike roared, running at him and beating Discord's shins as hard as he could to no avail, "Bring him back! Bring him back! BRING! HIM! BACK!"

Discord looked down at the small purple dragon and mused that, were he to have compassion, he might actually feel for the crying Spike...but seeing as he didn't he wound back and flicked Spike away, laughing as he watched him go rolling and coming to a stop next to Ryan's body.

"And I guess that means I truly win! Heh, once I find a way around that silly Doctor's little tricks I'll finally get to have fun with dear Tia and Lulu...as for now though...I do have a bit of unfinished business."

Spike lay there in immense pain unable to do anything as he watched Discord walking towards them (and Twilight and the others he imagined) to finish them off; he was upset that he wasn't able to help at all...and that his friend had died trying to protect them.

"Ryan...at least we went down together." Spike grunted, closing his eyes and awaiting the inevitable, "...I'm sorry...I couldn't do more..."

'....Justice. Never. Dies!'

Discord stopped in his tracks at that voice and turned to look at Ryan's motionless body with wide-eyes, "No...that's not possible. It...it can't be."

A wave of energy surrounded Ryan's body as he slowly picked himself up off the ground, a pair of shades now visible on his face as he lifted his head and looked at Discord.

"I killed you! I felt your life end in my hands!"

"...you should know Justice, much like your chaos, is unpredictable." Ryan remarked, striking a pose, "I am the one that fights for justice...I am the one that fights for those he cares about...my name...is Ryan and I will not let you win."

"Oh yes, the heroic speech and the poses; sometimes I wonder just how you heroes come up with them."

"Mock me all you like, this time I will not lose."

"Excuse me if I'm not shaking in my non-existent boots; considering your sword seems to have lost its shine, you can't hope to stand up to me with just your magic."

"That's where your wrong." Ryan calmly stated, striking a ready pose while focusing inward with his magic, "I might not wield an Element of Harmony like mah friends, but Justice is still an all too important part of friendship....and you're about to see that! Justice Blitz!"

Discord scoffed as he watched the human go on and on again before shouting out some move name no doubt, "You've tried this before and I'm tiring of....what?"

"Loyalty!"

"How is that....?" Discord gasped, watching as a rainbow blur and a familiar blue pony's image briefly appeared behind Ryan, "What game is this?"

"No game Discord! Just friendship!" Ryan shouted as he was on Discord faster than he could react, "Honesty!"

Winding back, Ryan channeled the strength of a certain orange pony's Kicks McGee and impacted Discord's gut hard which sent him stepping back and gasping.

"How are you...doing this?" Discord growled in frustration.

"Generosity!" Ryan shouted as he gladly shared the pain with Discord, hitting him over and over again.

"...the fashion one too? This isn't funny!"

"I beg to differ: Laughter!" Ryan joked, grinning like a certain pink pony as he uppercut Discord and sent him flying before jumping after him.

Discord was stunned at this turn of events though in the moment he did see the irony of such an unexpected event happening to an entity that lived for such things; as he started to pull himself out of the hit he looked to see Ryan lifting his interlocked hands up and then bringing them down on him, sending him plummeting back to the ground.

"Kindness!" Ryan blinked out of sight, teleporting beneath Discord and caught him as they slowly landed on the ground.

"...ugh...." Discorded grunted as Ryan tossed him on to the ground before hopping back and holding up his right arm at him.

"And Magic makes it all complete!" He shouted, using his other arm to steady the right, "This ends now Discord!"

"You...you know that won't work...only the Elements can...."

"Yeah, yeah...shove it!" Ryan practically growled as a mysterious mark appeared on the back of his leather jacket, "You're going to feel all the pain and anguish you caused....not only for now...but for Celestia...Dark...Luna...and all the humans you mercilessly tormented and killed!"

"...as if the humans weren't just as bad..." Discord grumbled, glaring at Ryan as he focused his magic.

"Humans aren't perfect, but nopony is...you take the good with the bad and hope for happiness. Hopefully this will engrave that into yer mind forever." Ryan quietly replied back before releasing his attack, "Darkness Eraser!"

Discord, in that moment, saw not just Ryan but also the young man from all those years ago that had used that same move to weaken him just enough to allow Celestia and Luna to imprison him with the Elements; closing his eyes, he didn't bother moving as he allowed the attack to hit him full force.

"...Now stay down for a while this time." Ryan quipped as he saw Discord lying there motionless before sighing and going to check on Spike, "You okay little dude?"

"Yeah...I'll live. That was incredible though! I didn't know you could do that!" He grunted before noticing the strange mark on the back of Ryan's jacket, "Ryan!"

"To be honest with ya, I didn't even know I could do that." Ryan replied before jumping when Spike shouted his name, "What!?"

"There's something on your jacket!"

"Huh? What?" He asked, trying to turn around and see it, "What's it look like?"

"Hmmm...it looks like...a half-apple/half-lemon...weird." Spike explained before scratching his chin, "If I didn't know any better..I'd say that looks a lot like....well, like a cutie mark."

"Half-apple/half-lemon? A cutie mark? But I..." Ryan was interrupted in that thought by Discord groaning and slowly standing up, "That didn't take long..."

"I told you boy...even if you somehow have his skill, the only thing that can stop me are the Elements of Harmony."

Ryan stared at him before slowly laughing loudly, "Oh, I don't think that'll be a problem."

"Discord!"

Blinking in shock, Discord saw Twilight Sparkle angrily glaring at him, her Element of Magic fully charged and ready to strike; in fact, all six of them were back to normal and ready to put an end to this at last.

"But...how?!"

"Apple Ryder is how you darn snake in the grass." AppleJack explained, running over and giving Ryan a big hug, "Ahm so sorry for those things I said Ry, I..."

"Shhhh...you don't have to apologize; ya weren't yerself." Ryan teased, ruffling her mane and giving her a kiss, "I'll always love you too, by the way. I'm just glad to see Dark's little gambit paid off though..."

"I'd sure like a clear explanation though!" Pinkie remarked, making a very puzzled face, "How did Rysy-Wysy do what he did?"

"Yes, I am rather curious how he broke us free...and uhm, if you could keep that little garbage bit to yourself that would just wonderful darling." Rarity remarked before looking at Discord and shouting at him, "It's your fault I'm so filthy now! I'll have to go to the spa for twenty-four hours straight if I want feel clean again!"

"Heh, I'll keep it a secret." Ryan laughed, "As for how we snapped you out of it I just went with the rule that seems to, well, rule here: friendship is magical enough to overcome any obstacle. Dark helped some so...."

"Heh, so I guess you've gotten even cooler then." Rainbow Dash teased, "I like the sunglasses...nice touch."

"Uhm, I hate to break up the fun but...I think we should, maybe, take care of Discord?" Fluttershy noted, pointing at the still confused draconequus.

"That's your cue ladies...let me step back. Come on Spike! Let's give them some room to work." Ryan remarked, walking off a short distance to get out of the way, "And hey, by the way little buddy, bravo on that courageous stand ya took."

"Aw, well...ya know; couldn't let you be the only hero and all that."

"Now ladies...I'm...sure we can talk this over like mature adults."

"Can it Discord!" Twilight shouted, "You've caused even more trouble than last time...and if it weren't for some kind of miracle you would've had blood on your hands even more so than you apparently already do."

"...everypony is responsible for terrible things." Discord spat back, "There is no such thing as innocence..."

"Maybe, but that don't mean you can just go an' do as ya please." AppleJack stamped the ground, "Keeping the loop going just means nothin' gets better."

"...just hurry up and finish it."

"Come on, let's give him what he wants!" Rainbow Dash shouted, getting into formation with the others.

"LOYALTY!"

"HONESTY!"

"GENEROSITY!"

"LAUGHTER!"

"KINDNESS!"

"And MAGIC!"

An intense burst of rainbow-shaded magic exploded forth from the Elements of Harmony, sending it's wave of corrective magic out in all directions as well as sending a blast straight towards Discord.

"...so you won again...that's twice now." Discord smirked as the beam neared him, "However, I'm going to do exactly what I did to Lulu and taint this victory!"

Unsure of what he meant, they watched in horror as he launched one last attack towards Ryan before he was hit by the magic of the Elements and turned back into a stone statue once more; almost immediately afterwards, there was a loud explosion as his attack collided with where Ryan and Spike stood.

"Apple Ryder!!" "Spike! NO!"

Author's Note

And congrats as you've caught up....unless yer from the future and I've posted more chapters by then...in which case, thanks fer reading this far and I hope ya keep at it. Haha.

11th Harvest

Ryan surveyed the royal ball room where the party had taken place from his place lazily resting against AppleJack and smiled at what he saw: though it was a bit messy now, the ponies left had certainly enjoyed themselves, and Pinkie had certainly outdone herself in the decorating....which included an awesome cake that tasted like heaven.

"I seriously cannot figure out how in the world I've lost weight in mah time here when everypony feeds me so dang well. It's puzzling."

"Mmmm." AppleJack yawned and nuzzled his tummy, "Well ya work pretty hard there Ry-Ry, helping on the farm and helping all our friends with stuff...not to mention what ya tell us about what ya used to eat on your world didn't sound terribly healthy."

"I suppose that's true...maybe not for the sweets, but I haven't really questioned Pinkie about her confections too hard; I'm usually too busy enjoying the sweet radiant bliss they produce when you bite into their fluffy, gooey, sugary goodness."

AppleJack stifled a laugh before patting his stomach, "Ah guess you'll still be mah teddy bear for a while talking like that huh?"

"Heh, I don't know Apps...even talking like that, and eating those sweets, I'm still losing weight. I guess you just know how to help me burn it all off." Ryan chuckled softly, leaning down to nip at her ear, "Isn't that right mah little pony?"

"Mmmmm....careful Ry, there are others around after all."

"You act as if I'm going to do anything bad." He teased, scratching her mane, "There's always time for that later if ya want, once we're alone that is..."

"...tarnation, you and making me turn all red." She sighed before leaning into his hand, "Those fingers of yours are too talented Ry...they should be illegal or something."

"They aren't though...so I can still do this." He smirked, watching as she was too wrapped up in his caressing to notice him slip his other hand to her belly, "Or this!"

"What are ya talking...." Was all she got out before she felt him tickling her fiercely, "TARNATION! Hahahaha....Apple Ryder what's wrong with you? Luring a gal into a false sense of security....hahahaha...and then....hahahaha...tickling her of all things?!"

Ryan merely smirked, the sound of her laughing so melodious to him; eventually though, he could see Apps was at her limit and so he relinquished his hold on her and waited for her to catch her breath, "Your laughter is just so beautiful Apps...I just can't help mahself."

"Yuuuusss, sshould gets a rrooom...."

Ryan paused to look up at the clearly inebriated pony talking to them and smirked, "Berry Punch, yer drunk...go find a place to sleep it off."

"I don't neeeeeeeed you to tell me what ta........" And that was all as Berry Punch collapsed right there before snoring quite loudly.

"Somepony can't hold her liquor." Ryan sighed before patting AppleJack's shoulder, "Hey, since the party has wound down a bit, perhaps we could go check out that addition Cellie had put in. I'm curious about it and, well, at this point in the party, if two of the heroes wander off I don't think anypony will notice."

Having made their way out without anyone noticing, Ryan and AppleJack walked down the long hallway whose stained glass works stood as reminders and testaments to the history and bravery that existed in Equestria; events of significant importance were forever captured in their reflective and translucent beauty.

"I didn't really get a chance to give this place a good look last time, but I'm glad I am now."

"Yeah, it's a pretty nice sight isn't it sugah?"

"Indeed." He noted, walking passed the first one showing Luna and Celestia defeating Discord, "I have to wonder if they had this remade to hide Dark's existence. I can understand why they would, but maybe now that I'm here...they might see fit to restore that scene to its original state."

"I bet if'n ya asked them, the Princesses wouldn't have any problem with that."

"I reckon yer right."

'This one makes me sad though...poor Woona.'

Looking up at the one they were in front of, Ryan could see as to why it would upset Dark so: the scene depicted Celestia unfortunately having to banish her sister when she first became Nightmare Moon.

'I could've stopped it...somehow...I know I could have were I here.'

"Dark, buddy, stop beating yerself up over it. What happened was how life was to go, ya can't change the past after all."

"Ry-Ry's right; y'all shouldn't let the past overwhelm ya sugarcube."

'Heh, I suppose yer both right...besides...you and your friends saw fit to fix it all 1,000 years later.'

Indeed, the stain glass they gazed at showed that exact scene: AppleJack there with her friends as the six of them became the new Elements of Harmony and returned Nightmare Moon back to her normal self as Luna.

"So in the end it worked out pretty well...and even more so when Discord first saw fit to mess with y'all." Ryan remarked, nodding at the next window, "I have to say whoever Cellie gets to make these for her has remarkable skill; they're quite beautiful."

"Your praise is most pleasant to hear Ryan."

Turning around, Ryan could see Celestia had shown up sometime during his enjoyment of the stain glass history snapshots; watching her walk over he couldn't help smirking, "So then, just how long have you been watching us?"

"Not very long; when I noticed your absence I had a feeling I could find you and AppleJack here. No doubt you wish to see the new addition Pinkie let out of the bag."

"Haha, ya read mah Apple Ryder like a book Princess." AppleJack teased, "I have a feeling he'll really like it though...being the hero an' all."

"Apps." Ryan groaned, his blush visible even in the moonlight that bathed the hallway, "I suppose I am curious. I also bet it's the next one right?"

"Haha, observant as always." With that Celestia walked with them, coming to a stop at the newest addition to the history of Equestria, "So then, I hope we did well in capturing the moment."

Looking up at the tall window, Ryan (and Dark, though more mentally than anything else) let a smirk slowly form on his features. The glass displayed the key moments from that intense fight: from he and Spike's entrance, to him fighting against Discord using Malus Domestica, followed by Spike valiantly standing up for his fallen friend, to his resurrection and retaliation using his Justice Blitz (represented by the icons of the Elements surrounding him), and then finally Twilight Sparkle and the others finishing it all off and returning Discord back to stone.

"So then, do you like it?"

"I...well, yeah it's...it's awesome Cellie but...I feel kind of...awkward taking up so much of it with Spike. I mean, I know the two of us gave it our all to stop him but it was Apps and the gals that finished him off again."

"Ah shucks, look at mah Ry being humble as always." AppleJack laughed, even more so as Ryan's blush deepened, "If it weren't fer y'all fighting him and using our friendship to break his hold on the six of us, we wouldn't have been able ta finish him off. You deserve the credit here sugah."

"Well, I guess it wouldn't be proper to do anything but accept the accolades then if everypony thinks that way." Ryan laughed softly, "It's kind of nice to see the human presence here being so positive again."

"...what d'ya mean again hon?"

"Cellie knows what I mean...I didn't really say much about it earlier because the more pressing matter was fighting Discord but I did some reading in that library. There were some things in those books that I found curious...and it made me wonder something. Princess?"

"Yes Ryan?" Celestia asked, a bit curious as to why he was suddenly so formal, "What is it you wish to ask?"

"The humans...they were just like the ones from mah world weren't they? The books detail it...the one's belonging to Lyra didn't, so it's safe to assume not all history books from that time period did but some of them, and admittedly some of Dark's journal entries too, detail that humans here might not have been as different as the ones where I'm from.

"They fought, were greedy, ostracized those different, and, while I won't say more than that, there were even moments that I'm sure you know I'm referring to that make me wonder one simple thing: why did ya trust me? Even before you discovered the connection between mahself and Darkness Shade, you had no problem that I was even here, let alone living in the same town as your number one pupil and her friends. It was as if...as if you didn't care that I was human and what my kind, or rather alternate kind, had done when they existed in Equestria."

Celestia was quiet for a moment, though her face made it clear she knew Ryan might inquire to such things one day, "Yes, I am well aware that the picture of humankind I painted for Twilight Sparkle and the others was very rosy, but that was mainly for their sake. I was not too far from the truth however. I did not wish to give them seeds of mistrust by showing the negative aspects of humanity until they had gotten to know you better; so they could see that just because some of a species does horrible things, does not mean you should condemn the whole of that species.

"Dark was a very good example of that, he was human but as I said we all saw him as a pony as well because of how he acted. That day, when I received that letter from Twilight I was very surprised and curious I must admit. To think that a human had reappeared after so long...heh, well, it wouldn't have been fair of me to judge him right off the bat after all."

"Ah see what yer saying Princess, it'd be no different than if Ry judged us ponies without gettin' to know us."

"That is right AppleJack; I allowed his actions, rather than his species, to speak for him. I think it goes without saying I was not disappointed."

"Hahaha, that's about the explanation I figured Cellie."

'What did you expect Ryan? Tia's always been a fair ruler...it wouldn't be like her to be a tyrannical asshole.'

"Oh my." Celestia laughed at Darkness' blunt statement, "Can you imagine what this world would be like if I was like that? Dear me, it would be almost as bad as if Discord was in charge."

At that Ryan and AppleJack joined her in laughing before chatting and making their way back to the party.

With all that had happened, it felt weird for everything returning to normal for Ryan and the others; as it was, it was early the next day after they had returned home that he woke up before Apps and slowly slipped out of bed. Getting dressed, he gave AppleJack a quick kiss, smirking as she mumbled his name in her sleep and rolled over, before heading downstairs to see Granny working on breakfast.

"Well hey there sonny! Ya sure are up early."

"Yeah Granny, I've got something to take care of this morning so I'll be out for a bit; I should be back around lunchtime with any luck."

"If'n I know you, yer probably off ta help one of yer friends with something."

"Haha, guilty as charged Granny." Ryan remarked, grabbing an apple turnover so he could eat on the run, "Smells delicious as always, thanks again Granny."

Leaning down to kiss her cheek, he gave her a hug before hefting up his bag and heading out the door, the turnover hanging from his mouth; once outside he picked up his pace and began making tracks for the outskirts of town.

"Heh, he's such a sweet fellah...a little crazy too but I like that! Now if only he'd get around ta proposing to mah granddaughter, then I could finally relax about them two." Laughing at her own thoughts, she turned her attention back to getting breakfast ready for the others yet to wake.

Back with Ryan, he was coming upon the tranquil plain where he was supposed to meet Spike and saw the tiny dragon waiting patiently at the nearby waterfall; upon seeing him he gave a wave and saw him wave back in return.

"Hey there little buddy, hope I didn't make ya wait too long."

"Nah, you're on time Ryan. I was just a bit impatient so I headed here earlier." Spike replied before walking over, "So I have to ask, why did you choose here to start with our training?"

"I have mah reasons, but first off..." Dropping his bag and getting into a ready stance, Ryan snapped his fingers and donned his shades and wings, "I want you to come at me with everything you've got!"

"Are you crazy?! I could barely touch Discord! And you held your own against him!"

"Come on Spike, mah methods have a reason; I just want to gauge what all you seem to have." Ryan shot him a reassuring smile, "Besides, I'm not Discord; I won't be fightin' back and I won't hurt ya so come on. Strike at me with all your might!"

"...fine then!" Spike shouted, roaring as best he could and running at Ryan before jumping up to strike him.

Ryan easily blocked Spike's attack, watching as he recoiled back from it before landing on the ground and frowning; he was puzzled at Spike's next move before he felt a ball of green fire shoot out and collide with him.

"Well now, that was unexpected." Ryan joked, dusting himself off, "It was more than I thought you'd be able to do with your flames given yer size."

"But it didn't really faze you huh?" Spike noted, "Still...that was weird...my flames have never been that strong before. Usually it's just a straight, thin blast...well, unless I sneeze anyway. I've never been able to make a fireball before."

"...hmmm, I wonder? Well, come on! Don't stop now. Keep at it!"

Nodding, Spike ran at him and struck at his shins before dashing between his legs and letting loose another fireball; sensing this Ryan folded his wings and shielded his backside from attack as the fireball bounced off and hit the waterfall before sizzling out.

"Not bad...not bad."

"Yeah, but not enough to do anything against you." Spike sighed, "I guess I just am a weakling huh?"

"Not necessarily." Ryan remarked as he walked up and kneeled down next to him, "You have the drive to be a hero and sometimes that's all it takes. You wouldn't have asked for mah help if you didn't think you could improve."

"I suppose that's true so then...can ya explain why we're here of all places? Why did you want a waterfall? I mean, it's already a bit chilly so water is like the last thing I imagine somepony would want to be around."

"Exactly!" Ryan noted, snapping his fingers and willing away his shades and wings, "...I still find that weird that I can 'poof' the shades as well."

'Just me being mischievous...besides, inheriting my wings means inheriting my style too there partner.'

"I think Dark's got you there Ryan." Spike chuckled at Dark's teasing.

"Yeah, yeah, you two are regular comedians." Ryan shucked off his jacket and sat it and his t-shirt on his bag before kicking off his shoes, "Come on, follow me."

Spike was confused as to why Ryan got rid of his jacket and shirt, and was puzzled further when he saw him kick off his shoes; still, he followed him as they walked over to the waterfall, "So...what are we doing?"

"The first step to help you improve like you want is to help build a strong mental base. For that, we're going to meditate under the waterfall." With that Ryan stepped into the water and gasped slightly, "Sheesh, it's a bit chillier than I thought but nothing we can't handle. Now come on."

"...this is nuts." Spike huffed, but he followed anyway figuring Ryan knew what he was talking about, "Brrr...."

Not wasting any time getting acclimated to the water, the pair situated themselves under the waterfall, Spike mimicking the same posture Ryan made before closing his eyes and focusing, "So...anything specific I should do?"

"All you need to do is relax, breathe, let your mind focus and sharpen naturally in the peaceful surroundings. Meditation and mental health are just as important as any physical prowess and sometimes even the strongest opponent can be overcome with only a sharp mind." Ryan explained, opening one eye and patting his friend on the head, "As long as you have the drive, you can accomplish anything Spike."

"Heh, thanks. How do...how do you know all this anyway? I mean, no offense big guy, but you never struck me as the type."

"Haha, well, I've known many people in my life and let's just say the positive aspects of a lot of them have imprinted in mah mind..."

"Ryan?"

"Heh, sorry Spike, mah memories messing with me again; the particular person that I picked this up from well...he didn't turn out to be as much of a friend as I thought he was in the end."

"Well, you'll always have my friendship...and the girls as well." Spike chuckled, "I don't think I even have to mention Applejack...you guys are way beyond friendly at this point."

"You brat." Ryan laughed loudly, "Now come on...let's settle down and focus for a while."

A short time later, after meditating and then drying off, Ryan had Spike come at him again to get another gauge of his abilities; after having about the same amount of success as last time Spike signaled he'd had enough for now. At that Ryan gave a nod and noted that even if Spike couldn't tell, he was certain there was a very small improvement just from focusing his mind.

"That's nice of you to say, but it's a long road isn't it?"

"It sure is little buddy but much like me ya care about our friends and that can be a big motivator."

"Yeah, you're right I...." Spike was cut off by his grumbling stomach, "...meditating burns a lot of energy."

"Hahaha, well I think maybe that's just yer love of gems. You did fire of a lot of fireballs though." Ryan dug around in his bag and pulled out a decently sized emerald, "Here ya go Spike, enjoy!"

"Oh my gosh, this thing looks sooooo delicious!"

Laughing at his reaction, the two headed back towards town before parting ways with Spike heading back to Twilight's and Ryan heading towards Rarity's Boutique; upon arriving there he gave a knock and noted no answer.

"Hmmm..." He knocked once more before finally opening the door, "Rarity? Are ya here? I didn't hear ya reply and..."

"Oh darling...uhm...could you be a dear and possibly lend me a hand here?"

Dropping his bag, Ryan walked over and looked at Rarity all tangled up in various ribbons and thread and, well, y'all get the picture, "Rares...what in tarnation happened here?"

"...my dear sister happened with her friends." Rarity sighed, struggling a bit, "I tried to undo this mess with my magic and well..."

"It only made things worse?"

"Exactly darling, so please..."

"Of course." Ryan nodded and set about trying to untangle poor Rarity, "My goodness this is a mess...what in tarnation were mah little sisters up to?"

"I believe they were trying to get their...fashionista cutie marks." Rarity groaned, before cheering in joy when Ryan had freed her forelegs, "Oh dear Ryan, those hands of yours are such a miracle."

"Heh, well, they do let me be handy when I need to be."

"I'm so overjoyed for your help I don't even care if you make puns." Rarity remarked, watching as Ryan finally untangled the last bit holding her hindlegs, "Oh I'm almost free, thank goodness!"

Eventually the last bit wrapped around her torso was pulled free and Rarity cheered in glee, elated to finally be mobile once again; turning to Ryan she gave him a big hug before noting he was a bit sweaty.

"Oh, sorry Rares, should've warned you. I was training with Spike so..."

"Spikey-wikey? But why would he train with you? Isn't that a little mis-matched?" Rarity asked, looking at Ryan oddly, "Why would he want to?"

"He felt useless in the fight with Discord and practically begged me to help him get stronger. I didn't want to at first, given I don't know the lasting effects of his injuries, but well...I've got a weakness for the young'uns and he's pretty much become like a little brother to me much how the CMC's have become like mah little sisters so...."

"Heh, you really are such a sweetie aren't you? Just make sure Spike stays safe okay?"

"Don't worry Rarity, I will."

"So then darling, now that we've settled all that, what brings you by?"

"Oh! Right!" Ryan went over and grabbed his bag before setting it down in front of her, "Well, given how active I've been since getting here and how much better I've been eating, I've lost quite a bit of weight so that first batch of clothes ya made for me are a bit big now. I was wondering if ya wouldn't mind bringing them in for me so I can keep wearing them...as well as one other favor."

"Heh, that should be no problem Ryan; I can have it done in a few days for you. First though, I'd have to take your new measurements."

"Well then, by all means: Let's! Get! Fashionable!"

About twenty minutes later Ryan was finally on his way home after spending a little while chatting with Rarity; as he passed by the market he paused at Roseluck's stand to purchase a bouquet of flowers.

"I bet I know the lucky mare those are for."

"Haha, I'm sure you'd be right. It's not like I keep mah love for Apps a secret after all."

"I'll say; thanks for your business."

Taking a whiff of the bouquet, Ryan smiled and looked up at the clear sky on this chilly but pleasant October afternoon; waving hi to the few other ponies he passed on his way out of town (including a very hyper Lyra that had to be dragged away by poor Bon-Bon), Ryan enjoyed his walk back to Sweet Apple Acres.

As he expected, he saw AppleJack out in the fields no doubt looking over everything and making sure it would be ready for the early winter that was forecast to start not too long from now; trying his best to be stealthy he hid the bouquet behind his back and hopped the fence before carefully making his way down the row of now bare apple trees she was inspecting.

Just when he thought he had the drop on her (so to speak), he saw and then felt as she quickly pivoted and then pinned him to the ground before grinning widely at him, "Well howdy there Apple Ryder; fancy meetin' ya out in the orchard like this."

"Well, ya know me...ever since getting to Equestria I seem to get quite intimate with the ground."

"Mmm, how's about ya get intimate with me instead?" She teased, leaning down and kissing him, "You've been a busy boy this morning huh?"

"Guilty as charged, but I brought mah gal a gift." Ryan wiggled his right hand, "I got ya some of yer favorite flowers."

"Ah sugah, ya shouldn't have." AppleJack leaned over to sniff them before eating one, "Mmmm, I love me some sunflowers...not as much as apples, but they're still mighty tasty."

"I hope that's not the only thing you love." Ryan chuckled, taking advantage of her distraction and rolling so he was on top, "Heh."

"Mercy me, ya certainly are a naughty boy sometimes Ry-Ry." AppleJack sighed as Ryan kissed up her neck before nipping her ear, "Come on...I've got...got to finish making mah...mah rounds."

"As I recall, oh apple of mah eye, you were the one to start this little session of fun." Ryan chuckled softly, kissing her deeply, "Ah swear, I don't think I'll ever tire of that."

"Mmm, that's good ta know." AppleJack sighed happily as Ryan settled half next to her/half on her as they rest there, enjoying the chilly autumn weather, "Y'all sure know how to make a gal feel wanted, although..."

"Hmmm?"

Apps smirked as she leaned over to whisper in his ear, "I don't reckon yer interested in showing me that Malus Domestica isn't the only thing that can propagate are ya?"

At that Ryan couldn't form any response, in fact all rational thought was gone as his face turned redder than any apple AppleJack had ever seen and he remained rather silent for quite a bit at what she of all people suggested. After informing Dark he should kindly shut the hell up with the laughter, he turned to AppleJack and smirked before whispering in reply, "Now now Apps dear, a true gentleman, especially a southern one, saves such a special prize for marriage."

"M...marriage?!"

Now it was Ryan's turn to laugh at AppleJack's blushing cheeks, "I reckon if things keep at the pace they're at, you'll get yer wish and see mah sword ain't the only thing that can propagate."

AppleJack couldn't form any words as a response so she did the one thing that came to mind: she rolled back on top of Ryan and kissed him over and over.

"Mercy me!" Ryan sighed happily, waiting for her loving onslaught to finish, "Heh...was it something I said?"

After finally breaking out of their crazy make out session, Ryan and AppleJack finished up the rounds before returning to the farmhouse; after checking on all the critters and making sure they were doing okay they took a seat in the hay to watch the sunset.

"It seems like it was just yesterday we did this, while summer was still going strong."

AppleJack curled up against Ryan, gently running a hoof over his chest while he caressed her mane; as he glanced down at her the vibrant oranges, yellows and reds from the setting sun seemed to enhance her natural beauty and almost give her an otherworldly glow.

"Heh, tell me about it Apps: back then neither of us had the courage to move to the next step but ya finally got the gumption to on mah birthday...and then look all that's happened since then." Ryan remarked, lifting up her hat and brushing a few locks of hair out of her face, "Mah word yer so pretty...and ta think yer mine. It almost seems like a dream."

"Ry..." AppleJack softly spoke, nuzzling his chest, "Well this ain't no dream bucko, I'm as real as they come."

"Thank Celestia fer that."

With that they settled into a comfortable silence as the sun slowly dipped down out of sight, signaling the end of another day; hearing Granny ringing the dinner bell they reluctantly got up and headed inside to join their family.

Dinner was enjoyable as always, thanks in part to Granny's cooking always being so delicious; after helping clean up the dishes they enjoyed a peaceful evening in the living room, the fire crackling softly as they enjoyed a quiet night together.

That was, until Granny decided to pull out a book and hand it to Ryan, "Here sonny, I bet ya will find this rather interestin'."

"...what is...a photo album?" Ryan remarked, smirking as he went to open it, "Well then...I bet I will Granny."

"Photo album?! Wait! No!" Applejack gasped, trying to keep him from reading it.

"Ah, ah!" Ryan teased, lifting it away from her and standing up, "Come on Apps, let me see it; yer family album couldn't have any more embarrassing moments in it than any other ponies."

"No! Don't!" AppleJack pleaded, wrapping her legs around him, "Come on Apple Ryder! Show some mercy!"

"Now AppleJack, you sit those flanks on that couch and be civil!"

"...yes Granny." AppleJack sighed, sitting back down and letting Ryan do the same, "Go ahead Ry-Ry."

With that Ryan opened it up and, as he figured, it was a photo album full of pictures focused on AppleJack; he let out a chuckle at the first few before smirking at her, "You were such a cute baby, just adorable."

"Ah lord, I knew this was gonna happen." She sighed, pulling her hat down.

"Hmmm...I'm guessing the two ponies here are yer parents." Ryan tapped at a certain photo, "...come to think of it, ah don't think I've ever seen them around."

"They're far away sonny, but always in our hearts."

"Oh, I see...I'm sorry."

"Fer what? They ain't dead ya goof."

"Oh, but...the wording ya just used...I'm confused Granny."

"Mah daughter and that sweet stallion of hers are just busy with work a lot, that's all."

"Really? Huh, I would've thought they'd be here on the farm."

"Oh, that daughter of mine...the stories I could tell but, I'll save those for another night. Can't let ya know too much about them, otherwise when ya finally do meet 'em sonny ya won't be as awkward."

"Crazy old mare." Ryan teased, watching as Granny winked in reply, "I take it that means 'Darn tootin'?"

"You betcha!"

With that over Ryan kept flipping through the album, always pointing out just how cute AppleJack was as a young'un, as well as teasing her over an apparent apple 'fwitter' obsession she had back then. There was one photo that was curious, and that was of what appeared to be a teenage AppleJack with a similar aged colt at what appeared to be some kind of dance.

"Oh no, not this." AppleJack threw herself over Ryan's lap to cover the album, "This part don't matter none Ry."

"I'm guessing this was high school huh?" Ryan asked before gently moving AppleJack out of the way, "Ya look pretty happy there."

"Yeah that was...somepony I thought liked me; we dated all through high school but then he went off to some fancy-pants university and just broke things off with me." AppleJack explained, frowning slightly, "I was pretty upset for a while...at least till Big Mac made a joke about bucking him to the moon."

"Eyup!"

"Hahaha, well I had mah share of school romance issues. At least yers went somewhere, nobody would give my feelings the time of day back then." Ryan wrapped an arm around AppleJack and pulled her close, "But that doesn't matter seeing as I finally found a gal that loves me back."

"Wooooooooooooooooo!"

"AppleBloom!"

"Hee, I couldn't help mahself."

"Thank ya Ry, besides it wasn't too hard to love ya back with ya being so gosh darn sweet all the time." AppleJack remarked, nuzzling against him and yawning, "I'm feeling sleepy sugah...care to go to bed?"

Ryan nodded his head and after stating goodnight to his family headed upstairs with Apps; after getting changed into his pajamas he walked over and pulled something out of his wallet before sitting next to her on the bed.

"What's that?" She asked as he unfolded something to show her, "Wait...is that..."

"Yeah, that's mah family...although quite a while ago when I was younger." Ryan explained as he pointed at the different pictures, "This is when we were in grade school, high school, and then this one is when I was a little thing."

"Oh my gosh yer so adorable!" AppleJack squealed, somehow pinching his cheek, "You were a cute kid."

"Apps..."

"Haha, not so funny when it's on the other hoof huh?"

"Well, I figured I got ta see the younger you so why not do the same?"

"Thank ya mah sweet Ry."

With that Ryan put the pictures back where they belonged before climbing into bed and getting settled under the cover with Apps, "Hon?"

"Yeah Ry?"

"I thought ya told me that you were never in love before."

"...well, yeah ah...ah reckon I did Ry but...well...I didn't think it really counted seeing as he broke it off so easily without a second thought." AppleJack sighed and nuzzled Ryan's chest before hugging him tight, "Ah really thought he liked me since we knew one another since grade school but...ah guess it meant more to me than it did ta him. I guess I didn't want to tell ya since you already seemed so banged up yerself about yer problems that night...had to stay strong fer ya."

"That was sweet of you then." Ryan leaned down and kissed the top of her head before hugging her close, "You don't have to worry about that happening though, mah love for ya is strong enough to weather anything life will throw at us."

"That's nice to hear Ry-Ry...and ah feel you mean that so thank ya." AppleJack sighed, relaxing as Ryan gently caressed her mane, "That's the kind of hurt I wouldn't ever wish on anyone, not even Discord."

"Haha, yeah, it's the kind of pain that can break even the strongest person; as an old friend of mine once said "If you break a man's spirit, he loses the will to fight but if you break a man's heart, he just may well lose the will to live.""

"That sums it up pretty well...mmm, I'm just glad that you didn't lose the will when yer heart was broken Apple Ryder."

"And the same with you Apps. Thanks to that, we'll always have each other."

AppleJack slowly nodded before closing her eyes and smiling, "Good night Ry."

"Good night Apps."

With that, another night came to a peaceful close on Sweet Apple Acres.

"Apple Ryder! Are ya ready yet? We're gonna be late!"

"I know! I know! I'm just trying to get one last thing right!"

AppleJack tapped her hoof and rolled her eyes, "What in tarnation is taking ya so long to get yer costume ready?"

Hearing a noise, AppleJack jumped when Ryan teleported right in front of her in a puff of smoke; as it dissipated she blinked a few times before speaking, "...Dark?"

"Or a reasonable facsimile anyway." Ryan commented, smirking as he looked over his and Rarity's handiwork, "I really dig the outfit; Rares did a masterful job."

"Tarnation! Are ya doing that smokey magic in the house?! I told ya not to do that!"

"Sorry Granny!" Ryan apologized before clearing his throat, "The hair was a bit hard to get right, but magic is a wonderful thing sometimes."

"Hmmm, I must say." AppleJack circled around him, examining every detail, "Ya do look pretty sharp."

Ryan gasped when he felt Apps smack him on the butt, "What was that for?"

"Just testing the stitching on them cutie marks of yers." She giggled, "So whose idea was that?"

"Well, while I wanted to incorporate what I suppose is now mah cutie mark, Rares thought it would be absolutely hilarious to place them in roughly the same spot that y'all get yours." Ryan facepalmed and shook his head, "And since they'd look silly on the side of mah pants...they went on the butt pockets. Although, I don't quite mind when it's you giving me a love tap."

AppleJack grinned, leaping up to hug him, "You're such a weirdo sometimes Ry, but yer my weirdo."

'Funny, I recall Luna saying something like that to me as well.'

"Dark! Y'all got the weirdest sense of timing dang it!" AppleJack grumbled before kissing Ryan anyway, "Now come on! We've gotta meet the others in town for the festivities!"

"Okay then I'll...ack!" Ryan gasped, being dragged along by AppleJack, "I'm sure this must be quite a sight: a winged human with dark hair and shades being dragged along by an orange earth pony dressed up as...uhm...ya know, it looks familiar but...why can't I place it?"

"Ah got the idea for it looking at those files ya put on that fancy computer machine ya put in our room; there was this blond human wearing this awesome looking suit of armor and it looked pretty cool. Ah asked Rarity to try and make something more flexible but was true to it...ah think it came out well."

"So basically I'm being dragged by the pony version of Samus Aran...I'm okay with this."

"I reckoned you would be...and ya wouldn't be dragged if you got them legs of yers moving Apple Ryder!"

Figuring she had a point, he matched her pace and soon they were making tracks to Ponyville to meet the others.

"Oh my gosh they're so late! This is seriously cutting into candy time!"

"Pinkie, I'm sure there is a perfectly fine reason as to why Ryan and AppleJack are running behind." Twilight noted, "Besides, when we showed up your sack was already half full."

"Well duh! I start early on Nightmare Night! I mean, come on....Free Candy!" Pinkie huffed before finally seeing Ryan and Apps in the distance, "Thank goodness! There they are!"

"Howdy y'all! Sorry we're late but Mr. Shade over here had to make sure he was lookin' suave."

"Hey! If I'm gonna play the part, I have to get everything accurate." Ryan remarked, before looking at Pinkie tapping her hoof, "Uhm...somethin' on yer mind Pinks?"

"Do you know how much free candy we're losing here?! FREE CANDY RYAN!"

"Guh!" Ryan slowly walked back as Pinkie got up his in grill, "I...but...yes! I'm sorry!"

"Good!" She giggled, "Now let's go!"

"So...those wings of yours are looking pretty good Ryan."

"Thanks Dashie...I like yer outfit. That's that...Daring Do character you and T-Sparks like right?"

"Yeah! Rarity helped me with the outfit but I did the hat myself!"

"So let's see...Apps is Samus Aran..."

"Say-mess a run?"

"Samus Aran...she's a bounty hunter. Where was I? I'm Dark, Apps is Samus, Dashie is Daring Do, T-Sparks appears to be Cellie, Fluttershy is a butterfly, Pinks is a giant chicken (a giant chicken I tell you!), and Rares is a vampiress?" Ryan listed down the row, "Heh, better watch our necks then."

"Oh darling, the only thing I like to sink my teeth into is making wonderful new dresses with so many gorgeous gems."

"Ah, so a vegetarian vampire, that's good then. Hey T-Sparks, where's mah little buddy? He not trick-or-treating?"

"Oh he bumped into AppleBloom and the others and got dragged along by them; they're probably bobbing for apples at this point." Twilight explained.

"Ah, so that tradition carries over here as well huh? Curious. Heh, seems like Halloween and Nightmare Night aren't too different after all."

"Ya said that weird word before Ry-Ry, that...hallos-ween."

"Halloween Apps, and basically it's our equivalent to Nightmare Night; we do seem to do most of the same stuff: kids going around for free candy (as well as older people too sometimes), parties that involve snacks and games and just having fun, and there is that strange sense in the air of something supernatural, something magical, something...mysterious."

"...I thought there wasn't any magic in your world?" Rainbow Dash looked at him oddly, especially with the hand movements he'd made.

"Well there isn't...or isn't anymore depending on who ya ask but humans in older times were more superstitious of things. Halloween, and well most holidays, have changed quite a bit in our history and aren't exactly what they started as back when they were first started."

"This is all fascinating and I'm sure just totally historically awesome but we're burning FREE CANDY!" Pinkie shouted, following up with a cluck for good measure, "Now quite geeking out and let's get a massive haul!"

Ryan simply smirked before striking a pose, "Ya don't have to tell me twice! For great justice, let's get some sweets!"

And get sweets they did, though at one house they did have to hold Pinkie back as she wasn't quite able to do so herself at seeing an unguarded bowl of candy with a sign that simply stated 'Take one please' with a smilie face and all.

Eventually, after hitting everypony's house they could, the group came to the square where the festivities were really getting underway and a fun time was being had by all; looking about he could see a few of the ponies he also called friends out and enjoying themselves...and then he saw a sight that made him pause.

"...I...I..." He tried to form words but when he couldn't he gently rubbed his temples before looking to the girls, "I need to a have a word with Lyra so y'all go ahead and start having fun and I'll catch up."

Walking across the way, Ryan could tell Lyra had seen him right away and seemed a bit nervous at him showing up; when he finally got to where her and Bon-Bon had been enjoying their punch he smirked as he looked her costume up and down.

'Well well Ryan, this is almost like looking into a mirror.'

"Heh, well, Dark always did wonder if we could both exist at the same time...though I doubt he ever figured it'd be like this."

"...Ryan...was that voice...someone else? Who was...wait..." Lyra tapped her cheek in thought, "I've got it! It's that Dark fellow from that book you let me read...and who you also seem to be dressed up as."

"Yeah...and he's rather curious as to why you're dressed up as, well, as me." Ryan laughed into a sigh before walking around her, "I am impressed though, you've managed to capture most of my awesomeness; the wand could use a little work but props to your rendition of Malus Domestica matching almost perfectly. If I wasn't wearing it mahself I'd swear you've got mah sword."

"Hee, thanks Ryan. I worked really hard on it."

"I can attest to that." Bon-Bon teased, "She's been working on that thing for the last two weeks nonstop going on and on about how it had to be perfect because it had to do with you."

"Yeah but...well..." Lyra tapped her hooves together, "I just wanted to make sure it was perfect since you're my friend and awesome too so...I had to make sure if I was going as you, I had to do it right! I hate to disappoint you though, but the sword is fake; it doesn't even have a blade, it's just the hilt and handle attached to a hollow sheath."

"Hahaha, well that's okay. It's not like it has to be perfectly one-to-one but ah am flattered that you'd cosplay as me."

"Cosplay?"

"It means going as someone, usually a character that's well known...it technically fits in this case seeing as most ponies around here know who I am at this point."

"I see then, that makes sense."

"I am curious, why did ya chose mah original outfit when I first got here of all things?"

"Well, I figured why not wear what I first saw you wearing? Oh! I forgot though, check this out!" Lyra excitedly shouted, reaching back and flipping a switch, "I even made it so the gem can switch colors."

Ryan watched as the gem did indeed shift from orange, to red, and then to green before back to orange, "Now that's impressive. Well done Lyra!"

"Hee." Lyra grinned at the praise, "Thanks! Your mane color was the hardest thing to do though, I had a heck of a time getting the dye to work right! Why do you have to have such an odd blend of blonde and brown and...I swear it looks like you've got orange in there too sometimes."

"...this coming from the pony that's a minty green normally. Though...why didn't ya just use yer magic to do that? That's what I did with mine." Ryan teased, "Either way, your efforts are quite amazing...in fact, let's get a photo. Would you mind taking it Bon-Bon?"

"Not at all but...how do I...?"

"Oh right...I didn't bring the hoof-friendly version."

"I can just use my magic, that way Bon-Bon can be in the picture too!"

"Sounds good! Let's get lined up then."

Taking a moment to size everything up, Ryan got the camera in the right position before letting Lyra take over and he quickly joined the two of them; once everypony was smiling Lyra worked the camera and a succession of clicks was heard as it took a number of shots.

"Looks good, I'll have to send them to you later." Ryan remarked, cycling through them so they could see.

"Wheee! Now then! I'm off to high-five people!" With that Lyra was off, leaving Ryan and Bon-Bon there alone for the moment.

"So...why didn't you just use your magic Ryan? From what I know you should've been adept enough to."

"Oh well...I didn't mind letting Lyra shine. That smile she had at being helpful was more than worth it; besides B-squared, part of being the hero is also knowing when to let others take the lead too. The last thing I want to do is push friends away by always trying to do everything and being a spotlight hog."

"That makes sense given the kind of person you are....and I see, regrettably, that you finally came up with a nickname for me." Bon-Bon sighed, shaking her head but smiling.

"Well, it was inevitable wasn't it? Haha, though Lyra...man, it's hard coming up with something for that crazy mare. Heh, give me enough time though and I'll figure out something." Ryan laughed before giving her a bow, "If you'll excuse me m'lady, I have others to attend to."

"Not a problem, happy Nightmare Night Ryan."

"Thanks B-squared, same to you."

"There ya are big bro! We've been looking for ya forever!"

"Ah yes, my favorite little sisters...but wait, where's Spike?" Ryan remarked, kneeling down and hugging the three of them, "Wasn't he with you?"

"He was...till we accidentally knocked him into the apple-bucket."

"That's not that bad Scoots...oh God, there's more isn't there?"

"Yeah and then, when we tried to help him out of that we ended up flinging him into the cotton candy booth..."

"...there's still more isn't there?"

"Yes." Sweetie Belle added, "See...then Pinkie Pie showed up and started chasing him, saying something about 'the cotton candy clouds have returned' and then he tripped and was right back into the apple bucket."

"I see." Ryan frowned, "That's an unfortunate series of events. Is he okay?"

"He's in good hooves if that's what ya mean; Twilight took him to get cleaned up but he was looking a little worn out."

"Well, it's not really yer fault hon so don't feel too bad. I'll have to go see him a little later to cheer him up." Ryan noted before standing back up, "So then...how's yer hauls?"

"Oh my gosh big bro, we got sooooo much candy!"

"Yeah, but we haven't gone with the others to pay Luna, I mean Nightmare Moon our respects."

'...Nightmare Moon?'

"I'm with Dark on this one...what about Lunes' evil past self?"

"Don't ya know? Part of Nightmare Night is offering some of yer haul to Nightmare Moon so she won't gobble ya up in yer dreams."

"I....see." Ryan remarked, "I'm guessing this is a carry-over from the old days when Lunes wasn't all together there in the head then."

"Yep! Last year she showed up and things got crazy! But it all worked out in the end." Scootaloo nodded before motioning with her head, "Come on big bro! Come with us...wouldn't want Nightmare Night to come haunt your dreams because you wouldn't share your candy right?"

Ryan smirked and nodded, "Haha, yeah, that would be bad huh?"

"Oh look, the loser blanks...but at least they have a competent chaperone."

Turning around (and knowing just whose voice that had to be), Ryan was not surprised to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walking towards them; rolling his eyes and smirking he laughed softly, "Well well, what do we have here? A little princess and a fairy it would seem."

"Of course I'm a princess." Diamond Tiara noted, "I suppose you're heading off to Nightmare Moon's statue judging by the direction you're going."

"Heh, that's right DT. Care to join us?"

"Hmmmm, well that would be...oh drat, daddy's caught up to us again." She sighed, seeing her father come running over.

"Diamond dear, I've told you not to run off like that." Filthy Rich huffed before seeing Ryan and grimacing, "You don't know what you could run into...especially on a night like this."

Though he wasn't sure why, he could sense that Filthy (or should he say Rich? He wasn't sure) was directing those words at him; trying his best to ignore it he maintained a calm demeanor, "I assure you Mr. Rich, that your daughter as well as her friend would be well protected by me from anypony that wished to harm them."

"I bet." He tersely replied before nudging his daughter, "Come along now you two, it's nearly your bed time."

"...ugh, very well daddy." Diamond Tiara sighed, following behind her father but mouthing sorry to Ryan.

Ryan smiled and nodded, mouthing back that it was okay, it wasn't her fault.

"Bye Ryan!" Silver Spoon shouted as she trotted off to catch up to them, somewhat oblivious to what happened.

"Later SS, take care!" Ryan remarked before smiling down at the CMC's, "So then...shall we little ones?"

"Ah don't get it Ry, why does Diamond's dad seem to not like ya all that much?"

"I don't know AppleBloom; I can't think of any reason I've given him to act that way."

"Do you think it's just because you're a human?"

"I'd hope it wouldn't be that Sweetie Belle...that'd be like me hating somepony because they're a pony." Ryan sighed and shook his head, "Maybe he's just really distrustful of anyone that looks odd?"

"Well, either way it's stupid." Scootaloo huffed, "Anyway, we're just about there!"

Ryan couldn't help notice that the area they were heading to was uncomfortably close to that creepy forest, "So...they built this statue...in the outskirts of the Everfree Forest? The same forest that's warned against, told not to enter, and contains unknown horrors from beyond?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"And then every year you come to this statue, built out here, to leave candy? In the middle of the night no less?" Ryan paused in mid-step, "...ow."

"What happened big bro?"

"Mah mind broke at the weird logic is all." He huffed, "Anyway, I think I can see it from here."

Sure enough, there stood the statue of Nightmare Moon glowing in the moonlight; Ryan paused to look it over and frowned slightly at how...terrifying it made poor Luna look.

'Poor Woona...she looked so sad like this.'

"You see it too, though I shouldn't be surprised given how close you two were."

"Uh Ryan...you're talking to yourself."

"Oh, sorry Scootaloo, just having a conversation with Dark...he, as I, noted how sad her eyes look despite her fearsome appearance." Ryan opened up his bag and dumped out his offering, "I keep having to remind him not to beat himself up over what happened to her all those years ago."

"Well he shouldn't feel so down; as long as he knows she still loved him then that's what matters." AppleBloom noted before glomping Ryan, "Besides, if he's part of you, than when we hug ya we're hugging him too!"

"...so then...we kind of have two big bros?" Sweetie Belle remarked before glomping him as well, "...although I guess it would technically be three for AppleBloom since she already had Big Mac."

Scootaloo tapped her cheek before glomping on as well, "I don't really get it...but works for me!"

'Hahaha, you little rugrats are too much.'

"Yer welcome Dark!"

Just then there was a large flash as the wind kicked up thusly and all of a sudden the statue standing there turned into...Nightmare Moon?

"What the hell?" Ryan gasped, quickly grabbing the girls and jumping back, "How?!"

'This can't be possible!'

"You foolish little foals, to think you dare to stay here when we appear to collect your meager offerings!" Nightmare Moon bellowed, "You must have some courage to remain in your spots and...............Darkness?"

"Lunes?"

'Woona?'

In one more quick flash of magic, Nightmare Moon turned back into how Luna should normally look before she slowly walked over to Ryan who was still tightly holding his little sisters, "Goodness me...you're practically his spitting image now."

Ryan, sensing things were not amiss, set the CMC's down before blinking, "Lunes...what in tarnation was all that?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry; apparently the children like it when I spook them on Nightmare Night so I make a point to appear. Besides, look at all this free candy."

'Heh, you always did have a sweet tooth.'

"That's true enough Darkness. I just can't get over how perfectly you've copied him though Ryan." Luna walked around him once more, "The wings, the hair...but I know it's still just you looking like him."

"I am sorry Lunes...had I known you were going to be here I would've gone as something else."

"No, no, that's okay; as time goes on I find my memories do not affect me as hard as they did when you first arrived. He wouldn't want me to stay all hung up on it after all."

'Woona...'

"Hmmm...hey little sisters?" Ryan turned and kneeled in front of them, "Do ya think you can get back to town on yer own okay?"

"Hmmm? Oh. Oh! Yeah! Yeah! We're not far from town...and technically it's not really in the Everfree Forest so."

"Are you sure that's a good idea AppleBloom?"

"Trust me on this one Scootaloo, ah think I know what Ryan's planning."

"Uhm, maybe you can fill me in then while we walk back." Sweetie Belle noted, "Don't stay out too late big bro!"

"I won't girls, see ya later." Ryan watched as they headed off back to town before turning back to Luna, "I...we have been working on something...it's not too stable...so I don't know how long it'll work for but...I figure this night is appropriate enough for it."

'Are you sure about this Ryan? You don't have to...and it's probably gonna hurt once it's over...'

"Ah know, but...well I don't mind since, ya know, I'm dressed for the part."

Luna was just perplexed as the two went back and forth, "What are you two talking about?"

"You'll see....Soul Cross." Ryan grunted for a moment after calling out the spell and fell to one knee, a hand clutching his head.

"Ryan?"

"...Not Exactly." A gruffer voice was the reply Luna got as he stood up slowly, "Huh...this body feels like mine...but it's different enough for me to know it isn't."

Luna felt she knew this voice and the way he was talking, "...Darkness?"

"Heh, in the flesh...so to speak; Ryan's a hell of a guy, giving up control of his body so you and I can have more than a moment." Dark smirked, walking over and putting his arm around Luna's neck, "...I've missed you so much. I see your fur is as soft as ever."

"Dark." Luna blinked back tears before leaning against him, "I...I know I said the memories don't affect me as much but...your voice...your touch..."

"Shhh, there there." Dark quietly whispered, caressing her mane, "I know it was hard...you stayed tough for so long until it was too much."

"Darkness I..."

"I'm not disappointed though...you held back as long as you could; thankfully Tia was there to do what she could. I...I just wish she had found a better way than leaving you alone for 1,000 years on the moon."

"It was so lonely....and all I could think of for the longest time was how much I missed you...and my sister."

"If there had been a way, I would've gladly stayed with you there my sweet Woona." Dark smiled, removing his shades and staring into her eyes, "Just like your stars above, your beauty still shines so brightly."

"...you still know how to charm a mare." Luna snickered before blinking as she felt something cold land on her, "...snow?"

Sure enough, as Dark and Luna could see, a light snow began to fall signaling the start of winter at last; he laughed softly at this turn of events, "This reminds me of Hearth's Warming Eve that first year I lived with you and Tia. Do you still remember that?"

"Ah yes...how could I forget the day you finally confessed your love for me? Haha, you were so nervous at how I'd react all because of such a silly difference."

"Yeah." Dark laughed into a sigh before smiling, "I was always so fierce against those threatening us...but when it came to confessing my feelings I was like a shy school boy."

"When I accepted your love, it began snowing just like this; we sat in the garden for hours that evening as the ground slowly turned to white." Luna smiled, turning to Dark and seeing him grimacing in pain, "Darkness?"

"Heh, sorry Woona...but I think my time is about up; this spell is pretty draining, especially for a human to perform." Dark groaned, feeling the effects as his wings vanished from sight, "Poor Ryan's gonna have a hell of a headache...I don't think we'll be testing this spell out again anytime soon though so...sorry hon."

"Heh, that is okay; any time with you is a gift. A gift from a very caring friend." Luna smiled softly, leaning down to kiss Dark, "Protect him, okay?"

"I will Woona...goodbye...for now."

With that Dark collapsed to his knees before his voice changed into a familiar, slightly southern one, "Sweet Celestia that spell hurt mah noggin something fierce."

"Ryan?"

"The one and only Lunes; I take it you enjoyed yer time with Dark?" He asked, slowly standing up and stumbling a bit, "Oh man...mah head! Hmmm...it's snowing too? Crazy."

"...do...do you mean to say you did not have awareness while Dark was borrowing your body?"

"The Soul Cross basically puts me to sleep for lack of a better explanation; Dark's got full control when I'm out." He explained, "But...I trust him so..."

"You are a very good friend. To hear his voice, truly hear it, after all this time has brought a smile to me I have not felt in some time. Thank you Ryan."

"Heh, anytime Lunes...but...ugh...." He stumbled, falling to one knee, "Damn; I underestimated the spell a little."

"Shall I assist you?" Luna asked, lending him a hoof.

"To get up, yes; as for getting home...there appears to be a certain orange pony I'm quite fond of hiding in the bushes watching us. I would love if she assisted me to our home."

"...How in tarnation?" AppleJack shouted before realizing she gave herself away, "Ah...ah mean...oh drat Ry-Ry."

Walking over to the two, Ryan could see that her eyes were a little red...had she been crying?

"Apps...your eyes; are...are you okay?"

"Yes!" She quickly replied, "Ah...ah just...that whole thing ya just did for the Dark and the Princess...it's just...touchin' at how sweet mah stallion is to his friends."

"Apps." Ryan took her into a tight hug, "Heh, you know me; I do what I can to make mah friends happy. Yer the same way, remember?"

"Ah know that, it's just...the way I do it is different. I help them...but ya gave up control of yer body willingly like it was nothin'." AppleJack sank into his hug, nuzzling his neck, "Ah don't know about you, but that's a pretty big thing ta do fer a friend."

"Doesn't seem that way ta me." Slowly standing up, Ryan placed a hand on Apps to keep steady before turning to Luna, "Lunes, if you'll excuse us. It has been a wonderful evening and I do hope you have a good Nightmare Night."

"With the gift you've given me...and of course all this delicious candy of course, I can safely say I have. You two take care of each other."

"Shucks, I'll keep him in line Princess if'n that's what ya mean."

"Apps!"

Luna laughed at their exchange before nodding, "Of that I do not doubt, farewell my friends."

Waving goodbye Ryan and AppleJack began their walk back to town, noting that the festivities were well over at this point. The stands yet to be taken down were the only reminder of the events of the evening as they walked passed a few stragglers still out and about enjoying the company of friends...and apparently trying to hunt ghosts from the sounds of it.

"Ah tarnation, ah got so caught up helping Dark and Lunes I forget to check in on Spike."

"I wouldn't worry about that Apple Ryder." AppleJack remarked with a smirk as they began the trek back to the farm.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Haha, you'll see mah love; have mah surprises ever been bad?"

Ryan shrugged, figuring she had a point; as they finally came upon the farmhouse he could see a rather large bonfire set up...and some very familiar ponies (and one dragon) sitting around it, "Ah, now I see what you meant luv."

"Ah told you it'd be okay."

Seeing that Ryan and AppleJack had finally joined them, they offered them a marshmallow on a stick as they sat and joined the party.

"Hey big guy, where's your wings at?"

"Hmmm? Well Dashie, let's just say the energy I was using to keep them out was better used to help out some friends of ours."

"...and what the hay does that mean? Sheesh, always so cryptic."

"What it means Rainbow Dash, is mah Apple Ryder was being his sweet, loving self as always." AppleJack added, before munching on her marshmallow, "Mmmm, that's chewy goodness."

Turning to his right, Ryan smirked at Spike before pulling him in for a noogie, "I hear ya got into some misadventures of yer own little buddy. How ya feeling?"

"Heh, better until you decided to be silly." Spike teased, grinning at Ryan's actions, "The girls made up for it though by giving me some of their rock candy."

"That's good to hear; they did seem genuinely upset at causing you grief. Ahm guessing they're sleeping though."

Fluttershy ate another marshmallow before nodding, "Oh yes, those little dears tried their hardest to stay up till you and AppleJack got back but they just wore themselves out too much and fell asleep. Granny Smith moved them into the house so I suppose they're sleeping over."

"Haha, they can be so adorable when they aren't getting into trouble." Ryan laughed softly, "This has been a fun night everypony...tiring, draining, but fun."

With that the friends talked long into the night, the fire slowly dwindling as they joked, told spooky stories, and of course enjoyed one another's company...oh, right, and had lots of delicious candy as well; as the last embers finally sparked out everypony yawned before stretching and standing up. Saying their goodnights, the friends went their separate ways back home while Ryan and AppleJack doused the rest of the fire. Afterwards they slowly made their way inside and upstairs before seeing the three CMC's happily dreaming in AppleBloom's room.

"Heh, they're just so cute." Ryan whispered before quietly walking by.

"Yeah, but just wait till they're up and makin' all sorts of noise."

"Haha, well, that's true." He remarked as they entered their room and closed the door, "...I'm too tired to change."

Sighing, Ryan tossed off his jacket and kicked off his shoes before flopping into bed...and then feeling AppleJack flop on top of him; too tired to say anything about this position, he softly kissed her before feeling her get comfy and rest her head on his shoulder. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he closed his eyes and with that his first ever Nightmare Night came to a successful and happy end.

Author's Note

It's a bit early, but the idea train isn't stopping for me so here's the Nightmare Night/Halloween chapter as well as a little follow-up to the celebration and then a few other small things to get it back into a more silly, less serious mood. Also that little part with Apps and Ryan in the orchard I do NOT know where it came from; I was just typing and then...that really bad joke just popped in there and I could not pass up using it. Haha, hope y'all enjoy!

12th Harvest

The next morning Ryan slowly opened his eyes, and immediately closed them again; he still felt the fatigue from the spell and the sunlight was not doing him any favors with how it was blasting through the window. He could tell, however, that Apps was up already as the oddly pleasant sensation of her weight upon him was not to be found. Taking one more chance at opening his eyes, he slowly cracked them open and forced himself to get used to the light. That's not to say he got up right away, he still lay there staring at the ceiling and silently cursing the ache he felt, "Tarnation...I suppose this is why humans shouldn't be using high-level spells that are only meant for the utmost magic users...I'm no alicorn, that's fer sure. Then again, I reckon staying up late with everypony didn't make it any better either. Haha..."

Still groaning, he idly wondered where Apps was at until he detected a very delightful scent wafting into the bedroom...and coming closer from the sound of things. Lifting his head up slightly he saw AppleJack come in with a tray of some kind in her mouth before walking over and setting it on the table, "Apps?"

"Ah! Yer up at last Apple Ryder; looks like I was right in thinkin' some food would bring ya around. I was starting to get worried since I couldn't wake ya."

"Yeah that...that spell was a doozy." Ryan softly groaned as he pulled himself into a sitting position, "Did ya bring me...breakfast?"

"Eyup!" AppleJack carried it over and sat it in his lap, "Ah think you'll be pleased with it; I figured you'd need something hearty after last night and it looks like ah was right."

Looking at the plate on the tray, Ryan blinked at what was there next to the eggs and toast, "Apps? Is that...bacon? Mah goodness, it is!"

"Heh, I knew you'd appreciate it. Ah know you do yer best to respect how things are here and work around the whole 'humans like meat' thing as best ya can with us, but I figured treating mah Ry to something he likes wouldn't hurt."

"Well, ya eat ham so...bacon isn't too much of a stretch for ya to have." Ryan picked up a strip and took a bite, "Nice and crispy. Mmmm...I'm pretty glad y'all don't hold a fact like this against me."

"Shoot, it's like Fluttershy said, while not everypony is like that, we don't condemn those that are; doing somethin' like that is just nonsense." AppleJack smirked, walking over and licking Ryan's cheek, "Ya had a little something there sugah. Mmmm...Apple Ryder, mah favorite."

"Apps...." Ryan blushed at her loving action, "Yer such a goober."

"You know ya like it Ry."

Ryan smirked and nodded, though he felt a little awkward as AppleJack just sat and stared at him as he ate. When he finally finished he just looked at her oddly, "Apps? Why are ya...looking at me like that?"

"Ah can't look at mah boyfriend now?"

"N-no, that's not it! I just...it's making me feel a little awkward is all."

"Haha, shoot, I'm just looking at how long yer mane's gotten." She reinforced this point by reaching over and swishing his longer hair back and forth, "It's finally becoming a respectable pony mane."

"Is that a fact?" Ryan laughed softly at her antics, "Hmmm, it is true I haven't had it cut in quite a while...you think I should?"

"Heck no, I kinda like the long hair look on ya; maybe after winter's over so yer not sweating all crazy but...I'd like it if'n ya kept them curling, messy locks a little while longer."

"Hahaha, well as m'lady wishes; now then...what time is it? How long was I out?"

Ryan was currently busy on the computer, typing away at something with AppleJack watching over his shoulder. He was a bit surprised he'd slept in till after noon but this result proved his original thought to be true: the strain of the spell combined with staying up late with his friends had definitely worn his body out quite a bit.

"Whatcha hammering away at them keys for anyway?"

"Oh, I had a few things I wanted to write down...and then I remembered that our friends have some birthdays coming up." Ryan explained, clicking here and there before writing some more, "I'm not sure what to get either of them...though Pinkie's gift should be easy enough. It's Dashie that I'm worried about...she's a little hard to read in terms of what she likes; well, with what she really likes, not what she openly talks about anyway."

"...ya know, I've got an idea for her if'n ya want to hear it." AppleJack blinked a bit, "But uh...maybe after ya finish typin' since mah idea can't really be used with that overcharged typewriter."

Ryan snickered at her way of describing the computer, "I suppose yer right; I'm just about done anyway."

Making a few last marks and clicking here and there, he turned on a machine to the side of it and waited for it to warm up; once it did he clicked a button on the computer and the machine came to life causing AppleJack to raise an eyebrow.

"And what in tarnation does that thing do?"

"Well it's a printer; I suppose the easiest way to describe it is it takes whatever you have on screen and creates a tangible copy of it."

"...so it's like a photo maker?"

"Something like that; I could print photos but it's a bit more versatile." Ryan nodded before frowning when he saw it start to shudder and shake, "...well that's not supposed to happen."

AppleJack blinked in confusion as the printer seem to be groaning loudly and then let out a sharp whirring noise, "Uh...ahm gonna guess that's not supposed to happen either?"

"No, no it's not." Ryan sighed, watching as the printer made one last death cry noise before sputtering out the paper and bursting into flames, "Oh dammit!"

Quickly waving his wand, Ryan dropped a splash of water over it before frowning as he looked over the machine and shook his head.

"Ry-Ry?"

"Oh it's just like a lot of technology I've tried to create with magic; as T-Sparks and I have found out there's a lot of bugs and glitches to deal with doing it this way. This was the fifth printer we tried to make and I really thought we'd finally solved all the problems this time." Picking up the half-printed card he sighed slightly, "Well, back to the old drawing board ah guess."

"Dang blast it sonny! I told ya not to do that poofy magic in this house!"

"Sorry Granny, but that's not magic this time! Just mah electronics breaking....again..."

"Yer gizmos and such? Well, that's okay then; just don't go burnin' down the farm okay sonny?"

"I won't Granny!" Ryan laughed sheepishly before turning to Applejack, "Oh mercy. Well then, since I can't do that the fancy way, old-fashioned it is! Anyways, what was this idea of yers hon?"

"Okay, I've gotta admit, that's a good idea for her but...how do I go about getting them?"

"Ya leave that to me Apple Ryder, as long as ya got the bits for it then that's all that necessary."

Still curious as to how she was going to pull this off, or who she knew that could pull it off, Ryan gave a shrug and handed AppleJack the sack of bits she had told him would be enough to make it all work; with that he watched her scribble out something (he always was curious just how she could write so well with her mouth) before putting the letter and sack of bits into a package and having him pick it up.

"Okay...so we just need to get this to Derpy to mail then?"

"Eyup! Then we'll have Dashie covered...but what in tarnation did you think up for Pinkie Pie?"

"Oh well, I can't rightly reveal that just yet after all; gotta wait a few more days for her birthday to get here before ya see what I'm cooking up."

AppleJack shook her head and laughed softly, "Sugah, that smirk on yer face has trouble written all over it. Haha, well, knowing you and Pinkie, it'll probably be something that makes absolutely no sense. Anyway Ry, let's go mail off that package and then take a walk. Oh...and ya might wanna dress warm, it's been snowing all night."

"Really? I never encountered snow where I lived so finally getting to see it will be a nice treat."

Pulling on his sneakers, Ryan dug around in the closet for a long sleeved-shirt before pulling that on as well; once he threw on his jacket and grabbed the package, he and Apps waved goodbye to Granny as they headed outside. A smile made its way upon Ryan's face as he heard the soft crunch of snow under his shoes before laughing and running all about in it; AppleJack merely smirked and shook her head at his antics, "Apple Ryder...it's only snow; yer acting like a little filly the first time they see snow."

"Well, ta be honest there Apps, this is the second time I've seen snow...technically. The first time was a weird fluke with like...not even an inch of snow. This though." He spread his free arm out and spun about, "This is just beautiful with how the snow compliments the bare trees and the rusticness of the farm. It almost gives it a...haunting quality that's relaxing yet still slightly chilling."

AppleJack laughed before walking over and nudging his side, "You and yer speakin' in fancy sometimes; I gotta admit though...it's pretty cute."

Laughing in reply, Ryan smirked and smacked Apps' flank lightly before running off down the path towards town; looking back he saw a shocked AppleJack who had yet to take off...but that didn't last for very long.

"Tarnation! Ya cheeky human! When I get my hooves on ya, I'm gonna make ya regret that!"

"But I was just payin' ya back for yesterday evening!" Ryan shouted over his shoulder, now quite amused at her chasing after him, "Well then...let's hope I've developed enough stamina to stay ahead of her. This is going to be fun!"

"Fun nothing! I'm gonna smack yer bum and see how ya like it!"

Ryan merely smirked again before leaping over a decently sized drift of snow, "As I recall, I mentioned I didn't mind when you did...and besides, given our little romp in the leaves a week ago I would've thought you'd like mah hands paying attention to yer flank!"

AppleJack sputtered and blushed, not prepared for such a mental assault during their chase...which is probably why she plowed right through the drift instead of jumping over it; hearing the crash, Ryan turned around before slowing and eventually stopping. Watching carefully, he waited for AppleJack to get back up but she didn't which worried him; quickly running back over to her he began shoving the snow left and right to get to her before he saw her lying there with her eyes closed.

"Apps! Apps honey! Come on! Stay with me! Ya okay?" Ryan asked, now worried when he got no response, "AppleJack..."

AppleJack didn't move for a few moments, but then Ryan saw her lips curl into a very mischievous grin; he barely got out a "Oh sweet Celestia!" before she was upon him, her hooves pinning his arms to the ground as she laughed softly.

"Ah think it's sweet ya came back and all...even knowing that I was probably laying out a trap." AppleJack whispered, nuzzling his neck before nipping his ear.

"Now...now Apps...be..be reasonable here." Ryan nervously stated, "Ah...ah was just having a..a little fun ya know? With my marefriend? Whom I love. A lot."

"Hahaha, oh ah know Ry-Ry..." AppleJack shifted a bit, now sitting over him while she held his arms, "But if'n yer gonna use those illegal things of yers on mah flank, well....do it proper like a gentleman would."

Ryan was a bit puzzled by just what she meant until he felt her lift his arms up and then place his hands right on her...oh! "Oh! Well...how awful of me to be so inconsiderate to mah gal. Allow me to...rectify mah misdeeds."

AppleJack giggled at his odd way of talking before sighing and leaning against him as his hands got to work caressing her, "Mmmm, Ry...yer better than any Spa Pony when it comes to massaging them muscles."

"Heh, well, mah fingers are magic after all my sweet southern belle." Ryan accentuated this point by pushing slightly harder and grinned at the reaction he got, "Mercy me...I do declare that I'm pushing all the right buttons now."

"I'll say...kiss me sugah!"

Ryan didn't need to be told twice as he took her face in his hands and leaned up to kiss her deeply, laughing softly as he felt her tongue wrapping around his; after a few minutes of once again making out in the orchard (more or less), AppleJack reluctantly got off of Ryan and helped him up. Looking at where they'd been laying, he had to laugh that the thin layer of snow had totally melted thanks to their body heat.

'Damn! I knew we were hot Ryan, but that's just crazy!'

"Yer such an idiot Dark!" Ryan laughed loudly at his other half's comment, "...that's not to say I don't agree with ya."

AppleJack laughed as well, though she shook her head, "I agree with Apple Ryder...but at least ya give us privacy till after we're done."

'But of course my dear mare, 'tis only proper for a gentleman to not intrude on a mare and her stallion when they are sharing a private moment of tenderness.'

"Like I said, he's so crazy...but he's always welcome to stay." Ryan smiled before looking around, "Now then...where did I sit down that package?"

After having finally found the package (how it ended up sitting on top of the fence is anypony's guess), the two of them headed into town and had dropped the package off without too much of a problem; this simple fact was surprising to Ryan because, well, Derpy is as Derpy does. However, as he had always noted, she took her job as mailmare quite seriously so it explained the whole encounter rather nicely. Afterwards they had taken to just walking around town, watching as all the ponies took in the first day of winter and seeing the change in the market as well that it brought, "It's weird Apps, seeing that certain food completely vanishes with a change in the seasons and weather."

"That's not that weird to us Ry; it's how it always goes. Can't rightly grow certain things in the cold now can ya?"

"It's just so different from back home."

"How's that?"

Pausing to pick up and hand an errant ball that had crossed their paths back to the little fillies playing with it, he smirked before turning to her, "Well, ya know from what I told Twilight we can't control the weather on mah Earth right?"

"Ah think I remember that...pretty inconvenient if'n ya ask me."

"It is...especially when you go for a walk with no umbrella...and it starts raining at the furthest point away from home." Ryan sighed, rolling his eyes at a memory he'd made far more times than he'd wished he had, "Basically because of that though, we have different weather all over at different times; food doesn't go out of season, not really. You can get pretty much anythin' whenever ya want...but the price and quality do get affected."

"Well that's interestin'...but I don't reckon I'd change things here; it is easier to avoid a blizzard when ya know it's coming."

"I'll bet! Hahaha." Ryan stretched, still trying to work the kinks out from the spell, "Man, I still feel super drained...how about we get a...huh?!"

AppleJack was a bit puzzled at why Ryan stopped walking and turned to look at him, "Uh, Apple Ryder? Whatcha doin'?"

Ryan was attempting to walk as best he could, as was evident by his limbs shaking as if he was fighting something, but it was clear that he was stuck in place, "Ugh...if I didn't know any better I'd say a unicorn is griefing me."

"How do ya figure that?" AppleJack asked as she tried shoving him from behind, "Ungh!"

"I don't think that'll help hon so don't hurt yerself." Ryan kept trying to struggle to break free, or at the least reach his wand, "Having become a user of magic mahself, I can tell when I'm being affected by it. And seeing as I'm stronger now but not nearly as strong as a good number of ponies since, ya know, unicorns are naturally gifted with an understanding of magic, there's only a handful of suspects in Ponyville I can think of that would be able to freeze me in place."

Almost as if on cue, Ryan heard his name being shouted rather loudly by a familiar voice; doing his best to turn his head he wasn't surprised at who he saw running towards them in the distance.

"T-Sparks..."

"Twilight? Now why in tarnation would she do this?"

"I think we're about to find out." Ryan huffed, still struggling, "Dammit...I hate this; can't ya help Dark?"

'I'd like to lend a hoof, but unfortunately I can't really do much like this; all I can do is project my voice and well, I can make your wings show up but...I don't think that'll help much.'

"Ugh, well...I can't get mad since you are just a part of my soul. Didn't hurt to ask though." Ryan groaned, straining as hard as he could to try and force movement, managing to at least turn around and glare at Twilight as she got closer, "She's got some explainin' ta do."

Twilight slowed down her running before stopping right in front of a very annoyed looking Ryan, "I just found out about something and I have to ask if you're out of your mind!"

"T-Sparks...what in tarnation could cause such a ruckus that you'd have to pull a power-play on me with yer magic?" Ryan groaned again, moving slowly and snapping his fingers to don his wings, "...dammit, that's still not enough power to break this spell? I've got more training to do."

"That's exactly what I'm here to ask you about!" Twilight practically shouted, using her magic to lower Ryan's face down to hers, "What's this I hear about you training Spike? To fight no less?!"

"...really? This is what that's about?" Ryan huffed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, "T-Sparks, two things: One, why are you keeping me in place like this? Didn't you say you'd never use yer magic against me like this? Yer mah friend and yet yer taking advantage of a clear skill-set difference between the two of us."

Twilight paled for a second, realizing just what it was she had done, "Well I..."

"And two, I'll be more than happy to explain the whole situation if ya kindly let me free!"

"I....ugh...you're right Ryan." Twilight hung her head as she relinquished the magic hold she had over his body.

Ryan, no longer held in place, fell face first to the ground due to the awkward positioning he'd been put in. He simply rolled over and stared upwards at the sky and the two ponies looking at him worriedly before he finally pulled himself up and stretched. Once he'd finally adjusted himself he looked at Twilight and frowned, "I'm not angry per se, more hurt than anything else. That was a really big violation of trust I have with y'all; mah magic isn't anywhere near as strong as yours yet T-Sparks, and besides, unlike you I have to use a wand for the most part to focus it.

"I put a lot of faith in the unicorns I know to not use their magic against me like that and while I doubt some ponies magic would have the same effect as yours on mah mobility, I'm still a creature that's from a world where magic is not innate throughout it. It's only through the grace of luck and that goofball Darkness Shade that I'm capable of handling it and using it so that I'm not totally useless when mah world is danger...when mah loved ones are in danger...when mah special somepony is in danger."

"...well...I feel like a total ass now." Twilight face-hoofed and let out a groan, "No offense Cranky."

"Meh, none taken young'un."

"Seriously though Ryan...I totally broke a major rule I have with my friends; and that rule should go doubly so for those that can't use magic like I can." Twilight walked over towards him, pawing the ground softly before looking up at him with big, sorrowful eyes, "I overreacted and I did something I shouldn't have. I don't want you to hate me so...can you forgive me?"

Ryan took a deep breath before smiling and ruffling her mane, "Well...you are mah friend...and I don't hate ya T-Sparks, I'm just a bit disappointed you reacted in that way. I thought after nearly six months you'd have a little more faith in the decisions I make."

"I know, I know." Twilight shook her head back and forth, feeling quite silly at yet again jumping the gun, "How about I buy you a treat to make up for it and while we're snacking you can explain the whole situation to me?"

Ryan said nothing, but the grin on his face clearly told her that he was fully behind this suggestion of hers.

"Haha, that's mah Ry-Ry; it's nice to see that even with him the old phrase still holds true."

'Oh! I know the one you're talking about AppleJack! The quickest way to a stallion's heart is through his stomach!'

"...okay, I take it back; I'm gonna evict yer sorry non-existent butt!"

Ryan's smile said otherwise, however, as he joined Twilight, AppleJack, and Dark in their laughter as they walked through town towards the cafe.

"..okay, that all makes sense then." Twilight paused from enjoying her smoothie to nod at Ryan, "I didn't know that whole incident had affected him so hard."

"Yeah, but don't feel too bad, I can see why you'd be upset since he got hurt so much by Disky."

"So that's where you've been sneakin' off ta in the morning a few times a week huh? Haha, I never took ya to be the sensei type Apple Ryder."

"Haha, well, Spike stated something similar our first day training." Ryan took a moment to munch a few fries before continuing, "Like I told him though, I've met a lot of people so a lot of positive qualities have rubbed off on me from them."

Twilight regarded him oddly as she watched him snack, "...I still don't understand how you can eat Hay Fries though. I didn't think humans could eat hay."

Ryan paused, a fry comically hanging out of his mouth as he thought on that statement; pulling the straggler into his mouth and chewing on it he nodded his head before looking at the remaining ones, "They really can't...I mean, I know some humans that live on farms chew on pieces of it. Ya know, like how Big Mac always has one hanging in his mouth. I can only deduce that it's a combination of the fact that the hay in them is ground up finely with the potato so it's not like eatin' raw hay or anything. The other part of it is probably something to do with Dark's aura that I inherited."

"I suppose that's a logical deduction." Twilight made a curious face that showed she was working the thought out in her head, "At least as logical as you get anyway."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Ryan stuck his tongue out at her before finishing up his fries, "Either way I'm glad I can because these things are quite tasty. Mmmmm."

"Quite. But Ryan..."

"Yes T-Sparks?"

"Just keep him safe...and don't let him get reckless."

"Hey, it's me; when have I ever been reckless?"

'Well....'

"I reckon..."

"...you are all just awful." Ryan laughed softly, "Anyway, do not worry; Spike's mah little bro so I won't let him get hurt. Now then...with that over, I have one piece of bad news to tell ya."

Twilight frowned, "And just what is that?"

"The printer? The one we thought was bug-proof now? Well...it kind of exploded into flames."

"...what is it with ya and things blowing up like that Ry-Ry?"

"Ah don't know Apps...some mysteries are to never be solved."

'Like why you are always becoming one with the ground.'

"Yes Dark, like how I.......tarnation!"

A few days later, after having gotten a very energetic live invitation from Pinkie herself for her birthday party, Ryan and AppleJack were heading towards Sugarcube Corner to celebrate her birthday with her and the others. Apps glanced at the package he was carrying that was colorfully wrapped and tied with curly ribbon curiously, "Apple Ryder...I still have no idea whatsoever what ya got for Pinkie Pie."

Ryan laughed softly and patted the package, "Oh well now Apps...ah can't rightly ruin the surprised by telling ya. Let's just say that given how our dear Pinks acts, she'll get a heck of a kick outta this gift. Of that I am most certain."

"If'n ya say so..." AppleJack knocked on the door before seeing Pinkie answer, "Well howdy there sugarcube, happy bir-"

"Don't just stand there, come on in! The others are already here so come on come on!" Pinkie grabbed the two of them and, using strength she shouldn't possibly have, carried the two of them in a blur of movement upstairs to where the others were indeed at.

Taking a moment to collect himself at that unexpected event, Ryan shook his head before blinking, "...I'm not sure how you picked us both up like that but anyway, Happy Birthday Pinkie!"

"Woooooo!" Pinkie shouted, taking the present, "Oh man, what could it be? I bet it's something really crazy and cool knowing you. Oh I wanna open it, I wanna open it! But! It's not the time yet! We've gotta party first!"

"Hahaha, well then, what does this party entail this time?"

"Oh you'll like this Rysy-wysy-woo!"

With that Pinkie went around and handed everypony there a list before dividing them all into teams: Ryan with Apps, Twilight (and Spike) with Rainbow Dash, and then Rarity with Fluttershy. She smiled as they looked over the list curiously before reading off things on it.

"Something brown loved by something grey?"

"A rare pair of...underwear?"

"...something tall, tan, and red? Pinkie Pie darling, what are these strange things?"

"Hee-hee, it's a scavenger hunt everypony! I thought up a bunch of interesting things...and they might have more than one answer just so you know! Hee-hee."

"...tarnation Ry, some of these are a real noodle scratcher. I can't even wrap mah head around this one: a moment that defies all logic? How in the name of the Great Apple are we supposed to figure that one out?"

Ryan smirked, "Oh but Apps, that there is the reason this'll be so fun; knowing somewhat how Pinkie's mind can work I can foresee lots of fun with this'n."

Pinkie hopped all about and grinned, clearly excited, "Wheee! And I'll be keeping an eye out while you're all looking for stuff so do your best and have fun!"

"So Pinkie...just one question."

"One Twilight?"

Ignoring Rainbow Dash's comment, Twilight turned back to Pinkie, "How long do we have to get things on the list?"

"Hmmmmmm? I think two hours should be enough to get the fun really rolling!" Pinkie pulled on a party hat and blew on her party noisemaker, "Alrighty everypony! Let's see how much fun you can have! Go!"

"...I don't understand why we're going to Derpy's house Apple Ryder."

Ryan looked over the list, making a few mental notes for other ones before folding it up and sticking it into his jacket pocket, "That should be an easy one if'n ya think about it Apps; Derpy is grey....and what does she love that's brown?"

AppleJack paused for a moment, putting her hoof to her chin and thinking, "...something she loves that's brown? Well, there's only one thing that comes to mind but...is it really that simple?"

Laughing in reply, Ryan's silence only confused her further as they knocked on the door and hoped she was home; it was a few moments before they knocked once again and rather than Derpy answering the door, a certain other pony did.

"Now who could....oh I say, if isn't everypony's favorite human!"

"Heh, such a nice greeting as always Doctor." Ryan laughed, shaking his hoof, "I don't suppose we could come in could we?"

"Of course, of course! I was simply doing a little bit of work on some things." The Doctor opened the door and led them into the living room, "I must say that dear Derpy is not in at the moment if that's who you're looking for however."

"Actually, the reason we're here is we're doing a scavenger hunt for Pinkie's birthday and one of the things on the list is 'something brown loved by something gray'."

"Ah! And so if I follow your thought process correctly, you've assumed that something grey is dear Derpy?"

"Indubitably."

"...but ah don't understand Ry-Ry? If we need a picture of something brown that Derpy likes, why didn't we just take a picture of any kind of muffin?"

AppleJack, after saying that, was puzzled by the faces both the Doctor and Ryan were giving her; when they both began to laugh she got a little upset and demanded to know what was just so darn funny!

"Oh mah sweet Apps, please calm yerself." Ryan slowed his laughing, before giving her a comforting hug, "We're not laughing at ya by any means."

"Indeed AppleJack. Rather, we're laughing at how ingenious Ryan is being at getting an answer that's beyond the obvious."

"...ahm still lost. Y'all aren't making any sense." AppleJack sighed, eyeing the Doctor before something clicked, "Wait a minute...yer fur is brown isn't it?"

"I do say dear boy, I think she's got it!"

"Quite!"

"Ahm not dumb, so of course I'd get it!" AppleJack huffed, "I just didn't realize the Doctor and Derpy were, ya know..."

The Doctor laughed softly before walking over and setting a hoof on her shoulder, "Do not feel bad AppleJack, not everypony realizes we're close like that after all."

"Ah guess so..."

"Ah, come on Apps." Ryan knelt down and embraced her, kissing her cheek softly, "Ya know yer smart; you might not be book smart like Twilight is but yer no dummy, of that I can attest."

"Heh...okay Ry-Ry. Shall we take our picture then?"

"As long as the Doctor is game." Ryan remarked, pulling out the camera and smirking, "Now then Doctor, which is yer good side?"

The Doctor merely smirked and struck a pose, "Dear boy, all of my sides are good!"

Finding no reason to argue with that, Ryan simply laughed and got plenty of proof; with that done they thanked the Doctor for his time and headed back outside, checking their first score off the list. Looking at the time, he gave a nod before snapping his fingers and donning his wings.

"Ry, what's with ya bringing out them wings and such?"

"Well, there's something on this list about a sky-high resident...which means we need something that lives in the skies. And, given how physics work here, I think ah know just what that means. I need a jar though."

"Ah trust ya then, seeing as yer just using that big brain of yers sugah." AppleJack giggled, hopping up to give him a hug, "So then, I reckon there's a jar in that bag ahm carrying so why don't ya just go ahead and pull it out."

'Hahaha, Luna's said that to me before...but the context was quite different.'

Ryan did his best to ignore Dark's comment (as well as the imagery he imagined involving him and Apps in such a situation instead), but it was to no avail and unfortunately, seeing as he had his wings out, he was about to learn one flaw in having Pegasi style wings. With a loud 'Pomf!' his wings suddenly shot out and up, spreading wide as AppleJack just looked on, trying not to snicker at what just happened to him.

"Wha...what the hell was that?" Ryan gasped out, his face bright red at the strange, uncontrolled extension of his wings, "Huh?"

The next second his eyesight was blinded by a flash going off and then the snickering of a certain light blue pony within earshot.

"Oh my gosh that was priceless!" Rainbow Dash chuckled, as she looked over the bewildered look Ryan had in the photo, "This is perfect!"

"...I'm not sure I should ask why you took his picture Rainbow Dash."

"Heh, that's an easy one Spike. Pinkie wanted something tall, tan, and red...and what's tall and tan? Ryan of course! The trick is getting him red...but that unfortunate incident with his wings totally gave us the missing piece! Just look at that blush!"

Ryan tried to fumble out a response, but found none forthcoming as he glared at Dashie; finally collecting himself he began marching towards them, "Oh Dashie..."

"...uh oh." Rainbow Dash gulped, back pedaling away from him, "Make tracks Twi! He's got that crazed look in his eye!"

"Oh but Dashie, I've been working on the most wonderful spell after researching Poison Joke and I'd just love if you let me use you as a guinea pig." Ryan cackled softly as he held up the jar mentioned earlier, "You're a sky-high resident after all...and I think it'd be interesting to see a tiny Rainbow. Don't you agree?"

The curled smirk and creepy laughter from Ryan was too much for Rainbow Dash as she flung her wings open and took off into the skies, "Oh no! He wants to shrink me and make me some kind of pet! I'm so not getting caught up in that."

Twilight merely blinked, curious as to whether or not Ryan was being serious as she walked over to him, "Don't you think you went a little too far with that?"

Ryan turned to Twilight, laughed, and then immediately was his normal self again, "Nah...come on T-Sparks! Do you honestly think I'd use a Shrink spell on mah friend just willy-nilly like that? Let alone keep them in a jar? That's just messed up! I simply wanted to tease her back for catching me so unaware. Besides, isn't the whole point here to have some fun?"

"He totally gets it!" Pinkie shouted, flying in from out of nowhere, "But you guys are wasting too much time! Rarity and Fluttershy already have like three things on the list so you better hurry up!"

"Oh crap! She's right! We've only got about an hour left after all that!" Ryan groaned, flying up into the sky and bottling a piece of cloud, "Okay, two things...what else can we go for?"

"Well then, I'd better go catch my partner...come on Spike." With that Twilight and Spike headed in the direction Dashie had run off in, while Ryan and Applejack looked over the list to decide their next move.

"...are you sure this is right?"

"Yeah; ahm not sure she's a chicken big bro."

Ryan merely sighed before explaining again, "Now look, it says to get a feather from a chicken that isn't a chicken. Now...from what little I understand of Pinkie's thinking, that has to be a feather from Scoots."

"...I told you I'm not a chicken!" Scootaloo huffed, "Why do you have to be so mean big bro?"

"Aw, sweetie, I'm not trying to be mean." Ryan crouched down and scooped her up into a hug, "I'm sure Pinks isn't being either, she's just trying to talk in riddles to make this fun."

"Well...I guess if that's why, I don't mind lending ya one. I just preened but I'm sure there's one or two I missed." Scootaloo curled up in his hug and smiled, "I'm just sensitive about my smaller wings, but I know you wouldn't tease me about it big bro."

"Haha, of course not lil sis. Now then...uhm...."

"Oh, right, here. Allow me." Scootaloo remarked, spreading out one of her wings, "Just...look for one that's a little loose and I'll let ya know."

Giving her a nod, Ryan raked his fingers through her feathers, looking for one that was not as steady as the others; after about five minutes of looking (and of Scootaloo making the most adorable noises as he did so), he finally found one she gave him the okay on. With a slight tug, off it came and so it was added to the bag of scavenger hunt items.

"Ah think that's four things now sugah...do ya think the others are having the same amount of luck?"

Ryan gave a shrug in reply, kissing the top of Scootaloo's head before setting her back down, "Thanks Scoots."

"Heh, yer welcome big bro. I hope it helps, but...I still have to root for Rainbow Dash to win."

"Hahaha, well, I understand why; thanks fer yer help little ones."

Waving goodbye as they took off, Ryan and AppleJack looked over the list to see if they could possibly find one more item before the time limit was up; seeing they had about ten minutes they were quite pressed but then something caught their eye.

"Ah...ah can't be reading that right."

"I'm sure ya are hon, because it's making me a little confused too." Ryan scratched his head a few moments before reading the hint out loud, "I...I think she wants a picture of an inter-species romantic moment...so a kiss I guess...but....uhm...as far as I know, the only inter-species couple in Ponyville is..."

"Us darlin'."

"Yeah...why in tarnation would Pinks want that? Although...if any of the others have figured this out...we can' t do it then; knowing them they're probably in wait just like Dashie was." Ryan looked around their surroundings, seeing numerous places that could house hiding ponies, "Twilight's probably the most tactical of all of us so she's most likely deduced that I already figured this one out."

"Couldn't we just find somewhere private? That they can't get into to get the kiss?" AppleJack suggested, "...we've got like five minutes by the way."

"The other one left I can't figure out so...wait....of course! I bet they wouldn't expect that!"

AppleJack blinked at this sudden declaration before gasping when Ryan grabbed her, "Apple Ryder, what are ya...."

"Hold tight!"

With that Ryan smirked as they blinked out of sight...

....and appeared quite a distance away in Canterlot, "...well then, looks like I finally got that hang of that darn long-distance spell."

AppleJack felt a bit woozy after all that, as her slightly bobbing head showed; shaking herself out of it she looked about and gasped, "We're in Canterlot! ...how...ya never told me y'all could do that sugah."

"Haha, well...I've been working on it. Anyway...now that I think we're in the clear." Ryan smirked, levitated his camera in front of them and kissed AppleJack deeply before taking the shot, "Mmmm."

"Mmmm pretty much sums it up Ry-Ry." AppleJack sighed, leaning against him, "Yer so warm...but we better go."

"Right, I'll poof us right to..." Ryan paused, noting all the ponies staring at them, "Huh...well would ya look at the time, later y'all!"

"I can't believe he caught on to my plan Spike!"

"Haha, well Twilight, he is pretty clever...I wonder where they went?"

"All I know is he has ten seconds before he's late!" Rainbow Dash noted, pouting from the earlier events still, "...it would serve him right after threatening to shrink me of all things."

"Oh Rainbow Dash, I don't think it'd be that bad...it's not like he's some creep after all."

"Why would you even suggest such a thing darling? Is there something you know that we don't Twilight?"

"Well I..."

And it was at that moment, just as the two hour limit was up, that Ryan and AppleJack...and Pinkie Pie for some reason as well poofed into the room with a mighty flash.

"Pinks...how did you even get to Canterlot?"

"Oh! That's easy-peasy! I just used my super duper senses to navigate beyond the boundaries that others put up around their minds!"

"...now I'm even more confident you'll love yer gift." Ryan laughed softly before looking at the others, "Howdy y'all; so then...how'd yer scavenging go?"

"We got five of the things on the list." Twilight happily noted before opening her bag and pulling the items out, "We've got a muffin, the picture of Ryan when he was caught by surprise..."-Ryan glared at her and Rainbow Dash at that-"Let's see...we've got a feather off of Pinkie's chicken suit, one jarred thunderstorm, and....well...."

"Well what? What's the hold up?"

"...we've got a pair of your underwear."

Ryan blinked before motioning as if he was cleaning out his ear, "Ahm sorry Dashie, I must've misheard you...a pair of my underwear?"

"...y-yes." Rainbow Dash looked left and right nervously, "...don't put me in a jar!"

"...now ya know ah wouldn't do that Dashie." Ryan walked over, gently patting her mane till she stopped freaking out, "Yer mah friend ya know? Like I told T-Sparks, that'd just be creepy and mean to do somethin' like that. Heh, now...if ya were willing then that'd be a different story."

Rainbow Dash sputtered as she looked at him, "W-w-why would I be willing to get all Appleteenied?!"

AppleJack merely smirked, glancing at Ryan before winking at her friend, "For the benefits of course."

"...Benefits?" Rainbow Dash tilted her head, eyeing AppleJack oddly, "AJ, what are you talking about? What benefits? ...does this have to do with that weird conversation you and Twilight had before our beach trip?"

"Eeeeeemaybe." She teased, "Anyway, what about you and Fluttershy, Rarity? How'd y'all do?"

"Well, seeing as I am his source of clothing, I of course acquired a pair of underwear he hadn't picked up yet to fill the role of the 'rare underwear'." Rarity snickered, before batting her eyes at Ryan, "You aren't upset with me as well, are you darling?"

"Hahaha." Ryan shook his head before smirking at her, "Of course not; what fun is there in getting angry?"

"That's so right! Frowns are like a pie you overcooked, it's all nasty and leaves a bad taste in your mouth!"

Ryan glanced at Pinkie and blinked, "...while I get the point yer going for, ya have the weirdest way of saying it."

"Thanks Rysy-wysy, I think you talk funny too!"

"I...uh...." Ryan sighed, before shaking his head, "Anyway Rarity, no I am not going to threaten you with magic...although I must say you'd probably make a very cute marshmallow."

Rarity giggled, motioning with her hoof, "Oh darling, you are such a joker sometimes. Anyway, where were we?"

"Well, after we got those from her boutique, I asked one of my bird friends to come along as a sky resident."-to this Fluttershy nodded at the beautiful robin resting on her shoulder-"We also got a feather from a cockatrice."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Ryan put his hands up and looked at them in shock, "Let me get this straight...you got a feather from a cockatrice?! How?!"

"Oh, well you see...there's one from a long time ago that was causing trouble but I broke him using my stare."

"...oh yes, that stare." Ryan laughed nervously, scratching his head, "I remember that stare...you about killed me with the cuteness overload that produces."

"Hee, yes, that one Ryan. Anyway, after finding him and explaining things, he was more than happy to give me a feather. We also got a muffin, so apparently we were thinking the same thing as Twilight and Rainbow Dash."

"Unfortunately, we were unable to get any of the other items save for this." Rarity dug into her bag and pulled out a picture, "While we couldn't rightly bring it with us, we do have a picture of that massive caramel apple Ryan and AppleJack helped Pinkie Pie make some time ago."

"Well that's right clever of ya; that certainly would fit the bill of tall, tan, and red....sort of."

"It's close enough for me!" Pinkie giggled, "So that's two ties! Of course, now on to the group I'm most curious about...how did everypony's favorite human go about solving my clues?"

"Hahaha, it was quite a challenge, of that I reckon; still, we had some fun with it." Ryan noted, "Of course, I have a pair of mah underwear...which, while I thought would only be found by me, was apparently found by everypony."-he rubbed his temples slowly-"Seriously...I guess I'm gonna have to lock down mah dresser from now on."

Applejack giggled before digging around in the bag, "All kidding aside sugarcubes, we've got a jarred cloud, one of Scootaloo's feathers, a picture of Ryan dressed up as an apple."

Pinkie gasped at this, "What? When did you do this? I missed dressing up like a fruit with my partner in silliness? How did you evade my skillful watching?"

"Hahaha, that's mah secret Pinks...though how Apps talked me into wearing that I'll never know."

"While the sight of you in this picture is just too funny, I don't get it. Which one is this?"

"Oh come now Dashie, think about it: what am I but tall and tan? Blushing isn't the only way to get me red."

"Huh, I guess you're right."

"Let's see now...we've also got this lovely number."-Ryan showed off the picture of him and Apps kissing in Canterlot-"And then it would seem we all managed to find five items...until we pull out this baby!"

Pulling out the photo of Doctor Whooves, the other's (except for Pinkie) regarded it oddly before questioning the purpose of it.

"What do you mean? It's the other solution to something brown loved by something grey."

"...of course!" Twilight face-hoofed, "That's so much more clever than just a muffin for Derpy..."

"Oh man, that's worth like bonus points isn't it?" Rainbow Dash sighed, gritting her teeth.

"I'm so glad you all had such fun with this scavenger hunt! It was just the best! It was fun watching you all run around too!" Pinkie hopped about, appearing from all four directions in her excitement, "And you all managed to get different solutions for certain things too! Though that Doctor Whooves one is just amazing! Even I didn't really think of that being a solution! It was funny though seeing Rysy-wysy's wings all 'woomfed' out like that because I always wondered if that would happen to him like it does to Rainbow Dash and...."

"Pinkie...that's all well and good but who won?" Spike asked, trying to follow Pinkie's movement before realizing that was a lost cause.

Pinkie grinned and pulled everypony in for a hug (somehow), "Why Spikester, it's easy: we all won because we all had fun!"

The group looked at each other before looking at Pinkie and laughing, returning her group hug and smiling; she did have a point after all, as the little scavenger hunt did bring about some fun...as well as some sweet, tender, and also quite comedic moments to boot.

Finally relinquishing her friends from her strangely powerful hug, Pinkie took one look at the cake and other various delectable treats spread out before declaring snack time was go and zipping over to them like a mare possessed; noting this was pretty normal as far as Pinkie was concerned, Ryan and the others joined her in partaking of the sugary goodness.

"...what madness is this you speak of about brownies without chocolate?"

Ryan jumped a bit, unprepared for how quickly Pinkie had jumped the table to stare at him, "Well...it's just a different way of making them; instead of cocoa you use brown sugar instead. I always just called them Blonde Brownies."

"Hmmm....they'd still be sugar and sweet...you must make these for me!"

"Hahaha, I'd be happy to oblige Pinks; in fact, we can make a batch tomorrow if ya wish."

"Okie-dokie-artychokie!" Pinkie gasped, before trotting over to the pile of presents sitting there, taunting her with their curious surprises, "Can I open them?! Can I open them?!"

"I don't see why not sugarcube." AppleJack chuckled softly, following Pinkie's bouncing self, "It is yer birthday after all."

Well, that was all Pinkie needed to go digging into the pile of presents from everypony; paper and ribbon flew everywhere as she tore open her gifts (with Ryan's mind still trying to deduce how, with no fingers, she could do that...to which he told his mind to shut up and deal with it) and made a heck of a mess. Eventually she'd opened all her gifts save for one...and this one would be a doozy to be sure.

"That's some crazy wrapping there; did you do that Ryan?"

"I sure did little buddy. Suffice to say, I think Pinks will find this gift most interesting."

Pinkie grinned and carefully opened this one up before seeing that underneath the wrapping was a metal case of some kind; fiddling with the knobs she flicked it open and frowned as she looked in it, "Rysy-wysy? What's going on?"

"...it...it seems to be empty...I...I think."

"Haha, looks can be deceiving Flutters." Ryan remarked, walking over to Pinkie and winking, "Watch this!"

Reaching into the case, Ryan pulled out a strange disc-shaped object that was completely black in color before holding it up for everypony to see.

"...what is that?" Twilight stared at it oddly, "It's a hole?"

"A portable hole...used by the finest quality Warner Brothers characters...as well as other cartoon characters. As Looney Tunes as Pinks acts, I figured this would be the perfect gift for somepony like her."

"...what's a Looney Tunes?"

Ryan smacked his forehead and groaned that, for the first time in a while since he'd gotten here, he'd just referenced something from his world without even thinking about it, "Uhm....you guys know what cartoons are right?"

"Well of course we do darling; they're those delightful little things we see before movies at the theater." Rarity remarked, "They still stand out because of all the silly things the characters would do in them."

"Right, well, Looney Tunes are basically cartoons from mah world."

"Oh! Oh! Were they on that weird box thing you told us about? The one that kind of looks like that computer thing you and Twilight made but different?"

"Haha, yes Pinkie, they were on television."

"Okay...so it's a hole...so what?"

Ryan smirked as he glanced at Dashie before looking for something to test it on, "Hey Pinkie, I'm gonna toss this down on the floor. When I do, stick yer head through and tell me what ya see."

Pinkie gave a shrug and a salute as she waited patiently for Ryan to toss the hole; once he did she stuck her head through it before gasping and looking all around, "Holy cupcakes! I can see straight though to the kitchen from here!"

"...what? Let me see!" Rainbow Dash pushed her out of the way before sticking her head through...and then falling all the way in, "Ahhhhh!"

The others panicked slightly before Ryan raised his hand to calm them, after a moment Dashie came flying up the stairs again looking very perplexed, "I don't....I didn't know magic like that existed."

Twilight peered at the hole, circling it and studying it carefully, "Interesting...you've bound a tangible object with a teleportation spell, albeit an unusual one."

"Well, not just a teleportation spell. I've made a few modifications to enhance it beyond that." Ryan motioned for Pinkie Pie to pick it up, "Now Pinks, toss it at a wall but before you do, envision it being a safe house instead of a tunnel."

Attempting to figure out how to pick it up, she finally managed to get it, made it rather obvious she was thinking hard on it being a safe house, and then chucked it at the wall and gasped when it stuck fast. Not sure if she had done it right, Ryan nodded at her as she slowly walked over to it before poking her head inside and gasping before jumping right in; moments later she stuck her head out, icing all over her face, "Oh my gosh this place is so cozy! You wouldn't think so given it's so dark from the outside, but it's got just so much room and all the cupcakes you could eat and...."

Twilight, curious to see this just how this worked, threw caution to the wind and jumped right in after Pinkie had ducked out of the way; a moment or two passed before she hopped back out and stared at Ryan, a mixture of puzzlement and respect on her face.

"Penny for your thoughts T-Sparks? Or rather...I guess a bit for yer thoughts?"

"I just...how did you do this?" Twilight had the most curious grin on her face as she walked over to where Ryan was sitting and stared at him, "I understand the basic spells you used but how did you combine them like that? Let alone..."

Ryan blinked as he slowly pushed Twilight back out of his lap, "Okay, first off...really creepy smile there T-Sparks. Second, well, it took a little doing to try and get the spells to interact with one another...magic is rather tricky like that I've noticed. I had a doozy of time getting it right."

"Ah reckon that's true enough, considering all the noise and explosions I kept hearing when ya were working on it in the barn." AppleJack laughed at Ryan's sheepish grin, "He was worried he'd burn down the house, so he was out there working on it; wouldn't let anypony else in while he was too."

"Well, that was to make sure no one else was caught in the crossfire if it backfired...which it did...several times." He huffed before grinning when he saw Pinkie hopping back and forth with glee before discovering she could stretch it out and shrink it as well, "Anyway, I then figured I was looking at it too complicated and, after hitting the books you lent me again T-Sparks, I came up with a clever little two-parter spell that would read the handler's thoughts and then branch off into the desired state from there."

Twilight was quite fascinated by the fact he'd basically made a portable pocket dimension of sorts, "I see...but what about the size property?"

"Oh that? Well that was just a lucky aftereffect of the spell I placed on the circle; I didn't expect it to do it, I originally designed it to be pony-sized, but when I went to grab it I noticed it felt pliable." Ryan shrugged before laughing when he saw Pinkie throw the portal on Rainbow Dash's back and then disappear inside her.

"...this is weird." Rainbow Dash shivered, "I can't feel anything but just knowing she jumped in me makes me feel all freaky. Pinkie you get out right now!"

Hearing a sad pout of disappointment emanate from the hole, Pinkie popped out of it wearing the biggest grin as she leaned over and whispered in Dashie's ear, "I bet you wouldn't complain if it was Rysy-wysy that was inside you, huh?"

Letting out a gasp, Rainbow Dash immediately face-hoofed as she felt her wings expand and let out a 'Pomf' noise which drew everypony's attention to her; squeezing her eyes shut she blushed deeply and tried to curl up in a ball to hide from their eyes.

"....Dashie? Is...is something wrong?" Ryan asked, noting that his voice seemed to make her blush even further, "...Pinks, what in tarnation did ya say to her?"

"Oh nothing much..."

"...pleasedon'ttell, pleasedon'ttell." Rainbow Dash uttered this over and over quietly, which only made Pinkie laugh softly.

"...but that is a secret between ladies my dear Rysy-wysy, and I'm making it a Pinkie Pie promise as well so..."

"...don't you mean pinky swear?" Ryan remarked, holding up just his pinky finger, "...how do you guys even have such a notion when ya don't have hands?"

"Pinky swear?" Pinkie, for once, was confused at his words before staring at his finger, "You guys have those too?"

"Yeah, most people know about it; the whole "cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye" thing that sort of is..."-he paused to stare at Rarity who looked shocked-"Rares? What's wrong?"

"That's just brutal darling; why would one stick a needle in their eye? That's awful!"

"Haha, it's just a saying; it basically means that you intensely swear not to break the promise. Otherwise, if you did, it'd be an even bigger damage of trust than a regular promise."

"...well, I suppose that's reasonable dearie but your world has some very strange sayings."

Ryan laughed, "I won't argue on that one."

"Hmmm...I guess that one's okay, but I like a Pinkie Pie swear better since at least if someone shoves a cupcake in your face you can lick the frosting off!"

"...well then, I'll make note to never break one of those if I make it then. Wouldn't want to get my glasses all dirty with cupcakes now would I?" Ryan smirked, before looking at everypony, "...gals? Spike? What are y'all doing?"

"We're just having a little party fun sugah!" AppleJack giggled as she and the others (sans Rainbow Dash) picked up a few cupcakes and tossed them up and down a bit like one would a baseball.

'Oh snap! I know where this is going!'

"What are ya talking about Dark?"

'Ladies! Hold yer fire first! Ryan, ditch the jacket somewhere safe!'

Unsure as to what his counterpart was getting at, Ryan calmly stood up and walked over to the closet before hanging it up and turning back around, "Now then Dark, care to explain just what...."

And then he halted his speech right there, as a barrage of delicious sweets impacted with him, covering him in icing and cupcake bits; he stood still for a moment, wiping the icing off of his forehead before removing his glasses and staring at them calmly. Waving his hand, he cast a simple cleaning spell to remove the icing from them so he could once again see before putting them back on and adjusting them till they were right again.

Meanwhile, the others stared at him curiously before AppleJack gulped, "Ah don't think that was a very smart thing ta do now that we've done it y'all."

"...why's that AppleJack? He doesn't seem to be showing any sign of aggression or anger."

"Yeah, but remember Twi? He did the same thing when Rainbow Dash recorded him singing in the shower."

Rainbow Dash thought back on that moment, and her wings that had started to relax popped right back up as she let out a groan, "Please, stop embarrassing me everypony..."

"Well ladies." Ryan cleared his throat and smiled at them calmly...perhaps too calmly, "I must say, now that the gauntlet has been thrown you must realize I cannot take this lightly. Wouldn't you agree mah counterpart?'

'Oh most assuredly, dear host of mine; this calls for the utmost in comeuppance.'

"N-now Ry-Ry, ah don't want ya ta do anythin' rash."

"Oh my sweet apple, I'm only thinking about what is the most fun." Ryan smiled widely as he reached for his wand.

"Oh God, he's gonna shrink us! I knew it!" Rainbow Dash gasped, curling into an even tighter ball of embarrassment and worry, "I don't wanna live in a jar!"

Raising his wand, he smirked and pointed it behind him as a slight flash went off; holstering his wand he reached behind himself and pulled out an absolutely massive looking weapon of sorts, "This ladies...is a Tesla Cannon. Or rather...it would be if I wanted to hurt somepony. Yer pretty smart T-Sparks so I think ya know what the real version could do."

"Well...I think; that means it has something to do with electricity right?"

"Hahaha, we have a winner. See, this technically doesn't exist in mah world as far as I know; I've only seen it in games but boy howdy is it fun." Ryan reached up and flicked a few switches, a toothy grin on his face as it powered to life, "So I modified it to use not electricity, but sugar and sprinkles."

"...so then it's like a sweets dispenser?" Pinkie asked, seeming a bit excited despite staring down what appeared to be certain sugary doom.

Ryan smirked, his finger on the trigger, "Let's just say I have affectionately nicknamed this mah Sweet Revenge! Tasty Cannon......"

Twilight was quick on her feet, thinking up something to avoid what she knew was coming; unfortunately for her, Ryan had guessed she would do as much and had made a slight movement with his pinky to ensure his delicious justice was enacted properly.

"Fire!" 'Fire!'

And with that double dose of shouting from both Ryan and Dark, the Tasty Cannon fired forth a gigantic blast of icing and sprinkles towards the hapless ponies; now you might be asking why didn't they run? Well, if you were staring down the barrel of a massive shoulder-mounted cannon that intimidating, you'd probably forget the smart option as well.

As it was everypony, save for Rainbow Dash, was now completely coated in sugary, bright pink icing and speckled with many a sprinkle as well; satisfied with his work Ryan smirked before holstering the Tasty Cannon on his back and dusting his hands off.

"I'd guess you could say they got their..." He smirked, snapping his fingers and donning his shades, "Just Desserts!"

'YEAH!'

"...I don't understand; I cast a spell to shield us." Twilight huffed, wiping the icing from her eyes, "How did..."

"Oh that part was ingenious; like I said I've been...experimenting with spells in mah free time to try and catch up with ya in terms of a varied repertoire. So when I got ready to fire, I put a little reflect spell over ya so when ya tried to cast on yerself..."

"It bounced off...but where?"

"Well that's easy." Ryan motioned towards Rainbow Dash who was free of any icing, "Since Dashie wasn't part of the assault, it didn't seem right to just let her get caught in the crossfire. Hahaha."

"...I wondered why I wasn't all pink and sticky like them." Rainbow Dash smiled before winking at Ryan, "Thanks Ryan....although ya might wanna run."

"Run? Why?"

"...ah betcha think yer so full of yerself huh?" AppleJack huffed, shaking the icing off her hat and glaring at Ryan, "That yer fancy little gadget is just the end all of our little food fight."

"Well...yeah." He scoffed, smirking like a bastard, "I mean...it's pretty clear ah won my dear Apps."

"Oooooohohohohohohoho! I don't think so Rysy-Wysy!"

Turning his attention to Pinkie, he saw that somehow not only was she clean of all frosting, but she was dressed like a freaking commando and was holding...were those cream pie launchers?

"...I see then." Ryan remarked, cracking his knuckles and seeing that, in the one moment he blinked they were all outfitted similarly now, "So that's how it's gonna be: five ponies and a dragon....against the lone human."-he laughed softly-"While that sounds just loaded with fun...where's the excitement if'n I don't make ya work for it?"

Realizing just exactly what Ryan was about to do, Twilight yelled for them to fire but it was too late: their "attack" hit empty air as he poofed out of harm's way.

"Where'd he go Twilight?!" Spike huffed, "We can't let him get away!"

"He couldn't have gotten far, come on! Everypony, grab onto me!"

With that the group teleported after him...though Twilight teleported back to grab Rainbow Dash who Pinkie suited up as soon as the group was back together. She looked to them for the direction to run and Rarity practically growled out the answer in fierce irritation.

"That dear man had the nerve to ruin my coat! It. Is. On!" She declared as the group chased after him.

"I don't understand, how is he so far ahead of us in such a short time? He's not that fast yet."

"Ah don't get why Twi, but Apple Ryder put some kind of weird spell on them shoes of his, went 'Meep!-Meep!' and then he just seemed to slip off faster than a greased up pot-bellied pig."

"AGAIN WITH THE PIG THING!"

Twilight ignored Ryan's outburst of a reply (mostly because she wasn't sure just how he had heard AppleJack), "...of course, he must've utilized some type of frictionless spell then; clever."-her face slowly slipped into a toothy grin-"This will be a most enjoyable experiment."

"Yay! Yay! She's got that crazy look in her eyes! It's gonna be really fun now!"

"Oh...oh dear...oh my. Are you sure Pinkie?" Fluttershy seemed the least eager of the group, "I mean he did get icing all over us...and it's all sticky...and will take forever to get out of my fur...and..."-her eyes narrowed-"He's gotta pay! Yay!"

Meanwhile Ryan was doing his best to stay ahead, practically skating along the ground as he tried to put distance between himself and his friends; smirking he had to admit this was a pretty awesome way to get around.

"Ah must admit, it's not mah idea but damn if it isn't handy; that guy totally had the right idea about that funky magnetic spell." Ryan sighed, actually feeling rather relaxed as he skated quite quickly past many a confused pony, "If only I had my music, that one song would be perfect for this. Hmmm, I wonder if they'll ever catch up though? I don't doubt it, seeing as Apps is like super fast...but Dashie wouldn't join in would she? I mean I..."

'I'd hate to break you from your wonderful soliloquy, but we've got company Ryan. Also...duck to yer left.'

Confident in Dark's suggestion, Ryan indeed banked left and watched as a giant pie just missed hitting him; quickly flipping around and skating backwards he smirked at seeing that the seven of them (Spike was riding on Twilight's back) had narrowed the gap he'd created.

"Well now, so Dashie did join in...but she looks a little reluctant."

'Oh, I know that tone of voice...you're gonna purposely avoid hitting her huh?'

"Hey, come on Darky, you know you'd do the same."

'Yeah, yeah...anyway, time to bust out the cannon again?'

"Not yet." Ryan slid right to avoid what appeared to be a giant brownie before reaching into his pockets, "Let's see how they handle candy marbles!"

Tossing his hand out, he watched in glee as the candy bounced and rolled to a stop in the path; Rainbow and Fluttershy were easy able to avoid it (being above the ground) but AppleJack and Rarity had a bit of trouble staying balanced. Pinkie moved like a ninja, deftly avoiding any patch where they lay as she hopped after him and Twilight just flung them away with her magic...quite angrily too.

"...okay, T-Sparks is looking scary." Ryan gasped as he ducked another pie, "...I may have gone overboard just a smidge."

Further down the path, Lyra and Bon-Bon were finishing up their weekly grocery stock-up when they paused and saw something moving towards them quite quickly.

"Lyra is that...."-Bon-Bon gasped as Ryan dashed right passed them while waving hello, "...Ryan?"

"Yeah but...he was moving pretty fast. I wonder why?"

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!" Ryan shouted, taking aim with his Tasty Cannon, "FIRE!"

Unfortunately, the girls had seen this coming and scattered, which meant the icing attack instead connected with poor Lyra and Bon-Bon.

Ryan groaned and shouted out an apology, "Sorry Lyra! Sorry B-squared! I'll make it up to ya later."

'Any more bright ideas, seeing as they're nearly upon us?'

"...hmmm...the Tasty Cannon's on empty now." Ryan sighed as he holstered it, "...I really should turn back around, who knows where I'm gonna end uuuuuuuuuuuup?!"

As he feared, his inattentiveness to the direction he was going led to him sliding right up a massive plank that had been resting at an angle; cursing the fact that city hall was having repairs done he thought quickly and spread his wings, trying to right himself as best he could. While he was able to avoid falling out of the air like a stone, he was unprepared for the fierce way he was tackled mid-flight by a blur of yellow; righting himself out of the spin, he cushioned his fall as best he could before finally hitting the ground and sliding to a stop in an alleyway between two buildings. Realizing he didn't have much time to get moving again, he went to stand up only to find himself flung backwards and hung upside down in the air by some very familiar colored magic. Gulping he let his eyesight re-focus and sure enough he could see both Rarity and Twilight glaring as they held him in place, "Now..now ladies...l-l-let's be reasonable, civilized adults here; n-no need to get out of hoof. Heh...heh...heh..."

'We're totally boned bro.'

Ryan tried to struggle and break free, but there was no chance of that, "It's been an honor fighting at yer side Dark."

'And I yours...be brave!'

Seeing the others joining Rarity and Twilight, he watched them ready their confectionary armaments with their target now firmly in sight.

Realizing just how truly screwed he was now that he was immobilized, Ryan gulped one more time before screaming loudly, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~!"

Meanwhile, a short distance away in Canterlot...

Celestia looked up from her reading to see her sister seemingly distracted by something, "Luna, are you alright?"

Luna slowly shook her head before rubbing her temples, "It was awful dear sister..."

"Whatever it was has you frowning; what happened?"

Luna let out a loud sigh before turning to her sister, "There was a distressing disturbance, as if somepony cried out in fear...and then..."

Celestia seemed distraught, wondering if perhaps aide was required, "And then what? For our sake's Luna, what happened?"

"...and then there was only the bitter sweetness of a sugary silence. Oh poor Darkness..."

Hearing Dark's name, Celestia quickly put two and two together and could only assume that everypony's favorite human had gotten into some kind of hijinx, "Although...as I recall my favorite student telling me, it was Pinkie Pie's birthday today. I can only imagine what my little ponies and human have been up to. Haha, let us hope they did not cause too much damage then."

Ryan groaned, slowly coming too and noticing that he was still alive.

'Of course we're alive Ryan, it was just pastries. An ungodly amount of pastries, and sugar, and icing...but pastries none the less.'

"...heh, smartass." Taking the moment to look around his surroundings, he could see he was back at Sugarcube Corner and currently resting on the floor, a blanket over him, "Hmmm...and it sounds like it's raining now. Well..at least that'll wash away the icing....should keep the mayor off our flanks for making a mess."

Hearing the clopping of hoof-steps, Ryan turned to see AppleJack coming over to check on him, "Ah, yer awake sugah."

Ryan smirked at the way she emphasized that last word, "Well, that's one way to get a sugar coma...if ya don't want the stomach ache that is."

He winced as he sat up, rubbing his back slowly and seething as he brushed over a particularly painful bruise.

"Ahm guessing that was from the crash landing?" AppleJack frowned, leaning over and nuzzling him, "I guess we all played a bit too rough huh?"

"Haha, maybe, but boy howdy was that fun. Until, ya know, I lost and all that; I also think Rares and T-Sparks yanked mah legs a bit hard with that magic...my muscles are just screaming at me."

Looking up, he saw Twilight meet eyes with him before looking away, "I'm sorry Ryan...I got just a little carried away."

"It's not just your fault darling, I perhaps went a little far given what happened."

"Haha, I've noted that happens sometimes with y'all but it's alright." He winced, "It's mostly mah fault anyhow; Dark and I, well, we kinda went crazy there if ya didn't notice. I have to admit though...that was a ton of fun!"-he smirked-"Plus I got to test out that spell."

"I know right?!" Pinkie squeed before walking over and glomping Ryan, "This was like the best party ever as far as I can remember! Seriously, a massive food fight across town?! How do you top that? And that Tasty Cannon thing...it's like my Party Cannon but edible and..."

"Pinks...too tight...hurting bruise."

"Oh! Sorry Rysy-wysy!"

He laughed as she eased up, "Well I'm glad to hear ya had a good party; ya deserve it after that awesome one ya threw fer me. So is there anything else that would make yer birthday perfect?"

"Well....." Pinkie smiled cutely and looked at Ryan with big eyes, "It would be nice if you could do that thing with your hands and caress my mane! I don't know why, but you're like some kind of super-dooper-dude when it comes to doing that! It's like they're magic!"

Ryan laughed loudly, her smile infectious as all get out, "Ah keep hearing that to be sure. Haha."-he reached up and caressed her fluffy pink mane, laughing once more upon hearing that delighted "purring" noise-"Anything else?"

"Mmmmm, a big cuddle puddle with all my bestest friends!"

"Ah think that can be arranged, right everypony?"

Seeing a collective nod from his friends he watched AppleJack settle behind him before motioning towards her lap; catching the hint he eased back down, resting his head on her and getting comfy. Pinkie followed his hand flawlessly, never letting it leave from its job as she settled on his right with, who else, but Rainbow Dash settling to his left and nuzzling his other hand. Ryan stuck his tongue out at her but nonetheless he began scratching her ears before caressing her mane as well; the others slowly got settled with them one by one until the eight friends were one big pile of fluff. He closed his eyes, relaxing as his friends followed suit. Soon enough his movements slowed and the eight of them were lulled to sleep by both the warmth of their bodies and the warmth of their hearts as the rain outside slowed and soon became a gentle snowfall.

Author's Note

Okay, so...wow, this chapter got big. XD So much so, the other part that was going to be in this one is now getting bumped to the next one. I suppose that just means more content for y'all but that whole party just, I don't know where the ideas came from; they weren't there when I got to it but...it was almost like the idea was planted into mah mind. I suppose I can just blame Pinks and that'll cover it so...yeah, sure, that works! Haha! She'll gladly take some credit for that craziness.

And during that whole chase sequence through the streets, I had this song playing on repeat: MSF - Jive Bot

13th Harvest

"So we've got the plan then? We know how to pull this off?"

Twilight yawned and shook her head in an effort to wake up, "Yes, yes...we'll be waiting for you after you make the acquisition. Are you sure you can fly while doing that?"

"Of course, of course; I've gotten better. Not like the target is that heavy either." Ryan joked, cracking his neck, "Now come on...the sun will be up soon."

The early morning hours of November 19th saw Ryan and all his friends meeting to enact a special plan; putting their hooves (and his hand) in and cheering, he took off towards the outskirts of town. His destination? A certain cloud-based domicile.

Seeing that sunrise would be in merely a few minutes, Ryan snapped his fingers, donned his wings, and jumped up to gain altitude before quietly landing at the front door. Slowly turning the knob, he pushed the door open and tip-toed towards the bedroom of one Rainbow Dash; he couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked lying there: her colorful mane messily strewn about, her tongue hanging out slightly, and the most heart-melting smile on her face.

'She has no idea what's about to happen does she?'

'Not at all mah dear Darkness...but oh boy will she be happy.'

Smirking, and seeing the last bit of night begin to slip away, he carefully scooped her up and cushioned her against his chest. Heading back towards the front door, she mumbled a bit before opening one eye and sighing.

"Oh man...I'm sleep-flying again...wait..." Rainbow Dash blinked for a bit, "Why do I feel so warm? And why are we....ahhhh!"

At that point in her thoughts, Ryan had reached the edge of the cloud and jumped off, flapping his wings to stay steady as he held her tight. Of course, at this point Dashie was grabbing Ryan tightly in confusion which did help him some, "Let up a little mah dear Dashie...yer gonna choke me doing that."

"...Ryan? What in Ponyville are you doing?'

Ryan smirked, flashing her a toothy grin, "Isn't it obvious? I'm kidnapping ya for yer birthday!"

"Kidnapping me? What are you going to do to me?" Rainbow Dash blinked, thinking over that question before smirking at him, "What are you going to do to me?"

'Oh my! She's a live one isn't she?'

"Indeed." Ryan did his best to fight back the blush at her insinuation, "She wouldn't be Dashie if she wasn't though."

Rainbow Dash's smirk faltered for a moment, "...so does this mean no sexy time with you?"

Ryan coughed at that remark, slowly unbalancing in his flight path at how bold Dashie had been; laughing softly at her, he kissed her cheek before motioning at the balloon rising in front of them.

"....oh." She pouted, "I guess this isn't a dream then. Oh well, can't blame a mare for trying!"

"Quite but I think you'll find our plans to be enjoyable none the less."

Once catching up with their friends, Rainbow Dash had spread her wings and was currently flying with Ryan next to them as they made their way towards their destination. She was still a bit puzzled, however, as to why they were heading in the direction they were.

"I know we're heading towards my hometown, but why?" She asked, tapping her cheek in thought, "I mean...the only thing I can think of...is...that...!"

"Haha, it would seem ladies, that our dear Dashie has figured out our cunnin' plan...or part of it anyway."

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! Please tell me you totally got what I think you did?!"

Seeing a nod from Apps, Ryan reached into his pocket and pulled out a ticket before flicking his wrist and fanning said ticket out into seven tickets adorned with a logo that nearly made Rainbow Dash stop flapping her wings.

"Holy bucking pony feathers! You guys did get Wonderbolts tickets for their Cloudsdale show!" She gasped, flying over and staring at the tickets in Ryan's hand, "But...but how?! This is their most popular showing and they've been sold out since the summer!?"

Ryan shrugged and motioned over towards AppleJack, "You'd have to ask her...I only supplied the bits to get them."

"That's actually something I've been wondering about too." Twilight admitted, glancing over to AppleJack's smiling self sitting next to her in the basket, "How did you manage to find these tickets?"

"Yes darling, what is your secret?"

"Hee, that, much like the Apple family's secret ingredients, are on a need to know basis."

"Oh! That's so clever! It's still the truth and she doesn't have to tell us!"

"I don't really care!" Rainbow Dash flew over and glomped AppleJack, "This is the best gift ever!"

"Uh...Rainbow Dash? Could you not rock the balloon please?"

"Heh, sorry Twilight."

"...ahm pretty confident our plans won't have any problems...but."-Ryan made a motion as if tapping his foot-"I'm just a bit worried that since I've never been to Cloudsdale, the ponies there might just freak out a little."

"Oh come on Ryan!" Dashie patted him on the back and grinned, "You're with the Rainbow Dash! There's nothing to worry about! Besides..."-she smirked-"I'm sure they'll be plenty of mares eager to meet a real, live hero."

Ryan could only gasp and sputter, rolling his eyes at her incessant teasing; recovering he grabbed her in a headlock and began ruffling her mane thusly.

"No! No! Mercy! Come on! I'm the birthday mare here!"

"Heh, and you're also cheeky as all get out!" He relinquished his hold on her before looking ahead of them, "So to ask the obvious question: are we there yet?"

"...it's...breathtaking."

Ryan was rather impressed with how beautiful Cloudsdale looked; granted he expected something similar to what Dashie's abode looked like but he was not prepared for the grandeur of this floating city in and of the clouds. Easing in with the others, he landed next to their balloon before hopping back and forth on his feet, "...it's still weird to be able to actually walk on clouds like this."

'You'll get used to it and have it feeling like second nature in no time...that's what Woona told me anyway the first time she took me cloud walking.'

"...you know."-Rainbow Dash eyed Ryan (or Dark rather) oddly-"You talk a lot about back then with the Princess and all these things...but you never talk about anything before that."

At that, Dark made no reply, but Ryan could sense that particular subject was something that didn't sit well with his counterpart, "Dark...they are our friends; they know what Lunes and Cellie told me, er, us when I first showed up about ya."

'Yeah, I know, it's just...it still bothers me that I will probably never remember anything before that rainy night.'-He let out a sigh-'I mean, I don't even remember a family or...anything really. No human ever recognized me from those that lived around Canterlot and the surrounding countryside so...to be honest, my name was about the only thing I felt right about. It just...fit in my mind.'

Rainbow frowned at his words, realizing that she apparently poked a very sore subject before floating over and patting Ryan's back, "Hey...look, it...it doesn't matter ya know? You did some awesome stuff to help save our world back then...and you kept Ryan safe when he tried to save our flanks. I'm not sure it's all that great being a disembodied spirit or soul or what have you seeing as all that stuff hurts my head to think on but..."-she pointed to herself and the others-"Ryan's part of our family, and so are you so don't ever worry about stuff like that okay?"

Dark let out a growly chuckle, 'You really are a sweet gal Dashie; you remind me of a brash pony that always had my back. You definitely would've gotten along with her.'

"Well, ya know, you are part of the group effort here to make my birthday like 200 percent cooler so..."

'Haha, well then, what are we waiting for? We've got a plan to enact!'

"Dark's right! Twilight, the list!"

"On it Ryan!" Twilight chuckled as she pulled out a list, "Well we "kidnapped" Rainbow Dash, and made our way here, so let's go check in at our hotel before we go start the festivities."

"Yeehaw! Now that's what I was waiting to hear!"

The group laughed, their bond reaffirmed as they headed out of the landing zone and in towards town; the Pegasi there did indeed give Ryan many an odd look, though whether that was because of him being a human or his wings he couldn't quite deduce. As they neared the hotel they were staying, Ryan was suddenly blocked by two ponies in what appeared to be police outfits...or a close approximation.

"Sir, I'm afraid you'll have to come with us."

Ryan blinked and titled his head, "If I may ask: on what grounds sirs?"

"We've had rumor of a threat and you happen to match the description given."-the officer lifted up his baton-"I'd rather we do this the easy way."

"This is ridiculous!" Rainbow Dash shouted, "Don't you know how harmless this guy is?! Not to mention he-"

"Dashie."-Ryan put his hand on her mane to calm her-"It's okay; let's see what the mix-up is and settle things peacefully. I'm sure it's just a mistake and the sooner we clear it up, the sooner we can get back on track."

With that the officer relaxed at seeing they were going to get his cooperation; flanking his left and right, they led Ryan off to the police station.

"This isn't right Twi!"

"I know AppleJack."

"That darling man could never harm a fly, let alone ponies!"

"Look, there's no need to get worked up; Ryan did the right thing in staying calm about this. Let's just follow along and find out what's going on."

With that Twilight and the others followed behind them towards the police station, curious as to just who or what was causing this rumor that was beginning to mar what should've been a happy day for Rainbow Dash and her friends.

"...so when are ya guys gonna explain what the heck is going on to me?"

Ryan had been sitting in a prison cell now, handcuffed at that, for nearly an hour and yet the ponies holding him had yet to explain anything let alone what he was supposedly charged with.

Twilight and the others however, were doing their best to get any information they can; Rainbow Dash had been pretty adamant, demanding they had no right to treat him like this.

Noting that she was getting dangerously close to being cuffed herself, AppleJack tugged on her tail and looked her dead in the eye, "Now y'all need ta relax; getting all flustered and arrested yerself isn't gonna help solve this situation a single bit."

"...yes, I know but...."

"What do you mean he was terrorizing the Weather Factory? That's ridiculous!" Twilight shouted before calming herself, "Look...Ryan has been with us at all these dates you note the vandal struck. For Celestia's sake, when this happened we were at Lake Saddle enjoying the beach!"

"I'm sure if that is true, then he will have an alibi and we'll release him soon." The desk sergeant sighed, "Do you think I enjoy this anymore than you do? I know who he is...anypony with a brain that reads the paper should know who he is. Heh, goodness knows he's done enough to make the news more than once since getting here."

"So then why are you still detaining him dear sir?"

"I'm sorry Miss Rarity, but it's procedure; even if he is a hero, and helped all of you save our flanks, not everypony can let their base fears go."

"...so he's basically being held and harassed for being a human?"

The sergeant sighed heavily again before turning to Fluttershy, "Yes miss...though it's not my doing; apparently something else is holding it up and, to be honest, it stinks."

"What does the odor have to do with keeping Rysy-wysy all locked up?"

"...what he means Pinkie is that the reasons for keeping Ryan detained appear to be very fishy."

"...now fish are involved? But we're in the sky!"

Twilight face-hoofed before exhaling, "Someone is purposely making it hard on Ryan because he's human; someone with a stupid prejudice no doubt. That is why he's being hassled for so long despite having witnesses that give him an alibi."

"Ooooooooh!" Pinkie huffed, "Why didn't you just say that in the first place?!"

"Anyway ladies, it shouldn't be too much longer. I hope."-the sergeant rubbed his temples-"With the Weather Factory incidents causing production issues, it's no surprise everypony is on edge around other species."

It was a tense and trying half hour later that Ryan was led out by the same two ponies as before...but he was still in handcuffs.

"Why in tarnation do ya still have those things on fer Apple Ryder?"

"They said it's procedure until I was back out front." Ryan seethed before smirking and easily shattering the handcuffs, "What? Why so surprised? These are designed for ponies after all...and I'm not yer normal human either at this point."

"...I'm gonna overlook that since ya were treated pretty crappy." The sergeant smirked, "Besides, those things are cheap as hell so it's no big loss."

"But sir!"

"Hush!"-the sergeant glared at the pony standing to Ryan's right-"You know as well as I do that this pony...no, man has done as much good as we do if not more, so I won't have you disrespecting him any further. We should be so thankful all he's reciprocating with is a harmless joke...and not pressing charges for slander and wrongful imprisonment."

"...I'd probably still be in there if not for a letter from Cellie and Lunes telling them, and I quote, ta "release me before the wrath of the sun and moon landed squarely upon their flanks"." Ryan sighed, stretching and wincing as his back cracked, "I guess it helps to have such powerful friends."

'That's for sure!'

"...h-how did he talk without moving his mouth?!"

Ryan smirked before stepping back and smirking at the two officers, "It's because I'm the big mysterious human..."

'And with mah magical powers and hands, I can do anything! No pony is safe! Nopony!'

Well, needless to say, with Dark's words and Ryan's overzealous (bordering on cheesy) acting and "spooky" movements, those two officers ran like scared little colts back to their offices; glancing at the sergeant (who had the smallest of smirks on his face), Ryan blew on the tips of his index finger to accentuate his point before laughing loudly, "And that, mah friends, is why ahm awesome!"

"...you do realize that those poor officers most likely will be traumatized for some time right?"

"Haha, I hope so!" Rainbow Dash was doubled over in laughter at Ryan and Dark's little tag-team action, "I swear, I thought this birthday was going to be all crummy with them hassling our buddy but shattering the cuffs and then spooking them totally made it worthwhile."

"I'm glad you two are having fun." Twilight sighed as they finally arrived at the hotel, "Let's just hope things don't get out of hoof and they go spreading rumors about him."

"Oh darling, it's just some harmless fun. How did you put it again dearie?"

Ryan turned to Rarity and smirked, "Ah have to be diabolical once and a while, helps keep the urges down ya know."

"Haha, ah yes. How a gentlecolt such as yourself can also be so mischievous is something I will never comprehend. However, I think that makes you just wonderful darling."

"Ah think yer making him blush again Rarity." AppleJack teased, poking Ryan's side while he just tried to avoid eye-contact.

"...no comment."

'Oh! Oh! Pick me! I've got comments!'

"I bet you do Darky-Warky! You have some of the best! And that's like not fair because Ryan does too at times and then it's like two heads are better than one but you only have one head because it's Ryan's but you're in there too and...."

Pinkie rambled on for a few moments until Twilight returned with their room keys as they headed upstairs to unpack and get ready for what was soon to be quite a night; Ryan rummaged through his outfits, trying to pick one that would be just right for Dashie's birthday.

"This one?"

'Nah.'

"How about this one?"

'...not cool enough.'

"Damn...this one?!"

'.....cool, but not awesome.'

"Ry-Ry, I can hear y'all from clear across the way. What's the matter?"

AppleJack paused after hearing that question, looking at the various outfits Ryan had strewn about their bed and picked up on what the problem was; trying not to think as to how he fit so much in his bag lest her brain scramble she poked about what was left in hopes to help him. She was having much the same issue as Ryan and Dark had until she found one outfit in particular, "Hey Apple Ryder...how's about this one?"

Looking to see which one she'd picked out, a large toothy grin appeared on Ryan's face as he scooped her up for a big hug, "That's perfect mah sweet apple!"

Planting a heck of a kiss on her lips, he grabbed his outfit and got to changing since he knew the others were most likely ready at this point.

"Sweet apples...that man is something else." AppleJack giggled as she walked back to the others, "He'll be ready any moment y'all; he just wanted to looks his best for Rainbow Dash!"

'So then, how do you think she'll react?'

"I believe it will be as we expect...with the twenty percent cooler-ness as well." Ryan remarked, looking himself over in the mirror, "Heh, I'm looking pretty sharp. Okay! Party time!"

Walking out into the living space of their large room, Ryan gave a sharp whistle to get everypony's attention before striking a pose, "So then...I heard it was somepony's birthday. Somepony that's cool."-he spun-"Awesome."-he snapped his fingers to don his wings-"And whose trademark rainbow colors make anypony look almost as good as she does!"

Amidst snickers, laughs, and blushing from his friends, Rainbow Dash's reaction was the one that stood out the most as her wings flew right up as she got a good look at his ensemble: a pair of sky-blue jeans, a polo shirt striped in the same style as her mane, and her iconic cutie mark logo strategically placed on both the left front of his shirt and on the outside of each pant-leg cuff.

"Well, I guess we all know how Dashie feels about my rather eye-catching ensemble." Ryan bit back a laugh as he walked over and ruffled her hair, "So then...ready to go see your heroes?"

"You betcha!" Rainbow Dash pulled a 180, suddenly herself again as she let out the most fangirlish squee ever, "Uhm, I mean...yes! Yes!"

Biting back more snickering, the group made their way downstairs and began heading towards their destination: the massive Cloudeseum where all major events were held. While they all made idle chit-chat, Ryan still was a bit stunned at how this massive city just floated in the sky like it was nothing and to say he was impressed that the clouds themselves were part of the buildings as well would be an understatement. The design style did make him wonder about how long this city had been around as it reminded him of Greek mythology from his world.

'I can field that one.'

Ryan was a bit surprised Dark was being quiet this time, but he appreciated the rare show of subtlety, 'I bet you can oh millennium man.'

'Cute. Anyway, Cloudsdale was founded not too long after pony kind stumbled on Equestria and made nice with the humans there. It was a much smaller place back then; I remember going with Luna when they had the inauguration of the Weather Factory...though back then it only had the rainbow production and cloud control functions.'

'Ah yes, from what I've read and had Dashie tell me they've gained an ever stronger control over their, well, control of the weather. That still seems crazy to me but, alas, I am the man with two voices in his head so who am I to dictate crazy?'

'Too true, too true. Oh, we're here by the way so might wanna pay attention again.'

Noting Dark was right, he thanked his counterpart before following them along to the entrance where a large number of displays were set up: with the vendors hawking souvenirs, the bustling crowds, and the long line to get in it seemed no different than any other sporting event he'd been to back on his Earth.

"You've got the tickets right?"

Ryan jumped when Dashie grabbed on to him and stared into his eyes pleadingly, as she continued going on and on, hoping he hadn't left them in the hotel or even lost them!

"Dash I..."-he rolled his eyes when she wouldn't let him get a word in edgewise, so he took hold of her wings, "Dashie?"

"Yes Ry?"

"I have the tickets, it's all good. I know you are eager to have fun on yer birthday but relax darlin'; yer gonna pop a blood vessel gettin' all crazy like that." Ryan huffed, prying her from his person and pulling out the tickets for their entire groups, "See? Seven."

"This is going to be so awesome!" She squeed again before taking a long hard stare at the tickets, "...wait a bucking minute...these say they're...VIP?"

Ryan watched as her pupils got very, very small while her eyes did the opposite and grew wide, "...yeah. Dashie, is that...that fact...a problem?"

'Dude, yer about to be kissing a whole different type of ground.'

"What do you mean D-" And with that, Ryan was light-dash tackled to the cloudy ground by Rainbow Dash much to the amusement of their friends, "Uhm...Hahaha. I guess that's a good thing huh?"

"I reckon ya won't be happy till ya get intimate with the ground in every city huh Ryan?"

"Apps!" He grumbled, trying to fight off the blush from being tackled, "Right! Shall we ladies?"

Rarity and Fluttershy giggled again at Ryan's flustered state, while Twilight and Pinkie simply smirked as he led them to the entrance gates, tickets in hand. Curious that security to get in was strangely non-existent (seriously, they let him walk in with his sword and everything), he gave a shrug as the pony at the gate verified their passes; after everypony had their pass safely tucked away in their lanyard necklace they walked around for a bit to look at the exhibits and such seeing as the show wouldn't start for another two hours.

"...I dare say that was the easiest time I've ever had gettin' into an event."

"What are you talking about Ryan?"

"Well Dashie, as y'all know, mah world is not...the safest so to speak. An event like this in mah world could easily take thirty minutes or more to get into just for security checks."

'Really? I hadn't accessed that particular knowledge from you. How very inconvenient that is.'

"Darky-warky's right! That would totally cut down on fun time!"

"Haha, true Pinks; I guess that's one benefit of Equestria being rather peaceful."-he paused to see Rainbow Dash staring at the souvenir booth-"See anything you like Dashie?"

She simply nodded her head, looking at him briefly before looking over everything, "I mean, I have some of this stuff already but it's all so awesome! Although there are a few things I don't have in my collection yet."

"Haha, ya really want to be one of them someday don'tcha?" Ryan teased, gently ruffling her mane, "Go ahead, pick out something; my treat for the birthday mare."

Well, Rainbow didn't need to be asked twice before looking all over for what she'd wanted; Twilight walked over to Ryan and pushed up to lean on him before whispering, "Are you sure about that? There's quite a few things here Rainbow Dash doesn't have..."

"Heh."—he gently patted Twilight's mane—"Relax T-Sparks...you know that I'm more than able to do this thanks to a few unique patents you and I both own."

Twilight closed her eyes, enjoying the attention from Ryan before smirking, "I know...I guess it's just surprising how easily you spend all of it on your friends; most other ponies with that kind of money wouldn't."

Glancing to see Rainbow Dash now had a modest pile of things picked out, he chuckled softly as Twilight hugged him before hopping back down, "Well, as ya well know, I'm not most other ponies. Now then..."

Walking over to the mare running the booth, Ryan pulled out his wallet and blinked a moment at the total but still happily pulled out the bits and beamed at the huge smile on Dashie's face as she slipped on the hat and goggles while he took the bag holding her other souvenirs.

"I can't believe you just parted with those like it was nothing Ryan!"

"Hey, what's a birthday if you aren't spoiled a little right?"

"Woooo! He's so right!" Pinkie remarked, pulling out her portable hole and reaching inside it, "Oh yeah! Ryan Special time!"

"...darling, how did that stay cold?"

"Oh that's easy Rares, built in freezer."

"...I....that is..."-she rubbed her temples-"You're a dear man but sometimes you hurt a pony's brain with your logic."

"Come on Ryan!"

"Yeah Ry-Ry!"

"Rysy-wysy totally has to do this with you!"

"It is her birthday darling."

"...w-well, I think you should since it'd make her happy."

Rainbow Dash said nothing and simply looked at Ryan who was feeling a bit overwhelmed by his friends and girlfriend all giving him the sweetest, most heart-attack inducing smiles he'd ever seen.

'Dude, yer totally cornered here.'

"Not helping Dark." Ryan sighed before smiling and nodding his head, "Okay Dashie...you win. Let's go do that little tag-team obstacle course."

"So awesome!" She squeed, grabbing his hand and leading him over to the line, "I never get to try this since Fluttershy is always too afraid to."

"So...this is a mock-up of a Wonderbolts obstacle course?" Ryan looked at the course ahead of them as the line slowly moved up, "I'd assume it's not nearly as hard as the one they use given these are just normal Pegasi and not some amazing, synchronized flight team....right?"

"Of course! Of course!" She replied a bit quicker than he'd liked, "...thankfully they don't use the accuracy rings or I don't think you'd be able to fully enjoy yourself."

"...right. Well...I suppose it's a good thing I've been getting lessons from you in flying then."

With that the line slowly moved forward until it was Ryan and Rainbow Dash's turn; the stallion running the booth did a bit of a double-take at Ryan's tall, winged form before shrugging and telling him to have fun.

"Heh, I'll back you up Dashie; feel free to take the lead."

"Right! I'll guide us to victory!"

With that the two took off as a crowd began to form, curious to watch a non-Pegasus attempt the course, as they came up to the first obstacle.

"Are those...giant wind generators?" Ryan remarked before feeling the wind kick up, "Yeah...guessin' they are."

"Stay in formation and follow me!"

Smirking at how much fun Dashie was having, Ryan nodded and kept pace behind her as they weaved between small cyclones that threatened to knock them off course; as they cleared the wind he looked up to see large storm clouds closing it.

"Dashie!"

"Right! I see them!"

He couldn't help laughing as they spun out of the way to avoid the lightning strikes while he let out a loud shout, "Do A Barrel Roll!"

"...what?"

"...Nevermind; let's just say a certain rabbit I'm familiar with made that phrase quite famous on the internet."

Back on the "ground", AppleJack watched on with a bit of awe out how well their friends were doing, "Ah reckon I knew Rainbow Dash wouldn't have much trouble but I've gotta say Apple Ryder really is getting the hang of that flying thing."

"I still find the science behind it fascinating though." Twilight remarked, watching him glide behind Rainbow Dash before pulling ahead of her to cut a path through some thick clouds, "That a species like his could actually fly, let alone in a stable manner, just goes to show that magic can make any numbers work."

"...darling, while I know that Ryan's magnificent wings get you all worked, is this really the place to be thinking of that?"

"Why not Rarity? The way he can generate lift and fly through the sky with the same grace as a Pegasus is certainly worthy of research...more than he's already allowed anyway. The mathematics alone..."

Unaware of Twilight once again geeking out, Ryan was having a blast with Dashie and he could tell she felt the same if that huge grin of hers meant anything; sensing the end was near he saw a series of posts hovering in mid-air that seemed to be the final test, "So then...agility time!"

"That's right! I know you'll do fine even if you are bulkier than a pony."

"You brat! Get back here!"

"Hahaha, gotta catch me first Ryan!" With that she zoomed ahead of him, leaving a blur of rainbow in her wake.

"Gladly Dashie!" He smirked, doubling his efforts as he left a brief trail of purple, grey, and black in his wake, "I have you now mah rainbow-tinted pretty!"

"Nope!" She smirked, weaving back and forth between the pylons before watching Ryan do so as well with a little more style, "Hey!"

Ryan had decided if he couldn't win with speed points, he'd do so with style points so every time he weaved he struck a different pose. Doing so, however, had actually let him catch up to her as she had slowed to watch his showboating; when he was within arm's reach of her he grabbed hold and spun her around with him before striking a pose with her as they passed the last marker and landed at the finish line, "And that, dear Dashie, is how you win with twenty percent more coolitude!"

'...huh.'

"What?" He replied to Dark's curious, one word statement, "What are you?"-he saw that a crowd had apparently formed around he and Dashie no doubt thanks to their theatrics-"Oh...huh."

'Exactly.'

"Uhm....hi?" Ryan remarked before nudging Rainbow Dash, "Uhm...what do we do?"

"I don't know...you're the crazy flying human that sticks out as it is and then decided to stand out further by showboating with me."

'...maybe they just want an autograph?'

"Dark that is the most ridiculous..."-he blinked as someone thrust a notepad in his direction...followed by another and another-"...what?"

He turned to see Rainbow Dash was getting the same treatment and looking at him blankly; giving her a shrug he pulled out his pen and get to signing as did she. Eventually the crowd thinned out and their friends managed to make their way through to them, though the smirks on their faces certainly meant they had some thoughts to vocalize, "Come on then...go ahead."

"...that was pretty awesome. Yay!"

"Fluttershy is not wrong dearies, but I think you may have drawn a bit too much attention to yourselves."

Ryan sighed and shrugged, "I know Rares but...I just wanted to make sure Dashie had her fun."

"That does add up with how you are; of course that's not the only thing that adds up: I got so much information watching you fly and..."

"T-Sparks...please...now's not the time for science."

"Right! Come on you guys! If we don't get to our seats we're gonna miss the pre-show!"

Before he could utter a 'wha?', Rainbow Dash grabbed Ryan and began dragging him to the stadium's VIP section with the others in tow; before he could figure out how the hell she suddenly got so strong they'd arrived and, with a quick flash of their passes, were in and settled for the show to get underway.

After an interesting performance by the local high school's 'High Flyer Association' to open the theatrics (which made Ryan smirk at how even sporting events here also seemed to include school groups), the announcer began working the crowd up for the amazing show they were about to see; looking around he could see the coliseum was just packed with tons of Pegasi and other ponies that had made their way here, "I may have underestimated just how popular the Wonderbolts are."

"They're only like the best fliers in all of Equestria Ryan! How can they not be popular?"

"...so, correct me if I'm wrong, but they're part of the military here as well right?"

"Sort of; they do respond to threats but since ones requiring their intervention don't happen too often they've mostly become a showcase of talent and stuff."

Ryan nodded his head before smirking, "So then they're like the Blue Angels."

"What in tarnation are those?"

"The Blue Angels. Remember those fighter plane things I told y'all about not too long after I got here?"

"Yeah! Those things that you said zoomed across the sky and might give Rainbow Dash a run for her money!"

"Haha, yes Pinks; anyway there's a group of them called the Blue Angels that seem very similar to the Wonderbolts. On mah Earth they filled pretty much the same role: while technically part of the military, they were mostly a showcase and stunt group that would show off their skills for the crowd at Air Shows."-he smiled as he thought back on some memories-"I still remember going to see them practice with mah dad when I was younger. I always thought it was pretty cool that they were from mah hometown."

"Huh, so then I bet you can appreciate how awesome the Wonderbolts are."

He laughed heartily at that, "Well Dashie-kins, if they're as amazing as the Blue Angels then I don't doubt it."

"...D-Dashie-kins?! Don't go changing up nicknames and stuff like that." She huffed before the crowd roared and music began to pulse throughout the stadium, "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! It's starting!"

What followed was an exciting hour and a half of high-flying aerial stunts, twists and turns, and pulse-pounding moves all set to some amazing music. The highlight however, was soon to happen as Dashie was eagerly walking with her friends to the private meet and greet for the VIPs; following her movements Ryan had to admit he thought she was Pinkie Pie for a moment.

"Well that's just silly Ryan! There's only one me after all! Unless I used that mirror lake thing!"

"...mirror lake? And how did you?" He shook his head, "Anyway I think it goes without saying Dashie is excited."

"Heh, darlin', she's more excited than Winona when she gets to herd a stampeding crowd of critters."

He and the others had to admit that, with the way Rainbow Dash's tail was swishing back and forth happily, she certainly seemed to be spot on for AppleJack's teasing statement.

"Oh! I'll have to make sure to get all their autographs! Oh gosh! Where's the new book I bought?"-she turned to see Ryan handing her the copy of 'I Fly High...and So Can You!'-"Thanks! Come on you guys!"

Spitfire looked at the small crowd assembled and smirked; she always enjoyed the fame of being a Wonderbolt even if she didn't always openly make it known. There was just something about those smiling faces that made all the training and such worthwhile. She finished up signing her current autograph before looking up and seeing a few stragglers finally enter in. While the six ponies weren't anything out of the ordinary (and in fact, the rainbow-haired one seemed rather familiar), her attention was drawn to the rather tall, winged, and very curious looking creature that was accompanying them. To say she was more than happy that he accompanied the rainbow one (Rainbow Dash! That was her name!), that he accompanied Rainbow Dash over to where they were signing autographs would be a slight understatement.

"You guys were amazing today! Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!" Rainbow Dash fangirled as she handed Spitfire her book, "That one move you did with Soarin' was just....so awesome!"

"Hahaha, always happy to hear a fan's enjoyment Rainbow Dash."

"You...you remember my name?"

"Of course I do; hard to forget someone that pulled off a Sonic Rainboom and managed to pull Soarin's attention away from pie long enough to dance at the Gala." Spitfire smirked as she handed the book back to her, "Although..."-she looked Ryan's form over from top to bottom-"Who's your tall, dark, and mysterious friend here?"

"Huh? Oh this is Ryan! He's what you call a human!"-Rainbow Dash snickered-"I know he's tall, and I'm sure dark is right though not in the way you think, but he's not as mysterious as he looks."

"Heh, is that so?" Spitfire removed her glasses before winking at Ryan, "Do all humans have such lovely wings or are you the exception?"

'Oh my, it would appear that mojo of ours has snagged another one in our net~'

'Dammit Dark, not now!' He sighed mentally before smirking, "Well Spitfire, let's just say that when it comes to humans I'm certainly one of a kind."

"Mmmm, I'll say...especially after seeing those moves of yours earlier."

Ryan coughed softly, wondering just how she'd seen what he and Dashie had done earlier. He attempted talking but could only sputter nonsense replies and do his best to fight back a blush at her words; trying to look elsewhere (and ignoring Rainbow Dash's laughing at his awkwardness), he caught sight of two other members of the Wonderbolts talking with AppleJack. While that wasn't weird in and of itself, what unsettled him was the fact that they were giving him conflicting stares and not the kind he'd been used to since landing in this world: the male Pegasus gave him a hard glance while the female one seemed to be softly smiling at him. Needless to say it made him feel a bit odd and, after leaving Rainbow Dash to interact with her heroes, he found a seat and promptly sat down to collect himself.

"Hmmm...that's one problem with a land of ponies."

'Huh? What's that?'

"Simple Dark...chairs like these are never comfortable." He grumbled, before finally finding a manageable position, "...I wonder..."

"Wonder about what darling?"

Ryan turned to see Rarity and Twilight walking over after noticing he seemed a bit out of it; shaking his head and smiling he gave a shrug, "Well it's just that those two Pegasi over there."-he pointed to where AppleJack was still talking, noting the male Pegasus narrowing his eyes in his direction-"...eep. It's just that those two talking to Apps are giving me some funny looks."

"Didn't you say you'd expect looks though since this is your first time here?"

"I know Twilight but...the looks they're giving me are different somehow."

"How so?"

"Well...based on what I can read of their body language, I feel as if they both think I did something horrible but at the same time wonderful."-he sighed-"Does...does that make any kind of sense?"

"Uhm..."-Twilight tapped her hoof for a moment-"I think I get what you're trying to explain; basically they've hearing the same thing but having different reactions about it."

"Exactly. If I didn't know better, that look the stallion is giving me is...the same kind a father would give to a guy datin' his daughter."

Rarity couldn't help a giggle as she held a hoof to her face, "I assume that means you've had experience with that before dearie?"

"Heh...both as the target and a spectator." He joked, "I don't really get why they are but oh well. At least Dashie-kins is having plenty of fun."

"Yes, this was a great idea but...you know, AppleJack never did explain to any of us how she managed to get those tickets."-Twilight turned to see AppleJack still talking away, though it seemed she was about done-"Perhaps she knows those two Pegasi somehow and got tickets through them?"

Ryan simply shrugged, "However she did, I'm glad she could. This is probably the best birthday gift for a gal like Dashie. Oh..speaking of...I don't see Flutters and Pinks...are they..."he leaned in to whisper-"Off taking care of 'you know what'?"

"Of course darling; once you ran distraction with your stunning self they made their escape." Rarity laughed softly, "They'll be meeting us at the restaurant as soon as they finish."

"Perfect...it's all going accordin' to plan."

'You really shouldn't say things like that Ryan...especially with what I've learned about your world and what stays true in this one.'

"Oh come on...stop worrying; we've got this."

'...I think we all know where this is going now.'

"What in tarnation are ya talking about?"

And with perfect timing AppleJack came over with a big grin on her face, "Ah know y'all are talking but I need to borrow mah stallion; will ya follow me please Apple Ryder?"

'Dun, dun, duuuuuuuuuuun!'

"Can it Darky." Ryan rolled his eyes at his counterpart before standing up, "Sure thing Apps; whatcha need?"

"Well, I'd like ya to come meet somepony important...and they're rather interested in meeting ya as well."

"...okay." He followed her down the hallway and to a back room where, as he guessed, the two Pegasi from earlier were waiting, "...Apps, honey, what in tarnation is going on? I saw ya talking with these two and I can't say the looks they gave me were...clear."

AppleJack merely snickered before winking at Ryan, "Well, I just figured you'd want a little privacy when ya first met mah parents."

"Oh, yer parents. That makes so much..."-he paused, suddenly feeling a little light-headed-"....your parents? So then....oh. So then he kept glaring at me because...oh. Oh Celestia I was right."

"Haha, shoot Ry-Ry, there's no reasons to be so worried! I'd like ya to meet mah parents."-she pointed to the light grey stallion with a dark grey mane accented by blonde hair running through it in a speckled manner-"This here is my dad Star Dust."

"Sir." He politely offered, holding out his hand and watching as he took it for a hearty shake, "Heh, now I see where you get your shaking skills from hon."

Star Dust eyed Ryan oddly, leading him to gulp before AppleJack directed his attention to the light green mare with a brown mane that seemed to be sparkling, "And this is mah mother Apple Spark."

Ryan collected himself, taking Apple Spark's hoof in hand and kissing it lightly, "A pleasure to meet you ma'am. Heh, I can see now where Apps got her good looks."

"Oh my, such a charmer." Apple Spark chuckled softly before looking at her husband, "Now dear...no need to glare at the poor stallion like that."

Star Dust looked to his wife before looking Ryan over and smirking; without warning he tackled Ryan.

"Oh God!" He screamed before realizing he wasn't dead and, in fact, had only been hugged by her father, "Oh! Well..that's...that's a good thing....right?"

"Shoot! Of course it is! Do you know how worried I was when I first heard my daughter was dating some stallion that could fly and use magic?" Star Dust remarked as he continued his bear (pony?) hug, "Not that I'd be against it, but I thought you were going to be some immortal alicorn and not get to properly be with my little appleseed."

"Dad!"

"Hahaha."-he released Ryan from his hug-"I have to say though, I wasn't expecting a human of all things from what she'd been writing us."

"Hee, it certainly is a curious outcome isn't it dear?" Apple Spark giggled, "I am sorry that my husband startled you while we discussed how best to meet."-she nuzzled against Star Dust-"He's a sweet stallion but sometimes that look of his comes off as too intense."

"N-no problem." Ryan took a deep breath to collect himself, "I guess you wouldn't be too surprised knowing what I am; the Wonderbolts do get around so it's not unlikely you've heard about mah exploits. Although..."-he eyed AppleJack curiously-"What exactly has mah marefriend here been telling you two?"

"Oh, she's written about how kind and brave ya are...and how sweet and gentle you've been." Apple Spark sighed, smirking as her daughter tried to hide behind her hat, "She's written about your exploits but curiously enough."-she lifted AppleJack's hat off her face-"She left out the detail that you were a human."

"Ah...Ah was just worried ya know? Nopony else seems to mind or care but yer mah parents! I...I figured it'd be more proper if you found that fact out when ya first met him so ya...ya wouldn't get all these preconceived thoughts in yer head."

"...heh, I see my fancy talk is rubbin' off on ya Apps."

"Now's not the time fer jokes Ry-Ry."

"Nonsense!" Star Dust laughed loudly, "A sense of humor is something everypony should have. And mah little appleseed, you shouldn't be worried about telling us who's caught yer eye like this."-he nuzzled his daughter-"We only want you to be happy."

'Oooh, I see now. That makes sense then as to why...'

"Huh? Wha-what was that?" Apple Spark gasped, looking around for the voice she just heard, "Is...is somepony else here?"

'Oh...uh...oops, sorry.'

"No need to worry ma'am; that would just be the voice of a fallen hero that has taken residence in mah soul." Ryan explained, before sighing, "Ah know that sounds crazy but...."

"Oh, well if that's all it is then, okay."

"I know but...wait...what?"

AppleJack smirked, nuzzling her guy to ease his frazzled state, "Well, the Apples are Earth ponies...normally; wouldn't it make sense for us to be down-to-Earth and able to go with the flow?"

'She's got ya there partner.'

"...he even makes jokes too just like Ryan."-Star Dust stamped his hooves in approval before narrowing his eyes-"I just hope he makes sure to give you two privacy when you need it."

There was a noise that sounded as if Dark gulped before he spoke up, 'But of course sir! I would never dare spy on their private actions! I have plenty to occupy myself elsewhere when that happens sir! Sir!'

Ryan blinked, completely flabbergasted that someone had made Dark nervous like that, "...damn; I like yer pops already Apps. Hahahahaha."

So the group talked for a while, Ryan learning some interesting facts (such as how Pegasi could have Earth pony children...which only made him question how weird Pony genetics must be) and sharing some of his own with them as they enjoyed each other's company. Eventually they saw that the meet and greet was nearly up which meant they needed to go collect their friend and continue on with her birthday party.

Giving a slight bow, Ryan smiled at the two of them, "It's been quite a treat to get ta meet y'all; you've got a fine daughter."

"Well that's mah mother for you; she's done a grand job raising our kids."-Apple Spark hung her head-"I just wish we could visit them more often...but the nature of our job keeps us busy."

"Ah can imagine ma'am."

"Oh, young man, one thing." Star Dust gave Ryan a serious look.

"Yes sir?"

"Please keep our identity a secret; I know it probably makes it hard for my appleseed to not be able to talk about her parents but it's to keep her safe."-he gave a sad smile-"Even if we're mostly for showcasing talent, we are still part of the military..."

"...and that means you have enemies that would use stuff like that against you." Ryan winked, giving him a salute, "Understood sir."

"Excellent! Give our other children our regards if you would."

"Of course, I'll let mah little sis and brother know."

Apple Spark giggled, "Already calling Big Mac and AppleBloom family? I don't recall AppleJack writing about that."

"Well, ya know, they're just...good people and well, I see them as kin now with how things are."

Star Dust laughed at the blush on his face, "Just don't forget to tell us when y'all decide to get hitched alright?"

"...h-hitched?" AppleJack gasped before grabbing Ryan's belt with her teeth and tugging, "Come on Apple Ryder...time to go!"

He let out a laugh as he was dragged out the door and smirked at his parting words, "Don't worry ma and pa, I don't think you'll have to wait too long for that to happen. Later y'all!"

After they had left the room, Apple Spark leaned against her husband and sighed, "She found quite an interesting stallion didn't she?"

"Yeah...but I can tell from the way they look at each other, they're happy."-Star Dust grinned as he thought over Ryan's last words-"So ma and pa huh? I wonder what their kids will look like?"

"Why did ya have to go and say something so embarrassing to mah parents?"

"Hahaha, does the thought of marriage fluster ya mah sweet apple?"

"...no....it's just..." AppleJack shook her head, opening the door back to the meet-and-greet room, "I just..."

"Apps?"-he walked in, curious as to why she'd stopped talking-"...oh, that's why."

The room was still occupied with their friends, though something had obviously happened: Soarin' was unconscious by a pile of discarded pie tins, Rainbow Dash was standing on her hindlegs, her front pair clasped together as she shook them in victory, and Spitfire was face-hoofing while shaking her head.

"What...what in tarnation happened here?" He asked, walking over to the somewhat upset Spitfire.

"This crazy stallion thought to challenge Rainbow Dash to a pie-eating contest once it was just us alone."-she sighed-"Needless to say, he's now unconscious and stuffed. Ugh...and I have to carry him back to the barracks....unless, perhaps, a strong, handsome stranger could see fit to give me a....hand?"

'Oh God, she's flirting with you again.'

"Woooooo! I am the champ!"-Rainbow Dash let out a huge belch-"Awesome!"

Ryan analyzed the situation, took a moment to figure out the best course of action, and then enacted his plan, "Right! Well! We've places to go so we'll just get out of your mane! Bye Spitfire!"

"Hey what gives?!" Rainbow Dash gasped as Ryan grabbed her.

"T-Sparks, plan Delta Bowmega! Option Two!"

Twilight blinked for a moment before remembering what escape plan that was and then set it in motion, her horn glowing bright lavender before there was a bright flash and the room was empty save for Spitfire and a now semi-conscious Soarin'.

"So."-he coughed for a moment-"What did I miss?"

"Phew! That was a good escape!"

Ryan and the others were now back in their hotel room, mostly to drop off Rainbow's souvenirs before heading back out to dinner; as they walked along the streets, he could tell Dashie was just beaming at how well things went with the Wonderbolts and, well, her birthday in general.

"So you haven't told me where Pinkie and Fluttershy went off to."

Twilight quickly responded, "Oh it's, well they're just off making sure the reservations are right and all that."

Rainbow Dash eyed her oddly but shrugged as they walked on, "I guess...but some stuffy restaurant isn't my idea of fun."

'And who said anything about a stuffy restaurant my dear blue bomber?'

"...Dark's talking all weird again. What's he mean?"

"Haha, you'll see darling." Rarity remarked as they finally arrived at a destination that Rainbow Dash knew all too well.

"Hey! Pizza! Yesyesyesyesyes!"

"Well, when Fluttershy told us ya used to come here all the time back in high school, we figured a little nostalgia trip would do ya good."

"Ry-Ry's right...and what's better than making yer own pizza and stuff? It might not be country cooking, but dang if'n it ain't tasty!"

Rainbow Dash, realizing she might look too much the part of an excited little filly, dialed back her enthusiasm just a smidge, "I mean...that's awesome and cool."

Snickering at her way of trying to save herself, Ryan held the door open for the others before heading in himself...and then getting smacked in the face with a ball of dough. Slowly pulling the stretchy stuff off of his face, he looked up to see Pinkie Pie grinning at him way too innocently, "...I'm a fan of pizza as much as the next pony...but humans usually prefer their pizza to be cooked."-he glanced at the glob of dough that had some cheese and other things mixed in it-"And circular...and not looking like a Katamari of deliciousness."

"A whats-it-mary?" Pinkie hopped over and smirked, "I don't know what that is but it sounds tasty! Also, sorry about that Rysy-wysy; I was getting bored waiting for the party to start so they let me play around a bit."

"...as long as it was on my tab, right?" He smirked, glancing at the owner of the place who gave him a big grin, "I have that feeling again..."

'The one of impending doom?'

"...T-That you ate something undercooked?"

"That it's time to experiment?"

"That I'm awesome?"

"That it's pony time!?"

"That you'll be letting somepony design a fabulous outfit to match your wings?"

He glanced at Rarity oddly, "...you've already done that...many times."

"Oh you dear man, one can never have enough good ensembles."

Ryan facepalmed and shook his head, shuffling along with his friends to where the room they were celebrating in was. When they got inside, AppleJack hopped up and gave him a hug and kiss, "I reckon the feeling yer getting Ry is the same ya did at Pinkie's party."

He laughed knowingly, "Eeeeeyup. If that's true...then I guess we'll get to test out those spells I put in place."

Now Ryan knew that this was Dashie's day, her day to have fun and feel special that she had lived yet another year on this Earth sitting there and being orbited by the moon and sun.

'Ya know, that is a concept I find fascinating to be honest Ryan.'

'And what's that Dark?' He mused, laughing at Pinkie making a face with her pizza, 'About the sun and moon thing?'

'Yeah. It intrigues me that your Earth and the other planets orbited your sun...'

'Whereas thanks to Cellie and Lunes, the Earth stays still here while the sun and moon orbit around it....which is why the sun is always in the same spots at exactly the same time every day.'

'Exactly! Given what you've explained with your weather patterns versus ours, I bet that could be why the weather here is controllable while yours isn't.'

Ryan pondered over this statement and figured it might be worth running passed T-Sparks at some point but at the moment he barely heard a 'duck!' before getting hit in the face with tomato sauce, "...looks like our talk is gonna get put on hold Darky."

"Oh noes! This couldn't possibly be a good thing!" Pinkie smiled at Ryan, trying her best not to giggle in glee.

Ryan took a deep breath before cleaning off his glasses and face, "So...who's the wise guy?"

Everypony looked about and did nothing...and then the accusations began followed by finger pointing before it became a chaotic symphony of ponies, words, and...well you get the picture. Either way, the scene was something Discord would've loved but it was only to get better.

"Well then...seeing as you all just seem to love having fun like this..." Ryan cracked his knuckles and smirked at the girls, "Shall we...engage round 2?"

"Now Apple Ryder...I know yer a bit upset that, once again, ya got sneak attacked with food but...this isn't one of our homes and it rightly wouldn't do if ya made a mess."

"AppleJack is right...you don't want to cause a stir in Cloudsdale, correct?"

Ryan mulled over Apps and T-Sparks's words carefully, his smirk never leaving his face as he lifted up his wand and made a sweeping, arc motion with it. Satisfied his spell was in place, he levitated some cheese, a few vegetables (and something that looked strangely like pepperoni) in front of him before slicing them up, "I think that won't be an issue now...so order up! Who had one with The Works!?"

And just like that everypony scattered everywhere in the room, cheese and vegetables and all sorts of pizza ingredients flying every which way; there was no mercy (even for Ryan) as the seven of them escalated their attacks until finally, at the end, the group was a doughy, saucy, though strangely delicious looking, mess.

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! That was awesome! But! When Pizza Mike sees this he's gonna never let me back!"

Ryan leaned over to pat Dashie on the head (and lick some pizza sauce off her cheek, an act which induced much blushing on her part) before winking, "Relax Dashie-kins...I said I had this under control! Ready Dark?"

'You bet!'

Lifting up his hands, he snapped his fingers on both of them and watched with amusement that the spell was actually working: the room was, for lack of a better explanation, quick rewinding and undoing all the mess they had made. Sure enough, even the mess they'd gotten on their persons had vanished and returned, leaving the room spotless and showing several personal pizzas all customized exactly to how the seven of them liked them.

"Was that...a time spell?"

Ryan shook his head as he looked at Twilight, "Nope...it's actually just a mid-level cleaning spell that I modified slightly ta have it read our minds and make a pizza with what we like at the end. Not very useful in combat but not a bad thing to know."-he glanced at his pizza curiously-"Or, well...come up with the closest equivalent in mah case it seems. You don't have some of the things I like because, you know, cows talk here so...I'm sure this pepperoni stand in will do fine."

At that point Pizza Mike burst through the doors, looking like he was ready to shout about something, but changed his mind when he saw everypony standing there normally, with nothing out of the ordinary; blinking he shook his head and sighed, "I must be hearing things...anyway, if your pies are ready let's get to cooking!"

After enjoying their pizza (Ryan had to admit, whatever that was tasted like pepperoni so that was good enough for him), they led Rainbow Dash through the now dark streets of Cloudsdale to their final party stop. She recognized the area they were going to, and sure enough she could see the flashy nightclub come into view.

"I never took you for one to go to a club Ryan."

He took her teasing in stride, laughing when she nudged his side, "Haha, well there's a certain pony playing here tonight so...when she heard it was your birthday she pretty much cute bullied me to bring ya by."-he huffed, putting on a look of mock annoyance-"You ponies and yer ability to be cuter than a puppy and kitty trying to get into the same tiny box."

"Oh my gosh, that would be so cute!" Fluttershy sighed, holding her cheeks and smiling dreamily, "We totally need to do that you guys."

"Flutters."-Ryan snapped his fingers-"Focus."

Laughing and giving him a sheepish grin, she joined her friends as they went to enter and found a little trouble with the bouncer; while he had no problem letting the ladies in, he was a bit stubborn on letting Ryan into the club.

"What gives dude? It's not because I'm human is it because..."

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! It ain't nothing like that! I'm no specist!" He quickly spat out, trying not to cause a scene, "Ya ain't got the looks is all."

"What?" Ryan scoffed, as did his friends, "Come on...I've got clothing from one of the most premier pony designers on, leather jackets are always in style, and I've got the most rocking pair of wings a human has ever had. How do I not have, as ya put it, the looks?"

The bouncer looked Ryan over, humming in thought before saying one thing, "What wings?"

"Are you blind, the ones that..."-he looked over his shoulder to see they were gone and deadpanned-"Gals, how long have mah wings been gone?"

"Oh, about the time you used that rewind spell."

'Of course! By aligning our abilities to use it, there must have been a side-effect that willed away the wings.'

"...right Dark, of course!" Ryan huffed, before striking a pose and snapping his fingers, "Okay then..."-he spread his wings wide-"How about now?"

The bouncer's shades fell off his face, and, as Dark was quick to note, a few mares in line swooned at his show of plumage; needless to say the bouncer simply nodded and allowed him entrance with the girls.

"Well, that was an unwanted hassle...odd though I didn't notice mah wings vanishing."

"Heh, I reckon ya were too caught up in fun with us sugah."

"Yeah! You were too busy being cool and saving me from a fate deprived of Pizza Mike's delicious pizzas!" Rainbow Dash remarked, hovering over and grabbing on to his arm, "So then...who is this friend that begged you to come here with us for my birthday?"

As they entered the dance floor (with AppleJack latched on to his other arm), Ryan simply motioned towards the DJ booth where the one, the only, DJ PON3 was rocking her decks something fierce and laying out the wubs-a-plenty!

"Woooo! I love wubs! They're so bouncy and fun!" And with that Pinkie was off on the dance-floor, having fun...or Pinkie Pie fun anyway.

Ryan winked at AppleJack before taking Rainbow Dash's hoof, "Would the birthday mare care to dance?"

"Well...I don't usually...but since it is my birthday."-she began dragging him out on to the floor-"And you did ask...it'd be super rude not to accept, right?"

"Quite." He replied, laughing as they grooved to the beats.

Rarity sauntered over to AppleJack and smiled, "You're being quite tolerant with letting your stallion be all buddy-buddy with Rainbow Dash darling."

"Well, ah reckon I get him all the time."-Apps looked over and saw Ryan twirling Rainbow Dash around-"And ah know she still likes him and all. It's her birthday so shoot, what's a little harmless happiness fer mah friend?"

"Heh and I thought I was the generous one." Rarity teased, giggling as AppleJack rolled her eyes, "Oh darling, relax. I'm just having some fun. I must say though...while Vinyl is quite a dear, her music is a little jagged for my tastes."

Twilight had meanwhile wandered off to watch Vinyl rock the decks; apparently she had quite a hidden interest in music and, though she wouldn't ever admit to it, she did like rocking out to dubstep when nopony else was around.

Fluttershy was a bit reluctant to get out and dance but Pinkie was quick to fix that, pulling her out with her and swinging her all around. All in all the group of friends was having a heck of a time in their own way while enjoying the pulse-pounding beats and flashing lights until there was a break in DJ PON3's setlist and everypony clapped (well Ryan clapped, the ponies did their hoof-stomp thing) in appreciation of the fine beats.

"Wooooo, thank you Cloudsdale! Don't go anywhere though, this next set will be wub-tastic!" Vinyl noted as she scanned the crowd and easily saw Ryan's tall figure standing out amongst those on the floor, "Ah! Ryan!"

Hearing his name, he turned from chatting with Apps and Dashie before locking eyes with Vinyl; seeing her enthusiastically waving at him he waved back before getting the feeling she wanted to talk. Nodding at AppleJack, he scooped up Rainbow Dash before walking over and hopping up on to the stage, "Hey Vinyl! Rocking setlist so far!"

"I know right! Can you believe Tavi had the nerve to say my playlist was not up to standards?"

"Haha, that sounds like her though. Perhaps you should remix some classical music and see what she thinks?"

"That's a great idea! How about..."

Rainbow Dash pressed on Ryan's chest with her hooves and moaned, "...can ya put me down?"

"Oh right! Sorry Dashie!" Ryan sheepishly grinned as he set his friend down, "Sorry, but it's easier for me to do that then drag y'all when I need ya to move."

"That's okay. So you invited us here huh?"

"You bet! Why not when it's your birthday?"

"I see."-Rainbow narrowed her eyes-"No ulterior motives?"

"No, no, no..."-Vinyl bit her bottom lip-"Okay, maybe one..."

"Are you ponies ready to rock?!"

The crowd cheered in response, though AppleJack and the others had to wonder just why Ryan and Rainbow Dash were on stage with her.

"Ah reckon Vinyl had a reason she wanted us here." AppleJack smirked, "I betcha this is gonna be mighty entertaining."

"I want all of ya to put your hoove up for Rainbow Dash who's celebrating her birthday today!"

Rainbow Dash simply blushed when the spotlight focused on her before waving to the crowd.

"Woooooo Dashie!" Pinkie cheered from somewhere up above.

'Is...is she hanging from the rafters?'

"You don't question Pinks Darky." Ryan laughed softly before getting blinded by the spotlight, "What the hay?"-he pulled on his shades-"What's the big idea Vinyl?"

"Sorry, but gotta introduce ya too if yer gonna be part of this!" Vinyl Scratch chuckled before shouting, "Yeah! And I think most ponies know this guy! He's only the most amazing human in all Equestria."

"Erm...I'm the only human in Equestria Vinyl." Ryan replied, smirking as the crowd laughed.

"Details! Yer still the most amazing one despite that! Now then, I think you all know a very popular song he helped me make...and well, as a special treat for Rainbow's birthday, I've managed to get him to do a rare live version for everypony! Wub-wub motherbuckers!"

'Are you sure about this Ryan?'

Ryan smirked, expanding his wings to the crowd's cheers as he grabbed the microphone, "And disappoint our fans? Never."

With that a familiar, though more wubbed out version, of what he lovingly called Shades of Friendship began to kick up as Rainbow Dash helped Vinyl rock the turntables.

'Remind me to ask her when she learned to do that.' Dark mused as Rainbow rocked the decks as well, 'Damn can she rock a beat!'

"My Little Pony...." Ryan began, hearing the crowd go nuts as he held the microphone out to them.

"My Little Pony...." He heard them reply, pleased they caught on quickly with his plan.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ahhhhhhhhhhhh! I used to wonder what friendship could beeeeeee!"

"Mah Little Pony, Mah Little Pony!"

"Until you all shared it's..."-he paused as Vinyl dropped the beat-"magic wi-ith me!"

"Big Adventure!" "Tons of Fun!" "A beautiful Heart!" "Faithful and Strong!"

"Sharing magic it's an easy feat, and Magic makes it all, all, all, all, all..."-he repeated as the two mares scratched the decks, "Comple-e-ete!"

"My Little Pony!" "Mah Little Pony!"

"Don't you know you are my, my, my very best friends? My Little Pony!"

"My Little Pony, don't you know you are my very beeeeeeeeest friends?"

"Now drop it! Wub-wub-wub-wub!"

"Hoowee, he sure is having fun up there isn't he?" AppleJack laughed, stomping along to the beat as Ryan rocked out during the extended drop fest Vinyl had added to this live version, "Hahaha, I ain't ever seen him worked up like this before."

"He certainly knows how to get a crowd going darling."-Rarity giggled at a particularly silly move he did-"I'm rather impressed he's doing this so easily; given how shy he acts makes this even more amusing."

"Oh, well...Ryan's just like that; he might be shy with us and others but he really does like having fun with everypony when he can. Plus...well, I think he likes being silly too."

"That's totally right Fluttershy!" Pinkie sprung out from behind her wearing all sorts of glow sticks, "This is such an awesome remix! Yeah!"

"...where did you get those?" Twilight mused, looking at Pinkie before looking back up to the stage where Ryan was doing the most unusual dance moves, "...what style is that?"

"Duh! It's Para-Para!"-Pinkie hopped up on her hindlegs and copied his moves-"He told me all about this dance style one day; it used to be popular in some foreign country from his world and he played the game based on it all the time! Wheee! This is fun!"

Giving his wings a flap and doing a stylized flip, Ryan pulled the microphone back out and picked up the singing but in mid-air this time.

"My Little Pony, Friendship is our way!"

"My Little Pony, yeah Mah Little Pony!"

"That's all it takes for us to save the daaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!" He smirked, using his free hand to mimic the turntable stretching Vinyl was doing.

"Mah Little Pony, yeah My Little Pony!"

"Honest and Loyalty!" "Laughter and Generosity!"

"Kindness and Magic make the Harmony that puts an end to villainy-yyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

"My Little Pony!" "My Little Pony!"

"Don't you know you are my very best, very best, very best, very best, very best, very best,"-he began sliding all about in the air before landing back on stage-"YEAH! My Little Pony! Mah Little Pony!"

"We will always be friends to the end!"

"My Little Pony! My Little Pony! There is nothing our love cannot defend!"

Sensing the big ending coming, Ryan snapped his fingers as the three components of Malus Domestica he had set up on stage glowed brightly and blossomed forth it's huge, brightly lit apple tree behind Vinyl and Dashie.

"Friendship! GO!" He shouted, before whispering one more thing, "Scatter!"

As the two mares behind him wound down the song's extended outro, the apple tree exploded into a million points of magical energy that drifted and snowed down upon the crowd like twinkling stars; catching his breath Ryan couldn't help smirk at just how damn fun that had been before the song finally ended. Putting the microphone back on its stand, he took a bow before smiling sheepishly at the crowd, "Well, I certainly had fun with that; how's about everypony else?"

Well if the roaring cheers and adulation they'd received in reply was anything to go by, it was safe to assume that the crowd had as much fun with that as he, Vinyl, and Rainbow Dash did; once the set was over and the next DJ had taken over, Vinyl had joined the others as they sat around having various drinks to relax.

"Here ya go Apple Ryder, I figured after all that jawing ya did up on stage you'd have a heckuva thirst."

Eyeing the cold glass of cider happily, Ryan easily chugged it before sighing, "Hmmm...not too bad but it doesn't have that same kick as our Apple family brand."

"...dude, you just knocked that back like it was nothing!"

Twilight snickered, her cheeks showing she was already a bit tipsy, "Well Vinyl, he is a human and that mug is scaled for ponies so it's not like he drank that much."

"T-Sparks, how much have you had already?"

"Just the one Ryan...why?"

"Well, I mean, I've had the same amount as you then but yer already tipsy."

"Of course it won't affect you as fast darling, you are much bigger than we are after all."-Rarity winked at Ryan-"And from what my measurements show, that encompasses all parts of you."

Ryan coughed, nearly choking on his second mug while Rarity simply giggled and took another sip from her fancy-looking drink, "Rares!"

"Haha, oh you dear man, no need to be so bashful about your attributes after all."

'I think somepony's having a bit of fun thanks to the alcohol.'

"Hmph! Such accusations from Dark of all people, I am not becoming inhibited; I am merely stating the truth about such a handsome stallion."-Rarity stuck her tongue out at him-"I am his fashion designer after all, it only makes sense I know the dimensions of his body so that his clothing looks spectacular on him...glorious even."

Vinyl pounded the table and let out a loud laugh, "You guys crack me up...though it's still weird hearing that Darkness Shade guy like that."

'Oh my dear DJ PON3, you have no idea. Hahaha.'

"Sheesh, must you flirt with everypony we meet Dark?" Ryan sighed, finishing his second mug but not even feeling a tingle, "This cider is weak compared to Apps's stuff...I actually find mahself wanting some Zap-Apple cider."

"Heh, you want to party huh?" Vinyl remarked, pulling off her shades, "I think I can hook us up with something awesome if ya want."

"Whoawhoawhoawhoawhoa! Hey now! We don't want to get wrapped up in anything illegal here..."

"Relax Ryan! There's just a special drink they make here in Cloudsdale that is fantastic...I'm not sure how it'll impact a human though, but I bet you'll find it quite fun!"

"I don't know...."

'Oh come on Ryan, it's not like we do this all the time: what's wrong with having a little fun with our friends?'

"Well....I suppose as long as we're mature about it...how bad could it be?"

"Alright you crazy mares (and man), this is the infamous Spectrum shots."

The group looked at the small glasses that had been brought over after Vinyl had had a little chat with the bartender and one thing jumped right out in Ryan's mind: it was glowing like a rainbow which made him feel a little hesitant.

"So...Vinyl?"-he lightly tapped one glass and watched the bright brew ripple-"Is this...is this made with rainbow juice or something?"

"Oh yeah, totally; that's why it's so hard to get a hold of right now. I don't really get the specifics but there's some crazy stuff going on at that weather factory here."

"Oh yes, we had a slight run in when we first arrived where they thought Ryan was the one causing trouble." Twilight explained, a little more coherent but still looking all the part tipsy, "I can't say I've ever heard of a beverage that uses rainbows."

'I have...but that was nearly a thousand years ago.'

"Really Dark? And here I thought Spectrum was something new."

'Well PON3, it went by a different name back then and for all I know is a completely different drink but it was something the humans came up with after first observing the properties of liquid rainbows. Oh boy, they were pretty crazy, the group that came up with that idea.'

"If ah didn't know better, it sounds like ya had a few rodeos with that one."

'Ah...yes...well...let's just say there was this one time with Tia and Woona and...ahem!'-Dark made a coughing sound-'Anyway, you should be fine drinking this Ryan; rainbow juice doesn't exactly affect humans too badly.'

"Well that's..."-he paused-"What do you mean by "too" badly?"

'You'll see...bottoms up ladies!'

Seeing his friends hesitantly lift their shot glasses, he did the same and tried to ignore Dark's words as he clinked glasses with them; they all looked at one another before simultaneously downing it. Setting the glasses down, they all looked at one another and didn't seem to feel any kind of odd effects until...

"My mouth is on fire!" Ryan practically roared, panting and twitching, "Sweet Celestia and Luna!"

'Yep! Rainbows are still just as spicy as I remember!'

"You asshole! You couldn't..."-he paused, smacking his lips-"Actually, after that first burst it's rather tasty...I can't put mah finger on it though, the taste I mean."

"Tarnation! That's got more kick than Big Mac when he's cranky!"

"Ooooooooh yeah! That is what I'm talking about!" Vinyl laughed, though it was apparent she was now appropriately inebriated, "Woooooooo!"

"Oh my dearies...I suddenly feel so very warm."-Rarity slumped against her chair and fanned herself-"Dreadfully warm!"

"Uhm Dashie? You okay?"

"....Iiiiiiiii'm more than okay Ryan! I am"-she leaned over and whispered in his ear-"Awesome..."

'Heh, I must say, these reactions are about as amusing as Tia and Woona's the last time I kissed the rainbow.'

"Mmmm, kiss this Rainbow Darky!"

Ryan jumped in his seat at Dashie's bold move, blinking as he tried to push his intoxicated friend off and managing to do so, "....well...that was...not expected. I'm gonna wager it hits ponies harder than a human...or at least faster than it does a human....both maybe?"

"That would be the science!" Twilight giggled drunkenly, before leaning over the table and staring at Ryan, "So...did she taste like those Skittles candies of yours you always compared her to?"

"Wha-what---"-he sputtered, turning to look at Apps who seemed a little upset-"Apps?"

AppleJack lifted a hoof up and smacked the table before narrowing her eyes, "Dashie..."

"O-oh deeeeear." Fluttershy felt faint at the apparent impending doom before actually fainting right then and there.

"AJ I'm...it's...I didn't mean to..."

"If'n yer gonna do that, you'd best share."

"I...wait...what?"-she was cut off as AppleJack kissed her, "I...what?"

'My goodness...seems this night might end just like that one did after all.'

"Don't give them ideas...no matter how pleasing they might sound." Ryan sighed, shaking his head, "Needless to say, I think it's effected me so much even you're drunk Dark."

'I AM NOT!'

"Yeah...you are...and further m-"-he gasped as Pinkie popped from above, somehow, and smooched him too-"Pinks?! What the hell?!"

"Oopsie-doopsie! I just saw an opening and figured if everypony was gonna make a move on you, I'd join in the fun!" Pinkie explained, staring at Ryan from her upside down position, "At least now I can see why AppleJack enjoys it so much. You're a good kisser!"

He tried to counter her, to come up with something intelligent to defuse the situation, but with Dark laughing like a ecchi bastard in his mind and the alcohol now affecting his thoughts he could do naught but flap his mouth open and closed like a fish.

"Hee-hee! You're so funny Rysy-Wysy!" And like that Pinkie popped out of sight, although Ryan had a suspicion she was making mischief with her portable hole.

"Now this is how you party!"

"Vinyl..."

"Yes Ryan?"-she batted her cerise eyes at him-"Something on your mind big guy?"

"I...uh....that is..."-he pouted-"That's not fair doing that to me...stop being so cute."

"Heh, no way mister tough human, it's too much fun flustering you although..."-she glanced at the group and how half of them were now passed out-"I may have made things a bit hard on you..."

Ryan heaved a sigh and smiled, "Don't worry Vinyl; it should be easy enough to carry them back to the hotel...if I can get Apps to help me..."

'I think she already is by keeping Rainbow Dash occupied.'

"...she's simply passed out on top of her."-he sighed, shaking his head-"Stop making it sound worse than it is!"

Realizing that he had a long walk with his friends back to the hotel he bid Vinyl Scratch a good night before lifting Rarity and Twilight on his shoulders, using his magic to levitate Fluttershy. Waiting for AppleJack to get a steady footing with Rainbow Dash on her back, the two of them were followed by a wobbly hopping Pinkie Pie as they walked down the quiet, nighttime streets of Cloudsdale.

"Ya know, it's times like this I'm thankful mah training and stuff has given me a boost in strength...otherwise carrying two full-grown mares would be a might harder than it already is." Ryan huffed, "That and magic...thank Cellie for magic."

"Ya sure yer okay Apple Ryder?"-AppleJack focused intently to keep her footing-"I mean, I've drank some tough stuff before so it's no big deal to me...but that stuff was stronger than any Zap-Apple cider I've ever made."

"I'll be fine...I just have to not let Dark's thoughts sway mah own..."

"Oooooh! What thoughts? I bet he's having some super sexy thoughts huh?"

"Pinkie!" Ryan gasped, nearly dropping his friends, "Why is it you go right to that?"

"Hee, it's just the magic of friendship and alcohol combining into one beautiful happiness!"

"...yer a weird drunk Pinks."

"Thanks!"

'She has a point though...mah thoughts are pretty relaxing.'

"No! Stop! I won't think about their...soft fur on mah cheeks...their warm bellies resting on mah shoulders...how cute their drunk little faces are as they sleep..."

"...Ry-Ry...I hate to say it but ah think yer totally thinking about it."

Ryan sighed as they reached the hotel and hung his head, "Oh God Apps...ahm awful aren't I?"

Sensing his distress, Apps sauntered over and nuzzled his side as best she could, "Naw, ya aren't awful at all. Frankly, ya control yerself rather well given the fact that we all do a lot of teasing of that nature with one another."-she smirked-"Let alone all the group cuddlin' we find ourselves doing. So you ain't anything of the sort, you've been the very image of a gentlecolt."

He glanced down at her as they rode the elevator up, "Ya mean that hon?"

"Shoot, am I not the Element of Honesty?"

"Point taken."

"...now as for that other half of yers..."

'HEY!'

After fiddling with and kicking open the door to their room, Ryan felt his energy fading having carried his friends all that way; stumbling over to the couch, he sat Rarity and Twilight on it before floating Fluttershy over and doing the same. That taken care of, he helped AppleJack set Rainbow on the loveseat and then slowly limped to bed with her, "They'll be okay there, right?"

AppleJack sleepily nodded as she curled up next to him, "Sure as sugar...mmmm...heh, I don't think Rainbow Dash will forget this birthday."

"Heh, I'd bet on it."-he slipped an arm around her and held her close-"I'm dreading the hangovers we'll have in the morning...but oh well, it was worth it to make some fun memories. Here's just hoping tomorrow morning won't be all awkward."

"...Nah."-AppleJack yawned loudly-"We're...mature adults...close friends...it'll be...."

Noting she fell asleep before even finishing her thoughts, he smiled before kissing the top of her head and closing his eyes, "Well...I just worry too much ah guess...haha."

"I'll say!"

Ryan didn't need to open his eyes to know who that was, "Pinks...I...you know what...I'm too buzzed and tired to deal with this...just...do what ya want and get some sleep."

"Okie-dokie-Ryan-pokie." She remarked, nestling up next to Applejack and resting her head above Ryan's, "Good night my friends."

And with that peace settled over the hotel room as everypony got some well needed rest.

Author's Note

What is it with me and making birthday parties just crazy-pants? XD Hopefully that whole bit with the concert made sense the way I put the inflection; I had a heckuva a time trying to figure out the best way to type it but feel pretty satisfied with how it all turned out. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed the silliness in this chapter as well; I'll be starting on the next chapter tomorrow with any luck. Now that the story is heading fully into the holiday season, boy do I have plans. Here's hoping they get pulled off as well as I'm picturing it in mah mind. Hahaha, thanks fer reading!

14th Harvest

'Ugh...what a weird dream. Pretty awesome though...gives me an amazing idea fer a game...as well as some killer new move ideas.' Ryan thought to himself, groaning softly as he woke up though he'd yet to open his eyes, 'Oh man...still so sleepy; that Spectrum stuff had a hell of a kick to it.'

As he lay there, he couldn't help but note how warm and comfortable he felt and chalked it up to the cloud bed he was currently on; he sighed a bit as he felt what had to be Apps softly kissing his bare chest.

'Bare...did I take off mah shirt last night? Ugh...I can't really remember much after getting mah friends back to the room.' Ryan sighed, figuring it didn't matter since the kisses did feel rather nice.

It wasn't until he heard the voice of the one kissing him that he finally cracked open his eyes, freezing up at what his still groggy mind saw: apparently, sometime throughout the night, everypony had seen fit to make a cuddle puddle around him. AppleJack and Pinkie were where they had been, but his left side was now flanked by Twilight (if the purple he saw out of the corner of his eye was anything to go by) and Rainbow Dash who had stopped kissing and was happily nuzzling him in her sleep. Though his glasses weren't currently on, he could see white and yellow further down the bed which solidified his thoughts as to where Rarity and Fluttershy were at.

'....argh...hmmm...' Dark grumbled, having awoken now that Ryan was up as well, '...that dream was something else huh Ryan? Ryan?'

'Nice to see yer awake...but...we seem to be in another one of them situations.'

'What situation? All I see is a relaxing sight. Can you honestly tell me you wish to move from here?'

'...I...that is...I mean...' Try as he might, and as much as he hated to admit such, Dark was right. He was comfy, he was warm, and, well, having all his friends so close seemed to always put his mind at ease the most; suddenly aware of his headache, and silently thanking he'd planned an extra day in case something like this might happen, he scratched Dashie's ears before closing his eyes and just enjoying the moment.

It was a few hours later when he was being awoken by insistent nudging; cracking open his eye he could see Apps shyly smiling at him, "Well good morning...or is it afternoon? Either way howdy there mah sweet apple."

"Ahm guessin' things got a little crazy last night, huh?" She motioned towards their current situation.

"Ya don't remember?"

"No, ah do; after all that cider alcohol doesn't affect me that much Ry. I just...when did everypony else join us?"

"Haha, I imagine the same time I lost mah shirt, though Pinks was with us originally. I'm surprised nopony else has woken up yet..."-he glanced about, magically floating his glasses over so he could see-"Hmmm...seems they've shifted a little; Rares and Flutters are pretty much on top of mah lower half now. At least that explains why I felt warmer."

"Yer taking this pretty darn well Apple Ryder; I half expected ya to be yer flustered self."

He laughed softly at her teasing, "Well, if it was me when I first got here, yeah but after all this time with y'all? Being close like this seems natural."

'Not to mention a stallion would have to be crazy to not want to have such relaxing contact with such pretty mares.'

"...ah think it's safe to say he's happy." Ryan snickered along with AppleJack until they heard some groaning, "Ah, the sleeping beauties awaken."

"Who could sleep darling with all that talking you're doing?" Rarity sighed, nuzzling Ryan's thigh, "Wait...how did...where are we?"

"You're currently nuzzling mah thigh Rares...not that I mind much, yer pretty warm." He smirked, enjoying teasing her, "I reckon ya'll felt lonely in the living room."

"....pretty much." Rainbow Dash groaned, trying to bury her head under Ryan's hand, "My head hurts so much."

'Heh, well it would seem not everypony can kiss the rainbow and rebound as well as us, eh Ryan?'

Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed as she recalled what she'd done after downing that shot before trying to worm into the bed to hide, "Oh man...I'm so embarrassed...and I'm sure AJ is just super mad at me."

"Ah wouldn't say that." AppleJack teased, reaching over and patting Rainbow's mane, "I like to think we just had a bit too much fun is all."

"Ugh...whatever it is I need something to eat so bad." Twilight groaned, rolling about before her head ended up laying over Ryan's.

"Uh...T-Sparks?"

Hearing only a grumble from her in reply, he smirked and reached up to tickle her belly; she giggled a bit before groaning again and rolling off of him. After that it was a slow but sure process as they all got out of bed to grab something to eat...save for poor Rarity who, as soon as she stood up, made a dash for the bathroom. Seeing as the others were in no state to help, Ryan made his way to the bathroom in time to help hold her mane back as she was face-first in the toilet bowl.

"....ooooh, such a gentleman." Rarity groaned, "This is why I don't drink...especially not crazy rainbow concoctions."

"Trust me Rares, mah stomach isn't doing much better either." He joked, getting her to smile slightly, "And I'm pretty sure rainbow juice is off mah list for a while too after last night. Haha."

"I'm still pretty though, aren't I darling?"-she blinked before going face-first in the bowl again-"....ugh."

"Haha, of course you are Rares; a very pretty mare at that. Any stallion would be lucky to have ya as his own."

"Ugh...flatterer." She remarked, smirking none-the-less, "I think something light is needed..."

"Indeed." Floating over a washcloth, he wet it and wiped her face for her, "Come on, let's get some breakfast in us. Perhaps some toast?"

After finding his shirt, noting it was covered in hoof-prints, and then grabbing a different shirt to put on, Ryan set about getting some light breakfast made for his friends: nothing too fancy, just some toast and scrambled eggs with some tea. Noting their moods had improved slightly with just some food, he set about enjoying his breakfast as well rather pleased that nopony seemed too awkward or hung up over last night's antics.

'Eh, perhaps what happens in Cloudsdale, stays in Cloudsdale.'

'I doubt that Dark, this isn't Las Pegasus by any stretch.' He laughed softly while sipping his tea.

"So Ryan, that birthday...it was totally awesome and fun and stuff." Rainbow Dash nuzzled up against him, "...even the part where we got hammered and did some embarrassing stuff."

"Haha, yer welcome Dashie; I can't take all the credit though, everypony here did their part to make it work."

"Ya know...maybe we should go give Ryan a tour of the Weather Factory seein' as we're here and all."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea gals."

"Why not?"

"If I may." Twilight interjected, looking up from her paper, "I believe Ryan is worried that things are too tense for his presence there given the altercation we had yesterday morning when we arrived here."

"T-Sparks nails it as always."-Ryan winked in her direction-"As much as I truly wish to see a factory that controls the freaking weather, my showing up there would cause more harm than necessary. Perhaps once all that weird business is cleared up and there wouldn't be any odd accusations thrown mah way we can come back but it's probably for the best we avoid it at the moment."

Twilight blushed at the praise before 'hmming' loudly after turning the page; floating the page over to the others they could see why she had made such a noise. The article showed a picture from the weather factory's snowflake room where half the containers were puddles of water; apparently, according to the details, the mysterious culprit had hit the weather factory sometime last night and sabotaged the refrigeration.

"Just further proof to avoid that place like the plague." Ryan huffed, "Although...I have to wonder who this ass is that keeps attacking there; it makes no sense to me. Yeah you're disrupting the weather, but why do something that would cause trouble for everypony including the culprit?"

The others shrugged at his question, the answer escaping them; even Twilight could only deduce that perhaps whoever was attacking had some type of vendetta against it.

"These reports are the same from what the officers told us."-she tapped at the page-"Tall, wings, pointy teeth, and strong enough to break things down."

Rainbow Dash groaned, burying her head in her hooves, "I don't really care about that to be honest, I just wish my head would stop hurting."

Seeing as everypony still felt under the weather, they all decided to just chill in the room for the most part; they did feel well enough, however, to accept a dinner invitation from Vinyl Scratch who felt pretty bad that the girls had all suffered pretty big backlash from their partying.

They were quick to remind her they had gone along with it of their own choice so it was alright; afterwards they retired early and caught up on their sleep. Early the next morning, they had checked out and were on their way home without any issue.

"Hyah!"

"Kyah!"

Ryan and Spike growled as they dashed at each other, the smaller of the two pulling more than his fair of fast moves to avoid Ryan's attacks; catching him off-guard he shot out two blasts of fire in his direction. Quickly spinning, Ryan batted the first away with his wings before side-stepping the other...and then widening his eyes when it pulled a u-turn and began chasing him.

"Hahaha! You finally got the homing shot down! Brilliant!" He smirked at his pupil's success before pulling out his sword and slashing the fireball in half, "...I've really gotta ask the Doctor just what kind of metal this is that it can flippin' cut fire in half!"

"Don't stop yet!"

Turning to face his student, he saw him charging yet again; with a smirk on his face, Ryan deftly dodged before whapping him on the head with the flat of his sword.

"Ow!" Spike grumbled, "That hurt! Although I imagine if you were serious it could've been worse."

"Exactly." He sighed, sheathing his sword and snapping his fingers, "Well then, I must say I'm quite impressed at yer progress little buddy."

"That makes two of us Ryan." Spike nodded energetically as he collected himself, "It's only been a few weeks but I'm already feeling less useless."

"Spike."-Ryan narrowed his eyes at him-"What have I told you about saying that? None of mah friends are useless."

"Okay, okay..." Spike laughed as Ryan tossed him some juice and took a seat next to him on the ground, "I know; just...that whole fight with Discord is still on mah mind sometimes."

"Tell me about it..."-he took a sip of his drink-"We were quite fortunate to do as well as we did."

"Oh yeah, you never did tell me how Rainbow Dash's birthday went."

"T-Sparks wouldn't tell you?"

Spike shook his head, "Not really...every time I ask she blushes and then suddenly has something to do."

'Heh, sounds like she's still a little shy about the nightclub incident.'

"What nightclub incident?"

Patting Spike's head, Ryan merely grinned, "When yer older I'll tell ya; suffice to say she thoroughly enjoyed her birthday party. I'm just glad it'll be quiet for a little while now; nothing against the holiday season but it's always so busy."

Having finished his juice, Spike took the moment to rummage through Ryan's bag to pull out a rather brilliant looking sapphire; holding it up to ask permission he grinned at Ryan's nod before happily munching on it, "Mmmm, but what do you mean?"-he took another bite-"It's not that busy...not till nearer to Hearth's Warming Eve anyway."

"Oh yeah! That's right."-Ryan chuckled-"Y'all don't have Thanksgiving or Black Friday ta deal with, do ya?"

"Are those human holidays?"

"Thanksgiving is...the country I lived in celebrated it. We mostly celebrated by being with family, having a turkey and, well, lots of food in general...it was basically the point most people knew Christmas was coming."-Ryan stretched, wincing as his back cracked-"It was sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas so those three months were quite heavy on the holiday blitz."

"Hmmm...those are the human versions of Nightmare Night and Hearth's Warming Eve right?"

"Eyup!"

Spike finished up the sapphire, licking his lips before glancing at the bag again; Ryan laughed, reaching over and digging through his bag again before he pulled out a smaller amethyst. Patting him on the head, he handed it to him with one condition, "No more; I can't spoil mah little brother too much after all."

"Aw, okay." Spike accepted the conditions before biting into it, "Mmmm, tangy!"

'Hahahaha, yer something else Spike; I sometimes forget you're a dragon until you go spewing flames at us.'

"I know...that used to bother me but I found out it's best to be what you are and, well."-he smiled-"I'm happy here being me. So then, what is Black Friday? It sounds kind of evil..."

"It is both the best and worst day ever to go shopping; humans would line up for hours at ungodly hours just to save money on that year's biggest items...and to get Christmas gifts early without spending too much money."

Watching Ryan's grand hand movements caused Spike to laugh, "That's crazy! So I suppose I should ask then...did you ever take part in it?"

To this Ryan let out a toothy grin and nodded, "Oh yes; I've had many a crazy Black Friday experience...but it was always fun. Some years it was with mah father..."

'...Ryan?'

Spike regarded his friend oddly, noticing his face faltered for a moment before he shook it off. One thing he knew Ryan always did his best to hide was how much hurt he truly felt knowing he'd never see or talk with his family ever again; in all honesty he didn't know how he did it seeing as it clearly was killing him inside.

"...mah father when I was younger; later on I went with friends. It was fun...we got some deals, had some laughs, ate some good food, listened to awesome music, told a lot of tales, and drove around at 3am in the morning getting a mighty haul."-he stared off into the distance, his eyes glazing over slightly-"Even after mah friends abandoned me, I still went out by mahself to get some deals and...and to try and recapture a little bit of that magic I felt when I was younger."

"Ryan..."

Ryan smiled when he felt Spike do his best to hug him, as it was he easily encircled the young dragon with his arm and hugged him close, "Thanks little bro...I try not to let those thoughts bother me but every so often something will drag them out. I'm just glad I have family here to lean on when that happens. Now come on...it's too cold to sit out here for this long and I think Dashie mentioned a snow storm today in about..."-it was then that the two saw snow starting to fall-"...now. Well then...I guess we sat here longer than I thought. Hold on tight little buddy."

Holding on to Spike, Ryan grabbed a hold of his bag before focusing and poofing into the library where Twilight jumped at their sudden appearance.

"Sorry T-Sparks! It's just the storm was starting and I didn't want little bro to get sick."-placing Spike down and patting his head, he tossed him an apple shaped ruby before waving-"Later y'all!"

Before Twilight could yell at him, and with another loud poof, Ryan landed just outside the farmhouse, scaring the beejeezus out of poor Granny Smith who'd been rocking on the recliner and enjoying the peaceful view, "Ugh...now I see why T-Sparks limits that herself; it takes a lot of concentration..."

"Dangnabbit sonny! Yer magic is gonna kill me one of these days!" Granny shouted, shaking her fist from her rocking chair.

"Sorry Granny; I misjudged the time and didn't want to get caught in the snowstorm." Ryan hastily apologized, walking up and giving her a hug, "It's good to be home though."

"Haha, yer always such a smooth talker."-she hugged him back-"I've got dinner cooking, something nice and warm for what'll be a cold night; yer favorite too if I rightly recall."

Ryan smirked, "Yer famous Apple Stew?"

"I did say yer favorite sonny, try to pay attention."

Laughing warmly at her teasing he helped Granny up and into the house as the storm began to really get going, the wind howling loudly as the storm raged on...

November was over in a flash, and soon December was upon the land of Equestria; this fact was easily noticeable by Ryan as he walked through Ponyville towards Rarity's Boutique. The market was decorated for the season, lights and giant figures placed up here and there accented by the tinsel twirled around every light post and entryway. All in all, it reminded him of a few memories from his youth, particularly ones about a certain theme park and it's over abundance of decorations; he paused a moment to reflect on that and wondered if his family would be gearing up for that right now. He took a deep breath to calm his mind and smiled, pushing those thoughts away as he continued on towards his goal. Along the way he waved to those he met, even slipping up and wishing them a 'Merry Christmas' before laughing at their confusion before hearing replies of 'Happy Hearth's Warming'. Realizing he'd have to make a better effort to correct his vernacular further, he finally came upon Rarity's Boutique and knocked on the door before walking in, "Rares? Where ya at?"

"In here darling; I'm having a bit of tea? Care to join me?"

Heading into her kitchen, he could see her sitting peacefully, a scarf wrapped around her neck elegantly, "Certainly."

Pouring himself a cup, he took a seat opposite of her before taking a sip and smiling.

"Does that goofy smile mean you approve dearie?"

"Haha, indeed." He sat his cup down before smirking, "So I'm here for a little advice...see, I have this question and I believe you are the pony to ask."

"Oh my...this wouldn't have anything to do with your special somepony would it?"

Ryan blushed, though he didn't know why, and simply nodded.

"Ah ha! I could see it a mile away you dear man but no need to be so shy, I'm more than happy to help you with anything you might need."-she took his hand in her hooves-"So then, what does my favorite human need help with? Could it possibly be....?"

"No, no...not yet anyway."-he chuckled at the look in her eyes-"You know I want to...but I think it's still too soon."

"Such a proper gentleman, wanting to wait until the timing is right. AppleJack is a lucky mare; so then I assume if it's not that it's a gift for Hearth's Warming Eve then?"

Ryan nodded, "Yes; I dare say I've been wracking mah brain for a few days now and I can't think of something to get her. You and the others are a little easier but...mah Apps is a bit harder to shop for."

"Tut tut! Do not fret Ryan, I will help you find something that she will absolutely love! I am a pony of many connections after all."-she stood up and walked with him into the living room-"So let me focus on this for you so you can turn your attention to more important things."

"Heh, I don't know what I'd do without ya Rares...is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"Oh you dear, dear man...I don't need you to do anything; I'm more than happy to help."-she paused, looking up at him with big eyes-"Although, darling...there is perhaps one thing that you might do for me. Just a teensy, tiny little favor to give me some alone time..."

'Oh dear Woona! That look again! Bail out man, bail out!'

"...ignoring my other half's stupidity, what is this favor m'lady?"

"Hee, hee, well..."

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS HUMAN TOBOGGAN RIDE!"

"How did I get talked into this?!" Ryan screamed as the three fillies rode him like a sled down the massive hill, "...oh wait, because I brought up that crazy magnet spell. Curse that man for making it so awesome! Curse him!"

'Look on the bright side Ryan, now you can pretend you're that Frosty character!'

"Righty-o then! Ahm the greatest belly-whopper in all Equestria! Zoom!" Ryan laughed madly as he slid down the hill, following the curves and such with ease while the CMC's on his back screamed and laughed in glee as they sped downwards over the snow.

The ponies at the park looked at the commotion curiously, blinking as they saw the peculiar sight of AppleBloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo riding on Ryan's back; some of the ponies laughed at the sight while others had to question just what a 'belly-whopper' was. Others though, were not as lucky, as Ryan had to play chicken with them and try to control their speed; sadly that part of the plan hadn't been fully thought out and so, as they reached the bottom, a slight bump sent our intrepid crusaders airborne.

"I'm flying!" Scootaloo shouted, grabbing tight to Ryan and her friends, "...it's gonna hurt when we land though isn't it?"

'Nope! Right Ryan?'

"Oh yeah! Frosty couldn't do this in his dreams!"-Ryan smirked, snapping his fingers as his wings unfurled-"Time to fall with style!"

"Scootaloo does that all the time!" Sweetie Belle teased, grunting and laughing when said friend jabbed her in the side, "I'm just kidding Scoots!"

"This is amazing big bro! It's so beautiful up here!" AppleBloom looking at the ground below with its twinkling lights and various ponies enjoying their winter time activities, "No wonder Pegasi always go on about how awesome flyin' is."

Feeling a slight current, Ryan did his best to ride it out as he circled the park and waved to those down below that paused to look up at them; eventually he aimed for a clearing of snow before sliding down and to a stop. While that was really fun he had to admit he was feeling pretty tired.

"Big bro? You okay?"

He looked over his shoulder and smirked, "Yeah AppleBloom...how about a break? Fancy some hot cocoa?"

"Dude, we're always game for chocolate big bro." Scootaloo laughed, getting off his back with the others so he could stand up, "That was really fun though."

"Yeah, thanks for doing that."

"Awwww."-he kneeled down and hugged the three of them tight-"Yer mah little sisters, I'd do anythin' for ya. Now come on...CUTIE MARK CRUSADER COCOA ENTHUSIASTS!"

Bon-Bon looked up towards her store's entrance as the little bell rang and smiled to see a favorite customer of hers come walking in along with three bundled up fillies. Ryan smiled and gave a wave as they walked in, the CMC's immediately dispersing to look over the candy leaving him to handle the other part of things.

"Foal-sitting today, are we? I'm sure you've got your hands full then."

"Well, what can I say B-squared? I'm good with kids." Ryan laughed at her good-natured teasing, "Besides, who says ahm not havin' fun either?"

"So then, what can get for you today? Something special in mind?"

"Four of your famous hot chocolates if you would."-he paused-"Oh...and, well, I guess whatever mah little sisters pick out since I did say I'd treat them to something."

"Ooooh, how generous and kind; very attractive."

Ryan snickered and blushed slightly, "Cute B-squared, cute."

"Heh, I try...can't let Lyra have all the fun now can we?"-she went about getting their drinks ready-"Are you having anything to treat yourself with?"

"Well....I hadn't thought about it but...if maybe...you might have..."

"The white chocolate fudge with brownie bits and peanut butter you seem so fond of?"-she giggled at his enthusiastic head nod-"I do...made a fresh batch last night. Although, what was that nickname you came up for it again?"

'Whitemare Moon.'

"Ah yes! That's it..."-she narrowed her eyes-"Now Dark! You know I don't like it when you do that! Hearing your voice unexpectedly scares the lights out of me."

'Sorry Bon-Bon...but I just love that nickname.'

"You would." Bon-Bon smirked as she brought over the four cocoas and then got Ryan his fudge, "How much this time?"

"Oh...just half a pound...have to watch what I eat after all. We can't all be like Pinkie Pie and eat an ungodly amount of sweets."

'Doesn't stop you from trying.'

"Hey!"

"Hahaha, he's got you there Ryan."

At that point the CMC's had returned, each of them holding a sugary treat they wanted up to Ryan for his approval; nodding towards them, they cheered before heading over to a table to get situated. Paying Bon-Bon and thanking her, he carried the cocoas over to the table before sitting down (or doing his best; as he said, pony chairs don't do well by humans) and relaxing. Blowing on his cocoa, he took a sip before twitching slightly, "Careful girls...it's quite hot."

He had to smile at their enthusiasm in trying to drink it despite his warning and the way they quickly recoiled and blew on their tongues; in a way it reminded him of when he and his siblings had been younger and...

"Phew, it's kind of warm in here huh?" Ryan remarked, pulling off his jacket and hanging it on the wall to distract himself.

AppleBloom glanced at the back of the jacket before frowning, "...it's not fair."

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, both of their mouths adorably packed with sweets, glanced at their friend with questioning looks. Ryan too seemed a bit puzzled by her statement, "What's not fair hon?"

"...that."-she pointed at his jacket-"Yer not even a pony and ya got yerself a cutie mark. Meanwhile we still can't get ours..."

"Aw, sweetie." He gently ruffled her mane before hugging her close, "Ah know that still bothers y'all but remember what I told ya?"

"I do!" Scootaloo butted in, her face covered in whip cream from her cocoa, "You told us that just because we haven't found our special talent doesn't mean we aren't already special."

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!"-Sweetie Belle nodded-"And that the things we are good at make us special too; not cutie mark getting special, but still unique."

"Good girls." Ryan ruffled their manes, smirking at the pleased noises they made, "So while I ahm sorry mah cutie mark seems to upset ya still, ya know it don't matter to me whether or not you've got yers yet. Yer always gonna be special in mah eyes."

AppleBloom sniffled before looking at Ryan with wide eyes and nodding; with that she buried his head in his chest while he hugged her tight. Not one to miss a group hug with their big brother, Scoots and Sweetie joined in as well not knowing that he too felt comfort from this moment that chased away his thoughts once more. It wasn't until they all heard a rather unanimous 'D'awwwwww' sound that they looked up and noticed everyone in Bon-Bon's shop (including Bon-Bon herself) had seen the tender moment and couldn't help but comment. His cheeks flushed thusly, Ryan released the CMC's from his hug before laughing softly, "So...what should we try once we're done here?"

"I'm not sure...what else can we try that's snow related?"

Ryan shrugged at Scoot's question before popping a piece of fudge into his mouth, "Well, how about we-"And then he shouted in pain, holding the right side of his jaw-"...ow...what in tar-ow!"

"Are you okay?"

He turned to Sweetie Belle with a grimace on his face and nodded, "Yeah it's just...ugh...my tooth...weird. Anyway..."-he composed himself, putting the rest of his treat away for later-"How about something simple? Like a snowman?"

"...we've made snowponies before, but never a snowman."-AppleBloom smirked, an idea forming in her head-"Hey big bro...how about ya model for us?"

AppleJack slowly awoke, seeing the moon still hanging in the sky and wondered just what in tarnation woke her up; glancing up at the human she was currently hugging, she could see Ryan's face was contorted and he seemed to fidgeting slightly in his sleep. Frowning at this, she gently shook him to try and bring him around, "Sugah...wake up."

Ryan's eyes shot wide open as he looked around for a few minutes catching his breath; eventually he felt AppleJack shift upwards some before looking him eye-to-eye.

"What happend Ry-Ry? A bad dream?"

"Hmmm...something like that...ow."-Ryan rubbed his jaw again-"Ugh...that and this tooth keeps buggin' me something fierce."

"You seemed a might distracted at dinner, but I figured ya were just tired after being around them little fillies all day in the snow."

He smirked, running his fingers through her mane, "Yeah...I think when I bit down on that fudge at B-squared's, a piece of that peanut crackle in it was in the wrong spot."-he wiped his forehead, surprised to see his hand come back wet-"Sweating? Weird...that dream must've been more tense than I thought."

Sensing his unease, AppleJack nuzzled his chest before softly kissing his neck, "Wanna talk about it darlin'?"

He thought on that question for a short while, staring out at the night sky through the window while continuing to run his hand through her mane; eventually he gave a sigh and nodded, "...it was...about mah family."

Apps noticed his hesitation and nuzzled him again. Seeing this as his cue to keep talking he did, "I was...dreaming about the holidays when I was younger."-he took a deep breath-"It started off nice, the usual stuff signifying the start of it all...though the fact it was snowing tipped me off to something being wrong. After that it all fell apart, I was suddenly my present self but everyone I cared about began slipping through my grasp, fading away from mah mind...almost like they melted away."

She watched as he glanced out the window again before hugging her tight and burying his head in her mane; eventually he lifted his head and gave her a small smile, "Sorry."

"Fer what?"

"Letting mah thoughts get the best of me like this."-he laughed softly-"I've done so well not focusing on that since ah got here but...it would figure the holidays would make it hit harder."

AppleJack shook her head, tenderly kissing him before shifting over and cuddling atop him, "Now ya listen to me Apple Ryder: yer mah stallion and that means ya can share anythin' with me if'n ya want. I ain't gonna judge and I certainly ain't gonna tell ya yer a bother when your heart is aching. Got it bucko?"

"Hahaha."-he wrapped his arms around her tightly-"Ah gotcha; now then...how's about we try that sleep thing again?"

"Sounds like a plan sugah."

The next morning came and Ryan, groaning at the ache he felt in his mouth, knew what had to be done but to say he felt a tad uneasy would be underselling it. Never the less, he was walking with AppleJack into town (all the while holding his jaw) before they came to a stop at a shop that had a small sign hanging from it. Glancing at the hourglass icon on it, he heaved a mighty sigh and pushed the door open to find the office strangely empty.

'Well, at least this means it'll be quick right?'

"...I guess that's one way to look at it Dark." Ryan huffed, but seeing as the ache in his jaw wasn't going away on its own he tapped the little bell on the desk. Hearing the sound of somepony tripping over something, he saw a light blue mare come sauntering out before pausing as she met Ryan's eyes.

"So..."-he gulped-"Howdy Dr. Colgate...I uh...I've got a tooth problem I think so ah was wondering if..."

"If?" Colgate smirked as she walked over towards him, "Yes?"

"If you could...take a look?"

"Of course! Of course! Anything for Ponyville's resident human."-she quickly grabbed Ryan's hand with her magic and began leading him to the back-"You're so lucky today...I don't have any scheduled appointments so we've got all the time in the world. Now then...let's have a look at those fangs of yours."

'...I've got that strange feeling that I figure flies have once they've flown into a spiderweb.'

"Ah, you two are just over-reactin'!" AppleJack laughed, "I'll be back later after ah run some errands okay? You take good care of him Colgate!"

Colgate poked her head out of the office door and grinned at AppleJack, "Oh, don't worry; I've been looking forward to this far too much to let harm come to him."

"You know...ah, ah think I might've changed mah mind."-he tried to get out of the chair but found he couldn't-"Oh my..."

With that the door closed, leaving AppleJack to shake her head as she left to take care of business.

Meanwhile, Ryan was sitting in the chair of his own accord now...though that didn't make him any less nervous; it wasn't the dentist itself that bothered him, oh no. Ryan had been to the dentist many times in his life and never found the experience to be too bothersome; while some parts of it had hurt...and having his wisdom teeth removed had been a very annoying experience, he usually took it all in stride. There was a difference though: in those cases, it had been with human dentists working on a human patient. Looking at Colgate who was humming to herself happily he thought back to the first time he had met her. It had been in the marketplace while shopping with AppleBloom when she sprinted over and just stared at his face...or more specifically his teeth. After apologizing for being so rude about it, she mentioned that she found the fact that he was a carnivore (omnivore she later corrected after prying open his mouth and seeing the flat molars as well) was just fascinating seeing as she never got to work on canines before. Well that whole encounter left him hoping he'd never need anything serious done since she seemed to be a bit crazy much like Lyra yet, whereas Lyra's curiosity could be sated with words and just holding his hands, Colgate's would most likely not be until she was hoof-deep in his mouth.

And yet here he was, sitting in the chair, his jaw aching something fierce and knowing that the only way to find out why was to let this pony have her way with his teeth.

"I can't tell you how happy I am to finally have you in my chair Ryan."-she pulled on her mask before carrying over a few tools she needed-"I've been wanting to get a good look at that mouth of yours ever since that day."

'Yeah...totally feeling like the fly now.'

"...you know, that should totally freak me out more but I'm far too excited to let...Dark was it?"

'...yes?'

"Ah! So the rumors are true! But yes, I'm far too excited to let your disembodied talking freak me out. Now then..."-she lifted up a pick and light-"Say 'ah!'"

Opening his mouth as wide as he could, he could see her eyes light up in delight as she felt about inside his mouth with the pick cleaning this and that.

"Hmmm...you seem to take good care of your teeth...though I don't see the third row of molars you should have. Looks like one or two cavities as well, have to fill those..."-she prattled on-"Your canines seem so exotic compared to what I normally see, even if they are much smaller than most carnivores in our world."

"Uhm-ni-ver!"

"Oh right, sorry; Omnivore." She teased, before watching as he jumped when she touched a particular tooth, "Oh my...it would seem we've stumbled upon the culprit. Yes?"

Watching as he flinched again, she nodded before setting down the pick and rummaging about for what she would need to fix his problems...which brought a question to his mind, "Colgate?"

"Yes Ryan?"-she continued her work without turning around-"What's on your mind?"

"How...how do you know about human dental traits? Like the wisdom teeth?"

"Wisdom teeth? Oh! You mean the third molars? Oh, well, that's an easy one. After you got all banged up being the hero."-she giggled at this-"Princess Luna brought by some medical books that detailed human anatomy, specifically for your skeletal system and jaw."

"Oh...I suppose that means then mah teeth match up with an Equestrian human's..."-he paused-"Well, save for the fact I don't have Wisdom teeth."

'Well, to be honest, because our diet was a little more involved with vegetation and such those third molars never evolved into a problem, unlike in your world.'

"So fascinating...now then...I have some icky business to deal with involving a tooth and those pesky cavities so what scent would you like?"

Ryan gulped, not liking the words behind that, "Scent?"

"Yes! To help with the knockout gas."

"...you make that sound so normal. I'm guessing that tooth is screwed up something bad huh?" Ryan winced again as he felt another jolt of pain from it, "...apple?"

"Hey...relax. I am a professional first and foremost." Her smile seemed to ease him a bit as she got everything ready, propping his jaw open and placing something over his nose, "Sorry it doesn't fit too well, but I'll have to get some better equipment meant for humans since I know you'll just be a wonderful regular of mine right?"

Seeing as his speech would only come out as gobbledy-gook with his mouth propped open, he lightly nodded his head before feeling a little sleepy; his eyelids began to grow heavy as he stared at the relaxing smile Colgate gave him.

"Right! Just relax...now then."-lifting up a drill, she pulled her mask back on-"Let's have some fun."

And just like that he was terrified all over again before sleep overcame him, leaving him defenseless in the dentist chair against Colgate's curiosity.

AppleJack wandered into the dentist office a few hours later, a bit upset her errands took longer than she reckoned; seeing as Ryan wasn't waiting in the front office she gave a sigh of relief that she hadn't been gone too long. After sitting for about ten minutes, she saw Colgate lead Ryan out the door by the hand and was puzzled at how oddly he was walking; getting up, she trotted over to the two before seeing Ryan smiling goofily at her.

"Hey there Appsy-wapsy-woo!" He giggled, "I feel sooooooo chill right now."

"Uhm...what's wrong with him? What did ya do to Apple Ryder?"

'She took us on a magical journey, to land of unicorns...pink, fluffy ones...dancing on rainbows.'

"Ooookay, so both Ry and Dark are a bit lost to the world."-she shook her head-"I'm guessin' you had to put him under?"

Colgate nodded before smirking at Ryan, "Yes...his tooth had chipped and exposed the nerve so I had to cap it after smoothing it down; then while I was in there I filled two cavities he had. Other than that I can tell he's very thorough with his brushing. He's a lot better than most ponies I've seen. Just...make sure he lays off anything hard for two days to let it set and no liquids for four hours so his fillings will dry."

"Ya got that Apple Ryder?"

"Pink fluffy unicorns, dancing on rainbows..." Ryan was a bit lost to the conversation, hopping in place while singing the same words over and over again. Sighing, Apps paid Colgate before lassoing a rope around his waist and leading him along.

"Bye Colgate~ Thanks for not doing anything inappropriate to me while I was passed out." Ryan waved, "You can peek at mah teeth any day."

'Yeah she can! Woooooooooo!'

With a sharp tug of the rope, Ryan shuffled along leaving a slightly blushing Colgate behind, "I dare say there goes one of the craziest patients I've ever had..."

AppleJack meanwhile was having her hands full trying to keep Ryan from getting into any kind of situations seeing as he wasn't completely there at the moment; she got her fair share of looks from her fellow ponies at him being dragged along by her lasso to which she just sheepishly laughed and smiled. Ryan simply waved with a big grin and seemed completely unaware at how ridiculous (...okay, more ridiculous) he was acting; some ponies snickered and waved back, while others had to wonder what the heck had happened to him. Mercifully, they got to the outskirts of town without any major hassle though she noted Ryan seemed to be dragging his feet a bit, "Darlin' ya okay back there?"

"I am the most excellent!" He remarked, "...although I sense the sleep demon is soon to be upon me."

'I'm not doing anything! Oh...you meant a metaphorical one....oooooooooooooooh!'

Apps sighed, thankful to see the farmhouse come into view, "I'm puttin' ya right to bed Apple Ryder...I think ya need to sleep this particular case of the sillies off."

He merely nodded quite a bit as she helped guide him upstairs (much to the curious looks of Granny and Big Mac) to their room before untying the rope and nudging him towards the bed; falling into it face-first he rolled over and grabbed hold of Apps, "Snuggle with me mah sweet equine?"

Unable to resist the dopey, pleading smile on his face she laughed and tossed her hat aside before crawling in with him; getting settled, he curled up around her, nuzzling her neck and closing his eyes. AppleJack let a smile drift across her features as she felt him kissing her softly over and over until finally he was out like a light. She too would've joined him soon had she not felt something wet hit her hair, "...Ryan?"

Shifting as best she could to look, she saw tears slowly falling down his eyes and heard him whispering something almost too faint for her to hear; only once she strained did she make out what he seemed to be mumbling in his sleep: "...I'm so sorry...so...sorry..."

This confused AppleJack, making her wonder just what he was dreaming about this time, but rather than wake him like the night prior she simply settled in against him to give him some comfort as he napped.

'Ah don't know what's eating him now. I can hope gettin' to spend time with all of us for the holidays helps chase away whatever's eatin' mah Ry-Ry...ah hate seein' him like this after all.'

A few hours later, Ryan groaned as he slowly awoke. His throat felt quite parched as he opened his eyes to see he was in bed with Apps; ignoring the dull ache he felt from where his gums were no doubt numbed, he tried to get a grip on what had happened and what was just part of his dreams.

'...not to make ya feel like a total dork, but that whole singing bit? That was not a dream.'

He groaned, realizing how foolish he must've looked in front of Colgate and AppleJack...and whoever else saw him as she led him back home; his groan doubled when he realized the teasing he was gonna get from the townsfolk at that image.

"...ya awake Ry-Ry?"

"Eyup...I did some silly stuff didn't I?"

"That's fer sure...but..."-she paused, not sure if she should mention his dreaming-"Anyway sugah, how do ya feel?"

"Like I got ran over by the Friendship Express. Whatever that stuff was Colgate used to knock me out must've been pretty potent." He sighed, rolling over and staring at the ceiling, "Other than that, mah mouth isn't doing too bad."

"That's good to hear. So then...I forgot to tell ya but yesterday we got an invite from the Princesses."

His ears perked up at this, and so did his smile, "Cellie and Lunes? They throwing a shindig?"

She giggled, "I figured that'd raise yer spirits; they're having some kind of winter party at the castle and invited all of us to come. Ah know we'll be back there later in the month for the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant but ah know how much ya like seeing that gal of yers Dark."

'....huh? Shhhhhhhhh...my head feels like someone was using it to store turnips.' Dark groaned, letting out what sounded like a shifting noise, 'Ugh...although seeing Woona would be a nice treat.'

Ryan merely blinked in confusion, "I swear, it felt as if he was rolling around on a bed in mah head. Weird...anyway sure, sounds good."-he was about to continue his thoughts till he felt and saw his stomach grumble-"...well, I'm apparently quite hungry."

AppleJack giggled before poking his stomach, "Apparently; but no solid foods for two days. Doctor's orders!"

"Ugh...very well, if I must eat everything through a straw for two days then so be it! Get the blender!"

A week passed and things were back to normal as Spike and Twilight waited for the others to show up at her house; pacing slightly she noted they weren't late but were dangerously close to it.

"Twilight, you need to relax; that's the whole point of the holidays isn't it? To relax? Enjoy yourself? Have fun?"

She looked at Spike with an unamused expression, "Yes, yes...but this is the first time we'll be trying such a long-distance feat with so many ponies."

"...and a dragon..."

"And a dragon..."

"And a human too."

"Yes Spike! I get it!" She huffed before calming herself, "I know Ryan managed to pull off teleporting to Canterlot with AppleJack, but two ponies is a lot less than eight."

Spike shrugged, sitting down on his bag and munching on a diamond, "You just need to relax; you two will pull it off no problem. That way we have much more time to enjoy ourselves there. Oh! I bet the decorations are just amazing by now!"

At that moment there was a knock at the door; opening it up Twilight saw her friends come walking in, dressed up in various articles of clothing to keep the cold at bay. Walking in last was Ryan, who closed the door behind them and smirked, "So then...eight for the Rylight Express train to Canterlot?"

"...he's been waiting ta say that since he woke up this morning." AppleJack groaned, shaking her head, "Oh well, can't fault him fer having fun."

"I know! That's like if everypony did that to me! Can you imagine how crazy that would be, trying to stop me from having fun?!" Pinkie gasped, leaping about before landing on Ryan's shoulders, "It'd be like keeping Rainbow Dash from flying, or Rarity from sewing, or Ryan from making puns and using those fingers to scratch that one spot behind your ears that's just so hard to reach but feels so good when he does it for you!"

'Hahaha...oh this is going to be quite fun isn't it?'

"Pinkie, darling, I think one of those things isn't quite like the others." Rarity remarked, bouncing her hair to one side, "Although I'm pleased that the scarf I made you looks so stunning; I bet the Princess will just love it."

Ryan glanced down at the midnight blue scarf he wore, specifically at how the ends were designed and couldn't help but laugh; while his clothing was a lighter color (a wonderful mixture of whites, blues, and yellows accented with pinks and mint green that seemed awfully familiar), his scarf seemed to mesh with it rather than clash. Taking the moment to lift Pinkie off his shoulder (and scratch behind her ears in that one spot she mentioned) he took a deep breath and prepared himself, "So then, if we're all set, shall we T-Sparks? I'm rather curious to see how well this works."

Twilight nodded before getting in a circle with the others, "Okay everypony; just hold in place and let Ryan and I do the heavy lifting....so to speak."

Doing his best to harmonize his magic with Twilight's, he soon felt the unmistakable pressure of the two auras combining before surrounding his friends and their bags while they focused on the location they were aiming for. As they prepared to poof away, Dark had one last thought before it happened, 'Tia...Tia does know we're coming this way, right?'

Twilight's eyes went wide moments before the spell went off and they were whisked away, the library falling silent as the group headed towards Canterlot...

"Oh yes...you're finally all mine." Celestia regarded her prize with the greatest of smiles as she examined it, "Oh yes...I cannot wait to get the rest of you inside me."

Licking her lips, she was mere inches away from claiming what was hers before she heard what she swore was a screaming noise of some kind; as it was there was a sudden flash which caused her to jump and freeze in place. Blinking slowly, she saw the forms of her favorite student and her friends as well as her favorite human fall down into a pile in front of her throne. It didn't take long for them to recover from the rough landing and slowly turn their glances towards Celestia.

'...is that...cake?'

"And why is there icing on...and on yer...and...."-Ryan gulped, slowly standing up and motioning for his friends to do the same as he grabbed his bag-"And.....yeah..."

The others, too speechless to say anything, merely walked backwards with Ryan until they exited the throne room and closed the door behind them; the guards standing there raised an eyebrow at their appearance but shrugged it off when they saw the startled look in their eyes.

"Don't ask Swift Cut...don't...ask." Ryan quietly pleaded, "Uhm...so...."

"I'm not sure I wish to know at this point sir." Swift Cut shrugged, "Seeing as you dropped in, I assume you're here for the party later tonight?"

"That would be right." Twilight noted, "Could you...possibly show us to our rooms?"

"Very well; follow me everypony."

A short while later after they were settled in, Luna had shown up to let them know her sister wished to see them in the throne room; glancing at each other they could only hope things were not too terribly awkward as they filed out...with Ryan in the front much to his dismay.

"And why, might I ask, am I the one in the front?" He remarked, glancing over his shoulder at the others.

"Ta be the shield."

"Because you're awesome like that?"

"It's fun watching you get all flustered!"

"I'm her valuable student, so...you have to protect me!"

"It wouldn't be becoming if a gentleman such as yourself didn't try his all to protect his ladies."

'...since when did we acquire a harem Ryan?'

"We didn't Dark!" Ryan shouted, feeling his cheeks heat up at such a thought, "And I'll assume Flutters is too nervous to add her two cents."-he sighed and turned to Luna-"Oh a scale of 'okay' to 'we're screwed'....how irritated did Cellie seem?"

Luna paused for a moment and narrowed her eyes, "My sister takes her cake very seriously."

'Well...that's not reassuring Woona.'

"I am sorry my dear Darkness...as well as my friends."-she stopped as they reached the throne room-"Should you not come back I must say I love your scarf; while I look a little odd stretched out like that, it's very cute."

"Thank you princess." Rarity remarked, "Those words will give us some resolve."-she began pushing Ryan into the room-"Now then dearie, do your job as a gentlecolt and protect your ladies."

They were silent as they walked in, Celestia's face unreadable as they took their place in front of them; a tense feeling hung in the air as the silence continued on until, mercifully, Celestia uttered three words, "Nopony. Must. Know."

"Yes Princess!" They all shouted in unison, "We will keep this secret to the grave!"

"Excellent!" Celestia replied, smiling and her chipper self again, "I must say I'm surprised to see you dropping in so suddenly. No doubt my favorite student trying another one of her experiments?"

Twilight blushed and simply nodded her head, "Well, I thought it would be good to see how well we could make our magic mesh...it seemed to work well enough."

'...until somepony lost her focus. Cough, cough...Twily.'

Celestia giggled softly much to Twilight's dismay before collecting herself and smiling at the group, "Well then, it pleases me to see you all getting along so well. I must admit, I was a bit concerned when Luna informed me of a disturbance she felt last month regarding Darkness."

'...oh. She must've noted the...pastry incident.'

"Pastry Incident?"-Celestia smirked-"So then I was right in assuming my little ponies and human were up to mischief then?"

"Somethin' like that yer majesty." AppleJack admitted, smirking at the memory, "Needless to say, ah don't think we'll be forgettin' that birthday party anytime soon."

"I know I won't! Ryan was all zoom and whoosh and we were all "Get back here!" and then the candy and the giant pies and that huge cannon of his! And then icing was everywhere and then he went flying into the sky but came crashing down and we were all "Yeah! We got him!" and then he was stuck and then we had our delicious retribution and then it was snuggle time and...mmmfh!"

Ryan put a hand over her mouth after grabbing her, "Ah think that's enough Pinks; we don't wish to bore Cellie with the details after all."

Celestia raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Snuggle time?"

Ryan gasped and felt his cheeks flush as he couldn't find his voice...but Dark had no problem expanding upon that question.

'Ah yes sweet Tia...you recall snuggle time. Remember? Those cold evenings when it was just the three of us; you, me, and dear Woona curled up in front of the fireplace as we talked about the silliest of things, enjoying a delicious beverage, and then falling asleep together in the most delightful puddle of happiness.' He sighed wistfully, 'I still remember wondering how it was your fur was so soft...and those manes, like the finest silk plucked from a galactic spiderweb. Never was I more relaxed than with you and my sweet Woona.'

Now it was Celestia's turn to blush slightly, having not thought on those pleasant nights from so long ago in quite some time, "It would seem that the years had made me forget those pleasant memories...but I see they still warm my heart all the same. Hmm...as I recall, did Discord not join us on some occasions so that we might truly get into some fun?"

At that statement, the jaws of everypony in the room pretty much dropped to the floor; too stunned to reply, the looks they gave Celestia pretty much spoke their question quite loud: WHAT?

'With all that has happened, I'd completely forgotten about that.'-Dark sadly 'hmmmed'-'Yes, not too long after he first showed up he seemed to take quite an interest in the three of us...I never did ask why. It never struck me as something to think on....'

"Yes...sadly what followed ruined what could have been many enjoyable years."-Celestia paused, before figuring she had to clarify a few things at the puzzled stares she was getting-"My little ponies and human, I sense you are puzzled by our words."

"Just a bit princess."

"Twilight's right...you were friends with Discord?" Rainbow Dash shouted, completely flabbergasted by such a fact.

"...it is true."

All those there turned to see Luna come walking in, a sad smile on her face as she took a place next to her sister.

'Woona...but yes my friends. When Discord first arrived he was not the being that we have faced many times now; he was chaotic, yes, and liked playing pranks and stuff as well as making the laws of physics his bitch but he never did anything to truly harm anyone or anypony.'

"So then what happened your majesties?" Rarity hesitantly asked, wondering if perhaps it was too personal to answer.

Dark, Celestia, and Luna were silent for a few moments, unsure of exactly how to answer that question; sensing they were struggling for an answer Dark finally spoke up, 'We aren't sure Rarity. All we know is that one day, when he returned from another one of his excursions beyond the castle limits, he was a different person...draconequus...you get what I mean.'

"Darkness..."

'I have to tell them Woona...it seemed the fully fun-loving Discord we called friend was gone. He was angry, upset about...what I don't think I'll ever fully know. His chaotic and confusing way of talking was even less decipherable and after getting into a heated argument with all of us he flew away in anger.'

Ryan could sense his friend was in quite a bit of agony, "Dark..."

'Heh, it's okay Ryan...I'm almost done after all.' Dark laughed softly, touched by his concern, 'Anyway, we didn't hear much about him for about a year...and then it began.'

"His reign of chaos and tyranny?"

"Yes Twilight Sparkle, the one that with Dark's help we were able to put a stop to but at the cost of his life." Celestia quietly replied, "I had forgotten all about such memories for so long..."

'Heh...it's the holiday season Tia; it tends to bring up buried memories whether we want it to or not.'

Ryan mumbled, a slight frown on his face, "...don't I know that one."

"...what was that Ryan?"

"Nothing...nothing ladies." Ryan quickly added, waving his hand to dismiss it, "So then that fight was even more personal than I thought...but...I suppose that syncs up with some things he said during the whole fight with him."

"U-uhm...what are you talking about?"-Fluttershy hovered over towards him-"I-I mean...what did he say?"

"He made a lot of remarks that made it clear he was not a fan of humans in the least."-Ryan scratched his head and sighed-"At the time I thought it was just because Dark gave him what for but now...I'm not so sure."

Sensing the mood was in need of boosting, Luna cleared her throat and put on a smile, "On to better things, the preparations for the party tonight are coming together well."

"Oh, so that's where ya went Princess."

"Please AppleJack, you may call me Luna."

"Alrighty then P...Luna. Is there anythin' we can help out with?"

Luna lifted a hoof and shook it back and forth, "No, no; you are guests after all. I merely ask that you all take the time to enjoy yourselves until the party."

"Mmmphghshp!"

Blinking, Ryan realized he was still holding his hand over Pinkie's mouth and relinquished his hold on her. With a sheepish laugh he rubbed the back of his neck and apologized, "Sorry Pinks...with the moment being so serious I kind of forgot I had ya captive."

"Awww, that's alright Rysy-Wysy...you'll just owe me a special favor."-she giggled and narrowed her eyes-"I think you know the one I'm talking about."

Slowly nodding his head, he grinned and then laughed at the other's confusion; bidding the Princesses farewell they retired back to their rooms to unwind a little and get ready for the party later that evening.

Ryan was currently getting dressed, pulling on quite the snappy number Rarity had made some time ago but he hadn't an occasion to wear it until now. AppleJack walked over and looked him up or down as he pulled on his shoes and gave an approving nod, "Yer looking rather stunning Ry-Ry."

Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he had to agree: the black slacks he was wearing, accented by a winding curve of reds and greens that traced up the sides and ended in apple shapes on the back pockets matched nicely with the orange button-up shirt he had on. Adding in jeweled cufflinks that matched Apps' cutie mark just completed the ensemble...almost anyway.

Walking over to their bag, he pulled out a dress jacket that, while not as badass looking as his leather one, still looked rather sharp with his cutie mark prominently displayed on the back.

"Heh, I reckon ya can't take the awesome out of the country boy just by removing a jacket."

'...that made absolutely no sense AppleJack.' Dark laughed as Ryan studied himself in the mirror, 'But I must say...we are looking sharp!'

"Quite mah mental companion; Rares knows what looks good on someone."-he glanced over to the dress Applejack was wearing, a rather nice cowgirl motif but more dressy-"And somepony; yer looking hot to trot mah sweet apple."

AppleJack simply blushed and looked at the floor, "Ya sure it ain't too fru-fru lookin'?"

"Not one bit." He remarked, "Ah dear say I've got the best date to this little shindig."

Feeling her nudge him in the side he got the picture, letting up his teasing and took one last look in the mirror. Hearing the door knock, they both gave a 'come in' and saw Rarity walking in with the others, "Darlings, I just came by to make sure that...!"

In the moment it took Ryan to blink Rarity was upon him, circling and looking over her handiwork; hearing her make a few noises and seeing nods he could only guess that she was happy with how his outfit had turned out.

"Oh it's just simply wonderful! I wasn't sure that your cutie mark would look well with the whole ensemble but it seems to mesh just marvelously!"

"...uh, Rarity? You were sayin' something? About being ready?"

Rarity blinked, laughing sheepishly as she regained her composure, "Oh yes! Right, well...the others are all ready and waiting; I don't know what it is about you two but you're always dallying."

'Heh, I find that simply adds an air of mystery to our character m'lady.'

Rarity smirked, "Always such a charmer Darkness...now come on you two! We can't be late! Not for a party from the Princesses!"

Giving a quick nod, they filed out into the hallway where they met the others; looking over their dresses Ryan let out a whistle, "Wow. Y'all are looking awesome."

"Ya think so?" Rainbow Dash giggled, her wings fluttering slightly, "I normally don't do the girly-girly thing but...if you think I look good Ryan I might have to try this more often."

'Doesn't take much to figure out what she's thinking.'

"Dark!"

"Hahaha, you have to admit he has a point Rainbow Dash." Twilight remarked, "Now then, seeing as the two of you have finally joined us...shall we meet the Princesses?"

"...I don't see why everypony's making such a big deal out of this." Spike rolled his eyes, "It's just a party; I mean, yes, it's being thrown by Princess Celestia and Luna but...it's probably going to be boring and girly like the Gala was."

"...Gala?" Ryan asked, smirking as he lifted Spike up on to his shoulders, "And hey, lighten up little buddy; I doubt it'll be as stuffy as yer making it out to be."

"Well..."-Spike shrugged and tried to give Ryan a noogie-"I suppose if you're there, that is quite a difference from last time."

"See? Exactly! Now then ladies..."-he held his arms out to his side and grinned-"Shall we?"

Author's Note

Okay, so a day behind posting this but it's up now! Woooo! It's a little feelsie here and there but that's mostly because the holidays do tend to bring up memories one doesn't necessarily think about otherwise....at least from mah experiences anyway.
Plenty of goofiness to offset it though; the next chapter should prove interesting to see how I pull off what I wish to. Might take me an extra day or two to do so but I should have it up on time by next week...unless yer from further in the future, then it's probably already up along with the Pony Tails one-shot I'm working on the same time at the same time as this harvest and the next one.
If so.....

WELCOME TO THE WOOOOOOORLD OF TOMORROW! :pinkiehappy:

15th Harvest

Despite the slightly chilly weather, the party atmosphere was still rather nice as ponies from Canterlot and beyond socialized in the garden. Brightly colored, ornate decorations were hung all about accenting the natural splendor it already possessed as Celestia and Luna mingled with them all. Even the arrival of Ryan, flanked on either side by his friends (and Spike still on his shoulders) seemed to do little to disrupt the talking; after only a moment's pause to glance at them, the (from what he could tell, mostly posh) ponies went back to their own discussions and such.

"Hmmmm...lots of fancy looking ponies here." Ryan noted, letting Spike down so he could wander about, "Stay out of trouble little bro."

"Sheesh...I'm not a little kid..."-he paused and rolled his eyes-"Okay, I am but you know what I mean."

And with that he was off as were most of his friends to go enjoy themselves, as it was he stuck with AppleJack as they looked over the garden and the decorations that had been set up. One in particular caught Dark's attention, 'My goodness...Woona looks spectacular in ice.'

Curious as to what he was talking about, Ryan glanced at the table and saw a massive sculpture of ice that depicted the two Princesses in a pattern he'd seen many times since he'd gotten here: the two in a circle, following one another much like the moon follows the sun.

'Or the sun follows the moon.'

"Ah reckon you would say it that way, with how crazy ya are over our Princess of the night."

'Well, I can't admit I didn't enjoy a few late night astronomy sessions with her...oh yes, we certainly saw stars by the time morning rolled around.'

Ryan and AppleJack stared at one another, eyebrows raised as they both shared the same thought: somewhere in there was innuendo about him and Luna, but for the life of them they weren't quite sure where it was. Then they figured it was probably best they didn't know about that and went about their business as if Dark hadn't said a thing.

'...y'all aren't any fun when you don't react to what I say.'

"Nah. We're just gettin' better at tuning it out there Darky."

Ryan snickered at that remark and went about staring over the balcony at the town below; if he really tried he could even make out Ponyville in the distance. It looked almost magical from here, the snow covering the houses that were lit up here and there. With the various colors coming from the decorations set up around town it nearly looked like something one would find in an ornament or snow globe. All in all it reminded him of just how quaint and peaceful this world was and he lost himself in his thoughts for a bit; it wasn't until he felt AppleJack lean against him that he broke from his thinking.

"Ya okay there Ry-Ry?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay hon."-he smiled and put an arm around her-"Just thinking about how pretty our home looks from here."

AppleJack scooted over to glance and smiled as well, "It sure does look cozy and such doesn't it?"

"Quite...but only with y'all does it feel like home. Otherwise it'd simply be another town."

"Awwww, that was cute Apple Ryder."

Ryan coughed, hoping to the heavens above he wasn't blushing as he excused himself to get something to drink.

'Such a smooth-talker...'

"Shut up Dark...I can't help it if the ladies just find me so adorable."

The two quietly enjoyed the party atmosphere, listening to Octavia playing with her band (though idly he mused she would say it was "her orchestra") and quietly dancing with one another. It wasn't until they had finished that he felt a hoof tap him and heard a familiar voice, "I say, it is you."

Turning around, Ryan saw a familiar looking posh pony; he studied him for a moment before it dawned on him who this way, "Ah, Mister Fancy Pants."

"Please now, call me Fancy. I must say it's quite nice to get to talk to you again when you aren't being chased by a legion of ponies."

He gave a hearty laugh, "Quite; I reckon that's not a possibility at this party though."

"I can hope so old chap; I must say you have made Rarity quite popular. I'm willing to bet everypony knows her name now..."-he grinned and nudged Ryan-"And you too I imagine."

"Eh."-Ryan shrugged-"It comes with the territory I suppose."

"Quite right! But pardon my rudeness, I must say I've ignored the charming mare you're with."

Ryan pointed to Apps with a grin, "This here is mah marefriend, AppleJack. Ya might recognize her from a few photo shoots..."

"I say! I do." Fancy Pants took her hoof and kissed it lightly, "I'm always a big fan of the apples your farm produces; the best in Equestria I say!"

"Well shucks, that's a mighty fine compliment."

"I am a pony of quality, so you can be assured that if it passes my test it is indeed something remarkable." Fancy Pants paused for a moment before smiling, "Did I hear you correctly? About her being your marefriend?"

Ryan blushed and gave a nod, "Indeed you did."

"Ah, I see, I see."-he looked at Ryan's attire and smiled wider-"You must certainly love her so given that your outfit practically screams that dear boy."

"Well..."

"Haha, young love; it's such a wonderful thing. I wish you two the best! Now then, though, I have others to speak too."

"Of course, of course."-he took Fancy's offered hoof and shook-"Good to see you again...with less trouble as well."

Fancy Pants let out a hearty laugh, "Oh you are quite humorous as well. Till later, I look forward to seeing what you and Rarity do next old boy. Oh...and the two of you should join us on the yacht sometime."

"Well, I'll think about it Fancy; nothing against you but stuff like that doesn't interest me all that much."

"Ah, so it is true; you are very laid back despite reportedly being in the upper class."-Fancy Pants nodded-"That should serve you well. And think nothing of it dear boy, it is up to you. Farewell."

"What in tarnation was he going on about?"

Ryan turned to his puzzled gal, "Well, remember how T-Sparks and I have been working on trying to replicate technology from mah world in this one?"

"Sure ah do! Half of the time it's explodin' or going up in smoke."

"The more complicated things, but yes."-he laughed at how accurate her description had been-"Well, the more simpler things that I know of have been much more easier to replicate and, well, when you own a few choice patents on things that help improve pony life it's kind of hard to avoid getting Bits. Granted, not everything is approved by Cellie, but the few things that she has have certainly bankrolled a lot of experimentation with T-Sparks. I just don't talk about it because I figure it's not too big a deal."

"That sounds like somethin' ya'd say Ry-Ry. Although..."-she leaned in and whispered-"Though, just between you and me...how much have you and Twilight brought in?"

"Enough that Sweet Apple Acres and all mah friends will be well looked out for as long as I stay vigilant."

AppleJack frowned, "Ah know that's really sweet of ya Ry but I kind of was lookin' fer a number."

He eyed her curiously, "Are ya sure about that?"

"Do I look sure?"

"Yeah, ya kinda do."-he snickered-"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell ya...but...don't tell anypony else would ya? I...I know mah friends wouldn't care, and neither would our family, but I'd rather them not get caught up in it ya know?"

"Apple Ryder..."-Apps hopped up to hug him-"Always looking out fer others like that...heh, of course I'll keep it a secret."

"Pinkie Pie swear?"

"Someone said my name!" They heard an energetic shout from somewhere else in the garden, followed by somepony shouting about a lunatic juggling cupcakes.

"...that Pinks, what a pony! Hahaha. Anyway, do ya Apps?"

"Shoot! Of course! Now come on, sate mah curiosity."

Nodding, he leaned over and whispered into her ear; for a moment she did nothing and seemed to be in a bit of shock. He shook her slightly to try to bring her around and, when she did, she simply stared at him before giving him a deep kiss. While he would never turn down a kiss from his gal, he had to say her response was unexpected, "Ya know...fer a second there I thought you were gonna faint on me Apps."

"Ah...ah have to admit I almost did but...I did ask for the number exactly. Tarnation..."

"Just...don't tell the others; I'd rather prefer they don't know. I'm sure it's bound ta be a little different here, but money can change people."

"Right! I gotcha Ry-Ry; mah lips are sealed."-she kissed him again-"Thanks fer trusting me with that knowledge though."

"Well...I know you can be trusted; ya might not be Loyalty per se like Dashie-kins, but yer word is sacrosanct."

"...you and yer speaking in fancy."

He laughed warmly, "It means that what you say is sacred to ya; your honesty is something you hold in high regard and never wish to falter from that."-this time he kissed her -"And I love that about ya...so then, shall we go pester Lunes and Cellie? I'm sure they need some somepony to liven up their party experience."

'Oh I am so down for that one!'

Ryan and AppleJack stared at one another before breaking into hearty laughter and heading off to see if they could find the Princesses.

Finding the Princesses wasn't very hard, though trying to get to them was a bit more difficult: the two of them were sitting at a table looking bored though smiling as many a pony came up to greet them, talk to them...or, as Dark could tell, suck up to them as well.

'Well, rich ponies always want to get in good graces with royalty so it's nice to see some things never changing.'

"Hmmm...but how to get to them?"

AppleJack smirked, recognizing that look on his face quite well, "Yer gonna be naughty aren't ya?"

"Mah dear Apps, I am hurt you'd think to say such a thing about me of all people."-he snapped his fingers, pleased his hypothesis about his wings was true-"I'm merely going to drop out of the sky to say high. Thinking that I of all people was going to create a scene...shame on ya hon."

'Indeed! We're not some common pranksters after all.'

AppleJack rolled her eyes and smirked, "Of course, what was ah thinking?"

"Haha, I know but it's okay, we all make mistakes."-he gave her a hug-"I'll be right back after I have a pleasant chat with them."

Hopping up, he began flying high enough to get over the crowd and avoid being easily seen; curious as to what he had planned and knowing it was most likely going to be silly AppleJack grabbed a cup of punch before sitting in the perfect spot to watch.

Now Luna and Celestia maintained their poise as best they could; while they were a bit tired of sitting there and not partaking in the party they did know their subjects enjoyed talking to them and, well, it was not as if they could turn down a request from their little ponies. As it was Ryan (who was now hanging upside down and watching from a safe distance) noticed they did seem to be in need of a little livening up; casting a spell to silence his wing flapping he slowly lowered himself down behind them and could tell they were so wrapped up with talking to the posh ponies neither one had noticed him. One of the guards did, but he merely raised an eyebrow before giving him a look that asked him to not make too much trouble; winking back at him he gently tapped Luna's shoulder before flying up out of reach.

"Yes sister?"

Celestia blinked and glanced at her, "Yes....what?"

"Did you not tap my shoulder?"

"No...I've been answering questions this whole time."

"Strange." Luna remarked, giving a shrug before talking with somepony else...until she felt it again, "There it is again; what do you want sister?"

"...is the party getting to you?" Celestia asked, concerned over her sister's behavior, "Perhaps we should take a break."

"No! I mean..."-Luna composed herself-"I am alright; perhaps it is just an annoying bug...now then, what were we discussing?"

Meanwhile, just above them, was Ryan who was trying his hardest to not start snickering; Dark was highly amused as well at how they were injecting some amusement into Luna's night but had to wonder something, 'Hey Ryan?'

'Yeah?'

'Those other ponies can clearly see us right? So then why aren't they saying anything?'

'Well...I imagine they're so on edge as it is talking to their ruling god-monarchs that perhaps they feel they're seeing things.'

'...I suppose that's true; while I'm sure most of the populace in Ponyville and Canterlot knows about you at this point, the sight of a winged bi-pedal creature is still probably an odd one to first behold.'

'Precisely!'-Ryan smirked, slowly lowering and this time tapping both sister's shoulders-'Oh dear, Luna is looking quite annoyed.'

"Sister! I am getting quite perturbed now."

"While I can understand your feelings, and apparently now feel the same movements bothering you, remain calm."-Celestia smirked-"I am sure that whatever is happening will make sense soon enough."

'Do you think we've had enough fun?'

'Probably.'-Ryan chuckled softly-'Judging by her words I think Cellie is on to us...but doesn't mind us havin' some fun.'

'Most likely, but let's settle my dear Woona's nerves now, alright?'

Nodding in agreement, Ryan slowly lowered down till he could wrap his arms around both of their necks and give them a hug, "Howdy ladies! Ya looked a bit bored, so I reckoned I'd come and liven things up a bit."

"Ryan!" Luna gasped, glancing over at him, "I should've known you were behind this trickery."

Ryan looked shocked, frowning at such accusations, "Oh dear Princess, you wound me so by saying such awful things about me."-smirking, he flipped around in mid-air before landing between them-"Possibly true mind you, but awful none-the-less."

Luna snorted a bit before smiling and laughing, "I suppose a good prank is always enjoyable as long as it's harmless."-she narrowed her eyes-"Though I imagine my sister was all too aware of what was happening."

Celestia raised a hoof innocently to her chest, "Me? Are you trying to insinuate that I would let such hijinx go on were I aware of them?"

"Yes Lunes, how could you say such a thing about yer sister?"

'Even if it's totally true.'

"Darkness!" Celestia gasped before noting the wide-eyed looks the ponies gathered around them were giving them, "...where's a distraction when one needs one?"

As if on cue, there was a loud splash sound followed by a very familiar shout of glee; glancing over the crowd Ryan could see....was that Spike now sitting in the large bowl of punch?

'Oh God! No...the perfect setup! We can't ignore this!'

"Yer darn right we can't!" Ryan laughed loudly, "It would appear, mares and gentlecolts, that the punch..."-at this he pulled on a pair of shades from nowhere-"Has been Spiked!"

There was silence for a moment, Ryan wondering if perhaps his delivery had been off, when all of a sudden there was a slight snickering; glancing to his left and right, he could see that Luna was the culprit, trying her best not to laugh. Unfortunately she lost that fight pretty fast and was laughing loudly, her sister soon followed and eventually the whole crowd was laughing at the awful pun. While he let everypony get it out of his system, he gave a bow before running over to help Spike out, "Sheesh little buddy, what happened?"

Spike huffed, his whole outfit dripping with the red drink, "...let's just say Pinkie Pie doesn't know her own strength."-he took Ryan's offered hands and hopped out-"Ugh...the world is still spinning some."

"So then...."

Spike rolled his eyes, "Don't you freaking dare..."

'You could also say the Spike has been punched!'

Spike simply facepalmed while Ryan broke out into laughter, slapping his thigh in amusement; calming himself he wiped a tear from his face, "Okay, okay...enough puns for now, why don't we..."

And that was when, while turning around, he bumped into a pony walking passed them and spilt punch all over his jacket.

"Oh man! I'm so sorry!" Ryan quickly grabbed some napkins sitting on the table and went about helping him, "Here, let me help ya!"

The pony looked at him with disdain, narrowing his eyes before angrily slapping Ryan's hand away from him, "Get your hands off me you damn, dirty ape!"

The pony's shout was so loud and so full of hatred that it caught everypony's attention and, strangely, though there was no turntables in the band playing, a loud record scratch noise rang out as the party suddenly became quite silent.

To say Ryan was shocked at the pony's choice of words would be underselling it, but judging by the voice, "...Filthy Rich? Is that you?"

"Peh! Of course it is you miscreant! Who else could it be?!"

'Dude, he's a bit angry....this could be bad.'

Spike frowned, walking over and trying to help defuse the situation, "Sir, it was just an accident; I'm sure Ryan would be more than happy to..."

"Be quiet!" Filthy spat out, spooking Spike who hid behind Ryan's leg.

"Hey!"-Ryan frowned-"If'n yer angry at me, then take it out on me, not mah little brother."

Filthy Rich snorted, narrowing his eyes at Ryan, "Little brother? What would a freak like you even know about family? Or anything in general other than evil and destruction?"

He raised an eyebrow at this but remained calm, "What in tarnation are ya talking about Mr. Rich?"

"You might have these other ponies fooled"-he motioned to the crowd that was slowly paying more attention to them-"But I know the truth about your kind, I know all about the ancient past and what your kind was capable of. Which is why I can't rightly see why so many ponies are just content to let you roam about like you! I can only imagine their ignorance is what makes them so blind: blind to the truth, blind to you, and blind to the danger you represent!"

"...I would suggest you relax Mr. Rich, this cannot end well for you if you don't take a breather." Ryan calmly tried to reason with him, noting the crowd at the party was now completely focused on this outburst of his, "I know ya don't exactly like me, but if'n yer gonna do this, at least let's handle this like reasonable adults."

"Heh, so at least yer perceptive enough to catch that fact. Not bad for an overgrown monkey!"-He scoffed-"I will not silence myself! No longer! Not when you exist, not when ponies trust their children to you, not when you are a threat to my daughter....a threat to me."

'What is he getting at?'

"And that! How strange is that?! Does nopony but me see that you having another voice living in your mind is just damn weird!?"-Filthy grumbled, stamping the ground-"But no! They treat it as if it's alive too! As if it's just normal to hear a disembodied voice like that! You're only safe because nopony knows the truth: that humans are destructive, distrustful, violent, and greedy! Your apparent fortune is proof of that last one; the fact that someone like you is considered part of the same class as I is ridiculous! And even that is irritating! You spend it on everypony but yourself! How does that make sense?! How can you be so...so....confusing?!

"Oh, but tonight those here will know about humans...about their greed, the evil they perpetuated when they lived here, how they enslaved ponies to be their workhorses, to be their laborers! The atrocities they committed...and that you"-he walked over and jabbed Ryan in the chest-"have the potential to do as well. It's all well and good you've been the hero but as you gain more power and skill who's to say you won't turn on us as well? If only my plan had worked, you'd be out of everypony's hair by now..."

Ryan stood there as Filthy ranted and raved, trying his best to remain calm at such accusations; losing his cool would do nothing positive but he couldn't just stand there and say nothing. In particular, that last bit sounded really confusing and menacing at that. As he tried to formulate something, he felt a hoof on his shoulder and turned to see Luna standing behind him with a smile.

"You bring up information that, unfortunately was true for a percentage of the human race that shared the land of Equestria with us over a thousand years ago."-Luna shook her head-"However...this information you speak of is common knowledge now. And has been for some time."

Filthy titled his head, "...what?"

"It was actually Ryan and Twilight Sparkle's idea to make information about humans more knowledgeable following the Elements second defeat of Discord. The two of them figured that after a positive showing like that to guide them, perhaps pony-kind could take both the good and bad about humanity in order to learn of those that once lived among us."-Luna narrowed her eyes at Filthy-"We agreed and made means to make it accessible as quickly as we could."

"But...but then why? Why would they?"-Filthy grimaced as he continued glaring at Ryan-"Why would they still trust him? Trust that voice of his? And even yet...why would they trust him with their children? That doesn't make any sense!"

"That's because he has proven worthy of that trust."

Looking to his left, he saw Rarity slowly stepping forward, "He has looked after my sister as if she were his own: he's spoiled her, comforted her, and protected her as if she was his family."

"That's right! He's done the same with Spike." Twilight added in, joining Rarity, "He's risked his own life to protect him before...and to help him become capable of protecting himself and others."

Ryan glanced down at Spike and smirked, the memory of their last sparring match still pretty fresh in his mind as he patted the top of his head.

"Ah reckon I've got two bits to put in here as well. I ain't seen AppleBloom take to anypony like that before and he immediately took to caring for her before we even really knew a lot about him. So fer you to go saying things like that about him Mr. Filthy just goes to show ya don't know a darn thing about Ry-Ry."

"Apps..." Ryan felt his heart warm at his friends words, knowing they'd always have his back, "You are right Mr. Rich about a lot of things: humans are capable of atrocious deeds...but we're also capable of the most miraculous ones as well. I'm sure ya can agree that's no different from how ponies are as well."-he shrugged-"I've never made a point to hide things from anypony, mostly because somepony important told me once that it's foolish to judge someone by what their species has done in the past and not by the actions they take themselves in the present."

Looking over to Celestia, he smirked and gave her a wink before continuing on, "And that's just petty, poking at the money issue like that; ya might as well throw me under the bus for eating meat while yer at it. Besides, haven't you ever heard that a man's worth isn't judged by how much money he has...but by what he does with it? In all seriousness, it's no surprise Diamond Tiara acts the way she does."

"You shut up about my daughter!" Filthy Rich practically growled as he charged at Ryan who did nothing to stop him...but AppleJack did, "Grrrr! Get away from me you traitor!"

"Traitor?! What in tarnation are you talking about?!" AppleJack wrestled with him before pinning him to the ground, "Ya need to just calm down bucko!"

"What am I talking about?! What am I talking about?!"-Filthy tried to shake free before just glaring at her and Ryan-"You two! Together! It's...it's sick! He's a human! You're a pony! Why am I the only one that sees something wrong with that?! Although I guess it would just make sense seeing as he's such a freak! Being human was bad enough but to have wings too! You're not satisfied with just being here anymore; now you want to corrupt innocent mares as well..."

"Like ah said before Mr. Rich...say all ya want about me...but ya leave mah family, mah friends, and all mah loved ones out of this!"

"Peh! I can only imagine it came down to such a simple thing though..."-Filthy grinned wickedly, his words filled with malice-"And that is for all your bravado, all your heroics, all your words, and all your actions....your mind cannot get over the devastating fact that you. Are. Alone. The only human that will ever be in Equestria. Never to be with another of your kind...let alone your family ever again...never. Ever. Again."

Ryan just stood there, his mind finally unable to hold back the thoughts that had plagued him since his arrival here; the force with which they hit was unlike any strike, any attack, any type of anguish and pain he'd ever felt before and his mind nearly shut down from it. Even Dark trying his best to offer some comfort and words did nothing to dull the intense pain Ryan felt in both his mind and heart at how deep and cutting the realization truly was to hear. That he would never see his family again, never talk to them, share memories with them.....he stood there in shock as he tried to keep his mind from completely falling apart in the face of the despair he'd kept at bay only with the help of those he'd met here. He was dimly aware of what sounded like Rainbow Dash yelling at Filthy, trying to struggle loose from where Fluttershy and Twilight were holding her back. AppleJack looked back at Ryan and could see the hollowness he was feeling reflected in his eyes, that blank stare causing her chest to tighten; this filled her with quite a bit of rage as she reared back and decked Filthy right across his muzzle, "How dare ya say something that heartless to mah Apple Ryder!!"-she wound back and hit him again-"He might be alone...but only when it comes to being human! As long as me and mah friends are around he'll never be truly alone!"

Those there watched as AppleJack continued to verbally berate him as she landed another punch...and then felt a hand gently, but insistently, hold her leg back, "...that's enough."

"Ryan?"

"...there's no need to attack him. The fact that he has such a cold heart is punishment enough." Ryan's voice was flat, monotone.

AppleJack nodded, getting up and letting Filthy go; as she turned to face him she could see Ryan talking to Celestia, "Ahm not pressing any charges...Diamond Tiara doesn't deserve having her father taken away completely after all."-he closed his eyes and sighed deeply before glancing at everyone there-"I'm sorry everypony...but....but I need some time alone..."

With that said he began walking away slowly, even ignoring when Filthy stood up and threw a chair at him; Ryan paused for a moment before continuing towards the balcony edge. With one last quick push he leapt from the edge, spread his wings wide, and flew off into the night sky.

"See! What did I tell you? A freak!" Filthy spat before getting flung to the ground by Celestia's magic, "Ugh!"

Celestia calmly walked over before staring down at Filthy, "While Ryan may have it in him to forgive you for another's sake, do not think for one second that you will not have to face any type of punishment for such a ridiculous outburst. You and I will be having a long talk about this, of that I can assure you."

With that Celestia motioned for the guards to come take him away before she glanced in the direction Ryan had taken off in; Luna walked over before placing a hoof on her shoulder, "I am worried about him as well...he seemed quite affected by those words."

"I do not blame him; clearly he has done all he can to hide his hurt from us."

AppleJack trotted over to them with her friends, sadly nodding, "He's been acting weird since the holiday season started...but ah know mah Ry-Ry and he's not one to bother his loved ones with thoughts like those. He...he thinks he can take on those things by himself."

"...where do you think he could've gone?" Twilight asked, "I know he said he wanted to be alone but...nopony should be left alone when they're hurting like that."

"Well!" Rainbow Dash shouted, "Why are we just sitting here letting him get away? Come on! Get yer flanks in gear!"

"She's right darling! He'd come after us if the situation was reversed so let us not dawdle any longer."

The six friends (and Spike too) nodded before heading off, hot on Ryan's trail; Celestia and Luna watched them run off before smiling.

"I think everything will turn out alright."

"You think so sister?"

"Of course."-Celestia smirked-"Friendship is magic after all. Now then, I believe that we have a certain pony who needs a long talking to."

And with that Luna and Celestia, after bidding farewell to their guests, headed inside to have a nice, long discussion with Filthy Rich...

Given the time of night it was, most businesses would be closed which was not helpful to the seven friends as they headed through Canterlot's town as that meant there wouldn't be many out to ask if they'd seen Ryan. Of course, this was assuming they were correct in guessing that Ryan was still somewhere in Canterlot but they had a good feeling he was somewhere in the town: call it a gut feeling, a connection they felt from all they'd been through, or something along those lines but they knew he was in town somewhere and by Celestia they were going to find him!

"In here girls, let's see if he came by here." Twilight and the others entered the donut shop to see Joe doing a little cleaning up, "Good evening Joe."

Joe looked up and smiled at the group, "Well now, Twilight Sparkle and friends; what do I owe this visit to? I figured you'd still be up at that party the Princess was throwin'."

"Well, we were until somepony made a total ass of himself." Rainbow Dash huffed, crossing her forelegs, "And now we can't find Ryan anywhere because of that."

"Hmmm...I figured he looked more out of it than usual when he came by."

"So Ry-Ry was here?"

Joe jumped back a bit as AppleJack nearly hopped over the counter, "Heh, yeah...he came in for what he always seems to get whenever I see him lately: the Main Six Special and a chocolate milk."

"Hold up." Spike titled his head in puzzlement, "...the...what?"

"It's something silly he talked me into making back when he visited after you beat up that Discord fellow again." Joe explained, motioning at the display case, "He said I should make a special donut based on each of you and sell it as a half-dozen special. He noted I'd make a ton of money doing that."-he laughed softly-"And dang if he wasn't right, those are some of my highest selling donuts."

Blinking at the sight, they saw that indeed there was six donuts in particular that appeared to correspond to each of them nicely...Pinkie's in particular looked as if one would immediately go into a sugar coma after one bite.

"Curious...but why didn't he have you make one for him?"

Joe shrugged, "He said he didn't need it; that while he was a hero you six were the real stars. And then some joke that a seventh messed up the flow and nopony buys seven donuts, they always go half or full dozen. Of course"-he pointed at one that had wings-"I winged it for his. I remember when he saw it; he just grinned and gave me a...thumbs-up I think he called it. Anyway, you're looking for him right?"

"Yes! I-I mean..." Fluttershy nodded, "If you could help us find him that'd be nice."

"Well, while he didn't exactly tell me where he was going, he did go in that direction."-Joe pointed for them-"He said something about a quiet spot he always liked visiting when he came to Canterlot. Then he thanked me for always being awesome, paid, and off he walked. The whole time it felt like his entire being was dragged down, like somepony hurt him bad."

"Ry-Ry..." AppleJack sighed before nodding, "Thank ya kindly Joe! Now come on everypony! Let's go find our human and keep him from falling further into despair!"

"Our human huh?" Rainbow Dash snickered as they left the donut shop, "So we are his harem now as Dark so hoped?"

"Ohohohohohohohoh! That would make Rainbow Dash really happy!"-Pinkie stuck out her tongue and tapped her chin-"I guess that would make me happy too since then I could get all the belly rubs I could wish for, though that's only when it's my turn because the laaaaaaaaaaaast thing I'd want to do is make one of my friends jealous by hogging him and..."

"Gack! Look what you've started! And ya know what I meant Rainbow Dash! Now quit flapping them gums and start flapping them wings so we can find him!"

'Ryan...you shouldn't be doing this.'

Ryan took a swig of chocolate milk before staring out across the large lake in front of him; the silence of the night was broken only by the massive waterfall that fed into it and was just one of the natural wonders of Canterlot that he always found so calming. Of course, he had to admit how clever it was for them to also use it to generate power for the city so that only added to its splendor in his mind. Polishing off a very sugary donut that was chocolate stuffed, glazed, covered in bright pink icing, and then topped with sprinkles he chugged more chocolate milk before reaching for the final one in the box.

'...as always, ya leave this one for last.'

Ryan found himself smirking slightly at Dark's little jab while he stared at the Apple Fritter donut drizzled with orange icing before he sighed heavily again and bit into it. His mind was still a bit of a mess, though the sugar was certainly helping dull the pain to be certain. As it was, all that kept replaying in his mind was those last words Filthy stated as he sat there quietly trying to cope with a realization he'd been holding back as best he could. Polishing off the last donut as well as the milk, he continued staring forward and had to wonder if anypony was gonna find him here. After all, he'd never shared this location with any of his friends...not even AppleJack though mostly for the sake that there would be somewhere he could claim as a sanctuary when he needed to be alone.

'You know they'll come looking for you despite that Ryan. Those mares, and our little buddy...they aren't going to leave you alone like this when yer hurting. And neither will I.'

Ryan let out a quiet laugh, levitating up then throwing a stone; watching it skip across the lake's surface before it finally sank he sighed, "Yeah...I know. I just...don't want them seeing me this way."

'Why?'

"I don't want to bring them down with mah pains..."

'...even though AppleJack told ya that, as her stallion, she's got no problem with ya sharing such things?'

Ryan groaned before laying back on the grass, his hands behind his head, "Ah know that...but I don't like bringing others down because I'm feeling like crap."-he closed his eyes-"Maybe...maybe that's just because people I knew seemed to want to know what was bugging me but when I'd tell them they'd just dismiss mah issues. Usually because they didn't know how to help or, more often, didn't want to help. After all, most of the time when yer asked that question, they don't want to hear anything other than yer doing "okay"."

'...so how do you know they will be like that?'

"I don't." Ryan quietly murmured, "But...I just worry..."

'Well, you shouldn't...keeping stuff like that inside can cause more problems.'-Dark sighed-'Just look at what happened to my poor Woona...'

Ryan opened one eye and smirked, "I suppose you've got a point there Dark...maybe...maybe I don't have to face mah issues alone here."-he grimaced, his hand resting over his chest-"Doesn't make the ache from the truth hurt any less though..."

At the same time while Ryan and Dark were having their chat, the girls had split up to look anywhere they could in order to find him. AppleJack had been walking for a little while and took a moment to rest her legs and think, "Now if'n ah was Apple Ryder, where in tarnation would I go?"

Not sure the reason for doing such, she began walking south and slowly came upon a rather tucked away but beautiful park. Wondering if perhaps he was here, she slowly made her way deeper into it before she heard voices...voices she recognized! Slowly trotting towards them she paused when she saw Ryan lying there in the grass, a box of donuts and milk bottle discarded nearby. Relieved that she finally found him, she slowly walked over before calling out to him, "Apple Ryder!"

Ryan opened his eyes to see AppleJack standing over him, looking down with a relieved smile, "Well howdy Apps...heh, if anypony was gonna find me I figured it was gonna be you..."

"Ya sure worried us heading off like that."-AppleJack sighed, lying down next to him, "...I was starting to wonder if ya weren't even in town anymore."

"...well, maybe subconsciously I wanted to stay here and be found."-he shrugged-"Sorry."

"There ya go again, apologizing for that. If...if anythin', yer the one that needs apologizing to."

"Haha, well, ah doubt Filthy will ever do something like that..." Ryan sighed before slowly sitting up and turning to face her, "His words are partially true though...maybe not in the way he stated since I have y'all but I do always feel some sadness that I'm the only one of mah kind here."-he closed his eyes and frowned-"That I'll never see mah family again...never make another stupid joke with mah father while on some silly errand...never have another delicious home-cooked meal from mah mother and tell her I love her...never get to see mah sister's music career finally blossom after all her hard work...and...never get to see mah brother overcome his own demons and finally be able to live normally...hell, ah don't even know if they're still alive...

"But the worst is ah didn't even get to say goodbye...and ah never will. I want to say knowin' how they are that they're still lookin' fer me and hopin' but..."-he wiped his eyes with his sleeve-"it's been six months now and I'm sure with the holidays they'll do their best to move on because they know that's what I'd want them to do. After all, moving on doesn't mean forgetting, it means finding the strength to keep going on and always remembering the treasured times you had with the one gone...no matter the ache."

And with that he finally lost the battle against his emotions he'd been fighting as he lunged at AppleJack, burying his head into her shoulder and crying his eyes out. AppleJack patiently sat with him, one hoof gently running down his back as he continued to vent all the anguish he'd been holding back since he first arrived there. Eventually she noted his sobbing slow, though his breathing was still stuttered, "Sugah, if this has been bothering ya since ya got here, why haven't ya ever told any of us? Ya know we wouldn't think badly of that."

Ryan sniffled a bit, doing his best to even his breathing before rolling over and resting against her, "There was just more important things to focus on at the time; things that were more productive uses of the energy. Yeah, it's true."-he nuzzled against her to calm his nerves-"Those were the first thoughts in mah mind after I fainted from the unexpectedness of it all; ya know, the whole seeing a talking unicorn and dragon, ending up in a crazy new land thing. When I woke up in Flutters' cottage, with the six...seven of ya, Spike was there too wasn't he? Anyway...my mind was a mess but when I saw I was unharmed, when I noted the genuine tone of care in yer smiles and voices...I felt a calm that helped me focus and realize that thinking on those thoughts wouldn't help in the least. Could I have whined and lost mahself in the depression of it? Yeah, but what good would that do?

"I had more pressing things to deal with: a new world with a new way things worked, a multitude of new sentient...sapient...whichever word works, either way there were a ton of species that were as emotive and alive as I was to contend with. Add in trying to find a way to eke out a living, a place to call home...well, in mah mind those ranked a lot higher to worry about then being stuck here away from mah family and mah home world. There were moments where I slipped here and there..."

"Like on yer birthday, when ya got talking about your hometown?"

"Yeah...or at the beach, when we were having dinner that second night. Dents in the armor would pop up, but ah always managed to hold it back thanks to mah friends...mah new family..."-he smiled at AppleJack, pulling her head down for a kiss-"And of course, mah love. I guess I just didn't realize how bad it was until Filthy said all those things and it completely destroyed all mah defenses. It was like a flood being held back by a piece of paper...I had no chance. So I blanked, my mind went fuzzy, and I just knew I needed time to think by mahself."

'Well, if you don't count me anyhow.'

"Haha, yeah, Dark's kind of stuck to me so he had no choice but to come along." Ryan laughed softly before closing his eyes, "Ah just wish...that I could at least send some word back to them; to let them know ahm okay, to give them closure so that they don't have ta worry."-he lifted his hand up, holding it towards the sky-"To show them their son is fine...and happy so they don't have to carry that ache with them to their last days........"

AppleJack noticed his silence and glanced down to see his body had finally succumbed to sleep; looking up she could see something glowing above the park. Smiling up at the orange, heart-shaped light Ryan must have created she gently brushed aside his shaggy hair, "Yer such a kind man, thinking of yer family and not worrying about yerself. Ah hope that the Princess finds a way ta make that happen someday so ya don't have to carry that ache for the rest of yer days either..."

With Ryan's signal to guide them, it didn't take long for the rest of his friends to find him and Apps; as they walked over to where she lay with him, AppleJack nodded as she gave them all a warm smile. Exchanging no words they joined AppleJack in surrounding him with the comforting warmth of friendship and love underneath that glowing symbol he had created, allowing him the rest he so dearly needed on this cold winter night.

From one of the balconies of the castle, Luna and Celestia shared a smile at seeing the glowing heart, "Well then sister...can we not see if it is possible to fulfill his request? After all...he has done much to help his friends and never asked for anything in return."

Celestia closed her eyes and nodded, "Yes; I am not sure if it is possible...but for Ryan I will certainly try."

Across the cosmos, on a world very similar to those of the ponies...

A middle-aged man paused in his steps before looking up at the night sky and seeing a very strange sight; his daughter noted the far-away look in his eyes before gently nudging him, "Dad? What's the matter?"-she looked up at the sky as well-"What are you looking at?"

"Ya see that bright star there? It's kind of an odd color isn't it?"

She narrowed her eyes, "Which one?"

"That one."-he pointed towards it for her-"It's twinkling...and it seems to be orange, I think..."

"Huh...that's weird. I don't think I've ever seen a star look orange from this distance."

"As far as I know there aren't many...and certainly none that should be visible this time of year." He looked down at the ground for a moment before looking back up, "...I don't know why, but fer some reason I feel drawn to it."

"Weird." She shrugged before seeing her mother walk over.

"What are you two lookin' at?"

Taking an offered drink, the daughter pointed up at the night sky, "That strange star up there...it's orange."

Looking at it, her mother smiled sadly, "Hmmm. He would've loved seeing this; orange always was one of Ry-Ry's favorite colors..."

A single tear fell down Ryan's cheek as he slowly awoke to find it was still night; he was curious as to why he wasn't cold but one quick glance around him told him why. Feeling comforted by his friend's presence, but realizing sleeping in the middle of a park in the cold winter time air was not the best for them he focused on his and Apps' room back in the castle before pulling together enough focus to teleport them to the castle. It was only after initiating it did he realize they might just fall again...but no bumpy landing came as apparently somepony had foreseen this and set out large pillows exactly where he had dropped them.

'...Woona.'

'...and Cellie too I'd reckon. Heh, doesn't surprise me though.' Ryan sighed before closing his eyes and settling back in, '...ahm too tired still to worry about it, but I'll have ta thank them in the morning. Good night Dark...'

'Good night Ryan.'

The next morning finally rose, the sun beaming brilliantly but not so much to burn away the snow that had accumulated in the late hours of the night; Ryan opened his eyes and saw that apparently he was the last one up. Sniffling a bit and hoping he wasn't catching something after sitting out in the cold for so long, he sleepily rummaged through his bag before getting some stuff to change into; shucking off all but his shirt and underwear he tucked his clean clothes underneath his arm and headed into the shower to get cleaned up. As he shucked the rest of his clothes off and hopped into the shower he turned on the hot water and sighed; as always though, he had to wonder just why it was that a species with no hands had knobs in the shower. How in tarnation did they use them anyway? As he cleaned up he mused that unicorns wouldn't have an issue...and neither would Pegasi since he'd seen enough of them use their wings like hands, "Heh, once again Earth ponies get the shaft then...although I guess they could use their mouths. Hmm...I guess it's the same thing with doorknobs; doesn't make any damn sense. Haha....although, maybe it's a leftover from when human lived here? Hmmm...."

Now seeing as Ryan was lost in his thoughts, he neglected to hear the door to the room open as well as the door to the bathroom slide open; in fact, he was so out of it he didn't even pay much mind to the pair of hands that began to rub his shoulders before caressing his chest. "Mmmm...that actually feels really good. I'd completely forgotten how nice hands felt..."-he paused and looked down-"Wait a moment...wait a moment. Ahm the only being around here with hands, especially ones like those, so then..."

"Hee-hee, good morning there sugah."

Ryan's eyes went wide at that as he turned around to see, "...Apps? You look...different."

Sure enough, AppleJack looked as if she could totally pass for human; the only giveaway to the fact she wasn't was she still had her pony tail, ears, and her legs ended in hooves instead of feet. Of course, that was about all Ryan saw before he felt faint and slipped, falling down on the floor of the shower and being rather lucky he only landed on his butt. AppleJack gasped and knelt down to check on him, "Ya okay Apple Ryder?"

"...yer naked." He mumbled out incoherently, his face a dark shade of red.

She snickered, "Well, us ponies are always naked Ry."

"Ah...ah know that but yer...human. Pretty much anyhow."-he opened one eye, got a faceful of Apps' ample assets, and then shut the eye before turning redder than any apple-"It's a little different..."

AppleJack bit her lip, trying to hold back laughter, "That's so adorable...all shy about somethin' like that...and not about being in the shower like this."

"W-well!"-he sputtered, slowly standing back up-"It's not like we...haven't had a moment like this before mind ya. It's just...a little different with ya being all humanized and stuff....how'd ya even do this anyhow?"

"I'll explain everythin' shortly sugah, but first....how about we finish enjoying this hot shower?"

'You'll find he'll have no objections to that.'

"...you traitorous bastard!"

'Whoop-whoop-whoop!'

"...ah swear he just scuttled off into some hidden recess of mah mind."-shaking his head, he smirked at AppleJack-"So then...ya mentioned something about enjoying a hot shower?"

About twenty minutes later, Ryan was dressed and walking with AppleJack (who had on the skimpiest jean skirt and t-shirt he'd ever seen) while she explained how she was currently in this form, "Well, Twi's been wondering if she could get her little transformation spells to work with the human form and she's actually been workin' on it pretty hard. After last night, she...well she figured that ya might feel a little better if'n ya had some more human company around to, ya know, ease the ache and such."

"Haha, that T-Sparks...such a silly but sweet mare. I do have to say, it's kind of nice seein' ya like this."-he took her hand in his, smirking as he laced his fingers with hers-"I mean, ah love ya fer who ya are mah sweet apple but...I can't say I don't find this version of ya breathtakin' as well. Though...where did ya get them clothes from?"

AppleJack looked over her attire and frowned, "Is it not good? Rarity made it up short notice by modifying the designs she had for yer stuff."

"No, no, it's fine. Definitely helps me focus better than ya being naked and such but..."-he blushed slightly-"It still reveals quite a bit."

He slowly let his hand fall from hers before wrapping it around her waist; giggling, she smiled at him, "It's kind of nice walkin' with ya like this."-she narrowed his eyes-"Ah can't believe I'm still shorter than ya though."

Laughing heartily, he kissed the top of her head, "Yer not short by much, so ah wouldn't sweat it too much luv. Now then, we probably should pick up the pace; ya did say the others were waitin' on us fer breakfast."

AppleJack nodded before smirking, "That's true enough darlin'. So then..."-she grinned, brought her hand back, and smacked him square on the ass-"Better get that giddyup goin'!"

Stunned at how brazen she had acted, he unintentionally gave her a five-second head-start before finally chasing after her, "Now y'all get back here!"

"No way cowboy! Gotta catch me first! Otherwise I'm gonna eat all yer breakfast!"

"...she's such a goober."

'Oh your just upset she beat ya to the butt slappin'.'

"And you!"-he menacingly pointed at his head-"Shut up and help me!"

Dark snickered, 'If you wanna catch her, use that magnet spell dummy! She probably can't run as fast in human form yet so that might help.'

Face-palming at forgetting something so obvious, he gave his sneakers a quick boost before he took off after her.

"Ahm gonna get ya!"

"Nope! No ya won't!"

The guards had paid little mind to the duo as they ran down the hallways, probably because at this point Swift Cut had noted the shenanigans that followed Ryan. Thus he (along with Shining Armor) made it clear it was better to just let things play out in regards to him rather than react...especially if that Katamari Cupcake incident was anything to go by. Which is why their little game of chase continued unabated until they finally arrived at the dining hall...if by arrived you were to mean Ryan plowing into AppleJack and finally catching her, his body landing atop hers while they both laughed. It wasn't until he heard somepony clear their throat that he looked up...and about fainted all over again.

"Whoa there Ry-Ry! Stay with us here!" AppleJack quickly caught him, keeping him steady as he regained his focus, "So...er...surprise!...ah think."

'Surprise doesn't even begin to cover this! This is like a dream!'

Ryan groaned, knocking his head a bit in an attempt to hassle Dark...though all it did was make his head start throbbing in pain, "Uhm.....so, his stupidity aside I..."-he rubbed his eyes before looking again-"Yeah, y'all are looking exactly as Apps is...what in tarnation is going on here?"

"Well...after how upset you seemed to be last night I told the others about the spell I was working on. It was supposed to be a Hearth's Warming Eve surprise for you but I figured you wouldn't mind getting it a little early." Twilight explained while wearing a hopeful smile, "When I told the Princess she thought it would be a wonderful idea. Although"-she glanced over at Celestia and Luna-"apparently they're a lot better at transforming into humans."

He had to admit she was right: while Twilight and his other friends looked pretty much human save for the same traits that, much like Apps, they had retained, Cellie and Lunes looked spot-on perfect.

'Now there's a sight I didn't think I'd ever see again. Still as lovely as always Woona.'

"Well, much like my sister I too had forgotten that one night."-she smirked at Ryan-"I see Dark did not though...I must say, I'd forgotten what it was like to have hands."

"You always did get a bit lost in those digits." Celestia teased her sister, "I hope this is not an inappropriate move but my favorite student was rather insistent we try this to cheer you up."

Rainbow Dash nodded, "That's right! I wasn't really sure about it but it's kind of cool being like this!"

Ryan snickered, winking at Rainbow, "Heh...maybe this time you can give me the belly rub eh?"

Rainbow Dash gasped, waving her arms all about, "Don't talk about stuff like that!! It's embarrassing!"-she glanced at her friends-"Don't give me that look! You all are guilty of that too! I know! Oh, I know all about that! About how you've all gotten Ryan at one point or another to let you lay in his lap while those amazing hands of his just worked away all sorts of worries and stress..."

'...and they say I'm a Casanova...'

"Shut it Darky!" Ryan sighed, "Anyway Cellie, no, it's not inappropriate at all. I'm actually quite touched but y'all didn't need to do this."-though, looking over them all, he did have to admit it was pretty sweet of them-"Doesn't mean ah don't appreciate it though...I'm just kind of surprised that Rares was able to pull together clothing fer y'all. Not that, ya know, I'd have any problem seeing some lovely ladies like that and....WHAT AM I SAYIN'?! Dammit Dark!"

'What?'-Dark scoffed-'I'm insulted that you'd think I had anything to do with such an enticing thought; such a lovely, wonderful, blissful thought...and yer not buying any of this are you?'

"...not one bit." Ryan burst into laughter, "But anyway...Rares?"

"Oh darling!" Rarity giggled, giving a twirl of her skirt, "It's nothing a little magic, quick planning, and a needle can't fix."

Ryan shrugged and smiled, "Works fer me. At least that shows Handwavium is in ample supply here in Equestria. Good to know for future use."

"Ohmygosh!" Pinkie hopped about, fell over, then began hopping about again, "Sorry, still not used to only two legs! Anyway, I can't believe you know about that stuff Ryan! I thought I was the only one!"-she frowned, holding her grumbling tummy-"Oh but, can we talk later?! I'm soooooo hungry! Like, I could eat a giant cake! Or two! I'm like Ryan-sized now so maybe I can eat more sweets! Oh I totally have to test that before we change back! Maybe with an eating contest and...."

Seeing as the quickest way to bring Pinkie under...control was to have breakfast, Celestia gave a signal for the staff to go ahead and bring it out; Ryan had to admit it was curious seeing his friends try to figure out how to use utensils with their hands...well, his friends that didn't have magic anyway. As his meal was brought out, he paused at a certain smell coming from it he certainly remembered but for the life of him he couldn't put his finger on. It was only when he pulled the lid off that he had to double-take and then stare at his friends, "Uh...is...is this...this is...I...."-he glanced at the meal in front of him and then back to Celestia-"Those are scrambled eggs but, uh, Cellie is this...steak?"

Celestia had to admit the look of confusion on Ryan's face was simply adorable, she giggled before nodding her head, "Yes my little human, it is."

"But...but...but...how?"

"Oh, we usually have delegates and dignitaries from the Griffon Empire that visit so we keep a supply in stock. When you first visited, we would have offered such an option however..."-Celestia grinned sheepishly-"As you recall I had said I'd forgotten all about human dietary habits."

"Ah yes, which is when I mentioned fish as a suggestion. I remember that; no harm no foul there but..."-he glanced down at the delicious, tantalizing steak before biting his bottom lip-"I...it's just...y'all won't feel uncomfortable about this? You won't...think weird of me will ya? I have to admit it...it does looks tasty..."

AppleJack knew that look he had all too well and smirked before reaching over squeezing his shoulder, "Apple Ryder, haven't we already told ya before that we don't really care that yer a meat-eater? And ah know yer more conflicted seeing as you've had a few discussions with the cows back on the farm"-she looked at her friends before nodding-"But well, this was mah idea since ah...kind of heard ya talking about it in yer sleep for a while now. You deserve it, especially after what that yellow-tailed, hoity-toity little bastard said to ya. So enjoy it sugah!"

Seeing that his friends had no reservations about it helped him overcome his awkwardness quite quickly. Ryan grinned widely before cutting into it and sighing blissfully at the first bite, "Oh sweet Celestia....well done too, just how ah like it."-he closed his eyes-"Magnificent."

His reaction brought forth a round of laughter from his friends as they enjoyed not only their breakfast, but more importantly the fact that their human friend was in much better spirits.

'...ya questioned the clothing, but you're not questioning swimsuits?'

Ryan looked up from where he lay, glancing at AppleJack and the others splashing about in the rather massive pool (magically heated of course) he somehow never noticed in their previous trips before smirking, 'Are you really going to poke holes in this? Or would you rather just enjoy the pleasantness of the moment?'

Hearing an audible smack, Ryan snickered at his counterpart's realization, 'Great Scott! You're right! What's wrong with me! Carry on!'

And carry on he did, smiling as his friends seemed to be enjoying their humanized selves; taking a sip of his drink he sighed, "Thank you Celestia and Luna fer such an enjoyable moment..."-setting his drink down, he figured it was time to join them-"Cannonball!"

"..what?" Fluttershy whimpered before getting splashed with the others as Ryan jumped in, "Eek!"

Sputtering, he swam to the surface before grinning, "Oh, don't mind me...just thought I'd drop in."

Rarity sighed before splashing him over and over, "Darling, those dreadful puns of yours never cease do they?"-she smirked-"Although if you are making them, that does mean you're feeling better so I suppose there's some positive to them."

"...thanks Rares." Ryan sputtered before rolling his eyes, "I could go back to being emo if ya want...I'm sure the mares just go crazy fer a fellah like that."

AppleJack latched on to him and shook her head, "No, don't do it Apple Ryder! Yer puns are a small price to pay to have yer goofy self around!"

Ryan tried but he couldn't back his laugher, "Apps...that....that was so over the top and unnecessary."-he kissed her cheek-"Appreciated, but over the top."

Rolling her eyes, she dunked him underwater before swimming off; shaking his head when he emerged he couldn't help but smirk before seeing Lunes and Cellie walk in (wearing their own amazing swimsuits) before settling into the nearby hot-tub.

'Damn...and I thought the gals looked amazing but that Woona of mine in human form...'-snickering at Ryan's sigh, he decided to grief him some-"Hey! Come on! That is my lady after all...can't ya cut me a little slack at the fact I'd like to look at her?'

Giving a shrug, Ryan figured he was right; after all, if he'd been separated by the one he loved for a thousand plus years he'd be more than eager to take in the sight of her once more, 'Ugh, fine...just don't cause any mischief.'

After giving Dark plenty of viewing time, Ryan headed over to the girls in the shallower end of the pool before an idea struck; lifting AppleJack on to his shoulder he motioned for Rainbow Dash to do the same to somepony else. The somepony else was a slightly unsure Fluttershy, but none-the-less after getting set they had to question just why they were doing this. Ryan smirked before explaining, "It's easy; the object is to knock the other pony...person"-he chuckled-"the other person off their shoulder perch."

"You're going down AJ!"

"Yeah right Rainbow Dash; yer the one that's gonna hit that water."

And with that the craziness began, AppleJack and Rainbow Dash going all out as they tried to push the other from their perch; Ryan and Dark were laughing their butts off while Fluttershy kept going 'oh, my, oh dear' at the splashing and shaking that was going on.

Luna smirked as she watched those in the pool being a bit rambunctious, wondering if Dark had a hand in that; lifting up her arm she flexed her fingers and smiled at the old memories running their her mind. Glancing over at her sister, she could see she was out cold now...though that's what happens when one eats their bodyweight in cake and then relaxes in hot, bubbly water. Hearing a loud shout, she looked to see AppleJack and Rainbow Dash both falling off of their partners amidst laughter and giggles; just as she was about to relax like her sister she heard a voice, 'Hey Woona...you're still telepathic right? If ya are stretch with your right arm above your head.'

Luna glanced over to where she could see Ryan was lounging against the pool wall with AppleJack making small talk; with a shrug she stretched her right arm out before hearing a satisfied laugh in her head, 'Haha, brilliant. So, nopony but us can hear this yes?'

'That is correct...is there some specific reason you wish to talk this way?'

'Let's just say that I've acquired the help of my host to pull a prank on dear Tia but we needed to know if she was asleep yet.'

Luna did her best to suppress a chuckle, 'Yes, she has been counting cakes for a good twenty minutes now.'

'Excellent...most excellent. Now play this as cool as possible.'

'Very well...what do you have in mind?'

'Oh, you'll see Woona, you'll see.'

Having let them go about their conversation, Ryan made a few subtle hand movements under the water while continuing his conversation with AppleJack and Twilight; from the deep end of the pool rose a small ball of water that slowly floated over towards Celestia's sleeping form. Making one more move, the ball of water suddenly appeared much chillier but the only one that noticed anything was Luna as she glanced at the ball of now chilly water floating over her sister's head, 'Oh dear...she's going to be rather upset with this one.'

'That's the point my dear.'-Dark chuckled-'Alright Ryan, drop it.'

Closing his hand into a fist, the ball of water dropped in near slow-motion before it finally connected with the sleeping princess and shocked her awake to a sputtering and shocked gasp, "Ack!"

Everyone's attention shifted over to the outburst from Celestia while Luna tried her hardest to hold back her laughter, "D-dear sister...whatever is bothering you so?"

"...cold...water..."-her eyes narrowed-"But who? Who would do such a thing to the Princess of the SUN!?"

The mood got quite heavy at that declaration but Ryan kept his poker face...though Dark was laughing his disembodied ass off which really didn't help at all; Celestia looked towards the pool with a very angry look on her face...which quickly disappeared into a large smile.

"...yeah, that's not creepy." Ryan shivered, "Did...did the water just colder all of a sudden?"

Without saying a single word, Celestia rose from the hot-tub, wrapped a towel around herself, and walked off; this did not settle well with Ryan's mind but apparently Luna and Dark found it funny as hell.

"That was terrible you know? I hope Dark informed you of her prankster alter-ego before pulling this one."

"Lunes...what...? Dark, what is she talking about?"

'Oh, some nonsense about Trollestia...I can't believe I forgot to mention that.'-Dark laughed nervously-'Oh crap...I forgot her revenge pranks were always...yeah....well, it was nice living in your head while I could.'

Ryan gulped, "And what in tarnation does that mean?"

Well he got no answer to that one, not a single, solitary one; even after some time had passed and they were all drying off he was still looking about nervously, "Heh heh...okay, just got to relax about this. She can' t know right."

And that's when he got his answer, as he watched several towels magically float in the air, spin tightly, and then with a resounding and well-timed CRACK AppleJack and the others (including Luna) had their hindquarters snapped at by them; this was followed by what sounded like Dark's voice shouting out something about being snappy even though Ryan could tell Dark had said nothing. When he saw the seven of them turn towards him with anger in their eyes he took a cautious step back, "Now ladies! I assure y'all that was not mah doing! Nor Dark's! I can vouch he didn't talk at all! He wouldn't say something like that!"-he paused and frowned-"Okay, maybe he would but still! He didn't say it then! And.....sigh, and y'all aren't believing a word of it huh?"

'We're kind of fucked aren't we?'-Dark moaned-'And not even in the good way...'

"Even now yer thinking about that stuff?! Don't you see the pissed off human-pony hotties glaring daggers at us?!"

'Ryan! Less talky, more magnetic running away!'

Not one to argue with logic, Ryan fired up his magnetic skate spell and attempted to get away from them all; however, it was readily apparent he was out-matched by the group chasing him. Having only made it as far as the hallway leading to the pool, he felt strong magic latch on to him and start reeling him back in, "No! No! NO! Dammit Dark! You had one job! ONE! JOB! And that was to not cause MISCHIEF!"

As he continued to struggle valiantly, the others were chuckling and making a game out of it, "Come on Luna! Reel in that big sucker!"

"Yeah, come on Princess! Catch that fish! He's a record-breaker!"

"Apps! Dashie! Ahm no prize bass!"

"That's true Rysy-Wysy! But you are quite a catch and a prime example of a human! That's certainly record-worthy enough to not let you go!"

"Oh Pinks...you too?" Ryan groaned, looking over his shoulder before seeing someone come walking through the doors, "Spike?! Help me!"

Spike, looking all the part of a young human adolescent save for the spikes running down his neck not to mention his tail, blinked before glancing at the particularly shiny gemstone he was munching on, "...I knew it. Didn't I tell you trying to be humans would just make things crazier?"

"Spike! For heaven's sake! Help yer big brother out here!" Ryan pleaded, pulling against Luna's magic and reaching out towards him.

Spike took one look at what was going on, glanced at the girls then back to Ryan and seemed indecisive, "I don't know...I'm pretty sure if they're doing this you probably did something to deserve it."

"Spike! I'm yer sensei too dangit! Look at me when I say this: I didn't do anythin'! I swear!"

"Spike! Don't you dare interfere!" Twilight growled out, "Be a good little brother to me."

"That's not fair!" Ryan cried out, slipping slightly, "Come on!"

"I...I don't..."-Spike held his head-"Why must my loyalties be split so?!"

"Oh Spikey-Wikey?" Rarity smirked, sauntering over to him, "If you let us take care of business here, I'm sure I could find some way to make sure your loyalty is quite rewarded."

Ryan's eyes widened as he saw Spike wavering, "Don't you dare! Don't you freaking dare!"

"W-well Rarity I...if it's for you I..."-Spike gulped before glancing at Ryan-"...I'm sorry!"

Ryan sighed in defeat, his feet sliding along the ground now after Spike's betrayal but he couldn't blame him after all; for what chance did he have against feelings of love? Closing his eyes he waited for the inevitable until he heard a loud roar, "What?"

Opening his eyes he saw Spike had apparently run passed Rarity, hopped over him, and shot a fireball in front of the others that broke Luna's concentration; now free of the magic hold on him, he quickly turned, grabbed hold of a smirking Spike, donned his wings, and then took off while the others were confused.

"He's getting away!" Twilight shouted, "After him!"

"There's more important issues!" Rarity bemoaned, holding a hand to her head, "And that's Spikey-Wikey being immune to my charms! Ooooooooh~"

Rainbow Dash groaned, "Drama queen aside, Twilight's right! Come on everypony! We've got a human to catch!"

With that they all took off (dragging Rarity behind them) in the hopes of catching Ryan and Spike; of course, what they hadn't been aware of was the two hadn't gone anywhere. They had cleverly looped back around and waited till the others were off before landing and heaving a sigh, "Spike little buddy...thanks."

"Hey, well, ya know...I might like Rarity but I guess her human self has less power over me." Spike chuckled, "So...what happened anyway?"

Quickly filling Spike in, he nodded and rolled his eyes, "I always figured the Princess was a prankster at heart...good job on that one Dark."

'Hey! I said I was sorry! What more do you want?'

"To not be hunted by our friends for something we didn't do...we need to talk to Cellie, come on!"

One quick change of clothing later, Ryan and Spike were cautiously making their way through the castle towards not the throne room but Celestia's room; the guards thought it odd they were sneaking around but, once again, it was in their best interest to ignore what was happening until it was over. Having a few close encounters where the girls nearly had them save for some dumb luck, they were finally in the hallway leading to her room, "So Spike, why weren't ya with the others this morning?"

"Oh...it's this human form. It's all awkward and weird."-Spike glanced at Ryan-"Uh, no offense."

"None taken, I can imagine it takes getting used to. Haha, I guess ya just felt uncomfortable then."

"Yeah, Twilight's been practicing it with the others for sometime so they've gotten, well, not pretty good but good enough at walking on two legs. My problem is the legs are so much longer than what I'm used to, I kept tripping over them."

"Hahaha, oh heavens. Well, it's nice to know mah little brother chose to side with me."-he ruffled his green hair-"That makes me feel pretty happy, probably more than ya might know."

Spike knocked Ryan's hands away before fixing his hair, "Ack! Sheesh...haha. So then...what's the plan with the Princess?"

"Don't know...I'll figure it out once we get in there."

"So the same thing with Discord then?"

"Hey! I had a plan! It just...didn't fully form as fast as I'd hoped it would back then."

'Oh! Can I help? I promise it'll be good I swear!'

"...I don't know..."

Spike nodded and nudged Ryan, "Come on! I think he wants to make up for screwing things up in the first place."

Ryan sighed and shook his head, "Oh fine...so then...what's this plan of yers Darky?"

'Well....'

Celestia was in her room, cake in hand as she laughed heartily remembering the look of sheer terror when Dark (and sadly Ryan too) were blamed for her little prank; licking her lips she enjoyed another forkful before she heard a noise outside.

"Hey! What are you do-ack!" The guards groaned before going silent.

Celestia raised an eyebrow, hiding her cake back in the dresser before slowly standing up, "...Swift Cut? What is going on?"

And that's when the doors exploded inwards from a very violent kick before Ryan strutted in and struck a pose.

"What....how are you?!" Celestia gasped, seeing him standing there with Spike on his shoulders, the two of them wearing the oddest, angular shades she'd ever seen, and a dark cape with his cutie mark on it billowing behind him.

Spreading his arms wide, Dark took his cue and shouted in the loudest Canterlot Voice he could muster, 'WHO THE HELL DOST THOU THINK WE BEITH!?'

"Yes, come on Cellie? Seriously, ya didn't think I'd get away from them somehow? Oh wait..."-he smirked and seemed to look towards space-"Thanks for the inspiration fer that Rain Nero...now then...where were we?"

Celestia huffed and smirked, "I think I was about to send you straight to Trouble Town."

"Didn't you already try that when ya pulled a fast one and got us in trouble with the others?" Ryan huffed, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at her.

"Oh my....how did that old phrase go Darkness?"-Celestia tapped her chin before grinning-"Oh yes...U mad?"

'Ah, sweet Trollestia...how long has it been since I've seen that particular face? It ends here though my friend; we shan't go down for your prank.'

Celestia scoffed before laughing, "And just how do you propose to do that? You can't possibly prove it was me...you have no evidence."-she shook her head-"This is what happens when you prank the sun...you get burned."

"Huh, and here I thought that the cold would've kept that from happening Princess." Spike shrugged, shaking his head, "I guess we really are in some hot water."

Celestia merely twitched at that pun before a smile and then a very creepy grin practically beamed at our two...heroes? Does heroes work? At any rate, Ryan and Spike felt a bit uneasy at her confidence, "The only reason you're even still standing here untouched is because I haven't had this much fun in so long; I'd forgotten how amusing it was to have someone treat me like an equal. It really has been far too long hasn't it Darkness?"

Dark snickered, 'Indeed Tia...although...I wouldn't be too hasty.'

"What?"-she gasped when she saw Ryan holding her hidden cake-"But...how? When?"

"While you were acting all trollish dear Princess, I took the opportunity to get a little bargaining chip." Ryan looked at the cake, licking his lips, "It does look particularly tasty does it not?"

"You...you wouldn't!"

Ryan smirked and swiped some frosting with his finger, "Oh? I wouldn't huh?"-he licked the frosting off and smiled blissfully-"Heavens that's tasty."

Celestia fumed, her horn glowing brightly as she clenched her hands into fists before gasping as Ryan picked up a forkful to take a bite, "NO! WAIT! DON'T!"

Spike laughed before patting Ryan's head, "Looks like you've found you're bargaining chip Ryan."

"It would seem so little bro...oh, but it's so hard to fight the temptation."-Ryan licked the smallest bit of icing from the forkful-"Mmmmm...it's like a Rainboom of deliciousness. Oh...how can I resist?"

Her eyes widening along with her rising anger, she was so enraged at being played like this she turned back into her alicorn self and glared at Ryan; when she saw he ate the forkful and wasn't playing around she took aim and would've fired save for the fact that Ryan was now holding the plate above his head.

"Ah, ah Cellie...one move and I have Spike turn up the heat."-Ryan watched her whimper before bringing her anger under control-"Oh, no need to pout Cellie; I hate to waste good baked goods as much as the next pony so...just come clean and you'll have yer cake back. That's all I ask."

Celestia's lips quivered while staring at the cake, "And...and I can have my cake back? No tricks?"

"Ah might not be the Element of Honesty, but mah word is not something I break. So simply bring the girls here, tell them the truth, and we're all good."

"...very well."-she sighed-"I cannot let an innocent cake be harmed."

Concentrating on where they were, Celestia teleported her sister and the others into her chambers; watching as they fell into a confused pile, they were rather disoriented until they locked eyes with Ryan and were about to charge him till he raised a hand, "Ah-ah ladies! I believe Cellie has something important to tell you all."

Unsure as to what was going on, Twilight turned to her beloved Princess, "Princess? What is he talking about?"

"I bet he's just stalling!" Rainbow Dash growled at Ryan and Spike, causing the younger of the two to jump in fright.

"No no, he is right...there is something important."-she closed her eyes before smirking-"And that is he came apologizing to me, asking for me to help him but I told him to man up and take his punishment."

'Yeah, that's....wait a second, that's not right Ryan!'

"Dark's right I!"-he gulped, seeing his hands now empty-"Where's the cake?"

"Ryan! Run!" Was all Spike could think to say as they turned tail and attempted to flee...but to no avail as the others easily overpowered them, "Ah man, I bet on the wrong horse didn't I?"

"Oh I'm afraid so Spikey-Wikey."-Rarity sighed, shaking her head back and forth-"Naughty little boys must be punished after all."

'...yeah! Like no one is gonna take that out of context!'

"Darkness darling, do be a dear and shut up."

"Cellie! Why?! We had a deal!" Ryan gasped, glaring at her from under the pile of humanized ponies that were his friends.

Celestia merely took a bite of her cake...before smashing face-first into it; with icing and cake bits covering her face (it contorted into a deranged, wild-eyed smile) she uttered only this simple phrase, "I lied~"

'...damn, we got double-trolled!'

All that could be heard was the echoing of Ryan's screams as he was carried off by them...until by pure dumb luck the spell wore off and in the confusion of them returning back to pony form he was able to once more make a break for it; with the terrified screams of Ryan (and now Spike too) as music to her ears, Celestia sighed and rummaged around for more of her cake, "Ah, it's good to be me."

Author's Note

Okay! New chapter GET! Hahaha, a little late in posting but it's up now so yes. :yay:
And as I figured, the idea that was going to be in the back half of this chapter has been pushed to the next one since, as usual, a silly idea manifested and then took a life of it's own after I wrote that kind of feelsy part.
But, at least now the explanation fer why Ryan seemed so calm about being lost in a strange new world in the first place is in the story proper now and just not explained in the comments section. Heh.
Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and I'll get to working on the next one...once I catch up on mah sleep a bit.

16th Harvest

Well, needless to say, things were pretty much back to normal after that when they returned to Ponyville although Ryan was still a little sore about the whole situation. He found out not too long after that Luna discovered the truth and so was quite apologetic. In fact, she made it a point to explain things to the others and well, they felt pretty bad about ganging up on the poor guy. They all did their best to try and apologize for what had happened in their own ways and Ryan, being Ryan, was eventually worn down by all the attempts and finally forgave them. After all, he figured, it was one hell of a memory to have and actually pretty fun as well save for the whole part where the girls had their...vengeance. As it was he was currently helping AppleJack clean up their home for the holidays.

"...are ya sure yer okay there Apple Ryder? Yer sweatin' quite a bit."

Ryan waved off Apps concern, keeping focused on cleaning, "I've just been moving a lot; we have been doing a lot of cleaning after all so the house looks perfect for Hearth's Warming Eve."

"Ah know that but..." She lifted the couch so he could clean under it, "Aren't ya working a bit hard?"

"Well, with Granny and Big Mac off in Manehattan to check on yer aunt after that awful accident she had, I kind of wanna make it nice for when they get back."

AppleJack nodded, "Ah know that...ah wish AppleBloom hadn't run off to play with her friends though."

"Oh it's fine." Ryan swept up the last bit of crumbs before dumping them into the trash can, "She's young so let her have her fun...one day she'll be grown up and not be able to enjoy being a kid."

Heading into the kitchen, the two of them got to work finishing up the few dishes that needed washed; after that they decided to break for a late lunch and go pick up a few supplies in town. Grabbing a quick shower and getting cleaned up, the two bundled up and headed out into the cold at their usual pace. Deciding on some warm soup and a sandwich they stopped by the cafe for lunch, watching the hustle and bustle of ponies running through the snow, no doubt readying for their own Hearth's Warming celebrations. Running into the CMC's trying to get their cutie marks in...what was it again they had told them? Oh yes, trying to make the Biggest Ryan Sandwich in existence. Watching as they ran off towards Sugarcube Corner to no doubt enlist the help of a certain pink pony Ryan sighed before laughing, "Those three are just precious."

"Ah suppose they are...but are ya sure yer okay?" AppleJack frowned, "Yer sweating again like before."

"Of course I'm fine...a little tired but...." He began to feel off as they walked, swaying in his steps, "Okay, maybe somethin' doesn't feel exactly right with me."

AppleJack watched as he swayed a bit before falling on to the snowy ground, "Apple Ryder!" She placed her forehead against his, "He's burnin' up! Tarnation! Why didn't he say anything!?"

Doing her best to lift him on to her back, she began walking towards the hospital hoping that it wasn't something serious.

"Mmmmmm?" Ryan grumbled, his whole body feeling quite achy, "Where...."

Slowly opening his eyes, he could tell from his surroundings that he was back at the farm and laying in the bed he and Apps shared. Turning his head slightly he could see somepony sitting there in the dark, "Who's there?"

The figure jumped before walking over, "Apple Ryder! Yer up!"

"Apps? Ugh...what happend? I feel like shit...."

AppleJack gently ran a hoof over his forehead, "Ya fainted and scared the pony feathers out of me darlin'. I got ya to the hospital as fast as I could. Twilight happened by to lend a hoof but thankfully it doesn't seem like anything too major from what the Doctor told us." She took the damp cloth from his forehead before feeling it, "Good, yer fever broke; anyway, it seems ya caught a little bug of some kind."

"...so basically I got the flu." Ryan sighed, "At least that explains all the aches and pains...sorry ta worry ya hon. Any idea how long I'll be incapacitated for?"

"Well, thankfully they've been studying up on human anatomy thanks to Dark's sweetie pie, so it seems the flu doesn't affect ya too differently from us ponies. That being said though, even with a bit of magic to help accelerate the healing, you'll still be sick for a few days. Oh, and he gave me some kind of medicine for ya to take too." She motioned towards a bottle on the nightstand, "Nurse Redheart told me to warn ya it tastes awful but that ya better take it or she'll march right down to Sweet Apple Acres and make sure yer doing as prescribed."

Ryan gulped before laughing nervously, "Yeah, that sounds like Redheart all right. But..."

He sniffed the air, "I smell something tasty cooking...and hear noises from downstairs. Who else is here?"

"Well, after we were done at the hospital Twilight headed off to research more about human illnesses leaving me to lug yer heavy self home big boy." She ran her hoof down his cheek before walking over to the door, "Ah didn't want AppleBloom catching whatever ya got since she's easily susceptible to colds so after I asked Rarity if she could stay over with her and Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash saw us walking and flew right down to see if'n you were alright. She, uh, offered to help out and went about making ya some hot soup fer your cold."

"Dashie cooking..."—he smirked—"Heh, she really is a sweet gal isn't she?"

"Yeah..." AppleJack giggled quietly, "But I wouldn't go telling her that too much unless ya wanna end up making her blush."

"...you say that as if...I have a problem doing that." Ryan chuckled into a cough, "Ugh..."

"Now ya relax and I'll go see how it's coming; anything else ya want Ry-Ry?"

"...mmm, maybe some apple juice?"

"Sure thing darlin'."

Rainbow Dash was panicking just a bit, trying to figure out what possessed her to decide to make some soup for Ryan; while she wasn't an awful cook by any means, she hadn't ever made something like this from scratch before so she was worried that it wasn't going to turn out perfect. Considering who she was making it for, she had to make it perfect, "I have to help make him feel better." She turned when she heard hoof steps coming down the stairs, "AJ?"

"Yep. It's me. Ryan's awake finally but he looks awful. Heh, he's sure not letting it seem like he is though."

Rainbow nodded before testing the soup again, "Hmmm, not too bad...I hope he likes it."

"Ahm sure he will; he already seemed to appreciate the fact yer making it for him."

Rainbow Dash merely blushed before finishing her mixing and getting a bowl out for him, "I, uh, made some extra in case you wanted some AJ. And that way there's some for later...if he wants it I mean."

AppleJack could only smile, her friend's feelings for Ryan still way too obvious. Still, she knew Rainbow would never do something that would lead to them all ending up in heartbreak. Besides, she knew Ryan was certainly faithful to her, the multitude of times she and her friends had group snuggled with him had shown that much.

'Heh, I guess Dark kind of gets his wish since it's like having a harem but Ryan only gets his sexy time with me.' AppleJack shook her head at her thoughts, 'Tarnation, what's wrong with me? If'n I didn't know any better, I'd say Dark is starting to infect mah thoughts.'

"Uhm...AJ? You okay?"

"Huh? Yeah! I'm fine!"

"Are you sure? You seemed to be lost in thought."

"Oh that! I...I was just thinking about...apples?"

Giving a shrug, Rainbow decided not to press the issue and so carefully balanced the tray she had as she headed upstairs. Walking into his room, she saw he was sitting up now and so sat the tray in his lap.

"Hey Dashie...oh man." Ryan licked his lips, "That soup smells amazing."

"Oh it-it's nothing! Just...just an old recipe that my...my mom used to make for me when I was sick." Rainbow Dash's cheeks flushed as she stared at Ryan, "I'm sure it's not that great...I never could get it to be as good as when she'd make it."

Downstairs, AppleJack taste-tested the soup Dashie had made and coughed a bit at how oddly spicy it was, "Tarnation...what's in this?"

Looking over the items strewn out there she saw a bottle of crushed cayenne pepper sitting there before blinking and wondering just how that was going to affect poor Ryan. Upstairs Ryan smiled before lifting a spoonful up to his mouth and savoring it. He immediately noticed the spiciness but with Rainbow Dash looking at him so expectantly he smiled before sighing, "I don't know why yer knocking yer own cookin' when this soup is mighty tasty."

Rainbow Dash held her cheek, "Really? I'm so happy to hear that...I mean, ya know...cause that means somepony else besides me likes my cooking."

Sniffling as the spiciness made his nose run, he continued eating the soup all the while noting that, despite being spicier than he'd like, it was still pretty darn tasty and the noodles were perfectly cooked. While he did find it a bit odd that Dashie just watched him eat, he didn't seemed too bothered by it. After all, he knew she still liked him and of course being his friend meant she wanted to make sure he was doing okay being sick like he was.

'Yer overthinking things Ryan...'

Ignoring his other self, he finished the bowl and smirked before patting his stomach, "Mmmm, I think that's just what mah tummy needed."

"Really? Good, good. Is there...anything else I can get ya?"

Glancing around Ryan nodded, "Some tissues would be nice...I'm kind of going through them really fast. Kinda gross I know but..."

Rainbow simply shook a hoof at him before grabbing his empty bowl, "Nonsense! Being sick is like that so it's no biggie. I'm not sure what's keeping AJ though...she said she was going to get your apple juice and then she never showed up. Strange. I better see what's keeping her."

With that Ryan was alone again—well, more or lesss seeing as Dark is always bouncing about his noggin—with his thoughts but he was pretty sure why Apps hadn't come up, "That apple of mine, always so nice to her friends."

'Whatcha talkin'......ACHOO! Sorry...whatcha talking about Ryan?'

Ryan smirked, "Heh...didn't know you could get sick too."

'Only when you are oh host of mine. Sheesh...'

"Anyway, I mean she gave Dashie time with me so she could feel like she's helping me feel better and such." Ryan sniffled before blowing his nose, "That soup was spicy...but it's actually kind of helpin'."—he flopped back into a sleeping position—"Some rest will probably help too."

'...what about yer apple juice?'

"Mmm...well...I won't fall asleep till then..." Ryan closed his eyes anyway, the fatigue from the cold getting to him.

Of course, when AppleJack finally did come back up there with his drink she noticed he was completely passed out and snoring away. Smirking she placed it on the nightstand so he'd have it for later before kissing his cheek and heading back downstairs. Rainbow Dash—having just put away the rest of the soup—saw her walk back in, "That didn't take long."

"Oh, he's asleep now. Sounds like somepony's cuttin' down the Everfree forest with how he's snorin'."

"Hahaha, he does get a little loud sometimes doesn't he?" Rainbow rinsed the pot clean and sat it to dry before joining AppleJack at the table, "I guess my soup really did help him huh?"

"Sure enough sugarcube. I knew it would though." AppleJack smirked, "After all, what stallion doesn't like a cute girl making him food?"

Rainbow Dash coughed, glaring at her as a blush creeped along her face, "Gah! AJ!"

AppleJack simply laughed before patting her friend on the back, "Oh relax Dash. Ya gotta admit though, it is pretty amusing to see you all blushie and stuff."

"...I guess. I just...don't normally do stuff like that, ya know?" Rainbow Dash shrugged before smiling, "At least...I didn't until Ryan showed up."

"He certainly knows how ta push a mare's buttons doesn't he? But then again, with how that Darkness fellah is it's no wonder he acts so smooth."

Rainbow Dash snickered, shaking her head at such a thing, "So that's what counts as smooth these days huh? I always thought he was just being a goofy goober."

"A goofy goober you and I both love sugarcube."

"Yeah, that's the tr—hey!" Rainbow blushed again, "Teasing me again like that! It's not fair!"

"Aw, Rainbow Dash...ya know I only do it because yer mah best friend." AppleJack thought for a moment, "Well, Ah mean the six of us are all best friends but you and I have always had that friendly rivalry thing going on that the others don't."

Rainbow Dash tapped her forehooves together and nodded, leaning on the table, "I know that...it's just—"She heaved a hefty sigh"—it's like having your favorite snack or something and you can hold it, talk to it, touch it, but you can't eat it. You just have it dangled teasingly in front of your face knowing you can't ever have it...but your friend can. And your happy for your friend, you truly are, but a small part of you will always ache because you can't have what your friend does even though your heart really wants it."

AppleJack frowned at her metaphor; while she knew that Rainbow Dash's feelings for Ryan never truly went away—even though they had apparently talked things out back at the beach—she had no idea they were still this strong. A thought like that hurt simply because AppleJack always wanted to do what she could to make her friends and loved ones happy and with something like this eating at Rainbow's heart so much she wanted to do something but wasn't sure what she could all things considered.

"I guess I can see what yer gettin' at sugarcube. I mean, we're all pretty friendly with Ryan. Ah can't count how many times we've all ended up in a group snuggle or something like that since he showed up, so it's clear we're all sweet on him to some degree. And there is all the teasing..." AppleJack closed her eyes, tapping her hooves in thought before opening them and staring at Rainbow, "Ah suppose given all that, there's one suggestion Ah can think of that wouldn't be too far-fetched and would make everypony happy..."

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash blinked before raising an eyebrow, "And what might that be AJ?"

"Simply put, I just let us become his harem."

If Rainbow had been drinking something, it would have more than likely been sprayed all across the table at this point she was so caught off-guard by the very straight-forward way AppleJack had suggested that. She looked at her friend, "Okay AJ, funny...funny joke and all. I already made that suggestion to him and Ryan said some things I didn't quite understand...about how doing that would just eventually hurt somepony's feelings."

"Well Ah can see that, Ry's not one to mess with a mare's feelings willy-nilly." AppleJack shrugged before laughing, "As I said, it's the only solution that comes to mind that's not completely out of the realm of possibility."

"I don't know...it's a touchy subject; he really does seem to be at his happiest when he's surrounded by all of us though. At least, that's what I've noticed like at Pinkie's party or at the hotel after we all had a bit too much fun at the club. Although it's no secret how much he really does love you AJ: you're the top pick for him. He'd probably go to Tartarus itself and back if it meant protecting you." Rainbow Dash huffed, before rubbing her hoof over the table-top, "I don't know...maybe ya should just ask him how he'd feel about that? I mean, with how friendly we all are anyway, it's not that big of a stretch. Although, he did say that in his world people didn't really do that kind of thing...it was looked down upon."

"Ah do recall him mentioning something about that once a long time ago when I asked him about how relationships worked on his Earth but...we aren't on his Earth." AppleJack chuckled, shaking her head, "Knowing Ry-Ry though, he would be worried about somepony feeling neglected seeing as he'd have to potentially split himself six ways...."

"Haha, yeah, he'd probably be more tired than you were that one apple bucking season when ya refused any help." Rainbow Dash smirked, "I bet Dark wouldn't mind though!"

AppleJack laughed loudly at that, slapping her thigh, "I reckon that's true enough; that fellah certainly likes the mares...though not as much as getting attention from them."

The two friends shared quite a laugh at that one, feeling the tension from their conversation fade away amongst their giggling. Looking up at the clock and seeing how late it had gotten from all their talking, Rainbow stretched before yawning, "Hey AJ...ya don't mind me crashing here tonight do you? I don't really feel like flying back home in that snow..."

"There's plenty of room so heck no, Ah don't mind. Besides, with Apple Ryder sick and the family out of town it's a bit too quiet here." AppleJack motioned up the stairs, leading Rainbow to the guest room, "As for what we talked about..."

"I know, I know...I should just forg—"

"Maybe we should wait till he's not sick for me to ask his thoughts on the matter...at the very least that is."

"...so you were serious?"

"Well, Ah just don't like mah friends being sad and such...especially if I can do something to help. Ah know it ain't all that common but...well, maybe if'n he can warm up to the idea just a little I can help make ya happy too sugarcube. If all else, it'll just stay how it is with us being really close friends and such."

"Heh...well, that wouldn't be all that bad either. You don't have to do it if you don't want to AJ but...Thanks." Rainbow gave a short nod and smiled, "Good night."

"Good night Dash."

With that the two parted ways, Rainbow Dash collapsing into the guest bed but unable to sleep, her mind swimming with thoughts from the conversation she'd had with AppleJack. As for Apps, she checked in on Ryan real quick to see he was still sleeping peacefully. Content he'd be okay for now, she grabbed a pillow before getting settled in the sleeping bag she'd placed on the floor. Ryan's snoring made it only slightly hard to fall asleep, but her thoughts about actually asking him about what she and Rainbow Dash had talked about once he was better impacted her more. She loved Ryan, she was pretty sure of that fact by now...but could she share him with the others in a role more than as a friend? She did love her friends, and her Ry-Ry did seem happy when surrounded with all of them...but she knew he was very loyal—with all the situations he'd ended up in with the others he'd certainly proved that—and would see something like that as not being faithful to the one he cared for above all else: her. Still, could she share him with just one other? With Rainbow?

'........Eeeeeemaybe.' She thought as she felt herself getting sleepy at last, 'I always have been closer to her than any of mah other friends...ugh, this is so confusin' and head-hurtin'. Ah just want mah friend to be happy too...is that too much to ask?'

With those thoughts plaguing her mind, she finally drifted into a, thankfully, peaceful slumber.

Two days had come and gone and Ryan was feeling...not a hundred percent but certainly better than he had been. He still had some aches and pains from the remnants of the cold, but at least he wasn't making tissue mountains anymore. As it was he was still having to take that awful medicine and good heavens did it taste foul. He idly wondered if he could place just what it tasted like and the only thing he and Dark could come up with was so horrifying he swore to never share it with anyone...including the audience.

Stretching, he opened his eyes and yawned at yet another morning on the farm as the scent of breakfast drifted in the air, "Mmmm...that smells good."

Getting out of bed and shuffling downstairs, he saw Apps and Dashie finishing up breakfast before they both turned to him, "Good morning Ry!"

"Good morning you two..." Ryan sniffled a bit, sitting down in a chair before sighing, "That medicine is the worst thing in the world...damn if it doesn't work but bleck! Anyway, what's for breakfast today?"

"Apple pancakes and scrambled eggs!" AppleJack placed his dish in front of him, "Gotta get that energy of yers up if you're ever gonna beat that cold!"

"Well, I figure I've got about a day left till I'm fully back on mah feet but I can't lay in bed another day. Three days straight is plenty." He dug into his meal once they were seated as well, "I mean, don't get me wrong, having Dashie read me the newest Daring Do book wasn't a bad way to spend it at all but..."

"You want to spread your wings and fly?"

Ryan chuckled, "Something like that Dashie-kins..."

Rainbow Dash smiled before looking at AppleJack over and over as if she expected her to ask him something.

"So seeing as yer feeling much better...uhm..."

Ryan looked to see AppleJack looking a little lost for words as he finished his eggs, "Yeah...I'm feeling much better for the most part. Somethin' on yer mind?"

"Well, ya see, that first night you were sick I had a nice discussion with Dash here about something...something I'm not sure how you might react to." AppleJack noted she had his full attention, "See...ya know how Ah like making mah friends happy no matter what it takes right?"

"Yes..."

"And well, it's no surprise that yer always happy around all of us right?"

At this Ryan sat down his fork, his eyebrow slowly raising, "Yes...again."

"And it's no secret we're all kind of sweet on ya to varying degrees...something which ya certainly return..."

"...Apps? Where are ya going with this?"

AppleJack steeled herself before looking Ryan dead in the eyes, "Would ya be willing ta open up to the idea of possibly seeing Rainbow and the other gals as more then friends if they were interested in it?"

"...you mean like best friends? Ah thought we already were, given that personal space issues really don't seem to matter between us. I mean, sheesh, it doesn't take much for us to get all cuddly and stuff...we just need hijinx and then it kind of happens."

"No...Ah meant more like how Ah am to you; i.e. as a marefriend."

Ryan picked the worst possible time to drink his juice, spraying it across the table and right into poor AppleJack's face at how his mind had been sucker-punched by such a thought. He shook his head before staring at the two mares in front of him, "Ah...ah must be still sick or something; this has to be a fever dream. Did mah sweet Apps just say she'd be okay if somepony else was mah marefriend as well?"—He shook his head violently—"No, I must be asleep still...although I feel kind of woozy now. Oh my...."

Apparently his cold still had enough of a hold on him that his over the top head shaking was too much as he swayed a bit before falling out of his chair.

"Ry-Ry!"

"Ryan!"

Ryan was somewhat aware of being somewhere soft as he woke up, "Oh man...what a weird dream. I dreamt Apps was okay with our friends being mah harem or something pants-on-head crazy like that and then I..."

He paused, noting both of his sides felt rather warm. Opening his eyes and taking a quick glance he sure enough saw both AppleJack and Rainbow Dash curled up next to him. His pupils shrank when he realized that it had not been a dream brought on by his cold and that made him wonder how weird things were going to get.

'I don't see how it's weird...wouldn't any guy be happy that so many lovely mares wish to give him such loving attention?'

'Dark! You would be happy about this...as much as you go on about being Lunes' knight, I've seen how she and Cellie act sometimes when ya make comments.'

'...are you insinuating I might have enjoyed the power of the sun as well? Such accusations...'

'And yet ya aren't denying them...oh well. Y'all were happy so who cares? But still...'

Ryan took another look at the two ponies snuggled up to him —a foreleg from each draped over his chest as they lay there—and sighed, "Man, the situations Ah get mahself into. It's hard being this sexy."

'That's what I keep trying to tell you!'

"Shut up Dark...yer not helpin'."

'Look, ya can either get all flustered—partially from being shy and partially from yer way of thinking—or you can relax, realize things are different here, have fun, and wake those two up with some tummy rubs.'

Ryan sighed, knowing Dark had a point—albeit skewed due to who he was—and so it was that he carefully lifted his hands upwards just enough to start caressing their tummies. A small smile drifted across his features as he heard them coo softly in their sleep before hugging to him tighter as he continued his caressing. Eventually the two of the yawned before opening their eyes and looking up at Ryan, "Heh, hello."

"Howdy ladies. So...that discussion happened, right?"

AppleJack and Rainbow Dash looked at each before looking back to Ryan and nodding.

Ryan sighed and shook his head, "I already told Dashie why it doesn't sit well with mah mind..."

"I know that!" AppleJack butted in, "But...we're not asking fer much. Ah mean, I do love ya and such, and I know Dash does too...I just wanna make her as happy as ya made me."

'Dude, go for it! It'll work out...trust me!'

Ryan rolled his eyes, "Dark, Ah told ya yer not helpin'. Apps honey, even if I don't think on the fact that something like that ain't exactly normal back from where I'm from and just go with how things are here—because, let's face it, I'm not there and won't ever be again—that still leave mah mind with many a thought. Yet when yer asking this, it almost seems ta me that somethin' like that isn't all that uncommon...but not often seen."

"...I did tell you that you big dummy." Rainbow Dash huffed, nuzzling his chest, "Do you really have that many hang-ups with it?"

"Well it's just that...there's so many issues with something like that: favoritism, worrying about giving everyone a fair share of time, making sure no one feels left out, jealousy issues is a big one...and well...even though I don't really worry about what others think of me too much, there is the simple fact of how would others perceive y'all. Pretty much the general issues of ensuring everypony's happiness." Ryan shook his head, "The first one is already a problem because, well, if ya put a gun to mah head..."

"...what's a gun?"

"Don't ya remember Dash? He said it's like a cannon that's handheld and rather deadly."

"Ooooh! Right...so basically if someone threatened to kill you?"

"Yeah, something like that...if they did, my answer would be Apps. Ah mean, shoot, it's no surprise I..I like me some apples. And, ya know, that I fell in love with her as hard as I did."

"Look Ry-Ry, we ain't sayin' ya gotta do anything. You can just have things stay the same as they are, with me as yer marefriend and Dash and the others as just really close friends but..."

"When put in this position, most guys would probably be jumping fer joy if they didn't have any kind of morals...I can't say that with how lovey-dovey we all get anyway that it's that big of a jump but..." Ryan huffed, gently caressing their manes to calm his thoughts, "Part of it is Ah want ya to find the guy that makes ya happy, that ya can start a...a family with. And if I went along with what y'all propose, then I'd be denying you that chance to find that special somepony meant fer you."

"...and much like I told you way back then Ryan, how do you know you aren't mine too? Even after that talk my feelings haven't faded..." Rainbow bit her bottom lip, "If anything...they've actually gotten stronger."

"Dashie, I...."

"Ryan." AppleJack looked into his eyes, "Ya do realize that the stallion ta mare ratio in our world is heavily skewed towards the mare side right?"

"...yeah but I don't..."

"Which means that in the grand scheme of things, Ah'm not really sure it'll matter all that much if one stallion were to have one or two or three or...any number of marefriends as long as he truly loved all of them, wanted to protect them, and that they were happy together."

"...okay, yer logic has some merit to it but still I..."

"Just...just think about it okay?" AppleJack kissed his cheek before nuzzling against him, "Even if...if ya aren't fully for it, maybe ya could just make a simple exception so mah best friend Dash can feel the same happiness ya give me."

Ryan felt his heart tighten at those words: whether it was the cold, Apps' words, or the look on their faces that caused it he didn't know. Probably all three he idly figured before he wrapped his arms around them and closed his eyes, "I still feel too sick to think on this properly at the moment...let's just get some rest for now ladies."

Rainbow Dash nodded, figuring that was the best she could hope for at the moment as she closed her eyes, squeeing softly as she felt Ryan kiss the top of her head and then AppleJack's, "...thanks big guy."

"Yeah, yeah...now shhhh. Sleep time..."

The next few days passed rather uneventfully allowing Ryan to get healthy again and just in time too. He and his friends were to be heading to Canterlot so that he could finally see the story of Hearth's Warming Eve played out...and by his friends at that from the sound of things. He glanced at the two ponies walking with him towards Twilight's house before speaking up, "So...y'all did such a good job last year they're havin' ya reprise your roles again?"

"Yep! I was so awesome it's no surprise!"

AppleJack snickered, "Yeah...that must be it."

"Hey!" Rainbow narrowed her eyes, about ready to make some smart-ass reply until she felt someone scratching her ears, "...not fair Ryan."

"Who said I had to be fair?"

'...I'm surprised at how well you've adapted Ryan.'

Ryan grumbled, rolling his eyes in the process, "Dark, when ya say things like that, it's gonna give people ideas."

'Hey! I'm not the one considerin' having a Zap-apple combo here.'

"...Zap-apple...combo?" Ryan took a moment to think that over before his cheeks flushed, "Dammit Dark!"

Rainbow and AppleJack looked at each other and snickered before nuzzling Ryan's sides to calm him down. Taking a deep breath he grinned, "No, ya know what? I'm not gonna let ya fluster me Dark! Today's gonna be a fun day after all! Besides...we're gettin' to see yer princesses."

'...and...s-so...'

"Just so ya ladies know, he's the one blushin' now." Ryan laughed warmly into a sigh, "...he has a point though...the thought of it being this way is still a little..."

"Weird?"

"Yeah Apps...not like bad weird but...different. Unusual, even if I'm reasoning that things like this fly here it still leaves me a little muddled mentally. Though...I can only wonder what the others might say." He looked at them sternly, "Which is why unless they notice, we won't make any notes about it."

Rainbow Dash looked up at him and smirked, "I'm pretty sure they're gonna say something if I up and smooch ya big guy."

'Ha! She's got ya there Ryan!'

"Ah swear yer enjoying this way too much Dark."

Now paying attention to where they'd been walking he was surprised to find they were already at Twilight's house and so he knocked on her door...only to have it slam into his face.

"...really? Really? I thought we'd moved passed this joke?"

"Oh gosh I'm so sorry Ryan!" Twilight helped him to his feet, dusting the snow off of him with her magic, "...you really do have an affinity for greeting the ground don't you?"

"Ugh...that's one way to put it. So...are we the first one's here?" Ryan walked in with the others to see Spike going over something, "What's that little buddy?"

"Oh, just instructions for where we're supposed to poof so we don't have another...incident again."

"Good!"

"Anyway Ryan, the others should be on their way..." Twilight eyed the three oddly, "Strange that you arrived together."

"...why is that strange Twi?"

"Other than Rainbow's house being in the opposite direction of the farm you mean?"

"Oh well, ya see...I was just helping! Yes, helping since Ryan was sick and so I've been staying over at the farm."

Ryan nodded, "That's right! Dashie's simply been a dear with all the help she's given...and yet she still keeps the weather on schedule. That's our twenty percent cooler rainbow mare for ya."

AppleJack's eyes darted back and forth, "So see, Twi? Nothing weird at all! Nope!"

Spike snickered before looking at them, "...you do realize that's a terrible poker face right?"

"No it's not Spike!" AppleJack looked left and right again.

Ryan sighed, face-palming at how poorly Apps was doing in deflecting suspicion. Rainbow Dash did the same before looking at Twilight who was tapping her chin in thought, "I don't know what you're thinking Twilight but..."

Twilight snickered before laughing, "Oh goodness me...doing some...experimenting are we?"

Ryan about coughed up his heart at that one, his face going pale that she had so easily read the situation. He wanted to make a reply, to deny it for some dumb reason, but he knew he couldn't.

"Oh sweet Celestia...all that joking, all the teasing, all the nonexistent boundaries we have with one another...they finally broke you down, Ryan. This is most exciting!" Twilight's face slipped into a huge grin, "Although...I can imagine Dark had a hand in this. He was the one to take notice of your apparent harem."

'...I maintain my plea of innocence...'

"Uhm Twi...ah think ya better lay off the teasing just a bit."

Twilight looked at AppleJack and pouted, "Why? This is fun...not to mention I love experimenting so I find it a delightful development!"

There was a loud thud before they all turned to see that Ryan had collapsed from all of it and was now sprawled out in a heap on the floor. AppleJack patted his cheek while Rainbow fanned him with her wing as they tried to bring him around.

"Hmmm...I see he's not fully adjusted to it yet. Maybe I should hold off just a bit." Twilight laughed sheepishly, "...we can still do that group snuggle thing right?"

Ryan grumbled as he slowly came to and glanced at Twilight, "Yes Purple Horse, we can still make the cuddle puddle without any problems. Just don't go kissin' me out of nowhere...that might cause issues. Oh mah head....what is this floor made of?"

Without missing a beat, Spike rolled his eyes before smirking, "It's made of wood. It's a tree after all Ryan. Sheesh..."

'Wow! Spike is getting his humor timing down pat. I don't even remember training him in that!'

"Everypony just shhhh...my head is killing me now. I guess that's what happens when one manages to accidentally a harem..."

"Man...that's not fair at all!" Spike huffed as he crossed his arms, "I can't even get one to like me and you've got two...three...who knows how many? You're probably going to get Rarity too aren't you? Ugh...although...I have noticed that she kind of takes advantage of my crush on her sometimes. Maybe it's just not meant to be with her..."

Ryan—now a bit more back to full awareness—turned to his little brother and frowned, "It's not like I meant for this stuff to happen...it's kind of just gotten crazy since that...that night. But hey, Spike, yer still a kid. Ya should enjoy that while you have the time to! You'll be grown up before ya know it, and then life changes so make the most of being young."

Spike tapped his foot before smiling, "Maybe you're right Ryan. I should be eating ice cream till I get sick and playing in the mud and all those other things fillies and colts my age do."

"That's the spirit! Just don't forget to include time to train with yer big bro or getting into hijinx with him!"

"Yeah! Or to make sure Twilight doesn't go insane with her obsessing!"

"Yeah...wait." Twilight sighed before glaring at her little brother, "Thanks Spike."

"Oh lighten up T-Sparks." Ryan chuckled, patting her on the shoulder, "Anyway, I should've figured you'd be all chill about this since yer a pretty logical gal."

"Well, given the ratio of stallions to mares, it only stands to reason that situations like this might happen." Twilight went into book mode pretty quick, "In fact, in times of dire need, this has been enacted in order to help keep the population going. Granted, with you being human this is a more unique case but I can't say it doesn't call out to my scientific curiosity."

"...clearly the benefit of being male in a mostly female society is that you are considered highly prized." Ryan struck a silly pose, "It's a tough job...but I suppose I shall just have to cope with mah own awesomeness."

Nudging him rather hard, AppleJack shook her head and snickered, "Careful there...Dash's ego is rubbing off on ya."

'I bet that's not all she wishes rubbed off, eh?'

At that all those in the room immediately blushed before shouting in unison, "Dammit Dark!"

'That's my name~!'

"Seriously though, T-Sparks...don't...don't mention the uh, the shift in status to anypony else. If they figure it out on their own, that's fine; we'll handle it as that happens but..."

"...it'll be hard not to tease you, being our human and all, but that's okay. I promise."

"Thanks."

Mercifully, the others soon showed up and with them all prepared—and focused this time, cough, cough, Twilight—they were soon whisked away to Canterlot where they appeared in the garden this time without incident. Two royal guards, having been waiting for their arrival, led them to the grand ballroom where the stage had been set up and ponies a plenty were already filing in to their places. Giving a wave to the gals as they headed backstage to get ready, Ryan looked for somewhere to sit and was surprised to see Luna waving him over. Laughing at her energetic reply, he headed over and took a seat next to her and her sister, "Ladies, always a pleasure to see ya. Although..."—he glanced at Celestia—"are ya alright Cellie? Yer lookin' a little tired."

Luna chuckled, playfully nudging him, "Oh it is your doing Ryan; that wonderful device you gave me as a gift. That videogame system you came up with is just simply delightful...and so many cartridges to play as well. Oh I never would have known of such a wonderful way to pass the time if you hadn't given me that."—at this she took him in a big hug—"It is a most wonderful Hearth's Warming present."

Ryan merely chuckled, returning her hug before smirking at Celestia who simply glared at him with tired eyes, "Oh is that so? So I assume that you've been getting Cellie here to play multiplayer with you?"

"Oh of course! It does take away from her sleep somewhat but I simply must have some, what did you call it? Ah! Co-op play! Especially those ones where you're an unknown soldier, going forth to fight against horrible creatures from beyond."

"Really?" Ryan was genuinely surprised, "I never took you to be a fan of side-scrolling shooters."

"Oh but they're so much fun! So very hard but rewarding! And then that one game...you called it a platformer? With the mares in overalls?"

"Super Mareio Sisters?"

"Yes! That one is truly when the fun is doubled! I only wish my dear sister and I could play that one together." Luna leaned in close to him, "Do you think it is possible you and Twilight Sparkle could make something like that?"

All too aware of the daggers being shot his way from Celestia, he grinned widely, "For you Lunes, sure! I'll see what we can cook up."

"I'm so excited now!" Luna clapped her hooves together happily, "I cannot wait; clearly we must work on our skills then sister."

Celestia sighed, rolling her eyes, "As if I was not tired enough as it were..."

"Problem Princess?"

Celestia narrowed her eyes before leaning down and whispering, "I know this is your revenge for what happened..."

"I don't know quite what yer talkin' about Cellie." Ryan shrugged his shoulder before putting on a smug grin, "Just remember mah dear Princess of the Sun: payback isn't always a bitch..."

'...sometimes it's just a creative bastard!'

Before Celestia could come up with any kind of reply, the music started up and the curtain rose indicating the start of the pageant.

For Dark it was curious to behold the interpretation of Hearth's Warming Eve that had become the norm since long ago, watching the others play as ponies that he remembered and knew thanks to his old mentor. Ryan felt a little concerned as he noted the sadness his other self felt.

"Ryan, are you alright?"

Ryan had made a move to respond when he noted that tears had fallen down his cheek. Apparently the memory of his past friends was affecting poor Darkness hard enough to make him cry.

"I'm okay Cellie but Darkness he..."

"Ah, I understand."

Wiping them away as the play came to an end, he clapped along with the others, '...are you okay bro?'

He heard him sniffle for a bit, '...yeah, I'll be fine. I just miss them is all...I guess I just didn't realize how much till now. Heh, goes to show how good you and our ladies are at keepin' me distracted with those shenanigans of ours.'

Ryan simply laughed at his mental companion's silliness as Apps and the others took their bow to thunderous applause. As the curtain dropped, everypony slowly shuffled out while Ryan and the Princesses made their way backstage to go see their friends after their well-done performance. Walking backstage, he made his way over to them, "Y'all were fantastic. Heh, ya even brought Darky to tears!"

'Hey!'

"Awwww, Darky-Warky was that touched by our acting huh?" Pinkie hopped up on Ryan's shoulders and nuzzled the top of his head, "That's just super-duper!"

'...Pinkie...heh, thanks.'

Continuing on as if he didn't have a hyper pink pony latched on to his upper body, Ryan made small talk with the others, making a point to give Apps and Dashie some extra special attention when no one else was looking...well technically Pinkie was still on his shoulders but given remarks she'd made in the past, he didn't think it was a problem. Unaware that the storm clouds outside were really whipping up something fierce, the group talked and had a few laughs as they helped clean up and put away the costumes and props before going to leave...and noticing that they could barely see a few inches in front of them.

"Well that's not a problem. We poofed here right?" Rainbow Dash looked at Ryan and Twilight, "So a heavy blizzard was scheduled today and we totally didn't know that...so what?"

"Eh...I don't know. T-Sparks has told me that sometimes when the weather is like this it can interfere with a spell." Ryan shook his head and shrugged, "The last thing we need is for us to teleport and end up stuck in the middle of the storm somewhere...or over an ice cold lake...or—"

"Alright, alright! I hear ya...sheesh." Rainbow groaned, "So I guess we're spending the night then..."

Ryan smirked and glanced at Lunes and Cellie, "Well...if our dear Princesses will have us. It does seem as if anytime we're here something...interesting happens."

"When have I ever not welcomed my favorite student and her friends and shown them hospitality?" Celestia asked, smirking at Ryan's suggestion.

"Well...there is the matter of trolling us but...Ah am willing to look passed that since it usually ends up being pretty fun." Ryan couldn't help but laugh, especially when Cellie stuck her tongue out at him, "So then...I think I have the best way we can enjoy each other's company. But we need a fireplace...and lots of cocoa!"

Spike shook his head before smirking at Ryan, "...things are going to get out of hand again aren't they?"

"Quite possibly little bro." He glanced at the girls, "Well...why ya just standing there?"

The gals looked at him curiously, wondering just what he had in mind, until Dark chimed in as well, 'You heard your human ladies! I might not have Pinkie Sense, but I can definitely feel snuggles in the future!'

"Chocolate and snuggles?! What are we waiting for then?!" Pinkie practically knocked over the others as she took off...before zipping back, "Uhm...where exactly is this taking place anyway?"

Like falling dominos, the others facepalmed/facehoofed in succession at her over anxious antics before Luna chuckled, "I will take care of the cocoa. My sister knows just which room to lead you to, so I will be with you shortly."

With the cocoa being made and the kitchen staff promising it would be delivered shortly, Luna made her way down a long hallway that ended in front of a rather big door. Placing a hoof on it to open it and join her sister and the others, she paused for a moment at hearing Ryan trying to explain something to them.

"So you stand like this...with your han—forehooves up by your head and then the dance is simply shaking back and forth by wagging yer bottom and bending yer hooves slightly as you twist back and forth."

Rainbow eyed him oddly, "Ryan I don't...how are you supposed to do this crazy thing?"

"It's pretty simple Dash. Look at me." AppleJack hopped into the pose and began shaking back and forth, "Like this Ryan?"

"Exactly! T-Sparks has got it down too!"

"...and this is some kind of song from your version of Hearth's Warming Eve?"

"Sort of Flutters..." Ryan flipped through his music player before pulling up a rather energetic song, "It wasn't originally but it got so popular they made a Christmas version."

"Well I'm game for anything new and silly like this so crank that beat!" Pinkie shook back and forth, "Time to shake those rumps!"

Snickering at her behavior, Ryan plugged it into a speaker before hitting play and joining the others, "This is going to be so amazin'."

"Ho-ho-ho. It's Christmastime Again~ Do dooooo, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah..."

"Go for it gals! Shake them bottoms!" Ryan began dancing the silly dance, shaking himself back and forth as he sang, "We wonder are you ready for Christmas Time, snow in the air and the stars will shine. Spread the light...for Santa cuz he's here tonight!"

Luna snickered as she cracked the door open further to watch the sight before her. She nearly lost her composure when she saw that even her sister had gotten roped into this little dance of Ryan's and it made her wish she had her camera as this was too perfect.

"Dance to the beat, wave yer hands together! Come feel the beat forever and forever! Listen and learn, it is time for prancing! Christmas is here with Caramelldansen!"

'Alright everypony! All together!'

"Ou-ou-owah-owah! Ou-ou-owah-owah-ah-oh! Ou-ou-owah-owah! Ou-ou-owah-owah-ah-oh!"

At that Luna could no longer hold back, slipping in with the others as the song continued with its high-energy beats and chimes of the holiday season. After an intense two minutes, the whole group had heard the chorus repeated enough to join Ryan and Dark for the final one, "Dance to the beat, wave yer hands together! Come feel the beat forever and forever! Listen and learn, it is time for prancing! Christmas is here with Caramelldansen!"

With a sigh everybody fell down where they stood, huffing and puffing after all that craziness. As it was Ryan laughed loudly before looking at everyone, "Seriously...of all the times I've heard that song and seen people react and dance to it, I can honestly say this was probably the most awesome and unique one by far. Honestly, how do ya top Caramelldansen with magical, talking ponies?"

'Short answer: Ya can't! I gotta admit though Ryan, that song has some hop to it!'

"Indeed, though I am quite tired after that." Celestia frowned, staring at her stomach, "...perhaps I should be eating less cake and working out more."

'Oh Tia, you're still as gorgeous as ever.'

"Charmer." Celestia laughed, rolling her eyes, "...but I'm sure being a little more physical wouldn't hurt. As for you dear sister, when did you join us?"

"Oh, about halfway through your little dance. I was watching for a while and it seemed too fun not to join in."

'That's my Woona for you!'

The group of friends all chuckled at that one before getting settled around the large fireplace, a bright and cozy fire already roaring within it. Shortly after that their cocoa was brought in, marshmallows a plenty floating within the chocolaty goodness. As fast as the staff showed up they left, leaving Dark to remark that some things never change. Ryan took a sip of his cocoa, sighing as he enjoyed the warmth as they listened to the blizzard outside roaring in contrast to the crackling flames.

'So...I have to say, the story didn't change too much when it was altered to omit humans huh?'

Celestia and Luna looked at Dark—well, Ryan but looking at him is looking at Dark—with small frowns.

'Ladies, ladies...it's okay. I understand why it all happened; it's just nice to see ya didn't change too much save for the last act.'

Twilight walked over towards Ryan before sitting in his lap, "Dark? Do you think you could tell us the real story? Of how Equestria was founded with the humans back then?"

Ryan smirked as he felt Twilight get settled before guiding his hand to her tummy. Giving a quiet laugh he got to work rubbing her tummy, smiling at the delighted sounds she began making.

'Well Twi, I don't see why not. Unless Woona or Tia wishes to.'

"I must admit, like many things from back then, I don't really recall how it truly went."

"My sister and I are alike in that then, so if you recall my dear Darkness then by all means please regale us with the true story."

Dark chuckled softly, 'Very well then. I do find humor in the fact that the one with the jumbled memory is the only one that fully remember this tale though.'

Everypony gathered around Ryan as Dark began his tale, 'I'm sure you're more than familiar with how the Earth, Pegasus, and Unicorn ponies all bickered and brought forth that awful blizzard yes? That part is true...as is the six representatives journey to find this land we now call home. That, however, is where things begin to change from what you've all been told. Indeed, their bickering did cause the Windigos to follow them from the frozen lands and this, my friends, is where the real story begins...'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<'The howling winds did little to cover the bickering of the three delegates as they pushed forth in the ever increasing blizzard...'>

"This is all your fault! I swear you must have brought that storm with you using your magic just to sabotage us!"

A stuffy looking unicorn, wearing an inordinate amount of purple, glared daggers at the pegasus decked out in battle armor, "I find your insinuation to be ghastly Commander! To think you would blame such an atrocious act on a refined unicorn such as myself."—she threw her hoof out—"If anything it's that awful Puddinghead's fault. It's clearly a sign that Earth ponies aren't worthy of this new land."

"What?!" A pony wearing what for all purposes was a bowl of pudding for a hat growled in response, "Are you trying to say something Platinum? Huh? Huh? How do we know it's not the Pegasi that are doing this? They control the weather after all!"

"That's Princess Platinum to you!"

And so on and so forth it went, back and forth as the cold only grew worse and no sign of shelter was forthcoming. Their advisors merely shared worried looks but had long since given up any attempt to keep them from arguing. Even Princess Platinum's advisor discovering that this blizzard was unnatural and caused by the Windigos did little to help as she couldn't get a word in edgewise. While they continued on, it began to become even harder for them to move and so even their bickering slowed. The snow began closing in, becoming too thick to properly see through, and when they could go no further they collapsed there as the snow slowly built up around them. As their eyes slowly closed, Puddinghead's secretary—an earth pony known as Smart Cookie—swore she could see some kind of light in the distance. Summoning what strength she had left she called out towards it, "H-help y-y'all....please....help!"

And with that declaration she collapsed like the others, trying her best to keep her eyes open in case whatever that light turned out to be was helpful. Her vision blurring, she could make out the light coming closer and, with it, the strangest looking creature she'd ever seen, "What...in...the hay?"

<"Oh, oh, oh!" Pinkie piped up from her current position in Ryan's lap as they had each been taking a turn while Dark talked, "Is that a human?! Is she seeing a human?!>

<'Ryan? If you would...'>

<"Way ahead of ya bro." Ryan chuckled before scratching that one spot on Pinkie's tummy that just melted her, "Aw, delighted silent purring...ya may continue.">

<'Right! Now...where was I? Oh, yes!'>

A young woman—somewhere in her mid-twenties—tightened her jacket some as she had been checking the outskirts of her family's farm. Ever since this blizzard had whipped out from seemingly nowhere they had wanted to make sure all of their livestock was accounted for. As she had finished up and was nearly about to head back, she could have sworn she'd heard something. Shining her light in front of her, she headed in the direction of the voice and nearly missed whomever this was calling out. It was only through one more broken sentence that her light shined upon what appeared to be ponies that looked to be in awful shape, "Land sakes...what are ponies doing all the way out here?"

"...help...us...please..."

The young woman was startled to hear them talk but shook her head to straighten her thoughts. Crouching down she gently patted the talking one's head, "Don't y'all worry. We'll help ya out. Just hold on!"

Turning around she pulled out something from her hip before aiming at the sky and firing. A bright red flash lit up the sky before slowly floating through the air as she waited, doing her best to keep the ponies conscious. "Come on pa, what's taking ya?" She kept her eyes trained in the direction of home and was relieved when she finally heard the crunch of footsteps and of something being pulled across the snow.

"Megan! Are you okay?!"

"Yeah! I'm alright Pa, it's these ponies...they need our help!"

"Ponies?" Megan's father looked at the six lying there before nodding, "Alright, stand back. We've gotta hurry as this storm is gettin' worse by the minute."

Pulling out a stick capped by an orange star, he made a few movements as the ponies slowly floated one by one onto the large sled he'd brought with him. Once they were loaded up, he turned to his daughter and motioned back towards their home. As the two walked, the sled followed behind as they made haste for their home.

"Pa...one of them talked."

"Talked? I see...I wonder if they're like that one visitor we had all those years ago?"

"I think they might be...but what I can't figure out is why in tarnation they'd be out here of all places? And in the middle of a blizzard at that?"

Glancing at the sled behind them, her father could only shrug, "Well, we'll worry about later. First things first is we've gotta make sure they'll be a later for us to ask them in."

With that they walked in silence the rest of the way to their home, thankful for the sight of bright lights which meant warmth and safety.

"Ugh..." Clover the Clever slowly opened her eyes, surprised that she could as she took in her surroundings, "Where...mmmm, it's warm."

"You're finally awake!"

Jumping slightly, but still too tired from the cold to really move, Clever looked at the source of the voice and didn't know what exactly to make of the creature she saw, "Who...what...are you? A monkey of some kind?"

"Hahaha, tarnation, I ain't no chimpanzee. I'm a human. And yer a unicorn aren't ya?"

"Y-you know what I am?"

"Shoot! It might have been nearly a decade ago, but it's hard to forget something like a talking pony." Megan knelt next to her, offering a hand, "Mah name's Megan by the way."

Clover regarded her hand oddly for a moment before realizing what she was offering. Letting a smile drift across her features she placed her hoof in it and shook, "Clover the Clever...but you can just call me Clover. Thank you...for saving us."

"Oh heck, tweren't nothing special. Helping others in need is what my family does."

"Hmmm....what is all that talking?"

"...and here I thought I'd dreamt seein' something in the snow."

"...w-what is this?"

"Relax Pansy, we're okay for now but..." Commander Hurricane stood up, walking over to Megan and glaring at her, "What the heck are you?"

"Heh, the one that saved ya naturally. If I hadn't heard the one wearing the quill hat calling out you'd all be a buncha ponysicles. A blizzard like that ain't exactly somethin' ya go for a stroll in ladies."

Princess Platinum narrowed her eyes, "I am a princess and demand to be treated as such."

Megan smirked, crouching down to look Platinum in the eyes, "Ah'm sure ya are from wherever yer from miss, but right now yer on mah family's farm and in dire need of warming up so why don't ya focus more on that then status or anythin' ridiculous like that?"

"R-Ridiculous? Why you overgrown ape I—"

Clover nudged her princess before smiling sheepishly at Megan, "What she means to say is that we're grateful for your help."

"Hey, like I said, ain't nothing special. Ah do wish yer accommodations were better but the barn was the only place large enough for y'all so..."

At that moment, the door blew open momentarily as Megan's father walked in with a magical covered tray floating behind him. Shutting the door, he shook off the small amount of snow he'd collected walking from the farmhouse before noting the others were awake, "Ah! Our guests have finally come to! Wonderful."

Noting their worried looks, Megan thought to ease their worries, "Ah relax y'all; that's just mah father."

"Pleasure to meet ya ladies. Mah name is...is...."

<"...Dark? What's wrong?" This time it was Rainbow's voice calling up from Ryan's lap, "Why'd you stutter like that?">

<'...strange. I'm having trouble remembering her father's name.'>

<"...are you okay Darkness? I sense you're feeling a bit strained.">

<'...I'm fine Woona. Anyway, I think I remember now. Let's continue on...'>

"Mah name is Daniel." He gave a bow before setting the tray down in front of them, "I had a feelin' ya might be hungry, so I made some hot vegetable soup for ya."

Lifting the lid, the six ponies could only stare at the delicious and hot meal sitting there. Glancing at each other and then back at the soup they all decided to hell with it and dug in, sighing in relief at how warming it was as they ate. Once they had their fill and felt their energy returning, they simply looked at Megan and her father unsure of what was to do next.

"Well, since y'all seem confused, just know yer welcome to stay till this blizzard passes." Daniel glanced out the barn window and frowned, "Though...I hafta admit I've never seen one this bad before in all my years. It doesn't seem natural."

"Excuse me...sir?" Clover looked at the others before walking over to him, "That's because it isn't."

"Daniel please, none of the sir business if ya will. And so I was right in my assumption."

"Yes. Daniel...as I tried to tell everypony else, this blizzard is being caused by Windigos."

Daniel's brow furrowed, "...Windigos? I thought those were just a myth?"

"Unfortunately no...and it's because of the disharmony of our leaders that they've followed us here."

"I knew it was your fault!" Commander Hurricane jumped at Princess Platinum, "You and your magic!"

"My magic?! It's because your such a terrible ruffian!"

"It's because you two don't know how to have fun!" Chancellor Puddinghead roared as she joined the fray.

"...I can see what ya mean Clover." Daniel sighed, shaking his head, "I must admit, it's sad to see that apparently the ponies are no better than humans sometimes."

"...humans. There's that word again..."

"Yeah, that's what we are. Heh, I keep forgetting you've probably never seen something like us before, huh?"

Clover paused for a moment before fetching a book from her saddlebag, "Actually, my mentor Star-Swirled the Bearded mentioned something about a mysterious race of beings that once saved his life after a teleportation spell went awry. Of course...his descriptions sounded ridiculous so no pony believed him."

"...Star-Swirled huh? About this high? Blue pointy hat? Penchant for bells?" Daniel chuckled softly, "That sounds like Swirly to me. Who knew he was such a big deal back in the land of ponies?"

As Clover and Daniel chatted about this development—in addition to other things, like what humans were, how he could use magic too, etc—Megan grew more and more irritated with how awful the three rulers were acting until she couldn't take it anymore. Stomping her foot as loud as she could, she squared her sights on the three rulers, "Stop acting like a bunch of damn fools!"

Everyone there froze at her outburst, the rulers pausing in mid-battle as she got their attention. Seeing that she had their attention, she cleared her throat before laying into them, "I can't believe that y'all are supposed to be the rulers of yer respective races with how yer acting! It's shameful! Fightin' and bickerin' with one another like that; it's like y'all ain't got a lick of sense between ya! Don't ya know that only by working together can ya really get anythin' done! I don't remember much about what Swirly told me since it was when I was younger, but y'all need each other right? To keep the balance and live in harmony?

"You magic users help control the sun and moon from what he told me, so that helps give normalcy to the day. That helps the earthbound ponies by giving their crops plenty of sun to grow in and the restful night to look forward to after a hard day's work. And the flying ones make the weather not go haywire, which adds to stability of not only the crops that eventually feed all y'all but also to the day so that nature itself stays harmonized.

"So don't ya see? Without that harmony, nothing happens! The food doesn't grow, the world goes to shit, and at the end ya just attract trouble and then...ya die." Megan clenched her fists tightly, "So to see you all argue about who's at fault over whatever issues that's got ya all twisted around instead of working together like ya should just pisses me off! So stop being dumb about this! Nopony is better than the other because when you take away just one of you, it all falls apart. You're all equal and in this together!"

It was quiet in the barn after Megan's rant, the only sound the howling of the Windigos outside as they circled and circled. The three delegates looked at the young human woman that had berated their childish behavior before looking at each other and nodding, "...she's right."

Untangling from one another, the group joined with her before looking up at her.

Commander Hurricane was sheepish in her admission, "...I was just upset over losing our old home."

"And I was afraid that all my subjects would starve." Princess Platinum admitted, feeling quite foolish.

"And I was worried all my friends would never get to have fun and pudding again!"

Everyone there looked at Chancellor Puddinghead before laughing loudly. Clover looked up at Megan before smiling, "Thank you. If it wasn't for your kindness and compassion, not only would we have never gotten over our pettiness but we'd most likely be dead in the snow."

"My mother didn't raise me to turn a blind eye to someone in need, regardless of who or what they are. I just...I hate it when people just don't work together like they should." Megan smiled as Clover nuzzled her side, "Thanks Clover. Here's hoping things will get better for y'all now."

Glancing out the window, Daniel gave a soft chuckle, "I reckon they will. That storm seems to be weakening some."

As the six ponies made amends for their foolishness, Megan felt her father's hand on her shoulder, "I'm proud of ya sweetie...and I know your mother would be too. You might always say that you don't have any kind of magic to call yer own, but that's not true."—he took her in a hug—"You have a magic that is stronger than any spell that exists and ya know what that is?"

"Haha, what's that pa?"

"The magic of friendship."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'And then it ends pretty much the same as it does now, with the creation of the Heart Carol song y'all sing to this day and the Fire of Friendship chasing the Windigos back to whence they came. After that, the ponies—after meeting with the human's current leaders—moved to our land and, while the original name is lost even to what history books still remain from then, it was decided by both sides to rename their new country Equestria.

'I don't recall how that name actually was chosen, but I remember it having to do with their declaration of them all being equal in their quest for harmony and co-existence. Something like that. As you know, times were good for a while despite small spats here and there—'

"Just like is said in the song!"

'Haha, yes Pinkie, just like the Heart Carol mentions. Despite those small spats we all lived happily in peace...until the dreadful day when Cordy became lost in his madness and it was all tragically ripped away.'

"Dark..."

Glancing down at Celestia sprawled across his lap, Ryan—who was currently giving the sun princess her share of the tummy rubs after striking a truce with her over their prank-fest—gave her the same smirk his mental double was wearing.

'It's all good Tia. In the end, the world we all loved was saved. I'm not sure where Megan and all the others ended up, but I can only hope they were okay and lived the rest of their lives in happiness and peace. As long as they did, then we never truly lost.'

"Dark...that story was quite interesting to hear." Twilight had her knowledge face on—you know the one—as she thought over the events, "To know the humans had such a role in helping ponykind. I only wish they could see how well we've done."

'Heh, they'd be proud Twi. I know they would be.' Dark yawned, causing Ryan to as well.

"Damn it Dark." He chuckled, giving Celestia one last scratch before nudging her off, "I'm pretty tired ladies. Hot cocoa, giving everypony's warm bellies all those scratches, and listening to an interesting tale from the voice in mah head certainly made me quite sleepy."

"Hey Ryan! I've got the best idea seeing as thanks to how long that story took it's now technically Hearth's Warming Day itself." Rainbow Dash trotted over before gently dragging Ryan over to a large, floor pillow and pushing him backwards on to it, "Instead of sleeping all by yer lonesome..."

"Uh, Dashie, I'm usually sleepin' with Apps so Ah'm never alone." He snickered as she blushed and grumbled.

"Hush! Let me do my thing!" Rainbow cleared her throat, "As I said...Instead of that, how about we keep the Fire of Friendship burning and just do what we always do in these group situations?"

Rather sure of what she was hinting at, it certainly didn't surprise him when she settled down next to him and nuzzled his chest.

'Welp, I'm all for this idea! Care to join us this time Tia? Woona?'

Luna tapped her chin in thought, "It has been so very long since we indulged in...what is it you called them Darkness? Cuddle puddles? Though it isn't quite princess-like...I can't deny how tempted I am."

Celestia merely laughed before nudging her sister over, "Oh come now sister, as if we've really acted all that princess-like around Ryan and Dark. If anything, he's helped remind me of how nice it was when we once had someone who treated us as normal ponies."

"Well with a solid argument like that..." Luna snickered before joining the others around Ryan.

It didn't take long for a familiar image to form: everypony in a cuddle puddle, centered around Ryan and Dark. As the remnants of the fire crackled and cast their light over the room, the Fire of Friendship shined brightly over the now sleeping group of friends on this Hearth's Warming Day...

A few hours later, in the early morning, Ryan slowly opened his eyes to see the fire had long burned out, but it was still too early for the sun to rise. His smile widened as he glanced at his loved ones surrounding him—snickering at T-Sparks being cuddled close to Cellie—before remembering one last thing he felt he should do. Concentrating for a moment, he slowly lifted the ladies up before scooting out from under them. After very gently setting them down he quietly exited the room before wandering through the dimly lit hallways of the castle, waving here and there to the guards he passed by. Eventually he made his way to a spiraling staircase and began slowly descending downwards to a specific vault, his footsteps echoing softly against the walls.

"...so what we dreamt was true, right?"

'Yes. I'll share with you what happened one day Ryan but...'

"Hey, don't sweat it." Ryan laughed softly, "It's all good. I just wanted ta make sure."

'Thanks again for doing this...I know the last time you were pretty upset when ya came down here but...'

"It's okay...from what little I do understand, it was all a terrible series of unfortunate events that nopony and nobody could have predicted."

Coming to the bottom of the staircase, Ryan turned right and headed right until coming upon a large door being watched by Luna's guards.

"Oh, it's you again Ryan."

Ryan waved at the acknowledgement, "Hello Night Strike. Happy Hearth's Warming to you and the rookie."

"Hey! It's been a few months you know! I'm not really a rookie now."

"Hahaha, I suppose that's true."

Night Strike shook his head before letting his features become serious again, "I can only imagine there's one reason you're here."

"Yes...but for a much different reason than last time."

"...very well. I'm not sure what you're up to this time but don't take too long." Night Strike shrugged, opening the door for him.

"Thanks." With that Ryan stepped inside the room housing Discord's petrified form and waited till the door closed, "..."

'Ryan?'

"Sorry...just...not looking forward to this again but...it's more fittin' if you're the one doing it." Ryan steadied himself before snapping his fingers and focusing his magic, "Soul Cross."

Ryan's body stumbled for a few moments but maintained balance this time as he stayed on his feet. As everything settled, his breathing steadied as he looked at the statue of Discord. Pulling something out, he walked over to it before placing what appeared to be a red and white hat on his head, "Happy Hearth's Warming Cordy. I wish it was under better terms but...well, ya know how things have gone so no need to reiterate. I'm sure yer wondering how the hell I'm the one talking but it doesn't matter; suffice to say Ryan's a hell of a friend who is going to have a hell of a headache after this. That's not why I'm here though.

"I'm here because I had a dream...and in it you were yerself old friend. It reminded me of the old times: of the pranks we'd pull on Tia...on Woona...on each other. The crazy adventures we'd get up to...and those quiet evenings the four of us would spend in front of the fire, talking about the most ridiculous things and forgetting the troubles of the world our positions tended to bring. Did ya know they still make that Rainbow-infused booze we had some fun with? They call it Spectrum now and, suffice to say, it still has a kick to it. It's not as good as the old stuff, but oh well...nopony and nobody made that brew better than Hurricane and Cecil did after all."

Pulling off his shades, Dark hovered up the short distance to look at his old friend face-to-face, "I just...I'll never understand how it all went so wrong so fast. All I have are theories that leave me with more questions than answers. After all this time I've never been able to truly figure out what happened to you back then that...that put you off the deep end like that. I know it had to do with the one pony that was never found...and I can only deduce that humans were involved somehow as that was when your hatred of us became so...so terrifying.

"Maybe that's why I couldn't get a straight answer from you back then. You still valued and loved me as a friend but your mind was torn by what had happened and so, rather than risk hurting those you cared about, you disappeared for a time." He floated up and back, leaning on Discord's shoulder before frowning, "Yet even that wasn't enough as you came back with a vengeance. So many lives were lost that day, so many fates were altered, and Equestria itself was never the same. Still..."

Dark, feeling his time was short, gave his old friend a hug before touching down on the ground and wincing, "I hope a day comes when once more we can have the kind of fun we did way back then. I'd have to have it through Ryan but he's a pretty crazy guy too. It'd be nice if you and him could become friends; he's a little more serious than I was but he still gets into some pretty hairy situations. I mean, we're talking about a guy that without trying has somehow stumbled into a harem route. Seriously Cordy, how does one guy do that? I sure as hell don't know, that's for sure!"

Coughing, Dark felt his time growing shorter, "It's uh, about time that I've gotta go Cordy. It was a little one-sided but it was nice talking with ya in a more relaxed setting—"He wiped his eyes and sniffled"—Crying? I'm not crying dammit...it's just...really damn dusty in this vault they keep ya in. I'll have to ask Woona to see if we can't clean up this mess some. Anyway...Happy Hearth's Warming old friend. Here's to a day we can all smile like in the days gone by..."

And with that Dark clutched his head, grunting as his wings disappeared and Ryan took control of his body once more.

"...shit. That still packs a hell of a wallop." Ryan stumbled slightly, leaning back against one of the walls, "At least I didn't fall to one knee this time."

Panting and taking a moment to get his bearings, Ryan couldn't help chuckle at seeing the rather iconic hat now sitting on Discord's head, "Well...I'm not sure what he talked about with ya, but I hope you listened whatever it was."

Walking over to Discord, Ryan double-checked that things were as they should before smirking, "Oh, what the hell! Happy Hearth's Warming, Disky! Now then...to get back before the ladies notice—"

And that was when Ryan was cut off as he felt the familiar tug of magic on his person before he was poofed back into the room where he had been sleeping with the gals. Slightly disoriented, he could see the others were still sleeping except for one...and that one was giving him a rather knowing grin.

"Leaving your ladies behind are you?" Celestia teased as she whispered, "Not becoming of a gentleman to act that way my little human..."

Ryan rolled his eyes, letting himself get pulled back into the center of the cuddle puddle, "I highly doubt you're unaware of where Dark and Ah went so..."

"Oh I know." Celestia snickered before closing her eyes, "It's just fun to tease you. You and Dark always turn the most wonderful shade of red when I do...as well as have the most amusing reactions."

Feeling him gently poke her in the nose, she got the point and settled down, closing her eyes and snickering when she felt her favorite student move slightly and then reposition herself on her back. Ryan couldn't help himself as he reached over and gave a gentle scratch to Twilight's belly, holding back a laugh at how both her tongue flopped out of her mouth and her hindleg gently kicked in reaction. Knowing anymore would risk waking the others surrounding him, he ceased his actions before getting comfortable and closing his eyes, "Happy Hearth's Warming..."

'And Woona bless us, everypony~'

A slight coughing noise caught Ryan and Dark's attention as he cracked one eye open to see Cellie giving him a look.

'Oh...and Tia too! Haha...'

Author's Note

Well, finally got it out...and just in time for the 3rd Anniversary of MLP:FiM! Woooo! :pinkiehappy:
Anyway, in all honesty, I'm not quite sure where that whole part involvin' Dashie and Apps' conversation came from; I was just typing and then one thing led to another and suddenly even more opportunities for hijinx arose so I rolled with it! I'm curious to hear what people might say about it...
But anyway! This is pretty much the Christmas/Hearth's Warming Eve tie-in...which means we're a lot closer to a part I've been dying to write.
It's gonna be quite a bit of fun...and more action! Yeah! :yay:

17th Harvest

As morning finally broke, Ryan felt movement and figured it was Cellie getting up to go raise the sun once again. He gave a muffled yawn, which he found to be odd as he shouldn't have been muffled for any particular reason. Curious as to why this had occurred, he opened his eyes and got his answer readily; for there, staring him right in the face, was something he recognized well enough. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was pretty plush pony posterior. More specifically, a certain cowpony's as he was staring straight at a trio of red apples. He wasn't quite sure how this had happened—or why Cellie had neglected to comment, though odds were she had been wearing a cheeky grin when she left—so Ryan weighed his options, trying to deduce just what the next move he should make was.

...it took all of three seconds before he grinned and did what anypony would do in this situation: he smirked and then took a bite of them apples. This certainly got a reaction as AppleJack gasped before quickly rolling over to her right...which led her to tumble over Rainbow Dash who kicked out in surprise. Her hoof met Rarity's gut, the mare whinnying as she inadvertently used her magic on Pinkie Pie. This led to Pinkie being flung around the room like a rubber ball before she collided with Spike. Spike yelped, releasing a small burst of green flames that hit poor Fluttershy, who jumped forward and collided with Twilight. And lastly, as Twilight was pushed forward, her horn connected with poor Luna's posterior causing the Princess of the Moon to shout loudly before flapping her wings and flying straight into a wall.

As everypony lay there in a confused heap, Ryan surveyed the damage and could only blink, "Well...damn...that's one way to wake up. I guess...not mah way, but it works. So then, who wants breakfast ladies?"

The girls, one by one, snapped out of their dazed states to slowly look at their human who was merely smiling at them and being pleasant as always. Luna, now no longer seeing pony's flying around her head, tried to figure out what exactly had happened, "Twilight Sparkle, why did you poke me in the bottom with your horn?"

"It's not my fault!" Twilight gasped out, "I was pushed..."

Slowly they put together the chain of events, before staring at AppleJack who was still rubbing her hindquarters. Noting their attention on her, she gave a shrug, "Ah don't rightly know. I was just dreaming about a giant apple, Ryan, and he was just about to—ah mean, somepony took a bite out of mah lovely orange rump! Whoever bit me started this whole thing."

'Well it's not like we could prove who did it right? I doubt there's teeth-marks.'

"Dark's right ladies; no use worrying over who bit into those apples right?" Ryan gave a shrug before feeling a bit uneasy, "...ladies?"

"Ryan...I can't help but notice that in all this, you're the only one that didn't have something happen to them."

"Well that might be true T-Sparks but I was kinda, ya know, in the middle of y'all so I was buffered."

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, "I think you're the one that started this domino effect Rys!"

Ryan blinked before waving his hands about, "Ladies! Please! Yer lettin' yer paranoia get the better of you."

Spike, who finally shook off getting hit with the pink pony cannonball, glanced at Ryan and shook his head, "...I'd usually agree with you big bro but...I think we all know of all those here, you're the one most likely to go after them apples."

Taking a deep breath, Ryan slowly stood up, dusted off his clothes and turned to look at his friends before smirking, "Well...the thing about that is—"He quickly slapped on his magnet spell"—I have no argument against it so later y'all!"

With that Ryan blew passed them in their stunned daze, heading out of the room and down the hallway.

'It Begins! Again! Oh man, never a dull moment with you around Ryan!'

"Shut up Dark! I don't need another moment like last time...especially with how things have changed since then."

'...I don't know, a bunch of cute chicks that all like ya running after ya? Doesn't sound like a problem ta me~'

Ryan facepalmed, rounding a corner before hearing a cluttered jumble of noise behind him, "Oh boy...what a way to spend Christmas Day!"

"GET BACK HERE RYAN!"

"Yeah! We'll show y'all ya don't just go and chomp on a mare's backside."

Ryan glanced over his shoulder at them, "...even if she's the one putting it on mah face?"

"Ah! That is...!"

"What I think AppleJack is trying to say is you can't rightly just do that to her rump—"

"See Pinkie's got the right idea..."

"—at least not without getting a good eyeful of ours as well and then judging which one looks totally ponylicious enough to nom on!"

Everypony else was so stunned at Pinkie's statement they stopped their chase to stare at her in utter disbelief. Pinkie frowned as she looked at them, "What? You know I'm right! He can't just play favorites like that!"

"Pinkie darling, I know that you mean well but what do you mean by play favorites?"

"Guys?" Spike watched as Ryan took this moment to run off, "Guys?"

"What I mean is if he's our human he has to play fair!"

"Guys? Ryan's..."

"Pinkie Pie, while I agree with you to some degree..."

"Princess? Hello?" Spike huffed, "I hate being ignored!"

Twilight finally noticed Spike's little fit, "Spike? What's wrong?"

"It's Ryan! He took advantage of the moment and ran off!"

"...what are you talking about? He's standing right there." Twilight rolled her eyes, walking over towards him slowly, "And it seems he's going to listen to reason. That's very—"

As she stared at "Ryan", Twilight's eyes narrowed before she lightly tapped him. What was now clearly a cardboard cut-out of him fell down with a clack as her eyes slowly widened, "...why that wily, sneaky human! RYAN!"

'Dude...she must be really mad if we heard that from here.'

"Just shut up and help me keep running..."

Princess Celestia was in a rather pleasant mood: not only was everything peaceful and quiet but for the first time in what seemed forever she'd gotten a pretty good night's sleep. She laughed softly to herself, sipping her tea, as she thought of how the one that was—mostly—responsible for her sleeplessness was also the same reason she had gotten the sleep she did last night.

"Perhaps my little human isn't all that bad after all; sure he's played a few tricks on me but haven't I done the same?" She laughed, taking another sip of tea, "It certainly has livened up things...at least to a level that's near what Darkness used to stir up. Perhaps I should go wake them as—"

And that's when Ryan flew through the throne room doors, slammed them shut, and then looked around spastically before locking eyes with her. Quickly closing the short distance between himself and Cellie—much to the two pegasi standing guard's displeasure—he bit his bottom lip before moaning, "Cellie ya gotta hide me! I didn't even really do anything this time but they're pretty upset with me! Please!"

Celestia raised an eyebrow, still trying to process just what happend, "Ryan? Hold on...what's wrong? Who's chasing you?"

"The girls...and yer sister. Look, to simplify things, I woke up with Apps' flank resting on mah face—"

"Oh yes!" She smirked, "I do recall that sight when I went to raise the sun; most amusing."

"...yeah, anyway Ah felt like being cheeky and I kind of nommed on her cutie mark." Ryan laughed sheepishly, "What can I say? Ah do love me some apples! But please!"

Celestia jumped slightly when Ryan threw his arms around her and pleaded for her help. At this point she faced two conflicting thoughts: one, she could help him as it seemed her sister and the others might just be overreacting a bunch or two, she could set both him and Dark up for some epic trolling. Taking one more look at the pleading look in his eyes, she made her decision before motioning behind her throne, "Quickly, hide there and I will handle the rest."

Smiling in gratitude, Ryan wasted no time hiding where she had noted...and with good timing at that as Luna burst through the doors with the others in tow.

"Sister! What is the meaning of such aggressive behavior?"

Luna, realizing she was getting perhaps a slight bit out-of-hoof composed herself before entering, "Our human has created another situation for himself and is in dire need of being taught a few lessons."

"Exactly! He's got to learn to judge all plots equally!"

Rainbow Dash face-hoofed at Pinkie's incessant sticking to that point, "What she means you're majesty is that Ryan decided to bite AJ's posterior and set off a whole serious of unfortunate events that led to us waking up in quite a daze."

"Oh goodness me...that doesn't sound good at all." Celestia nodded slowly, a frown on her features, "So he did this while awake?"

"Well...we think so, because he seemed aware that he bit her Princess."

"But are you sure Twilight? He could simply have been dreaming..."

"But sister! Why would he run if he—"

"Would you not run if you were being chased by a group as powerful as the eight of you?" Celestia shook her head, "I cannot blame him for running, seeing as you did not listen to him last time when he proclaimed his innocence."

"But...but yer majesty! You told us you were behind that last time."

"While I admit you are right AppleJack...that does not change the fact you did not listen to him."

"...so then...he was just sleep-biting?" Rainbow scrunched her face up, "...I guess I could see that being what happened but..."

Celestia narrowed her eyes at her sister, "Did you not stop to think on what he may have been dreaming about, Luna? Though you were sleeping with us, I know that your awareness of other's dreams does not diminish when you sleep yourself."

Luan bit her lip and hung her head, "I...I was so caught up in the moment I did not think on that. Now that I am, he was dreaming of....oh my!"

Those there raised their eyebrows at the way she had said that, wondering just what it was Ryan had been dreaming about. Seeing that they were all waiting for an answer, a blushing Luna composed herself before explaining, "...suffice to say, his dreams may have influenced him...as he was dreaming about eating something delicious."

"But then if that's all it was why are you blushing so much?!" Pinkie furrowed her brow, "Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?!"

"Pinkie, please!" Luna grumbled, "...as the Princess of the Night I cannot divulge such info. I must protect the privacy of those I watch over after all."

"S-so then...we just chased Ryan for no reason?" Fluttershy timidly mumbled, "Oh dear..."

"I suggest then that you go and find my little human and make amends as best you can...assuming he does not keep running from you." Celestia nodded her head, "If he shows up, I will let him know what has happened."

Twilight sighed in relief and bowed, "Thank you Princess. Come now, we need to find our human."

"Right! I totally thought he was playing favorites and now it turns out he wasn't and I have to make things up to him so he doesn't ignore me in favor of you all and that means no snuggles and...oh no what have you done to yourself Pinkamena Diane Pie?!"

As they walked out, Rarity was still rather confused about just what Pinkie was prattling on about, "Pinkie dear, I still haven't the faintest idea what you're going on about...and that worries me."

As soon as the throne room was empty save for Celestia and her two guards, she looked behind her throne before laughing, "You may now come out Ryan...Dark."

Heaving a relieved sigh, Ryan walked back out before standing in front of Celestia with a smile on his face. Before she could say anything he gave her another hug, "Thank you Cellie."

'Yeah Tia, yer a champ fer saving our flanks.'

"Haha, think nothing of it." Celestia giggled, returning his hug, "I only wish I could have seen what happened myself; it sounded just positively amusing."

Nodding his head, Ryan had to agree as he released her from his hug and watched her stand up, "That's true enough....it got pretty crazy once I had a taste of apples."

Celestia snickered before remembering something, "So then...Ryan? Dark? Would either of you care to share what this dream was that had my sister so flustered to recall?"

Ryan blinked a bit, unsure whether he should share what details he remembered before waking. Taking one look at Celestia and thinking on the fact that she totally saved his butt, he figured it wouldn't hurt that much...right?

With that he leaned in and began whispering in her ear a few things that brought a slight blush to her cheeks before he just stood there unsure of what else to say. Celestia continued to face forward for a few moments before glancing at him, "So...all of us...and...strawberries...and..."

'Chocolate...lots and lots of chocolate...'

"...I see." Celestia processed all this before smirking, "Well then, since your dream self seemed to be sated, how about we sate the real you with a Hearth's Warming breakfast feast?"

Laughing softly, Ryan followed Celestia out of the throne room and down towards the dinner hall, "That sounds like an awesome idea. Although...we probably should tell the others as well. I don't want them wandering all around the castle on today of all days."

Placing a hoof on his shoulder, Celestia nuzzled his cheek, "You are indeed a kind man...but with Dark to guide you it's no surprise."

'Hey, I can't take all the credit...it's not like I can make him do things.'

Ryan shook his head before laughing, "Y'all are crazy...so...what exactly is on the menu?"

"Hmmm? Wanting something with a little substance are we my little human?"

"...you and that pet name. Yer awful Cellie. Hahahaha." Ryan grinned widely before poking his fingers together, "Yet...I don't think I'd complain much if'n I could have a little bacon...if that's an option I can choose that is."

Celestia chuckled as Ryan opened the door for her, "For a gentleman like you, my little human, I think I can arrange that."

"Then this will indeed be a Happy Hearth's Warming Day indeed."

"...or a Merry Christmas as you would say."

"Hahahaha, right you are Princess."

After having found the others who apologized to Ryan for overreacting—even if he totally did do what they thought he'd done and deserved their retribution were it not for Cellie becoming his partner in messing with them and protecting him—they had enjoyed a delightful breakfast before wandering out to the gardens that were covered in a nice layer of snow.

Just to throw this out there: as bad as the hijinx got when Ryan and Cellie were trying to out-troll each other, just imagine what might happen if the three of them—Ryan, Cellie, and Darkness—were to team up as they did just now. Yeah, let that terrifying thought sink in a little at how nopony in Equestria would be safe from their pranks. Now that that's been established, Ryan seemed a bit puzzled by how Dark was grumbling about something, "...what's the matter, bro?"

'...I just...I've got the strangest feeling that something beyond the bounds of us decided to make some remarks that I'm not quite sure I approve of.'

"Hmmm? Oh, so the narrator said something dumb again?"—Ryan waved his hand dismissively—"Meh...he's always doing stuff like that...best not to think on it."

"Oh Rysy-Wysy!" Pinkie hopped on top of him, taking her favorite spot on his shoulders, "Ya shouldn't abuse yer extra-sensory perceptions like that..."

'...what?'

"She's saying don't overuse our knowledge of what lies beyond." Ryan rolled his eyes, "So then Pinks, I had a thought."

"Oh! Oh! I had one too! I have a bunch of those all the time! Usually really colorful ones, full of the most amazing things!"

"Haha, yes, I would hope so...otherwise I'd be worried about ya." Ryan smirked as he reached up to scratch her belly, "Anyway, mah idea is that, since I've got the energy this time and we're not in a terrible rush...how about we finally tackle that hedge maze?"

Pinkie's eyes grew wide in excitement before she practically flew off his shoulders—dragging him along as well—as she rounded up the girls before setting everypony down at the entrance to the maze.

"...what...was all that about?" Spike shook his head, "I was making an awesome snow pony ya know!"

"Don't look at me little bro, all I know is I suggested tackling the hedge maze and then Pinks went crazy on me."

Spike took one glance at the look in Pinkie's eyes, "Nope! I know enough to see things are going to get crazy here...if anypony needs me, I'll be building an awesome snow fort."

'...so what do you suppose he thinks is gonna happen?'

"I'm not sure Dark but—"

Pinkie hushed him by putting a hoof on his mouth, "Shhhhhhhhh! We're gonna make this fun!"

"...fun?"

"Ah'm with Apple Ryder, what do ya mean by fun?"

"Oh AppleJack, while we could be boring and just solve the maze normally...I think it'd be much more interesting if we made a game of it!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow in thought, "What kind of game?"

Pinkie rubbed her hooves together in glee, "Simple! We hunt Ryan!"

"...uh...say again?" Ryan seemed a bit confused, "What do you mean by "hunt" me?"

"Yeah...I don't think we need to go spooking Rys any." Rainbow shook her head, "We've already caused him trouble once today..."

"Oh girls, you're completely mis-reading what I'm thinking." Pinkie giggled, "By hunt, we mean he takes off first and if any of us happens to catch him...we get the best prize: a kiss. Smooch-smooch!"

'I like this game already!'

"Oh heavens....you would. Haha."

"Hee-hee, you get a thirty second head-start! Oh! But no flying! That goes for everypony!"

Rarity tapped her chin before turning to Pinkie, "What about magic?"

"Well, I suppose as long as you don't use it to cheat through the maze magic is alright!" Pinkie nodded furiously, "Good to see you're finally catching on Rarity!"

"...while I'm not sure entirely what's going on, I have a feeling I might be figuring things out."

Ryan gulped before laughing nervously, "Whatcha talkin' about Rares? Haha...nothing...nothing to figure out. Besides, yer not serious right Pinks?"

"One...two...three..."

"Oh Luna! She totally is! Welp! Off Ah go!"

With that Ryan took off into the maze, hoping to put some distance between himself and the mares that certainly enjoyed teasing him...though it goes without saying he certainly enjoyed the fact that said teasing just went to show how much they truly did love him.

'That's the way to think Ryan! But...we can't make it too easy on them can we?'

"Hell no! If'n they're gonna tease us, we're gonna make them work for those kisses! Let's get to work."

"And thirty! Let's go girls! There's kisses to be won!"

Rainbow Dash grinned before running ahead of everypony else, "Oh yeah! I'm gonna find me a Ryan!"

"Not if I do first!" AppleJack laughed, passing her by before turning right at the fork ahead.

Twilight rolled her eyes as she sauntered along at a slower pace before turning off earlier, "Rushing isn't the way to win this. I have to guide him to me...it's time to use my knowledge!"

Even Fluttershy seemed determined to find Ryan, though she still made her way about the maze much slower than the others. Rarity huffed, "Such ridiculous showings. Don't they know that a gentleman is naturally drawn to a lady? If anypony finds him first, it will most certainly be meeEEEE!"

She gasped as Pinkie rolled right under her, knocking her up into the air before she came crashing down with a grunt. Pinkie stopped in mid-roll to look back at her, "Sorry Rarity! But it's time to transform and roll out and I want that kiss! Vroom-a-zoom-zoom!"

And just like that she was off, down the many corridors of the maze leaving Rarity who narrowed her eyes, muttered her iconic "It. Is. On." phrase, and then took off with determination in her eyes.

Somewhere in the middle of the maze, Ryan and Dark were currently working on one of their plans when they heard the sound of somepony go running by. Putting the finishing touches on it, they looked for a spot to hide. Crouching down behind some decorative bushes, he listened as the voice got closer and closer before finally revealing none other than Twilight Sparkle.

"Hmmm...knowing him, he would try to come to the center of the maze first in order to set up something. Seeing as there are three entrances to this part it stands to reason he'd be able to move along pretty quickly if being chased." Twilight hummed to herself as she stood near where he was hiding, "So then do I wait here and hope he shows up, or set up something so that he becomes ensnared? Decisions, decisions."

'...oh man...this is tense.'

'I know Dark but shhhh...' Ryan held his breath, trying to be as still as possible, '...that's it...just a little closer.'

Twilight had decided to set up a trap of some kind, and as luck would have it, she'd picked the exact corner Ryan had been tinkering around in. He bit his tongue to steady his nerves as she was just about there until finally with a gasp she jumped back but it was too late. Poor Twilight had triggered the magical trap and was now stuck tight by a web of chocolaty, marshmallow goodness. Not sensing any of the others nearby, he appeared from his hiding place and laughed softly as he walked over to her, "Well now T-Sparks, I dare say you've gotten yerself into another sticky situation."

Twilight grumbled, trying to shake free but she was held tight, "You! Oh! This is going to be so hard to get out of my fur!"

'Perhaps we could help?'

"Wha-what does he mean by that Ryan?"

Ryan chuckled as he stepped quite close to Twilight, learning down to her head-level, "Heh, yer mah little bookworm so you tell me."

Twilight wasn't quite sure what he was going to do, and then she gasped when she felt him lick some of the chocolate-marshmallow mess off of her horn before kissing it. Her cheeks immediately flushed and she whimpered slightly at the action, "...that's not fair."

Laughing warmly, Ryan licked her cheek before kissing it, "Ya didn't catch me but ya deserve that consolation prize. Now then...I must be off T-Sparks. Later hun."

With that she watched as he took off and so attempted even harder to break free before hanging her head and growling, "You can't just do that to a mare and take off! It's not fair! Argh!"

A distance away, Rainbow Dash had heard Twilight's aggravated cries and smirked to herself, "Well then...looks like she won't be a problem at the moment. That kiss is as good as mine!"

'Heh...that's what she thinks.' Dark chuckled as Ryan followed behind Rainbow Dash, '...so what's the plan this time?'

'Not sure.' Ryan quickly hid behind a corner when he saw her stop, 'I'm kind of proud that she's not using her wings and sticking to the rules though.'

Peeking around the corner again, he saw that she'd disappeared...but that wasn't possible as the path she'd turned on to was just a long straight route. Puzzled by this, he heard a rustling noise above him and turned to see her on top of the hedge smiling down at him, "Hello there lover boy, looking for me?"

"Hahaha, clever girl." Ryan jumped back, narrowly getting tackled before running off, "Not gonna make it that easy Dashie."

"You can't outrun me forever, Rys!"

Ryan snickered, glancing back at her briefly, "I can sure try though!"

While that was happening, AppleJack had ended up running randomly and getting herself turned around without any idea as to where she should go. Huffing at this fact, she tried to calm her mind before hearing the noise of someone being chased. Focusing in on it, she came to a crossroads and saw Ryan run by followed by Rainbow Dash.

"What in tarnation! Ah can't let her get the first one! I betcha I can cut them off!" AppleJack began running down the other corridor, trying to remember if it would loop around. Sure enough it intersected again, but this time Ryan gave Rainbow the slip and watched as she ran by letting him catch his breath.

"Hey there sugah."

At least, until he heard that, turned to see AppleJack staring at him with a wide grin, and then took off in the opposite direction, "Oh come on! Both the star runners! Really?! Really?!"

'You can't tell me you aren't having fun Ryan.'

"You shut up!" Ryan gasped as he chugged along, "This is getting crazy."

Finally realizing she'd been duped, Rainbow Dash growled in frustration before doubling back the way she came and seeing hoofprints in the dirt leading down another path. Panicking that somepony else might get to Ryan first, she took off after them in hopes of catching up. As it was Ryan was having a heck of time getting away from Apps, only keeping ahead thanks to his tighter maneuvering of the corners.

"I'm gonna get me a human~" AppleJack sang in a sing-song manner, "And then he's gonna give me a kiss~"

'...I hate to say it, but she just might. Yer gettin' kind of worn out.'

"Ya think so Sherlock?" Ryan grumbled before seeing an opportunity ahead, "Perfect!"

Pushing as hard as he could he ran towards the split in the path before pulling out his wand and pointing it at the ground and shouting, releasing a spell that blanketed the area in a smokescreen. AppleJack skidded a bit before coughing, "Tarnation! That's a dirty trick there Ry-Ry!"

"All's fair in love and war~" Ryan teased, "Catch me if you can~"

AppleJack narrowed her eyes before charging through the smokescreen and going right at the fork, which played right into Ryan's trap as the smoke cleared to show he hadn't chosen either path and instead hugged the hedge wall. Dusting himself off and catching his breath, he felt he was finally in the clear, "Thank heavens...I'm exhausted and—"

He sighed when, in the distance, he saw a certain cyan pony come running up behind him, "I finally found you Rys! Now give me that kiss!"

Ryan sighed loudly before running off the way Apps hadn't gone, "Oh come! On! What's a guy gotta do to catch a break here?"

And thus the chase continued with Dashie running Ryan pretty ragged, slowly catching up to him until something awful happened: while running from Dashie, he saw Apps at the end of a corridor staring straight at him. With no way out, and a pony both in front and behind him, things looked a bit hairy for our hero.

'So what now?'

Glancing at Dashie and Apps who had both slowed their pace to savor the moment, Ryan smirked, "We get creative."

Focusing his breathing, he waited as the two mares picked up their pace—each hoping to beat the other—and charged headlong towards him. When they were just about to him, he smirked, blew each of them a kiss...and then fell backwards and became 2D against the ground before scooting away under the maze wall. AppleJack and Rainbow Dash gasped out loud and skidded, trying to avoid a collision but it was too late as they hit with mighty crash and ended up in a heap.

"Sweet apple pie....yer head must be made of bricks Dash."

"...then yers must be made of solid wood. Ugh..."

Having made it under the wall and to the other side, Ryan gave a grunt before popping back into his three-dimensional self and dusting himself off, "...Ah can't believe that worked. That was really weird..."

'...but very awesome. What made ya think of something like that?'

"Let's just say I've played a lot of video games." Ryan heaved a sigh and allowed himself to finally relax a little, "That's three down...three more wandering about though."

Cautiously moving forward, Ryan followed the winding path as far away from Dashie and Apps as he could before ending up in a dead-end that contained a fountain, a hammock, and two unicorn statues. Figuring this was a good place to recuperate, he waved his hand over the one and only entrance to disguise it before walking over to the hammock and sitting in it, "That should at least give me a few minutes to rest up."

'I'll keep an eye out for ya, so don't wor—what was that?'

Blinking, Ryan tilted his head, "What was what?"

'That statue...did it move?'

Now realizing they might not be alone, Ryan casually got up and continued chatting mentally with Dark, 'Which one?'

'The right one. I swear I saw it twitch.'

'Hmmmm.' Ryan paced about, making it seem as if he was merely observing the decorations as he first looked at the left one thoroughly before walking over to the right one, 'This one huh?'

Looking at the left one and then the right one he could tell they looked very similar: same horn design, same eye-shape, same hoof width...nearly everything between the two was the same. And yet...there it was! Even though it would have been almost unnoticeable, there was the slightest of movements that set Ryan's senses off. Maintaining the best poker face that he could he walked to the left one and knocked on it slightly, hearing the solid thunk of it's stony make-up.

'I could almost swear the other one is sweating now.' Dark remarked as Ryan walked over to the other to repeat his actions, '...huh?'

That came in response to Ryan not knocking on the statue and instead scrunching up his face before grinning widely. Knowing what he was about to do, Dark about died from laughter as Ryan brought his hand back and then smacked the statue's flank as hard as he could. The statue gasped and whinnied before dashing forward and tumbling over itself, breaking the illusion and showing a certain marshmallow mare.

"Well well, what have we here?"

'It would appear to be a lovely marshmallow...that tried to trick us.'

"Ugh you ruffian! What kind of gentleman smacks a lady's...a lady's..."

"A lady's flank?"

"Yes! So uncouth! And yet..." Rarity glanced over her shoulder and batted her eyes at him, "I must say I never expected you to be so forward Ryan."

Ryan coughed, caught quite off-guard by Rares' words, "Good heavens! So much for m'lady being innocent."

"Oh darling, I am a mare after all...even a lady can have such thoughts." Rarity giggled as she stood up and dusted herself off, "The difference is she doesn't make such thoughts known save for special occasions."

Ryan was at a loss for words but only for a few moments, "So when did ya figure out what was going on Rares?"

Rarity giggled again before sauntering over to him, "Oh it doesn't take a genius to notice our dear Rainbow Dash being much friendlier towards you then before. Or maybe it does, seeing as Twilight has been giving you some interesting looks. Heh, I must admit I was puzzled...at least until Pinkie's words and actions began to give it away. I dear say we all know now...perhaps even the Princesses at that."

Ryan facepalmed as he shook his head, "...well that didn't take long. Hold on—"He narrowed his eyes"—even Flutters knows?"

"Hmmm...I think she does, she didn't say anything." Rarity frowned at that thought, "Which means I'm the last to catch on...that's not fair at all darling, leaving a lady out of the loop like that."

With that Ryan felt himself flipped upside down by her magic before she hopped on to his chest to pin him. Rarity smirked and batted her eyes as she leaned down towards his face, "At least I'll be the first to get her kiss."

"NOPE!"

Glancing in the direction of that loud shout, Ryan saw a blur of pink come flying through his fake wall, plow right into Rarity, and then send her flying into and then through the actual hedges. There, now standing where Rarity had been, was a very happy pony wearing a very large grin. At this point Ryan wasn't sure whether to thank her or to start crapping his pants at how fiercely she'd fought to get him, "S-so Pinks...nice ta see ya. What, uh, what can Ah do ya for?"

"Oh you can do a lot for me—"She leaned down, her lips all but touching his ear as she whispered"—but I'm more interested in what you can do to me, Rysy-Wysy."

Ryan shivered at the feel of her breath on his ear, his cheeks flushing deeply at her insinuations. His mind was unable to form much beyond two simple words, "Holy crap!"

"Hee-hee, I couldn't possibly let somepony else get the kiss first when this was my game after all." Pinkie snickered as Ryan's blush deepened, "I can't wait to have my fun."

Ryan's eyes widened as he watched her lips slowly descend towards his and for all intents she should have got her kiss...until she was knocked off of Ryan by a rather large stone wearing—were those sunglasses?! Looking to see who had thrown the stone—after looking to make sure Pinks was okay—he saw a very irritated looking Rarity, "Tom says he'd like to play TAG!"

Seeing as the two mares were occupied with one another now, Ryan slowly got to his feet before slipping away through the hole Tom had made when exiting the dead-end. Thanking his luck they hadn't noticed he'd made tracks yet, he ran as fast as he could to put more distance between them.

'Hahaha! This has been most amazing! I can't believe how close yet far they've all come!'

"You would be enjoying this. Although..." Ryan laughed softly, "The chase is making this pretty exciting. Thing is...that's everypony but Flutters."

'...Ryan! Turn right now!'

Not one to ignore Dark's advice, he quickly turned right just in time to see a blur of pink followed by a large rock with a very pissed off and messy-mane looking Rarity following up behind, "Get back here Pinkie Pie! This lady wishes to have many words with you!"

'...okay. That keeps them busy for a while. As for yer question...I'm not sure where our butter pony is.'

"B-butter pony?" Ryan snickered as he ran along, "Let me guess, because she's yellow right?"

'Exactly!'

"...I would say something, but I've come up with more ridiculous thoughts before so I'll just let us move on." Ryan slowed his pace down to a walking one, "Better conserve mah stamina fer now...so any bets on who'll finally catch me?"

Hearing, and then seeing, a rather large fireball in the distance, Dark laughed loudly, 'Looks like Twi finally broke free.'

"Indeed. She seems mad...let's hope we don't get caught by her. I'm a little worried she'd get more than a kiss out of me." Ryan's cheeks—which had returned to their normal color—flushed red again, "Especially after those comments about...experimenting."

'Ah, but that is the price we pay for being so irresistible.'

Ryan rolled his eyes at his mental companion's nonsense, "Why do I get the feeling things like this were all too common between you and the Princesses way back when?"

Dark let out a growly laugh, 'Tsk! Tsk! You should know better than to ask that. A true gentleman doesn't kiss and tell after all. Besides you—'

"Huh? Why'd you cut yerself off?"

'That's why. Look straight ahead in that clearing.'

Cautiously making his way to the small clearing, glancing to see that there were five branching pathways spreading outwards, and then looking where Dark had indicated, Ryan saw none other than the final mare that had been missing. Fluttershy was currently sitting by a small lake that was the focal point of this particular clearing, staring at her reflection before heaving a sigh. Ryan frowned, curious as to why she was so down in the dumps. Slowly making his way over to her, he smiled before speaking, "Flutters hon, what's the matter?"

Fluttershy gasped and squeaked as she jumped up and tumbled backwards end over end before landing in a heap at Ryan's feet. She looked up at him sheepishly, blushing as their eyes met, "I-I was just...I don't like being by myself in this maze. Just memories from the last time we were here."

"Oh right." Ryan snapped his fingers, "When Disky first gave y'all grief and caused a lot of mischief using this hedge maze. Sorry Flutters, Ah guess we didn't really think about that fact bothering anypony."

Fluttershy flopped about before rolling over and finally getting to her feet, hooves, whichever! She gave a slight sigh before looking up at Ryan, "I heard all that noise that everypony else was making and got scared. That big fireball really freaked me out. They all found you but me...I'm so bad at this you found me."

Ryan frowned before ruffling her mane, "Hey, don't be like that. Yes, you might be a bit timid...but yer kindness knows no bounds. Besides, no matter how scared you've gotten before, you've always stuck by yer friends and rose to the challenge right?"

"I...I guess so."

"See?" Ryan smirked as he formed a plan, "And ya know..."

Fluttershy looked up to see his smiling face and seemed puzzled, "R-Ryan? What are you thinking?"

"Well, mah dear kind mare, you are right: I did find you." He was quick to not let her get sad about that, "Ah-ah! I said you were right...but remember the rules that Pinks came up with?"

Fluttershy twitched her nose before nodding, "Yes! If we caught you we got our...our k-kiss..."

He laughed softly at how super adorable she was, feeling his cheeks blush to match hers in the moment. Kneeling down, he gently scratched her ears before smirking, "Right. So since I caught you, would that not mean the inverse?"

"...the what?"

'The opposite. What Ryan is trying to explain, my sweet butter pony, is that since that is true...you owe him a kiss.'

Fluttershy's eyes widened at Dark's revelation and she began hemming and hawing left and right as her poor little mind tried to process that fact. Ryan laughed softly before leaning in closer to her, "So then...does the victor get his prize?"

"Uhm...uhm....oh my, oh dear...I...it's just that this....oh me...." Fluttershy shook her rear in time with her muttered words, "I...oh..."

"FLUTTERSHY!?"

Fluttershy squeaked and leaped forward, locking lips with a very confused Ryan who wondered just who the hell had shouted her name so loud. Taking a moment to enjoy his prize, his eyes flickered about before seeing the others each taking a spot in the five pathways that connected to the clearing. Apparently, from what he could deduce, the others had almost perfectly timed their arrivals to see Fluttershy moments from kissing him. No doubt stunned that their timid friend would be the first to "win" the little game, they had all shouted her name in surprise which led to the events leading to what they were now. Finally breaking his kiss with her, he noticed her cheeks were flaming red as he caught his breath and flashed a grin to his other beloved ponies, "Well howdy there y'all. Looks like Flutters here stole the first kiss of the game...fancy that."

"Don't you howdy us there pardner!" AppleJack huffed, "Ah still haven't forgotten that headache of a collision ya gave Dash and I."

"As if it wasn't bad enough you pulled a fast one on us." Rainbow Dash pulled at her mane in frustration, "I have to deal with the fact that Fluttershy—FLUTTERSHY—of all ponies got the first kiss?"

"Oh...oh my...oh dear..." Fluttershy shook as she hid behind Ryan, "I...I didn't mean to...eep!"

Ryan frowned, glancing at her before looking at the others, "Hey, yer scaring poor Flutters. Besides, isn't the whole point of this game to have fun?"

Pinkie laughed softly at first before dragging it out into something far more creepy, "Oh Rysy-Wysy. While that might be true, it's supposed to be fun for us...not you."

"Heh, heh...ya...ya mean "not just you" right? Right?"

"I do believe the lady was quite clear Ryan." Rarity smirked, her horn glowing as she grabbed his legs, "Twilight, do be a dear and help."

"With pleasure!" Twilight's twitchy grin was unsettling as she grabbed Ryan's arms, "Oh yes...I'm going to have such fun getting you back for teasing me like you did. When we're done you'll be the one begging and shouting in frustration!"

'...I think we broke Twi.'

Ryan fought against his magical bonds and groaned, "It would seem so...oh my..."

Try as he might, Rarity and Twilight had him caught quite well and were not about to let him go no matter how much he struggled. His eyes darted from one mare to the next as they slowly advanced on him, "...well now, this is quite the pickle we got ourselves into isn't it?"

'I suppose it is...the only way we'd get out of this one is if something incredibly unlikely occurred.'

"Seeing as they're just about upon us, I have a feeling that won't be...huh?"

With a dark blue and bright white flash, two more apparent players in this little game made themselves known, "Are we too late for the fun? Spike relayed to us the craziness that was being unleashed and, despite my sister's objections, I knew we just had to double the fun with our presence."

Dark chuckled softly, 'Oh Woona...you always did have the best timing! Now Ryan!'

Seeing as Twilight and Rarity's concentration had been interrupted by the princesses' sudden appearance, he focused intently and shattered their magical bonds. Now free once more, he snapped his fingers, donned his magical magnet skates, and tore ass down the nearest pathway, "Sorry ladies, but once again the uncanny luck of Ryan and Darkness Shade pulls us from the jaws of defeat. I guess y'all just didn't want those kisses enough. Oh well~"

Luna frowned and looked about at the five angry mares glaring at her, "Oh my...did we perhaps show up at the wrong time?"

"It would seem so sister." Celestia snickered before glancing in the direction Ryan had run of in, "Well my little ponies? Why are you standing there when our human is getting away? Was not the point of this game—as Spike told us—to catch him for...what was it again? Oh yes!" She grinned cheekily, "A kiss."

Twilight nodded before twitching slightly, "The Princess is right! We can't just stand here!"

"YEAH!"

"We can't let him get away with taunting us like that!"

"YEAH!"

"He'll pay for licking me the way he did!"

"YE—what?"

Seeing the others giving her strange looks, she shook her head before running off after Ryan, "All rules are off! Get him anyway you can!"

Off in the distance...

Spike was busy putting the finishing touches on his snow fort before he felt the ground shake and he turned to see a rather chaotic sight happening in the vicinity of the hedge maze. Magic of all colors was flying left and right and he could make out a few shapes flying above as well, the clashes clearly a sign that—once again—things had gotten quite out of hand and hoof with his loved ones. Shaking his head and watching what appeared to be Ryan get tackled by both Princesses, Spike could only sigh before once more turning back to his work, "Looks like I called it. Heh, I bet the big guy is having lots of fun though...I hope the girls aren't too rough on him."

Back at the maze, Ryan as well as his outfit looked rather ragged after going all out with his beloved mares as a result of their little game ramping up far more than they bargained for. Having taken quite a blow when Lunes, Cellie, and Dashie all tagged-team him in mid-air, he stood staring them down as he panted heavily. Seeing they too were a bit worn out, he knew it was inevitable so he laughed loudly before collapsing in the snow, "...I can't...I can't fight anymore. You ladies win...do with me what you will."

Slowly walking over to him, the group smiled down at their human before laughing softly. Twilight, despite being quite exhausted, still had it in her to rub her hooves together maniacally. That combined with her creepy smile certainly did little to ease Ryan's mind as she spoke, "Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho Ryan...I plan to take full advantage of this situation."

"Easy there Twi." AppleJack tugged on her mane lightly, "Why don'tcha come back from crazy town and join the rest of us before ya go and do something ya might regret to Ryan?"

"Oh I won't regret anything I plan to do...and I highly doubt he will either."

Ryan gulped at those words, wondering if perhaps his earlier teasing may have been just a tad too much. As they all focused their attention to him, Dark decided that would be the ideal time to chime in.

'Well...you know what I say in a situation like this?'

Ryan groaned in preparation for what was likely going to be something very dumb, "What Dark?"

'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth...especially if it's a pretty mare as, odds are, she's about to kiss you and looking deep into their eyes gets them every time!'

"...yer an idiot."

'A sexy idiot! Bring it on ladies!'

"Dark shut yer—" Ryan didn't get another word out as he felt a hoof press against his lips.

"Y'all are talking too much." AppleJack snickered, "Now then...be a good boy and take yer "punishment" like a man."

According to legend, Ryan's scream that day could be heard all the way in Ponyville...

Well it doesn't take a genius to figure out how that little event ended. Needless to say the gals got their fill of kissing and then some, leaving Ryan a blushing, stunned mess for quite a while. When he finally snapped out of it, they said their goodbyes to the Princesses before finally returning home to celebrate with their family and loved ones back in Ponyville. The rest of the year seemed to fly by in a rush, with the last day of the year coming upon them quickly. Ryan was rather curious to see how they celebrated New Year's Eve in Equestria and, like the previous holidays, saw that the similarities were intriguing. While they didn't watch a giant ball drop—instead it was an apple of all things, though he figured that was a Ponyville thing—there was still partying as usual with good food, lots of delicious cider and other beverages, and basically just ponies having a hell of a good time. Said good time was exactly why Ryan was where he was, surrounded by slightly inebriated ponies who were pleading over and over with him over something.

"Please~?"

Ryan sighed, looking over his ladies before nodding his head, "Fine."

With that Dashie happily dropped the brush in his hand before getting settled in her lap, "I don't know why you're so against this Rys—"She snickered softly"—after all, I do recall you being an avid fan of brushie-brushie time."

Ryan paused in his brushing momentarily to glare at Rainbow before continuing on, grumbling all the while about mares and their unfair use of what he likes against him. Twilight slowly stumbled over to Ryan—showing clear signs she'd had just a bit too much cider—before gently nipping his ear, "Oh shhhh, ya know you love the attention."

"Gah!" His face flushed bright red as he accidentally yanked the brush through Dashie's mane, "Oh God! I'm sorry Dashie."

Rainbow Dash cried out before sighing, "Sheesh, not so rough Ryan...not in front of the others anyway."

"Guh!"

Rainbow looked over her shoulder, quite pleased to see Ryan speechless at her reaction. Giggling drunkenly she cleared her throat, "Ahem! Someone is slacking on their brushie-brushie time."

'You heard the lady.'

"...shut up Dark. Not helping." Ryan took a deep breath to calm himself, finishing up Rainbow's mane, "There...such a lovely looking damsel you make when we untangle that messy mop of yers."

Rainbow rolled her eyes before making room for someone else, "...I'm no damsel...but that's still sweet of you."

And that's how the early hours of the new year rolled along for Ryan, one pony after another getting their brushie-brushie time before falling asleep in the wee hours of the morning. Having finished all of them at last, he looked at the six mares happily sleeping in various spots of the barn and gave a nod.

'...ya know, we should really think about building a proper house for all of us.'

Ryan had to wonder just where that came from, 'A proper house? Don't we all have one?'

'Well sure, I suppose so...but if you and these lovely ladies are gonna be close, wouldn't ya want to be with them in one central place?'

'...why is it with stuff like this you always make logical points?' Ryan shook his head in a huff, 'I mean, ever since things just sort of snowballed into this it does seem a bit bad that Apps tends to get me more often. Of course...that's because we haven't exactly told everypony what's up yet.'

'This is true...oh God, I wonder how Shining is gonna take this? Or their parents at that....what about Apps' parents?'

'Ah don't know...ah mean, it was kind of Apps' idea to begin with and, well, her parents were pretty laid-back about me so...' Ryan looked at AppleJack's sleeping form and smiled, 'I can tell she's a bit hesitant to be more open about it. I wonder how Granny and Big Mac will react?'

'Well, this is how I see it...'

'Oh this is gonna be rich.'

Dark grumbled, 'Bite me. Anyway, why worry about it? It'll have to come out into the open eventually anyhow so we'll just deal with it then!'

'...again, the clarity from you regarding something like this is just mind-blowing.' Ryan rolled his eyes before settling down with his gals, 'Oh well, whatever. I just wish ya could be this clear with everything else.'

Dark let out a growly laugh, 'Oh come now, where would the fun be in doing that? Anyway, Happy New Year, Ryan. Good night.'

'Yeah, yeah...Happy New Year ya dork.'

"Here I come!" Ryan roared as he charged towards Spike, Malus Domestica's twin selves glistening in the bright winter sun.

Spike readied himself, his newly acquired gauntlets glimmering as he settled his stance. Watching Ryan close the distance and bring his swords to bear, he threw his hands up to catch Ryan's attack, both weapons colliding with a loud clank! Metal grinded against metal as Spike's arms shook, doing all he could to hold back the force of Ryan's attack. Eventually he felt his legs buckle and so he readied a burst of flame that forced Ryan to jump back; while he was dodging Spike closed the distance and headbutted him right in the gut. Groaning at that Ryan twisted around and elbowed his little bro before he had a chance to land. Spike yelled as he flew through the air before skidding to a stop on the snow.

"Huff, huff....you've gotten quite better." Ryan tried to catch his breath, "I'm proud of that."

Spike chuckled softly as he pulled himself off the ground, "Well, your Hearth's Warming present for me probably is helping out. What made you think of gauntlets anyway?"

"Well, you already had the claws so it seemed like a perfect fit for one that would fight with their fists." Ryan took a deep breath to steady himself, "And of course, after a few modifications thanks to our mutual time and space altering friend, they're as...uhm..."

'Enchanted?'

"Ah! Yes! I reckon that would work Darky! In short, they are as enchanted as Malus Domestica here." Ryan chuckled softly before snapping his fingers and donning his wings, "Now then...shall we step it up?"

Spike cracked his knuckles and neck before nodding, "Very well...I want to see just how hard I can push myself! Let's go!"

And so sword clashed with gauntlet, spell traded off against fireball, and even head against head as the two of them sparred intensely with one another. After dive-bombing Spike and backing him into a corner, Ryan was coming in for the final strike. Thinking quickly, Spike set his gauntlets ablaze with his own flames before Ryan was upon him. Using one flaming gauntlet to deflect his swords, he used the other to land a direct blow to Ryan's face which caught him totally by surprise. Grunting in anguish at the unexpected pain, Ryan rolled in the direction he was punched before landing on his back and grabbing his cheek.

"Ryan!" Spike ran over to his big bro's writhing body, "Oh man, oh jeez....I just reacted without thinking! I'm so sorry!"

Ryan removed his hand to show his cheek was only slightly singed thanks to some quick thinking, "It's okay little bro. Heh, sparring can have it's mishaps but nothing that a little magic can't fix. Besides, don't you remember what Dark said?'

Spike tapped his chin before smirking, "Oh yeah! When I turn up the heat, prepare for a burn so bad even Trollestia would go DAMN!"

'Damn straight! You're turning into a proper hero now, Spike.'

"And now I won't just have to stand idly by while my friends are in danger." Spike blew out his gauntlets before pulling them off, "I still don't get what the Doctor did to make them so stretchy like that but it's weird. Metal should not move like that."

"And you act as if I should be able to split a sword into three, channel the strength of mah friends through it, and then cultivate a massive apple tree to entomb mah foes." Ryan laughed loudly at how silly it sounded out-loud, "And that's not even counting all the new stuff I've been working on in mah spare time. Seriously, while I never hope to have to use them, if a moment ever comes up where we have to fight for real you are going to see some fireworks mah dear dragon!"

"Heh, well hopefully I'll be there to witness it then if you're building it up so much." Spike shook his head, "Leave it to you to be the only person that could outmatch Rainbow Dash in building up your own egos."

"Hey! I take offense to that! I'm merely excited at how well we..." Ryan watched as Spike began to sway oddly, "Little dude, you okay?"

"Huh? Well I...my back feels weird is all. In fact, ever since I punched you I've felt a little off." Spike put a hand to his head, "My head's hurting now...I...don't feel...so good..."

"SPIKE!" Ryan gasped as he collapsed, "Oh shit! This isn't good!"

Knowing he had to get him to a hospital or something, he quickly and carefully scooped up his little brother before flying as fast as he could back to town. Leaving a whirlwind in his wake, he slid to a stop inside the hospital entrance before rushing over to the front desk, "Nurse Redheart! Help! We were sparring and then he started feeling weird—something about his back—and then..."

"Hold on hold on!" Nurse Redheart put a hoof up to silence him, "Calm down! We'll get a stretcher but calmly tell me what happened, Ryan."

Taking a deep breath, Ryan composed himself as the nurses took Spike from him and then down the hall. After that he explained exactly what he and Spike had been up to before he collapsed before feeling drained himself. Nurse Redheart jotted down what she felt was important before smiling at him, "Don't worry, we'll do what we can. Until we're sure we have him stable I'm afraid you'll have to wait here."

"It's okay, I understand. I should probably go get Twilight and the others...I'll be back."

And like that he was off in a flash to go collect T-Sparks and the others as fast as he could...

Twenty minutes later he'd rounded everypony up as Twilight continued to give him a hard time over letting something happen to Spike, "You said you'd keep him safe!"

"I did! He's the one that hit me before starting to feel all weird." Ryan felt so frustrated and was nearly brought to tears by it, "I only wanted to help mah little bro feel more capable...dammit! I'd bet anythin' this has to do with that injury he got from trying to fight Disky! I'll...."

'Ryan...breathe.'

Unclenching his fists, Ryan took his mental partner's advice and took a deep, cleansing breathe to relax his mind. Turning to Twilight he frowned, "I'm sorry...it's just..."

"No, no...you couldn't have foreseen something like this." Twilight shook her head, "I shouldn't be yelling at you. I should be hoping Spike is okay."

"I know but if I hadn't agreed to train him..."

"You only wanted to help him out..."

"Yes but..."

"I know Ryan so..."

"Don't worry, it'll be okay..."

"You're right, he's tough. Thanks Ryan."

"No problem mah little bookworm."

"Awwww...and now kiss."

Ryan and Twilight both turned to Pinkie Pie with amused expressions, the likes of which the pink mare returned whilst giggling....before widening her eyes when they did just that. Now it was everypony's turn to giggle as that silly little moment was just what they needed to dissolve the tension.

"Tarnation...it's always an adventure when it comes to us." AppleJack chuckled, "I just hope the little fellah's okay...did Nurse Redheart give you any indication of when he might be better?"

Ryan simply shook his head, "No. All we can do now is wait ladies...and hope."

"I can hope." Fluttershy gently nuzzled Ryan's side, "Hoping is what gets ponies through the toughest of times right?"

"Exactly." Ryan gently ruffled her mane, "So then..."

With that he sat down, the others around him as they waited patiently as time ticked slowly by. One hour became two, two became four, and eventually it was evening before they finally heard some good news from Redheart. Well, it was as good a news they could hope for anyway as she explained while he was stable, they had no idea what brought about his fainting spell...or the change.

"Change? What change?"

"Well Ms. Sparkle, it would appear that Spike has gone through a metamorphosis of some kind and, well....perhaps it's just best if you come with me to see him." Nurse Redheart led them down the hallway, "He's still asleep, so do be quiet."

Once they came upon his room, they could see exactly what she'd been talking about. Though Spike looked pretty much the same there were a few key differences from how he was beforehand. Namely he now had a pair of wings growing out of his back, he seemed slightly taller, and his scales certainly seemed to look more rugged.

"What in tarnation happened to him?"

'I'm not sure AppleJack. Spike looks like he went and leveled up on us.'

Twilight scrunched her face as she looked her little brother over, "It isn't unheard of for dragons to have changes. I mean, I knew he'd eventually start changing at some point but...from the species he was I didn't think he'd grow wings."

"We all remember what his grown up form looked like after that awful incident involving his birthday." Rarity shook her head, "So if that was a sign of what he'd look like grown up, then why is Spikey-Wikey suddenly sprouting wings?"

"It's because of what Discord did, I know it."

Rainbow Dash glanced at Ryan and raised her eyebrow, "What? What are you talking about?"

"Don't ya remember Dashie? How after our fight and y'all returned us to the castle that Spike collapsed a day later?"

"That's right!" Rainbow heard Nurse Redheart shush her as she walked by, "...sorry. Anyway, are you saying whatever happened to him then might be the cause of this?"

Ryan shrugged, "Maybe. I'm no expert on dragons by any stretch, but seeing as the doctors that patched him up had no idea how it might affect him it seems logical. Add that to our sparring and how well he's been improving and it might just have sparked some kind of change early. All I know is...I hope he wakes up soon."

Sharing his sentiment, the others waited with Spike as long as they were allowed until Nurse Redheart informed them visiting hours were over. Despite his insistence he stay with him, Ryan couldn't convince Redheart otherwise and so he simply nodded before walking out with the ladies, "I doubt I can do much sleeping right now..."

"I hear ya Apple Ryder. We're too worried about the little guy too."

'What a way to start the new year huh?'

"Yeah, it's pretty somber." Twilight sighed, "...would you all like to come to the library? I could make some tea and we could talk since it seems none of us seem all that eager to sleep."

'I think that's a sound idea Twi. I'm sure that's exactly what our little herd needs to calm the mind.'

Ryan rolled his eyes, "Really, Dark? Really? Our herd?"

'Well, that's the correct vernacular for our specific situation is it not?'

"I...again, the logic over the weirdest stuff." Ryan shook his head before laughing, "Sure, fine, our herd then. Come on ladies, to the library."

Well sure enough they were able to get some rest that night but still Spike slept, no doubt his body trying to adjust to all the new changes it had rapidly undergone. About a week had passed as they now made their way further into Januwary and still Spike had not come around. They tried to keep on with life as usual, doing what they had to as each day came and went but they could feel the strain it put having their little buddy out of commission. It would be another week before he finally came around while Twilight and Ryan were visiting and just sitting with him. Twilight was resting in his lap as they watched their little brother laying there and were startled out of their slightly napping state by a groan emanating from Spike. Spike let out another one before opening his eyes and coughing, "Ugh...what happened? I feel like I got into a fight with an Ursa Major before being tossed into a barrel full of glass shards."

"SPIKE!"

Spike gasped as both Ryan and Twilight tackled him, taking him into a group hug, "Sheesh, what gives? Wait...why am I in a hospital?"

"Well..."

Quickly catching Spike up to speed on what happened over two weeks ago, he simply glanced at his slightly altered body and gave a shrug. He laughed softly before smirking, "Well, this certainly is unexpected...guess I have to learn how to fly now, huh?"

"Hahaha...I don't think you'll have a shortage of teachers." Ryan laughed as he patted his back, "I'm just glad yer finally awake again."

'Yeah! Do ya know how boring it is without our little buddy around to be all sarcastic with us?'

"Heh, nice to see you again too Dark."

It didn't take long for the others to find out he was doing well again and they were more than happy to see Spike up and about after just one more day in the hospital. Though he wanted to jump right in to it, Twilight was insistent he take his time to build back his strength. Ryan backed her up on this, saying that as both his sensei and—more importantly—big brother he couldn't let Spike just go back to full-speed like that.

"After all, nothing good comes of pushing yer body too hard for too long. Just like all things in life, moderation is key." He had explained, "So no training of any kind till yer fully adjusted."

Realizing he wasn't going to win this one, Spike acquiesced to their decision and spent a full week just doing his normal responsibilities— keeping Twilight from going crazy, being sarcastic with Ryan and Dark, all those good things—in order to get used to the configuration his body now took.

And for a time things were calm, the snow fading slightly as winter rolled on and everypony went about their days in peace. That all changed, of course, with the arrival of a letter one day from Princess Celestia...

"What?!"

Ryan, AppleJack, and Rarity could hear the shouting from clear across Ponyville and immediately took off in the direction it had come from. They weren't surprised when they heard more irritated sounds before they came to a halt just outside Twilight's house.

"What in tarnation is wrong this time Ah wonder?"

"I'm not sure darling, but Twilight certainly sounds angry, doesn't she?"

"I agree Rares, let's go find out what's up." Ryan went to knock on the door but stopped and just opened it anyway...before getting a book to the face, "Oh Luna dammit! Every time it's something!"

Rarity gently nuzzled his side, "There there dear, relax and breathe. Are you okay?"

He sighed before nodding, "Yeah, yeah...just kind of getting sick of always opening T-Spark's door and getting hurt somehow."

Finally stepping in, he could see Spike cowering behind the couch while Twilight was floating in mid-air looking quite perturbed. Heaving a sigh and daring to step closer, Ryan cleared his throat before calling out to her, "T-Sparks? Honey? Is something the matter? You seem a tad bit upset."

Twilight slowly shifted in the air to stare at Ryan, "Upset? UPSET? Oh no, this isn't me upset! This is me livid!"

Ryan rolled his eyes before sighing again, "And what, may I ask, has mah bookworm so perturbed?"

Twilight said nothing as her eyes landed on a rolled up scroll sitting on the floor; staring at it she looked at Ryan again before motioning towards it. Curious as to what could possibly have been written to stir her up so much, Ryan bent down to pick it up and then unrolled it to read what was on it. As he read over the message it became clear to him why Twilight would be a little upset, "Hmmm, Ah see..."

"Well darling, don't leave us out of the loop. What's it say?"

"I can see why our dear friend here would have reason to be upset but let's wait a few moments; I have a feeling the others in our group will show up any minute and I don't feel like explainin' twice."

AppleJack shrugged but figured that would work, "Well, okay...but perhaps we can do something ta calm Twi down while we wait? She looks like Ah could roast marshmallows over her hair she's so worked up."

'...she's got a point. Go work our charm and calm that tweaked out mare of ours.'

"Dark, I just..." Ryan sighed as he walked over to Twilight, "T-Sparks, would you kindly take a deep breath please?"

"What? How can I do that after reading what's in that letter? I mean, it's bad enough that..."

Ryan reached over and gently wrapped his arm around her neck before staring her in the eyes, "T-Sparks. Breathe. Now."

Twilight froze up at that before taking a deep, calming breath and letting herself relax. Removing his hand as she slowly settled back down on the floor, he crouched down to kiss her cheek, "See? Don't you feel better mah dear?"

"...yes. Perhaps I did overreact just a little." Twilight sheepishly tapped her hoof, "Thanks for helping me chill out."

"Not a problem." Ryan smirked before bowing, "After all, a gentleman must always be ready to assist his ladies when they are troubled. What kind of stallion would I be if I didn't?"

Rarity giggled, "Oh my...he's always so smooth isn't he?"

"Yeah, smooth...that's what we'll go with." AppleJack laughed, "Although Ah must admit it is nice having somepony around that can help tame Twi when she gets into one of her fits."

"Hey!" Twilight grumbled as she stuck her tongue out.

'Now now ladies...no fighting. At least, not without a pool of gelatin...preferably grape-flavored.'

If Ryan could have, he'd probably have rolled his eyes inward to join the others in the room in their staring at Dark after his comment. As it was they just had to settle with the uncomfortable silence it had brought...at least until the others finally showed up.

"Oh thank Celestia, something to take away from that moment." Twilight sighed, "Well, now that the others are here perhaps it's time to explain things. If the gentleman would be so kind."

"Very well then." Ryan pulled out the letter and began to read, "Dear Twilight Sparkle...."

One short reading later...

"Okay, so we're being called to help with a wedding." Rainbow looked at the others, "That's simple enough...but I guess what got Twi so tweaked was that it's her brother's wedding?"

"Exactamundo Dashie!" Pinkie nodded her head so fast it seemed her mane might fly off, "Such a naughty big brother keeping a secret like this from his sister. We'll just have to have some fun to teach him a lesson!"

"...uhm, that's probably not a good idea Pinks." Ryan laughed softly, "Good on Shining though! He's a pretty awesome guy so I'm happy fer mah friend."

"But! Using a letter to tell me is just..." Twilight was on the verge of breaking again until Ryan started scratching her ears, "Ooooh! Okay, okay. I won't freak out Ryan....I didn't say stop though."

Ryan laughed heartily at that, keeping his scratching up for a few moments before finally stopping.

"S-so then the Princess wants us to come help prepare? When do we leave?"

Spike looked over the letter, "According to this Fluttershy, she wants us there tomorrow afternoon. Strange though, since she knows we'll be using our usual method of arrival, she says to appear outside the castle."

'That sounds peculiar. Do you think something odd is going on that she doesn't want to discuss unless we're there?'

"Yer guess is as good as ours Darkness. Either way it looks like we've got some preparing ta do."

"Apps is right y'all; the wedding isn't for another three days so make sure to pack appropriately." Ryan looked at his herd, "Hmmm...."

"What's turning through your head Ryan? I can hear the gears turning from her darling."

"I just had a thought...but it's not important right now. Now come on mah little ponies, we've got packing to do."

With that everypony there headed off to get ready...but Ryan felt a tug on his jacket and turned to see Twilight holding him back, "What's up T-Sparks? Bit fer yer thoughts?"

"Oh...it's just...well...I was wondering if you knew why Shining wouldn't tell me he was getting married until just beforehand like this? You know, being a big brother yourself and all."

Ryan twitched his nose in thought for a moment or two before snapping his fingers, "If it was anythin', Ah reckon he's probably been busy with whatever seems to be up at the castle. He is the head of the Royal Guard after all, so I can't imagine he'd have a lot of free time if trouble was possibly brewing."

Twilight nodded in response, "That does sound like something that could've happened...and I know what you were thinking about earlier."

"Huh?"

"When Rarity asked what you were thinking about...you're wondering how Shining might take the news of us all, uhm, being in a relationship."

Ryan laughed sheepishly, "Read me that easy eh mah bookworm?"

"Yeah but...I wouldn't worry about it. I don't think he'd react badly. Surprised, definitely, but he's met you enough to know you and what kind of person you are."

"Yeah...we've been lucky enough ta keep it under wraps as well as we have but it won't stay secret forever. In all honesty, I'm surprised more people haven't found out about it by now. Heh, especially Big Mac and Granny." Ryan tapped his chin, "Unless...they already know. Would they not say anything if they did? Hmmm..."

"Careful...now you're the one over-thinking things."

"Brat." Ryan stuck his tongue out at Twilight, "You feel better now?"

"Yes. Thanks."

"Heh." Ryan took her hoof and kissed it softly, "Anything for mah lady."

The next morning Ryan and the others had gathered together before their trip back to Canterlot once again. Making sure they had what they needed and that everypony was ready, Ryan and Twilight did their thing and with a bing-bang-zam they teleported to the outskirts of the town...and then promptly gawked at the large energy barrier that seemed to surround it.

'So...I think our theory that something is up is pretty spot on.'

"At least that explains why the Princess wanted us to arrive where we did." Spike hefted up his bag, "Well, let's not waste any time. I'm sure there's a lot to do...being a wedding and all."

"Right! And then we can talk to mah big brother and find out what the deal is." Twilight nodded, following along with her friends.

"Exactly....and hopefully avoid any hijinx at that." Ryan shrugged before laughing, "Of course, it is us so...I doubt that'll happen."

Having finally made it to the what appeared to be a checkpoint of sorts, the guards there greeted them all before asking that they please allow themselves to be searched before entering. Everything went well enough as they went along with it, knowing that it was probably a precaution against whatever threat was lurking in the shadows. Or rather, it went smoothly enough until they got to Ryan, "Sir, I must request you check your weapon."

"Look, I'm not parting with Malus Domestica. She's mah partner and she's staying with me."

"Sir, we cannot let you in unless you check it. It's a precaution all who enter must take."

"And Ah already told ya, it ain't going anywhere. I'm not gonna be left naked if something hits the fan...I will not leave mahself unable to protect mah loved ones."

The guard sighed, "Sir, while I can understand and sympathize with your thoughts, I cannot allow you access unless you check your sword with us."

"This is ridiculous...next you'll be wanting mah wand too."

"Actually..."

"What in the name of our Celestia is the hold-up here? Oh. Of course it's you."

"Funny Swift Cut, funny. Now could ya please tell yer men to quit hassling me. Y'all have never had a problem with me carrying mah sword and wand with me before...so why the change?"

Swift Cut wore a grim look as he walked over, "I cannot explain yet, but something is up and thus we needed to increase our security. We aren't sure what is being planned, but we have to be on our A-game with this one."

"Then ya know if things hit the fan, that I need to keep those nearby." Ryan looked at him with the same determined look, "I may not be as strong as y'all in the same aspects, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna allow mahself to go in unequipped and unable to protect people should the need arise."

Swift Cut continued his stare down with Ryan for a few minutes, the atmosphere tense as neither one backed down despite knowing the other had their valid points. After a few more silent moments Swift Cut sighed before nodding, "Fine. I know when I can't win. Heh, you're ballsy human. I like that. Now hurry along, the Captain and the Princesses are awaiting your arrival."

"Thanks Swift Cut. I appreciate it. You're a tough old dog yerself, so don't let anypony say otherwise."

With that Ryan and his friends continued on their way into the castle, leaving the younger soldiers to look at Swift Cut with worried stares. Sensing his men's anxiety, he flashed them a grin, "Relax men. That human might be a lot of things, but an enemy or spy is certainly not one of them. Too bad he's not a pony, he'd make a hell of a Royal Guard. Heh, knowing him though he'd prefer to go it solo and be the vigilante hero. I just hope nothing does happen...and things can flow smoothly for once."

Having dropped their bags off in their room, they group hurried to the backyard gardens as directed to meet up with Celestia, Luna, Shining and whoever his mysterious bride was.

"Do you think it's somepony we know?"

Twilight gave a shrug, "I don't know Rainbow. The odds aren't exactly high on that one but I suppose it's possible."

"Oh I bet it's somepony gorgeous. After all, Shining is a total gentleman so I have no doubt he would find his perfect match." Rarity sighed dreamily before leaning on Ryan, "Much like our dear human has done with us, it would seem those gentlemanly ways of Shining's also snagged a winner."

Ryan's cheeks flushed as Rarity's batted her eyes at him, causing him to lose his voice for a moment or two. When he finally did regain it he shook his head before leaning down to nip at Rarity's ear, "Simmer down mah marshmallow. No sense making me go mute from all the lovey-dovey stuff—"He winked at her"—save that for later when I don't really need to talk."

"Oooooooooh! Heh! Rarity's blushing so much her whole body's turning pink!" Pinkie giggled before rushing to her side, "Look! If I had a horn and made my hair all fancy-wancy like hers, Rarity and I could totally pass for twinsies!"

Spike simply rolled his eyes, "I think one Pinkie is more than enough. I'm pretty sure we couldn't handle two...uh, no offense Pinkie."

"Oh that's okay Spike! Can you imagine two of me? Oh! Or like four! I could get so many sweets made and—"

Ryan placed his hand over her mouth, "Quiet voices Pinks, we're just about there."

Pinkie nodded and so the group readied themselves as they soon saw Celestia and Luna sitting in the distance at a table with Shining and a pale cerise colored mare with a tri-color mane, the latter of which had her back to them. Twilight held back for a moment eyeing her, "I imagine that's the Princess Mi Amore Cadenza mentioned in the letter...strange. Something about her strikes me as very familiar. I wonder why?"

"Well, come on. Don't just stand there wonderin' sugarcube." AppleJack nudged her to keep her walking, "Might as well go ahead and get the greeting over with so we can get over this awkwardness yer havin'!"

Twilight gasped, "I am not being awkward!"

Ryan rolled his eyes, seeing that her little outburst had caught Luna and Celestia's attention. Giving a smile and wave, he could only hope things wouldn't get more crazy...especially when, not if, he had to explain how he and Twilight were linked as more than friends to Shining.

'That'll be such a fun talk.'

'Shut it, Darkness...'

"Twily! You finally made it! And all your friends too! That's great!" Shining Armor ran over to hug his sister, "I'm glad you came on such short notice. We would've invited you sooner but things have been pretty busy here lately."

"...well, I was a little upset to find out this way but Ryan helped assure me there had to have been some reason I was finding out so late."

Shining smirked, "Oh he did? Heh, perhaps I should be thanking him for getting some pressure off my back."

"Always nice to get some praise from the captain of the Royal Guard but hey, we're friends so of course I'll help keep T-Sparks from going crazy if'n I can." Ryan laughed softly, "But for now...aren't ya gonna introduce us to this gal of yers that so captured yer heart?"

"Of course, where are my manners?" Shining Armor stepped over to and motioned towards the cerise pony, "May I present to you my bride to be: Princess Cadance."

"Dear, I told you that my title is Princess Mi Amore—"

Cadance cut herself off after she turned around and caught sight of Ryan, her eyes widening in what appeared to be shock—and...fear?—before she fell off of her chair and on to the ground.

Ryan simply shared the same confused look as the others as they looked on. Unsure as to the reason for her reaction, he simply shrugged, "...heh, Ah guess I'm just too awesome for mah own good. Sorry about that."

Author's Note

Oh man, another big one but I finally got it proofread and up like Ah said I would. :pinkiehappy:
It's not as quickly as I would've wanted, but with mah new job I don't have as much free time to write as I did so it'll be slow for a while.
The good news is that I know how this next plot is going to go down and so when I do get to write I shouldn't have any blockage issues. Ah'm pretty eager to write it so I might put a bit more effort into trying to work out any free time I can during the week.
Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed the silliness of wrapping up Hearth's Warming and the holidays before moving to the arrival of a certain queen.
Finally! The time is coming for more questions and more action! Time to really make that DSSA™ shine!

18th Harvest

"In all seriousness, though, Ah do apologize as I would've thought Shining may have mentioned me already. Are you alright Princess?"

Princess Cadance slowly picked herself up and looked at Ryan before offering him a smile, "...it's quite alright. It would appear that my dear Shining neglected to mention you were a...human yes? While I have heard your name mentioned by him before, he seemed to leave out that fact."

"You would be correct....and the Captain of the Royal Guard forgetting details?" Ryan smirked at his friend, "Ah reckon there's a first for everything."

"Haha, go ahead and laugh it up." Shining rolled his eyes, "Though how do you know about humans Cadance?"

"Thanks to auntie of course; she used to tell me stories when I was younger about that long-forgotten race."

Celestia nodded, "I remember how excited you got about those stories. It was just so cute."

"...Auntie! Though...I remember you saying all the humans were gone from our world. So..." She pointed at Ryan, "Where did you come from?"

"Oh, well that's easy. Ah'm from another world. Not really sure how in tarnation Ah ended up in Equestria ta begin with but here I am." Ryan nodded before smiling sadly, "...while Ah do still miss mah family an awful lot, Ah've done mah best to move on and try not to focus on something I can't change."

"That's right!" Twilight added, "He's worked real hard to try and establish a new life for himself here."

"A new life, eh?" Cadance smirked as she looked at Ryan and then the six mares around him, "Haha, and then some from what I can tell."

Ryan's eyes darted about nervously, "What, uh, whatcha talking about Princess?"

"Oh please, Ryan, you may call me Cadance. You already speak with my aunts on a first name basis so no need for such formality."

"Okay." Ryan composed himself, "Would ya care to explain what you mean though?"

"Did you really think you could hide something like that from the Princess of Love?"

"...Princess of Love?"

"Yes." Luna began to explain, "As I am the Princess of the Night/Moon, and my sister the Princess of the Day/Sun, so too is our niece a Princess of something important. In this case, she is the Princess of Love."

"Oh that's just so wonderful." Rarity sighed happily, "You must find such joy in bringing love to those you meet."

"It is rather fulfilling, Rarity." Cadance giggled softly, "Though it has made me very capable in sensing love, both given and received. And from what I can tell, Ryan..."

"Yes?"

"Well, apparently you've got quite a bit of love surrounding you from...six? My, my. I never knew humans were so, what is the word?" She smirked cheekily, "Ah yes! Smooth."

"Gah! How did you...." Ryan turned to look at Shining how seemed to be thinking on something, "Oh boy..."

After a few more moments, Shining narrowed his eyes before looking at his sister and Ryan, "...could I possibly have a word with you two? In private?"

Sharing a glance with him, Ryan and Twilight nodded before following Shining leaving the others to just stare at Cadance in shock.

"What? I am the Princess of Love after all...and you six were broadcasting love for him so hard I nearly overdosed on the stuff." Cadance turned to her aunts and smirked, "So much so, I nearly missed the feelings radiating from you two. How interesting this human is..."

Celestia and Luna simply smirked at the remark...though Luna's cheeks did blush slightly.

After going far enough away that the others couldn't overhear them, Shining stopped and turned to face his sister and friend. He eyed them curiously for a moment or two before speaking, "So is what Cadance said true? Are you and your friends all..."

Twilight gulped, "...romantically linked with Ryan?"

Shining gave a short nod, "Yes. Is this true?"

Twilight seemed unable to deduce just what to say before she felt a warm hand pat her shoulder. Ryan winked at her before looking Shining square in the eyes, "Yes, it is. The six of them and I are in a relationship. While Ah never imagined something like this happening, mah sweet apple and her "slightly" meddling ways noted that Ah certainly cared for all of them quite deeply and they all had similar feelings in kind. Heh, especially Dashie...she couldn't hide that crush on me to save her life. Haha."

"I see then...so you do love them, right?"

"Of course I do. While this might be different, mah love for all of them—including yer sister—is honest and true. Ah would never dream of hurting them, and I will always be there to help protect them from anything that comes our way."

Shining Armor eyed Ryan up and down—which certainly made him sweat—before slowly nodding, "Well...I can't say this is something I've expected but...you aren't exactly a predictable person are you?"

"Hahaha, ain't that the truth."

"Haha, yes." Shining smiled at the two, "Well, I've been around you enough to know your character and I'm sure my sister—as well as her friends—are in good...hands."

'Ahhhhhhhh, that awful pun. You have been around us far too often.'

Shining laughed softly, "Perhaps so, Darkness, but is that a bad thing? Anyway, there's something else I wanted to ask the two of you since we're here anyway."

"Something else?" Twilight scrunched up her face, "What are you talking about big bro?"

"Well, seeing as I am getting married, I was hoping you would be my best mare, Twily."

Twilight blinked before gasping, "Best mare? But I...are you sure?"

"Of course! I couldn't think of anyone more capable than my little sister."

"Heh, Ah have ta agree with that one Shiny." Ryan snickered as Twilight rolled her eyes, "But what did ya wanna ask me?"

"Well, from what the Princess tells me, when humans got married the groom would choose someone to be the best man much like how we choose a best mare. And, I was wondering, since we actually have a human amongst us for this one, if you'd be interested in being my best man."

Ryan was stunned for a moment before collecting himself, "Yer best man? But...I mean! Isn't there a stallion ya know better for that job?"

"Ah! Ah! A stallion wouldn't be a best man...only a human will work for this one."

'He's got you there partner.'

"Who's side are you on anyway?"

'The fun side.'

Ryan facepalmed, "Ask a dumb question...heh, well Shiny if'n it means that much to ya then Ah accept. Of course...I don't rightly know exactly what all a best man does but Ah reckon that means Ah'll be helping out T-Sparks with making sure it all goes off well."

"Exactly!" Shining beamed with happiness, "I'm so glad you accepted. It really does mean a lot to me that the both of you did."

'Shining?'

"Yes Darkness?"

'Ah have a question about your bride to be? Cadance? She seemed to be acting a bit...peculiar.'

Shining nodded before dismissing it, "Yeah but she's been having some pre-wedding jitters, that's all. That and she's been helping keep me energized since I am powering this whole shield protecting the city."

"Really now?" Ryan whistled in amazement, "Ah knew ya were skilled with a sword but yer magic seems pretty top-notch too. Nice to see mah future brother-in-law is quite talented."

"B-brother-in-law?" Twilight stuttered out, realizing what those words implied, "But...and I...well, that is it's not like I don't...."

Ryan let out a hearty laugh before gently ruffling Twilight's hair, "Relax there mah bookworm....that won't be for some while, too many other things we've got to take care of before even planning something like that, right? No need to rush into things because, as far as Ah can tell, Ah'd have to mess up pretty big ta lose mah herd."

Shining snickered at seeing his sister so red, "You are just terrible at times Ryan...and yet I'm still laughing. Well then, I'll let you two get things underway with your friends. I need to go run over some things with the other guards and, of course, make sure my bride-to-be is okay. If she asks anything of you, be sure to help okay? See ya later!"

And so after sharing the good news with their friends and bidding farewell to the Princesses they headed off to their assigned tasks. AppleJack and Pinkie were on top of the catering, making sure everything would be just perfect and tasty and all these other words that Pinkie was using but to not waste everypony's time we won't be repeating.

"...that's not fair! You don't get any cake now!"

Anyway, while they handled that—with Pinkie also heading up decorating—Rarity was sent off to work on the outfits for the wedding party which entailed her meeting Cadance's bridesmaids as well as trying to think of something fitting to come up with for both Twilight and Ryan.

"It's not every day you get to make dresses and suits for a wedding after all darling!"

Her statement was true enough and she was off in a flurry of movement as she worked to round up all the materials she would need. Fluttershy had been tasked with bringing her birds friends into shape in order to delight everyone with their music. This left Rainbow Dash to, what else, but be awesome as always in making sure the weather stayed on task so their perfect day would have the perfect weather...and if she snuck off once and a while to sample Apps' treats and get a belly rub or two from a certain human, nobody seemed to mind too much.

"You swore you'd never tell!"

"...Uhm, Dashie, who are ya talking to?" Ryan glanced at her as he went over the checklist with Twilight, "This seems about all one usually thinks about when it comes to weddings. Everyone's got their tasks ready so other than checking up on everything today and the rehearsal tomorrow for the wedding in two days...what else does a best man do? This all seems so...important and I'd hate to mess it up."

Twilight rolled her eyes before laughing, "You're doing fine hon, relax. You're starting to sound like me saying things like that."

'Oh! A sharp sting from the bookworm. Oh! And two words Ryan: Bachelor Party!'

"...shut up Dark." Ryan sighed, "Ah just want mah buds wedding to go off well, that's all."

Rainbow Dash nuzzled his side and nodded, "It will! It's us after all! We've got this covered and if any trouble shows up—"She pounded her hooves together"—we'll take it out in ten seconds flat!"

"I suppose yer right...but something still bothers me about that Princess."

"...I would say you're just upset she read our love so clearly." Twilight lowered her checklist and frowned, "But she didn't remember our little dance...or act at all how I remember she was. I know my brother said it was just pre-wedding jitters but..."

"Ya can't help but feel it's something more than that?" Ryan turned to see her nodding, "Well, don't worry, Dark and Ah will keep an eye out for anything peculiar as we check around. Speaking of...you were awful quiet around her partner."

'...let's just say I feel like keeping an ace in the hole. I'm gettin' some weird vibes from her and I don't like it...like my skin is crawling or something.'

"Well, okay, Ah suppose ya have yer reasons." Ryan looked at the checklist before glancing at Dashie, "So, that line of showers that's supposed ta be diverted north of here...has that been taken care of?"

Rainbow Dash gasped before taking off in a hurry which clearly answered the question.

"That mare...at least she's quick though." Ryan laughed softly, "Shall we go see how AppleJack and Pinks are coming along with the cooking?"

Twilight stowed her checklist and gave a nod, "That sounds like a plan...have you seen Spike by the way?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, he ran off to go do some research or something. He wouldn't explain to me what about but he just had this odd feeling about having to look something up in the hidden archive." Ryan gave a shrug as they walked towards the kitchen, "He said he didn't want to tell me because he wasn't sure, but he just felt that looking into it would—at the very least—ease his mind."

"Well that's weird." Twilight gave a shrug of her own as they headed into the kitchen, "Well, whatever it is let's hope it's nothing bad."

Looking about they could already see piles of goodies baked in preparation, as well as signs of further culinary creations yet to be made. Looking about for a bit they finally caught sight of AppleJack pulling a tray from the oven before smiling at the scent coming from it.

"Oh Luna, Ah know that smell. Yer making some of yer famous apple turnovers ain'tcha?"

AppleJack set the tray down before laughing, "Yer darn tootin'! Nothing but the best Apple family treats for our friends! Want to try one?"

"DO I?" Ryan happily took one and bit into it, "...okay, still a bit hot but oooooooh yeahhhhhh. Mmmm....ouch....mmmmm...ouch....mmmmmm."

Twilight simply shook her head, "No need to be so eager as to burn your mouth Ryan. I assume this means everything is going off without a hitch here?"

"You bet! Pinks already finished up all her baking for the day so she went and ran off to decorate and plan the reception party." AppleJack tilted her head and frowned, "Though...Ah'm afraid ta ask why she needed—what was it?—ten pounds of...whipped cream? She ain't baking anymore so Ah can't rightly figure out why she needs that for the reception party."

'I could probably think of a few things.'

AppleJack rolled her eyes, "Of course you would...for a gentleman, you have some dirty thoughts there Darky."

'Hey! I find that to be offensive...'

"Notice he's not denying it though." Ryan snickered, "Well we just wanted to...oh!"

This came in response to seeing Princess Cadance make an appearance, no doubt to check on things personally. She looked about at the treats and then Ryan saw something again, the strange look she kept shooting him ever since the morning. He wasn't sure what meaning was behind it, but it certainly unnerved parts of him to be sure. Nonetheless he smiled and gave a bow, "Princess, how nice to see you. Come to sample the delicious treats for your wedding party? You have to try the turnovers. They are the best, hands down."

"Hahaha, is that so?" Cadance smirked as she looked at Ryan, "Well then...AppleJack was it? Allow me to try this highly touted items if you would."

AppleJack nodded before offering her some from a tray that had already been cooling, "Here ya go Princess! These should taste great without burning yer mouth ta boot!"

Levitating one up towards her mouth, Cadance took a bite and smiled...though Dark was receptive to notice that it seemed like a suspicious smile. Finishing the turnover, Cadance licked her lips and voiced her approval, "I can see why the human—I mean Ryan would speak so highly of them. No doubt yer skills as a cook is something he finds quite attractive."

"Guh....Cadance." Ryan gasped, his cheeks flushing, "...not that I don't agree with that statement but come on!"

Cadance giggled softly before grinning at Ryan, "Easily flustered are you? Hahaha...how cute."

And then there it was again, only perceptible for the shortest of time frames when the others weren't looking—a smile from her that was not as friendly and more...Ryan tried to think of the right word. Sinister? Perhaps, but it set off a few flags in the back of his mind that he thought to bring up later but for now would let them go.

"Cadance! Seeing as you are here, perhaps we could go together to see how Rarity is coming along with the dresses and suits for everypony?"

Cadance turned to Twilight and gave a nod, "Very well Twilight. I suppose it would be nice to see what she is coming up with."

"Yes! Come along Ryan."

Ryan rolled his eyes sarcastically, "Yes dear."

This drew a laugh from all those around, though Dark wasn't laughing at the silliness and this unsettled Ryan some.

'...what's wrong bro?'

'...there's something wrong with this mare. Ah don't know what it is...but I just get the heebie-jeebies feeling from her. And I'm not sure if ya noticed but...she's pink-ish but her horn glows green.'

'Yeah...and?'

'Well, think about it...isn't a unicorn's magic usually the same color as their coat or one of the colors in their tail/mane?'

Ryan paused in his stride for a moment, '...okay. I will admit that is odd.'

'And she's been given us that evil eye look since this morning. It's almost as if she didn't ever expect to see a human here of all places.'

'...dammit, now mah logic senses are all getting alarmed.' Ryan paused his thought chat to see they were now at the tower where Rares was working on the bridesmaids dresses, '...we'll bring this up with the others tonight but for now...just observe when Ah can't, okay?'

'Got it partner!'

"Oh hello everypony! And a special hello to you Princess!" Rarity was a blur of movement as she ran about grabbing string, ribbons, and other various odds and ends as she stitched away, "If you'd like to see your dress I've already finished it. I'm just about finished with those for your bridesmaids so hopefully they'll be here shortly as I asked. I have to make sure they fit after all."

Princess Cadance walked over to her dress and studied it carefully, making sure to look at every stitch and gem that Rarity had put into it. Making a small noise, she gave a nod and smiled, "It looks quite stunning...it's safe to see now why my aunts spoke of your fashion skills with such high regard."

Rarity squealed before clapping her hooves happily, "So you like it then?"

"Of course." Cadance looked over it one more time, "Although....perhaps you could add one tiny thing for me?"

"But of course Princess! Anything for the bride!"

Cadance laughed softly before motioning at the dress, "If you could put a row of beads in a sequenced design right here, it would be just as I envision."

"Of course, of course. I will be more than happy to accept your request Princess."

"Please, you may call me Cadance."

"If you insist Princess, I mean Cadance. Now then, as for the ones for your bridesmaids." Rarity paused when she heard a knock at the door, "Ah! That should be them now! Ryan, be a dear and answer that would you?"

"Sure thing m'lady." Ryan opened the door and greeted them, "Ladies, ladies, come in. We've been....GAH!"

This response was appropriate as he was tackled by a certain mint colored mare who was grinning madly at him as she sat on his stomach. Ryan shook off his dazed feeling before looking up and smirking, "Hello Lyra."

"Hiiiiiiiiiii." Lyra beamed as she looked at her favorite human, "I wondered if you'd be here since the groom is Twilight's brother. I'm so happy you are!"

"Lyra....you're perhaps being a bit scary again."

Recognizing that voice, Ryan glanced to see none other than Colgate standing there, "You too huh?"

"Yes." Colgate sighed, "I was afraid she'd act like this when she was asked to be a bridesmaid with myself and Twinkleshine. Lyra, do be dignified and let him up would you?"

Lyra realized she was being stared at by everypony there and giggled sheepishly before finally getting off of Ryan, "Sorry...I'm just really excited."

Princess Cadance regarded this all with such curiosity and smirked as she walked over, "Goodness me...you've got the mares just falling all over you don't you Ryan?"

"Gah! Cadance! Again?" Ryan sighed as his cheeks turned crimson, "A-Anyway, shall we make sure the dresses are alright?"

While Colgate—who apparently Cadance was calling Minuette for some reason—and Twinkleshine looked at the dresses with Rarity and Twilight, Lyra had something else to talk about with Ryan and so dragged him over to the other side of the room.

Ryan sighed softly, "Okay Lyra...what's on yer mind?"

"I know."

"You...know?"

"I know...about you."

"About me? Uh, yeah, I'd say so after the talks we've had."

"No, I mean...you..." Lyra leaned in to whisper, "And your herd."

Ryan gulped as his eyes darted left and right, "What? What are ya talking about?"

"Your herd...you and AppleJack and all her friends. Your herd. I know..." Lyra grinned widely, "And if that's the case....I want to know one thing."

"Oh heavens....and what is that mah human obsessed goober?"

Lyra gave him her most pleading eyes and put her hooves together, "I want in. Please?"

Ryan about choked on his heart for a moment he was so caught off-guard by such a request. Waving at the others who had been distracted by his coughing, he turned back to Lyra and stared at her, "Ah....look, now ain't the time for this okay? The others...Ah know they love me but Ah'm slightly worried yer asking simply because Ah'm a human hon."

"What? No! That's not true." Lyra pouted, "You're funny and silly and ya didn't make fun of my interest in humans and you actually helped me learn more about your kind. That...that just counts a lot in my book, ya know?"

Ryan looked at her quivering lip, his heart feeling a familiar pull, "Leave it to Lyra to tug at mah heartstrings. Look..."

Lyra perked up slightly, "Yes?"

Ryan gave a sigh before smiling, "Let's focus on the wedding first. That'll give you a little more time to think on this....and make sure you're not just rushing headlong into something serious. After the wedding...all of us can discuss this if'n ya still want to. So let's make this wedding awesome first, okay?"

Lyra's face broke into a huge grin as she glomped him, "Oh thank you, thank you! I will think about it seriously! I promise! But first...."

With that she trotted over to the dresses and continued looking them over with the others leaving Ryan to stand there completely baffled by this as usual.

'What do you expect? Yer in Equestria now Ryan...a little bit of kindness and caring like that can go a looooong way here.'

'Heh, that's true enough, Dark. Just look at the others...but Lyra too? And how in tarnation did she even find out about us? This is getting crazy....' Ryan took a cleansing breath, 'Anyway...they'll be time to worry about that later, after the wedding is over. Come on...Ah'm pretty sure T-Sparks and I still have a few more things to go over before the night is over.'

Sure enough they did, with Ryan, Twilight, and Cadance heading off to the reception hall to see just what kind of progress Pinkie had made in getting it ready for after the wedding. Needless to say, the hall looked very, very colorful and Pinkie had been clearly moving in that crazy fast way she can to get as much done in as little time as possible.

"Ya know...of all the mysterious things in this world, the one Ah'm certain nopony will ever figure out is how Pinkie Pie does what she does." Ryan looked about and saw that she'd done the work of about ten ponies in less than maybe four or five hours, "Ah mean...how did she do all this?"

"It's because I'm super-duper Rysy-Wysy!" Pinkie exclaimed as she appeared from within his jacket of all places.

Ryan gasped, startled backwards by her sudden appearance before landing on his butt, "Ugh...Pinks! Ya know ya shouldn't be doing that stuff ta me."

Pinkie giggled, "I'm sorry but I wanted to make an entrance! So what do you think Princess? Is it awesome?"

Princess Cadance took a look around, examining the streamers, banners, and other colorful decorations that had been made and placed by Pinkie before making an amused sound. Turning to them she gave Pinkie a nod, "To think you made these all by yourself. How interesting. Perhaps it is your unbridled energy that Ryan finds so attractive?"

"Actually Princess, I think Rysy-Wysy finds my sense of humor attractive because it's silly and crazy like his....that and my soft tummy because he just always seems to love to give me belly rubs and—mmph!"

Once again Ryan had his hand covering her mouth, trying his best to contain any embarrassing info, "Hahaha....silly Pinks, no need ta share that with the Princess. She just needs ta know how the preparations are coming?"

Twilight cleared her throat before nodding as well, "Yes! How about the entertainment? How is that coming along?"

Pinkie licked Ryan's hand, getting him to relinquish his hold on her mouth before continuing, "Well, Vinyl said she'd be happy to come play for us and I've got lots of board games and other things for everypony to partake in and of course they'll be lots of cake—I know Princess Celestia will like that one!—and of course, something all the mares can enjoy, pin your tail on the human."

Ryan, who had been nodding his head along with Twilight at the list Pinkie had been rattling off, suddenly gave pause and shared a curious glance with T-Sparks before speaking up, "Uhm...did...did ya just say pin your tail on...the human?"

Pinkie giggled softly, "Of course silly! Think of the fun we had chasing you around when it was just eight of us and then like super-duper-quadruple mathiply it by all the mares at the wedding and just imagine the fun we could have!"

"...don't...don't Ah get a say in this?"

"Where is your sense of fun dear human?" Cadance giggled softly, batting her eyes at Ryan and making him blush, "Are you telling me you wouldn't want the ladies to come chasing at you like that?"

"Cadance!" Ryan gasped out at her teasing, "What the heck is that about?"

"Oh come now, as the Princess of Love one thing I'm well versed in is knowing how to make a stallion blush. Although...if I were to win my dear Shining would probably be a little jealous."

"Hey! Look! Pinkie!"

"Listen?!"

Ryan facepalmed before staring at her, "I'm trying to be serious."

"I know and you're ruining all the fun!"

"Pinkie, please." Ryan sighed before noting she was going to let him continue this time, "Anyway, look! Ah might be a fan of unexpected good plots as much as the next guy but...doesn't that seem unfair ta me?"

Pinkie stuck out her tongue as she thought long and hard over what he said before she shook her head, "Nope!"

"But..."

"Nope! The Princess seems on board with the idea so that's the end of it."

Twilight, who had been too amused to say anything, simply giggled before shaking her head, "I'm not sure what I just witnessed but it was the most amusing thing ever...then again anytime our human gets all flustered tends to be amusing."

Ryan rolled his eyes as the three mares there simply giggled at his annoyed look; he soon began to laugh too, unable to fight how infectious the laughter was.

'...don't get too relaxed, she's giving you that look again.'

Though Ryan nearly missed it, for the briefest second he'd seen that weird smile being shot his way from Cadance before it turned normal again.

'This is getting weird Dark. Why does she keep looking at me like that?'

'I don't know but...we need to tell the others about this.'

'I agree...those looks, and her not remembering her and T-Sparks' little dance are peculiar. Oddly enough, other than that she's been rather pleasant.'

'This is getting weird but they're looking at ya so we'll talk later.'

Twilight tilted her head before nudging Ryan's side, "Are you okay Ryan?"

"Yeah, yeah." He waved his hand to dismiss it, "Just a little tired is all...all this planning is wearing me out. How about we go meet the others for some dinner?"

"That sounds like a plan."

Cadance gave curt nod, "I need to go meet with my dear Shining as it is. He's been having some headaches ever since he had to maintain this shield and my magic is about the only thing helping him with that."

Ryan nodded, "Yeah, Shiny did mention something about that earlier. That's pretty sweet of ya to help out like that."

"Haha, well he is my future husband after all. Till tomorrow my new friends, sleep well and be careful."

With that Cadance took her leave; not long after that Ryan, Pinkie, and Twilight went to meet the others for a late dinner.

After having met the others in the dining hall and having had a delicious meal—specifically, Luna had a burger of all things made up special for Ryan who nearly went into a deliciousness coma after biting into it—he and his herd retired to their room after a hard day's preparations.

"Come on Ryan! What's taking you so long?" Rainbow Dash moaned, banging on the bathroom door, "You've been in the shower for like forever!"

"Dashie, Ah've been in here for like not even five minutes. Have some patience!" Ryan shouted in reply, "Sheesh..."

"Yeah! Wait your turn and give us some privacy!"

Ryan's eyes widened as he turned to see Pinkie standing behind him wearing a shower cap covered in rubber ducks and a bath sponge sitting in her hoof, "Pinks? What are ya doing in here!?"

"What does it look like? I'm gonna scrub your back silly! Duh!" Pinkie giggled as she winked at him, "After all, you might have those crazy arms and hands but even you can't reach your back and we have to make sure you get all those spots scrubbed clean mister."

"I....that is...." Ryan tried to find some words that would be a fitting reply but, as was becoming the norm involving the mares he was involved with, he was unable to find any, "...just stay above the belt Pinks."

"Okie-dokie-just-don't-poke-me!"

'Well that was subtle.'

Ryan facepalmed as he stared ahead, "You would know Dark....you would know."

'Actually Ah think Pinkie would know once you—"

"LALALALA! CAN'T HEAR YOU! LALALALALA!"

Dark rolled his eyes and huffed at Ryan's little outburst while Pinkie just continued happily scrubbing his back and humming a little tune about getting squeaky clean. Eventually he was all clean and dressed in his pajamas before opening the door...and getting shoved out with Pinkie by Rainbow Dash who hurriedly shut the door before letting out a relieved sigh.

Ryan, who was currently helping brush Pinkie's damp mane, shook his head before speaking up, "Ya know Dashie, if'n ya needed to hit the restroom...why didn't ya just go to one of the dozens of other rooms on this hallway that are empty and use the bathroom in one of them?"

From inside the bathroom there was a frustrated groan at that realization before he heard the water kick in as she was apparently going to go soak her head. Finishing up his brushing of Pinkie's mane—and then laughing as it went all poofy again—he smiled when she gave him those big, sweet, pleading eyes before getting settled in his lap.

"Just until Dashie gets out of the shower hon...okay?"

Pinkie purred at his gentle caressing of her tummy before nodding, "Okie-dokie-but-what's-that-pokie?"

Dark began laughing his mental ass off at this point, thoroughly enjoying Pinkie's use of her feminine wiles to tease the ever-loving heck out of Ryan.

"GUH!" Ryan gasped, his cheeks flushing brightly, "Pinkie! Please!"

"Yes Pinkie Pie; our poor human can only take so much teasing after all." Rarity chided her, "His cheeks are already burning red....or is that from your shower time?"

"Not you too Rares!" Ryan sighed heavily before watching the bathroom door fling open, "Well that was quick."

"Everything I do is quick, Ryan! I've just gotta go fast; it's my nature!"

"Well, now that everypony is here and more or less able to give him their attention, I believe Ryan and Dark have something they wanted to talk about with us." Twilight gathered their attention before sitting next to him, "Right?"

"Yes. It has to do with Princess Cadance. And some odd things Dark pointed out ta me. However, ya can't let her know about any of this okay?"

"Well, shoot, why not? What could be wrong with the Princess?" AppleJack felt puzzled, "Ah mean she seemed to love the turnovers!"

"And she totally loved the decorations I put up!"

"Pinkie is right; the Princess certainly enjoyed her wedding dress and the bridesmaids and her just loved their dresses."

"Pinks, Rares....Ah know but just promise me y'all won't say anything."

Fluttershy wobbled back and forth slightly, "Oh...well...I don't like lying but...okay Ryan. We'll keep it secret."

"Yeah, yeah, we won't go blabbing so come on big guy! What's eatin' ya and Dark?"

"Well Dashie, we...we don't have proof exactly, but Dark doesn't think Cadance is entirely who she says she is."

Twilight was the first to chime in, "What? But she's been acting nice and friendly just like I remember!"

'True but don't you remember? You told Ryan and I that she didn't remember the little chant you and her did all the time when you were younger. And your opinion on her attitude has changed since this morning.'

"Well..." Twilight frowned slightly, "That is true but..."

"But isn't enough proof...Ah know. Her reaction to me at first was also confusing...it's clear she was not expecting someone like me to be here." Ryan stood up and began pacing slightly, "Now, surprise at seeing me the first time is understandable...but the way she reacted was more than that. I saw fear in her eyes, as if mah very existence shook her to the core. Ah don't know why, exactly, but something just ain't sitting right with mah mind."

'In addition, when y'all weren't paying attention, she kept throwing these weird, seemingly malevolent smiles in Ryan's direction. Ah don't know what that was all about, but I don't like it.'

"Oh darling, you're probably just stressed out from planning much like she is. You're the first best man in Equestria in over a 1,000 years. That kind of pressure could put anypony on edge."

Ryan sighed as Rarity gently massaged his shoulders, "Well....maybe but...something just doesn't feel right in the pit of mah stomach."

Twilight frowned at both seeing him confused but also at the fact his words held some logic in her mind; she didn't want to think it true but could this not be Cadance? Or perhaps she just simply changed after all these years. Either way doubt slowly crept in as she couldn't think of any reason why her Ryan—or Dark for that matter—would make up something like that. And then she thought to Spike, and his absence all day in the hidden archive. Was it possible he had noted something before anypony else and was still down there trying to sort through the books? Twilight was now very confused and had missed most of what Ryan and Dark had continued to say save for the fact Dark wanted to be kept a secret.

"Okay, so Darky wants to keep observing secretly. Fine." Rainbow Dash remarked before fluttering over to the large bed, "All this talking has gotten me super tired....how about we hit the hay so we're not all exhausted for tomorrow?"

"That sure as heck sounds like a good idea ta me." AppleJack nodded, trotting over to the bed as well, "Of course, I reckon it won't be perfect unless a certain human of ours takes his place in the middle of it all."

Ryan snickered before motioning with his hand, "Okay, okay. Ah gotcha Apps. Let's just carry on as usual and see what might come of it. Hopefully we're just being paranoid..."

With that Ryan got comfy in the rather large bed—somewhat amused by the fact that Cellie had purposely given them this room because of its rather large sleeping accommodations—before his beloved mares surrounded him with their comforting presence. Even though his mind was still concerned over the whole Cadance thing, he was able to relax enough to fall asleep...and he was going to need all the energy he could get from it.

'Hell yeah, Bachelor Party!'

No, Darkness, for reasons other than that.

'Oooooooooh~ Mysteriousness!'

Ryan awoke to see it was still night out and heaved a sigh at the dream he'd had. He'd hoped it wasn't foreboding, because man did shit hit the fan in it.

'Probably just this whole wedding planning thing...and being Shiny's best man.'

Feeling the call of nature, Ryan wormed his way from beneath a pile of pleasant pony warmth and made a beeline for the bathroom. After a few moments he stepped out feeling much better but noticed that his younger brother was still nowhere to be found.

'That's strange....do ya think he's still down there?'

'Ah'm not sure Ryan, but perhaps it wouldn't hurt to go check on him?'

Feeling his other self had a point, he quickly slipped on his shoes before entering the hall and following the winding pathways towards the secret library where hopefully he would find Spike.

'Heh, probably fast asleep over some books or something. Ah have to say, he's grown up quite a bit since we've entered the picture, eh partner?'

Dark let out a soft laugh, 'That's putting it lightly. The little dude pretty much had a class change gaining those wings he wasn't meant to have and what have ya.'

'Heh, true enough.' Ryan slowly made his way down the winding corridor before going left and walking down the moderately lit passageway, '...Brrr....Ah never realized how chilly it gets way down here. Anyway...let's head on in.'

Opening the door to the library full of hidden and secret knowledge from the period when Equestrian's human race still existed, Ryan initially didn't see any sign of Spike. That is, until he looked by Dark's statue and saw him sitting on the other side of it with a large book in his lap. With his head drooped down on it and the light snores emanating from Spike as he slumbered, it was rather obvious he was well and truly fast asleep. As he went to move the book so he could pick his little brother up, he gave pause when Dark seemed startled by what he had been looking up, "What's the matter partner?"

'Ryan...it's what Spike was reading. Pick the book up would you?'

Shrugging his shoulder, Ryan did as he was asked and stared at the page that was open, "...Changelings? What the heck are those? They look like...ponies but..."

'Changelings are a species in Equestria that had the ability to take on the looks of anypony and anyone. But you're correct in what you've noticed: while they do have the shape of a pony, they are more insectoid in nature.'

"Is that a fact...so they're a pony-bug hybrid? So ponies with bug wings...why that would make them—"

Dark sighed, 'Oh dammit, don't you dare Ryan, don't you freaking dare!'

"Horse-flies!"

Dark groaned quite loudly to match Ryan's inability to hold back laughter at his horrible joke, "...you're an ass."

"Ah know! Glorious ain't Ah?" Ryan snickered some more before flipping through the pages, "So they could shape shift...hold on a tick, it says here they feed off of..." Ryan shook his head, "Ah can't be reading this right."

'You are bud, Changelings subside by feeding off the emotion known as love.'

Ryan rolled his eyes upwards in his attempt to stare at Dark's nonexistent self, "...if'n Ah didn't know any better, Ah'd think you're well versed with these beings."

Dark chuckled softly, "Well I'd like to think so, seeing as my mentor and I were the ones picked by Tia to lead an expedition all those years ago to make peaceful contact with them. Where do you think the info from this book came from?"

Ryan made a puzzled noise before flipping about and seeing a side-note detailing the origins of the data and what appeared to be a picture of Star-Swirled the Bearded and Dark meeting with two rather large changelings. He thought over this for a moment before speaking, "That's the King and Queen isn't it?"

'Of the hive from back then anyhow. A lot of people and ponies were afraid of the Changelings because of their actual looks and how they were portrayed as "love-vampires" if you will. Tia and Woona decided to nip such things in the bud and to open up peaceful relations with the nearest hive in order to work out a compromise.'

"Ah see...so Ah take it things went well enough?"

'Pretty much. They were a bit skeptical at first but after a long discussion they decided to give peace a chance and, sure enough, things went well with their first visit to Canterlot. There were some that were hesitant and stubborn on both sides, but overall humans and ponies welcomed the changelings just like any other race they lived with and we all lived in harmony....well till ya know, the whole thing with Cordy.'

Ryan looked over the pages detailing this race and a thought came to mind, "...Dark? Do...do ya think they're still around?"

'It's been over a thousand years since then...I know we haven't seen any sign of them so probably not which is kind of saddening. It's bad enough humans were lost here, but to lose another intelligent race of decent people...' Dark trailed off before composing himself, 'This world has seen too much tragedy it should never have had to...so I'd like to think they are, somewhere.'

Closing the book, Ryan placed it back on the shelf where it belonged before clenching his fist, "Ah promise ya Dark: as long as Ah'm here to back up mah friends, Ah won't ever let heartache like that ever happen to this land again."

Though he could not see it, he knew in his heart Dark was smiling as he spoke, 'Thanks Ryan...now come on, let's grab our little bro and get back to bed. Ah'm dog-tired and we've got quite a bit to do still before the wedding tomorrow.'

"Ah'll agree to that." Ryan smirked as he lifted Spike up, "...okay, yer a bit heavier now but not to worry."

With a quick focus, Ryan poofed the two of them back to the room where he set Spike next to Twilight before snuggling back in to the pile and falling asleep.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the castle, Princess Cadance had quietly made her way out of her room and downstairs to the garden. Looking to make sure the coast was clear, she waited as a Royal Guard approached her before saluting.

"Is everything going as planned?"

"Yes my queen. Our forces have infiltrated over half the ranks by now and they don't suspect a thing. By the wedding day we should have assimilated nearly all of them."

Cadance grinned, her smile reflecting creepily in the moonlight, "Excellent."

"My queen...if I may ask, how does it go with the "unexpected guest"?"

"The human? Do not worry about him...while I may have had to make some adjustments to keep him from sensing anything, as long as events play out as I expect them to he will not be a problem."

The guard seemed uneasy for a moment before speaking, "Do not think me talking out of turn m'lady, but what about what we've heard? About how he faced the God of Chaos and lived? Some of the younger brood are worried that he might be like the humans of legend we were always warned about."

Cadance paused a moment before thinking and staring at the guard, "...do you too share such a thought my child?"

The guard seemed conflicted for a moment before turning back to his natural form and nodding, "Yes my queen. We have seen proof that he apparently did do battle with him and hold his own, even stopping him momentarily...though he was not the one to finish the battle."

"That wretched human is certainly causing quite a ruckus for our plans." Cadance smiled before pulling the smaller Changeling tight to her, "Do not worry my child, I will not let any harm come to you or any of my children."

The younger Changeling smiled, "Thank you...mom."

Cadance laughed softly before letting him go, "Haha, you're welcome. Now here. I have today's package for you to take."

Gently touching her horn to the Changeling's she transferred something to him in a method only they fully understood. The younger one gasped slightly, "My queen...this is...this is much more than usual. How...?"

Cadance snickered evilly, "It would seem that despite his problematic presence, that human has quite a bit of love surrounding him. So I simply took the opportunity to siphon a bit from him."

"That's simply dastardly, my queen."

"Thank you. Now hurry and go before the sun rises."

With that Cadance watched as he transformed back into his Royal Guard disguise and took off. She waited till he was out of sight before turning back around and heading inside, her eyes glowing green as she wore a menacing smile, "Soon human...soon all you care for will be under my control...and you won't be able to do a thing to stop me. Hahahahaha~"

The following morning Ryan was a bit slow to wake and was still sleeping when the others got up to continue on with their wedding preparations. About two hours after that he'd finally woken, got cleaned up, and was currently in the middle of getting dressed when he heard a knock on the door. Yawning, he stretched before asking who was there.

"It's me, Twilight."

"Come on in T-Sparks, Ah'm just about ready."

Twilight entered...and gasped when she noted Ryan was lacking pants.

"Ryan! You're not wearing any pants!"

'And...?'

"Dark's got a point, neither are you and Ah don't freak about that." He snickered as her cheeks went from purple to red, "What? The sight of yer human lacking clothing a bit much fer ya mah bookworm?"

At this point Twilight's cheeks were good and red as she awkwardly avoid eye-contact with him.

"No response? Ooooooooh." He grinned, getting up and slowly walking over to her before leaning down to whisper in her ear, "Ah see. Ya want some help overcoming that shyness of yers around me...well then, how's about this? Seeing as Apps and Pinks got their shower time, next time you get dibs. Sound fair?"

Twilight shivered slightly before radiating so much heat from her cheeks Ryan was slightly afraid his shirt was going to catch fire. Grinning at his handiwork, he helped cool her fires by finally pulling on his jeans and shoes, "There...that better T-Sparks?"

"Much." Twilight let out a long, calming breath, "...must you seriously do that?"

Ryan smirked, "Well, ya are the one that teased me about experimentin' before so...Eyup! Anyway, what all brings ya here hon? Come to make sure Ah was up and doin' mah part?"

"Well...partly that but also...something weird happened when I went to go talk to my brother about how odd Cadance has been around you."

"I see." Ryan strapped Malus Domestica in place before pulling on his jacket, "So what did Shiny have to say?"

Twilight looked at the ground and sighed, "I didn't get a chance to talk to him. I saw Cadance do some weird thing to him after they were arguing over him wearing our uncle's crest and then it was almost like she was putting him in a trance or something."

'...what color was her aura?'

"You mean her magic?" Twilight tapped her hoof against her chin, "Well it was green but..."

'That's not right, is it?'

"No...her magic shouldn't be green. You're right about that. Something's not right with all this...which might explain what ya mentioned last night." Twilight frowned, "But...what do we do?"

"For now, nothin'. Just act like everything is okay. Assumin' we're right, Ah'm not sure who this is pretending ta be Cadance but if she's up to something, all we can do is wait and hope it's nothing we can't handle." Ryan scratched her ears to calm her nerves before smiling, "Now come on...Ah've got a Bachelor Party ta attend to—"

'Hell yeah!'

"—As Ah was sayin', Ah have that to do and Ah hope it's okay. Ah've never been to one, let alone plan one so...not sure how it'll turn out."

"Well, whatever you guys end up doing, don't forget the rehearsal this evening okay?" Twilight giggled as she saw Ryan's cheeks blush, "Oh my...is it going to be that fun?"

"Well..." Ryan tapped his fingers together, "Ah may have enlisted some help from Lunes on some entertainment....and Apps was kind enough ta supply me with some freshly made Zap Apple Cider. Of course, there ain't many males so it's basically me, Shiny, and Big Mac said he'll show up. Speaking of, did you know those two know each other and are friends? How crazy is that a fact to find out? That somehow yer big bro and Apps' big bro are buds. Ah bet that's a story and a half fer sure but anyway, T-Sparks, us three and...well Spike keeps begging me to come, saying he wants ta do some male bonding but..."

"You're not really sure just how old he actually is and so, even with his little growth spurt he went through thanks to all that training, you don't know if he should tag along or not."

Ryan winked at her and grinned, "That's why yer the smart one hon."

"...what kind of entertainment did Luna say she found?"

"Ah'm not sure...she said it would be fun however, doubly so as she's often fond of sayin'."

Twilight pondered on this for a moment before laughing softly, "I think it wouldn't be a problem if he went along; just don't let him drink any alcohol okay?"

Ryan stared at her before blinking and shaking his head, "...are ya sure? Ah mean, he's obviously grown up some but...even Ah have no idea what Lunes may have come up with."

Twilight waved her hood dismissively, "It'll be fine~ Now come on."

"Right. Stuff ta do."

Twilight turned to leave, taking the time to shake her rump at him which drew the desired effect of him coughing into a blush, "...that's for teasing me. Now hurry along my sweet human, we've things to do after all. They'll be time for that later."

'...and y'all say I'm bad.'

"...yer affecting everyone else's thoughts Dark."

'Then that'll just make things more exciting! Oh I can't wait!'

"Come on boys! Hurry up!"

Letting out a groaning sigh, Ryan ran to catch up to Twilight all the while wondering just what exactly today had in store for him if this was how it was going to start.

Some hours later, after quite the...interesting time at Shining Armor's Bachelor Party, Ryan felt a bit out of sorts and was wobbling here and there as he slowly made his way through the castle gardens. Grabbing hold of a statue to steady himself, he took a deep breath hoping that it would stabilize the world slightly, "Tarnation...Ah might have built up a tolerance after all this time but that Zap Apple brand still packs a wallop. Not as crazy as Spectrum mind ya, but still...having trouble focusing here."

'Well ya should probably work on it seeing as we've got the rehearsal coming up in...a little less than two hours?'

"...sounds about right. Ah'm just gonna sit down right here. Ah wish Spike had come with us but...he said he had to do a little more research "just in case"." Ryan plopped down on the ground and closed his eyes, thankful that with them shut the world was not wobbling about anymore. However, with his eyes closed his hearing was doing double-time and he swore he could make out a strange noise coming from nearby. It almost sounded like something was hurt and frightened by the sounds of things. Heaving a sigh, Ryan slowly stood up to go investigate since he couldn't rightly leave whatever was making the noise in the state it was in, "...being the hero isn't as glorious as the movies or video games make it seem, huh?"

'Oh you love it, don't give me that.'

"...ugh, shut up...and why aren't you feelin' off too?"

'Zap Apple Cider, while potent, isn't enough to affect me remember? Only Spectrum did...and the original version of it from a thousand years ago. Besides, after that unique party I'm in pretty good spirits so let's find what's making that noise and lend a hand.'

Grumbling about something or other involving Dark and Lunes, Ryan came upon a very odd creature that at first he didn't recognize. The small, pony-shaped creature seemed just a bit bigger than one of the CMC's but not anywhere near as big as most ponies and seemed to be flat out on the ground, twitching slightly. Ryan studied it slightly before his eyes focused, "Is...Dark? Are you seein' this too? Is that what Ah think it is?"

Dark was quiet for a while before speaking, 'Yes. There's no doubt it is a Changeling...and it seems to be sick.'

Ryan frowned, hating to see somepony like this as he slowly approached. His frown deepened as it seemed his presence put it into an even more panicked fit, "Hey...shhhh, calm down. Ah'm not gonna hurt ya. What's the matter with ya little fellah? Can ya tell me?"

Ryan heard only hissing in reply before feeling slightly drained all of a sudden; with that the Changeling seemingly was healed before it hopped up and stared at him before running off.

'Ryan! We have to follow him!'

Ryan groaned before nodding, "Right! Ah'll do mah best."

With that he began to chase after the Changeling, following him through the gardens and all around before ending up in the castle and outside of...Cadance's room?

He muttered as he entered the room and suddenly felt a chill up his spine, "What...in tarnation?"

That was when Ryan nearly jumped out of his jeans as the door slammed shut before locking itself tightly. Slowly turning around, Ryan wasn't the least bit surprised to see the Changeling being held by Cadance who was smirking quite happily in his direction.

"Ah don't think it needs ta be said...but yer not Cadance are ya?"

"Haha, so you're smart at least. Too bad I knew from what I had heard you'd be easy to lead with that bleeding heart of yours. You're adherence to your role of the helpful hero did not serve you well this time."

Ryan coughed before grinning, "Says you. A caring heart is never a detriment. So why? Why pretend to be somepony you aren't?"

"Heh, as if I need to explain anything to you. Soon enough you'll be out of my hair and no longer a threat to my plans."

With that Cadance cackled loudly before charging at Ryan; thinking quickly, Ryan drew his sword and blocked her horn before grunting loudly.

"Oh dear me...what's wrong human? Feeling a bit weakened thanks to my daring child?"

Ryan held his ground before glaring at her, "What are you talking about?"

"Why my plan to weaken you just in case the rumors I had heard were true."

"What rumors?" Ryan clenched his hands tight as he felt his feet slipping.

"Why that you, of all people, were able to face off against the God of Chaos."

"Disky?"

Cadance smirked before shoving Ryan aside, smirking as he skidded along the floor, "Exactly! And judging by the fine piece of weaponry you have, it would seem my precautions were well planned. The simple fact that you also seem to be inebriated from my dear, darling Shining's Bachelor Party is just an added bonus that will make this far too easy."

'Ryan!'

'Ah know Dark but....' Ryan grunted in pain as he slowly rose to one knee, his sword being used to help him stay steady, 'Whatever that Changeling did ta me certainly isn't helping how Ah feel after the party. My aura seems all over the place.'

"What's the matter? No comeback? No proclaiming you'll overcome my evil plans?" Cadance mocked him as she stepped closer and closer to his prone form, "Are you even going to make this fun?"

Ryan growled in frustration, his magic flaring out of control as he leapt to his feet and tackled Cadance. Pulling her along he flung her into the wall before winding back to bring Malus Domestica down on her. Unfortunately, despite being surprised by this sudden burst of energy, Cadance easily blocked his attack before roughly grabbing him with her magic and slamming him into the ground.

"D-damn you...."

"Hahaha...and to think this is the one they all speak so highly of, the one they all love so dearly...how does it feel knowing you're going to let all of them down?" Cadance leaned down, her face mere centimeters from his, "To know that because you weren't on your guard, they'll all soon die?"

"...Changeling...if you harm any of them..."

"You will do nothing. By the time you even have the means to return, it will be far too late...for both your friends and this land you love." Cadance leaned back up before glaring at Ryan, "Now say goodbye human, but before you leave...perhaps I should at least tell you my true name so that you know of the one that defeated you."

Ryan tried to get up as he was surrounded by bright, green flames but he just felt so off that he knew there was no chance of it happening.

"Queen Chrysalis did what many of my kind would be proud of: I put one of you humans in your place. Have a nice trip...and if you survive perhaps I'll see you later. You know, after I enslave and destroy all that you've come to love that is."

Ryan shouted out as he was enveloped by the flames, his voice echoing as he disappeared from sight, "Chrysalis....."

With that the now revealed to be Chrysalis giggled softly before cleaning herself up and heading off towards her next task: the rehearsal.

"And nopony will be the wiser...everything is going according to plan."

As for Ryan and Dark, they were soon crash landing to where Chrysalis had sent them off to...and rather hard at that.

"Ow...right in the plot." Ryan grumbled, rubbing his sore rear end, "Where in the hell did we end up?"

'Hmmm...judging by the wild decor, the overgrown plants, and the creepy and foreboding atmosphere...I think it's safe to assume she sent us to only one place."

Ryan sighed and rolled his eyes, "The Everfree...how cliché of her. Well that won't stop us...Ah'll just poof us right back to the castle and—"

Dark felt Ryan gasp before shuffling in pain, 'What happened?'

"I don't know but....Chrissy—"

'Chrissy?'

"Chrysalis...but Chrissy is shorter to say. Anyway, she must've done something funky to us because mah magic stores aren't high enough to teleport back to Canterlot...not even Ponyville at this rate. Ah need to rest and let them build back up but Ah can barely move..." Ryan saw Malus Domestica on the ground and bent down to pick her up, "At least we didn't lose her."

'Good idea, if we're walking we need to be able to fight back.'

"Yeah, Ah might be feeling weak but Ah should still be able to handle some Timberwolves or Cockatrices."

'...what about Manticores?'

"What about Manticores?" Ryan huffed, holding his hand over his sword and splitting it into three, "Even Ah know when certain things are over-played so we won't be having any of that nonsense, thank you very much!"

'Can't argue against that; it's bad enough so many others overplay that one so why add to the problem? But...what are ya doing?' Dark watched as Ryan was setting up the three parts of Malus Domestica in a decent-sized triangle, 'And why are you standing in the middle?'

"Because I thought of a smarter idea that should work easier." Ryan got situated in the middle of his three swords, "Bloom! Arbor Pomifera!"

With that the shining walls surrounded the very tired human who, once satisfied his sword was watching out for him, settled down and closed his eyes.

'Very clever Ryan, turning an offensive spell into a defensive one.'

"Yeah, every once and a while Ah'm brilliant...Ah just hope the others are okay. We'll be there soon mah friends just...hold out."

With that he was asleep, unaware that things were not going too well for at least one of his herd back in Canterlot as Chrysalis' plan continued to unfold at the rehearsal.

"...I don't think we can start without both the best mare and the best man dear."

"Now Shining, I'm sure they'll be along shortly. It wouldn't hurt to start would it?"

Shining seemed to zone out for a moment before shaking his head, "Well, I suppose not dear but where could they be? I'm not sure where Twily could be at and Ryan was just at the Bachelor Party so..."

Lyra looked about curiously and felt something was off: she was fairly certain by now she knew the kind of person Ryan was and the fact he wouldn't show up to this did not match up with that at all. She wasn't really sure if she should say something as she glanced nervously at Colgate who seemed to share her odd confusion. Just as the two of them were about to add their thoughts, the door burst open and in rushed Twilight who had a fiery look in her eyes, "Where is he?!"

Cadance seemed confused till she realized Twilight was talking to her, "Are you talking to me?"

"Yes I am! And I know you're behind his disappearance!"

"Twi, maybe y'all should calm down a bit?"

Twilight shook her head, "I won't calm down AppleJack. Ryan's nowhere to be found and I know she's behind it somehow. Think about it: isn't it odd he'd disappear like this after raising some worries about "Cadance"?"

Shining Armor narrowed his eyes before walking over to her, "Twily, perhaps you need to calm down. Why in the world would Cadance want to get rid of my best man?"

"I don't know, but maybe you should ask why she's acting so weird around him. Or why her magic aura's color doesn't match up with what it should be? Or that weird thing she did to you that made you look possessed!?"

"Twily...you're upsetting Cadance!"

"But....but!" Twilight tried to stay in control, even though Cadance had run off in tears.

Shining sighed unhappily before rubbing his head, "While it is odd that Ryan would vanish, those other things are ridiculous. Cadance's magic? Are you that upset about everything?"

"That's not it!" Twilight gasped, "Big brother...."

"And as for what you might have saw, that was her helping with these migraines."

"But I...."

"Maybe I was wrong about making you my best mare! In fact." Shining shook his head disapprovingly, "If you're going to be like this, maybe you just shouldn't show up at all?"

"I....I...."

Twilight sighed, dropping her head as her big brother chased after Cadance and her friends left her alone to think about her "issues". As she thought to herself about how it seemed she was all alone in this, she felt a shadow covering her. Opening her eyes, she saw it was Cadance who was smiling at her...but the smile twisted into something more sinister, "You just had to open your mouth. Hahaha, thanks for making everything easier on me. And here I thought you were supposed to be the smart one. With you and that human of yours out of the picture, nothing can stop me from marrying your brother."

Twilight tried to run but couldn't get anywhere as she was surrounded by the same weird green flames Ryan had dealt with.

"Oh, by the way." Cadance smirked as Twilight began to vanish, "Say hello to me when you get there. Hahahahaha~"

'Twi!'

Dark shot straight up, startled from his dreams to see he was currently in one of Ryan's dream states. Realizing Ryan was still recovering, he sighed before standing up and noting him sleeping nearby. Figuring he wasn't going to be getting any rest for now, he walked over to a nearby lake and stared into it, 'Something tells me a bad thing is going down...'

"...Darkness?"

Turning his head, he looked up to see none other than Princess Luna descending into their dream, "Woona..."

"Why is it that you two are sleeping at a time like this? Are you not supposed to be at the rehearsal?"

'Well yes but...wait, why are you not there?'

"My niece asked a favor of me and my sister; she assured me it was okay so I went to go get a special gift for her." Luna seemed puzzled, "That does not answer my question though my love."

Dark clenched his fist, "She tricked you. The Cadance there is not the real one..."

"What are you talking about?"

"She's a Changeling...probably their queen judging by what she was saying."

Luna sat down before frowning, "Changelings? I have not heard mention of them in such a long time...but please, explain to me what has happened since I left."

With that Dark explained everything that happened since they arrived, all the small things that seemed off, and then—of course—their confrontation with Chrysalis that didn't go exactly as planned.

"And that's about it...she caught us off-guard and sapped most of Ryan's reserves before sending us into the depths of the Everfree." Dark motioned towards Ryan, "That's why he's still snoozing. I have a feeling things are not going well now that we're temporarily out of the picture."

"...this is unpleasant news indeed my Darkness. Is there some way I can help other than getting back as soon as I can?"

Dark tried to think before nodding, "Yes. Knowing the research she's obviously done judging by how she managed to incapacitate us, she probably knows the Elements are something that can stop her. Has she requested anything odd with them?"

Luna thought hard for a moment before putting a hoof to her chin, "She requested to see them...but only we can access them."

"Good. Then they might still be there. As soon as you arrive back, get them. I have a feeling shit is going to hit the fan very soon."

"Can I help either of you in any way?"

Dark shook his head before scooting over and leaning against his love, "Nah, we'll be okay once he rests up Woona. You focus on returning to the castle before the wedding as best you can."

"It should take me no more than four hours from where I am. I think so anyway." Luna wrapped a wing around Dark, "...I wish we could be like this outside of your dreams....but a princess shouldn't have such foolish thoughts."

Dark smiled softly before nuzzling against her, "It's not foolish to want to be with the one you love. You're still a mare like any other after all mah Princess of the Night. Just be safe since I know you'll get back before us. Besides, as long as you show Ry some love, I'll be feeling it too so no worries."

Turning her head, Luna smiled before kissing Dark, "Always so sweet...I will. Good luck."

"And good luck to you too my Woona." Dark whispered before watching her fade away. Turning back to Ryan's sleeping form, he waited patiently, "Hurry up and heal partner, we've got loved ones to protect."

"Yeah, I know." Ryan groaned, slowly waking up and seeing it was no longer night out, "Yer lucky Ah was able to sleep through you and Lunes making out or we'd be up the creek even further."

Shaking his head to rid himself of the last of his sleepiness, Ryan slowly stood up before stretching. Clenching his fist he could feel his magic had rejuvenated for the most part which was good save for one thing, "Ah still don't have enough to just poof right to Canterlot...which leaves us in a bind because, judging by the position of the sun, the wedding will be happening shortly. Ah might be a magic human now, but that doesn't mean I can run from here to Canterlot in the time we have left."

Noting the coast seemed clear, Ryan waved his hand to recall Malus Domestica and smirked a bit at the piles of broken timber laying all around him. Dark found some humor in it as well, 'Looks like they were a bit too eager for what seemed an easy meal. Guess they should've focused more on your barrier than hoping to wolf you down.'

Ryan groaned, sheathing his sword, "That was a terrible pun...you were hoping to be able to use that weren't you?"

'Quite. Now then...perhaps we could fly there?'

Ryan snapped his fingers and was happy he'd recovered enough to don his wings. Giving them a flap he flew up and out of the forest to see they'd been plopped quite far into it. Realizing time was of the essence he began making a beeline for Canterlot in the distance, "Unfortunately, Ah'm not a fast enough flier to make it there in time. It's quicker than running, but I'm rather sure I'd be too late."

Dark noticed Ryan had stopped to hover in mid-air, 'What are you thinking?'

"Well, I would say maybe Big Mac could kick us to Canterlot like we always joke he could but he's already there which doesn't help." Ryan frowned slightly before getting an idea, "I have one idea...and it only exists thanks to that dream we had."

'No...Ryan you can't possibly be thinking of trying that.' Dark sighed, 'That was a dream...the human body is not designed to handle G's of that magnitude.'

"...not unless they happen to know a few spells to counteract them." Ryan closed his eyes, "Which Ah know for a fact you have the knowledge of."

'Yes....I did experiment with them long ago to see if I could fly as fast as a few of my Pegasi friends could but...'

"But?"

'I never got to fully test them in a scenario like this. If they don't work right for you...then you might die.'

"And if I don't try, then our friends will be in danger. While Ah know they're quite strong, if the Elements are hidden they might not be able to stand against Chrissy."

'And Tia and Woona?'

"Cellie doesn't know, and Lunes might not be there yet so Ah can't afford to not try!"

Dark let out a very long sigh before mentally smirking, 'Very well...give me a moment to prepare things. You might want to get some height for this to work properly so get climbing.'

As Ryan finally reached a height Dark explained would be optimal, he felt a strange change in his body before feeling normal again, "That's it?"

'Pretty much...it basically buffers your internal systems and keeps them operating even under such duress. Are you sure this is our only choice?'

"Unless you know a way I can supercharge mah magic, then yeah." Ryan took a deep breath and smirked, "Besides...time to see if the Darkness Shadeboom looks as awesome in real life as it does in our dreams."

'Very well. Ah'm in this with ya come heaven or hell partner! Let's rock!'

With that Ryan began to dive-bomb towards the ground, accelerating as fast as he could using gravity as a booster.

At the same time, Chrysalis in Cadance's form was preparing for the wedding and had just put on her dress before glancing at her reflection and breaking into song.

"This day is going to be perfect, my plan is going off to the tee. And though a human showed, my plan he could not slow, and with him gone these fools will face my wrath!"

In an even more coincidental coincidence, Twilight Sparkle had found the real Cadance after being banished to the caves beneath the castle by Chrysalis and so they were doing their best to escape in time as well.

"This day was supposed to be perfect, a new life with the one that I love. But instead of married bliss, things are now quite amiss And I hope that we'll make it there in time!"

As Ryan was picking up speed, he too—in what had to be some kind of weird cosmic alignment of coincidences the likes have never been seen—was also singing.

"This day was going to be perfect for my friend and his new bride-to-be. Yet an evil queen does scheme, to install her own regime, and so I must fly as quickly as I can!"

Grinning at her reflection one last time before marching about the room, Chrysalis cackled loudly as she continued, "I care not for this dress, of their lives I'll make a mess. Remorse? Well, I'd be lying if I said: their terror would give me second thoughts! I care not for this fanfare, but the fear I'll gladly share as my swarm overtakes them one by one!"

"We must find a way to escape before it's too laaate~ Somehow we'll make it just in time! Doubt? Well, I'd be lying if I say: I don't fear that I may lose him, to one that wants to use him. But that is why I simply can't give up!"

"Finallyyy my time is he-ere, to take what they all hold dear!"

"Oh the wedding we might not make..."

"...of that make no mistake. Soon all of you shall quake! And so those ponies will be mine, all mine!"

"Like hell Ah'll let them down! Just you wait mah friends, I'll make it there in time!!"

'Sooooo, not that that wasn't cool or anything but...singing? Is that really appropriate right now?'

"Yer point?" Ryan quickly got out as he continued building speed.

'I just figured you should be concentrating more on this incredibly risky and crazy stunt we're about to pull.'

"Oh...well...that is a thing that's happening." Ryan remarked, feeling the full force of the wind now, "...so...any side-effects? Probably should've asked earlier but..."

'Not really...' Dark tried to hurry up as he noted the strange phenomenon occurring around them, 'You might...no, scratch that. You will feel a bit sick but other than that there's none...that I know of.'

"Wait...what was that last bit?" Ryan just got out before he felt it, that moment where the world seemed to slow down in anticipation of something awesome and—we're it not for Dark telling him to quickly pull up—he may have turned the Darkness Shadeboom into a ShadeBOMB that would have been an epic face-plant.

"HOLY FREAKING PONY PLOTS!" Ryan screamed as they tore ass through the sky, leaving a purple/grey/black streak behind them, "This....is.....so much better...than a dream!"

'Focus Ryan! We've gotta make the most of this after all! Now hurry, towards Canterlot!'

Nodding his head in agreement, Ryan did his best to control their flight as these speeds were altogether new to him; in the back of his mind he had to wonder just how the hell Dashie made it look so...so...easy!

'I hope we're not too late! Hurry, Ryan! Even if Woona got there before us, there's no telling if she's been able to do anything!'

Gasping and swerving hard to avoid a flock of seagulls in their way, Ryan breathed a sigh of relief, "Ah really don't wanna find out what it's like to hit something going this fast."

'Well, the spells should protect you...should being the key word here.'

"Marvelous." Ryan rolled his eyes before focusing in on Canterlot in the distance, "...how long do you think it'll take us?"

'...judging by the distance and how fast we're tearing through the air, a few minutes. Let's just hope that's not too late!'

A distance away in Canterlot, the wedding was well underway with nopony the wiser as the fake Cadance recited her vows before Shining did the same. There were only two there that had some thoughts about things being amiss, and that was Lyra and Spike. Spike had been researching the stories like crazy since the Bachelor Party and when he had heard Ryan and Twilight had disappeared he knew something was going on but he had no way to know what to do about it. As for Lyra, as soon as the wedding started and Ryan was not there she knew something bad had to have happened to him...but what could she do? If she raised a question then odds are Cadance—whom she was starting to suspect if she was the Cadance she knew—would have had her thrown out and "taken care of" much like she figured happend to both Twilight and Ryan. So she too was in the same boat as Spike: while she knew something wasn't right, she had no idea what to do about it and with a tense feeling in her heart she watched as Celestia turned to the crowd.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts, if anypony has any reason as to why these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace!"

All was quiet, until a strange buzzing noise was heard; Chrysalis glanced first at the troublesome friend's of Twilight and Ryan's and then to their annoying dragon before she glanced at the bridesmaids. Seeing none of them were making the noise—that was suddenly getting louder now—she scrunched her face up, "What in the world is that sound?"

'Hey partner?'

"Yeah?" Ryan saw that Canterlot was closing in fast, "What is it, Dark?"

'Remember how ya said ya didn't wanna find out what it'd be like to hit something going this fast?'

"Yeah. Why?"

'Well.' Dark made a mental gesture towards the castle, 'That's why!'

Looking at the castle, Ryan could see he'd forgotten one small detail: the shield around Canterlot was still up.

"That tricky bitch. Though I think it's safe to say if that's still up, we might be in time!" Ryan grinned as he pushed with all the speed they'd built up.

'...what the hell are you doing?'

"Well, seeing as it's still up, Ah can't think of many options fer getting in save for the one."

Dark watched as Ryan suddenly curved upwards until he was right above the castle and then began plummeting straight down where he could feel everypony was gathered, '...oh you are so many shades of crazy!'

"You would know best! Now let's crash this party!" Ryan narrowed his eyes and continued his dive-bomb downwards, "Knock Knock! Here comes pest control!"

Back in the wedding hall, Princess Celestia was looking about confused before clearing her throat, "That odd noise aside...as I said before if anypony knows a reason as to why these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace."

At that the loud noise began again before there was a loud shattering noise, followed by a whoosh and then, "IdoIdoIdoIdoIdoIdoIdoIdoIdoIdo!"

With that Ryan crashed the wedding literally, plowing in through the roof before landing with a heavy impact in the middle of the aisle. Groaning slightly, he stood up and let the dust settle before seeing everypony's eyes on him. Smirking, he realized this was his moment as he threw out his arm and pointed right at Chrysalis, "OBJECTION!"

"Ryan! What is the meaning of this?!" Celestia was confused and slightly angry, "Where have you been? And what do you mean you object to this wedding?"

"That Cadance is not the Cadance you know!"

Chrysalis smirked before rolling her eyes, "It would seem he's suffering the same issues as his purple mare."

"Come on Ryan, don't tell me you're going to do what Twily did as well."

"Nope! And come on Shiny, ya know Ah wouldn't say somethin' without a reason."

Chrysalis glared at Shining Armor and used her subtle magic to shut him up. With that done she grinned before marching down to Ryan and chuckling softly, "And just where is your proof? How do you think to back up that claim?"

"Well I—" Ryan tried to speak but suddenly felt a bit sick and then, "Blegh!"

Chrysalis gasped as she was suddenly doused in something very colorful that emanated from Ryan's mouth. When he finished, Ryan coughed a bit before blinking and staring at the now dripping wet Chrysalis, "Did...did Ah just barf rainbows?"

'I did tell ya you'd feel sick afterwards.'

Chrysalis just stood there, dripping rainbow juice, completely flabbergasted by what had just had happened: not only had that human somehow made it back to dampen her plans, but he'd also dampened her as well!

"This is unacceptable! I demand you show some proof of your claim before I have you kicked out of here!"

Wiping his mouth off, Ryan laughed softly before motioning at the doors, "Well then, allow me to call mah one and only needed witness: the real Princess Cadance!"

At this point everypony there had finally snapped out of there shock and so the rest of Ryan's herd and his friends all just stared at him like he was crazy.

"Ryan, what in tarnation are ya goin' on about?" AppleJack had trotted over to him with the others, "...yer acting like yer a few apples short of a bushel."

"Yes darling. While I am curious as to why you suddenly vanished like you did, to make such outrageous claims against dear Cadance is just—"

And just like that, in a moment right out of a dramatic scene—multiple camera angles and everything—the doors busted open and in came not only Twilight Sparkle with Princess Cadance looking rather roughed up, but Princess Luna was also with them carrying a box that made both Ryan and Dark smile.

"Lunes! Ya made it! And might Ah say, it's mighty nice ta see mah bookworm is okay as well." Ryan turned to the imposter and snickered, "So..."Cadance"...would ya care to share yer true form with the rest of the class? Ah mean, Ah'm not really a programmer, but as ya can see...I can certainly spot a bug in the system."

Chrysalis roared at that one before shaking her head and throwing a fit that would make Bridezilla look like Snow White, "First you simply show up and exist! Then you make it so I have to pretend to be all goody-goody so you don't follow up on that sense of something off like all of your stupid race was able to do! And then, after I take the time to get rid of you, you come back and throw up rainbows all over ME! And then, if that wasn't enough, you have the audacity to make puns?"

Ryan gave a shrug and stuck his tongue out, "Chrissy-baby, Ah'm all about the puns!"

"ENOUGH!" Chrysalis growled as she enveloped herself in her green magic flames, discarding her disguise now that she no longer needed it, "I am Queen Chrysalis of the Changeling Empire! And I won't stand for such shenanigans! Hahahaha...not that it'll matter for long. My army has already assimilated into yours so much you'll be at quite a disadvantage!"

Princess Celestia, having quite enough of this nonsense that had been going on under her nose, spread her wings wide before staring down Chrysalis, "I have heard enough! I will not allow one such as you to take over this kingdom!"

With that Cellie attacked, shooting a golden-white beam of magic at Chrysalis in the hopes she could end this quickly without anypony getting hurt. Unfortunately—most likely as a side effect from not only nomming on Shining Armor's love but snacking on Ryan and the gals as well—her magic attack of her own completely over-powered and pretty much sucker-punched Celestia. Watching as she was knocked to the ground with a scorched horn, Chrysalis let out a laugh that would be cute if it wasn't so damn evil, "Hahaha...my my. I must say that was surprising. To think that the love I've acquired here has made me so powerful. If even your precious Princess cannot do something to stop me, then so what if you have a human on your side? None of you have a chance now!"

"Sister!" Luna rushed to her sister's side to find her unconscious but otherwise unhurt, "You foul beast! To think we once called your kind friend!"

Chrysalis merely scoffed, "A mistake on the weaker minds of our race."

Seeing as she was momentarily distracted by her power, Twilight quickly grabbed the Elements from the case Luna had brought in but was soon distracted by the sudden noise of battle happening outside the hall.

"Oh my, it would seem my children have already started. Well, no sense in getting upset that they wish to have fun as well." Chrysalis cackled as she turned towards Ryan and his herd, "I suppose you all could stay here and fight me...but then what of your friends? Those in castle? And of course those fleeing from the hall as we speak? Can you really risk them getting injured to take me on?"

"Dammit she's right!" Rainbow Dash growled before she felt Ryan's hand on her shoulder, "Huh?"

"Go on, go help our friends and loved ones, I'll help Lunes hold her off." Ryan drew his sword before facing Chrysalis, "Okay Chrissy...Malus Domestica might not be a fly-swatter, but Ah'm more than confident she can smack you around...especially since this time Ah won't be givin' you a handicap!"

"The love I've taken should be more than enough to deal with you...but first." Chrysalis grinned evilly as she turned her attention towards Luna who was still checking over her sister, "Now that those silly mares of yours are off doing other things, I have just one other to deal with before getting to you!"

Sensing what she was going to do Ryan tried to run to get in her way but it was clear he wasn't going to make it in time, "Dammit! Propagate Malus Domestica!"

Chrysalis gave pause from her attempt to sucker punch Luna, "...why would you want apples to multiply?"

Well, she got her answer when she gasped and saw Malus Domestica land right in front of her as she jumped back and grumbled at the human's insistence on being annoying. Turning around she fired off some her green flames at him, huffing as he dodged, "Such a foolish creature you are, throwing your weapon like that. You're completely defenseless now!"

"Am Ah?" Ryan smirked and motioned for her to come at him, "Let's test that theory shall we? Come at me Chrissy-baby!"

Taking the bait she charged towards him, her horn lowered to shish-ka-bob him only for her to growl in frustration as Ryan blocked her with the second component of Malus Domestica. As the two struggled to push the other back, Ryan couldn't help but wonder why Shining wasn't doing anything to help, "Dude, Shiny! Stop standing there like a zombie and help me dammit!"

"Oh, you'll find he won't be helping you or anypony else. He's my little love slave and unless I tell him to do something, he won't move."

"You evil, evil mare!"

"Flattery won't save you human."

With that she knocked him back as the two clashed over and over again, neither one really gaining a foothold over the other as explosions rocked the walls from outside. A particularly loud one distracted Ryan as his thoughts were clearly on how well his friends and loved ones were handling the Changeling army. Taking advantage of his slightly distracted state of mind, Chrysalis delivered a rather strong kick that sent him flying into the chairs, "Again, your foolish heart leads you to trouble. It's time I finished this and then joined my children!"

Ryan was dazed and recovered just in time to see Chrysalis bearing down on him; he moved as quick as he could but in the end he didn't need to. He had to blink slightly as a midnight blue blur had practically teleported in front of him before throwing up a shield to cast back the attacking queen.

'Woona.'

"I am sorry my dear human that I did not help sooner, but my sister was not in the best of states." Luna looked over her shoulder before smiling at him, "She is okay now but in no state to fight. You are worried about our friends are you not? Then go and help them."

Ryan slowly got up before frowning, "But what about you Lunes?"

"Hahaha, I am not so easily beaten. While I must admit she is stronger than I expected, something about that just...excites me?" Luna laughed softly, "Perhaps it is merely my dear Darkness' mannerisms still affecting me."

'Woona...'

"Righty-o Princess. We'll go help them...but Ah will be back to help so hang on till then."

With that Ryan quickly made his way through the large hole he'd created earlier as Chrysalis slowly got back up and glared at Luna, "You dare to interfere? Your sister couldn't even touch me and you think you have a chance?!"

Narrowing her eyes and smirking, Luna poofed a pair of shades on her face before charging at her, "As Darkness might say: If you shoot a nuke down a bug hole, you get a lot of dead bugs! Let's see how many it takes to put you down, Chrissy-baby!"

While Luna was off being one hell of a trooper, Twilight and the girls were having a bit of difficulty pushing their way through the waves and waves of Changelings. Even with the Elements, their sheer numbers were a detriment...not to mention their constant changing into their forms to add confusion to the mix.

"Tarnation this is ridiculous!" AppleJack huffed as she bucked a Changeling clear into a wall, "How many of these darn things are there?"

Pulling out her Party Cannon, Pinkie went on a rampage, completely over-powering them with all sorts of party decorations, "I don't know but this is kind of fun! Ya know, if we don't think about how we might all possibly die if we fail! Hahahaha!"

"Pinkie, I think you've gone off the deep end a bit. Come back to us!" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes before colliding headfirst with one of her clones, "Seriously, it's like we aren't even making a dent in them."

Twilight was zapping them left and right as they tried to clear things out as fast as possible to rejoin Ryan but even she could tell their numbers were clearly their advantage; for no matter how many they put down, double that would take the place, "How is it possible all this happened under the Princess' nose? This is ridiculous!"

"Darling, this is just dreadful." Rarity was currently wielding a giant sash as she whipped the Changelings into shape, "Not only is everypony in danger, but my hair looks terrible now. Oh...I really hope I can brush this before we see Ryan again."

AppleJack blinked before clearing her throat, "Really? Is that really somethin' ta be thinking about at a time like this Rares?"

"What? It's a legitimate worry. I am a lady and I do want to look best for my stallion, fighting for our lives or not!"

Fluttershy whimpered as she kept running around trying to avoid her more malicious looking clones before finally getting fed up and rearing back on her hindlegs, "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!"

With that she went into a frenzy, chopping, tossing, and slamming the Changelings all over the place.

Despite their bets efforts, however, they soon found themselves surrounded once more. As much as Twilight knew the Elements would easily help them gain some breathing room, as surrounded as they were there was no way they'd get enough time to synchronize and unleash their attack.

"What do we do now, Twi?"

"I wish I knew AJ, but I'm not sure what else we can do since regular attacks aren't working with them."

As the Changeling horde seemed prepared to pounce, a large whoosh noise was heard before someone landed in front of them. With his wings spread, and shades firmly in place, it was pretty obvious who this was.

'Somebody call for an exterminator?'

"Time to turn up the heat!" Ryan split Malus Domestica into two once more before flipping them and holding them reverse-style, "Incinerate! Fire Ruby Orchard!"

With that Ryan flung his swords at the massive horde, watching as they bloomed into flaming cyclones of utter doom. The twin swords flew outwards and crossed one another as they flung the numerous soldier Changelings this way and that before finally colliding in a massive apple-shaped explosion. As the bodies of the Changelings began falling down to the ground, Ryan threw his hands up and caught his swords as they returned to him before turning to the girls and winking, "Who needs RAID when Ah kill bugs dead?"

"Ryan!" Shouted the six mares there before glomping him.

"Ladies, please...I know Ah'm very clearly hot stuff but save this for after the day is saved."

"But what about Chrysalis?"

"Lunes is covering for me, T-Sparks. We noted ya needed help so she tagged in." Ryan glanced about at the now thinned army and nodded, "Ya think y'all can handle what's left?"

"I'd say they can since we're lending a hoof now!"

'Ah know that voice...'

Sure enough, Lyra came running up on her hindlegs, her front hoofs covered in magic that made them look like fists. Running up besides her was Colgate who was wielding what appeared to be a giant toothbrush and...Vinyl Scratch?

"What in tarnation are y'all doing? Ya should've high-tailed it to safety with the others."

"Oh come on Ry, ya think I'm gonna miss this?" Vinyl laughed before looking over her shades and winking, "Besides, I had to test this baby out!"

Dark looked at the oddly gun-shaped device that she was carrying before daring to ask the question, 'Is...is that a Dubstep Gun?'

"You bet yer sweet plot it is! I figured the Bass Cannon was cool and all but totally not portable!" Vinyl hefted the Dubstep Gun on to her shoulder, "With this I can rock the Wubs without getting bogged down."

"Well I suppose that makes sense but—"

Interrupting Ryan was a huge explosion coming from the wedding hall that certainly drew everypony's attention. Dark seemed especially worried, 'Woona....Ryan! Come on!'

"Right!" Ryan nodded before turning to the others, "Y'all gonna be able ta handle what's left?"

"Goodness, Ryan, who do you think we are?" Rarity giggled, "I think we can handle a simple mop up operation."

"Yeah!" Pinkie giggled relentlessly, "It'll be a clean sweep!"

"Ugh...too many puns." Twilight grumbled...at least until Ryan kissed her cheek, "Hey! I thought you said none of that till this was over?"

"Heh, well, mah bookworm needed a bit of calm. Stay safe everypony."

"We will! Once we're done we'll join you!" Twilight remarked before he took off towards the wedding hall, "I feel like I'm forgetting somepony...."

With that a huge ball of green flames knocked a group of Changelings through the air before Spike finally ran over to the others, "Finally! I swear it took me forever to catch up to all of you! I couldn't fly because they kept knocking me down and they just kept coming!"

"Spike!" Twilight gasped as she ran over and hugged him, "Are you okay? I didn't even realize we got separated!"

Spike chuckled before working out of the hug, "Oh I'm fine. Just using some of those moves Ryan taught me helped me kick a lot of plot! Speaking of...where is the big guy?"

"We'll explain as we clean up, so come on Spike!" AppleJack took off with the others, heading towards the other smaller skirmishes to help clean up, "Needless to say, our human is keeping himself busy as usual."

Luna had given it her best effort and by all accounts under normal circumstances she would've been able to handle Chrysalis without much trouble, but given the boost in power the Changeling Queen had acquired thanks in part to her love snacking frenzy, she found herself panting for air as she was resting on one knee next to her unconscious sister.

"Hahaha...to think I could take out both of the Princesses. If I had to, I bet I could even handle the God of Chaos if need be. As it stands, though, you two are finished. Once you're gone nopony will be able to stand in my way."

Luna watched as Chrysalis slowly walked towards her before coughing into a laugh, "You're wrong...as long as there are those that would fight you, you shall never truly win. He will fight to the final breath against you...and so will those that love him."

Now standing before Luna's prone form, Chrysalis leaned down before revealing her fangs in a wicked grin, "And they will fail...why you have so much faith in such a horrid creature is beyond me. It's just a pity he won't get to see me end both of your lives. Oh well...his anguish at seeing you dead will suffice. Farewell Princess!"

Unfortunately for Chrissy, she was blocked by a thrown sword before s voice shouted out, "Ah don't think so! Ensnare! Creeping Apple Crawler!"

Chrysalis grunted in frustration as vines shot out between the newly thrown sword and the previously embedded one completely wrapping her up and holding her tight. Landing in front of her Ryan shook his head, "Chrissy, Chrissy, Chrissy...why would you go and try to kill mah beloved Princesses like that?"

"Hmph, let's just say I'd love to see you suffer human." Chrysalis struggled to break free, only to find the vines holding tight.

"Ah wouldn't struggle too much, and Ah wouldn't try ta use yer magic. Malus Domestica would not like that very much. Now then, seeing as I have yer attention...would you care explaining why yer doing this?"

Chrysalis snorted at him, "Why do you care?"

"Humor me if nothin' else."

"...fine. For revenge against those that treat us as outcasts...that forced us to make it either us or them."

"...I don't buy that." Ryan walked over to her and looked into her eyes, "It's not that simple."

For some reason Chrysalis found herself blushing at the close proximity he was now at before glancing away, "...and what makes you say that?"

"Ya might not be aware of it, but there's something in yer eyes. Something that is behind those malicious words and threatening looks."

"..."

"Ah sense desperation, worry, and....hope?" Ryan reached out and gently took her muzzle in his hands, turning her head back to face him, "Did you not wonder why I initially did nothing about the fact you were sapping a bit of mah love from me?"

Chrysalis' eyes opened wide, "What? How did you...?"

'We didn't at first...we felt odd and a little off but we weren't sure why. Besides, ya aren't the only species that's empathy capable after all.'

"Who said that?!"

"Oh, sorry, that's Darkness Shade. He's basically a human that lived a thousand years ago, was killed by Disky, and for some reason his soul/spirit/whatever decided to latch on to me when I showed up here." Ryan shrugged, "Ah guess that means we're connected somehow but who knows in what way. Anyway, as he was saying, we didn't know at first but after reading that book Spike was investigatin', I realized you were doing something like that...and that was most likely what T-Sparks saw ya do to Shining. Speaking of...Ah'm guessin' he's still a zombie?"

Looking in his direction he could see that, sure enough, he was still standing there in a trance. Shaking his head he focused back on Chrissy, "Anyway...when I started putting two and two together I waited. I thought maybe ya really do love Shining or some other strange circumstance was going on. As Ah've noted in mah short time in this world, things are never as they first seem."

"So you just...let things go on?"

"You know that. I couldn't help but think on that look in yer eyes, one that hoped for someone ta help you find another way other than to take over like this."

"...and why should I believe you? You're a human!"

"And? Why is that such a hang-up with you? Why do I terrify you simply by existing? Is this something ridiculous passed down by your parents?" Ryan watched as her face gave him the answer, "It is...so you're going by what the vocal minority of people did as a means to judge them all. Sheesh, you sound as bad as some people back in my world can get. I mean, take Dark for example...he met with the first hive that lived here all those years ago. That probably makes them yer grandparents...with a number of greats put in front of that given how many years ago that was."

"...and I'm to believe you want to help?"

"Yes." Ryan lowered his head, his fists clenching tightly, "Too much heartache and tragedy has happened to this land already...too many people lost, too many friends gone, too many events that shouldn't have happened that tore so many apart. I don't want any more bloodshed...any more pain...so why didn't you just ask us fer help?"

"..."

"...you never thought to, huh?"

Chrysalis seemed a bit conflicted before simply nodding her head, "Yes...after all I had been told by my parents while I grew up, I didn't think it could be that easy."

Ryan gave her a warm smile as he reached his hand out, gently grasping her shoulder, "It is...I know you might think it too late for such an option, but Ah know these ponies and they would rather find a peaceful means to exist then to perpetuate bloodshed."

His words seeming to get through to her, there was one thing that came to mind, "...that attack I felt from outside. That was yours, right?"

"Yes. I had to protect the ones I love." Ryan winked at her, "But ya can relax. Yer children are okay. Beaten up and unconscious, but they'll live. Malus Domestica is a sword that knows how to channel the desires of her wielder and with all the weirdness of this situation, killing them would've solved nothin'."

Just when it seemed Chrysalis might listen to reason and perhaps call off her invasion, a Changeling flew into the wedding hall only to see his queen in trouble. Thinking to protect her, he dive-bombed the unsuspecting Ryan, "My Queen! I will not let you harm her human!"

'What...? Ryan!'

"Huh?" Ryan merely turned to see the Changeling hurtling towards him, "No! Stop! You don't need to do this!"

Doing his best to block the attack without harming him, Ryan closed his eyes and threw up his hands to defend himself...and then heard a sickening noise. Hearing Chrysalis scream, Ryan slowly opened his eyes to see that—despite trying his best to not bring harm to anyone—the Changeling had crashed right into his sword, "No....no...."

The Changeling coughed and sputtered out green blood before sliding off of Ryan's sword and collapsing to the ground, "Mother...I failed...I'm sorry...."

With that he died, leaving a stunned silence to fill the wedding hall.

"Chrissy...Ah...Ah didn't....Ah tried to tell him to stop but...."

Chrysalis stared at the soldier that had given his all to save her and she felt something break deep down within her very soul. Crying out in anguish she snapped free of the vines imprisoning her before attacking Ryan over and over, "Liar! Fraud! You said you didn't want to hurt anyone! It was all a trick!"

Ryan grunted as he barely blocked her continued assault, his emotions mixed as he tried to defend without hurting her, "Chrissy! Calm down! I didn't want to hurt him!"

"LIES! Your sword ended his life...you killed my child! I will not let you live for that human!"

Ryan could see no reasoning with her now, her grief as a mother completely overwhelming her rational thoughts, "I don't want to hurt you so stop!"

Chrysalis' rage only grew as Ryan continued to deflect her attacks without retaliating, "Fight me you coward! I will not take such disrespect!"

'Ryan...'

'Ah know Dark.' Ryan could see the tears streaming down Chrysalis' face, '...this is all turning out so wrong.'

Chrysalis growled in frustration, "Fine! If you won't attack me then I'll just go after one that can't defend herself!"

"No! Don't!"

Watching as she lowered her head and charged at Luna, Ryan ran as fast as he could before throwing himself in front of her to take the blow.

"Ryan!" Luna cried out, watching as Chrysalis' horn ran right through Ryan's chest, "No!"

Ryan felt his breath catch in his throat as he glanced down at the horn protruding through the right side of his chest, "This...is...the...worst pain...."

"Really?" Chrysalis lifted him up and began to shake him back and forth on her horn, "Are you sure it isn't this? Or this? Or this? Or this?"

In his bleeding out and now slightly delusional state, Ryan could swear that—other than blinding pain—he could hear a very familiar jingle as he continued to get tossed up and down.

'Ryan, we've got to stop! We're...Guh! Making her...stronger!'

"Ah....can't...help...it...." Ryan coughed out before finally being tossed down off of her horn to the ground.

"Hahaha, that's one down. How fitting that the very heart that led you to such a foolish choice was run through by my horn. I guess love truly does hurt, doesn't it?"

Ryan sputtered and coughed, looking down at the heavily bleeding wound in his chest before smirking, "Do you even anatomy, bitch?"

Struggling against his body, Ryan slowly stood up before weakly taking a stance with his sword.

'Ryan....guh....this...isn't good...we took a lot of damage...and we're bleedin' pretty bad. I don't know how long...ugh...I can keep us together.'

"Ah know that...but...." Ryan staggered and swayed, "Ah can't...let...mah loved ones down....guh...."

"You really intend to keep fighting me after that? Heh...you really are a foolish creature aren't you?"

Ryan smirked before coughing in pain, "Heh...heh....all this annoying buzzing...shut up and come at me if I'm really so stupid!"

Chrysalis cackled before slowly advancing on Ryan, "If that is your final wish. I must clean up as it is, can't have my kingdom blighted by your kind."

"I thought...." Ryan went into a coughing fit, blood flying out of his mouth, "I thought Ah told ya....ta shut up and...."

'Ryan!' Dark felt Ryan's body stagger even more as she approached, '...dammit...I can't...help...any...more...'

Suddenly the doors were blasted open and in rushed Twilight and the others, "Ryan! We got here as soon as we could and—NO!"

"Apple Ryder! Nonononono!"

Pinkie Pie gasped loudly, "That's not good! That's not good! What did you do you evil bug!?"

"...no." Lyra quietly cried, "Ryan...not like this...not like this...."

"Dammit!" Vinyl and Dashie shouted in unison, "If only we'd been quicker!"

The others had similar reactions as they watched Ryan slowly sway back and forth, his upper torso stained quite red. Their eyes were wide as time seemed to slow down when his grip failed and Malus Domestica fell to the ground with an echoing clatter that filled the silence of the wedding hall. Ryan began to feel his body shutting down at how much blood he'd lost and his breathing began to slow, '...And there goes mah muscle control...'

The others could only watch in shock as he fell to his knees and coughed up more blood before completely collapsing to the floor. He stared at them with a sad smile on his face, "Ah'm sorry Ah...f-failed. At least....Ah...got...ta...s-see...y'all...one...last time. Ah...love....you...a-all..."

Ryan's vision began to blur from both blood loss and his tears until finally all he saw was darkness...

Author's Note

So...how's about that cliffhanger? :trollestia::trollestia:
Ah've actually had this ending in mind since before writing this chapter, so Ah hope y'all enjoyed it seeing as it took me a month to crank this sucker out.
But it's easily the largest chapter yet and probably won't be beat anytime soon.
Ah promise ta do mah best to get the next chapter out soon so that y'all won't be left...hanging fer too long. :rainbowlaugh:
For those that read this later on after the next chapter is posted, then lucky you! Ya don't have to wait to find out the conclusion of the cliff-hanger! Aren't you future-folk just so super-duper-special? :pinkiehappy:

19th Harvest

Ryan wasn't sure where he was, but for some reason he felt...warm? Almost like the sun was shining down on him on a clear, spring day. Testing to see if he could, he was surprised that his eyes opened and he slowly turned his head to see he was lying in a field of some kind. Grunting as his body creaked and groaned in pain, he slowly pushed up so that he was sitting as he stared with a puzzled look on his face.

"The last thing Ah remember was...Chrissy."

Glancing down at his chest he could see his wound was not there for some reason and that only further puzzled him. Looking at his surroundings again, he noted a grassy plain that seemed to stretch on beyond the horizon. In fact, as he slowly made his way to his feet, he could see that other than a small lake nearby, there was nothing but grass accompanied by a gentle breeze as far as the eye could see. Pulling his shirt aside, he ran a hand over the right side of his chest and still couldn't figure out what was going on, "Ah should have a scar at the least, Chrissy flippin' ran me through with her horn so...hmmm."

Walking over to the lake, Ryan looked down at the crystal waters and was a bit spooked when his reflection began to move on its own...until he noted it looked rather familiar. Reaching down, he wasn't too surprised when he felt a hand grip his and with a tug and a fall out came Darkness Shade...who Ryan was quick to push off of him, "Sheesh...ya could've at least not landed on me when Ah pulled ya out."

"Sorry, sorry." Dark laughed at the awkwardness, "...something about this place has a familiar feeling to it."

"Really?"

"Yeah...how odd." Dark looked about but in the end just sat down next to Ryan, "So...did we die again or something?"

"Ah thought so but...Ah sure don't feel dead. Speaking of though...last time, when Disky tried to put me six feet under I know for certain Ah lost consciousness."

"And?"

Ryan turned to his other half, "So then how did Ah not die?"

Dark gave a long sigh before smirking, "It's kind of complicated and has to do with something I took a gamble on. Something my old mentor deduced was possible but could never test."

"Mentor? You mean Star-Swirled?"

"Yeah. He figured that if there was some way to keep a body going while the soul was in flux, then theoretically someone could pretty much never die if given the right circumstances." Dark pulled up a few blades of grass and let them go in the wind, "When Cordy went to kill you, I did what I could to test his theory. Thankfully enough, it seemed the old man was on to something."

"Yeah, because right after you gave that nice little one liner Ah got up and kicked his butt. Ah suppose that the whole Justice Blitz move was an after-effect ability of that?"

Dark shrugged, "Ah suppose so. He theorized that doing something like that to a person's body and soul would cause a change in their abilities. Something about resounding harmonics and...realigning one's magics. He always had an odd way of speaking about him so Ah never really got the details."

Ryan figured that was a good enough answer for him, "Fair enough. So then, assuming we aren't dead where in tarnation are we then? This place certainly doesn't feel natural at all..."

"You are simply residing in-between what we know as life and that which is beyond."

The two looked at each other before sensing a third presence was behind them. Turning simultaneously, they saw a blinding light that slowly but surely faded until they saw...an alicorn? And looking closely Ryan could make out that her cutie mark was a...well, it almost appeared to be a supernova of some kind.

"Curious. Excuse me but...who are you if I may ask?"

"Ah yes, Ryan is it? Always so inquisitive...it has been a long time since I've been lucky to meet with one of your kind."

"You mean humans...?"

The alicorn smiled and nodded, "Yes. It has been many years since there has been a human that needed guidance in the beyond. Although..."

Dark noticed she had turned to look at him, "Hmmm? Is there something on my face?"

"No, but I..." She shook her head, "It's not important. What is important is that you are not dead. Once again you came quite close and for all intents you should've been, but it would seem you have some very determined and loving people in your life. I believe you know who I speak of."

"Heh...yeah, Ah think Ah do." Ryan blushed slightly, "Mah family."

"Indeed. Besides, you have much still to accomplish and experience my little human before we meet here for your final journey."

"I'm sorry. I hate to interrupt." Dark looked at her with a puzzled face, "For some reason, and it's bugging me, I feel like I know you. Have we...met before?"

The alicorn simply laughed a very motherly type of laugh before smiling at Dark, "Perhaps...or perhaps not. Who can truly say?"

"That grin looks awful familiar." Ryan gave a shrug, "Ah wonder why...oh well. So, if Ah might ask, how long are we gonna be like this?"

"Oh, not much longer now. You've been resting for quite some time, Ryan. Your loved ones are quite worried about you. When you finally regain consciousness, it will have been nearly a week since the invasion by the Queen of the Changelings."

"...Chrissy." Ryan glanced at the ground and balled up his fist, "Again, Ah failed somepony..."

The alicorn smiled before walking over and nuzzling the side of his face, "You should not be so hard on yourself for things you could not have foreseen. You have a heart that would show kindness and mercy to even those that would call you their enemy. A rare gift indeed, so it pains me to see it hurt you so."

"Ah just....Ah just wanted ta help her because we couldn't..."

"Ah yes, you refer to the whole fiasco involving Discord, right?"

Dark narrowed his eyes, "How do you know about that?"

"Heh, there is much I know my little human, but now is not the time for that. Just know that you may get your chance yet."

Ryan felt a bit woozy as he noted her form beginning to blur, "What in tarnation...does that mean?"

"That kind heart of yours will always guide you, never forget that. You will find out soon enough, so never change and continue protecting those you love. " The alicorn remarked as her voice began to echo, "...including my daughters."

Dark felt his eyes grow heavy before everything faded to black, managing to get off only one word before passing out again, "...Solaris?"

Ryan slowly opened his eyes only to see darkness surrounding him. At first he wasn't sure what to make of it, but then he heard a rhythmic beeping sound and saw bright points of light to his right. After a few moments his eyes finally focused and he saw that he was once again in a recovery room hooked up to a few machines that no doubt we're helping him heal. He went to test his limbs to see how much everything hurt and how well they would move but found them to be heavy. Though, as he slowly adjusted to the feeling of being awake, he could see the reason why and it made him smile: for there, spread out on either side of him, was his little sisters no doubt watching over him in the only way they figured they could.

'Those kids are cute, aren't they?'

'Yep...but if'n they're here then...' Ryan slowly turned his head only to grit his teeth, the muscles a bit sore at having not moved for a while. To his right he saw a few ponies curled up sleeping though he wasn't able to make out who they were as he wasn't sure where his glasses were and thus they were too far away for him to properly see, let alone in the dark of night. Hearing sounds to his left, he could deduce there were others there too and he realized that alicorn was right about how many people truly did care for him.

"Heh...family's an awesome thing, isn't it?"

'You said it partner...but I wonder. Solaris...'

"Huh?"

'That alicorn...I think it was her but I'm not sure."

"Dark...who is Solaris any—" Ryan paused when he felt AppleBloom stir before nuzzling his stomach, "Lil Sis?"

"Mmm, Big bro...yer too noisy and Ah'm tired. Shhh..." AppleBloom shifted before closing her eyes, "...huh? Big bro?"

"Yes?"

At that AppleBloom's eyes flew open before she crawled up on to his chest, "Yer awake! Heh! Big Bro's awake!"

Scootaloo moaned softly before grumbling, "AppleBloom...what's all that noise? I'm tired..."

"It's Ryan! He's awake!"

"...what?" Scootaloo turned and saw that his eyes were indeed apparently open, "Big bro?"

"Heh, heya Scoots...hope ya haven't been too worried."

"Worried?" Scootaloo began nuzzling his face, "We thought we'd lost ya after what Rainbow Dash and the others told us."

"Hey, it's gonna take a lot more than a horn through my chest to kill me...though to be honest, I wouldn't care to try that again. It really hurt."

"Scootaloo? AppleBloom? What's with all that noise?"

"And that would be Sweetie Belle, yes?" Ryan slowly reached a hand up to scratch her mane, "You three are sweet fer keeping me company."

"Mmmm...yep. Hey...wait a minute." Sweetie Belle seemed puzzled, "Are you really awake or am I dreaming?"

"Does this feel like a dream?" Ryan smirked as he scratched the one spot behind her ears he knew she really liked.

"Oooooh, honestly yes. Though there's no way we're all having the same dream. I'm so happy you're finally awake again!"

As the three fillies began to lose a hold on containing their excitement, the others still sleeping in the room began to wake up questioning what was going on. It took them all of a few seconds after they heard Ryan's voice before somepony turned on a light and Ryan grunted at the brightness.

"Sorry..."

Slowly cracking his eyes open, Ryan couldn't help but laugh slightly, "It's okay T-Sparks; Ah know how eager mah bookworm can be. Ah still can't see all that well, with mah glasses missing and all, but is everypony here?"

"Yer herd is certainly here if'n that's what yer asking, Apple Ryder."

"Apps...heh, Ah had thought Ah'd never hear any of yer voices again." Ryan noted something floating towards him before it landed on his face, "Oh hey, Ah can see again."

"Yes. I figured you'd want those darling so you can see us clearly." Rarity stated, though she was hiding slightly behind Rainbow Dash, "...even if not all of us are looking our best."

"Rares...quit hiding. Ya know Ah don't care if'n yer a bit unkempt. Considering how long Ah must've been out, some things do fall by the wayside when yer worrying over someone ya love."

"Well, I do suppose you're right. A gentleman wouldn't lead a lady astray with his words after all."

'Haha, ain't that the truth.'

"I see Dark managed to survive too." Rainbow Dash snickered, "Good, good...wouldn't want things to get too boring after all."

'Awww, I love you too Dashie-kins!'

"...yeah, yeah." Rainbow Dash hid her blushing self with her right wing, "I'm just...really happy you finally woke up Rys."

"That makes two of us...or should I say—"He counted mentally real quick"—ya know what, it's too much math right now considerin' how out of it Ah still feel. Let's just say it's a lot. Haha....ugh..."

"R-Ryan?"

"Heh, Ah'm okay Flutters. Just been lying still for far too long." Ryan looked about, "Where's little bro at? And...well, Ah suppose Ah might already know the answer after seeing y'all are still here but..."

"What happened after you kind of...died again?"

"Yeah, T-Sparks. That. Also...Pinks is being really calm which is...odd."

"Oh, well Rysy-Wysy that's a simple one. The doctors told me that you might not be fully capable of receiving my usual super perky self so just for my human, you get Pinkie Pie Lite!" Pinkie giggled softly, "All the smile and all the happy, just a bit calmer till you're fully healed."

"Heh, just seeing that smile is making me feel better already. So anyway...what happened after Ah went down and y'all showed up?"

The six members of his herd looked at each other briefly before five of them nodded at Twilight. Nodding in reply she cleared her throat, "Well, needless to say, we were pretty shocked when we saw that she...she...she'd run you through like that."

"Yeah...Ah'm just lucky she clearly didn't know human anatomy and thought mah heart was on the right side of my chest."

"Didn't ya say somethin' like that there Twi?" AppleJack looked at her, "Ya said it didn't match up with what ya read in those books Luna gave ya."

"That's right; apparently you share some key differences in anatomy with the humans from our world. Namely, your internal systems are flipped." Twilight explained, "So Chrysalis thought she was right because she should've been. If it wasn't for you being from another world, she would've stabbed you right through the heart."

"Oh...well, shit. Chalk one up to luck then. Though instead of dying, Ah just slowly bled to death...it's not dying though so y-yay?" Ryan cleared his throat, "Anyway T-Sparks...tell me what happened."

"Well...it was like this..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<"...what was that weird squiggle motion?">

<'Nothing to be worried about Lady Rarity, just Twily setting up the flashback.'>

<"Oh...well I suppose that makes sense Dark. If you will then Twilight...">

<"Right! After we saw the two of you go down and pass out...">

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! That was so satisfying my only regret is I can't do it again just to get the thrill of that feeling!" Chrysalis gloated over Ryan's fallen form as she started at the others, "And to think, if only you had shown up a few moments earlier...you might've saved him. Instead, you got to watch your beloved die by my hooves. I wouldn't worry too much however...you'll be seeing him soon enough."

The others stood there, still too stunned by the death of their friend and lover who now lay in a pool of his own blood. With them shocked by grief, it would seem they were easy pickings for the Changeling Queen until...

"You condescending...sadistic...callous motherbucker!"

"..Pardon?" Was all Chrysalis was able to get out before Spike was on her, his gauntlet covered in flames connecting upside her head and sending her flying back. The others could only stare in shock at his actions, stunned that this was there little Spikey-Wikey that was pretty much beating the ever-loving crap out of the Changeling Queen. Landing a large number of blows to her person, Spike roared as he charged up a fireball and sent it hurtling towards her, "Spike squash evil bug! Spike strongest there is!"

With an impressive explosion, the others covered their eyes at the dust that flew upwards from Chrysalis' location. Spike panted in exhaustion before falling to the ground and coughing, "That...was for my big bro....ugh...."

"Spike!" Twilight ran over to him, concerned when his eyes shut, "...it's okay. It's okay, he's just fainted."

"But what about her?" Rainbow Dash motioned at the still motionless Chrysalis, "I mean, don't get me wrong here, that was pretty awesome what Spike just did. I didn't know the little guy had it in him but I'm not sure that's enough to stop her."

"Well she's not moving so for the meantime maybe we should focus on our human? The one that's lying in a puddle of his own blood?!"

"Rarity's right! Isn't there something we can do Princess? He can't really be dead?!"

Celestia placed a hoof over Ryan's chest before lowering her head, "I'm afraid he is AppleJack. I can no longer feel a pulse...he's lost too much blood."

"Nooooooooooooo!" AppleJack cried out, pounding her hoof hard enough to crack the ground, "Let me at that bitch! Ah'm gonna tear her a new everything by the time Ah'm done with her!"

Luna held AppleJack back with her magic, "I understand your pain dear AppleJack, but doing that to her will not bring him back."

Twilight looked at the situation, her eyes watery from tears as she tried to think of something. What was the point of wielding the Elements, she thought, if they couldn't be used to save somepony she loved?

"I see that look in your eyes my student."

"How did you...?"

"Heh, lest you have forgotten, both my sister and myself have had that same look before...back when we lost Darkness." Celestia sighed softly, "The Elements are indeed strong, but..."

Luna narrowed her eyes for a moment before placing a hoof on her sister's shoulder, "Sister...perhaps they might help this time. Ryan's body is still here after all, unlike...unlike Darkness' was."

Celestia looked at the hopeful faces of her student and her other little ponies and seemed uneasy, "Your words do hold logic sister but...if we are to do this we must hurry. The longer we wait, the more likely we lose what hope we have. I can only pray their magic is strong enough."

Cadance, who had finally gotten through to Shining Armor, had finally joined the others, "If it'll help, I'm more than happy to add my strength to yours. Though he did not know me, Ryan gave his all to set things straight. It's only fair that I do the same in return."

"...I know you told me I'd be shocked but..." Shining Armor seemed a bit sick at seeing the scene in front of him, "Ryan...if there's any way for me to help as well, just tell me!"

"Very well my little ponies, if you'll focus with the Element Bearers we can—"

And that's when a groaning noise drew their attention for Chrysalis had finally come to. The group watched with bated breath as she slowly stood up before facing them, "...what is going on? Why are you all just standing there? And where is that human of yours?"

"...what are you going on about?" Twilight seemed puzzled by her words, "Where is our human? Where is Ryan?! He's dead! Because of you! You killed him! How could you forget that?!"

Chrysalis seemed shocked, "What?! No! I wouldn't....I mean I don't care for their kind but even I know that the stories we were told were exaggerated! I just wanted him out of the way, not...you're lying!"

"Are we!?" Rainbow Dash practically growled at her before pointing a hoof at Ryan's body, "You look there and tell me we are!"

Chrysalis looked where she was pointing before her face twisted into one of horror, "...no. No-I! I wouldn't....I didn't...I never intended to....this isn't how it was supposed to go! I was going to take over, but nopony was going to get hurt! I never wanted to hurt anyone! I just wanted to protect my children! To make sure they lived! No! No! No! Nonononono! What have I done?!"

With tears in her eyes and her mind gone at seeing what she'd wrought, Chrysalis ran off out of the wedding hall lost in the fact that she had done something horrible that she could never undo.

The others watched this curiously for a moment before Lyra finally spoke up, "You want us to chase after her? She might get away."

Twilight shook her head, "No. I don't think she'll be causing any trouble...we have a bigger issue to deal with right now! So hurry! Focus on Ryan and...and hope!"

Twilight and her friends concentrated deeply, connecting with one another via their elements as they had but one thought on their minds: Bring Ryan back to us! As the glow of their bond began to surround Ryan, Cadance helped focus the love of those there to hopefully aid in such an improbable task.

As the magic began to fade, the others watched with bated breath as nothing seemed to happen. Second after second ticked by until time seemed to rewind, Ryan's blood slowly returning to his body as the spell took effect. Eventually the only reminder of what had happened was a very nasty gash that was more than likely going to scar something fierce. After that it was quiet, almost too quiet, until Princess Celestia finally spoke up, "...he has a pulse."

At that everyone cheered happily...at least till Celestia cleared her throat, "He has a pulse but he's not out of the woods yet! We must get him medical attention immediately! Hurry my little ponies!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"...and that's basically it." Twilight shook her head, "You've been unconscious for three weeks. Spike's been busy researching stuff and...training of all things."

'...three weeks?'

"Yes. Why?"

'Nothing it's just...never mind.'

"Are you sure you're okay, Darkness?"

'Yeah, yeah...'

Ryan knew exactly why Dark felt something was off, and it had to do with a discrepancy in the time that alicorn had noted and what apparently had actually passed.

Figuring that perhaps it just had to do with some weird difference of how time passes in that which is beyond this world he decided it really wasn't too much to worry on right now as he thought about what they'd said about Spike.

"Ah see...odds are he's just trying to keep his mind occupied after all that happened." Ryan mused before slowly assuming a sitting position, "Oh sweet Cellie that hurt something fierce. Three weeks, ya said? Ah guess that means Cadance and Shining tied the knot already then huh?"

"Actually..."

With that the door opened and Ryan was soon assaulted by a deep-blue blur that blocked his view, "...Lunes?"

'Woona...'

"Oh as soon as we got Twilight Sparkle's note we rushed right over! We even made sure to grab Spike as well since we knew he'd be thrilled!"

"Lunes...."

"And Cadance and Shining came along as well and..."

"Lunes! Can't breathe! Crushing chest!"

Luna laughed sheepishly before relinquishing her hold, "...sorry. I just...sorry."

Ryan gasped slightly before holding his chest. Frowning, he ran his hand over the right side and felt something unpleasant under his shirt.

"...we tried our best to help it heal but unfortunately your wound will be leaving you a nasty scar." Celestia explained, "Though I am more restrained than my sister, I am quite relieved that you are finally awake my little human."

Ryan smiled as he wrapped an arm around her neck to pull her into a hug, "Ah'm glad to be back with y'all too Cellie. And Spike, Ah heard about how ya went all super hero after Ah went down!"

"Haha, well I just figured...you know, couldn't let you go down like that so..." Spike blushed as he rubbed the back of his head, "I guess I kind of overdid it myself seeing as I passed out from it all."

"Eh, yer still a hero in training." Ryan laughed softly before clutching his chest, "Okay, laughing hurts at the moment...but what's this Ah heard about the lovebirds not getting married? What's the deal?"

"Well Ryan, you are my best man after all. We couldn't exactly get married without the whole wedding party there." Shining laughed, "It just wouldn't be right..."

"You guys...thank you."

"That's all well and good, but something still bothers me about this whole thing."

Ryan looked at Spike before frowning, "What's still bothering ya, little bro?"

"The whole flip-flop that Chrysalis had. She just completely turned her whole attitude around after I, well, after I lost my mind and just wailed on her."

"I must admit that did puzzle me as well." Rarity nodded in agreement, "It seemed completely unrealistic to believe she felt regret."

Ryan was quiet for a moment as he thought and then something came to him, "Ah'm not sure if Ah'm completely right on this, but Ah think Ah have an explanation that might work. Now from the events that preceded mah getting impaled Ah would like to think Ah was talking to who Chrissy really was."

"You're talking about before we showed up?"

"That's right Twilight. Lunes and Cellie were there so they know what Ah'm talking about."

"Ryan is correct. After immobilizing her he had quite a discussion and offered her a peaceful do over to make things right." Celestia's smile slowly faded, "Until that soldier flew in and..."

"And unfortunately he dive-bombed right onto Malus Domestica." Ryan felt an ache in his heart as he looked at his sword leaning against the wall, "...after that she lost all reason. She was suffering a mother's grief after all, so who could blame her?"

"Ah don't get it though, that might explain why she got enraged like she did but she said she didn't plan to hurt anypony at all." AppleJack scratched her head, "But it sure seemed as if she was tryin' to plant us six feet under fer sure."

"Ah have a theory on that too, Apps, and from what Dark informed me of Changelings before our confrontation Ah think it might be right. You all know by now that Changelings feed on love, yes?"

"Of course. It's pretty obvious after what she did to me." Shining nodded, "Are you trying to say that played a part in this?"

"Something like that. Remember how power crazy she was acting after she knocked Cellie down with one blast? Well Ah think the love she got was perhaps more than she could handle...that and Ah don't think she was fully prepared to siphon such energy from a species she had never encountered before." Ryan pointed at himself, "Namely me."

"Of course!" Twilight began rambling, "Even though she knew about humans there's no way she could possibly have had contact with one before. So the only species she's siphoned love from would be ones that have been around within...how long do Changelings usually live?"

'As I recall, they're normal life-span is usually somewhere between a hundred and two hundred years depending on the Changelings build, rank, and own power and ability.'

"Thanks Dark. So seeing as humans haven't existed in a thousand years, she's never known how to handle taking love energy from one. So then if I'm following your logic right Ryan then...are you trying to say she got drunk on the love you have for us?"

"Something like that...though Ah imagine what she took from y'all probably didn't help either." Ryan shook his head and sighed, "It was probably more than she could handle...and she got lost in it. Ah thought Ah had reeled her back in after talking to her calmly but..."

"Ryan?" Fluttershy was worried at the pained look he wore, "What's wrong?"

"...mah heart aches from both physical pain...and worry that Ah may never get to tell her that Ah'm okay." Ryan gripped his bed sheets tightly, "The way she reacted, the horror ya said was on her face...Ah'm afraid it'll scar her for life. And then who knows how that might affect her...Chrissy."

Ryan was quiet for awhile until he felt the warmth of his loved ones embrace, something he needed to help ease his heart. After a few moments he smiled, "Thank you everypony. Maybe...maybe one day Ah'll find her and set things right."

"We will do all we can to assist you." Celesta softly nuzzled his cheek, "My sister and I will help try to find them...as well as continue to assist you in any other way we can."

'Tia...Woona...heh, you two are still awesome.'

"Ah share Dark's sentiments but...Ah still feel really tired. Right now Ah just wanna rest up some more."

"You won't stay asleep for too long, right big brother?"

Ryan looked at the CMC's and laughed softly, "Of course not little sisters. Ah won't be sleeping like that for a long time."

With that they let Ryan relax and continue to heal happy in the knowledge that he would be okay. As such they finally allowed themselves to stretch their legs and no longer stay huddled up in his room.

"Hey wait! He was awake?" Lyra gasped at hearing such things when she bumped into Twilight, "Oh it figures that he wakes up when I have to use the little pony's room."

"Relax, Lyra. Yer getting all bent out of shape." Vinyl snickered, "Like I told my agent when he asked why I was still here, sometimes you just gotta wait a little longer before something good happens. Let the big guy rest up, he's been through a lot remember?"

"Yeah, yeah...I know." Lyra pawed the ground slightly, "I just...it would just relax my mind to hear his voice again."

"Don't worry." Twilight patted her shoulder, "The moment he's up again I'll let you know. I'm sure he'll find it nice to hear from his other friends too."

Lyra smiled though it was an awkward one, "...right. Friends..."

And so time slowly passed and Ryan's recovery was not as quick as it had been the last time thanks to the type of wounds he'd received....as well as the unusual way he was brought back. As it was, it was another week before he was moving about well enough to try and get back into a routine. Lyra had been quite relieved when she finally saw him awake and pretty much spent that whole day with him...despite Ryan telling her she didn't need to. Eventually he felt healthy enough to finally take his place in the wedding and that was where they found themselves now. Though the repairs to the castle and town had not been completely finished, the wedding hall was bright and shining as it was before the invasion...or at least enough so for Cadance and Shining Armor anyway.

Thankfully things went well and soon the two were wed to the joy of everypony there. With that the after-party finally began with all sorts of music, merriment, and good times by all.

"How come you're not out there dancing? I know you want to."

Ryan turned to Twilight and smirked, "Ah know but Ah'm still not one hundred percent, T-Sparks. I really want to, especially with those sick beats that Vinyl is laying out but..."

Twilight frowned as Ryan gripped his chest, "I'm sorry..."

"Fer what? You didn't do this. In fact the only thing to blame for any of what happened was misunderstanding and the twisted facts of history."

"I suppose that's true...but if you aren't going to dance, perhaps you'd like to come meet my parents? They seemed rather interested in meeting you at last after hearing so much about you."

Ryan choked on the punch he was sipping, "Yer parents? Well Ah reckon that's only right, seein' as we're close and all. Sure. Lead the way."

With that Ryan followed Twilight over to where two ponies were standing and watching Cadance and Shining dance with one another.

"Ryan, let me introduce you to my mother and father." Twilight motioned at them, "Twilight Velvet and Night Light."

Ryan shook Night Light's hoof when offered, "A pleasure to meet you, sir."

"And likewise. So you're the famous human we heard all about."

"Guilty as charged." Ryan laughed softly as he kissed Velvet's hoof, "And might Ah say madam that Ah can clearly see where T-Sparks gets her good looks from."

Twilight Velvet giggled, "Such a charmer too...no wonder my little Twily speaks so highly of you."

"Mom! You're gonna embarrass me."

"Aw, Ah think it's cute yer mother likes teasing you." Ryan gently pinched Twilight's cheeks, "It's just so cute when you blush!"

Night Light smirked, "Ah, so it is true...you're quite smitten with our daughter."

Ryan gulped and laughed sheepishly, "Yes...though..."

"Though that's not the whole truth huh?" Twilight Velvet raised an eyebrow, "Our Shiny told us some interesting things...that your other friends confirmed to be true."

Ryan gulped as T-Sparks' father gave him the once over, "Well yes...things just kind of went that way without any of us really realizing it until one day it just...happened."

"Do you love our daughter?"

"Of course! As Ah told Shiny Ah love your daughter as well as the others. Heh, so much so Ah'd probably even give mah life to protect them."

Night Light smirked, "I think that was obvious seeing what happened recently. While I can't say it's what I expected, from all I've heard and seen you are a rather stand-up pony...er, person. So we know you'll treat her right."

"Thank you. Both of you. That means a lot to me, it truly does." Ryan smiled and then laughed when the two took him in a hug, "Heh, perhaps one day Ah'll get to call ya mom and dad too eh?"

"Hahahahaha, you're so silly Ryan!" Twilight laughed nervously, "Why don't we go dance and not talk about such serious things?"

With that Twilight dragged Ryan off to the dance floor leaving behind her very amused parents.

"Hmmm, I wonder where he gets the energy to deal with six of them? Our daughter alone must be a handful." Twilight Velvet chuckled, "Wouldn't you agree, dear?"

"Certainly." Night Light watched as Ryan wound up the head of a conga line, "But the way he smiles, and how they smile in return...well, how could anypony be upset with how happy they make one another? Heh, now that will be a wedding."

As the party drew to a close, the guests all threw confetti as Cadance and Shining boarded their chariot and took off...all to the backdrop of a Sonic Rainboom and Malus Domestica's scattering petals.

"Well, there they go. Ah hope they enjoy themselves." AppleJack turned to her friends, "Ah guess this means things can get back to normal now, right?"

"I certainly hope so." Rarity sighed, "This has been far more excitement than I expected or could handle. I just look forward to a nice relaxing shower and then snuggling up with our human."

"That sounds like a great plan! But there's still some cake! So cake! Shower! Snuggle!" Pinkie giggled, "How does that grab you, Rysy-Wysy? Rysy-Wysy?"

Rainbow Dash snickered before pointing at Ryan's sleeping form, "I think he might be skipping two steps. Come on AJ, help me carry him to our room."

With that the group of friends shared a laugh before heading off with their human, happy that things were finally as they should be and that life could resume it's normal pace...but knowing this bunch there's no way that's happening anytime soon.

Ryan groaned softly as he awoke and rolled to his side...only to get a faceful of purple mane. He smiled as he brushed it aside to see Rarity, still sleeping soundly. It was a bit crazy how they had all worked out the schedule for sleeping arrangements, seeing as they couldn't all sleep together every night after all, but he knew it wasn't perfect.

Lightly kissing her cheek he got up and headed downstairs to work on cooking some breakfast.

"All the more reason as to why Ah've started the motions to get that house of ours built." He mumbled as he started scrambling some eggs.

'I'll say. While I'm sure the girls will be surprised, will they really feel okay leaving behind what they've called home now?'

"Haha, well Ah'm sure it'll work out. Everypony's covered in terms of design so they feel like they're at home. We're close to the forest and Sweet Apple Acres, we've incorporated the cloud architecture of Cloudsdale, there's a decent sized library going in as well as a reasonably sized workplace for making clothes and all sorts of other designer goods, and the kitchen to bake up all sorts of goodies. Heh, they'll definitely feel at home when they're there but the way Ah see it most of their homes are their workplaces too so it's not like they'll be leaving them behind. They just won't be there as much." Ryan sprinkled a little cheese on the eggs before sliding them on to two plates, "And there's enough extra room for little bro to tag along and our cute little sisters to stay the night if they choose. As you'll recall, family is important to me. Probably to the same level as it is Apps if we're bein' honest. Ah'm just glad everypony seems cool with our situation...even if'n some of them played some awful trick on me. Like Big Mac..."

Dark laughed loudly, 'Oh yeah! That was priceless.'

Ryan sighed as he thought back on what had occurred when he and AppleJack had explained their situation to the other Apples on the farm. While Granny Smith had been pretty understanding and, truth be told, ribbed him something fierce about being a "ladies man", Big Mac had been quiet. Almost too quiet...which led to Ryan running out of the house and looking for somewhere to hide. Eventually Big Mac came chasing after him and followed him all over the farm before he finally cornered him on top of the barn. Just when Ryan thought he was done for, Big Mac took him in a bro-hug and laughed.

'As I recall he was "Glad that ya finally just told them about it and stopped hidin' it like it was some dirty secret." There was an 'Eyup' in there somewhere too.'

"Yes, he also said that as long as Ah loved them all the same way Ah showed how much Ah loved his sister then he knew they were in good hands." Ryan shook his head, "Big Mac has a terrible sense of humor considering how much he scared me with that prank. Oh well, he's family so Ah guess that's okay."

'You certainly are something else...heh, then again I wouldn't have my host be anyone else.'

"That's a hell of a compliment coming from you, Darkness. Thanks."

Just as Ryan was finishing the toast and pouring the juice he felt a tug of magic on his robe before he scooted backwards and felt hooves wrap around him.

"Heh, howdy Rares."

"Mmmm, good morning to you too darling. Such a thoughtful gentleman, letting me sleep in and making breakfast."

"Well, you know me. More than happy to make mah mares feel special."

"Of that I have no doubt, darling." Rarity laughed softly before sitting down, "As always, you know just what a lady needs in the morning."

"Haha, it's just breakfast." Ryan gave a shrug, "But Ah do mah best to make y'all happy so..."

"You certainly do...which is why I hope your prepared for what's in two weeks."

Ryan smirked, "Two weeks huh? Hmmm...what could possibly be coming up in two weeks that would involve mah ladies and mahself? Some type of special day...what was it, what was it?"

Rarity laughed daintily before rolling her eyes, "Oh you are ever the mischievous gentleman Ryan, always making such jokes."

"Quite...although the plans are in motion, Ah'm still uncertain on one factor."

Rarity finished her juice before nodding, "I believe you are referring to the request of one Ms. Heartstrings, yes?"

"Yes. It's certainly a delicate issue and y'all have been thinking on it ever since after the wedding." Ryan finished his eggs before frowning, "Ah know Ah could've just told Lyra no but..."

"As you have said, she certainly knows how to tug at the heart." Rarity giggled, "It's okay my gentleman, you merely wish to make all your friends happy too."

"Heh, Ah know." Ryan gave her a kiss before picking up their plates and clearing the table, "So any plans for today? Have you picked out something nice to wear for Valentine's Day?"

"Valenti—oh, you mean Hearts and Hooves Day. Haha, I forgot you have such an unusual name for it."

"To me it's the other way around." Ryan laughed softly, "But yes, have you gotten what you're going to wear picked out yet?"

"Now now, why would I ruin the surprise? Needless to say I have things covered for all of us." Rarity nodded, "Speaking of, after you get dressed would you go and acquire Ms. Heartstrings and meet us at Twilight's Library?"

"Lyra? Hmmm...does this mean you've come to a decision with her?"

"You'll just to wait and see my dear."

"Oh, yer teasing me aren't you?" Ryan smirked before marching towards her.

"Oh no you don't! I know that look all too well Ryan!"

Try as she might, Rarity couldn't move fast enough and Ryan had her in his grasp as he began tickling her stomach over and over. Rarity wiggled and laughed, trying her best to break free until finally she smacked Ryan telekinetically with a glass of water.

Ryan sputtered before grinning, "Ah guess you could say Ah always make a splash."

"You and your puns...now go dry off and get dressed you mischievous devil you."

"Devil am I?" Ryan grinned, lightly slapping her rear before heading upstairs to get dressed, "Plot-Man strikes again!"

"I'll strike you if you don't get dressed and quit goofing around." Rarity huffed before blushing, "Seriously, how that man can go from gentleman to fresh like that I will never understand! Hmph. Although...it's not as if I don't like the attention."

"Ah heard that!"

"Oh will you get dressed already!" Rarity huffed, "Goodness me..."

Having decided to get dressed in a lovely mint-green ensemble considering who he was going to pick up, Ryan had teased Rarity one last time before making a mad dash out of the boutique and away from his beloved marshmallow who he may have had a bit too much fun with. Shrugging, he figured everything would be fine by the time he got to Twilight's so with that he made his way through town towards the abode of Bon-Bon and Lyra. He made rather good time, despite stopping to help Derpy collect a bunch of packages that had fallen out of her bag, and so soon arrived at their house before giving a knock.

"Hello? Lyra? Bon-Bon? Y'all home? It's Ryan!"

There was no answer and Ryan had begun to think perhaps they were both out until the door finally cracked open.

"Oh hey, somepony is home! But just who—Oh God!" Ryan gasped as he was tackled by the very pony he was looking for, "Lyra, we've really gotta stop meeting like this."

"Hee, I'm sorry Ryan." Lyra hugged him tight, "You know I love getting visits from you...and then seeing that outfit you were wearing. It all overwhelmed me a bit."

"A bit she says...Hahaha." Ryan slowly got up despite Lyra's continued attachment to him, "Anyway, Ah have been sent to acquire you."

"Acquire me?" Lyra gave him a puzzled look, "What does that—hey!"

Having picked her up and hoisted her on his shoulder, Ryan laughed as he began making tracks for Twilight's house, "In a way it means simply this: Ah'm kidnapping you and ya can't do a thing about it!"

"You make it sound as if that's a bad thing." Lyra giggled, watching the confused looks on the ponies they passed by, "It's a good thing the town is used to you causing mischief, otherwise they'd probably be more worried."

Laughing in response, he continued on till all too soon he arrived in front of Twilight's house. Setting Lyra down, he gave a knock before opening up and walking in with her. As he expected, the six mares that meant the world to him were gathered together and all smiled as he walked in.

"Ah, there he is at last. You sure took your time Rys!"

"Haha, sorry Dashie but Ah was having a bit of fun with Lyra. Kidnapping a pony is hard work ya know."

"Well we're just glad you could finally join us." Twilight motioned to a chair by her, "Ryan, if you would sit here next to me. And then Lyra..."

"Yes, I'm pretty sure I sit in the chair facing all of you." Lyra walked over and took a seat, sitting in a style very similar to Ryan's, "Before you say anything, let me just say thank you for even taking my feelings into consideration. You didn't have to, none of you did, but the fact you'd even think on it just fills me with such a warmth. Whatever you've decided, I'm just glad we'll always be friends."

'Awww, that's just so sweet.'

"Ignoring Dark, we can begin."

'Hey!'

"Haha, anyway we've all been thinkin' on this fer quite a while now after Apple Ryder informed us that ya apparently knew about our situation." AppleJack eyed Lyra intensely, "And then when he said you asked him if ya could be in, well, us gals were a bit shocked at how bold ya were being."

"So bold! Just like those spicy cupcakes I tried making but then I put too much chipotle and peppers and everypony that I got to try them learned to breathe fire! It was such an awesome time!" Pinkie giggled before making as serious a face she could, "But yes, that was quite bold saying such a thing to our human."

"Well, it's just that....I." Lyra rubbed her hooves together, "When he was just with AppleJack I didn't think the fact that I had developed feelings for him would bother me all that much. Sure I wished we had a closer connection, especially when we would hang out and he'd be silly and stuff but..."

"Please relax darling, no need to be nervous." Rarity smiled kindly, "Now, our situation is delicate as it is seeing as even we were caught off-guard by how quickly it snow-balled into what we have."

"Ah reckon Dashie wasn't."

"AJ!" Rainbow Dash gasped before sticking out her tongue, "As I recall, it was your idea to even ask him to begin with."

"Now Ah didn't say it wasn't, did Ah?" AppleJack smirked, "Ah just wanted mah friends to be happy too and, well, Ah could tell we were all getting pretty close."

Twilight nodded, "Yes. Even if we weren't aware of it fully, we had gotten quite close with the adventures and fun we shared. I most likely feel it's Ryan to blame given the fact he seems to make situations crazier without even trying."

"Hey! You make it sound as if by just being human shenanigans follow me around!"

Lyra smirked, "You mean it doesn't work that way?"

At that Twilight and the others fell into snickers and giggles while Ryan just rolled his eyes and sighed, "Okay, okay, hahahahaha. Let's all make fun of the human we love because he's just so easy to rile up."

"Sorry Ryan, sorry." Twilight took a calming breath, "Anyway at first we weren't sure you truly did have the same feelings for him that we did...but then AppleJack brought up an interesting point."

"Ah simply said that, other than the six of us, the only other pony he spends a lot of time with when he can is you. Whether yer asking him questions about his world and the humans there, asking Dark to fill in gaps about the humans from his time, or even just sitting and enjoying a peaceful moment while he uses those illegally good feeling hands of his with a belly rub—"

Lyra's eyes widened, "How did you know about those?"

"I-it's not too hard to tell." Fluttershy smiled shyly, "We all know that smile you would wear sometimes."

"Smile?"

"Yes, Lyra darling, the one that seems to only come about after those fingers of his turn us into a melty puddle."

"Hee-hee, Rarity's right! It's even better when he's feeding you candy and watching cartoons at the same time!" Pinkie's eyes were closed as she bit her bottom lip, "Those times are just amazing."

'And there goes Ryan's blush meter! It's off the charts! He's redder than a Sweet Apple Acre apple!'

Ryan could only sigh and shake his head, "Ah thought we were here to discuss thing with Lyra, not turn me into a bashful mess?"

"Can't we do both, Rys?"

Ryan rolled his eyes at Rainbow Dash's comment before clearing his throat, "Anyway, Ah'm sure Lyra is just as curious as Ah am to hear yer final decision. So, if'n you've all had yer fill of teasing me..."

"Oh I could never have enough of experimenting in those regards Ryan." Twilight giggled, "But seeing as that is why we asked her here, I do suppose we should get on with it. After a long discussion about it—that may or may not have broken into very heated arguments—the six of us have decided that we will grant the request of one Lyra Heartstrings and allow her into our herd."

'Hmmm, well that's—wait, what? You're letting her in? Well, I didn't see that coming.'

"Heh, funny you wouldn't Darky when Ah reckon you'd be all for such a thing." AppleJack smirked, "We decided that after looking at the whole picture she deserves a chance..."

At that Rainbow Dash flew over and hovered so close to Lyra the poor unicorn about fell out of her chair, "But if you ever stray or do anything that otherwise shows you're love to Ryan isn't true and you hurt him, you're chance is through...and there won't be anywhere you can hide from me in all of Equestria."

Lyra was a bit startled and looked for the words to reply until she saw Ryan grab Dashie by the shoulder and clear his throat, "Relax there, Dashie-kins, no need to worry poor Lyra like that. Ah highly doubt she'd ruin a chance like this...and she hasn't ever struck me as the one to let her heart stray. Now please, calm yer wings."

"...okay." Rainbow Dash huffed before smiling at Lyra, "Maybe I did get a bit out of line there but just don't hurt him."

"I won't. I promise." Lyra grinned before hopping up and clapping her hooves together, "Oh I'm so glad you're giving me a chance. I just feel so happy, like my heart could explode."

Feeling a nudge from Rarity, Ryan was soon pushed over towards the standing Lyra, "Well darling, don't leave a lady waiting. Do help her heart relax some, would you?"

Ryan seemed puzzled for a moment before he got the picture and knelt down to take Lyra's face in his hands. Before she even had a moment to question what he was doing, she about melted as he did something she'd desired for some time: he kissed her. After what seemed all too brief a time she felt him release her as she stood there in a daze, "Wow...that...that was more than I imagined it could ever be."

Pinkie giggled before hugging her, "Oh it gets even better! That's just kisses! Wait till you get snuggles and cuddle-puddle times and sharing sweet treats and when he uses those fingers to—"

"Hahaha! Gonna have ta cut ya off there Pinkie." AppleJack sheepishly laughed, "No need overwhelming her poor mind too quickly. Ah reckon she'll fill in the gaps soon enough."

'Heh, if Ryan doesn't beat her to it that is.'

"Dark!" Ryan groaned, his cheeks once again a bright red, "Anyway, with our little group now plussed—"

"That's not a word Ryan..."

"It can be if'n Ah want it to be T-Sparks. Ahem, anyway, with this little expansion Ah must go make sure the plans are now how they should be."

"U-uhm...what...what plans Ryan?"

"Haha." Ryan struck a pose, "Why the plans for our very relaxing and very awesome Hearts and Hooves Day romantic trip, mah dear butter pony! So get ready ladies, we're going to have some fun when we hit the town!"

And like that, just a short while later when it was two days before said Hearts and Hooves Day, Ryan was waiting patiently for the others at the train station with a bag in tow.

'Soooo, why aren't we just teleporting to Manehatten?'

"Simple: Ah would rather enjoy a nice train ride with the mares Ah love. Would you deny me that by saying we should just 'poof' there?"

'Hmmm, point taken. Gotcha. I'm down with that plan.'

"You would be." Ryan laughed softly before seeing Lyra come skipping along with her suitcase, "Haha, someone's eager for fun."

'So are you, ya know.'

"Heh, and?" Ryan smirked when she finally stopped by his side, "Hello there Heartsy. Ready to have some fun with everypony else?"

"Hee, as long as that means you too." Lyra shook her rear in happiness, "I haven't ever had a special somepony on Hearts and Hooves Day so I'm just so excited! Especially since I get to spend it with my human! Tee-hee!"

Ryan had to admit it was pretty adorable how she gave a little hop and tapped her hooves together, and all because she got to be with him. It certainly made him feel important, that's for sure. Just as he was about to tease her, however, he heard a voice that signaled the others were showing up as well.

"Dang it, AJ! She is here first!"

"Whooo-e! That means you owe me a round of cider Rainbow Dash!" AppleJack laughed as the two of them walked up to Ryan, "Thanks for that Lyra."

"Oh, uhm...you're welcome?" Lyra seemed a bit confused, "I just was so excited I could barely sleep!"

"I know right! This is going to be so much fun!"

Ryan gasped as Pinkie hopped out of his bag, "Pinks! How in...Ah just....that...."

"Oh he's so adorable when he's confused, isn't he?"

"Ah...." Ryan facepalmed just as the rest of their group arrived, "This is going to be one of those crazy adventures, isn't it?"

"Well it does involve you dear human of ours." Twilight smirked, "So signs point to yes."

"Brat." Ryan shook his head before hearing the train whistle, "Okay everypony. Bags packed?"

"YES!"

"Things taken care of while we're away?"

"YES!"

"Ready for Fun?"

"YES!"

"Excitement?"

"YES!"

"And most importantly, snuggles?"

"Double YES!"

"Hahaha, then what are we waiting for? Let's get onboard!"

After having boarded and stowed their luggage in the train car, the group was spending some time watching the landscape go by whilst doing various things: Rainbow Dash and AppleJack were playing a round of 'Go Fish' that Pinkie was also playing but taking too literally, Rarity and Fluttershy were chatting about a play they'd like to go see, and as for Twilight and Lyra those two were taking the time to have a nice chat with their human. And if said chat also happend to occur at the same time as tummy rubs then that was what one calls a happy coincidence.

"Lyra? You're drooling a bit there."

"Huh?! Oh, sorry Twilight, Ryan....it's just...those fingers are so good. How are you even paying attention while he's doing this Twilight?"

Twilight simply winked in reply, "Lots of practice, Lyra. Now then, I believe you were telling us of the plans you have for us in Manehatten? It's your first time there so hopefully it goes about as smoothly as things did when we visited Cloudsdale."

"Well, unless some other menace has been causing issues with landmarks in Manehatten Ah'm pretty sure we'll be alright." Ryan nodded, "As for the plans, we're first going to have to check into our hotel. Ah just hope we have enough room, this hotel was the only one that had a room big enough for eight full grown ponies...and even at that it's because it's two large rooms joined together. Once we're settled I figured we'd have a day to just tour around and have fun doing whatever, taking in the sights and all that. But the day after that, on the fourteenth. Hahaha..."

"Oh, have you planned something quite romantic for us darling?"

Ryan glanced over at Rarity who had been eavesdropping, "Perhaps Ah do...perhaps Ah don't. Y'all will just have to wait and see won't ya? Hahaha, either way it's going to be fun. Ah hope so anyway, haven't had to plan something like this in a long while so Ah might be a bit rusty."

"It's always fun with you Rysy-wysy, especially because you seem drawn to it!"

"Yeah, but this is the big city..." Rainbow huffed, "You're not dragging us to some stage show are you?"

"Heh, always so predictable Dashie. You're not a fan of stuffy things, but Ah think you'll enjoy yerself."

"Well Ah think the fact that we're just going off the cuff with what we do is kind of nice, makes it relaxin' and such. Not being pressured and such." AppleJack suddenly grinned, "Oh...Ah know something that would just be the best to see happen."

"Huh?" Ryan watched as she whispered to the others—save for Lyra and Twilight who were still keeping Ryan's hands occupied—and seemed a bit worried by their grins, "Ladies...what in tarnation are ya thinkin' now?"

"W-well, we can't spoil our surprises either, right?" Fluttershy giggled softly, "I mean, if you aren't it's only fair yes?"

Ryan sighed before laughing softly, "Of course, of course. Ah look forward to what you apparently wish to put me through. To the Big City and a Romantic weekend!"

"Yeah!"

After a nice peaceful ride and a quiet night—well, as quiet as it can get when you've got seven ponies all vying for a piece of the snuggle pie that is—the train soon pulled into Manehatten's Mane Station allowing them to disembark. After that it was a short walk to the Four Princesses hotel to check in, though thankfully it was with a surprising ease despite this being the first exposure to a human they'd had. Apparently word of his exploits had more than circulated this far north which didn't really surprise him too much: after all, news travels fast through the urban jungles and apparently that held true even in Equestria. After thanking the bellboy for his assistance and tipping him generously, the group unpacked before getting dressed and ready for their day of unplanned adventure and fun.

"Especially fun! That's the part I totally can't wait for!" Pinkie giggled as she hopped about, waiting for Ryan to finish getting dressed, "Come on, come on! You always seem to take so long getting dressed. All those pesky clothes you wear are getting in the way of fun!"

"Heh, Ah have to agree. They do tend to get in the way of fun."

"Apps!" Ryan gasped before noting Lyra seeming a bit out of it, "Ya okay Heartsy?"

"Oh, well...I guess I don't really have a reference for this fun that AppleJack is talking about so my mind is just going a bit wild in imagination land." Lyra admitted, her cheeks turning redder by the second.

"Just let it run!" Pinkie nodded before putting an arm around her, "Odds are where it ends up is probably perfectly on point!"

'So smooth...such a ladies' man~'

"And you...keep quiet you." Ryan rolled his eyes before pulling on his jacket and straightening his scarf, "Alright y'all, let's go hit the town! But...but not literally. That would kind of hurt and not really be fun."

"Finally!" Rainbow Dash let out a yell, "Sheesh, I thought you were going to take forever!"

"Oh now darling, you can't rush our human. We have to make sure he looks his best after all, otherwise he'll just clash with the rest of us. Haha."

Ryan smirked before turning to Twilight, "Still waiting for yer two cents, T-Sparks."

"Oh, well, I figured you had enough change as it is from the others so..." She giggled softly, "Let's go! My checklist is ready!"

"...Ah thought we were gonna go off the cuff."

"We are! See?" Twilight pointed at the list which had one thing on it, "Go do lots of fun stuff with our special somepony! That way I'm on task and still goofing off! It's brilliant!"

'Oh sweet Woona, Twily found a way to both be on task and run free...let the party COMMMENCE!'

After that little outburst of Dark's, the rather large group headed off and the first stop was what they had apparently been talking about secretly on the train trip. Ryan was still a bit unsure what they were planning as they headed to a large open park but the moment he saw a frozen lake in the middle of it all he quickly put two and two together.

"...Yer getting on the ice, aren't ya?"

"Yup! We wanna see how nimble ya can be on skates!"

"It'll totally be fun...even if ya fall on yer bottom!"

'...judging by his thoughts, ladies, I reckon that's gonna happen quite a bit.'

Lyra, deciding to try her hand at the whole teasing thing, cantered over and nuzzled against Ryan, "Oh Ry, if you do fall on yer plot I can help ya make it feel better."

"..." Ryan gasped, his breath catching in his throat before laughing nervously, "...Ah think it's safe to say she's catching on to how this all works."

Looking at all of them with their happy and expectant faces, Ryan knew he was not gonna win this one either. Sighing and throwing his hands up in defeat he gave a nod before being led to the lake's edge...but he immediately thought of something.

"So...Ah doubt they'll have any kind of skates that will fit me so how do Ah—"

He was interrupted by a pair of ice skates being tossed in his lap. Looking at Rarity he raised an eyebrow, "Ah...how?"

"Oh darling, while we would leave you to believe we only just had this idea we've secretly wanted to get you out on the ice for a while. We felt it would be amazing to watch..."

"But mostly funny, seeing as you've never mentioned skating before."

Ryan glared at Rainbow Dash before rolling his eyes, "Dashie, yer getting too much enjoyment out of this."

"Hey, I just know what's awesome...and you skating and fallin' on yer butt? That's awesome." Rainbow snickered, "Besides, Fluttershy was the one to originally think of asking you."

"Oh, well....I mean, it just seemed like something fun. You said it never got cold like this where you lived so I figured maybe you hadn't ever tried it."

"Ugh, right in mah cute." Ryan gasped before scratching her ears, "You'd be right Flutters...but if'n Ah do fall, Ah expect Heartsy to follow through on her promise."

Lyra, who had been pulling on her skates, suddenly froze and stared at Ryan with wide eyes, "Uhm...uh...okay."

With that little exchange over, the group headed on to the ice with various success. While the girls all seemed to be able to skate to some degree, Ryan was....well let's just say it was pretty damn funny how he kept falling down. The girls definitely thought as much with how they kept giggling in their own ways.

'...where's all that coordination you have? How does a man that can move as smooth as you do on his feet not know how to balance enough to ice skate?'

"Ah don't see you helping!" Ryan grumbled before falling down again, "...ow. Ice equals pain...so much pain."

"Oh come now, darling, it's not that hard is it?"

Ryan looked to his right to see Rarity standing over him with a smirk on her face, "Never took you to enjoy another's folly mah lady."

"If you can be mischievous my gentleman, then why not I as well?"

And so on it went, with Ryan doing his best to at the very least stand up and move slowly...which he did manage to do after an hour of trying.

"Yes! Ah'm doing it!"

And then Rainbow Dash came dashing by and knocked him flat on his ass again as he skid along the ice before coming to a stop.

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh. I didn't think that would happen. I thought I was farther away from you than that!"

Ryan seemed a bit dazed as he looked up at everypony standing over him, "Did anyone get the number of that rainbow that hit me? Ah feel like a hockey puck...."

"Is he...going to be okay?" Lyra gently nudged him with her muzzle before looking at the others, "He's acting weird...well, weirder than usual."

"Oh he gets like that, usually when things are getting a bit crazy for him." Twilight waved a hoof about, "He seems prone to silly when in situations so we're all used to it by now."

Lyra gave another glance at Ryan and shrugged, "Well, if you say so...maybe it's a human thing."

'No, it's just a Ryan thing.'

"Oh, well okay Dark...if you say so."

"Ice ice baby, come on...." Ryan began singing as they pulled him back to the bank, "Sheesh...well that went well."

"Ah shucks, yer just not used to having to balance on such thin points is all Apple Ryder. You'll get it in no time once ya try some more." AppleJack gave him a hand sitting up, "Now then, how's about we go get something to warm up with before we continue on?"

After a quick pick-me-up of hot cocoa—which Apps completely gave Ryan a hard time over because it wasn't cider much to everypony's amusement—he found himself following behind his mares as they continued on a little shopping spree of sorts. And he, being their strong and ever helpful stallion, was tasked with carrying the multitude of boxes they were getting.

"Uhm...not that this isn't fun, shopping with you and all but..." Ryan glanced up and down at the packages he was carrying, "Don't y'all think ya might be buying too much?"

"It's a vacation Rys!" Rainbow Dash flapped next to him and grinned, "You can splurge a little, it's not like we come to Manehatten all that often anyway. Besides, smart guy, if it's too much to hold in those strong hands of yours, why don't you just use your magic?"

'...she does have a point.'

"Darkness....." Ryan shook his head, "Mostly to keep a low profile, but if you guys get anything else Ah might have to forget that idea."

"Oh, w-well I guess we don't have to go to that one store then."

Ryan shifted sideways so he could look at Fluttershy, "What store?"

"Oh, the one that has the really nice outfits...that we were going to try on for you." Fluttershy explained before putting on the most adorable smirk ever, "But, I guess if you're getting tired..."

'Hold the Pone! Now he never said that.'

"While usually he doesn't do such, in this case this man does speak for me." Ryan slowly grinned, "A-ah suppose if y'all wanna go to one more store, Ah can hang in there. Ah mean, Ah get to hang out with mah ladies so it's not like Ah'm not enjoying mahself too. Haha."

Just outside of Ryan's eyesight, AppleJack and Rainbow Dash winked at Fluttershy before laughing softly as they carried on.

'...ya know, somehow I think we got tricked there.'

"Hmmm? Maybe, but it doesn't hurt to let them win every so often, does it?" Ryan laughed knowingly, "Besides, we win too right?"

'Well, yes...just don't blame me when ya pass out because all the blood rushed to your head partner.'

"...ya know, Ah swear yer setting me up for a really bad joke there...but Ah'm not taking the bait."

And with that they continued on without much of a problem; suffice to say the little show they gave Ryan left him a bit dazed as he carried on with an even larger amount of boxes. Though he somehow still managed to do it all without using his magic, it was all for naught as suddenly somepony crashed into him before yelling loudly, "You should watch where you're going! Do you know who I am?!"

"...Trixie?"

"That's the Great and Powerful Tri—" And that's when she spun around to see none other than Twilight standing there looking quiet perplexed, "...Twilight Sparkle!? Of all the ponies to run into! And your little group of friends as well."

"Oh great, it's the illusionist phony again."

"How dare you say such a thing, you rainbow-haired brat!"

"Now, now, we ain't lookin' fer a fight. Just apologize fer bumping into Apple Ryder there and let's move on." AppleJack narrowed her eyes, "We ain't lookin' to bear ya any ill will Trixie...but Ah don't take kindly to ya doin that to our boyfriend and then actin' as if he was the one at fault."

"Boyfriend? Wait, what do you mean by our?"

At that Ryan groaned, finally pushing the boxes off of him so he could stand up, "Sheesh...who's the one in such a hurry? Ah know it's the big city but come on..."

"...wh-wh-what are you?!"

"Hi to you too blue pony." Ryan sighed, "The name is Ryan....and Ah'm a human."

"A...human? What a strange word....and an even stranger creature you are. More like an overgrown ape if you ask me. And all that clothing...how bizarre."

"Hey!"

'That's just rude!'

"What what? Where was that voice from?" Trixie sighed before frowning, "You all are causing me such grief here! To think the Great and Powerful Trixie came to the city to get away from ponies like you!"

"...as I recall, despite running in terror at the time, you were the one that was causing trouble." Lyra shook her head, "We don't want any trouble. Just move on, Trixie, and try to have a good day, okay?"

"Well spoken, Lyra." Twilight nodded before walking over to Trixie, "Unless you wish to join us and catch up. It's been quite some time since we last saw each other...I had kind of hoped you might have gotten a bit friendlier after everything."

"Twilight Sparkle...." Trixie closed her eyes in thought before shaking her head, "No...even if I entertained such an idea, being around you all is not my idea of fun...especially since all it does is remind me of that day. That and for some reason the sight of"—she motioned at Ryan—"just irritates me though I know not why. Besides, the Great and Powerful Trixie has much better things to worry about...now then, seeing as you rudely distracted me from my plans!"

And without even so much as a goodbye, the Somewhat Annoying but Still Likeable For Some Reason Trixie ran off in a huff leaving them to just stand there a bit stunned. Ryan was the first to shake it off before asking one simple question, "Who the hay was that?"

After collecting up their purchases—and foregoing any semblance of a cover and just using magic because Ryan just wanted to get them back in one piece at this point—the group of ponies and their human returned to the hotel...though not in time to avoid a sudden, chilly rainstorm. Making a mad dash the last distance, they got into the lobby only somewhat soaked.

"Somewhat soaked he says. He's totally underselling it, right Rysy-Wysy?"

"Ah'll say." Ryan shook his hair a bit, "Sheesh..."

Lyra seemed puzzled as she leaned over to whisper to Twilight, "So...what are those two talking about? Who is this "he"?"

"...the less you ask questions about some of the things they talk about, Lyra, the better your mental health will be." Twilight sighed as they boarded the elevator and headed up, "At this point we just kick back, let them have their fun, and then wait for snuggle time."

"R-really?" Lyra was a bit surprised by that response as she followed them into the room.

"Well, it's not always snuggle time but Twi certainly did pick the best option of the bunch."

"Apps, what are you two talking about?" Ryan smirked as he glanced at the three mares, "Anyway, everypony get dried off and stuff. What with the cold and wet the last thing we need is for one of us to get sick."

"Okay!"

"Now then who's first—AH!" Ryan gasped as he was practically manhandled by AppleJack and the others before being tossed into the bathroom, "What in the hay was that about?!"

Giving a shrug when he got no response he just figured they wanted to make sure he didn't get sick again and so hopped in the shower...and then heard more odd things happening.

"What are you...why are you pushing...HEY!"

With soap in his hair—and now his eyes due to him not paying attention—Ryan tried to rinse his eyes out before reaching for a towel, "What are you gals doing out there to Lyra? Hmmm..."

Ryan felt like he had a towel but it was...softer?

"Hmmm...Ah've heard of plush towels but this seems a bit crazy." And yet he continued to feel it, rather oblivious to one simple fact.

"...that's not a towel, Ryan. That's my tail."

Finally blinking his eyes enough to see, he got a blurry faceful of a certain mint pony that was turning many shades of red.

"Ack! Lyra! What are you..."

"Uhm...apparently as the newest member, I was elected to get some private time with you." Lyra laughed nervously, "I didn't exactly have a choice so...they just shoved me in and said "Enjoy!". Yeah...hahaha. Ha...I'm so nervous. Why am I nervous?"

Ryan smirked, finding her actions just so adorable, "It's because ya like me."

"Stop teasing me!" She shook her head back and forth, "...I am happy they're treating me as a member of the group though. I was sort of worried it would be awkward and all but...it's actually been pretty fun so far."

Seeing that smile on her face warmed his heart and he would've given her a kiss to calm her mind, but as he closed in to do such she sneezed as he just stood there in shock from it.

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry."

"Hahahahahaha. That's some odd timing ya got there Heartsy. But come on, get in here before ya catch cold. It's nice and hot!"

'I'll say!'

"Heh." Lyra smirked before joining Ryan, "I wouldn't doubt that Darkness."

After getting cleaned up, having a late dinner of some pizza, and then somehow working out a sleeping arrangement that everypony was happy with, the group found themselves sleeping peacefully enough despite eagerly awaiting what plans Ryan had in store for them once the following day had rolled around.

Giving a yawn, said human slowly awoke and smiled seeing the mares he cared for still happily snoozing about...well, what he could see anyway as he was completely surrounded by them. Realizing his first surprise was soon to arrive judging by the time on the clock he could barely see, he pulled off a little magic of his own to slip out of bed and get dressed in preparation. Hearing a slight knock at the door, he opened to see his delivery right on time.

"Shhh, they're still sleepin' so quietly if you would."

Giving a nod, the two ponies brought in a number of bouquets of flowers all arranged in beautiful designs and set them on the table before leaving as quietly as they came. Still hearing snores coming from the bedroom, Ryan set about making a heartfelt breakfast for his gals. Just as he was about done he heard murmuring before seven ponies stumbled in looking a little sleepy-eyed; this of course changed when they immediately noticed the floral arrangements before locking eyes with Ryan.

"Oh God!" He gasped before getting glomped by all of them, "Ladies! Please! The pancakes will burn!"

Twilight and Lyra looked at each other before moving the pan off the stove, "Now they won't!"

"...well then, continue as you were. Hahaha, fitting though this on today of all days, seeing as the floor and Ah tend to get rather intimate as it is."

"...darling, we're trying to have a romantic moment with you. So while I do always find your goofy self charming, perhaps just once you can let the jokes sit in your mind till later?"

"Yes m'lady."

"Good." And with that he happily accepted their appreciation.

'Ladies, ladies...so many kisses...and that's just from flowers and breakfast. Heh, I can only imagine how yer gonna act once ya see what else he's got cooked up.'

"Darky-Warky?"

'Yes, Pinkie?'

"Be quiet and take the kisses too, okie-dokie-lokie?"

'Yes, Pinkie.'

After breakfast—and a few other moments as well—Ryan was busy getting a nice outfit on while his ladies were doing the same. Making sure he looked his sharpest for them, he winked at his reflection, seemed a bit puzzled when it winked back, decided to not ask questions, and then headed into the living room to wait for the others.

'So you seem pretty prepared for this.'

"If Ah do that's surprising; Ah haven't exactly been on many dates before Ah got here and, well, this is only the second time Ah've actually been able to spend Valentine's Day with someone Ah'm in a relationship with."

'...the second time?'

"Yeah, the first....you know about that, seeing as you've been pokin' about mah memories here and there." Ryan frowned slightly, "Even then, with all mah plannin', it was a...not disaster mind ya but let's just say mah efforts were not appreciated. But! Ah have a feelin' this will be different seeing as the gals seemed to really be enjoying themselves already."

'Well, I can honestly say the looks they're giving you speak that. And—'

"Dark? Dark why did you—" Ryan needed but look up to see just why Dark had cut himself off, as AppleJack and the others were standing there in the most amazing dresses and looking just simply fantastic, "Wow."

"Hahaha, do you like darling? It's just something I've been working on for us ever since you mentioned your little plans for this getaway." Rarity bounced her hair before winking at him, "And even though it was a bit tight for me, I still managed to make one for Ms. Heartstrings as well."

Lyra cantered over to Ryan before batting her eyelashes at him, "So what do you think? Do I look pretty Ry?"

"Heh, y'all always look pretty to me...but in them dresses." Ryan whistled, "Goodness me...you've really outdone yerself again ladies."

"Aw, the big guy's blushing like crazy." Rainbow Dash laughed softly, "It's nice to see somepony else feeling the heat for a change."

Ryan simply smirked and ran a hand through her wings, "Oh Ah'll make ya feel the heat if'n ya want Dashie. Ah have no qualms about that."

"Gah!" Rainbow Dash's cheeks flushed as her wings pomfed out, "...that's so not fair!"

"All is fair in love, is it not?" Twilight teased, "Besides, you brought it on yourself by teasing our human. You know that when he's teased he gets the teaser back tenfold."

"Quite right mah bookworm." Ryan winked before striking a pose, "Now then...shall we hit the town and begin our most wonderful day together?"

Seeing as their destination was not that far, the group enjoyed a pleasant walk in the very clear weather as they made their way towards the theater.

"Getting tickets for 'The Mare and the Meadows'...how did you know we'd want to see that?"

Ryan shrugged before motioning at Lyra, "Well, ta be honest, Heartsy helped me plan things with y'all since she was someone Ah could confide in to help me out. Haha, of course Ah never figured she'd end up a part of them plans but hey, Ah'm all for surprises if they're nice like that."

"Oh this is just marevlous darling. A wonderful Bridleway play and on Hearts and Hooves Day as well...it's so romantic!" Rarity sighed before leaning against Ryan, "You sneaky man you, planning all these things behind our backs."

"...don't think Ah didn't notice that pun. Heh and, well, Ah gotta have some surprises for y'all." Ryan laughed softly before glancing at Lyra, "Lyra...you okay hon? Yer lookin' a bit out of it."

"Uhm, yeah. I'm okay. It's probably just a little warm in this dress."

"Are you sure?"

Lyra went to respond before sneezing, "Goodness...but yes I'm okay. I'm probably just nervous and excited because I get to spend today with all of you."

"Well, if'n that's all it is." Ryan, though still worried, decided to let things be as they arrived at the theater, "Okay...tickets!"

Pulling out said tickets, Ryan offered them to the ticket taker who glanced at him curiously for a few moments before looking over the gals, looking back at him, and smirking.

"Enjoy the show!"

"Oh Ah know we will so thank ya." AppleJack grinned as they walked in...though she noticed Lyra seemed to be dragging behind, "Lyra? Are ya sure yer alright? Yer looking flushed or somethin'..."

Lyra laughed softly, "Oh you guys, I'm fine. I told you it's just a little warm in this dress."

"B-but you're sweating a bit for that. A-and you look uneasy..."

"Fluttershy has a point." Twilight stopped in her tracks before looking over her carefully, "If you don't feel well, you don't have to play tough."

"I'm not!" Lyra huffed, though she felt a bit winded at doing such, "It's fine, I'm probably just tired...and...stuff."

Ryan and the others tried not to worry about how oddly Lyra was acting as they sat down and awaited the start of the play. About halfway into the first act of the play Lyra had leaned against Ryan as she tried to focus on the play...but she could tell that perhaps something was a bit off as her eyelids became heavy and she felt as if in a daze. It wasn't until Ryan was gently shaking her that she discovered she'd fallen asleep and missed the whole first act. With intermission on, Ryan put a hand to her forehead and wasn't sure what to make of things, "Ya feel warm...Lyra, be honest with us, with me. Do you feel sick?"

"I...I feel..."

"Darling, if you feel a bit off it's okay. We don't want you to push yourself if you're not feeling a hundred percent."

"Rares is right, sugarcube. Ah know all of us would hate it if ya did something like that just so we could continue with our plans for today."

Lyra huffed and shook her head, "I told you...I'm...just...fine..."

Ryan jumped as he went to catch her swaggering self before sighing, "No you aren't. I'm taking you back to the hotel."

"What? No! The plans! Today...it was supposed to be perfect!"

Ignoring her ranting, Ryan picked her up before turning to the others in his herd, "Ladies, I've got things handled so if you wish to continue enjoying your play I would like you to stay."

"But...Rysy-Wysy...without you it's not as special."

"Heh, Ah know Pinks but y'all are having fun and Ah don't mind. Ah wanna make sure Heartsy is okay after all." Ryan pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Rarity, "Here. Ah was gonna take us to this restaurant afterwards since Ah heard it was quite popular. There's a reservation for us so please."

"Oh, now darling...we couldn't." Rarity looked at the paper and gasped, "The...The Gilded Griffon?! How did..."

Ryan simply smirked, "Our usual contacts of the sun and moon...apparently they suggested it as the griffon that owns it is rather well known for being a culinary master. Uhm...Gis? Goose? No...uh...oh! Gustave Le Grand."

"Oh hey! That was the guy with the tasty éclairs!"

Ryan eyed Pinkie curiously, "You've met him then Ah take it?"

"Yep! It was pretty fun and tasty on the Friendship Express that day."

"Right." Ryan blinked before noting Lyra had passed out and was sleeping, "So yes! I want you six to enjoy yourselves, enjoy dinner at the nice place, and that is that."

"B-but....Rys."

"No buts Dashie." Ryan handed a bag to Twilight, "Here T-Sparks, that should be plenty to cover whatever y'all want there...assuming Lunes and Cellie were correct in what they told me. Now then...Ah have what appears to be a sick pony that needs some rest and care."

With that being said, Ryan kissed them each before waving goodbye and heading back to the hotel, "Come on Lyra...let's see if we can't make you a bit more comfortable."

"Ugh....Ryan...." Lyra grumbled in her sleep, "Sorry....ruin..."

"Heh, poor girl is being too hard on herself. Things happen, and that's all there is to it."

After getting back to the hotel and checking her temperature again, he could see she wasn't as bad as he'd thought but she still had some kind of bug hitting her.

"Probably from being caught in that freezing rain yesterday...heh, go figure Ah don't get sick from it but she does." Ryan shrugged, heading to leave before he felt a tug on his sleeve, "Heartsy?"

"Ryan...I feel awful. I'm sorry."

"Oh for what? You didn't wanna get sick."

"I know but...can't really enjoy today if we're not all together."

"Heh, Ah'll share something with ya Heartsy." Ryan sat down on the bed and gently ran his hand through her mane, "As off-plan as things may have gone today, it's still the best Valentine's Day Ah've ever had."

"Really?" Lyra sighed as she leaned into his caress, "Well...as long as you're happy."

"Ah am. Now...you need more rest but is there anything Ah can get ya?"

Lyra thought for a second before nodding, "Some juice. Orange or apple, it doesn't matter."

"Heh, how about both combined?"

"...if AppleJack heard you say that she'd be having words with you right about now."

Ryan chuckled at her teasing, "You silly goober...Ah'll be right back with some."

After getting her some juice and making sure she was comfy, he kissed her on the forehead before closing the blinds so that she could rest peacefully in the dark. With that done he headed back into the living room and began reading a book that Twilight had suggested he give a look. As he began reading it, he found it curious but par for the course that she would suggest such a subject as apparently she felt that the more he knew about the times when situations like theirs were needed/common it would help him handle things a bit better.

'Not sure how you could handle things any better than you have.'

Ryan rolled his eyes, surprised that two hours had flown by just like that, "Ah was wondering when ya might be making a comment there partner. You've been pretty quiet."

'Oh, just lost in my own memories is all. I imagine the girls are done with the play and heading towards the restaurant right about now.'

Glancing at the clock Ryan gave a nod before getting up to go check on Lyra. Seeing that she was still sleeping peacefully, he was glad to see she no longer was sweating. Giving her another kiss he returned to his book and wiled the time away until he heard a knock at the door.

"Room Service!"

Setting the book back down he frowned before standing up to answer the door, "Room Service? But Ah don't even remember ordering anything...Ah think you guys have the wr—"

Opening the door he could see all the girls there, being led in by...Vinyl and Octavia?!

"What...what are y'all doing here? Ya should be at the restaurant. And Vinyl? Tavi? What brings you here?"

Ryan gasped as he was pushed back before they walked in carrying a few items that looked like fancy to-go boxes.

"Ugh, must you use that nickname as well?" Octavia sighed before smirking, "While Vinyl and I were out celebrating Hearts and Hooves Day we happend to bump into your herd at The Gilded Griffon."

"Yeah man, but you weren't with them and it seemed weird. They seemed a bit unhappy being there too and that griffon dude could totally tell. Sooooo...."

"So darling, after talking to that dear gentleman he was quite touched by your concern for Lyra and so was more than happy to "cater" as it were." Rarity set the boxes on the table, "That way, we could all still spend Hearts and Hooves Day together while having our fancy meal."

"As for us, Vinyl thought it would be a nice idea to join you." Octavia rolled her eyes before nuzzling Vinyl, "But as infuriating as this mare can be, I just can't find myself saying no to her all that often."

"Aw Tavi, I love you too man!"

'Wait...oh ho...so you two are a couple. That's just so cute. I love it! Star-crossed lovers from opposite music spectrums: The Wubs and The Cellos."

Octavia face-hoofed, "Oh Dark...now I remember why I limit my time around you."

Vinyl, sensing her marefriend was a bit distraught, gave her a kiss to settle her nerves, "Relax, Tavi. He's just teasing ya because he's happy for us."

"...I suppose I can humor him just this once."

'Aw, thanks Tavi.'

"...that nickname."

"Ugh...what's with all the noise?" Lyra stumbled out of the bedroom to see all of them there, "Huh? Am I having some kind of hallucination from the cold? You should be at the restaurant and....is that DJ PON3 and Octavia? Now I know I'm hallucinating."

Ryan laughed softly before walking over and helping her to the couch, "No, yer not halluciantin' Heartsy. Our dear musical friends saw the rest of our herd and, after a few very kind actions by the great Gustave, we are to still have our romantic dinner together after all."

"Ain't that the truth! That fancy pants even worked up a special soup he said should help ya be back on yer hooves by tomorrow morning!"

"Wow...that...that's amazing." Lyra looked as if she could cry, "I'm touched that you would do all you could to keep us together."

"Hahaha, that's Ryan's herd for you!" Vinyl laughed heartily, "All those big hearts...it's no wonder the big guy is always grinning when we see him."

"Hey! I'm not always grinning..."

'That's true! He's also blushing and fumbling over words and getting flustered and being adorably dorky and....'

"...Dark...stop...please. You've done enough damage."

"Pardon me for asking though, but when exactly did Miss Heartstrings fall for your...oh, what did Darkness call it?" Octavia tapped her chin before smirking, "Oh yes...that "sexy charm" and become one of yours as well?"

"Haha, well...it's a curious series of events dating back to the wedding but..." Ryan bent down to smooch Lyra, "Things seem to be working out okay...save for her getting sick."

"Ry...ya shouldn't kiss me." Lyra moaned softly as she shook her head, "I'm all sick and I don't want you catching it."

"Oh Ah'll be fine. Besides..." He winked at his mares, "If'n Ah do get sick, Ah've got just the loveliest bunch of ladies to nurse me back to health."

'Now that's an idea I can get behind.'

Octavia rolled her eyes before grinning, "Though I'm quite certain that's not the only thing you'd wish to get behind, eh Darkness?"

"Damn, girl!" Vinyl began rolling about in laughter, "That is some unexpected bite from you, Tavi. And no retort either? You did what most can't....you made Darkness Shade speechless."

"While this is all fun and stuff and just full of laughs we should eat before it gets cold!" Pinkie gasped, "Unless...it already is! Oh no! The deliciousness!"

"...uhm, Pinkie? We have it sealed by magic ya know? It's not gonna get cold till we let it free."

"Oh...I knew that, Twilight!"

"Then why did you?"

"Because with everyone else being all excited and noisy, I just wanted to join in too." Pinkie suddenly gasped...again, "Oh, but we should be a bit quieter with Lyra-Wyra being all sicky-sick. So shhhh...indoor voices everypony."

'Let this be a red-letter day in Equestrian history: Pinkamena Diane Pie has told somepony else that they need to be more quiet.'

"And there's the witty comment from Dark! Good, he's still with us. Now then everypony, let's eat! Woooo!"

As the group enjoyed their meal before settling into a loving snuggle session the likes of which not many have seen—let alone been part of—another couple was currently on a train barreling towards their destination. As the train neared its arrival point, the driving snow soon began to intensify before the station came into view.

"Heh, fresh from our honeymoon and right into the thick of world matters. I guess this means my life is going to be a little more exciting now that I'm royalty. What a way to spend Hearts and Hooves Day."

"Haha, having some regrets my love?"

Hefting up their saddlebags, the first pony lifted up his goggles to wink at the second, "Cadance my dear, anything involving us will never be a regret. But I have to wonder..."

Cadance nodded before looking forward at the seemingly endless snowscape, "Whether or not the reports from my aunts are true?"

"Yes." Seeing that their traveling party was finally prepared, Shining gave a nod before they headed out into the frozen fields, "To think a city that disappeared a thousand years ago has finally reappeared. Do you think we'll find anything or anypony there?"

"Well, we don't know exactly what this curse was that he used before he himself was sealed away." Cadance shivered a bit as they ran, "I certainly hope the city is truly here but I have this nagging feeling that worries me."

Shining glanced at his wife before frowning, "You're thinking what I'm probably thinking aren't you? That if the Crystal Kingdom is truly back...then does that also mean he is back?"

"I can only hope that whatever magic my aunts used to stop him has not weakened after all this time. We'll have our hoofs full as it is helping the kingdom get back in order. Having to protect it from someone as evil as he was as well..."

"Hey. No need to worry; if things get dicey enough we can always call for backup." Shining laughed softly, "I'm pretty sure there's a certain few ponies—and a human—that would be more than eager to lend a hand. Speaking of, I do wonder how Ryan is getting along with his herd on today of all days. He better be treating all of them right."

Cadance wore a knowing smile as she laughed softly, "Oh trust me, he's certainly having no trouble working that love magic of his."

Shining smirked at that before laughing himself, "Is that so? Haha, well then, good for them. They do deserve some time to relax now and then...especially after all that nasty business last month. So then, seeing as we haven't found it yet perhaps we should—"

"Your majesties! Come quickly! We've discovered something you'll want to see just ahead of that ice hill!"

Glancing at each other and then back to the guard, the two of them nodded before running behind him. As they cleared the hill they were stunned as they saw it shining like a beacon of hope in this wintery wasteland.

"The Crystal Kingdom. It has returned at last..."

Author's Note

Soooooo, to those that had to wait the...*looks at watch* Two and a half months? Huh...man time gets away from ya if'n yer not careful, doesn't it? Hahaha.
Anyway, to those that have been waiting for this for like...forever here it is! No more cliffhanger to be all evil on ya and such.:trollestia:
Ah hope it was worth the wait, seeing as Ah pretty much wrote whenever Ah got a spare moment to. Ah normally don't like typing like that since sometimes it can mess the flow but Ah enjoy the chapter so here's hoping y'all do too!
At the very least, we hope the more light-hearted mood and Ryan's attempts at being such a smooth lady's man is entertaining to some degree. Haha.

And Happy Hearts and Hooves Day to you all as well! :heart: While Ah might not have somepony special to spend it with (why must Ah be forever apone? :ajsleepy:), if'n ya do Ah hope all yer plans go off without a hitch and it turns out perfect. :yay:

So then, with that being said...the big number 20 is next and Ah'm pretty sure y'all can guess at least one thing that'll go down in it. Right? :rainbowwild:

20th Harvest

Ryan groaned and grumbled, his head groggy as he slowly came to the next morning only to find his body was pretty well pinned on the bed. Judging by the softness he felt he was apparent this was because of his herd and so he just lay there trying to remember exactly what all happened last night.

'Hmmm...things seem a bit of a blur to be honest.'

'Same for you too, huh?'

'Yeah.' Ryan sighed softly, 'I remember eating dinner and then Rarity brought out that bottle of wine Gustav sent from his private label and somehow she got me to have a glass and then we all did and we got the giggles.'

'Oh yeah. That was pretty funny seeing Tavi cracking up like that.'

Ryan laughed softly, even more so when he felt movement as the ponies shifted because of it, 'Yeah...and then we had...what did we do after that? I feel like it was important...like it caused off a chain of events that got more and more ridiculous. What was it...I don't even remember when Vinyl and Tavi left...'

Feeling a muzzle nudge his hand he figured it didn't matter as he reached up and began scratching whomever's ears these were. He gave a short laugh as he felt a tail swish over his face in response and deduced that said pony was quite pleased...until he heard her speak.

"Oh yeah, scratch out those beats Vinyl..."

Ryan immediately halted his scratching before opening his eyes and seeing grey fur as well as a certain cutie mark staring him in the face.

'...I think it's safe to say Vinyl and Tavi did not leave last night.'

"Ya think..." Ryan began to panic slightly, "Well, as the notes told the musician, we're in Treble now!"

"Mmmm, why'd you stop?" Octavia whined before shifting a bit, "...wait...this isn't our hotel room."

Twisting about Octavia glanced about the room before meeting eyes with Ryan as the two just stared at one another in the room that was dimly lit by the rising sunlight.

"Oh no...Ah remember now. The thing that escalated it all..."

Octavia sighed before shaking her head, "...so that whole escapade involving Spin the Bottle did happen. Oh, please tell me all we did was snuggle with everyone after the...intense jealous fueled kissing spree?"

'Well, seeing as the others are still super passed out, allow me to fill you in on what happened since I seem to be the only one that remembers clearly.'

As Dark began, Ryan's memories started to flood back as he remembered the fateful moment after they had all finished dinner that Dashie suggested Spin the Bottle. Octavia was a bit against it, obviously, but enough pestering by Vinyl got her to agree and eventually everypony there was behind the idea. It started out innocently enough, with Ryan getting the first go being the human and all, as he spun and landed on AppleJack. Then it was Pinkie's turn and she seemed a bit too happy to land on Twilight before tackling her to the ground. Dark had found the whole thing hilarious, particularly how red she had turned. And so on and so forth it went, things working out smooth enough until it came to Octavia's turn...and as fate would have it she landed on Ryan. Both of them were a bit flustered but "rules were rules" as Twilight drunkenly quipped so the two quickly kissed before backing off and laughing nervously. Of course, Vinyl wasn't laughing and glared at this, "...nopony kisses her but me you hussy! See how you like it!"

Before Ryan could even utter a "what?" she grabbed AppleJack and kissed her before smirking devilishly; of course, while Ryan was stunned Dark was more than able to make a comment, 'That was hot!'

At this point both in Dark's retelling, the two of them were well aware what happened after that as Octavia tried to bury her head in the sheets, "Oh it's all coming back now...after that it was a kiss free-for-all and then it got really heated and....I guess somehow all of us ended up in the bedroom before passing out."

'Of that I can confirm. Though there was much kissing, you all were a bit tipsy and succumbed to the warmth of being around each other pretty quickly. All in all it was amusing as hell watching Ryan's reactions as y'all went at it.' Dark chuckled softly, 'And hot too, did I mention it was hot?'

"...yes." Ryan groaned, "That would explain why I taste the remnants of apples, grapes, and pony fur..."

"...fur?"

'Heh, oh Tavi, I never said the kissing was just on the mouth.'

Further mortified at the situation Vinyl had dragged her into, Octavia sighed before rolling over...and landing on top of Vinyl.

"Ugh...Tavi...not so rough. I know it was Hearts and Hooves Day but come on, ya gotta treat a lady as delicate as me more carefully..."

Octavia rolled her eyes before nudging her again, "Wake up Vinyl, you've gotten us into another situation that must be kept secret."

"Hmmm?" Vinyl opened her eyes, "Hey there sexy...wait...this isn't our hotel room."

"Yeah, we've been through that." Ryan laughed as they made eye-contact, "So...perhaps we should wake everypony else up. As pleasant as it is being surrounded by such beauty, I am getting a bit too warm...and I really need to use the bathroom."

After Octavia practically shoved Vinyl off the bed before moving herself, Ryan had only to carefully slip out of Lyra's grasp before landing none too gracefully on the floor. Steadying himself so he could walk despite his head hurting he finally made it to the bathroom to much relief.

"Of all the things that are similar in our worlds, thank God indoor plumbing is one of them!"

"I reckon Ah've heard that one before, sugah."

Ryan gasped as he looked over his shoulder to see Apps staring at him with the cheekiest grin ever, "A-Apps! How long have ya been standing there?"

"Hee, long enough Ry...besides, ya were taking too long. Yer not the only one that's gotta go ya know?"

"Guh...Ah'll grant ya that but...it's just a bit odd ya were just standing there while Ah was, ya know..."

AppleJack merely giggled at how flustered he was acting before brushing against him, "Ah don't know why yer getting so bent out of shape...we have showered together so it's not like Ah haven't seen yer goods before."

"....." Ryan's face was bright red at this point from the teasing as he coughed before bopping Apps on the nose, "Yer a brat..."

"Ah might be a brat...but yer the one all flustered over a simple thing like this Apple Ryder. Such a shy guy you are..."

'My my, she's certainly cheeky this morning, eh Ryan?'

"...shut up Dark. Ah can't help it if Ah'm just so delightfully in love with mah mares." Ryan smirked a bit before leaning down and nipping AppleJack's ear, "Although..."

"Eeep..." AppleJack squeaked, not expecting such an assault, "R-Ry-Ry..."

"Just remember this...." Ryan whispered softly, "Ah do love all of you, but Ah only get this flustered by you because you were first and in mah heart you'll always be best pone."

AppleJack's cheeks flushed bright red as her tail swished back and forth rapidly drawing quite a laugh from Ryan as he made his way out of the bathroom.

"Ah'm gonna go wake the others so we can start getting packed." Ryan looked about for his jeans before finding them and pulling them on...or trying to, as a certain unicorn was trying to take them for her own, "...T-Sparks..."

Twilight laughed softly before relinquishing her hold on them, "Sorry, sorry...I suppose I just feel playful this morning after such a relaxing night. Though it got a bit out of hoof in the end."

'I'll say!'

"...again, shut up Dark." Ryan rubbed his temples before shaking the others still sleeping awake and then shuffling into the kitchen for some breakfast, "It just doesn't make any sense..."

"And what's that big guy?" Rainbow yawned as she flapped over towards him, "Mmm...what's for breakfast anyway?"

"Just some simple oatmeal, I used all the eggs left yesterday for those pancakes." Ryan smiled before scratching her messy mane, "And what doesn't make sense is that despite falling asleep in the most relaxing place Ah can think of, I feel like Ah need another nap just to recover from that one. Haha."

"...I can sympathize." Octavia sighed before shaking her head, "But I do suppose this is what I signed up for when I began dating a DJ."

"Tavi baby, when you say that it makes me sound like some kind of delinquent troublemaker." Vinyl frowned, "...besides, you're the one that kissed Ryan to begin with."

"Because of a game you begged me to join in on!"

Vinyl smirked, "Well, yeah, but only because it was totally fun! Not as crazy as on Rainbow's birthday when we all had those Spectrum shots though."

'Well, I'm not sure anything could top that Pon3 for the simple fact that I do believe that night was the beginning of Ryan's journey down the harem route he has found himself on.'

Ryan, who was currently eating his oatmeal, set his spoon down before glancing up in an attempt to look at Dark, "...must you always say things in an attempt to instigate some response from me?"

'Well, yeah.' Dark laughed, 'Otherwise, what fun is there in life?'

After that, the morning went smooth enough with everypony getting packed up and Ryan's herd bidding farewell to Tavi and Vinyl as they bordered the Friendship Express back to Ponyville. Thankfully it was a quiet ride and Ryan was able to get the extra sleep he had needed as they traveled down the tracks without much issue. As it was he was surprised to see Luna hopping into his dream during such, but it became rather apparent just why she was there.

"I am sorry my Darkness, I feel completely awful to have forgotten to see you on such a day."

Ryan, sensing the two of them needed some alone time, laughed softly before heading off to another part of his dream leaving Dark and Luna alone in the moment.

"Heh, oh my sweet Woona, you know you shouldn't worry about such a thing. You are a Princess of Equestria after all...that makes yer life a bit busier than most." Dark grinned as he ran a hand through her starry mane.

Luna hummed softly at the attention before shaking her head, "This may be true, but even I should not forget to at least wish my beloved a happy Hearts and Hooves Day. Judging by the smile on his face, and the fact you're sleeping in the middle of the day, I can safely assume all went well on the little romantic get together that was planned."

"To the tee...more or less. It got a bit crazy like always, but everypone there seemed pretty happy." Dark sat down before patting his lap, smiling when Luna sat down and lay her head there, "So then, did you get my gift?"

Luna playfully nudged his stomach before smiling, "Yes. I'm not sure how you found someone that knew of them, but the Lunar Flowers were beautiful. And, of course, the heart-shaped treat was very nice as well...though sister seemed to enjoy hers a bit too much."

Dark laughed loudly at that one before scratching her ears, "Well, you know Tia. That's one mare that loves cake in any form. Ah'm glad to hear you enjoyed it though...I owe Ry quite a bit for helping out with that."

Luna smirked before scooting up and rolling around in his lap, her magic guiding his hand to her tummy. Dark, being quick on the uptake, began giving her tummy a rub much to her delight, "I swear Woona, you are such a silly pony sometimes."

"Perhaps...but you have no idea how good those hands feel." Luna smirked, sticking her tongue out at him, "Or maybe you do, given the fun we would get up to when I perfected my human form."

Dark coughed softly, his cheeks turning slightly red as he shook his head, "Like I said, a silly pony. So, not to break the nice mood but has anything happened since we were gone?"

Luna shook her head, "Not particularly. Just the boring old paperwork that comes with ruling a kingdom. There are some rumors, but I wouldn't wish to bother you or the others with them until we find out more solid information."

"Rumors, huh?" Dark nodded before leaning down and kissing her, "Well, just remember, if ya ever need our help, we'll come running."

"Ever my knight, even after all these years." Luna bit her bottom lip before staring into his eyes, "Darkness?"

"Yes my love?"

"...sorry."

"For wha—oh sweet Woona!" Dark gasped as she sprung forward and tackled him to the ground, "Oh dear...I know that look...well, seeing as Ryan did give us privacy I don't see any harm in taking advantage of it."

Kissing him hard, Luna giggled softly as she nuzzled his cheek, "Now that's the Darkness I know and love."

Meanwhile, back in the world of those not sleeping, the others regarded Ryan's sleeping form curiously as he seemed to be blushing and sweating slightly.

"I do hope he's not having another nightmare."

"I doubt it's that Rarity, he's smiling too much for it to be something like that." Twilight twitched her nose in thought, "Huh...I don't know what he could be dreaming."

"Oh Twi, isn't it obvious?" Pinkie giggled, "Our human might be dreaming, but that also means Dark is dreaming."

"And? Ah don't rightly understand what that has to do with this Pinkie."

"Oh it's simple AppleJack. It's like this: Ryan got to be with his ladies—i.e. us—but Dark didn't get to be with his lady." Pinkie pulled up some crude crayon drawings to illustrate, "And so that leaves those two rather sad, but since they're dreaming and not much is going on with the plot right now, I think it's safe to say that Darkness and Princess Luna are making the most of it. When Ry wakes up, just ask him!"

About an hour or so later, Ryan gave a mighty yawn before stretching and smiling...and then seeing quite a few ponies rather close to his face, "Uhm...yes? Can Ah help y'all?"

"So Ryan, did Dark and his lady have fun?"

"What?! What kind of question is that to ask just as Ah wake up, Pinks?"

"Why it's simple Rysy-Wysy, I just wanted to know if they got to have their special romantic time too since we got to be with you."

Laughing at how simple Pinkie made it all seem, he gave a short nod before smiling, "Needless to say ladies, he was certainly making up for the last thousand years that's fer sure."

And so a rather mundane time settled back in for everypony, though needless to say once Ryan had at last finalized the plans for their new home and announced it to his herd things got a bit heated...but mostly in a good way. While they were surprised, even more so that he managed to do all this behind their backs, he found they were rather touched at the attention to detail he'd put into making sure they'd all be happy. Before too long, they broke ground on it and work began on its construction. It was a calm, pleasant day about two weeks later that Ryan found himself hurrying to the Schoolhouse to deliver AppleBloom's lunch...that she forgot. Again. For the third time that week.

"Ah swear, if that little filly put as much energy into her Crusading as she did everything else then maybe she wouldn't be so forgetful." He huffed, before finally reaching the school to see the little fillies and colts already eating their lunch, "...save for one."

"Oh, Mr. Ryan!"

"Heh, Ah told ya Cheerilee, it's just Ryan." He laughed softly, "Lil sis—"

"Forgot her lunch again?" She giggled at his nodding, "She's certainly lucky to have a dependable big bro to save the day."

"Well, I suppose. Of course, it helps that with it being winter still the farm's got a bit less work needing done around it so free time's a bit higher." Ryan handed the lunch to the hungry looking AppleBloom, "Here ya go lil sis. Don't forget it again please."

"Ah won't big bro! This time I promise!" AppleBloom nodded, hugging his leg before joining her friends for lunch.

Running a hand through his hair, he smiled before bidding Cheerilee goodbye and heading back through town. Dark was being unusually quiet about things and that set off a few alarms in Ryan's head, "Dark...is everything alright?"

Shutting off the alarms, Dark did the mental equivalent of a shrug, '...I don't know why, but I have the strangest feeling we're being followed.'

"What? Really? Who would bother stalking us?" Ryan paused for a moment, "Okay, other than Lyra...but she's with our group now so that's not an issue."

'Look, all I know is I'm getting that odd feeling...though I don't sense any danger from whoever this is.'

"Hmmm...well, no worries then. As it is we need to go check on how construction is coming. They're doing surprisingly fast work on it, at least faster work than I expected based on how long it takes to build a house like that back...on...my....Earth."

'Ryan? What's wrong?' Dark was a bit puzzled as to why he slowed his talking, 'Did something happen?'

"...Ah...my eyes must be messin' with me. Ah swore Ah just saw the fluffiest, pinkest looking pony ever out of the corner of my eye." Ryan whirled quickly to glance in the direction he thought he saw said pony but only saw a snow fort, "Weird...it must just be the stress of getting the house built, that's all."

'...if you say so.'

However, as they walked on, a fluffy pony did indeed show itself from within the snowfort as it slowly wiggled through the narrow window before staring wide-eyed at Ryan and making a noise with its mouth. Said noise seemed to give it propulsion as it cut through the snow to follow him along to the farm.

"It's looking good guys! It'll be a home in no time at all." Ryan turned to the pony in charge of construction and gave him a thumbs-up, "Yer crew is top notch Wrecking Machine."

"Heh, we do take pride on our work. Besides, building something for you? I think the Princesses would be pretty upset if we screwed up something their precious human is paying us to build."

'Everytime with that joke Wrecking...it's not our fault Woona and Tia are sweet on us.'

Wrecking gave a laugh before nudging Ryan's shoulder, "Oh Dark, you know it's just fun to rile you guys up. Anyway, even though it's hard trying to get all the styles to mesh material wise I think we might just pull it off. Another month or so and you'll have plenty of room for yourself...and those lucky ladies."

"Gah!" Ryan rolled his eyes and tried not to blush, "Sheesh...haha. Well then I..."

Wrecking seemed confused as to why he cut his sentence short, "Ryan? It wasn't something I said was it because I'm just jok—"

"No, no." Ryan quickly cut him off, "It's not that. Dark noted we were being followed earlier and I think I just saw by who. If you'll excuse us."

Poking around the tree, the fluffy pony was confused to see Ryan no longer standing where he was. Nose scrunching up in thought, said pony blinked and suddenly saw herself standing face to face with Ryan...mainly because he picked her up to do such, "So then little one, you're the mysterious stalker are you?"

"Pbblt."

"Ah...did you just....blow a raspberry at me?"

"Pblt, pblt!"

"Huh...wait...how the hell do I even know what yer saying when that's all you're doing?"

"Pbbbbbblt."

"Really? Huh...Ah suppose that makes sense otherwise how would you communicate?"

Watching her move about, Ryan was surprised to see her produce a card for him to take; raising an eyebrow he read what was written on it, "Hmmm...'As you can see I write the language we talk perfectly well. Unfortunately, for reasons I have yet to deduce myself, I can only speak in the strange "raspberries" as you call them. Thankfully the magic of our world seems capable of translating for me so that I can still talk to those around me.' Huh...how did you even write this so quickly?"

"Pbbbblt, pblt!"

"Oh. Okay, that makes sense then to be prepared once you make contact with someone...or somepony. But...how did you know I'd call them raspberries?"

"Pb...lt."

Ryan stared at this strange, fluffy pony hard for a few moments, "You just...knew? Okay, but why come up to me? Wouldn't you prefer a pony be your first contact? And for that matter, where are you from anyway? Are you new to Ponyville?"

"Pbblt, pblt...pblt, pblt! Pblllllt."

"So...I reminded you of someone you knew? And so you hoped I'd be helpful like him...but hopefully less of a jerk." Ryan frowned, giving her a hug, "Sorry but I figured you needed one."

'But...you are but aren't new to Ponyville? That makes no sense.'

The fluffy pony's eyes widened before pawing at Ryan, "Pblt?"

'Oh, sorry. My name is Darkness Shade. I was a human once but now I'm just a soul inhabiting Ryan's body.'

"Pblt? Pblt."

'Heh, yeah, it's weird but at least I got to see my love again thanks to it.'

"Okay, well...while I still don't quite get what yer saying about being new but not, you clearly need help so Ah'm willing to assist. So, perhaps we should find you somewhere to stay first, how about—"

"HI!"

Ryan leapt straight up into the tree at Pinkie suddenly bursting forth from the other pony's fur, "Pinks! You damn near gave me a heart attack!"

"Oh! I'm sorry Rysy-Wysy, but I just wanted to make sure you got the invite to the awesome celebration I'm throwing!"

"Celebration? For what?" Ryan looked left and right before lifting the fluffy pony up and setting her on his head, "Ah mean, we already celebrated breaking ground on the house...and then celebrating the celebration of breaking ground."

"Oh you sweet, silly human of ours. Don't you know what this is?! It's only something super awesome that I'm so happy is happening!"

"And...what is that?"

"Come on Rysy! It's only the amazing Twentieth Chapter! And that's a pretty big deal too considering how big these things tend to be." Pinkie shoved a piece of paper in Ryan's face that the fluffy pony took in her mouth, "So you and Fluffle Puff better show up! See ya then!"

Quickly smooching Ryan in an exaggerated manner, Pinkie ran off back to town to no doubt give the others their invites...or prepare the party. Either one was probably a good guess.

"So, yer name's Fluffle Puff huh? Seems fitting." Ryan chuckled as he took the invite from her so she could speak, "...you seem confused."

"Pblt. Pbbbbblt. Pblt, pblt? Pbllllt?"

"As for what she was saying about the twentieth chapter, don't worry about it. Those that know know, and those that don't needn't worry. And for the second question, yes, she is one of my marefriends."

"....pblt?"

"Hahaha, it's a complicated story but Ah'll fill ya in if'n ya wish to hear it."

Hearing a very cute gasp from her and looking to see her excited face leaning over his head, he laughed before making his way towards town.

"Okay, so...where to start. How about just after I got here and first started dating Apps. So after about a month of trying to get settled..."

Pinkie was looking left and right, hopping about as those in her herd—and any pony that would listen and take an invite—were arriving for the party. And yet, the one person she was waiting for still wasn't there.

"Oh, he's always on time for anything! Including Pinkie Pie Parties!"

"Sugarcube, ya gotta just be patient. Ya said he was with that new fluffy pony, right?"

"Uh-huh! Fluffle Puff was getting to know him so she wouldn't feel so lonely in town since she just showed up!"

"Well then there you go, darling. Obviously our gentleman is helping her get adjusted so she doesn't feel so scared." Rarity smirked, "Such good qualities he has...hmmmm..."

"What's the matter, Rares?"

"Do you hear that odd sound, AppleJack?" Rarity looked around for the source of the sound and frowned, "It almost sounds like someone stepping on one of Pinkie's whoopie cushions."

Sure enough, straining their ears, they could hear a 'Pblt' sound getting louder and louder making them wonder if something was coming towards them.

"Oh girls, don't you understand her singing? It's beautiful...and about our human too! Look!" Pinkie pointed up in the air, "Up in the sky!"

"It's a bird!"

"It's a potato!"

"...Snips, potatoes don't fly."

"Mine do! Right, Snails?"

"Uh-huh, uh-huh!"

"You guys...." Twilight huffed, "It's clearly a pink, fluffy pony riding on our human's back...actually, it almost appears as if she's surfing on him. Pinkie...did you feed us those special cupcakes again when we weren't looking?"

"Oh Twilight, you know I only brings those out when I really wanna party!"

With that Ryan came in for a landing, Fluffle holding on tight as he touched down and let her hop off. Winking at his mares, he laughed softly, "Sorry to be tardy to the party but Ah was getting a bit of help from our new friend here creating a delicious treat!"

Pinkie looked at the dish Ryan was holding and her grinned widened immensely, "Oh my gosh! You made something sweet for us?! That's awesome! What d'ya make?!"

"Hahaha...oh nothing special." Ryan followed the others inside where the party was going, noting Pinkie hopping around him in circles, "It's something mah mom used to make: they call it an icebox cake."

"Ooooooooh~!"

"It's simple enough: layers of graham crackers, whipped cream, strawberries, and then the whole thing is covered in milk chocolate and then chilled for a few hours." Ryan heard Fluffle add a 'Pbblt', "Heh, yes, yes. Or, as Fluffle so pointed out, quick chilled with a burst of magic."

Pinkie, however, heard none of that after the word chocolate left Ryan's mouth as she stared wide-eyed at the odd looking cake before her.

"Okay, so...since Pinkie wouldn't give me a straight answer maybe you will Ryan." Rainbow Dash hovered over to him, "What exactly are we celebrating? All she keeps saying is "Twenty" this and "Twentieth" that. It's driving me crazy Rys!"

Ryan took one look at Dashie—and the rest of his herd that seemed equally confused—before shooting them a grin and laughing, "Hey, it's just Pinks being Pinks. Besides, a little self-referential humor never hurt anyone! Now let's PARTY!"

"....ugh. Too much party...milestones hurt."

Ryan groaned, rolling about while clutching his stomach, "And why is there pony butt in my face again?"

"...because that's where Fluffle decided to crash after her sugar high. Don't you remember?" Pinkie giggled, "She was 'Pblt'ing all over the place."

"Oh...okay..." Ryan grumbled, grabbing Fluffle and rolling over a bit to use her like a pillow, "Soft...."

"...is this perhaps a bad time?"

Ryan's eyes shot wide open at that voice before glancing at the doorway and seeing none other than, "Cellie! Lunes! Ah...uh...wait...I'm just having a sugar dream after crashing aren't I? Yer not really there...this isn't real."

"Not real, eh?" Celestia chuckled softly as she walked over to him, "Well then, you won't mind if I do this then."

"Huh?" Ryan gasped as Cellie smacked his butt, "The hell, Cellie?"

Celestia smirked, putting a hoof to her face, "Oh, I'm sorry...are you mad?"

'...okay, I think it's safe to say we're awake.'

"Clearly. Though my sister seems to still revel in pulling royal rank and testing any plot she pleases to." Luna sighed, "I assure you both we're here on important business, but we wanted to make sure you could come to Canterlot rather than just teleport you there without warning."

Patting Fluffle on the head and watching her little legs kick in response, Ryan smiled before standing up and stretching, "Okay...lemme grab the herd and then we can get going."

"While that would normally be the correct thinking, we only require you and Twilight Sparkle."

"...just me and T-Sparks?" Ryan narrowed his eyes, "Ladies...what's going on?"

"There is something we must discuss with you two alone." Luna lowered her head, "I can only hope that it is not as bad as we think."

At that Ryan was suddenly fully back to normal, "...something terrible is going to happen, isn't it?"

"I do not wish to think so, but we must be prepared just in case. You two are vital to what is happening, hence why we wish to speak to you two alone." Celesta seemed uneasy, something Dark picked up on right away.

'Tia...Woona...what are you hiding from us?'

"Please Darkness, go collect Twilight Sparkle and then we shall talk in Canterlot."

Figuring that was that, Ryan eventually found Twilight asleep on top of AppleJack and Rarity before nudging her and getting no response. Nudging her once more, he smirked mischievously before scooping her up, "Kidnapping you!"

"...mmm..." AppleJack mumbled in her sleep before rolling over at the lack of warmth her absence produced, "...apples..."

"Huh....what?!" Twilight gasped, terribly confused as Ryan picked her up and ran back to Celestia and Luna.

"Now!"

Giggling at her student's confused face, Celestia nodded and teleported the four of them away before anypony was the wiser.

In no time at all, the four of them were standing in the throne room where Twilight was still trying to figure out just what the heck was going on.

"Where....Princess?" Twilight yawned as Ryan sat her down, "What's going on?"

"Something of the utmost importance...and despite what my sister says I still think I should go as well."

"Luna, this is a test for Twilight and her friends alone."

Luna, seeming to begrudgingly accept her words, nodded before leaving Cellie alone with the two of them.

'Tia...what's going on?'

"The Crystal Empire has returned."

Twilight seemed puzzled and a bit frazzled at this information, "I've never heard of such a place in any books I've read."

'...I've heard of it.'

"Dark?"

'The Crystal Empire...in the frozen North. A kingdom of Crystal Ponies. A marvelous place. Heh, a real gem.'

"Yes, Darkness is correct." Celestia focused her magic on a pink crystal that she levitated over, "Observe."

Ryan and Twilight stepped back as her magic spread from the crystal to form a magical model of the Crystal Kingdom. Ryan had to admit that it looked pretty impressive, very flashy.

'Heh, oh yeah. Flashy as can be...but good ponies. But...I don't understand Tia. What do you mean by returned'?

Celestia lowered her head before sighing, "After...after we defeated Discord and lost you and all the humans in our world but before my sister became Nightmare Moon, he appeared and took over the Crystal Empire."

Dark suddenly felt very ill at such news, though he wasn't sure why, '...who is he, Tia? Who took it over?'

"The evil King Sombra corrupted it with his dark magic and enslaved all the Crystal Ponies there. It was only through the combined might of my sister and myself as well as the Elements that we were able to seal him away in the frozen cold." Celestia seemed to be holding back something as she looked off into the distance, "Unfortunately, with his last breath, he cursed the Empire to disappear."

'......'

"Dark? You okay, partner?"

'...yeah, Ryan, I'm okay. Anyway, continue Tia.'

Celestia nodded before casting magic on the model of the Crystal Empire, "Legends say that if the kingdom is filled with hope and love, Equestria will prosper. However..."

"However?" Ryan and Twilight asked, eyeing her oddly as she wielded some very evil looking magic.

"However...if hatred and fear take hold."

Ryan gasped as the model turned dark as night and strange, dark crystals formed around the two of them.

'....no.'

Celestia and Twilight both turned to Ryan at Dark's outburst, puzzled by what was bothering him.

'No. No....no, no. Tia...please...please tell me I'm wrong. Please, for the love of Solaris, tell me that what I'm about to say is completely, utterly, absolutely wrong!'

"Darkness? What has come over you?"

'Tia...please, please...' At this point Dark voice was watery sounding, almost as if he was trying to hold back some kind of emotional strain, 'You said this guy was King Sombra...that he took over the Crystal Kingdom...please, tell me you don't mean Sombrero.'

Celestia looked towards Dark before looking away and lowering her head.

'...no. Please Tia, not another friend lost....lost because I wasn't there...because I wasn't strong enough.'

"I am sorry my friend, but King Sombra is indeed Sombra the Refractor..."

'...no. I...Sombrero, why? What happened?'

"We were never sure...and it pained us to do so to yet another we once called friend, but for the world we loved we had to put him away." Celestia willed away the magical model before turning to Twilight, "That is why I am sending you and your friends there to help Princess Cadance and Shining Armor."

"My brother? And sister-in-law?" Twilight, though still worried about Dark's renewed sorrows, was surprised to hear those two names, "Are they...?"

"Yes. I sent them there when we heard return of the Empire...and to protect them in case he returned."

Ryan clenched his fist before steadying his nerves at such high stakes, if so only for Dark's sake, "Well then...what the hell are we waiting for? Let's gather the gals and go help them!"

"Heh, eager as always. You never cease to surprise me, my little human." Celestia smiled softly before turning to Twilight, "My dear student, there is one thing I must tell you though: You, and you alone, must ultimately be the one to protect the Empire."

"M-me? But...I don't know if I'm ready and..." Twilight began to hem and haw before she felt Ryan's hand running through her mane, "Hmmm?"

"Come on T-Sparks, yer not gonna get all crazy again like that are ya? If anypony can pass a test like this it's you. Now come on...we need to get our herd together and go save some ponies!"

One quick poof back to Ponyville—and a quick explanation and arrangements later—our intrepid group of heroes were on a train bound for the Frozen North with various thoughts running through their heads.

"So yer brother and his wife are trying to protect this place? Do we even know if this...Somber fellah is back?"

'It's Sombra....and call it a gut feeling, AppleJack, but I have a feeling my old friend will be there waiting for us.'

"Darky-Warky? You've been really quiet ever since that explanation you gave us before we rushed on to the train." Pinkie hopped on Ryan's lap before nuzzling his head, "Come on...I hate seeing my partner in silly ideas so bummed out."

'...I'm sorry Pink Pone....but...when will it stop? Why does it seem as if every time things level out, something else from the past shows up to show how much of a failure my death truly was?'

"Now Dark, I might not know as much about all of this as you do...but you can't beat yourself up over what happened." Lyra frowned slightly before offering her brightest smile, "Getting caught up in what if's will just drive you mad."

'...I know that Lyrs, but...Cordy...Woona...and now Sombrero. That's three lives of people close to me that may have not been so radically altered had I survived somehow.' Dark sighed softly, 'And then all my fellow humans that were lost too...'

"Dark...." Ryan shook his head, "He's gone into quiet mode now ladies...Ah don't know how he does it, but apparently there is a way he can find a part of mah mind where he's isolated when he needs to think. As much as I do worry about him, we need to focus on what might lay ahead while we can."

"Right!" Twilight nodded, "As far as we know, these ponies may not remember a thing about when they disappeared. The Princess stated the effects of Sombra's curse were completely unknown so we have to be prepared to deal with all possibilities."

"Oh to see such radiant ponies..." Rarity sighed wistfully before noting the others staring at her, "What? Oh please, do you really think I'm so absorbed in such things that I don't realize the trouble that could be brewing. I may be a fashionista, darlings, but I'm not stupid."

"I don't think anypony here was stating that, Rarity." Spike teased.

"Quite! Besides, there's always after we save the day to bask in their splendor."

At that the others just face-palmed/face-hoofed before settling in and readying themselves for the remainder of their journey. As the train finally pulled to a stop outside the station, it was clear the Frozen North earned its name as the wind howled and flung snow all about which made seeing any distance in front of them nearly impossible.

"And this is why Ah always have this jacket with me." Ryan smirked, striking a pose, "It's fashionable and deliciously warm!"

"As well as these perfectly matching scarves." Rarity giggled, "And you thought me silly packing all this. Not so silly now since it'll help keep you nice and toasty."

"...is it like this when I gloat?" Rainbow huffed, "Sheesh...if so, maybe I need to be reel myself in a bit more."

Ryan looked around as his herd made small talk and something just felt weird about this cold...especially the chills it was sending up and down his spine.

'Ryan?'

'...yeah Dark?'

'Are we prepared to try that which we thought of?'

'If it might help you out buddy, Ah'll give ya all Ah can offer.'

'...thank you. It's...it's nice to know you'll always have my back.'

'Heh, come on dude. You've saved mah ass plenty of times. Yer mah friend...pretty much like a brother at this point.'

'A brother huh? Heh. Thanks. Say...wasn't Shiny supposed to show up to meet us?'

"Ya know, that's a good point, where is Shiny at?"

"Guys! You made it!"

'Oh, there he is! Yo!'

"Heh, hello to you too Dark." Shining Armor chuckled, lifting up his goggles, "Thank goodness you got here in one piece but we need to hurry. It's not safe out here!"

"Not safe?" Twilight frowned, "What do you mean, brother?"

"What he means is ME!"

"What the buck?" Rainbow gasped, seeing a giant black cloud of smoke forming behind them, "What the hell is that thing?!"

"Trouble! Run everypony!"

With that everyone took off as fast as they could behind Shining....that is, everyone except for a certain human being that stared him down before uttering one thing, "Soul Cross!"

"Ryan!"

"Keep running; I'll help him buy you time but just keep going straight till you hit the empire!" Shining practically barked out before turning back in Ryan's direction, "What in dear Celestia's name could he be thinking?"

"...SOMBRERO!"

The great cloud of black smoke paused at this declaration before a face began to form from within it. Soon a red horn and glowing green eyes were visible along with a muzzle filled with pointed teeth. Dark gulped slightly as the eyes focused on him before he heard very jumbled words come forth, "....human...? How....? Wait? Sombrero? ...ugh...D-Darkness?"

"Yes! It is me my friend!"

"But...no...how....you're...you died...all humans gone because...Discord....so...no...no...NO! Not another trick!"

Dark growled and shook his head, "This is no trick, Sombrero! It is me! I know it seems hard to believe, but trust me!"

Sombra, however, was no longer willing to listen as he roared and shot a blast of magic towards Dark. A blast which he quickly dodged and frowned upon seeing the black crystals shooting up where it had hit, "...Sombrero."

"Ryan! Dark!" Shining shouted, blasting at Sombra before smirking, "Always getting into trouble, aren't you?"

"Hey!" Dark chuckled, "It's the human way! Although...that blast just seemed to piss him off more than anything. Might I suggest a tactical maneuver?"

"Oh yeah! Running away really fast is the best plan right now!" Shining nervously laughed as the two of them booked it, Sombra hot on their heels, "...damn, we're not gonna make it!"

Dark wasn't sure when, he just knew that one moment Shining was next to him, the next he wasn't. Skidding and turning in the snow covered ground, he could see Shining clashing with Sombra, "Shiny!"

"Huff, huff....we made it!" Lyra groaned, "Is it always like this with you guys? Wait...where's our human?"

"And my brother! Oh, I hope they didn't do something stupid again! I'll be so angry if they did!" Twilight groaned before hearing a noise, "Huh? What's that noise?"

"Oh God get out of OUR WAY!" Ryan shouted as he came in too hot, flying through the shield and crashing into the ground, "...ow...dammit Dark."

'Sorry! How was I supposed to know it was gonna wear off while in flight? Look on the bright side! We're not dead!'

"No, you couldn't have known..." Shining groaned before looking at his horn, covered in black crystals, "But...ugh! I can't use my magic. This is no good. Come on...we better go check on Cadance."

Having made their way to the castle smack-dab in the middle of the Empire, the group of ponies plus one human soon came upon Cadance sitting in the throne room. While she offered them as bright as smile as she could at seeing them okay, it was apparent to everypone there Cadance was very tired.

"...you've been keeping that shield up by yerself haven't you, Cadance?"

"Heh, yes Ryan; Sombra is strong, strong enough to defeat even Shining's strongest shields. And yet, by channeling the magic of love through the kingdom I've been able to keep him out. Though after four days straight....ugh."

"Cadance!"

"Haha, I'm okay my love." Cadance panted in Shining's arms, "I have to protect those here after all...but I'm glad that help has arrived."

"We'll do anything we can to help out." Twilight nodded before hearing loud thunder and jumping, "What was that?"

'...Sombrero...I assume that's his attempts to bust through, isn't it?'

Cadance slowly nodded, "That's why I haven't slept in so long...if I let the spell falter for even a split second he'll no doubt overtake us all."

"Well then what are we waitin' for? Shouldn't we be finding out something that'll help everypony out?"

"Ah'm with Apps, there's got to be some kind of information that'll help. I mean, it's not like all the ponies here are going to have some kind of collective amnesia or something right?"

"Well, I suppose if we're going to do anything, we should get a move on it." Spike glanced out the window to see the shield ripple again, "That Sombra guy seems pretty angry after whatever you three did to piss him off."

'...Sombra....'

"Dark, I..."

'No, it's okay Spike. While he looks like my old friend, he's certainly not acting like him at this point. Hmmm, we need to find some information out...as I recall there was an artifact of high importance to the Crystal Empire. It's been a long time so I don't recall what it is exactly, but odds are it must be hidden somewhere.'

"So then what are we waiting for?" Rainbow huffed before pounding her hooves together, "We need to hit the beat hard and go find some clues!"

"Right." With that Ryan watched his herd nod before heading off into the streets, "...Cadance, Shiny, just hold on a bit. We'll figure something out...and maybe in a way that'll work for everyone."

As Ryan ran off to join the others, Cadance seemed a bit confused, "...what was that supposed to mean?"

"Well how was Ah supposed to know that they apparently would have some kind of collective amnesia thing going on?" Ryan groaned, rolling his eyes at Rainbow Dash's words, "Ah was just making a joke...not like Ah expected it to be true! We should be glad they still remembered what humans were so we didn't have to deal with that nonsense..."

"Oh...oh dear...oh...oh my...don't fight you two. It's not anypony's fault." Fluttershy fidgeted, unsure how to handle the rising tension, "Maybe...maybe the other's had some luck?"

Giving a shrug and figuring there wasn't much else they could do at this point, the three of them headed back to the castle entrance and waited a few minutes before the others met up with them. Unfortunately, they had all had about the same luck—though as Ryan could tell from their reactions, and the fact Pinkie was dressed up as Fluttershy at first, the results may have been for entirely different reasons.

"Despite all that collective amnesia nonsense, Ah did find out something useful." AppleJack motioned to their right, "One pony did say something about the local library...so Ah figure if we're to find any information, that's a good a place to look as any."

"Okay girls! We've got to go check out this lead." Twilight looked at the shield as it shuddered briefly again, "...we're running out of time. I don't know how long my sister-in-law can keep this up."

As the other six ponies gave a nod and took off, Spike paused to see Ryan staring off into the distance...in fact, it was apparently where they'd crash-landed now that he thought about it.

"Hey big guy, what's wrong?"

Ryan shook himself from his thoughts before looking over his shoulder at Spike, "It's just this whole thing with Dark and Sombra...it doesn't seem right."

"You mean that he has to fight another friend?"

"Yeah." Ryan sighed before motioning towards the library, "Come on...we should catch up to them and see what we can find. I just..."

Spike looked up at Ryan and frowned, "Just what? Wish you could save him somehow?"

"...heh...reading me like a book."

'Just knowing you'd try if there was a way is enough Ry...'

Ryan clenched his fists as a pained look made its way to his face, "...no it's not. Not after Disky...not after Chrissy."

"Hey, come on big bro; you can't worry about that right now. Let's see if we can save the Empire first, if we can protect it then maybe we can find an answer to set things right."

'Spike's right, Ryan. We need to protect these poor ponies first."

Nodding in reply, he picked up the pace as he and Spike hurried on their way.

Despite the librarian not knowing if she was the librarian, and the fact that there were so many books Ryan was afraid T-Sparks was going to lose her focus to a knowledgegasm, they eventually sorted everything down to one book that might possibly be of some help before returning to the throne room.

'The History of the Crystal Empire, eh? I remember a book like that from so long ago...we may yet find our solution.'

"Dark's right. In this book is all sorts of important things about the Empire, but right here is something I think we can use."

Rarity turned to Twilight, "Well then darling, don't leave us in the dark."

"Right! It says here that the Crystal Faire was something they held every year to renew the spirit of love and unity they had to protect the Empire. If we hold one of those, I'm sure we can help snap the Crystal Ponies out of their strange funk."

"I think that's a wonderful idea." Shining turned to Cadance and smiled as she nodded as well, "Twily, I'm leaving this in the capable hooves of your friends."

"Okay....but wait, ya only said hooves! Ah know yer such a stickler that ya usually says hands too cause of Apple Ryder."

"That's true AppleJack, but I have request to make of both him...and Spike." Shining smirked, "I trust the seven of you ladies can make do without your human and friend for a little while, yes?"

"Well, I suppose we can take care of things without our handy human about." Lyra giggled at Ryan's eye roll, "What? Don't think we're capable enough?"

Ryan smirked before lightly flicking her ear, "You've gotten so cheeky lately. Haha, I like it though."

"Hey mister!" Lyra snickered before licking his hand, "Take that!"

"Hey!" Ryan grumbled, wiping his hand off on her neck fur, "You brat! T-Sparks! Get this goober out of here so Ah can get to helping Shiny!"

"Nooooooooo~" Lyra cried as Twilight lifted her off the ground and levitated her behind them.

"It's for your own good! Rysy-Wysy has to be all serious business now! He can't do that if yer licking him like that...we all know what that does to him!"

Ryan began coughing violently before turning to both Shining and Cadance who wore the most amused smiles. Laughing nervously he tried to play it off as best he could, "Sooooo...what's this job ya got for the two heroes?"

"I don't get why he's so worried about the perimeter like this."

Ryan flipped around in mid-air to look at his younger bro flying above him, "It's because Shiny is concerned that, what with the fluctuations in the barrier happening more and more because of Cadance's weakening state, something might get through."

Spike shrugged as they cruised along, "But you saw Sombra. Even if a part of him got in, it's clear he's got a central form. So even if he managed something like that, I don't think it'd be enough to do anything."

'...maybe, but Sombrero was well-versed in crystalline magics. Even if he was my friend, we still have to act as if he wasn't and prepare for any possible tricks.'

As if on cue, the barrier faded in and out rapidly again before stabilizing itself; sensing something was off this time Ryan motioned for them to land.

"What is it Ry?" Spike looked about before back at him, "Should I put on my gauntlets?"

"No...not yet. Keep those hidden as long as you can; Ah highly doubt Sombra would expect something like that so we need all the things we can muster in our arsenal if we want to have any advantage when the fighting happens."

Spike was nodding along until that last bit as he paused before slowly looking towards him, "...sooooo, couldn't help but note you said 'when' not 'if'."

'As much faith as I have in our friends and family, Sombra is formidable if he has the abilities I remember he did. Cadance's strength is faltering. The Crystal Faire is a good idea...but something just sits wrong with me. There's something I'm not remembering or don't know...just part of all that which I still don't remember from back then.'

"Dark..."

'Heh, it's okay little buddy. Our herd will pull through and make things right, that's what we always do!'

"Yeah! We can do it!"

Ryan simply laughed after the exchange before smiling, "You two....but yeah, we'll do fine. So then, we're just about done with our round so maybe we should—"

And that's when there was a big lapse in the shield, far longer than before, "Oh buck!"

'Ryan...he's coming!'

"You felt that too? Oh man, such creepy magic." Spike shivered, "Oh...hey look!"

"The shield...guess whatever happened to Cadance passed. Hmmm...hey, do you hear something?"

"Now that you mention it, it sounds like a whistling noise. Almost like something is falling out of the sky...."

"The sky?" Ryan looked up and gasped, "MOVE!"

Shoving Spike out of the way, Ryan barely manage to dodge a giant red object that impacted hard upon the ground. As the dust settled and the two were able to better examine it, they were rather confused as to what they were looking at.

"What...what the hell is that?"

"Ah don't know little buddy, but it looks....like a horn?"

'Guys! Get back now!'

A bit shocked at how loud and worried Dark sounded at that, Ryan grabbed Spike before dashing backwards just before the horn exploded and transformed into a dark crystal that then embedded itself into the ground.

"...wait, that looks like..."

And before he could finish that thought, he felt a strange sensation tug at him...

...and then found himself face to face with Twilight in the empty throne room.

"Uhm....what's going on?" Ryan asked, eyeing Twilight who seemed a bit nervous, "T-Sparks?"

"Soooo, something may have gone terribly, terribly wrong and we might have been missing a page of that book that had some super important info on it."

Spike shook his head, "I'm sorry...what are you going on about Twilight?"

"We announced the fair, got it all set up, things were going nice and smooth, the Crystal Ponies all looked like their old selves and actually remembered who they were...and then it happened."

'...Twily, what is this it?'

Twilight tapped her hooves together before laughing nervously, "So we kind of...possibly...might be missing the actual Crystal Heart that we need to channel the love of the ponies and help protect us."

Ryan looked at her before tapping his foot and sighing, "Which basically means we are missing it."

"Yeah! And I know the Princess said it was up to me and me alone to save them but she couldn't possibly mean I have to do it alone. Even her and Princess Luna know that alone ponies might be able to do things, but together they can do greater things."

'Which is why you poofed us here to help while no doubt the rest of our herd is outside trying to run damage control and keep the Crystal Ponies from freaking out....right?'

Twilight simply nodded her head at Dark's guess, "Yeah...ya got me Dark. By the way, I didn't take you away from anything important did I?"

"Oh, Ah guess not...if you don't count the fact that a part of Sombra apparently got through the shield and is now currently a dark crystal on the outskirts of town no doubt preparing to corrupt its way towards the town and castle." Ryan laughed before running a hand through her mane, "If we don't think on that, then no...ya didn't."

Twilight's eyes paled as she fell back on her flanks, "...oh boy, we're getting it from both ends now aren't we?"

'Huh...funny, Woona's said that before but for entirely other reasons.'

Spike and Twilight both looked at Dark before bursting out into laughter that was clearly needed to relax the moment. Twilight caught her breath before standing back up and nuzzling Ryan's side, "Thanks Dark...sometimes those terrible jokes of yours help out quite a bit."

'...who said it was a joke?'

At that the human, the mare, and the dragon there all promptly blushed before coughing and composing themselves.

"A-Anyway, apparently Sombra hid it somewhere nopony would expect to find it. And I figure if that is anywhere, it's right here in the throne room."

Spike snapped his fingers, "Of course! The last place anyone would think to look! Right under their noses"—he began looking around rapidly—"But, uhm, it doesn't seem like anything could be hidden here."

As the three continued looking on, Ryan gazed at the throne before hearing Dark speak up, '...you don't think?'

"Did you figure something out, Dark?"

'Maybe Twily...Sombrero is a bit predictable because of his expertise. I know you can do such, so replicate his magic the same way Tia did on that large crystal on the throne. Just call it...call it a hunch about an old friend.'

"What?" Spike gasped, "You figured out how to do that creepy, evil magic just from watching the Princess?"

"Uhm, well...I am a quick study." Twilight concentrated intensely as she stared at the crystal.

Ryan and Spike watched as her eyes glowed and the strange purple flames began flickering around her eyes before she unleashed a blast of dark magic. Hitting it's mark, the throne room began to change and distort until it seemed to resemble something more along the lines of how it would have appeared during Sombra's rule. For a moment it seemed as if nothing would happen, and then the floor began to shimmer before disappearing to reveal a spiral staircase descending deeper than they could see.

"Looks like your hunch was on the mark Dark."

'...forgive me if I'm not too thrilled given why I was right.' Dark sighed, 'Sorry Twily, just...'

"No, I understand. I can't imagine how hard this must be on you. If any of my friends...my herdmates ended up like that..." She smiled as she felt Ryan's hand on her shoulder, "We'll try and make things right somehow."

'That would be nice...but at the very least let's protect those we care about and the Crystal Empire as well. Come on, let's head on down. I'm not sure how long with have with that crystal out there now...' Dark felt the barrier fizzle briefly again, 'Damn...nor do I know how long Cadance can continue to hold out. We need to hurry.'

Having at last made it to the bottom of the stairwell, they were puzzled by the fact it ended in a circular room with no way out save for the stairs they just came out of.

"You don't think that..." Twilight mumbled before firing up the same dark magic again and flaring it at the walls.

"...that's still creepy how easily you learned that hon." Ryan seemed a bit shaken before he saw something appearing, "...a door?"

Walking over to open it, he was a bit annoyed as it "ran" along the wall away from him. In fact, in a hilarious looking montage of events, no matter how fast/sneaky/tricky he was in trying to reach the door and open it the darn thing was just too quick for him. Eventually running out of patience, Ryan was about to just go all Malus Domestica on the darn thing were it not for Twilight walking over and tugging on his jacket.

"Dear, if I may..."

Sighing, Ryan let her have a go at trying to tame this unruly opening and watched as she shot forth a dark magic attack at it...which strangely enough locked it into place.

'...careful. Something about this doesn't seem right.'

Spike merely watched as the door opened into a seemingly endless void, "...I'm inclined to agree. That doesn't seem natural."

"I know, but with the kingdom on the line we can't be afraid!"

As the two bickered, Ryan felt his stomach tighten in knots at...something. He wasn't sure exactly what but this door just screamed evil for some reason.

"Look out!" It almost happened faster than the two of them could notice, but Ryan and Dark barely knocked Spike and Twilight out of the way before getting zapped by something that emerged from the doorway, "Argh!"

"Ryan!"

"Where....ugh....what?" Ryan blinked as his vision refocused, "What is...How!?"

Looking around him Ryan could see trees, houses, and roads...but something zooming by on those roads in particular were not something he expected to see.

"Cars..." Ryan groaned as he slowly got up, "How...what happened? That strange door...T-Sparks and Spike! Where are they? Where am I?"

Slowly walking down the road, Ryan saw a familiar sign appear on the horizon before he became too stunned to move. He gulped before letting one word slip from his lips, "...home?"

Ryan shook his head, unable to believe such a thing was happening, "That's not possible! If that was true, then does that mean...was it all...no! No! I won't...I can't....not that kind of pain again! Please!"

"I'm afraid it is true."

Ryan whirled on the spot to see someone that shouldn't be there, "...Dark? H-how...oh my head hurts at all this."

"Yer gone....and soon all you cared about will be gone....all gone...gone, gone, gone..."

"Dark...what the hell are you going on about?"

"You poor, sad human...you failed. You failed those you left behind...and you've failed those you came to love....and you've failed me."

Ryan ran towards Dark, to reach out towards him, but watched as he simply faded away into nothingness the moment his hand touched him.

"Dark!"

"Apple Ryder..."

"Apps?!" Ryan turned to see her standing there with the rest of his herd, his family, all those he came to love and care for from his new home, "Yer here! Ah thought...Ah thought Ah'd lost you all....lost mah family again..."

"But ya did darlin'...ya couldn't save us...and we lost to Sombra....we no longer can be with you..."

"Apps! Dashie!" Ryan ran towards them, but they too slowly turned before fading away, "Pinks! T-Sparks! Flutters! Rares! Heartsy!"

At this Ryan's surroundings began to slowly fade away, breaking up into nothing before he was left in a white, unending void, "Lil bro...lil sis.....Cellie...Lunes....no...don't....don't leave me...don't leave me all alone again....please....don't...."

Ryan fell to the floor in a crumpled mess, curling up as he continued crying for all those he cared for and seemingly had lost....all the while unaware of the evil laughing at that which he was now caught up in.

"What's wrong with him Twilight?" Spike noted, concerned at the unmoving state of his brother, "He's...he's crying...."

"It has to do with that stupid door!" Twilight growled, glaring at the now closed entryway, "It must've been a trap of some kind by Sombra...but why...why isn't he waking up?"

"Don't you know of something we can do!? I hate seeing the big guy like this! Especially..." Spike looked at the ground, "Especially because if he hadn't knocked us aside it could be us stuck like this..."

Twilight bit her lip as she wracked her brain for something that would work...and then finally it came to her. Walking over to his sitting form, she leaned down and wrapped her forelegs around him before whispering in his ear, "We'll always be there for you Ryan, no matter what happens, no matter what we face. Just as you would pick us up if we fell, we'll always help you back to your feet if you fall. We love you...I love you...and nothing will ever take that, or us, away from you."

With that she gently touched her horn to his forehead before kissing him softly, "Now please come back to us."

Ryan groaned as his eyes slowly returned to normal. He was disoriented for a moment before feeling soft lips on his as he leaned into the kiss.

"T-Sparks." He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight as he nuzzled her neck, "Ah...Ah was all alone...Ah'd lost everybody...it...it was awful."

"Ryan...haha, you silly human. Didn't we tell you you'd have to mess up super bad to lose us?" Twilight smirked before licking his cheek, "You're stuck with us mister, so don't ever worry about being alone."

"Thanks...but what the hell caused that? What was that that hit me?"

'...a trap. Left by Sombra to confound anybody foolish enough to search for the Heart...apparently by making their worst fear a reality. I am sorry I couldn't help Ryan...'

"It's okay bro, Ah imagine ya had yer own issues to deal with as well." Ryan held Twilight close a few moments longer to steady his nerves, "...at least y'all are okay. That's what matters most."

"Heh." Spike smirked before glomping on to Ryan's back, "Big bro, you gotta quit being so tough. How the heck do I become a proper hero if ya keep saving my plot like that?"

This brought forth a hearty laugh from Ryan that finally had him his normal self once more. Releasing Twilight from his hug and standing up he pulled Spike into a hug before giving him a noogie, "Getting cursed by some ancient evil magic wouldn't make ya much of a hero, lil bro. Now fighting an ancient evil...that's a different story."

"Haha, okay you two. I'm glad to see everything is going to be alright, but I think I may have found our way forward!"

Outside the others had been doing their best to keep the Crystal Ponies calm and distracted despite things falling apart around them. As Fluttershy went flying once again after dueling against Rainbow Dash, Pinkie kept up the excited commentary as best she could with Lyra providing support when needed.

"...hmmm...Pinkie, is it just me or does the sky seem to be looking a bit weird?"

"Huh? Well, now that you mention it, it seems to be get all ominous and stuff Lyre-wyre. I wonder why it's doing that? Ooooooh, I bet that means the dramatic stuff is happening and we're about to hit the awaited climax!"

Lyra snickered before rolling her eyes, "If Dark was here, I can only imagine the stupid thing he'd say in response to that."

"Oh it'd be naughty for sure! Haha...but seriously, that sky doesn't look good at all."

As this was going on, AppleJack had her hands full along with Rarity as they tried to keep the Crystal Ponies that had gathered around the central point where the "crystal heart" was on display from finding out it wasn't the real one.

"Now y'all just need to calm down. Everything's fine and such..."

"We wanna see it!"

"Just a peek!"

"Please, to make sure it is there!"

Rarity laughed nervously before fashioning another basket and handing it out, "Here darlings! Take these festive baskets and relax!"

As the situation got more tense and harrowing, the worst possible thing actually occurred and Cadance was unable to keep her barrier up anymore as she succumbed to fatigue. With it down Sombra wasted no time in pouncing, his dark magic billowing and winding its way towards the castle along with the dark crystals that had embedded themselves in the ground. Panicking, the Crystal Ponies swarmed AppleJack and Rarity, knocking them out of the way to unveil the "crystal heart"...and then losing any shimmer they'd recovered at seeing it was not the true one.

"Oh no....without it we'll..."

"It's HIM! Run for your lives!"

"What in tarna—oh buck it is him! Quick! Take refuge in the castle everypony! We'll do...something to hold him back!"

Rarity turned to AppleJack and frowned slightly, "And what would that be exactly, darling? We don't have the Elements on us..."

"Ah...Ah know that! Don't know why we didn't bring them ta be honest." AppleJack adjusted her hat before narrowing her eyes, "But Ah know that we have to hold on somehow. Ah'm not sure where they are, but Ah know Twilight and Apple Ryder will come through for us so we just need to stall fer time!"

As things continued to go quite south outside, Ryan was panting along with Twilight and Spike as they slowly climbed their way up the very, very long spiral staircase they had found after correctly opening the door forward. As it was, they could sense that something bad had happened outside and that they were running out of time.

"We....huff...we're never gonna get to the top at this rate." Ryan grumbled, "Stairs...why did it have to be stairs? Oh Dr. Spengler, you were right....stairs truly are one of the most evil things in existence."

"...wait! I just had an idea you two!" Twilight beamed, her rear shaking excitedly at her thought, "You know that little magnet spell you like to use to go faster? The one you used when we had that foodfight or when you were trying to get away from our misplaced justice?"

Ryan snapped his fingers and suddenly felt very dumb, "Of course! We use a similar spell to that one and just let gravity do the work for us! That's mah bookworm, using them sexy smarts of hers!"

Twilight gasped before blushing, "Ry....anyway, come on! Hop on Spike!"

Spike shrugged but figured they knew what they were doing as he hopped on Twilight's back and held on tight, "....this isn't going to be another one of those hare-brained schemes you two are always cooking up is it?"

Ryan and Twilight looked at each other before smirking, "Oh come on lil bro, when have we ever steered you wrong?"

"Well there was—"

"No time for that now! Let's flip and fly baby!"

With that they slapped the modified gravity spell into effect and flipped upside down before sliding up the staircase at a heck of a pace.

"This...this is actually working pretty well." Spike laughed softly, "Although...it feels weird to go up while down."

"Ah hear ya buddy but we just gotta deal with it! Come on, double time!" Ryan twisted a bit so he was turned sideways as he slid up, "Whoosh! Eat yer heart out Jet Set Radio! Let's grind them lights fantastic!"

Spike and Twilight looked at each other, but decided to ignore whatever it was Ryan was apparently referencing as they had enough to deal with as it was.

Eventually our heroes finally came to the top where they could see that the barrier had indeed fallen and things had taken a rather dark turn outside. Noting they were apparently now at the highest point of the castle, they were stunned to see the Crystal Heart just...sitting there. Out in the open with no real signs of protection or anything.

'...I don't like this. It seems too easy...'

"Oh Dark, you're just too worried. Obviously Sombra never expected anypony to figure out where he hid it, let alone how to get to it." Twilight grinned as she trotted over towards it, "This is in the bag! As you like to say, "It's time to save the day!""

"Ah don't know....." Ryan frowned as he looked around cautiously, "Ah think Ah agree with Dark...this does not sit well with me. Ah...!"

And that's when the thought dawned on him but it was too late; unable to voice the thought that came to mind, the floor surrounding the Crystal Heart began to light up as if an alarm of some sort had been signaled.

"...that's not a good thing, is it?"

'No Spike, it's not! Ryan! Down there! Look!'

Leaning over the ledge and looking down towards the square he could see him: Sombra, in his physical form once more, stood there laughing as his crystals wrecked havoc on the square below.

"Ahhhhh!"

Spinning around at hearing Twilight scream so suddenly, Ryan growled at seeing the same black crystals now surrounding her. The Crystal Heart had skidded along the ground and now lay close to Spike who began to move towards it.

"No! Wait!" Twilight shouted, "If...if these are here he knows we're up here. Don't move towards it..."

"T-Sparks is right lil bro. Just...let's think here...we have to do something to distract him."

'...you know there's only one way to do that.'

Knowing Dark was right, Ryan gave a nod before turning back towards the ledge and laughing softly. Holding his right arm out to his side, he gave Spike and Twilight a thumbs-up before snapping his fingers and donning his wings.

"You two wait for the moment...Ah know you'll know when T-Sparks. As for me...well, it's time to do what Ah always do in situations like this."

Spike, not one to miss a moment, smirked before speaking up, "So basically jump in with no real plan and hope to the heavens above you don't die again."

"Haha, you got it! Now then...Ah'll get you yer moment." Ryan glanced over his shoulder and smiled at the two of them, "I love ya guys. Be careful."

With that he ran towards the ledge and leaped off, diving down to gain all the speed he could possibly muster as he zeroed in on his target. As soon as he was near enough to be heard he shouted as loud as he possibly could, "Hey! SOMBRA!"

Sombra, not expecting somepony to actually call out to him without fear in their voice, looked about in confusion before slowly looking up, "Crystal....What? Who dares....HUMAN!"

"PEGASUS! MACH! PAWNCH!" Ryan and Dark shouted as his fist connected with Sombra's muzzle, the impact knocking Sombra off his perch and to the ground where he made a nice-sized crater.

Landing just in front of him, Ryan gave a nod before readying himself and shouting loudly, "Soul Cross!"

"Sombrero! I know you're still in there somewhere old friend so answer me!" Dark shouted, watching Sombra's prone form as it lay there, "...I know that' s not enough to stop you so get up!"

Sombra growled softly before rising to his feet, glaring at him in annoyance after that last attack, "Human...you are foolish...your...friend....urgh...no...!"

"Sombrero!"

"Ugh....stop....you fool..." Sombra seemed to be fighting with himself at once again hearing Dark's voice until finally, "...Darkness..."

"Sombrero...please believe that I am here." Dark pleaded, daring to take a step closer to his friend, "I know that the last thousand years trapped in the ice could not have been pleasant on your mind but please..."

"Dark...no...I know it's you this time." Sombra seemed to struggle momentarily with himself before his eyes changed back to a normal white, "I'm not sure how...but the fact you are here...that it is your voice despite not being your body. There's no mistaking that aura for anyone else's."

Dark seemed to relax slightly at seeing his eyes change, "Sombra mah friend...what happened after I died that led to this?"

Sombra grunted slightly before panting, "Ugh...after you stopped Discord...and lost your life...I tried to keep going but..."

"But what?"

Sombra lifted up one hoof and stared at it, "But I couldn't help keep thinking there must've been something I could've done to save you. I had such mastery of the crystalline magic....but what good was it if I couldn't save the friend that always stood by me no matter what? If I couldn't ease the ache in the friend's heart who's love was lost so cruelly?"

Dark frowned at hearing the grief his friend had carried all these years, "Sombra..."

"And, without our mentor there to guide me, I fell deep into my studies and searched and searched for something, anything that could be of use to...to possibly find you...bring you back." Sombra grunted in pain, "That's what eventually led me...here...found the crystals hidden deep in the mountains. Studied them but...ugh...they were beyond anything I knew or could have hoped to control."

"Sombrero?" Dark leaned in a bit, noting his discomfort, "What's happening?"

"They slowly corrupted my mind, began taking over my thoughts with the dark magic hidden within." Sombra clutched his head and began panting again, "I knew I was slipping...left Canterlot to protect friends but....it was too much. You know what happened after that...this poor kingdom..."

"Sombra!"

"And...it's ponies...all fell...to...my poisoned...mind and became..." Sombra growled loudly as his eyes began turning green again, "My crystal slaves!"

"Gah!" Dark jumped back as he was nearly impaled by Sombra's dark crystals, "Sombrero!"

"Rawr, your little friend is a fool. To know he held me at bay for so long simply because his memories at the sight of you came flooding forth." Sombra cackled darkly, "Too bad for him it wasn't enough."

'...Darkness...stop me...please....'

"You evil bastard! Leave my friend alone!" Dark growled, flaring his magic, "I won't lose another friend! NOT LIKE THIS!"

"Hahaha...come at me then little human. Let us see if the regards he held you in were warranted."

"What in tarnation? Is that Dark down there...and how was he just talking with Sombra? What's goin' on?!"

Shining Armor had to admit he was confused after he saw what appeared to be Ryan diving down from the top of the castle before decking Sombra across the face. After watching what was going on, he finally started to piece things together, "It's Dark...he's using that weird spell Ryan has to take control of his body again."

Rarity, who had been helping to try and bring Cadance back around, seemed confused, "But why would he do that? Don't tell me he was hoping to plead to what might be left of his friend?"

"It would seem that way." Rainbow frowned, punching one hoof into the other, "It seemed like it almost worked too! I'm not sure what all is happening but if those two are down there....where's Twilight and Spike?"

"U-uhm...well, if he came from way up there wouldn't it be possible they were with him?"

Lyra looked way, way up towards the top of the castle but couldn't make out anything, "I don't know, but considering they've been missing for a while that's probably a safe assumption. The question is...did they succeed in whatever they were doing?"

"Come on Darky! Show that guy why humans are awesome!" Pinkie cheered before gulping when Sombra glared at her, "Eep!"

"Hey! Get out of there!" Rainbow groaned after Pinkie had tossed her portable hole on her and jumped in it again, "...seriously, that's way too creepy."

"Nuh-uh! That guy is scary! I'm staying right here in you where it's safe."

"...it's probably best we ignore that." AppleJack groaned, "Well then...Ah don't know what they're planning to do but—what in tarnation is that? Spike?!"

Sure enough, as the others looked away from Dark and Sombra's fighting, they could see Spike trying to be careful as he flew out from the tower holding...something shining by the looks of things.

"Could...could that possibly be?!"

"...it is." Cadance groaned, barely coming around enough to speak, "They found the Crystal Heart...but...ugh...it's up to them to get it where it belongs....hurry..."

A few moments earlier, Spike and Twilight had been waiting for whatever moment it was Ryan and Dark had hoped to buy them.

"...oh, it's killing me not knowing what's going on." Spike grumbled, twitching slightly as he kept staring at the Crystal Heart.

"Just wait. I know you're worried...I am too." Twilight tried again to teleport out of the trap but had no luck whatsoever, "We just have to trust they know what they're doing and—!"

"...what was that?"

"That's our sign! I don't what they did but his magic changed! Quick Spike! Grab the heart and get it to the pedestal!"

Spike quickly nodded before running over and grabbing hold of the heart moments before crystal spikes shot up where it had been. Thinking quickly, Spike flapped his wings and took flight before the rest of the floor had become covered in them as well, "Twilight! What about you?"

"As long as you succeed I'll be fine." Twilight shot him a reassuring smile, "Now hurry! While I believe in our human, I don't know how long he could fare against someone like Sombra!"

And that's what lead us to now, with Spike flying about and trying not to be seen by said evil king...and totally failing after Dark was sent flying by a headbutt.

"Dark!" Spike shouted before noting Sombra's attention on him, "Oh crap!"

"That is mine little dragon!"

"Yikes!" Spike gasped, weaving all about as he dodged Sombra's attacks, "Oh boy! Oh boy! This is not good! Not good!"

"Leave my brother alone!" Dark growled, charging at Sombra and grabbing hold of him before lifting off the ground.

"Rawr, put me down you freakish abomination!"

"You're one to talk!" Dark spat back, holding tight to the squirming Sombra as he began diving back to the ground, "Perfect Pony Piledriver!"

Sombra seemed puzzled until he found his upper torso completely planted into the ground. As he wiggled to get free, Dark tried to keep him in place, "Spike! While he's down! Hurry!"

Realizing this was the moment they needed, Spike folded back his wings and dove as quickly as he could towards the pedestal under the castle. Just as he landed and placed it where it belonged a huge explosion rocked forth from where Dark had been holding Sombra back. Turning around Spike saw Dark's body going flying through the air before landing in a heap next to him, "Dark!"

Dark groaned softly as he stood up and panted, "Why dammit...why is it like this with everyone I knew back then? All of my friends...why did they have to suffer just because I wasn't there!?"

As if charged by the love Dark had for all his lost friends, the Crystal Heart went crazy as it began to produce a bright blue glow that spread out across the kingdom. Spike, sensing his brother needed his support in this moment, pulled on his gauntlets before nudging him. Dark turned to him with a questioning look on his face before he looked at the Crystal Heart before nodding as he stood back up. Staring at Sombra he raised up his right hand before smirking, "Here we go!"

Spike ignited his gauntlets before lifting his left one up to match Dark's right.

"These hands of ours are burning green/purple!"

"Their loud roar tells us to grasp peace and happiness for those we love!"

"What is this...madness....the Crystal Heart...how is it...amplifying their power!?" Sombra groaned, unable to move at the glow they were now giving off.

"Erupting!"

"Double!"

"Friendship!"

"BURNING FINGER!"

With that loud roar the two of them dashed towards Sombra's prone form before imbedding their hands into his chest, the crystalline flames swirling about as the evil king tried futilely to break free as they lifted him up.

Dark looked at his old friend as the flames slowly grew in strength and felt tears falling down his face, "...I'm sorry...Sombrero..."

'Don't be...I'll finally be at peace after such a long time. Thank you my friend...now finish it!'

Dark gritted his teeth as the tears flowed freely now, "And now...HEAT! END!"

With that the crystalline flames swirled and gathered before erupting in a massive explosion that spread them throughout the whole kingdom, utterly obliterating King Sombra in the process and leaving no trace of him behind. Silence hung in the air for some time as the dust slowly settled, Dark and Spike standing where they were with their arms still extended. As the rest of their herd and then the Crystal Ponies themselves saw that Sombra was no more they began to celebrate, the cheering filling the emptiness outside...but it did little for that which Dark felt on the inside.

"SOMBRERO!" Dark shouted, falling to his knees in grief, "Why? Why? Why? WHY?!"

Pounding the ground at each shout until he began to crack it, Dark was unaware as the cheering became muted and he felt himself slipping away...

"Why....why....why..." Dark panted as he felt his grief slowly easing up, "Sombra..."

"Yes?"

Eyes flying open at that voice, Dark was surprised to see he was no longer in the Crystal Kingdom but rather a familiar grassy field instead. Glancing to his left and right to see it extending forever he immediately knew where he was, "...so I'm back here again. That's how you're here, isn't it?"

Sombra nodded before walking over to him, "Yes my friend. It would seem that, despite all the trouble that research unleashed, I've been deemed innocent of it and allowed to move on where I belong."

At that Dark smiled slightly before looking up at the clear blue sky, "Something tells me Solaris had a hand in this one..."

"You could say that. Have you two met before?"

"Heh, you could say that." Dark sighed slightly, "I have my hunches on who she really is, but I highly doubt she'll ever tell me straight out. But hey..."

"Yes?"

"Why am I here?"

"Well, it didn't seem right that our final moment together was so...heart-breaking, so Solaris decided it was only fitting you get to say goodbye properly to me." Sombra chuckled softly, "Something about how it wasn't appropriate that we didn't get to do so after not seeing one another for a thousand years."

"So...what you told me earlier, was that the truth? Did you...really end up like that because you tried to find a way to help me?"

Sombra nodded slowly, "Yes. I was stricken with so much grief. You were the first friend I ever had...and you always stuck by me and defended me, especially when my fellow colleagues would be...what was that word you used?"

Dark snickered before removing his shades, "Asshats."

"Ah yes. So charming." Sombra let loose a hearty laugh, "But yes, when they were, as you said, Asshats about the fact I did not have a cutie mark despite being a grown stallion."

"Ya know...I never did get that. You were so good with the crystals and all the arcane gems and the magic they possessed...how in the hell was that not what you would get a cutie mark in?" Dark shook his head, "Our mentor never could figure that one out either...probably why he would occasionally mumble that as a human I was lucky not to have to deal with that burden."

"Didn't stop you from claiming one anyway Mr. Lemon."

"Hey! The lemon is underappreciated in the fruit world; I was just showing it some love."

Sombra stifled a laugh, "When you weren't showing the moon or sun love that was."

"Hey!" Dark grabbed Sombra and ruffled his unruly mane, "Nice to see your real self survived all those years."

"Hahaha, I forgot how nice moments like these were. I'm glad we got at least one more before the end."

The two friends sat there for a few silent moments before Dark spoke up, "So...since I feel our time is coming to a close, would you want to do that thing we used to do for old time's sake?"

"You mean...what we use to do to annoy Celestia?" Sombra smirked at the idea, "It would be a fitting goodbye so yes! Let us be our awesome selves."

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

With that Dark and Sombra grinned before the two of them began hopping in place on their legs.

"Sunshine, Sunshine!"

"Ladybugs awake!" Pulling out shades, the two of them donned them before laughing

"Clap yer hooves!" At this the two of them did an ultimate double bro-hoof before nodding.

"And do a little shake!" With that they hip-checked each other before striking what one would assume was an awesome pose of some kind whilst simultaneously a magical explosion occurred behind them making the moment that much manlier!

"Hahaha, oh dear heavens." Sombra laughed as he removed his shades, "That used to drive Celestia up the walls something fierce. I never got why exactly, but it was the sweetest revenge whenever she decided to pull those pranks of hers on us."

Dark snickered, "And remember that one time, when we roped Woona into it and had the Trifecta of Terror? Ah'm surprised she didn't teleport us all to the moon for that one."

Sombra burst into laughter at that memory, clearly remembering the unbridled anger on Celestia's face that day, "Oh...good times my friend, good times."

"Ya wanna know a secret?"

"Hmmm?"

"Twilight Sparkle, her number one student and part of our herd?"

"The purple one that helped the little dragon stop me? What about her?"

"Her and Princess Cadance do that little song but with their own version of a dance. I should totally see if Ah can get them to do that in front of Tia." Dark laughed softly as a very diabolical smirk appeared on his features, "Oh yes...that's definitely a thing I'm getting Ryan's help to make happen."

"A pity I won't get to see it, but one day I'll hear about it. Hopefully not any day soon though."

"You are correct."

Dark and Sombra turned to see the owner of this new voice was none other than the alicorn from before.

"Hello again my little human. I hope you've enjoyed catching up with your old friend."

"I have." Dark paused for a moment, "I'm just gonna ask...are you Solaris?"

The alicorn laughed softly, a motherly type of laugh, before replying, "I'm afraid I cannot answer that..."

"Because it's not the time for me to know?"

"No. It would simply take away my fun and I can't allow that."

Dark deadpanned at that, stunned at how honest she was being before laughing loudly, "Okay, okay. I'll play yer game."

"I am glad to hear it." With that the alicorn turned to Sombra, "If you are ready...it is time for me to lead you where you belong."

"Darkness..." Sombra took one last look at his friend and frowned, "I guess this is finally goodbye."

"Hey, none of that." Dark knelt down and took his friend into a hug, "At least this time we get to say goodbye my friend. Besides, it's only goodbye for now."

"Darkness is right, my little pony. He has much still to do but I can promise that you will see one another again someday."

"Thank you for saving me my friend."

Dark clutched his chest as he stood up, the ache in his heart all too real, "I just wish...I could've saved you another way. Woona...Cordy....Chrissy...and then you. So much pain and sadness...why couldn't I do anything to save any of them? Why did all those that were my friends or who could've become friends have to suffer they way they did? Why can't I ever save them?"

The alicorn, noting his discomfort, wrapped a wing around him, "My kind little human. I do wish your heart did not feel such pain, but do not lose hope."

"...what do you mean?"

Watching as Sombra and her began fading away into a bright light , he heard her say one last thing before he too was engulfed by the light, "You may yet get your chance to save a friend...and one who's soul is twisted by anguish. Good luck....Darkness."

Author's Note

So at long last, we've reached a hell of a milestone. The 20th Chapter. 20 chapters of silliness, crazy shenanigans, and even some character issues. Ah never imagined this story would get as big as it did when Ah first started writing it way back in July of last year but boy howdy has it been fun. Especially with the great fans Ah've got following it, the joy y'all get from it really warms mah heart and motivates me like nothin' else. Some of ya have even inspired moments in the story itself, either directly—like Rain Nero's anime nods—or indirectly through the passing moments in comments or other silly things mentioned in mah blogs. Saved SoulWriter, Incognito Blazer...Ah'm looking at you. :derpytongue2:

Hahaha, anyway y'all, Ah hope ya enjoyed this chapter as well, including the special surprise picture mah good buddy Andrea drew for me to help make it even more special. He's drawn all sorts of cool pony stuff on his page so y'all should go check it out through the handy-dandy link!
In fact, Ah might have to ask him to do this again since it turned out so silly and awesome.
With that all said, it's time to turn to the next chapter y'all...and if ya saw mah blog entry that should be up shortly, you'll know just why Ah'm so excited for it!

21st Harvest

"Big bro? Big bro are you okay?"

"...Dark is not...doing too well."

"Ryan?"

Ryan groaned slightly before coughing as he pulled himself off the ground, "Oh man...but yeah it's me."

"Are you alright?" Spike eyed him oddly, "Do you know what happened?"

"Sort of. Dark had to fight Sombra...couldn't stop him...and then you two decided to borrow some memories of mah world to finish him with an epic friendship based maneuver." Ryan grunted as he looked at his hands, "...so, am Ah crazy or am Ah twinkling like Ah'm a damn star? Well...save for where mah knuckles are bleeding. Wait. Apparently mah blood is shiny too...this is trippy."

"Darling~!"

"Huh?" Ryan gasped before getting tackled by Rarity, "Rares? Girls? Yer all shiny too! What...why?"

"It's because of the Crystal Heart." Princess Cadance explained, having finally caught up to her sister-in-law and the others, "I'm glad to see you're okay Ryan and I'm sorry we couldn't offer more assistance."

"It's okay, y'all did what ya could. Especially you Cadance, you held out as long as you could." Ryan grunted for a moment, "Ugh..."

"Ryan?" Lyra gasped as she saw his hands, "Your hands! You're bleeding! Fluttershy, quick!"

"Uhm, right!" Fluttershy nodded, pulling out a first-aid kit and quickly wrapping his hands, "Does it hurt much?"

"My hands?" Ryan shook his head, "No. My heart though..."

"What's wrong with yer heart?" AppleJack ran over and hopped up to give it a listen, "It sounds like it's ticking alright ta me."

"You silly apple pone." Ryan laughed softly, "It hurts because Dark's hurting...and he went and sequestered himself away in mah mind. Ah can't reach him...but he shouldn't be alone right now."

"Isn't there anything we can do to help him?" Twilight frowned, "He's helped us with so much...and all he's gotten in return is a bunch of heart ache for it. It doesn't seem right that he'd be all alone with his grief."

"My thoughts exactly!"

Whirling around, the group saw none other than Luna and Celestia now standing there with determined looks on their faces.

"Cellie? Lunes? When did y'all get here?"

"As soon as we detected Sombra's presence had moved on from this world, we knew you had succeeded." Celestia explained as she walked over to Twilight, "As for you my dear student..."

"Oh yes...the test so to speak."

"Indeed. I am very proud of how you handled yourself and you did exactly as I had hoped." Celestia smiled briefly before frowning, "Although...I had hoped that perhaps Darkness would be spared more agony. However, that is why we are here, right sister?"

"That is correct. If he is hidden away in his mind to where even Ryan cannot sense him, then the only way to reach him is to travel into his subconscious."

Lyra seemed a bit puzzled, "You...you can do that Princess?"

"Yes Miss Heartstrings. It is a simple task, no different than the powers that allow me to go into dreams. However, we need a stable, safe spot to use it." Luna turned to Shining Armor, "I believe the throne room would suffice. May we borrow it Prince Armor?"

"If it'll help my buddy Darkness then by all means. Follow me your majesties."

After having them sit in a circle, Ryan seemed a bit unsure, "...yer sure this is safe Lunes?"

"Of course. I dive into pony minds all the time while they sleep if they require help. You will all be nice and safe as we enter the subconscious."

"As long as this doesn't turn into one of those 'you die in the dream, you die for real things' then Ah'm ready then." Ryan nodded as he looked at his herd, "Come on. Let's go snap Dark out of his funk."

"Don't worry about things on this end. I'll make sure your bodies will stay safe."

"Thanks big brother." Twilight smiled as she watched Luna begin her spell, "I'm most interested in seeing what your mind looks like Ryan."

"Haha...well, that makes two of us. Hopefully it's not just an empty field again."

With that Luna finished her spell and like that they were out like a light...

...Ryan found himself somewhere quite dark and it was a bit hard to see much in front of his eyes. Lighting up his wand, he was glad to at least see somewhat in front of him before calling out to the others, "Gals? Where are ya?"

Hearing some grunting coming from his right, he headed in that direction before finally illuminating many colorful ponies all lying in a pile. Helping them off one another, he was relieved when Twilight cast a better illumination spell and they could see much clearer, "A bit of a rough landing eh?"

"That's an understatement darling." Rarity sighed, "Where are we anyway? It's so dreadfully dark and...lonely feeling."

"I have to wonder where the Princesses are." Twilight added, "They weren't with us when we "woke" up."

"...something tells me they're just ahead." Ryan motioned for them to follow along, "Let's keep moving. Stay close."

Moving down the strange, lightless corridor they found themselves in they began to wonder just where it was leading them to. Eventually they finally came upon an opening and were stunned to see where they are, "Ah don't think we need that spell anymore T-Sparks."

Ending her light spell, the group stared upwards in awe at the beautiful star-lit sky shining down on them; with the earth staring at them, however, it was suddenly quite clear where they were at.

"...we're...we're on the moon aren't we?"

"It would seem that way Apple Ryder...but why the moon? And where on the moon exactly?"

"We are currently in the Lunar Palace's main courtyard."

"Princess!"

"I am glad to see you all okay. I must admit I was a little concerned when my sister and I appeared without you near but it seems you were able to find your way here easily enough." Celestia looked up at a tall tower and frowned, "Why would Dark chose here though? And it looks different than I remember."

Luna lowered her head in thought, "No doubt it looks different simply because Dark's memories only know how it once looked, not how it has changed since my return. And I believe I know why he would chose this as his safe haven in Ryan's subconscious but I would rather hear it from him directly. If you would all follow me, I think I know where we can find him."

Not saying anything and nodding in agreement, the group slowly followed Luna into and up the tower before finally coming to the top and entering a rather large, elegant looking bedroom. Ryan wasn't sure why, but something told him this place held many dear memories between Dark and Luna. Memories of happiness, memories of sadness, and memories of love. As he went to say something, he paused as he caught sight of the door leading to the balcony spread wide-open. Walking over to them, he stepped on to the balcony...and there he was.

Dark was currently resting on a lounge chair of sorts, reclined backed and looking up at the stars, "...so, y'all came after me huh?"

"Of course we would my love. You know we wouldn't just leave you be in your grief."

To that Dark simply laughed quietly, not bothering to turn to look at them, "Yes...I knew as much but I still came here to hide away from you. To keep my grief from being yours..."

"Darkness..."

"I always felt the most calm here, away from all the hustle and bustle on our Earth...especially when I had you with me as well." Dark sighed softly at his thoughts, "Looking at the stars, with you curled up in my lap...it was as if nothing else mattered."

"I remember that well. We always had this as our little retreat when life became a bit overwhelming for us."

"Heh, yeah. Or when it was a special day. Like our second anniversary of being together. Do you remember what you gave me as a gift? Even to this day I'm still so blown away how much I meant to you." Dark lifted his hand and pointed towards a certain arrangement of stars, "Which is why that constellation has always been my favorite."

"Constellation?" AppleJack seemed puzzled, "Where's he pointing?"

"...it's that one." Ryan looked up, "And it makes me think I truly underestimated just how much you two loved each other."

"Is...is that a human riding an alicorn?!" Twilight gasped, "I...I've never seen a constellation like that one though!"

"I don't find any surprise in that. Without the humans around, it would be a bit odd to see such a sight in the sky...and cause many questions." Dark's voice sounded off for some reason, "Woona created it to represent how well we worked together, how well we seemed able to read each other's thoughts, and how close we'd become."

"Ah yes, I remember now." Celestia nodded, "When we had disputes with the other kingdoms that required more physical intervention, the sight of Dark riding into battle with Luna with his sword drawn always inspired our forces. No matter how dire the odds, the two of them always seemed to change the tide of battle."

"But wait...that sounds like some old legend that granny used to tell us when we were younguns. Something about the Pegasus and her loyal knight?"

Dark laughed softly at that, "So...the old myth still persists even with us gone? Curious. I wonder how Granny Smith knows about that one. But yes...The Pegasus and her knight. They fought as one, protecting the other no matter what. Even when one fell, the other would refuse to abandon them for anything. They say that such compassion, such loyalty swayed the hearts of those they fought to seek peace and no longer fight. It's funny to think that such a legend came from Woona's gift of love."

"Darkness." Luna walked over to him and nuzzled his cheek, "In all honesty, I could never have removed it from the sky. You meant too much to me...so I made it hidden to all but us. As with all that we did to erase the existence of our human friends in order to ease the ache in pony kind's heart, it pained us greatly to hide such a strong sign of our love. So please do not be mad with us..."

"If anything Woona, I'm angry with myself." Dark growled softly, "I could've prevented all of this..."

"Darkness, there is no need to beat yourself up over what happened." Celestia frowned, "None of us could have predicted what happened...or what would happen with you gone."

"...Woona never told you, did she? I know my mentor wouldn't have...but there was something I could've done that would've changed everything." Dark noted her confused look, "So she didn't...it was something Star-Swirled came up with after noting that it pained Woona that one day I would die long before she would."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa....wait a minute." Rainbow Dash butted in before waving her hooves all about, "Are you saying that he found a way to make you immortal?"

"Haha, of course not. Even pure alicorns like Tia and Woona aren't immortal: they simply live very, very, very long lives thanks to their magic. And of course, there is no such thing as a magical object that grants you immortality." Dark chuckled at such a thought, "So you can see why she would have such sad thoughts."

"Wait now, didn't ya tell me once Dark that because of the innate magic of this world that the beings inhabiting it naturally lived longer lives?" Ryan was trying to piece together just what exactly was eating at Dark deep down in his heart and he felt he nearly had it figured out, "Ah mean, isn't that why Granny is like over a hundred but acts like she's half that age?"

"Exactly! And that applied to humans as well. From what I gathered, most humans only lived to be about seventy in your world even with all your technology, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. That's pretty much the average expectancy."

"Well, the magic of this world allowed for that number to be about double...though for certain master magicians that number could be much higher. According to my mentor, I would've probably hung around for a while...though mostly because he said I was too stubborn to die. Haha." Dark's smile faded as he balled up his fists, "But still...I would've died long before Woona so, one day, he presented us with a gift. A spell he had created that would allow two people's spirits to be interconnected."

Twilight tapped her chin, "Like...a familiar spell?"

"Not really, but since nothing like that really existed or even exists to this day that's probably the easiest way to explain it." Dark slowly stood up and turned to face his friends, "It would've allowed her strength to be mine and mine hers. In essence, as long as she was around, I would be too. I could've aged as she did, and lived my life with her to its fullest extent."

Upon hearing this, Celestia gasped before it finally dawned on her, "Of course...this is why all that happened has hit you so much harder than I thought it would."

"Exactly Tia. Had I not hesitated on accepting his plan and allowing Woona to cast the spell, then life may have turned out much differently for us. Of course..." Dark stared at the ground, "If my mentor had not died at such a terrible time...who knows how things may have gone?"

"Darky-warky, I don't understand." Pinkie pouted, "What do you mean?"

"He was not sure whether to accept near immortality or not...but that is reasonable. After all, if anypony or anyone was told they could live nearly forever I doubt they would immediately accept." Luna explained, hugging Dark in an attempt to comfort him, "Much like Dark, they would think on it till they were sure."

"I did...but sadly before I could come to a decision, he returned and then...nothing but sorrow followed. One thing I still don't understand is why my mentor said what he did on his death bed...about why...why it would be okay. Why he felt so hopeful about what was to come."

"Wait...that nightmare we've been having lately." Ryan began walking towards Dark as it all fell into place, "Is that...is that what it's been about? It seems to fit: a dark, rainy night with ponies and people standing around a bed. Most are faceless, but a few stand out: a white alicorn, a midnight blue one, a human with jet-black wings...and a dark grey unicorn with no cutie mark."

Dark clutched his chest and leaned against Luna, "Yes...that night was when it all went so horribly wrong..."

"Master..."

Star-Swirled coughed slightly before smiling, "Darkness...Sombra...you two have made this old stallion so very proud. Not only as my pupils, but as my friends. I'm sorry that it would seem my ability to aide you is slowly coming to an end."

"Master, don't say that. You'll...you'll be okay."

"Haha, Sombra...you know as well as I do that I've lived a long life and done many things to help my fellow ponies and humans as well as all those that I have lived amongst. But even I cannot ignore that I am old and my time is short." Star-Swirled went into a coughing fit, drawing worried looks from those around him, "Come now my friends...where are those smiles I love?"

Dark put on as best a smile as he could, but the tears in his eyes spoke his true feelings, "Master...what about our friend? Disky...he..."

"Yes...he still needs your help. He's so lost in his own sorrow and madness."

"But Master! The...the spell we were working on to..."

"Yes...I know. I have faith you can finish it. After all..." Star-Swirled smirked before laughing, "You are my pupil after all. Don't tell me the awesome Darkness Shade isn't confident he can succeed?"

"Wha—of course I will! I'll make you proud! You'll see!"

"Haha, I know I will...ugh!"

"Master!"

Star-Swirled began to pant heavily until his breathing began to slow, "Just remember...of all that you've learned...the greatest asset....you have...is the friendship you..share."

"...Master?" Dark and Sombra were close by his side now, worry on their faces.

"As long...as you don't...forget that...then...it will...all turn...out...alright." Star-Swirled began to cough violently, "And save...those...you...care...f-for. I...will always...be...with...you......."

Dark's eyes widened before he gently shook his mentor, "Master? Master?! Master! MASTER!"

"...I failed him....I couldn't finish my Pegasus Barrier spell...couldn't save my friend Cordy....and then died leaving so many to suffer from it." Dark was crying at this point, "Why? Why did I hesitate? Why did I not make the choice that would have saved so many I cared for from their fates?"

At this point, despite really feeling for Dark, Ryan knew he needed a heck of a shock to snap him out of it...which is why he pulled back and decked him right across the face, "You idiot!"

"Ryan!"

"Apple Ryder!"

"Have you lost your mind darling?!"

"Ugh....no...no he's right. I needed that." Dark groaned, rubbing his jaw, "Damn man...when the hell did you get so strong?"

"Hey, when you hang around with these ponies you kinda have to if'n ya wanna survive." Ryan joked, "But seriously, ain't ya the one always saying Ah don't need to hide mah problems and Ah shouldn't get caught up in the past? The what if's and all that jazz? If so, why the hell did ya try to hide from us like this?"

"...I don't know to be honest. Even if I did get to say goodbye to Sombrero properly, the fact that he had to die to be freed just reminded me of all the other failures." Dark gave a shrug, "I know I can't change the past and should only live in the present, but..."

"...nopony is strong enough to ignore the thoughts of what if's." Celestia finished his thoughts for him, "I too had my times like that after all that transpired following your death Darkness. Could we have done something other than trap Sombra in the frozen ice? Could...could I have calmed my sister's rage and not resort to banishing her? Thoughts like that consumed me for many years but I eventually came to terms with them when I realized that what happened did so for a reason."

"Tia..."

"And in the end, it turned out alright...mostly. My student and her friends saved my sister, and allowed you to save your friend's soul."

Dark nodded before staring at her, "...and what about Cordy?"

"Yes...Discord is still a lose string in the history we've weaved but for now he is contained till we find a way to help him." Celestia turned to her friend, "And we will Dark...somehow we will find a way to get through to who he once was."

Dark looked at his loved ones from both the past and present and felt a calm settle in his heart at how they always knew just what needed to be said...or in Ryan's case done as he still rubbed his jaw. Realizing there wasn't much reason to continue hiding out in his little sanctuary, he took one more glance at the stars before smiling and striking a pose, "Come on everypony...I think it's time our herd got back to the real world. There's still plenty we've yet to experience!"

"Huzzah! He is his old self once more!" Luna happily shouted before magically tossing him on her back, "Before we go though...would you care for a ride through the sky like old times?"

Dark laughed softly before getting settled and grabbing hold of her starry mane, "Well, if you insist my lady. Onward! Let the heavens be our guide!"

With that the group watched as they took off, happy that their friend was feeling like himself once more...especially if his excited shouts of glee were anything to go off of as Luna did a few aerial maneuvers.

"Well that certainly is a curious sight, that's fer sure."

Lyra chuckled before nudging AppleJack, "Interesting to see how it really looks, eh? Still, I think my version of it was more fun."

AppleJack rolled her eyes, "Ya know...didn't we agree way back when to never mention that again?"

"I suppose we did...but seeing Dark and Luna like that really brings it home how well humans and ponies could connect and rely on one another. The historian in me is absolutely thrilled to get to see such a thing with my own eyes."

Ryan, feeling he just had to be silly, scratched Lyra's ears before snickering, "Well if ya wanted to see a human ride a pony that badly ya could've just given me a ride. Ah wouldn't have objected to that."

"Yeah, that is true." Lyra nodded...before realizing how else his words could be taken and blushing profusely, "Rys!"

"Rysy-Wysy, that was so bad!"

"I agree Pinkie." Rarity nodded, "Our gentleman, while funny, can pick the worst times for innuendo."

"Innuewhatsie? I thought it was bad because he didn't make the same offer to the rest of us."

The herd all turned to Pinkie before collectively face-hoofing all while Dark and Luna continued laughing in the night sky. Eventually, the stars began to fade one by one as they found themselves waking from the dream...

Shining Armor stood ever vigilant, watching over his unconscious friends as he hoped they could help sort out whatever was eating at Dark. Wondering how long it might take to even find him let alone help coax him out of hiding, he was a bit surprised when only thirty minutes later he heard groaning as one by one they slowly came too.

"So....ya gonna go hiding in mah noggin anymore?"

'Nope. I think it's clear that there's no need to hide how I feel from y'all...especially when you're pretty good at making me forget what was bothering me.'

"Darkness! Good to hear from ya buddy!"

'Heh, well I'm glad to be back Shiny...things are okay here, right? I mean, pretty sure the Crystal Heart all glowing and stuff was a pretty good sign of that.'

Cadance giggled, pleased to see Dark acting as his usual self, "Yes. The Heart is indeed once more protecting this kingdom from evil thanks to the courage of you all."

"Well what are we waiting for then?" Pinkie suddenly shouted, pulling out her party cannon, "We saved the day so now LET'S PARTY!"

And party they did for many an hour, the crystal ponies having a proper faire this time now that the true Heart was where it belonged and they no longer need fear King Sombra's wrath. As it was Ryan was currently sitting around a bonfire trying his hardest to deduce just how the hell he was able to eat a crystal pretzel of all things.

'Really Ry? After all this time you're still trying to question how things work here?'

Ryan swallowed the bite of pretzel he had before smirking, "It's just that inquisitive human spirit Dark. I will say, though, this is pretty tasty...although...am Ah gonna stop twinkling at some point? Not that Ah mind mah inner shine being reflected so well but Ah kinda wanna just be normal human Ryan. Well, as normal as Ah get in this strangely cartoony world anyway."

'I wouldn't sweat it. The side-effects of the Crystal Heart should wear off since you aren't natives to this kingdom....'

Noting him trail off, Ryan glanced over to see Luna and Celestia laughing around the bonfire along with his herd and a few other ponies that had joined them, '...you miss being with her a lot.'

'Yes...the way we were in the dreamscape. It reminded me of just how happy I was with her...especially when we just flew through the sky, not a care in the world.'

'If'n ya want, we can fire up our Soul Cross and Ah can let ya have some time with her now.'

'...heh, you really are such a strange man offering something like that. But could your body even handle it after being that way for the fight?'

Ryan shrugged, his hand slowly rubbing over the scar on his chest, 'Well, ever since Ah got this thing, the after-effects don't seem to hurt as much. After all, Ah'm actually becoming aware of what's going on when we swap like that so Ah figure either Ah'm getting accustomed to the spell after using it so many times or mah magical abilities are adapting to make it more effective.'

Dark let out a growly chuckle before sighing, 'Always overthinking things...but for now it's okay.'

'Well, just remember partner, if'n ya ever wanna spend some time with her just let me know and we'll make it happen. After all, Ah'm sure you'd love to spend some flight time with her that's not dream based.'

'...thanks Ryan.'

Not long after that the celebration began to wind down and so our heroes made their way to bed. Early the next morning they bid farewell to their friends as they boarded the train for home.

"Aren't you coming with us Princess?"

Celestia shook her head before smiling, "No, Twilight Sparkle. We have a few things we wish to finish checking over with Princess Cadance and Prince Shining before heading home to Canterlot ourselves."

'Don't overwork yourselves ladies...I'd hate to have to come back and carry you home after all.'

Luna snorted before laughing, "Somehow I doubt that Darkness."

'...can't even let me have just a little fun huh?'

"Nope!"

The group laughed at this exchange before finally having to board the train and head back home. As they headed off, Celestia and Luna looked at one another before Luna materialized a mysterious looking book bearing a swirled mark on it. The two sisters nodded as they watched the horizon, the train soon vanishing from sight marking the end of yet another chapter in their lives...

Time marches on as it's apt to do and with it a slight healing of wounds both large and small. For Dark it meant thoughts about his past friends eating at him less, mostly thanks to Ryan making sure they kept busy with all sorts of stuff whether it be the continued work on their new home or, as they were currently doing, working on a secret project with Big Mac that had been put off for a bit with everything being so crazy.

"So...are ya sure we're ready to try and turn this thing over?"

Big Mac shifted the piece of straw in his mouth a few times before looking over the contraption they—well, mostly Mac in all honesty since Ryan didn't really know the first thing about engines, let alone magical engines—had collaborated together on before nodding his head, "Eyup. Might explode though. Never tried modifying an airship engine to do...this before."

"Well Ah'm just impressed mah silly off the cuff idea actually was viable." Ryan laughed before pulling out a key and staring at how shiny it was, "At first Ah thought you were pulling mah leg but then ya just stared at me before nodding again. So..."

"So..."

"Let's start up the first truck in Equestrian history!"

'...if it doesn't explode!'

"Eeeeyup!"

Ryan rolled his eyes before sitting down and putting in the key, "You guys are just such optimists. Sure, yeah, the other things that T-Sparks and Ah have tried to use magic means to reproduce from mah world have all blown up multiple times till we got better prototypes but come on! Mac, bro, you know yer engines so how could this not work?"

Glancing up after his little speech, he could see Big Mac wearing a hard hat and hiding behind a giant piece of metal with an apple on it, "Of course. So go ahead and set her off."

"...Ah...what's with the getup?"

"Safety precaution. Besides, ya got yer goggles on so..."

'Sounds legit to me! Let's do this Ryan!'

Figuring there was no real reason to stop now, Ryan turned the key and heard the engine try to start up...and try...and try, "Come on baby! Turn over for us! Let's hear that delightful noise!"

Trying once again, the engine sputtered a bit and whined before finally, "Yes! Listen to that purr!"

And then, predictably, it groaned and wheezed before filling the barn with smoke. Ryan and Big Mac coughed as they ran out of the barn as quickly as possible and took deep breaths of fresh air as they looked at one another.

Mac was the first to speak, "Well, at least it started."

"Eyup...." Ryan groaned, "Like ya said though, it's definitely an odd change for this type of engine....perhaps we're just not meant to succeed."

Big Mac frowned before shaking his head, "Hey now, we can't stop after this. If we can get this thing to work how ya want, it could change how ponies travel Equestria. Mah uncle seemed pretty excited when I sent him that letter detailing him yer "crazy" idea."

"Yeah, but only because of those blueprints ya drew up making it seem not so crazy. Ah still don't understand that bit though."

"Which one?"

"How it would change things. Ah mean, y'all have airships for crying out loud. Those are a bit more versatile than something like a truck."

"Well...ta be honest, that's true. But airships are pretty costly. Not everypony can afford one and if ya wanna ship on them it's pretty expensive. Why do ya think a lot of our delivers are made by us personally dragging carts?"

'What about the train ones?'

"Actually, that one Ah get Dark. Trains don't go everywhere after all, even here."

"Eeeeeyup. So believe me Ryan, when Ah say it'll make things better I truly mean it."

"Hahaha, okay Mac, Ah hear ya. Ugh...Ah think that's enough tampering with world dynamics for now, though. I should probably go check on the girls." Ryan dusted off his clothing before stretching, "T-Sparks is all flustered with those delegates from...Saddle Arabia? Ah think that was it, with them coming so I—"

Suddenly a rainbow blur cut across the sky, heading towards Fluttershy's cottage where Twilight had been practicing, 'Was that Rainbow?'

"Ah think so...but what in tarnation could have her going that fast?"

"Here!" Big Mac shouted, tossing Ryan his sword, "Something tells me ya might be needing that."

Strapping it on, Ryan gave a nod before pulling on the new hat Apps had given him, "Thanks Mac. Keep an eye on the others while we go check this out."

Hearing an 'Eyup' in reply, Ryan snapped his fingers, flapped his wings, and headed off in the same direction Dashie had.

...only to nearly get hit by her heading back towards town.

"Whoa! Dashie, what's up?" Ryan did his best to catch up to her but wasn't doing too well.

"No time! Ponyville! Trouble! Come on!"

'...there's the foreboding feeling again.'

"Tell me about it."

With that Ryan followed her towards town before landing and seeing a strange, hooded figure conversing with Rarity, "...yeah, that's not foreboding. Not at all."

"Now listen here, you can't just come in here and start waving magic all about and causing trouble for everypony. That's certainly not how you make friends darling, furthermore—"

And that was when Ryan saw Rarity's outfit turn into the most ghastly combination of colors that nearly made him go blind. Watching as Pinkie quickly grabbed her and noted something about an emergency need for soothing pink, Ryan furrowed his brow before walking over towards this new stranger, "Ah don't know who you are, but Ah don't appreciate ya causing trouble in mah town. And Ah especially don't like you messing with mah herd."

The figure looked at Ryan before grimacing, "...the ape. Of course."

"...ape? Wait...there was only one pony other than Filthy that called me that before. What was her name?"

"TRIXIE!"

"Yeah! That was it! T-Sparks?" Ryan glanced over his shoulder to see Twilight running up from behind, "Guess we know what the mystery was now, huh Dark?"

'Indeed but...' Dark thought he saw a glance of something that filled him with dread, '...she's wearing something...something I hope is not what I think it is.'

Of course, that was when the mysterious mare did indeed remove her hood to show none other than self-proclaimed "Great and Powerful" Trixie wearing a very curious amulet.

"...self-proclaimed? Perhaps you foals aren't the only one I need to get some revenge on."

Heh, I'd like to see you try. Anyway, Twilight ran up just as Ryan felt Dark go quite silent and a chill ran up his back, "Dark...what's wrong?"

'That...that amulet! It can't be! There's...there's no way! I could've sworn Cellie and Woona had that thing destroyed!'

Trixie huffed before stamping the ground, "...I will not be ignored! I did not track down this powerful artifact just to be ignored!"

Twilight rolled her eyes before sighing, "Then why did you come here Trixie? When we last met in Manehatten you made it clear we were the last ponies you wanted to see."

"Ah yes, that was the case." Trixie smirked, "After the humiliating way you chased me from town, I did not want to see you again. That is...until I found a way to have my revenge! And as your strange ape's disembodied voice shows, you should all be very afraid."

"Yeah right!" Rainbow Dash huffed, "Why would we be afraid of a phony like you?"

Glaring at Rainbow, Trixie grinned evilly before zapping one of her wings and enlarging it, making her lob-sided as she spun about before hitting the ground.

"Hey! That was really mean of you! You're such a mean-butt!"

"Silence!" Trixie shouted, somehow summoning an arrow and clicking Pinkie's mouth off her face before tossing it in a garbage bin.

"I've seen enough!" Ryan growled, pulling out Malus Domestica, "I won't let ya keep harming mah herd!"

Trixie chuckled at his bravado, "While I am most amused an ape such as you wishes to take me on...the one that I am here for is Twilight Sparkle."

"What? You want to duel me? Trixie, I'm not going to fall for your tricks." Twilight shook her head, "I will not fight you for such petty reasons."

"Oh really? Then how about this?" Trixie turned her attention to Spike whom she turned into a giant gemstone.

"Is...is it wrong that I kinda want to eat myself?"

Ryan facepalmed at his little brother's reaction before tightening his hold on his sword, "Come on T-Sparks! We can't let this brat keep messing with those we care about."

"Hmmmm? Not enough? Then again, I shouldn't expect any less from you Twilight Sparkle." Trixie seemed to concentrate for a bit though it wasn't readily obvious what she did, "Ah yes...perhaps this will entice you?"

"What in tarnation....? Where's the sun gone?" AppleJack slowly looked up and gasped, "Ack!"

"What's got you so wor—our house!" Ryan gasped, seeing the house they'd waited so long for just floating above them.

"Trixie..."

"Yes Twilight Sparkle. Get upset! That is how I wish you to feel!" With that Trixie focused her magic before turning the house into a massive amount of popcorn that fell on to the town burying it under three feet of salty snack food.

Ryan fell to his knees, staring at the popcorn kernels, "Mah...mah house. That Ah worked so hard on designing...so we'd all be comfy and happy. Rawr! Cascading Wind! Violent Apple Vortex!"

Swiping at the popcorn, Ryan swung Malus Domestica and sent forth a large vortex that swept away all the popcorn and cleared the town of it leaving a very pissed human to glare at Trixie...though Twilight was still refusing to do anything.

"Hmph...not enough huh? Well then...how about this?" With that Trixie merely flicked her horn upwards and waited. The others looked around trying to figure out what exactly she had done and...

...

...WHY THE HELL IS THE TEXT PINK?!

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just figured I should include everyone in my revenge." Trixie smugly...even with this!? Ugh...Twilight Sparkle!

"...y-yes?"

KICK HER ASS!

"...I suppose we can't have whatever is happening happen so fine. Fix things and I will face you Trixie."

"Very well!" With a wave of her—hey! It's back to normal! Anyway, with a wave of her horn she undid the damage she had wrought...well, save for Pinkie who still was not given back her mouth.

What followed was an amazing display of magical talent and prowess as the two unicorns continued testing one another's skill...and leaving Ryan to play hero as he rescued the poor background ponies from getting caught in the crossfire. Huffing to catch his breath, he could see the two were now at a stalemate, "Dude...what....what the hell? I was told Trixie was an illusionist who's magic was just like a normal magician's."

'...It's that amulet. It's how she's so powerful.'

"What is it about that amulet that's got you so worried?" Ryan asked before turning to see Twilight in Trixie's grasp, "T-Sparks!"

"You've lost Twilight Sparkle...and thus, I banish you from Ponyville!"

With that Twilight was tossed out of the town as Ryan chased after her. Unfortunately he could do nothing as he ran into a force-field of some kind and bounced back hard on to the ground, "Ow...the hell?"

Standing up, he placed a hand on the invisible wall and watched as Twilight did the same with her hoof, "T-Sparks..."

"This is my town now! Further more...what?" Trixie was puzzled as Ryan began smashing away at the force-field with his sword, "Stupid ape...what hope does he have to best me when even Twilight Sparkle couldn't best me?"

"Rawr! Let! Us! Out!" Ryan practically growled as each strike was deflected with ease, "What the hell is this?"

"...oh now, what's this?" Trixie smirked, a creepy grin on her face, "Do you...wish to try your hand as well?"

Ryan glared at Trixie before shouting one thing, "Propogate! Malus Domestica!"

Trixie tilted her head at his curious actions, "Why would you wish to multiply the trees of the apple variety?"

Ryan gave no reply as he split his sword into two before rushing at Trixie who wasted no time in firing a blast of magic at him. Side-stepping the blast, Ryan was upon Trixie before she gasped and in desperation kicked her hoof out...and right into Ryan's weak spot!

"Ugh!" Ryan gasped, his voice raising in pitch slightly as his hands went to his crotch, "Ahhhhhh...."

'Ryan! Dammit! Of all the lucky shots!' Dark growled before watching as AppleJack took advantage of the situation, grabbing Ryan while Rainbow Dash grabbed his sword, '...quickly! She still seems stunned that he was able to get so close!'

The rest of his herd took Dark's advice and skedaddled before Trixie could collect herself. Twilight could do nothing but watch as her herdmates ran off and while she was worried about them—Lyra specifically as she was in their house when Trixie had picked it up—she knew she didn't have much she could do until that barrier was down.

"...I need help...and there may be only one pony that can help me."

Ryan slowly groaned as he came too, the pain between his legs still lingering, "...dammit. Ugh...roll call!"

"Dashie!"

"Apps!"

"Rares!"

"F-flutters!"

"Mmmph!"

"...oh right, yer mouth. Ugh...well that's...wait...wait...girls, where's Lyra?" Ryan looked around frantically, noting they were in the Treebary, "She said something about a surprise and then..."

There was a noise from the top most level of the library and then, rather timidly, a voice cried out, "H-heartsy...present."

"Lyra?!" Ryan looked up to see Lyra dangling from the ceiling, "Umm...okay! Just...drop! Ah've gotcha!"

"Drop?! Well..." Lyra looked nervous as she stared at Ryan, "Well...okay Rys. I trust you."

With that she let go and fell, her eyes shut tight as she awaited an impact with the ground...an impact that never came as she felt herself land on something warm that grunted upon said impact. Opening her eyes she could see Ryan had indeed caught her as he said he would, only not in the way she'd expected, "Rys...I don't think falling on you is all that good an idea."

Ryan simple groaned softly at the light mint mare currently crashed on his chest, "It's all good Heartsy...besides, at least the pain from you falling on me is distracting me from the still paralyzing pain of getting kicked in the nards."

Fluttershy walked over to Ryan before smiling sweetly at him, "Uhm, would...would it help if I nuzzled you there Ry?"

"What?!" Ryan gasped, his face flushing at her rather bold comment, "W-why would you suggest that?"

"W-well, when my little animal friends are hurting they always seem more relaxed with a good nuzzle so I figured it would work the same with this?"

'Hahahaha, you crazy, innocent butter pone. While I'm sure he wouldn't fight you on that, it's probably best we help him keep a level head right now...especially with Trixie still out there wearing the Alicorn Amulet.'

AppleJack looked at the others before staring at him, "Wait...ya mean ta tell me ya know what that thing was Dark?"

'Ryan, if you would?'

"Huh? Oh, okay...Soul Cross." Ryan casually stated, as he swapped control with Dark in the most non-fanfare way possible.

"Okay! So, quick history lesson." Dark paused for a moment before donning his wings, "Sorry, just doesn't feel right without them. Also...helps distract from the pain down south; Trixie really did a number on poor Ryan's body. Ahem! Anyway...all that aside yes I do know about this artifact she found. It, like a lot of things that seem eager to cause trouble, is from long ago."

With a flick of his wrist, Dark opened up a odd magical portal before pulling out a television of all things. Setting it down he turned it on...before giving it a swift kick when all it would show is snow, "Hold on...these things are a bit tricky."

Banging on it once more and messing with the rabbit ears, a crudely drawn animation finally began showing to which Dark narrated, "Long ago, sometime after I had made the acquaintance of Tia and Woona, there came reports of a group of unicorns and human mages that were envious of the powers those two had. It was a secret order that practiced magic of the darker variety, all in an attempt to find a way to be as strong as they were. My mentor sent a small group of his most trustworthy ponies to find them and stop them from potentially unleashing something awful on our world."

"So I'd wager they didn't succeed with that one, darling?"

"Unfortunately Rares, we did not." Dark flicked a switch on the channel to show another animation, this one depicting him, another human, and two other ponies watching in horror, "Sombra, Hurricane, Cecil, and I arrived too late to stop their plans and could only watch in horror as their efforts bore fruit."

"Wait, wait, wait...I thought you said ponies!"

Dark rolled his eyes, "Dashie...remember how it got to where I didn't see a difference between human and pony?"

"...yeah."

"Exactly! We all saw each other that way...but getting back to the story, we waited to see just what they'd done before making a move." Dark changed the channel again before frowning, "Sadly, they all began to fight with one another over who should have control of the Amulet and...it got pretty messy."

The others watched as the brightness of the television faded before Dark shut it off, "In the end, the only one left was too worn out to fight against us and so we brought him back to find out what he knew. Unfortunately, he was not cooperative and eventually broke free before using the enhanced magic it granted him to wreak havoc. Only with the added help of Tia, Woona, and my mentor did we hold him at bay long enough..."

"...D-Dark?" Fluttershy nuzzled his side, "Long enough for what?"

"...for the Amulet to extract its toll...for him to die." Dark shook his head, "The Alicorn Amulet does indeed grant any magic user untold increases in power to the point where they can do almost anything. Granted, it's still limited to things that even magic can't do...yet. But it does so at a terrible price: it corrupts the one wearing it, making them unaware as it slowly drains the life-force away until finally...well, you know. That's the only way we even recovered it to hide away as only the one that puts it on can remove it."

With that explanation over, Dark switched back with Ryan as he looked at the television, "That...that TV looks oddly familiar. Ahem, but you're saying she's the only one that can remove it then?"

'Pretty much...unless she expends all her energy and ya know...but I get the feeling we'd rather avoid that.'

Rarity huffed, "Yes, darling. While Trixie is a bit of an...annoyance, she certainly doesn't deserve that kind of fate."

"Sooo...hey wait!" Ryan snapped his fingers, "Spike!"

"...yes?"

"Why don't we just send a letter to Cellie telling her what's happening? She and Lunes could help right?"

'Eeeeenope.' Dark noted, 'Forgetting the fact they're off on a diplomatic mission to Saddle Arabia—'

At this Ryan snickered before laughing, "Sorry, sorry...Ah just love the puns in this world so much."

'Anyway, not counting that fact in meaning they'd be quite a distance away, that force-field Trixster has put up probably wouldn't allow anything through it, magic or otherwise. Remember how your sword didn't do much?'

"...yes. So then what? We just sit around and do nothing? We're lucky she doesn't know where to look for us because knowing how villains are she'd come after us first because of T-Sparks."

And it was at that exact moment Trixie's voice began to ring out throughout the town, "Citizens of Ponyville...this is your new leader speaking. As long as you all do as I say, no harm will come to any of you....but I know there are some out there that would be foolish enough to fight me and that's why if you help turn them in to me I will be lenient and only take my wrath out on them. Should you refuse to....well let's just say things will get much worse now that I'm in charge."

At that the weather outside turned and became quite dark, lighting flashing and striking everywhere as Trixie's evil laughter echoed in the background.

"That evil little...." Ryan grumbled, clenching his fist.

"However, should said individuals come to me on their own I will leave their little townsfolk friends alone. For every hour that passes they do not show up, I will be left with no choice but to choose a random pony and do something...unpleasant." Trixie cackled as she let her message fade out, "The choice is yours friends and ape of Twilight Sparkle...."

"Dude, that's not cool." Spike huffed, "We can't just let her get away with that can we?"

"B-but Twilight couldn't even best her and she's the strongest magic user we know." Fluttershy frowned, curling around Ryan's leg, "Ry? What are we going to do?"

"..."

Rainbow Dash smirked as she flapped over and plopped her head on top of his, "I know that look big guy. You're gonna go face her even though you know you probably can't match that Amulet's power huh?"

Ryan laughed softly, "You mares know me well. No wonder we make such a great herd."

"Apple Ryder...." AppleJack sighed before readjusting her hat, "Oh tarnation, you and yer hero qualities. Heh, count me in. Ah can't let the other ponyfolk get hurt just because Trixie has some stupid grudge against Twi."

"So, not to interrupt, but what exactly are we going to do?" Lyra shot Ryan a puzzled look, "It's all well and good we're doing what we should but we can't fight her directly. Only three of us use magic and I doubt even combined it'll be enough."

'Not to worry sweet lyre of ours, there is a fail-safe spell Star-Swirled came up with to counteract the amplification of the Amulet. Unfortunately...'

The group seemed worried by his pause, "...unfortunately?"

'It has a limit...and can only work for so long before overwhelming the caster of it.'

"So what yer saying Dark is that Ah could probably be the tank using it but try not to get zapped too many times?" Ryan gulped, "Should Ah ask what happens if yer hit by the amplified magic?"

'Depends on the spell caster's desire. But since Trixie seems to not be in a right state of mind...'

"Basically a hit most likely equals pain. Lots and lots of pain." Ryan readjusted Malus Domestica before nodding, "Come on ladies, we've got a mare that's been bad and needs some punishing."

Pinkie giggled before wiggling her eyebrows.

"...Pinks, no. Just..." Ryan laughed loudly, "Oh man...even without a mouth you still make innuendo."

'Just be careful everypone...while I can do what I can to keep the spell covering you all, it's a big drain on the caster.' Dark sounded strangely serious, 'So just do your best to avoid any hits....'

"...Dark, Ah hate to say this, but the fact that yer worried has got me feeling pretty uneasy."

"I have to admit I agree with AppleJack, darling."

'Hey, it's me guys! I've kept Ryan and y'all safe since the beginning right?' Dark let out a growly laugh, 'So don't worry...I'll keep our herd safe. Now come on! We can't let her hurt innocent ponies!'

Trixie was bored. She was so very bored as she forced Snails and Snips to do some menial task for her amusement as she watched the clock tick minute by minute. It had been nearly an hour since her little proclamation and she was starting to wonder if perhaps they weren't as stupid as she thought they were.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is losing patience with how quiet things are." Trixie watched as the hour hand finally shifted and signified the time limit was up, "Oh well...I suppose they've given me no choice. Time to single out some unlucky pony to torture!"

Snails and Snips gulped as she glanced their way before sighing in relief as she trotted over to the door of the slightly reshaped City Hall. Smirking a smile that would haunt the reaches of your nightmares, she flung it open and saw a poor, hapless pony that was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Oh dear me, you poor, poor mare." Trixie cackled as her eyes began to glow, "It looks like you'll be the first victim due to their cowardice. Ta-ta!"

The poor pony was frozen on the spot as she watched what was most likely her end come barreling towards her but then...

"Ah don't think so!" Ryan crashed in front of her, slicing Trixie's attack in half and smirking as it exploded harmlessly against the ground, "You okay Roseluck?"

"I...I...I should run yes?"

"That would be correct." Ryan laughed nervously as he watched her scamper off before glaring at Trixie, "What the hell you crazy pone? Ya trying to kill someone?"

"If the mood strikes me...but seeing as you're here perhaps I can find some other way to entertain myself." Trixie waggled her eyebrows before laughing, "I knew you'd come out of hiding if I threatened innocent ponies. Peh, you're so predictable...leave it to that fool Twilight Sparkle to find such ridiculous pets."

Ryan's eye twitched at that comment, "Pet? Heh, Ah ain't a pet to her....Ah'm something you could only hope to have from what Ah've been told."

Trixie scoffed at his words, unaware that the others were getting into their positions to try and surround her, "And what might that be you overgrown ape? If you aren't her pet then just what exactly are you to her?"

"Heh, that's easy." Ryan winked before striking a pose, "Ah'm her stallion...or more specifically, the stallion to the herd she is a part of."

Trixie stared at Ryan, trying to process exactly what he'd said. After a few moments she eyed him curiously once again before laughing loudly, "You?! A stallion? Oh please...maybe if stallion's were some strange type of ape and had a bizarre disease that made their fur fall off."

'Oh my...I do believe she has struck a nerve with you Ryan.'

"Why, whatever do you mean Darkness?" Ryan's head twitched slightly, "She simply said that a pony would only find me attractive if they had a thing for sickly, mutated stallions. Why would Ah take offense to that? Haha, especially when it comes from the kind of mare that would only get a stallion if they were into insecure, pompous, phony-baloney magicians that could be outshined by a grade school magic show?"

Trixie, predictably, didn't take that very well, "What? How dare you! How dare you even suggest that the Great, Powerful, And Sexy Trixie couldn't have any stallion she wanted? I'm going to enjoy putting you into your place."

Laughing softly, Ryan took his fighting stance before motioning at her, "Let's see what you've got then."

'Girls! Now!'

"What?" Trixie gasped as she felt something wrap around her leg and yank her off her feet, "Hey! Trixie does not approve of these shenanigans!"

And yet they didn't stop as AppleJack lifted her off the ground, flinging her towards Rarity and Lyra who quickly tied her up with a multitude of ribbons. With that done, Ryan levitated her in the air as Spike quickly flew in and blindfolded her while Pinkie hopped up to put what appeared to be a comically large cork on her horn. Helping Fluttershy after she pulled in a cloud, Rainbow Dash manipulated it so it completely surrounded Trixie, effectively hiding her from sight.

'Now Ryan!'

"Right, Dark!" Ryan shouted, casting a spell on the cloud to freeze it solid. Watching as it fell with a clank to the ground, the group watched as a quiet began to fall over the town now that they had apparently contained Trixie.

"Even if it is her, darling, I do hate to be so extreme with somepony."

"Ah wouldn't worry too much Rares, Dark did say she'd be okay despite all this."

"Apps is right but....partner?"

'Yeah Ryan?'

"...is she really gonna be okay frozen like that? Ah mean, Ah'm no scientist, but Ah'm pretty sure unless it's done right flash-freezing someone like that usually kills them."

'I already told you, using the spell the way I showed you keeps that from happening.' Dark let out a quiet 'hmmm', '...odd. Doing that should've cut off the source of her shield and yet...'

"...it's still active." Fluttershy hid behind Ryan, "Ry...I'm worried."

"I hate to say it...." Spike drummed his fingers nervously on his side, "But I'm getting that odd sense of impending doom as well."

"Apple Ryder, ya don't think that..."

Ryan went to say something before watching as the block of ice shook, "...dammit. Look out everypony!"

'Disharmonic Resonance!'

Dark barely got the words out before Trixie unleashed her wrath, shattering her temporary prison and striking those around her with the amplified power of the Alicorn Amulet. Groaning, Dark coughed a bit before laughing, '...almost didn't get that out in time. Everypone okay?'

"Ah think we're okay but....well, Trixie looks a might pissed."

"Ooooh, you insignificant worms! How dare you try to pull one over on the Great and Exceedingly Beautiful Trixie!"

Ryan blinked slightly before smirking, "...looks like mah comment about her looks is eating her more than she's letting on."

"Silence you stupid ape!" Trixie shouted, zapping the ground in front of him with magic, "Perhaps I should do to you what I did to the pink one?"

Ryan gasped as he saw the mouse arrow come flying at him before he blocked it with Malus Domestica. Holding it at bay, he snickered at something Dark was doing before he watched the cursor shake a bit and then change color before gaining black wings as it floated over towards Trixie, clicked on her butt, and changed her cutie mark into a badly drawn picture of her going 'blah, blah, blah'.

"My! My magnificent flanks! How dare you sully such beauty?!"

'...man, and I thought me and Dash had egos. Then again, it could just be the Amulet doing this.'

"...Oh, I'm afraid it isn't. Trixie was definitely this full of herself when she first showed up." Fluttershy meeped when Trixie glared at her, "R-Ryan!"

Gently patting her head as she hid behind him, Ryan took a deep breath before staring at her, "We'll give you one chance to end this nonsense Trixie. Take off the Amulet, give it to us to hide away from the world, and we'll let what's happened slide...mostly. You still owe us a new house and Ah expect help in fixing that situation."

Trixie scoffed before rolling her eyes, "Why would Trixie accept such an offer when she clearly has the upper hand? Ugly and stupid....whatever does Twilight Sparkle see in you?"

'We might not be able to avoid fighting her, partner.'

"Ah know...which means we've got to just hold on. If'n Ah know T-Sparks, she's working on her own plan somehow." Ryan winked at Fluttershy, shooing her over to the others before holding his other hand over Malus Domestica, "Ya wanna rumble Trix, then fine! Propogate! Malus Domestica!"

Trixie snorted for a bit, amused by his antics, "What ridiculous idea is that? Shouting about apple trees and their making of offspring...has the situation driven you to madness again?"

'Madness?'

"Heh, this is Ponyville!" Ryan roared as he ran at her, "We're all a little mad here...especially when some pompous little fool wants to ruin our town!"

"Peh! So quick to rush to your end are you?" Trixie scoffed, igniting her horn until it resembled a beam saber as she blocked Ryan's attack with it, "And what exactly makes you think you can even possibly last long enough for Twilight Sparkle to return? If she even does that is~"

"Ah've fought against the God of Chaos himself...survived being stabbed by the Changeling Queen...and cheated death more times than Ah can count." Ryan lashed at her over and over with both swords, "But most of all, the thing that drives me on is those Ah wish to protect. The ones Ah love are what gives me strength and makes any challenge seem possible!"

Trixie gasped as Ryan knocked her back before she scoffed at such ramblings, "Other ponies are the source of your resolve? How ridiculous! Having someone like that is a liability!"

Watching in horror as Trixie lined up and fired a shot at Rarity and Spike, Ryan heard Dark shout out the same spell from before...but this time it was followed by Dark grunting as well.

'Ugh....'

"Dark!"

"Oh my...it would seem that while your little voice can protect you, it comes at a cost." Trixie smirked cruelly, "I wonder then, just how much of an assault from the Great and Powerful Trixie you could handle?!"

"Oh no you don't!" Ryan ran towards her again, swords drawn, but found only empty air as she teleported away and fired at his friends once more.

'Disharmonic Resonance!'

Once again Dark's spell kept their friends safe from the Amulet's power, but it became apparent that the cost was increasing with each use.

"Partner?"

'...I'm okay. Can't let her hurt the others...just have to hold out.'

Trixie cackled loudly before shaking her head, "Such bravado from one without a body of their own...but if that's not enough, then how about this!"

Now glowing from her amplified magic, Trixie unleashed a blast of magic that scattered in multiple directions and was, obviously, aimed at his loved ones that weren't sure what to do. In the blink of an eye the attack hit, though only one voice cried out in anguish, '....ARGH!'

AppleJack slowly opened her eyes, surprised to see they were okay, "He...Dark managed to protect us all at the same time!"

Even Trixie was somewhat surprised by this, "Well...it would seem there's more to you than your appearance would lead me to believe. However....how many times can you handle that?"

With that she launched the same attack over and over and over as Dark did his best to counter it and protect his loved ones. Despite their best efforts, the others couldn't shake the spell no matter how much they moved and so each time they were protected from a hit Dark growled in pain until finally, with one last attack, there was a shattering noise and Ryan clutched his chest before falling to his knees.

"Ryan!"

"Apple Ryder!"

Ryan panted heavily, feeling the fatigue his other self felt quite clearly, "Ah'm...Ah'm okay but Dark....ugh....damn you Trixie."

Trixie gave a hearty laugh as she slowly sauntered towards Ryan's prone form. Leaning down and looking into his eyes, she slowly charged her horn before glaring at him, "You stupid ape...even if you knew what this was, it would never save you. For no matter how strong that spell was, it did not help you or your master all those years ago...so why would it help you now when so many more require it's protection?"

Realizing what Trixie intended to do, those in Ryan's herd charged forward to try and do something to stop her but as they closed in time seemed to drag and stand still. As Trixie released her attack, Ryan heard but one voice over all of them, 'I'm sorry partner, goodbye....SOUL CRASH!"

Only managing to utter a horrified 'What? No!', Ryan felt the impact from the blast send him flying and skidding along the ground before he came to a stop amongst some rubble. The group watched in horror as he lay there unmoving before glaring at the smug Trixie.

"Heh, what else did you expect? I'm not sure what that weird voice was trying to do, but it clearly failed. And now that the unexpected annoyance is taken care of, I do believe I have some use for all of you. After all, the Great and Powerful Trixie has need of an equally Great and Powerful throne for her kingdom....and her Great and Powerful hunger needs sated as well." Glancing at those there, she cackled evilly as the Amulet glowed brighter and brighter, "Any volunteers?"

With only the laughter from Trixie echoing about, it could be forgiven if nopony heard the slight shifting of rubble as Ryan's arms twitched slightly, his fingers curling as if trying to grasp something. Nearby, the two components of Malus Domestica stuck up from the ground as something oddly curious happened: the apple jewel on both shifted from its normal colors of red and orange to a dark, icy black. Feeling a renewed strength, Ryan slowly rose from the rubble but looked different: his normal cheery composure and cocky smile were gone, replaced by a very cold, calculated scowl and his hair was no longer it's normal dirty blonde color. Instead, it appeared to be made of ice as it stood straight up in spikes, "TRIXIE!"

"Apple Ry—holy ponyfeathers! What's wrong with him?!"

"What do you mean AJ—is his hair made of ice? Brrr....and it feels really cold all of a sudden." Rainbow Dash shivered, "....Rys?"

"TRIXIE!" Ryan threw his hands to his sides and waited as the now apparently corrupted components of Malus Domestica shot to his side.

"Well, well, it would seem that the ape is still with us....perhaps that spell did do some good after all. Heh...at least in delaying the inevitable anyway—what?" Trixie gasped as Ryan was upon her faster than she could deal with, "How did you...?"

"YOU. KILLED. DARKNESS!" Ryan growled, seemingly not himself as he kicked Trixie in the face, sending her reeling slightly, "I WILL NOT...LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THAT!"

"Wha...what are you talking abou—ACK!" Trixie screamed as Ryan hit her once again, this time drawing blood as she tumbled along the ground, "...where did you get....this power?"

"...Ry-Ryan?" Fluttershy timidly whispered before shrieking as a blast of cold air wrapped around her, "...Ryan."

"What happened to him?" Spike looked about hoping for some answer, "It's like...Trixie broke him somehow."

As they watched Trixie try to avoid Ryan's wrath, they could sense that something was amiss with their human and that he was lost in his sorrowful anger. Unsure of just how the heck they could break him out of this, they could only continue watching in horror as he pummeled the ever-living crap out of Trixie.

"Oh darling..." Rarity bit her hoof, tears in her eyes, "...I can't stand seeing him like this."

"...I'm also worried about what he said." Lyra frowned, "He said she killed Dark? But...but that can't be! How could she...?"

Not sure the answer to that either, they could only watch as it seemed that Ryan had finally cornered Trixie where he wanted her as she lay in a heap on the ground with him standing over her prone form.

"Wait! Wait!" Trixie gasped in agony before reaching up and unclasping the Alicorn Amulet from her neck, handing it to Ryan, "Here! P-Please....s-stop....n-no more...."

Ryan looked at the Amulet indifferently before chucking it over his shoulder. He leaned down till he was face-to-face with her as he narrowed his eyes before uttering words that chilled her very soul, "It. Ain't. Enough."

Lifting up his two swords, he threw them down so they embedded on either side of Trixie in a x-shaped pattern. Roaring loudly in anger and clenching his fists he prepared to release his full rage upon the hapless blue unicorn, "Suffer in an Arctic Wasteland! Frozen Apple Avalan—"

For some reason, Ryan couldn't bring himself to finish his attack, "Frozen! A-Apple! A-va-lan—"

His mind was unable to comprehend what was holding him back until he felt a hoof touch his shoulder and a gentle, calming aura surround him. Trying to settle his breathing he turned to his right to see none other than one Twilight Sparkle, "...T...T-Sparks?"

"Ryan. Shhh...it's okay. Let it go...don't...don't let it consume you."

"But! She...what she did...."

Twilight looked into his eyes, "I know...but don't become lost to your rage. It...it is not something you want happening. Trust me. So please...come back to us and let it go."

At her words, Ryan felt all his new-found energy drain away. His hair melted back to its normal form as he began to cry not only for the pain he felt at Dark's loss but at what he'd become in his rage...and the results of that rage. Crying out loud in anguish, Malus Domestica's apple jewels finally could not take the stress any further and cracked before Ryan finally collapsed backwards and passed out.

"Rys!"

Twilight was worried for a moment before placing her hoof on his chest, "He's okay...he just couldn't take it anymore. What...what happened? What could have possibly hurt our human so much that he...he became that and did this to Trixie?"

The others weren't really sure how to best say it, but Lyra stepped forward, "If I had to make a guess Twilight, something happened to Dark while we were trying to stop her. He used this spell to protect us from the Alicorn Amulet's effects but then...it was too much and Dark used some other spell."

"It was some kinda spell Ah'd never heard those two use before Twi." AppleJack shook her head, "It sounded a lot like that there Soul Cross thing they used before but...Ah couldn't make out what the other word was. It started with a 'C' but...Ry-Ry seemed mighty worried when he heard it."

"...Crash."

The others looked at Rainbow Dash who seemed a bit nervous, "What? The word he used instead was crash. Dark used some spell called Soul Crash and then...well you know what happened."

Twilight frowned before sighing, "Sorry Zecora...but it looks like we were just a little too late."

"While what you say may be true, there is still much we must do." Zecora nodded, "The Amulet for one we must hide, so that no other may be corrupted to the dark side."

Seeing it lying in the grass not far from where both Ryan and Trixie were passed out, Twilight collected it up before placing it in a box. After that she went into her usual serious mode, organizing everypony to get things rolling on fixing the situation as best they could.

Still, one thought worried her as they carried their human and Trixie to the hospital, 'Darkness...could you...could you really be gone?'

"Dark...Dark....why...why did you use that spell?"

Ryan twisted in anguish, "Why did you give your life like that? Like it...it was nothing to decide? I told you...to never use that spell...never....never..."

Ryan's herd frowned as he mumbled in his sleep, sweating terribly at whatever had a hold on him in his dreams as he continued to toss in his hospital bed.

'Ryan....'

Ryan gasped as he was...where was this? It...no, this green field...the clear blue sky. It couldn't be.

"No...not like this....Dark please....don't...." Ryan turned to see Dark staring up at the sky with a sad look on his face, "Please..."

"...I did what I needed to. With all that you gladly did to give me some semblance of normalcy, what kind of guy...what kind of friend...no, what kind of brother would I be if I didn't do my all to protect you from harm?"

"But....you told me that spell..."

"I know, I told you to never use it because of how dangerous it can be towards the caster's well-being." Dark let out a sad laugh, "Of course, you have your body so there was even more reason for you to not use it....but as for me..."

"Dark..." Ryan walked slowly towards him, "What...what do we do without you? Ah...Ah've only come as far as Ah did thanks to yer guidance. You...you can't be gone...we need you...Ah need you..."

Dark shook his head, "You've become quite strong Ryan...y'all will do fine without an old fossil like me."

"...and what about Lunes?"

"Woona..." Dark clutched his chest, "I..."

"Even if it's only through me, being able to be with you again in some way has made her much happier. Cellie's made it pretty clear about that..."

"...though I'm sure she's happier seeing me again too." Dark shrugged, "It doesn't matter though. In the end, I did what I had to in order to protect you Ryan....and so I used Soul Crash despite the risks. In the end, I just didn't have enough...tell the others I'm sorry and as for Woona..."

Ryan watched as Dark began to fade away from sight and, despite his best efforts to catch him, he merely fell forward on to the grass. With that he was the only sign of life left in this curious landscape.

"Dark!!" Ryan gasped as he shot up in bed, scaring the hell out of his herd in the process, "...ugh...Dark..."

"Apple Ryder!" AppleJack gasped as she hugged him tight...followed by the others as well.

"Gals...little bro....in the hospital again huh?" Ryan laughed into a cough, "So...."

"It's been two days. Once we were sure those hurt were stabilized we contacted the Princesses and they took care of things with the delegates." Twilight nuzzled his side, "When they came back they were shocked to see the Amulet again but they assure me they've taken care of it this time...and are looking to see who Trixie got this from and just how this pony came to possess it in the first place."

"...it's...so weird now."

"W-what is Ryan?"

"The quiet, Flutters." Ryan gently tapped his head, "Ah'm so used to his...his voice, his presence up there. It was...comforting after all this time. And....and now he's...he's...."

Ryan nearly lost it again, his tears only being held back by the comforting nuzzles of his herd. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he sighed, "I just...he didn't deserve to go out like that."

"...he went out like a hero, right?"

"Ah know Spike but...Ah'd always hoped that one day Ah could help him get his body back so...so he and Lunes could have what they never got to." Ryan gripped the sheets of his bed tightly, "And now...now that can never be...."

Unsure as to what to say, they all sat there in silence as they did their best to give Ryan the comfort he needed after all that had happend. As it was, they were a bit startled when there was a knock at the door and in strolled, "...Doctor?"

"Oh! I do say, it's nice to see you are up and about now!"

"...yeah. Another fun adventure."

"At least you're attempting humor, that's always a good sign with you. Haha." The Doctor fiddled around in his saddlebag before pulling something out, "Here. I noted it had a bit of a rough time with that whole incident following Dark's removal from your head, so not only did I fix it for you but I improved it some as well. Consider it my way of trying to make up for not being here to help you deal with that nasty little Amulet."

"...Malus Domestica...thank you. But...heh, that's a peculiar way to say Dark's dead Mr. Pony Master of Time and Space."

The Doctor tilted his head before raising an eyebrow, "Dead? Is that what has you so down in the dumps? You think he's dead. You're...you're serious aren't you? Well then, good man, let me be the first to tell you he's perfectly safe....somewhere."

"...what?"

"Ah, yes. Well, after being informed of what happened by the dear Twilight Sparkle I began searching for the unique aura you shared with Dark. It was a bit difficult at first, but after giving her the best pep-talk ever the Tardis found it." At this The Doctor frowned, "Unfortunately, she can't exactly pin-point where he is given his whole lack of a physical body at the moment but...she assures me he is still in Equestria somewhere."

"This almost sounds too good ta be true."

"Darling, not that I doubt him but..."

"Oh come on Rare-bear, this is the Doctor we're talking about. You can always trust him." Ryan looked up at the ceiling, "I know it does sound too good to be true, but if the Doctor says Dark is out there somewhere...then by God we're going to find him!"

"While your Doctor friend is indeed quite skilled, perhaps I may assist in finding the one thought killed."

"Zecora. Heh, as always your rhymes are performed on time. To what do we owe this visit?"

"First off it is to check up on you my friend, and the second is my help I shall lend."

"Zecora, darling, are you say you could help us find Dark?"

"Your friend is still alive, of this is true, but to find where he was sent we must use a stronger brew."

The Doctor regarded her curiously before shrugging, "Well I must admit the magic of this world is still unknown to me so perhaps Zecora may be able to give the assistance I cannot....as long as I may study whatever she plans to do that is. Not too good if I don't learn more about magic after all."

"Well what are we waiting for then?" Spike looked at Ryan, "You do seem to be okay now."

"Of course Ah am! I can't sit by while Dark languishes somewhere." Ryan went to get up before groaning as a blur rushed in and pushed him back into bed, "What? Redheart?"

"You are staying right where you are young man!"

"...we're all roughly the same age, Redheart."

"Shush! You just woke up from another one of those incidents you seem fond of getting dragged into. What kind of nurse would I be if I just let you go wandering off into another one without making sure you're at the best you can be?"

Ryan looked into her eyes before sighing, "Okay, okay, you win. So...how long do I need to stay here this time?"

After another day in the hospital for them to run various tests and make sure he was okay, Ryan was cleared to go...but not before he requested checking up on Trixie. Redheart figured it was okay, but told him she was still not awake after everything that had happened. He had figured as much and sighed as he walked into her hospital room to see her all patched up, her vitals beeping rhythmically as she slept.

"God...Ah can't believe Ah did this to her." Ryan frowned as he looked over her bruised face, "Trixie...Ah'm sorry..."

Reaching out towards her, he gently ran his hand down her bandaged muzzle before feeling a deep ache in his chest. Shaking his head, he took one last look at her, "Ah can only hope you'll forgive me. Ah...Ah still don't know what that all was...Ah just wanted to protect mah loved ones but losing Dark like that. Anyway, get better soon Trixie...yer just another victim of the past like Dark it seems."

Realizing it was time to get things ready to meet with Zecora, he took her hoof and softly kissed it, "Ah'm sorry for those things Ah said too...yer actually quite pretty so, ya know, Ah'm sure you'll find a stallion someday. Anyway, Ah gotta go so...rest up Trix."

As he left the room, a small smile made its way across Trixie's sleeping face as a single tear fell down her cheek...

"Ah'll never understand how ya can tolerate living out here in the Everfree, Zecora."

"The forest does hold dangers many, but my survival skills are most uncanny."

Ryan laughed softly, "Well, you are very skilled in many mystical things...but...you say you can find where Dark is?"

"Finding Darkness is no hard task, but there is one small thing of you I must ask."

"Oh yes, a trade." Ryan glanced at those gathered there before shrugging, "But what could Ah have that you'd possibly want, Cora?"

"I can see you are no dummy, but from you Ryan..."

"...yes?"

"I wish for those hands to rub my tummy."

Ryan, his herd, his little brother, and Doctor Whooves as well all looked at her with blank expressions before simultaneously face palming/hoofing.

"Once again, it's always with the this—"At this he took his hands, waved them, then placed them on his stomach"—followed by the rubbing. Heh, oh well...were Dark here he'd probably say something about in a land of hooves, the man with hands is king."

"They are quite useful, darling."

"And they do know just where to scratch perfectly."

"Dashie's right, Rysy-Wysy! You always know just where those digits need to go to scratch that itch."

Ryan coughed a bit, "Pinks! Anyway, yes, yes Zecora, if mah friend would like some belly rubs in exchange for finding mah buddy Dark Ah can accept those terms."

"Very well, to this I am pleased. To find Dark will be done with such ease." Zecora pulled out a few things and began to mix them together in her pot, "And one last thing so this spell's not a dud, and that would be a bit of Ryan's blood."

"Uhm, why in tarnation would ya need some of Apple Ryder's blood?"

"The answer is simple, AppleJack dear....and that is the connection Dark has with Ryan here."

Twilight twitched her nose before speaking up, "I think I get what she's saying: basically because those two are linked, we need something concrete that would have their....magical essence for lack of a better word."

"Well, if it'll help us find him faster." Ryan took a needle and pricked his finger, wincing slightly as a drop of his blood fell into the pot and it flared up in multiple colors, "Well...did it work?"

"Haha, indeed it did and quite so well....oh, but this is..."

"What? What did you find out, Cora?"

"Darkness Shade...he is in hell."

After talking with Zecora for a few minutes more and being assured that, yes, Darkness was somehow in the underworld, the group was walking back to Ponyville while attempting to figure out their next game plan.

"This is just simply insane! Ah mean, Ah know y'all said that Tartarus was real here but....are ya telling me there's an entrance to hell near our quiet little town?"

"I do believe that's what they've explained to you, old chap." The Doctor seemed a bit puzzled, "But I have to wonder, why would Dark end up there of all places?"

"P-perhaps it's whatever spell Trixie tried to cast?"

"Fluttershy might have a point; we don't know what her intent was with that last spell or how Dark's use of that Soul Crash spell may have altered it." Spike shrugged, "I'm nowhere near as knowledgeable in magic as Twilight is, but I figure that's a good guess."

"Hmmm...maybe but...if he truly is there..."

Stopping just outside of town, Ryan turned to face his herd, "We're not leaving him there...Ah don't know what Ah might face there and Ah don't care. Dark is...family. And Ah won't leave family to suffer."

"Awwww, yeah! Time to go kick some more butt again!" Rainbow Dash pounded her hooves and laughed, "Right big guy?"

"Well....Ah would say y'all shouldn't follow me but...Ah know that won't get me anywhere." He laughed heartily, "And besides, y'all wanna save him too. Care to join us as well, Doctor?"

"I don't mind being backup, but something like the Underworld...I get this bad feeling that going there might not be the best idea for me."

Ryan gave a nod, "Ah understand. Considering who and what you are, if you get the heebie-jeebies from it best to follow that instinct. The only problem is..."

"You don't think the nine of us are enough, do you?"

Turning to Lyra, he smiled before ruffling her mane, "On the money honey. Ah know Lunes and Cellie would be more than eager to give us some backup but..."

"We can't risk the Princesses, right?"

"Exactly, T-Sparks." Ryan was lost in his thoughts for a few moments before an idea crept into his mind...and refused to leave, "...."

"...darling, I know that look. You've thought of something, haven't you?"

"Yeah, Ah have Rare-bear—"

"...'Rare-bear'?"

"—but it needs to stew a little more before Ah decide on it. For now Ah need to rest and...seeing as Trixie destroyed our precious home...hmmm, who's turn would it be?"

Before he could make a decision, the other six of his herdmates pushed Twilight Sparkle right up against him before smiling sweetly.

"...did...did Ah miss something?"

"Of course not, darling! You and Twilight are the ones that always have the plan, right?"

"Yes but..."

"And Ah know y'all will come up with something really helpful..."

"Well, yes Apps...."

"So ya see, Rysy-Wysy, this is our decision. Now go to the library, work on a plan, and then snuggle the ever-loving friendship outta Twilight!"

Ryan shrugged and grinned, "Well Pinks, when ya put it that way. Come on, T-Sparks, let's go...plan and snuggle or something. Maybe both at once....pluggle? Snugglan? Hmmm...needs work."

The Doctor could only laugh before bidding farewell and heading back to his home, "I dare say that human is something else...but he does remind me why I find them so remarkably curious."

After going over exactly where the entrance was, what might be awaiting them there, and what their best approach might be, Ryan was currently crashed on the couch with Twilight completely flat-out on top of him. His hand was idly tracing up and down her back as she snuggled close, softly kissing his neck as he tried to relax his mind after the series of events that had occurred.

"Mmmm, you gals always know just the right thing to help me chill out." Ryan paused, those particular words reminding him of something, "Hey...T-Sparks?"

"Hmmmm?" She opened her eyes slowly, staring at him, "What is it my big, warm peach?"

"Heh, peach...because most of mah "fur" is very short and fine. Yer such a nerd." Ryan gave her a loving kiss, "Ah love that though...but Ah was thinking about what happened to me. That weird transformation? Ya said ya knew all about it..."

Twilight frowned before nodding against him, "Yes. I do know about it...and that's because I had an incident like that myself some time ago only...mine involved fire instead."

"...fire?"

"Yes...my rage became more than I could control and, much like how you iced over, I burst into flames." Twilight motioned with her head, "My tail, my mane, my whole appearance changed instantly. Just like yours changed you."

"...so...what is it then? Ah...Ah really hurt Trixie. It was...like Ah wasn't me. Or...maybe Ah was, but...but without restraint."

"First off, know that you couldn't have known that would happen." Twilight touched her forehead to his, "Okay? I don't want you letting this eat away at your heart like I'm sure you're trying to."

"Heh, okay, okay...but what is it then? It was weird...it was like a different state of being or something."

"After it first happened we were all a bit freaked out, myself more than the others of course. So naturally..."

"You sent a letter to Cellie asking her what the deal was?"

"Yes. She told me that for magic users when...when we reach a point where our rage nearly breaks us something resonates with whatever element we're in tune with most at the base level. As you've seen for yourself Ryan, it greatly enhances one's abilities but if you are not prepared for it—"

"—then it can overwhelm you and greatly alter yer personality."

"Precisely. I was scared of how I felt...but more so that I kind of liked the power too. The Princess was very reassuring though and, to be honest, she actually coached me so that I could—mostly—control that state."

Ryan smirked as he reached up and scratched behind her ear, "So then tell me mah bookworm, why did ya never think ta use that in any of our past battles?"

Twilight hummed softly before nuzzling against him, "Because in all those time I was in control, they were non-combat related. I...I just don't trust myself to be able to maintain full control in a fight."

"Hmmm, Ah can understand that worry. Just look at what happened when Ah hit that state fighting against Trixie. If you hadn't shown up when you did, Ah would've..."

"Hey, no need to think on that remember? You didn't...and I managed to snap you out of it." Twilight smirked before licking his cheek.

"Hey! Goober." Ryan wiped his cheek clean before licking hers in return, "Such silly pones Ah have."

"Indeed we are, your fault though. Haha, but yes...despite the Princess saying she fully believes I can control that state I refuse to use it in any fight we find ourselves in. However..."

"However?"

"If you wish, I believe I can help train you to harness that state."

Ryan thought over it before noting Twilight's face hovering right over his, "T-Sparks?"

"After all, I believe that with enough practice you can harness it. Your silliness alone would be enough to counteract the change in personality it brings on."

Laughing quietly, he nodded, "Well...it couldn't hurt. As long as it's in a controlled situation, nopony should get hurt right? Now then...there's only one thing Ah figure ya wanna do that involves ya getting this face-to-face mah bookworm cuddle-bug."

With that Ryan exhaled slowly, smiling as he watched Twilight breathe in slowly before they switched off.

"Ryan..."

"T-Sparks..."

Ryan smiled warmly as he thought back to the first time he had found out about this particular show of intimacy they had in Equestria. AppleJack had shared it with him after they'd been dating for three months and while he initially didn't fully understand it, he had to admit he could see the appeal of it. After all, he likened sharing the same breath as a sign wishing to share the same soul...in short, to be one with the one you deeply love. Though he had done such an act with all of his marefriends by now, it always seemed as if Twilight in particular enjoyed it the most...as well as took any opportunity she could when they were alone to partake in it. Which is why he always indulged her but that could also be attributed to the fact that he just loved spoiling his herd and loved ones as much as he reasonably could.

"Ryan, heh...even to this day it still surprises me how things have turned out." Twilight gave a short laugh before kissing him, "Thinking back on that day so many months ago when we found you in the forest, I had no idea what to make of you. I was curious because you were new, unknown...I almost have to wonder, though, when exactly those thoughts of curiosity became more than just that. At least, enough so that when I found out about that talk you had with AJ and Rainbow they developed into something more than friendship and curiosity."

"Heh, perhaps all those cuddle puddles we made had a hand in that." Ryan laughed softly, "Ah suppose when you've got a big, warm human to snuggle with it's a bit inevitable."

"Hee, I suppose so. I wasn't sure of my feelings at first, but something inside my heart told me to go along with it and I certainly wasn't disappointed." Twilight nuzzled Ryan's chest happily, "I have to wonder if the others had similar lines of thought as we all became closer to you."

"That's as good a theory as any, hon. Perhaps so, but Ah'm sure Dark was right in saying that one event on Dashie's birthday changed things quite a bit. It's funny how you never know what life has in store for you." Ryan wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight, "I never thought my life would bring me here and, despite missing mah family something fierce, Ah'm glad Ah ended up here of all places with y'all and found the love that Ah did."

"My sweet peach~"

With that Twilight and Ryan lay in silence, enjoying one another's company as they noted the light outside slowly fading as another day was coming to a close. After a short while, when the two had nearly fallen asleep in each other's arms, they were startled by a strange noise.

"Wha-what was that?" Twilight looked about before feeling a rumble underneath her, "...is that your stomach?"

"Haha, guilty as charged, mah bookworm."

"Well, I better fix that situation or it'll keep us up all night." Twilight rolled off of Ryan before poking his stomach, "I swear this keeps getting smaller over time but still makes the same amount of noise. So...what might you be in the mood for?"

Realizing this was the perfect opportunity, Ryan moved so he was sitting up, gave a short snort, and then stomped the ground before shooting a smirk Twilight's way. Twilight blinked before her cheeks flushed and she coughed to quickly regain her composure. Taking a deep breath, she rolled her eyes before attempting to speak, "W-well, it would seem you have been reading that book on Ancient Equestrian Languages I got you."

"I treasure gifts I receive from loved ones, and besides it did prove an interesting read alongside the other book ya gave me." Ryan scratched his head while laughing, "Ah think Ah was close enough to what Ah wanted to say."

"...I think I got the gist. I suppose that's my fault for giving you such a big opening though." Twilight giggled as Ryan followed her into the kitchen, "So, while we get some dinner made...would you care to share that idea you said had to develop some more?"

Three days later...

Our heroes were waiting in the outskirts of Ponyville for the Princesses to arrive. Certain members of the herd were getting impatient and made such thoughts known, "Rys! Why are we just standing around like this?"

"Ah told ya Dashie, we're waiting for our backup."

"...but you said the Princesses couldn't come with us."

"So Ah did..."

"Darling...what are we waiting for then?" Rarity touched her necklace, "And why are we wearing the Elements?"

"All part of mah plan. Now then, they should be..." Ryan looked up and spotted their chariot, "Ah! There they are, right on time!"

Descending from the heavens was Celestia and Luna's royal chariot...though something was being pulled along from behind. A certain...statue.

"...wait a minute."

"What is it Rainbow?"

"AJ...is that...does that look like what I think it is?"

"If you're meaning to say it looks like that dreadful Discord's statue, then I see it as well, darling."

"B-but why would they bring his statue here?" At this point Fluttershy, as well as the others in his herd, all turned to look at Ryan.

"...yes? You ladies seem to have something on yer mind."

"Are you crazy?!"

Ryan gasped as Lyra yanked him down to face-level with her magic, "Whoa...hey now, none of that."

Lyra squeaked as Ryan lightly flicked her horn and whined, "Hey....okay, okay, but why does your idea involve him? Do you wanna make things worse?"

"Hey, Ah've got mah reasons and you'll hear them soon enough." Ryan shrugged, "Besides, ya got yer Elements...and T-Sparks knew what Ah had planned and seemed okay with going along with it."

"Is this true, darling?"

"Yes, Rarity, it is." Twilight watched with the others as they landed just in front of them, "I had the same reaction at Ryan's plan but, after he explained things to me, I realized it might be our only chance of saving Dark."

"Well if Rysy-Wysy knows what he's doing, we should be okay!" Pinkie chuckled, "Besides, it's not like we don't have the Elements and what are the odds that somehow we get separated and Discord decides to betray us and ends up killing us all?"

The others were silent until Luna and Celestia cleared their throats, "Did we show up at a bad time?"

"No, no. We're all good Cellie. The others are just trying to take in what my plan entails."

"Very well then, allow us to place Discord down so we can get this plan in motion."

Luna and Celestia used their magic to carefully set the God of Chaos' petrified self down before turning to the Element bearers.

"One second y'all." Ryan pulled out Malus Domestica, "Propogate! Malus Domestica!"

Splitting his sword into its three parts he placed them strategically around Discord before nodding at his herd, signaling they could continue.

Twilight watched as the others turned to her before she nodded her head and focused, joining her powers with the others in order to free him from his prison. As the concentrated burst of rainbow magic connected with Discord, there was a loud explosion and a massive amount of dust kicked up obscuring him from view.

"Did...did it work? Did we set him free?"

"I don't know Fluttershy but..." Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, "Wait...do you guys hear something?"

"Hmmm?" Ryan strained his ears, "It almost sounds like the kind of feedback one would get at a concert but that...doesn't...make...any...sense."

Wondering just why he trailed off like that, the others watched as the dust cleared and there, standing on a large stage that had appeared from nowhere was the one, the only, the God of Chaos himself: Discord!

"Please excuse me, I don't mean to alarm, And certainly I don't mean you any physical harm~"

With a large burst of fireworks emanating from seemingly everywhere, the others could only stare in disbelief and confusion as he kept singing...though Ryan was visibly annoyed, "Discord...."

"I'm just the reigning king of chaos here to rock your world, So just sit tight and let this little story unfurl~!"

"Discord."

"My mission is simple: Neverending Strife!" With this Discord leapt from the stage before moving about the confused group as he kept singing and playing, "I'll worm into your heart and then I'll cut like a knife!"

"Ack!" Ryan gasped, watching as he felt something thrust through his chest...but when he checked it was all an illusion, "...just the scar.....Disky."

"My intentions are clear, so just surrender your will. I'm a predator, and I'm going in for the kill!"

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Subtle as always...Ryan?"

"...Disky."

Discord gave a laugh before hopping back on to the stage and rocking back and forth, "Don't hate me cause I'm funny, Don't hate me cause I'm beautiful! You should hate me cause I'm better than you!"

At this Ryan began twitching furiously in annoyance, his patience slowly running out, "...Disky!"

"I only want to party, I only want to play it cool! I'm beholden to seeing this through~"

"DISKY!"

"I could trot around your little pony head—"Which he did, somehow, before hopping back on the stage once more—"Spreading white lies and whispers! I'm gonna tell you about your fickle pony friends, Your rage is so hot, it blisters~"

As Discord played a solo on his guitar he clearly should not have been able to, Ryan had finally had enough of his antics, "Bloom! Arbor Pomifera!"

As the shining walls of his attack came together, Discord ran smack into the wall, interrupting his performance and destroying his guitar in the process. As the draconequus composed himself, he heaved an annoyed sigh before turning to his "audience", "You could've at least let me do the second verse, boy. So...for what reason have you released me? It can't possibly be to "murder my ass" seeing as your precious dragon brother is alive and kicking. The wings are nice though, quite unexpected."

Spike scoffed, "No thanks to you and your cheap shots."

"Well now, it appears you've developed some more bite to you. Ha, I find it most amusing that is a result of my handiwork." Discord smirked, "You're welcome."

"Disky..."

"Oh yes, yes, the human is growing impatient. Perhaps his little herd should soothe his nerves lest he pop a blood vessel." Discord walked over to one of the walls and tapped it, "So then, Ryan, what exactly is the reason for bringing me back? And why haven't I heard a word from that delightful, old friend of mine?"

"That's exactly why yer here. So, as much as it goes against who you are, can you just sit there and listen for a few moments?"

Discord rolled his eyes before pulling off his ear and throwing it at the wall of magic where it promptly adhered, "Very well, I can lend you my ear for a few moments if you wish. Just try to make it not boring."

Exhaling deeply, Ryan composed himself before beginning, "Okay...so basically we were attacked by somepony that had acquired the Alicorn Amulet."

At this Discord's eyebrows raised right off his face, "...I thought that was destroyed by Tia and Lulu?"

"We had thought so as well, Discord, but it would appear it was more than we could handle." Luna growled softly, "Rest assured, it will be dealt with this time so that no other may suffer it's effects."

"Okay, but what does that have to do with Darkness? And hurry up, I'm getting antsy." At this Discord grew a pair of antennae before crawling all over the magical walls.

"I'm getting to it." Ryan groaned, "Basically Dark used Soul Crash to protect me after his Disharmonic Resonance spell took too much of a toll on him."

"...Soul Crash?" Discord seemed oddly serious at mention of that, "That spell...you foolish human...why?"

"We thought he was dead...but apparently he's alive." Ryan walked up till he was facing Discord, the only thing between them the magic of Malus Domestica, "And where he's at, we need backup."

"Oh, I see then. And I assume you can't risk the dear Princesses with where he is at, so you decided to bring me into the picture." Discord scoffed, "And just why do you think I would help you? I hate humans, remember? Or do I need to choke you to death again to get the point across?"

Looking up at Discord, Ryan moved his hand to dissipate Arbor Pomifera before walking even closer to him, "If that's true, then do it now. Show me Ah'm wrong in thinking you'll help. Show me that Ah was wrong thinking that the things you've heard from both me and Dark since then hasn't made you think."

Discord looked at him in surprise, something Ryan was quick to notice.

"That's right Disky, Ah knew ya had to be aware of what was going on. Just because yer trapped in stone doesn't mean you're still not awake in there. Heh, come on, that was obvious way back when. Ya know, when we first "met" and ya lost yer poker face for a split-second?"

"Do not test me boy..." Discord leaned down to look at him, "Even if that were to be all true, why do you think I would help you save him?"

"Simple...because deep down inside that chaos you call a heart, you still treasure him as a friend. You wish it could be like old times, but the hatred and anger that's built up after whatever happened all those years ago has clouded all that...it's made you think that can never be. Not because you think they wouldn't forgive you; no, it's because you can't forgive yerself." Ryan narrowed his eyes, "Tell me Ah'm wrong. Tell me you don't wish for things to be how they once were within the deepest depths of yer soul."

"..." Discord wasn't sure what to say so he simply laughed before adopting his usual smirk, "You always do surprise me Ryan, being as gutsy as you are. I suppose it would be interesting to go rescue Darkness. Besides, from the sound of things you would simply be lost without me~"

Ryan shook his head before offering his hand, "Well then..."

"Quite." Discord took Ryan's hand before shaking it vigorously, "Very well, boy, I will assist you in saving that goofball of a human."

"Heh, good ta hear. So get ready, Disky, it's time for us to go to Hell."

Author's Note

Well it's finally here, even though it's May now. Kinda missed the once a month window but oh well.
So...it finally starts! Discord's big return and hopefully y'all didn't see anything like this coming.
Then again, Ah doubt many people would've expected a trip to Hell being in the forecast for this story.
And, once again, mah good buddy Andrea has supplied a nice picture to go with the chapter! It was his first time drawing Disky and Ah think he did a pretty good job. Hahaha, so make sure to check him out here!
Anyhow, now the wait begins anew to read of the coming adventure: The rescue of Darkness Shade begins next time on JHA! Bye till then! :pinkiehappy:

22nd Harvest

"I'm sorry, go to where? I'm afraid I heard you say something crazy....not that I have a problem with crazy, but coming from you that's sometimes surprising."

"No, I said Hell. He's trapped in Tartarus for some reason and that's where we need to go to save him."

Discord mulled that over for a bit before laughing, "When I said I expected an adventure out of this, I didn't think you'd come through to such a degree. Now I'm truly happy I decided to join this little rag-tag group on a rescue mission. So, when do we start?"

"We need to fill you in on our exact plan so that's what the rest of today entails: detailing the plans one last time, making sure we have what we need gear wise, and then getting a good night's sleep."

"And...you're just content to let me be about during all that? You aren't worried I might betray you in the night and take advantage of your sleeping?"

"Oh, now you wouldn't do that would you Mr. Discord?"

"Hmmm?" Discord turned towards Fluttershy and about died from a heart attack, "Guh!"

Fluttershy gave him her widest eyes as her bottom lip quivered, "We all wanna be friends again....don't you want to be friends with me? Friends wouldn't have such thoughts."

"Guh!" Discord groaned again before glancing at Ryan, "How do you do it?!"

Ryan looked left and right before staring at him, "Do...what?"

"Not die from the cute! I mean, Tia and Lulu had a way with facial expressions but this one...ugh. I'm surprised you haven't died by this point dear boy." Discord leaned in to whisper, "Can...can they all do that?"

Ryan smirked and wiggled his eyebrows, "Oh yeah they can. Haha, so unless ya wanna see if even a god can die from cuteness overload Ah suggest playing along with us for a bit till ya remember the whole "how-to-be-a-friend" thing."

"...damn it boy, how can you make light of such...such power?"

"Easy: Ah pretty immune to it to the point where it gives me strength. Now come on, quit being ridiculous and follow us to the planning spot."

And so the rest of the day passed with them going over their "battle plan" as it were, Discord making various noises and such as he was clued into what they had in mind. Though the Princesses were a bit worried that said plan was to just let Discord run about mostly free, they could sense something different about their once friend and decided to roll with it. Besides, they figured, if all else failed Twilight and the other Element Bearers could just petrify him once more till he decided to behave.

As it was, night had fallen and the group was readying for bed...although Discord had discovered something he hadn't noted until just now, "...I just realized something."

Ryan rolled his eyes and groaned, "Disky, we're trying ta sleep...what is it?"

Floating through the air till he was hovering over Ryan, Discord smirked, "It's that after doing a head count of our little group, there seems to be an extra member to our party I didn't think about till now."

"...and?"

"Oh, nothing much...just that it seems you've really outdone yourself in trumping dear Darkness in the love department." Discord waggled his eyebrows, unnerving Ryan to no end, "Not only did you bag yourself the Element Bearers of all ponies, but even that silly mint one that ran all about while I caused chaos fell prey to your charm....or your hands, either one really I imagine."

Ryan groaned, pulling his pillow over his head, "Disky...is this really the time? The girls are all asleep already—"

"—so I noticed. You must really enjoy them being your blanket."

"Disky...." Ryan sighed, "Look, Ah can't help that apparently Ah have some crazy magnetism of some kind that just drew all of them to me after Apps but...yer right about that. They make the most enjoyable of blankets...."

Discord snickered before nodding, "Just like Dark...heh...very well, I've had my fill of teasing you. Rest up, wouldn't want you dying after all."

"...Oh, Ah'm sure you'd just be broken up if some nightmarish hell-spawn put the kibosh to me instead of you."

"Oh...such words, they sting me so boy." Discord pouted before floating back to where he had been resting, "Good night..."

"Good night Discord."

The next morning the group of heroes, after a quick breakfast, gathered their gear and headed off in the direction of the Everfree.

"Why doesn't it surprise me that we would need to head this way to get to the entrance of the Underworld?"

"Haven't you always wondered just why the Everfree is how it is dear boy?"

Ryan rolled his eyes, "Ah always figured it had to do with you and your little reign of nonsense all those years ago. A small part of Equestria forever tainted by yer touch."

"Actually, Ah've been wondering that too." AppleJack glanced over her shoulder as they walked, "Just why is the Everfree the way it is? Ah know it's been that way a long time but do you really have some sorta connection to it, Discord?"

Discord merely shrugged before smirking, "With all that happened back then and how long ago it was my memory is a bit...fuzzy."

Pulling some cotton out of his ears before fashioning it into a stylish scarf, Discord continued to avoid the question, "Perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn't....you can't rightly expect me to remember everything now, can you?"

"...that's about as straight an answer he'll probably give so I'd drop it you guys." Twilight added, "We need to stay focused and keep alert: the path to Tartarus isn't the easiest way to find and that's just finding the entrance. Actually entering and navigating, well...."

"It'll be hell, right?" Ryan snickered before hearing everypony groan, "Okay, okay...Ah'm wearing that one out, Ah hear y'all."

And so they continued on, Discord deciding that donning safari gear and using a poorly designed copy of Malus Domestica to cut the vines was the best way he could "help". As it was they marched on for quite a while, making small talk here and there to help keep the tension of their mission down until finally Twilight stopped.

"...what is it, Twilight? Do you sense something?"

"No, but we're close Lyra. Everypony stay on guard, we need to make sure we're ready for what'll be at the entrance."

"N-now wait, Twilight...you...you don't mean?"

Twilight nodded, "Yes, Fluttershy. As most of you know, the entrance is heavily guarded so that all those unsavory characters down there won't break free."

"If'n it's anything like the mythology Ah know of, yer talking about Hell's personal guard-dog aren't ya?"

"That's right Ryan." Twilight saw the entrance coming up but something seemed off, "...that's curious. Where is Cerberus?"

As the group came to a stop outside the entrance to Hell, it was apparent that this just wasn't right: for whatever reason it was unguarded and that was not a good sign. Scratching his head, Ryan looked about before feeling a gust of hot air, "Eh? What in tarnation?"

"Something wrong, dearie?"

"Ah felt a gust of hot air, Rares, and it came from...up...there." Ryan stared upwards with wide eyes, "Uh, guys, Ah think Ah found Cerberus."

Glancing upwards, the group could indeed see that the three-headed guard of Tartarus was above them, apparently magically bound by something or other. Cerberus, having finally noticed he'd gotten their attention, let out some growls and whines that left most of them perplexed.

"Oh...oh my goodness me." Fluttershy puffed out her cheeks," You poor dear."

"What's he saying, Flutters?"

"He says that a strange creature showed up, one that he hadn't sensed in a long time." Fluttershy listened to Cerberus intently, "Hmmm...one that he remembered. When he went to check on his master, he saw the creature talking with him...and then things got bad."

"Bad? What does that mean?"

"Hmmm...I'm not sure. He says the last thing he remembers is heading back to guard the entrance, noting something felt off, and then....he was tied up here." Fluttershy gasped, "Oh, by the way, he'd really be appreciative if you helped him down. He's kind of tied up and it's not comfortable at all."

Nodding at the magically gifted members of his group, Ryan flew up and sliced through the bonds holding Cerberus; once free, his fall was slowed thanks to a group effort till he was safe on the ground again.

"Oh bravo, boy, bravo." Discord clapped his hands slowly, "You saved the big, scary doggie."

Cerberus growled before getting in Discord's face, a move Discord was not amused by.

"Oh relax you over-grown flea-bag, I'm not here to cause trouble...for once. I'm actually here to help out and retrieve that strange human you noticed."

Cerberus continued to growl before glancing at Ryan, "Aroooo?"

"Uhm....what? Oh! Disky...yeah, he's telling the truth. We knew we'd need help to save Darkness so...that's why he's here."

Cerberus gave one last growl before nodding, at that he stepped aside to allow them access to the depths of hell.

"He's...he's letting us in just like that?"

"Awoof."

"Of course he is." Fluttershy smiled as she rubbed Cerberus' ears...well, one set of them anyway, "He knows that we aren't evil in the least—well, most of us—and so if we're here to help he won't stand in our way. Oh...but he says to be careful."

Rainbow Dash didn't like the way that sounded, "Careful? Other than it being the underworld, what else is there to worry about?"

"His master is missing....and that means things have, well, gone to hell."

"Hey! If Ah can't make that pun, nopony can!" Ryan grumbled...before gasping as Cerberus licked him, "Hey! Sheesh...okay, okay. Ah have to admit, it was well timed. Don't worry, we'll do what we can big dog."

The group soon found themselves descending deeper and deeper underground as the passage they took wound this way and that. All was eerily quiet save for occasional wails and moaning...and the unnerving sight of misery everywhere.

"...Being raised Catholic, actually seeing Hell for real is kinda...unsettling." Ryan mumbled, trying not to let the situation get to him.

"Raised what? What's that Rysy-Wysy?"

"Oh, just religion. Ah've noticed ya guys don't really have much in the way of that save for those "cults" centered on Cellie and Lunes."

"Don't forget me, dear boy." Discord cackled, "I'll have you know there are plenty out there that worship my chaotic designs."

"Sheesh. Those must be some wacked out ponies then." Rainbow Dash sighed, "And how long is this going to take? It seems like we've been walking forever."

"From what I know of my studies, the Underworld is vast and purposely confusing so that should any soul trapped here be foolhardy enough to try and escape they will find it most difficult." Lyra nodded her head, "At least that's what I remember reading."

"Heh, and yet Kratos managed to do it twice without much effort." Ryan chuckled before noting the empty stares, "...oh right, y'all don't have that here."

"Well I think it was quite relevant. He certainly was a very one-track minded individual with his revenge on the gods, yes?"

Looking at Discord's paw resting on his shoulder, he turned to see that he was now outfitted in said Spartan's iconic looks right down to the ashen and red markings, "How...?"

"Well if we're making a journey through hell, I figured I should look the part...at least for your benefit anyway, boy." Discord admired his new duds, "A bit...spartan perhaps, but the chains are nice. Frankly, I preferred the milk cartons myself but I suppose even I am at the whim of the writer's decisions."

Pinkie Pie gasped before smiling ridiculously wide, "Oh my gosh! You can do it too! Well, I figured you might be able to but that just clenches it! Hooray!"

"....you guys need to keep these outbursts down. The last thing we want is to draw attention to ourselves."

"Ah suppose T-Sparks is right but....speaking of noise." Ryan turned to his younger brother and frowned, "You've been awful quiet Spike...are ya okay?"

"Oh it's just...when we were smaller Twilight's mom would tell us stories and some involved here. She always did such a good job of making it sound terrifying so that, ya know, we'd be good so...just a little surreal actually being here."

Laughing softly, he patted his head, "Well, ya ain't the only one unnerved. It's certainly creepy down here...but we got a friend to save."

With that they continued onwards until...

"...the path splits. Great."

"Hmm...what a troublesome choice." Discord laughed before splitting in two, "Well that was easy enough. Oh, but wait. You can't do that so...hmmm..."

As the group tried to decide on the best choice to make, Discord took the moment to examine the frail passageway they were in: with it being rather enclosed it would be quite easy to block one route off and possibly separate everyone. Factoring in that Twilight would not risk using magic lest she alert the delightful residents that they were there, it was the best possible plan he could imagine. With one quick, unseen flick of his wrist he got his idea rolling as the tunnel began rocking. Readying himself once the others caught on to the shaking of the tunnel, he put on his best poker face, "Ryan! Look out!"

"Eh?" Ryan gasped as he was knocked into one tunnel by Discord before they were sealed up by the collapsing tunnel, "What the...Girls!"

"We're all okay Apple Ryder, but are ya alright?" AppleJack kicked the rocks but they didn't budge, "Dang it....Twi, ya wanna use yer magic here?"

"No! Don't." Ryan sighed, "It might give away our presence...and then that spell you used would be worthless."

"Ry....ugh, he's right." Twilight huffed, "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah, we'll head down this way and y'all keep on the other path." Ryan looked at Discord before glancing back at the rocks, "Hopefully we'll meet somewhere just...just be careful okay? Ah don't wanna lose anyone..."

"We'll be careful Rys, you be careful too okay?"

"Oh you needn't worry your pretty, little pony heads." Discord put an arm around Ryan and hugged him close, "I'll be sure to keep your human safe and sound."

"...right. You better Discord or you'll be answering to Kicks McGee and Bucky McGillicuddy."

And so the groups split up, hoping that eventually they would reunite somewhere in the murky depths of the underworld. As it was, Ryan and Discord walked in silence for a while as their path was going nowhere fast. Discord, as expected, was waiting for his moment so to speak when he heard Ryan clear his throat, "...what was that, boy?"

"Ah said, Ah know ya did that."

"...did what?"

"Separate us."

Discord scoffed, looking all the part shocked, "Why whatever do you mean? Why would I separate our little group like that?"

Ryan shrugged, pausing to look up at him, "A lot of reasons Ah reckon, though getting yourself alone with me being the top one."

Grumbling, Discord narrowed his eyes at him, "So if you knew, why say nothing? Why allow me to do as I did?"

"Maybe it's part of Dark's thoughts rubbing off on me, or perhaps Ah honestly want to see you change." Ryan smirked, "Either way, Ah was curious what ya had planned...so Ah didn't say anything."

Discord was a bit confused by this turn of events and, for the first time in a while, was not sure how to react to something so surprising.

"If ya aren't gonna say anything to that, then answer me something else: what happened? Back then, Ah mean. Dark doesn't remember much...or if he does he doesn't want to right now, but Ah've seen images. Flashes of scenes, events...." Ryan saw a decently sized rock and sat down on it, "All Ah know is what Ah see in the nightmares that plague Dark confuse me: a pony, you, an unbelievable ache, and then chaos....something happened to you that broke you, so what was it?"

"...why would I tell you, boy? Why even ask? Why do you care?" Discord grumbled, sitting down next to him and huffing.

"Don't you remember what Ah said? Ah want to see ya change so that at least one ache in their hearts is healed." Ryan laughed softly before winking, "Besides, friends are there to listen to each other when they need to talk. So, we're here and Ah think talking about it might help."

"...friends?" Discord scoffed, "You want to be friends with me after what I tried to do to you? Is this a joke? A trick? Or have you just lost what little sense it seemed you had?"

"Everypony deserves a second chance, right? So come on...tell me about it. Ah know from experience that talking about aches helps, even if just a little. And each time, it hurts a little less." Ryan shook his head, "Maybe after a thousand years that's all ya needed, a friend to listen and to help you with your grief."

"........"

"...Disky?"

"...it seems like only yesterday, but it's been a very, very, very long time since those days." Discord waved his hand in the air, generating an image of what appeared to be Canterlot in the past, "It was different then, a little less crowded but still as elegant as always."

"I don't remember much about before I arrived there, drawn as I was to...something."

"Something?"

"As I said, I don't remember much. I have vague memories of my parents, but the first real memories I can remember are when I spotted him."

The image shifted to show what appeared to be Dark, though he looked slightly younger and a little more naive.

"I saw him in the castle gardens, apparently talking to himself. Now I had seen humans before, mind you, but this one...there was something special about him." Discord laughed, "Especially since he didn't bat an eye when I landed in front of him and started talking to him. Hahaha, he simply shrugged and then asked who I was."

Ryan shook his head and smiled, "That sounds like something Dark would do; he's not one to sweat the details like that."

"Yes. Needless to say it intrigued me, so I stuck around. Heh, and then I made the acquaintance of dear Tia and Lulu. They were at a lost as to what to make of me. Apparently draconequus were not too common, at least to the point where they had never seen one before."

Running his hand through the image, it changed once more to show Discord with the Princesses as he was given a tour of Canterlot, "They welcomed me, though, even if I did delight in pranking them. I began living normally there, finally finding someplace to put my roots if you will."

"Okay, so that explains how ya ended up there but...." Ryan trailed off as the image became that of an Earth pony with a pair of open-ended wrenches crossed over each other for a cutie mark, "Who is she? She's pretty but...judging by the grease on her face she must've liked building stuff."

"Ah yes." Discord stared at the image quietly for a few moments, "I met her one day while out exploring the town. There was an explosion and I saw her emerge from the center of it unscathed. If you'll pardon the pun, that day I was blown away by what I felt looking at her."

"And?" Ryan watched as the image became static-filled and distorted, "What's happening?"

"My memories begin to get a bit warbled here but then again when you live as long as I have you won't remember everything perfectly." Pulling out what appeared to be a remote, Discord pushed a button on it and waited for the image to clear up, "Goodness...it certainly didn't seem that long but I suppose those happy days did last a while. Oh! Here we go....the root of the issue as it were."

Despite him saying that, the image Ryan looked at was curious for a few reasons: One, it was not moving like the others, two, it was still somewhat fuzzy, but the third one was what stood out the most in his mind.

"Disky...that's blood...a lot of blood...and then...no." Ryan's face paled as he put the thoughts together, "No, no...."

"Heh...seems you've put it together faster than I thought you would." Discord sighed before swatting the image away, "She was killed....they said it was an accident but I knew better. She was too careful for such a mistake...Gauge."

"Gauge?"

"Her name....Gauge Mechro, a very engineering Earth pony. They claimed one of her inventions did her in...but I didn't buy that for a second. The sight of her...and what I saw at that scene...I knew whoever killed her had to be a human, no doubt one jealous of her skills."

Ryan frowned as the pieces began falling into place, "...you were in love with her. Ah dare guess it was mutual."

"...yes. After weeks of prodding from Dark I finally made a move and was surprised to see she was interested as well." Discord closed his eyes and sighed, "Losing her like that....I couldn't handle it. I...I snapped....and tried to leave to cool off to protect my friends. It didn't work, though, as you well know. My mind became twisted and I did terrible things because of it. Heh, at least till my friends stopped me. And how did I repay them?

"By killing one, causing heartache in the other two, and ridding this world of all their human friends. Heh....looking back on it, I deserved what I got. Frankly, after that and then what I did to you as well I'm surprised you even contemplated letting me go to assist with this. Heh, funny but I suppose my age has caught up with me if I'm being so reflective on the past like this."

"Disky..."

"Wha?" Discord was caught off-guard by Ryan taking him into a hug, "Ryan...what in Tia's name are you doing?"

"What any good friend does, give a supportive hug when needed. Heh, come on, that's like Pinkie Pie Rule Number 2 when it comes to being an awesome friend." Ryan laughed softly, "Lost love...it can impact someone hard, of that I know."

"...you truly are an unusual individual. Heh, what else could I expect though? After all, there is a reason you of all people came here after all."

Breaking the hug, Ryan stood up before staring at him, "What are ya getting at with that? We should get moving again, too."

"Yes, I agree." Discord followed behind as they continued on their way, "But back to what I was saying...haven't you ever wondered, boy, why you of all the humans on that little world of yours ended up here?"

"Ah must admit Ah have wondered at times but why bring that up now?"

"Let's just say that trip down memory lane stirred up a few things I hadn't thought on in quite some time. Think about this though: how is that you speak the same language as us? Or can eat foods here with no problem? Even the fact that you learned magic is a curious thing, isn't it?"

"...well, yes, those were lucky breaks but...what does that have to do with all this?"

"Oh dear boy, are you still having trouble connecting those bothersome dots?" Discord chuckled, pulling out a pencil and moving about in the air, "Here...let me help you. This dot is you...this dot is Dark...you've drawn that connection, yes?"

"Well, yeah, at this point there's obviously something given Ah thought of the idea of him long before showing up here." Ryan suddenly became aware of dots floating in front of them, "So then this one is me, that is Dark...are these two supposed to be the world we came from?"

"Ah, yes...nicely done." Discord connected said dots, "Now then think on what we talked about...the helpful coincidences we noted."

"So then...wait...." Ryan began frantically looking at the dots before watching them all connect, "No...you can't be suggesting that...."

"Yes, Ryan, I think you've put it all together."

"Mah God...so when you made all the humans here disappear, you didn't kill them." Ryan's face matched the blown feeling his mind felt at this point, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide, "You sent them away...even in yer madness, ya still had some small part of you that wanted to protect your former allies from yerself. So you...you..."

"Quite. I sent them away, far from where they would be a problem both in the sense of trouble for crazy me—well, crazier me—and in the sense of protecting them from myself." Discord ate his pencil before blowing away the dots, "Nopony but me knows this truth...Dark might know, since he disappeared in a similar fashion. His case was special, as when I attacked him I was not as careful."

"So while he was sent away much like the others...only his soul was transported. Ugh." Ryan took a deep breath, "So...so then Ah...oh man. Ah can speak with y'all, breathe the same air, eat the food and...dear God, even mah magic abilities."

"Yes?"

"It's because Ah'm related to them. Somewhere in mah lineage, Ah have ancestors that were humans from Equestria. Holy shit...Ah...Ah need a moment to take this in."

Catching the slightly swaying Ryan, Discord chuckled, "By all means my friend, it is a bit to take in finding out your ancestry is from another world after all."

Ryan stood there, waiting for the world to stop spinning before another thought dawned on him, "So then...is it safe to assume that's why stuff like measurement systems and even the names of so many things are the same? The days, months, all that stuff?"

"It's a fair enough guess, after all I'm not quite sure just when I sent them to. As you can imagine, I wasn't exactly in my right mind when that all went down so the specifics are muddy at best." Discord laughed into a sigh, "I suppose I should be thankful they at least ended up on your Earth....and not on the sun or something. Long-distance teleportation is very tricky."

Ryan simply nodded along with him for awhile before a thought dawned on him, "Wait...so does that mean ya know where mah Earth is?"

"Roughly....it has been 1,000 years here after all so the old memory isn't what it once was." Discord pulled off his head and shook out all sorts of odds and ends, "Full of cobwebs I'm afraid."

"Well, that's okay. I guess I should've expected as much."

Discord raised an eyebrow at that before putting his head back on, "I thought you enjoyed your new role in life. Why would you be disappointed that I don't remember? Trouble in paradise?"

Ryan waved his hand dismissively, "No, no. Nothing like that, it's just....well...while I don't really feel all that homesick anymore thanks to mah herd, I still hold out hope that Ah can send a letter to mah family somehow. Let them know I'm okay and happy. Ya know, all that tying up loose ends stuff."

Fiddling with his beard for a few moments, Discord smiled before placing a paw on Ryan's shoulder, "I can't promise anything, boy, but I'll see what I can do to help."

"...huh? But why?"

"Is that not what friends do? I admit I'm rusty, but I still remember some things."

Smirking at that, Ryan gave him a friendly shove before nodding, "Come on ya wacky sunuvabitch, let's go find Dark and blow this taco stand."

"Shhh, don't say that word."

"What? Taco?"

"Yes. Don't you know how dangerous that word is? The other you certainly did."

"...this is one of those times where Ah should just not ask questions, isn't it?"

"Quite."

"Oh...and one last thing that is kind of sitting there after finding out all this."

"And what might that be?"

"You said ya sent the humans to mah Earth...but ya don't note when. And Ah notice ya didn't say anything about the humans that would already be there."

Discord merely giggled as a toothy grin spread across his features, "Yes?"

"So, aren't ya worried someone might take that to mean that the whole reason humans were on Earth was because of you?"

Discord burst into laughter, falling to pieces for several moments, "Dear boy, that's the whole point! What fun is there in this if I can't drive the fans crazy with theories!?"

Realizing that was indeed half the fun, the two continued walking on before finally finding themselves in a large, cavernous area. It was quiet, far too much compared to when they first showed up, and that was setting off the good, old sense of impending doom sensors in Ryan's noggin.

"...."

"...something wrong, boy?"

"That pony...the pale looking one with the slightly glowing eyes just on the other ledge there. Ah get the feeling he can see us."

"That's ridiculous, boy. Your precious little purple smart's spell should be keeping us cloaked save for if we go too crazy with the magic."

"...Ah know that but...we've been walking for a bit and it keeps shifting to follow us."

And then, as the two blinked, the strange pony was now in front of them which caused the two to let out the most unmanly screams they had ever mustered with Discord jumping into Ryan's arms.

"Yikes! Tough crowd with you two. Relax a little: this might be hell but no need to get so worked up."

"You...yer talking to us?" Ryan blinked before frowning and dropping Discord, "So Ah was right."

"Indeed human...I must admit, you took longer than I was told you would."

"...who are you?"

"Come now, Ryan, surely you with all those brains can figure out who this is. Think really hard."

Ryan took another look now that he wasn't on edge, "Wait, wait...pale look, slightly skull-themed appearance, mane and tail made of fire, a large pair of scythes on yer back. Oh dear..."

"Heh, I suppose you are as perceptive as I was informed." The pony smirked before striking a pose, "I've many names: Thanatos, Death, Pluto, but the one I'm most partial to has to be Hades. So yeah—"

Ryan gasped as this crazy pony took his hand and began shaking it vigorously, "...buh?"

"Finally nice ta meet you: I'm Hades, Lord of the Dead, how ya doing?"

"Uhm, Ah....well, I should've expected as much coming down here but wait! This is perfect! You run this place, right?"

"Sharp kid, better watch yourself around this one Discord." Hades narrowed his eyes, "Although....what are you doing here? Don't you remember what I told you the last time you entered my domain?"

"Oh, that?" Discord chuckled before ruffling Hades' mane, "My old friend, don't tell me your still hung up over that little, itty-bitty prank?"

"Itty-bitty?!" Hades growled, his flame mane growing in size, "You turned the underworld into what could have been the setting for a children's cartoon!"

"Peh, I simply gave it a little color, that's all." Discord waved his hand, "It's always so dreadful down here, I simply wanted to perk things up."

Hades growled, "It's supposed to look that way...the people down here are here for a reason."

Ryan, sensing they were going nowhere fast, squeezed between the two gods before sighing, "Look...we won't get anywhere arguing. Disky is here because...because we wanna give him a second chance. Now...can you help us get Dark? Because the sooner we do that, and meet up with mah herd, the sooner we'll leave Hell in peace."

"...the Elements are here? Oh dear. But wait...that might be just what we needed!" Hades immediately relaxed before laughing, "If it's Dark you want...we might hit a snag or two."

"...well that sounds ominous. Where is he?"

"Well..."

Hades was doing his usual rounds, making sure the denizens of his domain were still where they were: locked away tight so that they may never harm another. As he finished his round, he sat back in his chair to enjoy a nice, hot cup of an unidentifiable red liquid. As he went to take a sip, a loud flash followed by a bang jostled him sending the cup flying and putting out his mane.

"Oh come on! Can't a god of death get some peace? What now? Another escape attempt? Or an unexpected addition?"

Reigniting his mane and sitting up, Hades sighed only to gasp in shock at what he saw sitting on his check-in desk, "....what kind of stupid stunt is this?"

"Hades? How the hell ya been, man?" Darkness chuckled before hopping off the desk, "Oh, hold on a moment."

Snapping his fingers and donning his wings, Dark sighed, "It's odd, but I just don't feel right without those."

"Darkness Shade?" Hades shook his head, "You can't be here. You died....a long, long time ago."

"I assure you, it is I." Dark chuckled, "I like the current look you got, more stylish. Definitely less creepy than that one ya had going back then with the whole skull and bones thing going on. Very modern."

"...so are you going to tell me what's going on or are you gonna keep critiquing my look? The souls of the damned won't torture themselves you know."

"So testy. Well, I'm sure you've been keeping tabs on what's going on lately. You certainly noticed a new hero emerging, yes?"

"You mean that human that showed up? Befriended and then got hooked up with the Element Bearers?" Hades scratched his chin, "What about him?"

"I've been holed up in his noggin. But to make a long story short, I used Soul Crash to protect him from the Alicorn Amulet and then ended up here."

Hades rolled his eyes, "Then why not just leave?"

"Pretty sure if I did that without Ryan here to, uhm, "hop" into I'd disappear for real this time." Dark sighed, "So...kinda stuck here till he shows up."

Hades face-palmed, "Lovely...well as much as I would just looove to catch-up with one of the people most responsible for the lovely collection of evil we have here, I—"

"Lord Death! Lord Death! The damned are rioting!"

"What?" Hades turned to the little pony-demon that had run in, "What do you mean?"

"They've somehow broken free and are banding together...they're apparently trying to find him."

Dark seemed puzzled until he pointed at himself, "Me?"

"We're trying to contain them but they're nearly here!"

"Dammit! Guess it's time to show them not to mess with the God of Death!" Hades pulled out his scythes before smirking, "Let's slice 'n dice!"

"Ooooooh! Can we make julienne fries?

"....either help me or don't be stupid, Dark."

Reaching behind himself, Dark pulled out a familiar looking sword before smirking, "Very well then...let's Darken the Skies."

"Unfortunately they were more than we could handle." Hades groaned, "Dark held them off and told me to run, that Hell really would be in trouble if the ruler of it was captured. That was about three days ago so who knows what's going on down there. But this is perfect! I have the backup I need...assuming your little group is all I've heard they are."

"Ah'd stake mah life on our reputation." Ryan nodded, "So what's the plan?"

Meanwhile...

"We've been walking and walking forever, Twilight." Spike huffed, "I'm worried about Ryan...being alone with Discord is bad news."

"I don't disagree with you, but he's a lot stronger than he was when you two fought Discord. He should be okay. Should." Twilight bit her bottom lip in worry, "Either way we need to hurry."

"I still don't get why we can't just poof to them." Rainbow Dash groaned, "At least we finally got out of that cramped tunnel."

"We can't give away that we're down here. Just because most of the high-level evil beings are trapped away, doesn't mean they're necessarily under lock and key. Hell is a tricky place and not somewhere the living should tread lightly."

"Ah reckon she's right on that." AppleJack looked about, nervously eyeing the spectral beings floating about, "Granny always told us the legends about it and how it was a horrid place full of the most unimaginable things."

"G-Girls!?"

"...Fluttershy, darling, what's the matter?"

Lyra gulped as she turned to see what had caught Fluttershy's attention, "That...that's a big...big...whatever it is."

"It sure is!"

"Pinkie." Twilight whispered, "Shhh. We can't be too noisy either or we'll no longer be hiding."

"Uhm, Twi, I don't think that's working on this guy." Rainbow remarked nervously.

"And how can you tell?"

The demon-thing roared loudly in their faces before staring them down.

"Oh. That's how." Twilight gasped, "Run!"

With that the group made tracks, being chased for quite some time by the hell-spawn before reaching what appeared to be a dead-end. Just as they were most likely going to have to fight to survive, they stumbled into a pit that sent them tumbling and rolling until they landed in a quiet area that seemed strangely devoid of any life.

"W-where are we?"

"I'm not sure Pinkie, but it looks like a...jail?" Spike examined the small cells and nodded, "Yeah, totally seems like one. Odd, though, there's...nameplates?"

"Maybe they categorize the evil entities by name? But..."Coltbra Commander"? "Emperor Pupatine"? "Megapone"? "Lord Tirek?" I don't ever recall reading about any villains by those names in any book on Equestrian history."

"Ya reckon maybe there from the time when the humans lived here?"

Lyra shook her head, "Not these ones, anyway. Some of these names I'm seeing are in the books I have, if memory serves me right anyway. But most of them...I'm just as lost as the rest of you as to who they could be. They could be in the other books Ryan and Dark told me about, though..."

"Well that's just more things to worry about. Hmmm, something else seems off here as well. Let's keep moving and looking." Twilight glanced about before nodding, "Hopefully we'll find our way to them soon."

As they continued down the line, they noted more and more empty cells that didn't bode well for what was going down in Tartarus. As they eventually reached the end of the line, Twilight sighed, "This is worrisome. With all of these empty..."

"Sorry to disappoint you, kiddos, but they aren't all empty."

Shrieking slightly in surprise, the group turned to face a very odd looking pony that was apparently wearing a strange mask of some type and had a large, yellow, mechanical looking H for a cutie mark.

"What? What's with the blank stares?" The odd pony scoffed, "I swear, you lot must be dumber than those stupid Vault Hunters."

"Vault...what?" Rainbow Dash shook her head, "What kind of weird pony are you? And what's wrong with your face?"

"I could ask you the same thing, sweetheart. You look like you lost a fight with the paint department in a hardware store."

"Hey!"

"Man...I'd much rather Butt Stallion's company right now than you colorful eyesores. Sheesh, and I thought I'd seen some weird ones back on Ponedora but you lot? You make me wanna poke my eyes out you're so ugly."

"...well aren't ya just the rudest, lil' pile of manure."

"Ugh, just...stop talking. That accent is just...guh!" The pony grumbled, "I prefer the torture to having to listen to you talk."

"Hmmmmm." Pinkie eyed the pony still jailed up before nodding, "I get it!"

"...get what you ungodly pink abomination?"

"You are all grumpy-mc-bumpy because all the other villains went out for play time but left you behind."

Spike rolled his eyes, "With such a charming personality, I can't imagine why."

"Cute. This from the walking snake."

"Dragon!"

"Whatever, kiddo. Either way you're short and scaly."

"Darling, must we waste time with such a...ruffian? Should we not work towards finding our dear human and Discord?"

Twilight nodded, "Rarity's right. This guy is just wasting our time."

"...now, wait! Don't go! There's no need for that, kiddos!"

"Sorry weirdo, but we've got someone to save."

With that the pony could do naught but watch as they continued on their way, leaving him all alone in his cell, "...and they're gone. Great. Back to the deafening silence once again. I miss my moon base...and my guns...and my robots....and Butt Stallion."

"You truly are a sniveling excuse for a villain, aren't you? Then again, what else would I expect from a...pony?"

"What?! You!? What's the matter, the other baddies didn't want some old goat hanging around?"

"Simpleton. As if I was just some petty goat...but I suppose I shouldn't expect some pony to know the difference. No..." The figure smirked, "Let that fool worry about something as petty as direct revenge. Even if it is him somehow, I'm not one to follow another's orders. I must bide my time...but soon enough I will have my revenge on those Princesses...and Darkness Shade as well should he truly be alive."

With that the hooded figure disappeared, leaving the still jailed pony alone once again.

"....and now the creepy goat guy is gone too. Wonderful...oh well, back to thinking about Butt Stallion."

"So...we need to go get yer real scythes? Hidden away in yer office?"

"That's about the short of it. The ones on my back are the day-to-day ones...but this requires something with a bit more punch." Hades peaked around the tunnel before motioning all was clear, "If we can get those, then somehow meet up with Dark, we just might have a chance to quell this little rebellion."

"Things are certainly interesting now, eh boy?" Discord chuckled as they continued on, "I mean, we go from a simple rescue mission to helping save all of Hell."

"...things certainly aren't simple in life ever since Ah showed up here, that's for sure." Ryan rolled his eyes, "Only you would get a kick out of the situation getting worse."

"Oh but think of the fun we'll have." Discord grinned and ruffled Ryan's hair, "I know just how much fun you have when you get to be all "hero mode" like this. It's just so adorable."

"...Disky."

"Quiet you two...we're getting close now. I doubt they're there anymore but..."

"Right, Hades. We need ta be careful."

Having reached Hades' so-called office, they slowly opened the door to see it had been pretty well ransacked but otherwise all was silent which was good news for them.

"Sheesh, man, they tore this place apart. How can ya be sure yer scythes are even still here?"

"Heh, I'm Hades. I can be tricky, and let's face it: I wouldn't be stupid enough to keep those particular scythes out in plain view." Hades went behind his desk before messing about with a slightly disturbing statue of a wailing pony that was the center-piece of a blood fountain, "And a poke here...and a push here...and shabam!"

With that the fountain split wide-open to reveal a rather brightly glowing box that just begged to be open.

"So Ah take it they're in there?"

"Precisely." Hades produced a somewhat demonic looking key and inserted it into the chest before opening it, "Now mortals, gaze upon the ultimate in reaping power!"

"...."

"...."

"I see the two of you are quite stunned by its sheer appearance."

"....they're 8-bit."

"Pixelated scythes? Really, Hades? Really?"

"Pish-posh! Don't you two know anything about style? Besides..." Hades lifted up his true scythes all to the familiar jingle of an 'Item Get' tune, "Didn't Disky tell you? I'm a sucker for retro stuff."

"...80's references aside, what's the plan now that you've got yer super weapon?"

"The plan?" Hades smirked before levitating one of his scythes, "We go free Dark, hope the Elements show up at the opportune moment, and in general just give them Hell."

"Ah, so basically the same plan formula you seem to enjoy sticking to, boy." Discord chuckled, "In other words, charge in and hope to the heavens everything falls into place."

Ryan sighed before shrugging, "Well, it's always worked before. Let's do this."

"...could you guys use some help?" Dark struggled against the chains holding him once more, "It would seem you're all having a rough time trying to agree on what to do."

"Sssssssuch insolence! We've got to finish him, you foolsssssssss!"

"Yes. Good. Do it! Do it!"

"...Pupatine, stick a sock in it." A human female groaned loudly, "It's always "Do it" this, and "Do it" that. Why in the heavens would I listen to someone that lost to a teenager with a glowing sword and his crippled father?"

"That's why you should follow what I say!"

"Peh, yeah right! You lost to an overgrown metal carriage with a mysteriously appearing and disappearing trailer....who also had a glowing ball of light. Seriously, what is it with most of you villains and meeting your ends at the hands of a hero with some type of light-based plot device?"

Dark snickered, "You tell me, Jessie-baby. After all, as I recall, you lost to the same type of device...did you not?"

A frustrated growl was heard before this so-called "Jessie-baby" turned to face Dark, "...the name is Jessica....and you. You and your "precious, precious princesses" are the bane of my existence. For so long I suffered down here because you put an end to my plans...but now. Oh yes...now you're here. I don't know how, but you are. And with that my chance for revenge is nigh. There's no way those Princesses can risk coming here....and let's be honest."

"Hmmm?"

Jessica began to laugh wildly before smirking at Dark, "There isn't a pony alive that would be crazy enough to come down here after you. So you, my friend, are boned. And once we finish with you...then this world will pay for trapping us in this wasteland. For forgetting about us...soon it will all burn."

Dark yawned before smacking his mouth mockingly, "So you say. There's nopony alive that would be crazy enough...haha."

"Why...why are you laughing?"

"Haha....because you couldn't be more wrong. Not only is there somepony crazy enough to come down here after me....there also happens to be someone crazy enough to pull them all together for it."

Jessica raised an eyebrow, "...someone? What are you rambling about?"

Dark merely laughed before looking up at the plateau that jutted out above where the group of villains stood, "Why ruin it, Jessie-baby? Any minute now, you'll see just what I mean."

Moments before, while Jessica was giving her little evil rant...

"....so Hades?"

"Yes, Ryan?"

"...Ah can't help but note some of those villains look rather familiar. Like someone decided to ponify baddies Ah'm familiar with from fictional worlds."

"Hmmm? Oh. That?" Hades laughed softly, "That one's easy. See, it's like this: Hell isn't cheap to run, there's all the brimstone and fire and lava costs. Not to mention all the labor costs and, well, those fountains don't make their own blood. That stuffs not cheap, ya know? No, those models are too costly for us...it's just cheaper to import the stuff. So I made a deal with the ruling deities of other realities and planets to jail their villains when they die in exchange for a little do-re-mi."

At that Ryan face-palmed, "So basically...you whored out Hell to make more money."

"...well when you say it like that, it sounds really bad."

Discord rolled his eyes, "Not that this isn't thrilling pre-fight dialogue, but I do believe Dark just about is to the point where he sets up our dramatic entrance."

"Hmmm?" Ryan listened intently and gasped, "God! Yer right! We can't miss our chance...so then...we just go in guns blazing, eh?"

Hades smirked, "Pretty much...try not to die, okay?"

"...Why ruin it, Jessie-baby? Any minute now...you'll see just what I mean."

"That's the sign. Let's go!" Hades shouted before leaping off the plateau.

"Sounds good to me." Ryan remarked, pulling Malus Domestica out and following suit, "Propogate! Malus Domestica!"

Jessica twitched, "....apples? Apples!? APPLES! I. Hate. Apples!"

"Well then...what do ya think of these apples?" Dark smirked as he broke the chains holding him and drew his sword, "Betcha hate these ones just as much."

"But...you! How?!"

Dark stuck out his tongue before laughing, "Really? How? I, along with mah friends, were responsible for sending quite a few of you down here. If I helped do all that, did you honestly think some piddly little chains could hold me? Please...I just had to wait till the cavalry arrived. Although...."

Discord noted Dark was looking at him, "...Darkness."

"Cordy...I'm glad ta see ya again. Even though ya won't admit it, I can tell something changed." Dark walked over before holding out his closed fist, "It's good to have ya back...you are back, right?"

Discord looked at the held up fist for a few moments before grinning widely and bumping it with his own fist, "Who can say? Either way, this looks like fun and you know me...I do so like fun. Especially when it involves you, Darkness."

Dark snickered before laughing loudly, "Yeah, same old Cordy..."

"Uhm, guys...it's nice and all that yer havin' yer little reunion and such..." Ryan knocked away some odd, goopy purple creature before regrouping with Hades, "But the fight kinda started so....yeah...help us maybe?"

"What's the matter boy, the Smooze too much for you?"

"Now, now Cordy...you know only the Flutter Ponies were able to stop it." Dark spun his sword around and snapped his fingers, "Well, until you realized we could just freeze the horrific living embodiment of a buk—yeah, I can't finish that. Even for me that one is bad. Oh well...Freeze in the Emptiness of Space! Stardust Eclipse!"

"Wha—Ack!" Ryan leapt back, dodging the sparkling blast that emanated from Eclipsis and turned this so-called Smooze into a giant ice-cube, "A little warning next time would be appreciated!"

"Oh you're fine! Now then, where were we?" Dark heard a loud grunt and raised his sword to block the metal fan Jessica had brought down towards him, "Oh, you wanna play again huh?"

"Damn you, Darkness Shade. Once again all you can do is mock me." Jessica growled, slashing away at him over and over again, "Why?! Why won't you just die?!"

"Already died once...didn't care much for it at the time. And now that I'm back, I'd rather not die again till I tie up a lot of loose ends." Dark wound back and planted his foot in her gut, sending her flying backwards, "You only cared for your own selfish desires...and didn't care who you hurt in the pursuit of them."

"Bastard." Jessica spit before readying her stance again, "Those ponies...they had something I wanted and I was going to take it no matter what! Flaming Hell Wheels!"

"...I pity you." Dark growled, smacking away her flaming fans before running towards and grabbing her, "Even after all this time down here you never could get it through your head that you never had a chance with me. I loved Luna...and still do. Nothing will change that...no amount of magic...no amount of fighting...no amount of anything you do will ever make me feel that way towards you."

"Let go of me!" Jessica shook in his grasp before shouting loudly and shooting out a burst of staticy magic.

"Ack!" Dark growled, flying backwards and colliding with Discord, "...forgot she could do that."

"Are you okay?" Discord yawned, snapping his fingers and watching as a number of the villains there suddenly found themselves encased in gelatin, "I mean, these small fries aren't too much trouble...but you seem to be having trouble with this one. Who is she, anyway?"

Dark stood up before dusting himself off, "Someone from before we met you...someone that couldn't take no for an answer...and tried to hurt those close to me just to get me."

Discord looked at the angry woman and frowned, "...you mean get to you, right?"

"...you heard what I said."

"Hmmm...I see."

"Guys, I know you're filling out that lovely backstory of yours some more but....uhm..." Hades swiped with his scythes, sending a few other villains flying, "We're still having some trouble here...and the Elements are nowhere to be seen so....probably should help out a bit more. I mean, if you aren't too busy that is."

Dark turned to see Jessica glaring at him but otherwise unmoving, "...Ryan! Close your eyes!"

"What?" Ryan turned to see him holding Eclipsis towards the ground, "Hades!"

"I got it!"

Noting his friends had closed their eyes, Dark smirked before uttering two words, "Obfuscate! Eclipsis!"

Counting off five beats, Ryan opened his eyes to see everything as it should be...at least for him and his friends that is. As for the rebellious villains, they seemed to be a bit disoriented as they stumbled about and bumped into one another.

"...this trick." Jessica grumbled, "That damn sword of yours. Just as sneaky as their damn magic."

"Y'all get the feeling something's happening right about now?"

"Why whatever do you mean, AppleJack?"

"What Ah mean is Ah think a throw-down is underway and we're missing out on it!"

Twilight scrunched her face up for a moment, "...she's right. I can sense some higher-level magic going down. And...some magic I've never even felt before. Weird. I think I know who three of them are but...who's the fourth?"

"Uh, guys, does it really matter?" Spike sighed, "If big bro is in trouble maybe we should just, ya know, get a move on as fast as we can."

"Actually, if I might suggest an idea." Lyra raised her hoof to get their attention, "Seeing as it's become obvious they know we're here now...why not just teleport to them?"

Twilight merely blinked before groaning at such a simple solution, "...everypony hold on! We're doing this now!"

And with a quick flash, the seven mares and one dragon poofed on a direct course to where the throw-down was going down. As it was, the group landed and immediately assumed their battle stances....only to be surprised to see that Ryan, Discord, and Dark were rather caught up fighting what appeared to be the more higher-ranking villains of the group. Or at least, that's what Twilight deduced since the other ones were apparently too scared to even try attacking.

"Well well, looks like the Elements finally showed up." Hades chuckled as he finished shooting out chains to keep the villains they'd already beaten from moving, "Nice ta meet you all in person at last."

"Who the heck is that guy?!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight gasped before sighing, "That would be the Lord of the Underworld: Hades."

"Oh please, no need to be so formal. I know I'm pretty legendary but I'm just a guy that does his job." Hades chuckled, "But hey, nice ta see y'all here at last!"

"Uh, guys?" Ryan groaned, knocking away Pupatine and dodging a lightning blast, "Kinda still fighting here."

Now Jessica had been watching this all curiously, especially after Hades had mentioned the Elements showing but...

"What nonsense is this? I don't see those pesky princesses...merely several, inexperienced looking mares wearing some silly jewelry."

Dark snickered, "Those ones are far from inexperienced Jessie....and just to clue you in on something: that jewelry? That's the Elements."

Jessica laughed, "Oh such humor...but no seriously."

Dark merely shrugged before smirking...something she didn't take too well.

"You...you're serious. What nonsense is this?!"

As this was going on, Ryan was making moves to finish dealing with Pupatine once and for all.

"My but yer stubborn...much like the version of you Ah know." Ryan slashed at him, watching as the old dog leapt back before glaring at him.

"You mess with something you don't understand, boy." Pupatine grinned before blinking as Ryan kicked him in the face, "Oh man, what the hell?"

"Sorry, but only one slightly creepy, old guy can call me "boy"...and that's Disky."

Discord made a face and sighed, "...Gee, thanks boy. Nice to know what you think of me."

"Not the time, Disky." Ryan cleared his throat, "Besides....you lost to an emotional teenager and his cripple father...not exactly something that paints you as all that threatening."

"You underestimate the power of the Dark Side, boy." Pupatine growled before unleashing a large blast of lightning right towards him.

"Predictable to the end." Ryan spun the two components of Malus Domestica around before embedding them in the ground, "Absorb!...oh shit! Ah forgot! Uhm...uhm....oh! Right! Absorb! Bottomless Apple Branches!"

"...apples?"

"Heh, apples!" Ryan chuckled, watching as the web of branches sprouted between the two swords and took in all of Pupatine's attack with ease, "And now...yer about to get a shocking surprise."

"...you just used branches to absorb my lightning? How...I don't even care now. Just...just finish me off. Do it! The torture is better than dealing with this crap."

"You asked for it." Ryan held out his arm as the branches blossomed and bloomed forth apples, "Swarm! Death Apple Blossom!"

And with that the super-charged apples honed in on their target, knocking Pupatine off of the conveniently high up ledge he'd been on and down a rather dark pit all while his screams echoed off the walls. Ryan panted, glad that it finally seemed like the last of the bigger villains had been handled, "Huff...heh...younger me would've never believed he'd one day get to fight a version of him. Now then....what is—"

And that's when Ryan heard a rather large roar of anger before turning to see this Jessica person suddenly looking a bit different, "Does...does she have fire and lightning spinning around her?"

"This is completely unacceptable! I will not tolerate such bullshit!" Jessica laughed maniacally, "But! Seeing as these whelps are the new Bearers, perhaps this is good news after all. They won't know what hit them when I'm done with them! Now die!"

"What?! No!" Ryan shouted, "Dammit! Malus Domestica can't absorb an attack like that right now even if Ah could get there in time! LADIES!"

Just as it seemed her attack would strike Twilight and the others, a blur of movement caught there eye and suddenly the attack was caught by...

"Dark?!"

Dark chuckled softly as the lightning crackled in his hand before he closed his fist over it, "You have a terrible memory, don't you? Allow me to remind you of something...one of the reasons you lost...and one of the reasons you will not be allowed to succeed here as well."

Ryan, now with the others, could only stare at Dark curiously before nudging Discord, "Uhm...what's he doing?"

"Something I've not seen him do in a long time, boy." Discord grinned, "As I can sense, you've recently hit this state as well, haven't you? I know the purple booksmart of yours certainly has."

"Wait...are you saying?" Ryan watched as the lightning began to flow around Dark, illuminating him slightly and causing his hair to spike out in all sorts of random directions, "He...he's been pushed to that point too?"

"Indeed." Discord pulled out a tub of popcorn and began munching, "Oh yes...time for the light show to begin."

"...it's been a while since I needed to do this. Even when I fought Cordy, I didn't need to go this far..." Dark glared coldly at Jessica, "In fact... if memory serves me right, it was when we fought you that I last had a need for this state. What is it about you that brings the worst out?"

"You...I will not come this far to have my revenge taken away like this!" Jessica unleashed her attacks but they were all for not as Dark deflected each one, "...why do you side with them?"

"Now that's a dumb question." Dark chuckled as lightning flickered all around him, "Because they aren't an evil, selfish bitch that tried to hurt others. Pretty easy choice there, all things considered. Now stop this nonsense...you're outclassed in this fight, just like back then."

Jessica stared at Dark and his friends before reaching into her pocket and producing...a key?

"NO!" Hades shouted, "How did you get that?!"

"Hahaha...you shouldn't have left this just lying around. And now...!" Jessica took the key before plunging it into her chest, "Ugh! Yes!"

Twilight Sparkle seemed a bit panicked as she ran over to Hades, "Please tell me that's not what I think it was."

"...I'm afraid so, Twilight Sparkle. That...that was the Key to Hell."

"Uhm...what...what does that mean?"

"What it means, Fluttershy, is we are in trouble." Twilight looked at the flames pouring into Jessica, increasing her magical powers, "She's taking in all of Tartarus' powers for herself. According to the legend, it's supposed to be Hades' fail-safe device in case something horrible goes wrong in Tartarus. It allows him to take complete and direct control of all the functions down here..."

"Tarnation..." AppleJack was a bit stunned by this revelation, "But if that there crazy woman did that...what does that mean fer us?"

Dark growled softly, "It means trouble...to think she'd go to such lengths just because of me."

"I say, we certainly are getting in deep this time, aren't we boy?" Discord tried to lighten the mood, "Keyword being tried there...even I don't think I have a joke in me to alleviate how possibly screwed we might be."

"That...that's a rare show of straight-forwardness from ya, Disky." Ryan frowned, "That just tells me the shit really has hit the fan. Hmmm...."

"Even with the Elements...I doubt we can beat her."

"I won't believe that, Hades!" Dark growled, brandishing Eclipsis and charging at Jessica, "I won't let you ruin anymore lives!"

Despite his best efforts, however, he couldn't penetrate the flames that were giving her the super-charge and eventually he was knocked backwards by explosive force of Hell's might. Shaking his head, he tried to think of something, anything they could do.

"Ah know that look."

Dark turned to Ryan and nodded, "Yeah...any suggestions?"

Ryan thought for a moment before turning to his herd, "Ah think so...if Hades is how Ah think he is anyway."

"Apple Ryder...why are ya looking at us like that?"

"You heard what he said...even with y'all there's no guarantee we'll win." Ryan pulled out his wand before smiling at all of them.

Spike, noting what he was most likely going to do, shook his head, "Ryan! Don't do this!"

"Ah have to, little bro. Ah have to protect mah family...just remember this: Ah will always love y'all."

Hearing that, most of them pieced together what he was going to do as he raised his wand but could do nothing but shout as he teleported them out of Tartarus and to somewhere safe. Putting the wand away, Ryan turned to the others with a determined look on his face, "Dark. Hades. Disky. Now that they're safe...I think I know something we can do."

"...but why?"

"That's easy, Hades: you said yerself even with them we didn't have a chance. So Ah wasn't gonna risk them. Now then...if yer the kind of Lord of the Underworld that Ah know you are, you have a contingency plan for this, don'tcha?"

Hades put a hoof to his chin and nodded slowly, "I do but...it's the ultimate fail-safe to contain anything that happens."

"Well then do it!" Dark shouted, pointing at Jessica, "She's almost taken all of Hell's power for herself now!"

"Dear boys, I do believe I know why he's so hesitant. As the three of us don't belong here, he's unsure what may happen to us once he sets it off."

"Discord is right...for once."

"Hey!"

"Either way, it most likely will eject you three somewhere outside Tartarus...but I don't know where and what other effects it will have on you." Hades stomped the ground, "...we don't have a choice though, do we?"

"Exactly." Ryan holstered his sword, "That's why I sent them back home. I only had enough left in me for that after taking on those other guys...so let's do this!"

"Heh, I'm in there with ya, partner." Dark laughed, "At least we'll be in it together, right Cordy?"

"Oh, I suppose if I must. This is all a part of Friendship, isn't it?" Discord smirked, "What better way to become reacquainted than with a crash course?"

"Very well." Hades stepped forward before his scythes began circling around him, going faster and faster as he focused his magic. As they watched, the light became more intense before finally there was a loud screeching noise and then...nothing. Nothing but empty blackness...

Author's Note:
So folks, what a crazy little adventure through hell that turned out to be. Ah think Ah did right on the references and all that jazz....as well as building up the world and...*snickers* Ah'm, Ah'm sorry....it's just that, Ah imagine most of you that follow mah update blogs are wondering why Ah left at a cliffhanger when Ah said Ah wouldn't.
Well, gonna let ya in on something...Ah figured Ah'd be a little mischievous and pretend that the chapter came to an end by making a FALSE Author's Note using certain features available here.
Ah must admit, Ah wasn't sure whether to or not, but Ah have a feeling most of you will be amused...hopefully. Either way, just keep scrolling down some ways to where the story picks back up after Ah decided to not leave y'all with a cliffhanger after two months of waiting. Enjoy! :trollestia:

"Ugh....."

Ryan groaned softly as he lay...somewhere, his eyes closed as he tried to focus through the haze his headache was giving him. Wherever he was it was dark out, as even with closed eyelids no sign of light was visible.

'...partner...?'

Ryan groaned again before smiling, "Guess yer back where ya started, huh?"

'....better to be free in yer noggin than to be trapped in hell. By the by...do you feel off?'

"Now that ya mention it, Ah do feel like something is the matter here." Ryan sighed before finally opening his eyes, "...what?"

There in front of his eyes was something brown, but also red...and it felt warm as well. Upon further thought, he felt whatever his was lying on most of his body and when he caught sight of a twitching tail out of the corner of his eye he knew exactly what he was seeing.

"Disky."

"Oh dear boy...you really are comfortable." Discord chuckled, "Now I see why those ponies of yours are always so eager to cuddle up with you."

"...that was creepy. Now get off."

Feeling him roll off of him, Ryan slowly sat up and looked around, "Trees...and trees...creepy ones too."

'Oh lovely, we're in the depths of the Everfree somewhere.'

"How annoyingly predictable, but there's no doubt of it." Ryan glanced to see Discord just sitting there, "Are...are you okay there, Disky?"

"Hmmmm, uhm, yes!" Discord quickly stood up, "Just resting, dear boy, yes!"

"...okay. So do you two happen to know where in the depths we might be?"

'....not really. This place doesn't look like any part I know of...even from way back when Tia and Woona had their original castle here.'

"...original castle?"

"Oh yes, I do remember you telling me about that one day, Darkness." Discord nodded, "Yes, the original castle of the Two Sisters. I have to wonder if it's even still out here."

"But wait....Ah thought that the Everfree had something to do with you, Disky."

"Oh it did...but they had already moved on from this lovely little place before then." Discord picked Ryan up and pointed in one direction, "I feel we'll have luck going in this direction."

'...and what makes you say that, Cordy?'

"Do you question Pinkie's sense? Or Ryan's ridiculous luck? No. So don't question my all-knowing chaos powers."

Ryan sighed and face-palmed, "Chaos....ugh, well it's as good a guess as any. Ah'm just worried about something."

'The Girls?'

"No...the fact that mah abilities seem quite weakened." Ryan held out Malus Domestica, "Even mah sword isn't shining as brightly."

'Hmmm...the gem seems dulled. That would explain the off feeling we have.'

"How about you, Disky, how are you feeling?"

Discord pointed at himself, "How am I feeling, boy? Well I feel....just fine."

"Ya...ya hesitated there."

"I assure you I'm okay now come on! Have to get you home to those ponies of yours and such." Discord began pushing Ryan on...but his face seemed to show he was hiding something.

"Three weeks....and still no sign of y'all. Apple Ryder....where are ya?"

Three weeks had indeed passed since that fateful encounter in Hell and still their beloved human—and Discord—had yet to return. Twilight had tried in vain to teleport back the moment they had arrived in Sweet Apple Acres but something had prevented that. After trying over and over, she eventually just settled for running back to the entrance but after hours of searching they had gotten nowhere.

"Twi...Ah know how hard it is to not be able to help him but...we gotta trust him. He trusted us back when we fought Discord, right? He knew what he was doing...and he was doing what our stallion does best: protect his herd. He'll come back to us, Ah know it."

AppleJack sighed softly, remembering her words as she sat where she always did in the early evening lately: a small hill overlooking the edge of the forest that bordered Sweet Apple Acres. She had come here every day since then waiting patiently and hoping. Most days her herdmates would join her, but Rainbow and Lyra were the only ones that showed up every single day due to the others' various responsibilities. Even Winter Wrap-Up was a bit hard to get through and focus on for all of them as they could only wonder just where their human was. As it was, Twilight and the others had just shown up to join her and took their place on the blanket that was laid out, "Hello, AppleJack. Still nothing, huh?"

"Yeah, Twi, it's all quiet."

"Don't worry, he'll show up! I just know he will!"

"Haha, Ah know, Lyra, it's just been so long...Ah miss him something fierce."

Rainbow Dash hugged her friend, "We all miss that goofball...but hey! He has Dark with him...and Discord. Even if they ended up somewhere crazy I know they'll be okay."

The others had similar words of encouragement which just warmed Apps heart: even though they all loved Ryan, they knew that Ryan and Apps had something special besides that and so they did what they could to keep her spirits high. As they sat and enjoyed the comfort of being there for one another, the sky began to cloud up and rain started to threaten....before it slowly began to fall.

"Come on, AJ. No need staying out here and getting sick."

Knowing Rainbow was right, she helped the others gather up the blanket before turning to go...and then she paused. She wasn't sure why, but something told her to turn back around and when she did...she began to cry, "...Apple Ryder? Apple Ryder!"

Hearing his nickname, the others turned and glanced towards the forest's edge before seeing something slowly emerging from the depths. And once it cleared the edge, there was no mistaking what they saw: their human had finally made his way back home to them. Needless to say, it didn't take long before they began running towards him.

"Come on Disky...we're almost there...." Ryan grunted as he carried Discord's slightly limp form on his shoulder, "Ah just feel it...."

Discord groaned quietly before laughing softly, "Dear boy...you've been saying that for hours now..."

"Ah know...but this time..."

'...Ryan.'

"Ah know we're there...Ah won't stop....till we get home." Ryan grunted, his body covered in signs of various struggles and hardships, "Ah won't...give...up."

And so he pressed on until, against all odds, it seemed as if the light in the forest began to increase. At first Ryan felt this was just another unusual clearing but then...

'Ryan...the forest is thinning.'

Sure enough, with a few more steps he finally reached the forest's edge and saw a sight he was starting to wonder if he'd ever get to see again, "Home...."

"...heh....you...you actually did it, boy." Discord coughed before smiling, "But...why didn't you just leave me? You would've gotten here so much quicker."

"Heh...the same reason you took that blow for me...and saved me from those chimeras." Ryan smirked, "Because we're friends."

"...friends." Discord closed his eyes, a few tears slipping out, "...I missed being that word more than I realized. Thank you....Ryan..."

When he felt him go fully limp, Ryan's eyes widened as he shook him a bit, "Disky? Oh crap...he passed out. That poison must be affecting him more than he let on. We've gotta hurry...maybe find the girls and...Apps?"

He was a bit stunned to see them running right towards him...but quickly tossed that aside as he began running full bore to meet them halfway, "Girls! Discord! Poison! Trouble! Forest! Ah.....ugh!"

AppleJack caught Ryan as he fell to his knees, "Apple Ryder! What happend to ya? Are ya hurt?"

"Yeah but....not as much as Disky...he...poison...trouble...princesses..."

"Ryan...calm down. Breathe." Twilight looked over Discord, "I don't understand....how...how could something affect him like this? The power his magic holds should make something like poisoning nearly impossible."

"That's the...problem." Ryan panted, trying to calm himself, "When Ah sent ya away, Hades....he used a failsafe to stop Jessica. Locked down hell....but sent us flying deep into the Everfree where even Disky and Dark didn't know where we'd ended up."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Okay but...that still doesn't explain what happend to you three? There are three of you, right?"

'I'm here if that's what yer asking, Speedy Snooze.' Dark laughed softly before groaning, 'But there was a side-effect...that spell severely drained our magical abilities to rather low levels. For Ryan it was almost as if he was a normal human but for Disky...well, he had some magic but only enough to help us survive.'

Ryan looked at Discord's limp body with a frown, "He didn't let us know...not until we fought those Chimeras and....erk..."

"Ryan!"

Ryan had grunted before falling nearly limp in AppleJack's forelegs, "T-Sparks...quickly...the Princesses. Send a letter....they'll...know how to help Disky...Ah'm just...so glad...we made it back home to see yer all alright."

With that he closed his eyes, the exhaustion finally getting to them after their ordeal. Going into quick action mode, the others quickly picked up both him and Discord while Spike and Twilight got to work contacting Celestia and Luna as they rushed to town as quick as they could.

"Nnngh...." Ryan felt stiff all over, his body screaming as he woke up to find himself—once more—in a hospital room, "...Ah feel like Ah was just here. Ah'm making a bad habit of this..."

Checking over his body, he could seen numerous bandages covering many a place on his person and the ache...the overwhelming stiff ache he felt was causing him much grief to even do something as simple as breath. Very carefully moving his head about, he looked to see he wasn't alone in this room. For there, next to him, lie Discord of all people looking in worse shape than he was, "Disky..."

"Ah'm telling ya it was okay that we left to have something ta eat, Lyra. We've been sitting with him for nearly 12 hours straight...we gotta eat or we'll start feeling bad too." AppleJack walked in with both her as well as Rarity, "The others are talking with the Princesses now so we've gotta just be patient and—"

"Howdy ladies...and please don't get too excited. Mah head is still trying to wrap itself around mah body's various signals."

"Apple Ryder?"

"Oh darling! I knew you'd be okay!" Rarity ran over before stopping short, "Oh right...my gentleman did request a quieter welcome."

"Thanks m'lady...how long was Ah out this time?"

"Somewhere around four days, Ry-Ry."

"Four...not a record but still not nice, eh Heartsy? Haha." Ryan smiled as he felt her nuzzle his cheek, "What about Disky?"

"What did the Princesses say? Ah think it was that it was close but he'll be alright...or somethin' like that. That any later and, well, even Discord wouldn't have been able to come back from this." AppleJack frowned, "Ah still don't get the full of it but, somethin' about that poison being a bit odd compared to other Chimeras...some such thing like that."

"Ah see..." Ryan nodded, "Ugh...Ah really wish Ah could get up and stretch mah legs."

"As much as I would love to assist with that, darling, considering how many wires and tubes you have attached to you I don't think that would be the best idea."

"Hmm, you've got a point, Rares. Ya think Ah'd be used to things being stuck places they don't belong with how often Ah've been finding mahself here in the hospital but..."

'Some pains can never be overcome. Especially those ones...certain places were not meant to have stuff stuck in them.'

"....that was probably far too specific, Dark."

'Sorry, Lyrs, but my filter isn't exactly up and running either yet.' Dark sighed, 'I'm doing my best to help Ryan heal quicker but...he really pushed harder than he ever did before, especially without most of his enhanced abilities. I'm actually pretty impressed he did what he did...but, again, that is a reason I wouldn't have my host be any other.'

"Yeah, yeah...you just don't wanna get kicked out. Freeloader." Ryan smirked, "Hmm....still so tired. Oh...it's been a long time, right?"

"Three weeks or so, yeah. Why?"

"Ah was just wondering, Apps, is...is Trixie better?"

AppleJack blinked before nodding, "She is...sorta. She woke up at least, but she's still taking her time to heal up. She apparently doesn't remember much when she wore the Amulet."

'That sort of lines up with what we thought, right?'

"Yeah...she said a few things that didn't really seem possible for her to know. Particularly, certain things directed towards you, Dark." Ryan yawned, "Well, that's good...thankfully she's okay. When Ah can move again, have ta...apologize...in person....gonna sleep...now...."

With that Ryan lost the struggle to stay awake and fell asleep again, dreaming of happy things once more: friends, family, and the memories they all shared.

"Magic...it's a hell of a thing." Ryan joked, stretching his limbs a week later, "Ah guess it's nice to have such powerful friends, eh?"

'That's one way to put it...how ya feeling, Cordy?'

Discord groaned, "I feel ridiculous...and for me, that's saying something."

"Oh come now, Disky, it could be worse."

Discord motioned at himself, "And what could be worse than having to stay in this ridiculous pony form till the rest of my powers return?"

Ryan simply smirked before very simply stating, "...ya could be a human."

Discord's pupils went to shrink before he realized something, "...well, I'd have hands at the least."

"Well, Discord, is that permission to alter your healing state?" Celestia grinned a very trollish grin before charging up her horn, "I can happily oblige if that's what you wish."

This time his pupils did shrink before he shook his head, "No! No! That's quite fine, dear Tia. I'm more than fine with staying this way just a little longer till I can be my ever handsome self again. By the way...what's to happen to me now that this little escapade is over?"

"Well, Discord, that is the question now isn't it?" Luna paced about, "From what we've been told you originally tried to separate Ryan from the others for some reason...no doubt something sinister."

"Now now, Woonie, no need to be upset." Discord rolled his eyes, "Yes, perhaps I had some ridiculous notion rolling about that maybe getting him alone would give me ample time for revenge...but then something unexpected happened."

"Apple Ryder said something like that, that y'all had a discussion about the past."

"The cowgirl is right, though I see you chose to keep what we talked about a secret."

Ryan simply shrugged at this, "Well, Ah just figured it wasn't important to and you could mention it if ya felt ya should. Either way, like Ah told Cellie and Lunes, ya seemed a bit different after that..."

Celestia nodded, "Yes...from the few details we've gotten about your harrowing adventure through the Everfree, it would seem that whatever the two of you talked about changed you, Discord."

"Oh pish-posh." Discord waved a hoof about, "I simply had to make sure our dear boy came back in one piece. Were he not to return in anything but a whole state...well, you don't have to have nearly endless magic to see what would happen."

Celestia chuckled before smirking, "So you say...but recall that we were all friends once, Discord. And I can still tell when you're lying to me."

"Moi? Lying? Oh, Tia...such accusations to make."

Luna simply rolled her eyes, "Whatever the case, it would appear you've got at least one person willing to vouch for your change...two, technically, considering my Darkness vouches for you as well. As such...we will allow you to maintain your freedom."

"Yes!" Discord shouted, pausing in mid-air with a hoof thrust triumphantly upwards.

"On the condition that Ryan and his herd keep an eye on you...for now, anyway."

Discord turned to look at her before falling to the ground, "Well...I suppose it's better than being a statue. I suppose this means I'll have to find a nice place to settle down here in Ponyville until I'm allowed more freedom. Well then, I best get looking!"

With that they watched as Discord's eyebrows shifted to his back, enlarged, and he flew away using them leaving the group of friends to watch, various looks on their faces at the sight.

'Who else but Cordy?' Dark joked, easily drawing everyone else into laughter, 'So then, before we get back to working on normalizing our life, we have one last thing to do.'

"Two, actually Dark. I don't know why you guys didn't, but Ah really need to shave this beard off. Ah just don't feel right not being clean-shaven."

Rarity smirked, "Oh must you, darling? The rugged look certainly fits you well."

"This from the mare who just loves how "smooth and sleek" my cheeks are after Ah shave." Ryan booped her on the nose, "Now follow me, Ah require yer assistance in my grooming. And then...Ah need to check on one last loose end from this whole adventure."

The Still Rather Tired and Somewhat Gloomy Feeling Trixie sat in her hospital bed, slowly eating the grape gelatin that remained from her lunch. Try as she might, she still couldn't remember what put her in this situation...save for one image that haunted her nightmares: a strange, mostly hair-less ape creature that had a look of death in its eyes as it—Trixie shuddered before hurriedly eating the rest of it, "...Trixie must wonder why things like this happen to her."

Glancing out the window and getting lost in thought, she was a bit surprised when the door to her room opened again, "...oh, it is you again, Twilight Sparkle. You needn't check up on me like this, you know? The Great and Powerful Trixie does not need pity visits."

"Charming as always, Trixie." Twilight smirked as she walked in with the others, "While we are here to visit you, someone in particular is here to check up on you after hearing how long you've been here."

"I keep telling you, nopony will help me get over this block you think I have that is keeping me in this bed." Trixie sighed before rolling her eyes, "Just who do you think this person could be to—"

Ryan noted the whole room go quiet when he stepped in and blinked, "Did....did Ah do something?"

And that was when Trixie let out the most terrifying, blood-curdling scream he'd ever heard any pony let out in his whole time here before she let loose a strange explosion of magic that had no effect as she simply hid under her covers, her flank showing as it shook back and forth. Looking to his herd for answers, they simply shrugged before he walked over and lifted up the covers, "Trixie?"

"Eeeep! Stay away you monster! Don't hurt me! I'm just a simple mare who is tired of getting shit on by life so why must you make things worse!?"

Ryan frowned, his heart aching at seeing her so upset, "Damn...that form really did a number on her subconscious didn't it? Trixie?"

Trixie flinched when she saw the covers slowly pull away and Ryan reaching towards her, "Please...please...don't hurt me anymore."

"Trixie..." Ryan gently placed his hand on her head before softly scratching her ears, "I never wish to hurt anyone or anypony....I only ever fight to protect those important to me."

Trixie shivered slightly less as Ryan's fingers worked their magic, "...then why do I have those...those dreams? Such intense anger...."

"Trixie...look at my eyes."

Trixie shook her head, "No..."

"Trixie..."

"No..."

"...just please..."

Trixie sat there for a short while before sighing and slowly opening her eyes, "...fine. But Trixie doesn't see why it will—tears?"

"Yes. To know I caused you such pain and agony when you were just as much a victim as anyone else because of that stupid Amulet." Ryan stared into her eyes as she gazed up at him, "My passion to protect those Ah care for...it reached a point even Ah didn't know existed. And Ah'm sorry you had to pay the price."

"...Trixie sees that perhaps you are not how her dreams paint you."

Ryan simply nodded, "Ah just hope you can forgive me."

"Hmmm....perhaps if you keep up with what those things you have are doing, then perhaps Trixie may just find it in her bountiful kindness to forgive you."

Snickering, Ryan kept up with the ear-scratching, "Funny enough, that ain't the first time Ah've been told that. Haha."

Though still a little uneasy around Ryan, Trixie eventually seemed to overcome the block keeping her hospitalized by actually getting to see him and not the...overamped, broken version of him. As it was she had left not too long after she was released, even though Twilight asked if she perhaps wanted to stay and maybe start over in Ponyville.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie feels that wandering is in her blood and so she must head off." Trixie had smiled when she left, "...although, perhaps I may return one day. After all, there are certain services that can only be had here after all."

Ryan shook his head at remembering that as he read the local paper this fine morning, "As always, it's with the hands and then the scratching and rubs."

'Hey dude, it's easy: in the land of hooves, the man with hands is king!'

"Haha, oh Ah so called that."

'...huh?'

"Ah already made such a joke, dude. Still, nice ta know Ah read ya well enough to guess you'd say something like that." Ryan sighed after his laughter faded, "Still....kinda upset Ah missed that Winter Wrap-Up thing. It sounded so curious and, as ya know partner, Ah do find it so fascinating how they control weather here."

'Oh well, there's always next year, right?'

Looking around the newly finished kitchen in the 2nd version of the house he'd designed, he gave a nod, "Yeah...it's pretty obvious Ah'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

Realizing the others were still sleeping and wouldn't be up for a while, Ryan cleaned up his breakfast plate and was about to go get dressed in something more fitting for the day until he heard a knock at the door.

"Huh? Now who could that be at this early hour?"

'Mac, maybe? Or Granny? Maybe Derpy with a package?'

"Good guesses but....hmmm." Ryan moved to the front door as the knocking occurred once more, "...wait. That knocking...it sounds like a song...no. No."

Taking a deep breath, Ryan opened the door and was not surprised in the least at what he saw: Discord, dressed in a robe, a bubble pipe in his mouth, and wearing the brightest, fuzziest pink slippers he ever seen. In fact, he almost had to double-check that he wasn't just standing on Fluffle Puff they were so crazy. After getting over the fact that Discord was standing there wearing what he was, Ryan sighed before smirking, "Disky...what the hell are ya doing?"

"Oh, isn't it obvious dear boy? I'm merely paying a visit to my neighbor."

'...what?'

"Ah agree, what?"

"May I come in? Of course I can, we're friends after all. And neighbors too, if you remember me saying!" Discord just walked up to Ryan and waltzed right in...literally as he waltzed with Ryan into the kitchen.

"....Ah'm just gonna roll with that. But please, explain...." Ryan watched as he went through the cabinets, "...what are ya looking fer?"

"Sugar....I figured to just come on by and ask if I could borrow a cup." Discord opened a pantry, shrunk down, and hopped in to look around, "You see, I was trying to make my morning tea and wanted to spice it up so....long story short, I set my sugar on fire."

"You...what? How? How do you..."

"Oh that's easy...I gave my sugar life so it could just hop on in while I worked on breakfast." Discord, annoyed he couldn't find it, hopped out of the cabinet and on to Ryan's shoulder, "You see, they, for whatever reason, decided to just miss the tea completely. So they dove alright...into my stove."

"They...they committed suicide? Rather than sweeten yer tea, they chose a firey end..."

"Oh yes." Discord leaned on his neck, "It was...sniff...so dreadful. Oh the humanity of it all...."

Instantly changing his tune, he hopped off of Ryan before landing back in a chair at normal size, "And I so thought: "Oh, I won't be able to have my tea." And then I remembered I had a neighbor that's also my friend!"

"Again...neighbor?"

"Yeah. See, the dear Princesses said I have to stay near you until I've proven that I'm more trustworthy. And since nopony in town seemed eager to rent me a house, I thought long and hard about where to go." At this he took Ryan by the hand and led him to the window, "And now you see what I've done. I thought on how there was so much empty land just sitting out there on the farm where you built this lovely abode for you and your herd, so I simply made myself at home."

Staring out the window, Ryan could indeed see a house now next to theirs that looked so chaotic it could only belong to one such as Discord. Face-palming and then dragging his hand down his face, Ryan shook his head before uttering that iconic phrase, "There goes the neighborhood....so then, ya said somethin' about sugar?"

Author's Note

This one is for real, no more fake-outs guys. Hahaha.
So...two months. Ah've been really busy and so Ah hope the quality was not affected by that and how Ah wrote when Ah could. Ah really hope y'all enjoyed this and that, as usual, it's length and hopefully top-notch quality writings more than made up for the fact it's been two months exactly since Ah last updated. Heh.
Either way, Ah'm curious to hear what y'all have to say about this one and Ah look forward to continuing on as always with all the writings Ah have planned.
Besides, now that Disky's been taken care of, there's still another loose end out there...if yer smart, ya know just who Ah'm talking about. :raritywink:
Later y'all!

23rd Harvest

'So, do you think that fellah made it to wherever he belonged in one piece?'

Ryan looked up from fiddling with the technological doodad he was arm deep in and glanced upwards as he often did when talking to Dark, "What? Deej? Yeah, Ah'm sure he's fine. Considering how much he reminded me of us, Ah'm sure his luck helped out and got him to where he belongs. Besides, if his T-Sparks is the one that sent him careening about the multiverse, he'll eventually find a way home. Who knows? Maybe one day, we'll meet up again. After all, we didn’t get to show off many of the tricks we’ve still got up our sleeves. Still...after that little adventure Ah'd rather it be under better circumstances. That whole thing just...hurts mah brain to think on."

'Well, when time is involved, it can get weird...funny how it all resolved itself. I hope they're alright, I'd hate for something ta happen to mah new buddy Mallie before he had a chance to "finally triumph over shade-boy". Hahaha, but enough about that. What is this thing you've been tinkering with for so long?'

"This thing?" Ryan closed up a panel before plugging it in, "This is the result of whatever free time Ah had and making something of that ridiculous dream we had way back on Dashie's birthday."

'...I thought it looked like an arcade machine. Are you...are you telling me somehow ya built a fighting game with us in it?'

"Hey, as Ah've said before, magic is a hell of a substitute tool."

With that Ryan watched as it went through the boot sequence before finally a very catchy tune kicked in. Humming along with it he pressed start and was pleased to see it not crash, "Beautiful. Now as long as our dear little sisters come through with their task eventually, this will get another lovely update. Alas, as much as Ah'd like to play it now, there's some things to tend to."

'Right. We've gotta meet up with the gals and see what they could find.'

With a nod, Ryan flicked a switch and turned off the machine before removing the grounding strap from his wrist. As he put everything away, he glanced at the calendar hanging nearby before lifting it up and reading the date, "Jewelie 3rd...it's officially been over a year since Ah arrived here. Heh, that little party yesterday was nice to celebrate...but..."

Pulling out his wallet, Ryan glanced at a worn photo and smiled sadly, "If Ah could send a message to y'all, then perhaps all would be right in the world. Maybe one day..."

'Ryan...'

"Heh, Ah'm okay Dark. Now then, let us hurry. We mustn't keep our mares waiting."

After getting changed and ready, Ryan was off towards the Treebary to meet the others.

Upon arriving, he went to knock but waited. Staring at the door, he narrowed his eyes before just pushing it open...and then getting a faceful of fluff, "...hello, Fluffle. Doing well with yer new accommodations?"

"PFFFFFFT."

"Ah, excellent. Did you start using a new shampoo, by the way? You smell different."

"...pffft."

"Really? Well Ah think that's a great choice."

'Quite! With as fluffy as you are, cotton candy is the perfect scent.'

Letting out a gasp, she lightly pawed at Ryan's head before hopping off and back towards the couch where Twilight and the others had been waiting patiently.

"And our human shows up at last." Twilight smirked, "A bit busy with your toys, were you?"

Not one to let such teasing slide, Ryan walked over before tapping her horn, "As Ah recall, those little "toys" of mine have brought you quite a bit of joy in "scienceing" over, T-Sparks."

'Now now, you can tease the horn later when we're not in company.' Dark mentally motioned towards Fluffle who seemed to be watching curiously, 'We do have business to conduct here after all.'

"Ah reckon he's right, Apple Ryder. We can have a romp in the hay later tonight if yer so eager but for now..."

"Apps!" Ryan coughed before shaking his head, "So...did you find anything pertaining to what Ah asked you about the information we were able to find in the Hidden Archives?"

"Well, darling, we did do our best but..."

"What Rarity is trying to say is we were only able to find a few things." Fluttershy brought over an envelope and set it in his lap, "This is all we could find with our searching."

"Even the Princesses were unable to find out much despite remembering more about it from being there." Twilight looked down before back at Ryan, "Who is this pony you brought up? This Gauge Mechro?"

"...somepony important." Ryan opened the envelope and found some small information within, as well as photos from the past....and the present, "....Dark?"

'...you see it too, don't you? It's not clear, but in all these photos, few they may be, there's something common in them.'

"...are you okay?"

Ryan turned to Lyra and smiled, "Of course. While it isn't much, y'all have given me a chance to hopefully do something good."

With that Ryan had headed back to their home to add what they had found to his own information before spending the rest of the night pouring over it. As it was, he'd fallen asleep at his desk and was unaware of somepony moving him into bed before he was snuggled up to. The night passed quickly and soon enough the rising sun slowly roused Ryan. Yawning, he nestled into the comforting warmth he felt on his side, no doubt one of his herd that had been the one to bring him to bed. With a smile on his face, he was happy to lay there until he felt something was off. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but when he felt something wrap around his leg he knew that things were not quite right. Opening his eyes, he looked down to see a familiar tail wrapped around his leg and a paw resting on his chest, "...the fuck?"

"Oh my, such language so early in the morning."

Blinking at this odd voice that sounded so familiar yet different, Ryan turned to see something that caused him to jump back and his eyes to bug out, "Who?! What?!"

'...wait. Wait. Ryan...'

"...Ah think Ah see that too but, where's mah glasses?" Ryan muttered before feeling them land on his face, "....Dark, is that...but...."

'Oh my...I had almost forgotten about that form of yours.' Dark chuckled, 'How very nice of you to show up again...Eris.'

"...Eris?" Ryan looked over what appeared to be a female draconequus just lounging on the bed, "But wait...Eris was the goddess of....discord."

Watching his face pale, the lady giggled before batting her eyes at him, "I dare say, boy, now I see exactly why those ponies of yours love this so much. You were just so sleepy doing whatever nonsense that was, hee, that I couldn't help but have some fun. Although I must admit, I haven't had reason to go this form for some time. If I were to wager, was it not back then, Darkness?"

'...I will say yes but admit nothing else.'

Ryan watched...her seemed to fit, as he watched her giggle and certain assets began to jiggle and move about. Groaning softly he briefly glanced down before looking up and rolling his eyes, "Dammit boner...not now."

"Oh my." Eris giggled before floating over to him, "Feeling a bit...pent-up dear boy?"

"Guh...don't do that, please." Ryan sighed, feeling her run a claw through his hair, "This is kinda weirdin' me out. Wait...Dark?"

'...yes?'

"Did...did..." Ryan looked at her, "Eris here say she was last seen when...you were around?"

'...again, neither denial nor confirmation from me.'

Eris gasped before frowning, "Oh dear....little Darkness saying such mean things about me. Me, a sensitive little flower blooming in a field of chaos...did we not share some fun times back then?"

'....Ryan, perhaps now would be a good time to put on pants.'

"Wait...what?" Ryan looked down to note he was indeed clad only in underwear and a t-shirt, "Where the hell are mah pants?!"

"Well you seemed so warm in them, I just figured I'd help keep you cool while we snuggled." Curling around his torso, she shot him a devilish smirk, "Did I, perhaps, make an error?"

Ryan, for his part, was trying to make sense of this whole event and wasn't even sure if he was awake it was going so oddly. Taking a deep breath, he gently but persistently removed Eris from his person before spying his pants. Pulling them on, he sighed before smirking at the confused draconequus, "Look baby, it's me, not you. As flattered as Ah am that ya did all this for snuggles, mah herd wouldn't appreciate me showing you attention. It wouldn't be fair to them, or you ya know."

"Oh but come now, we're friends are we not? Did Darkness not mention the times of enjoying peaceful, quiet nights with Tia and Woonie?"

'...again, no comment.'

"Ooooooh, so that's what happened. Ah have to wonder, how did Cellie and Lunes take this form of yers?"

Giggling once more, Eris merely smiled, "Oh, I think they enjoyed it well enough. By the way, with all this commotion, how come your herd hasn't come running?"

"...that's a very good question." Ryan headed downstairs, followed by the floating female version of his friend, "All quiet down here as well..."

"Oh lookie, a note from yer little mares." Eris picked up the note off the table and grinned, "My, my, it says they had to take care of some business in Canterlot and won't be back for a few days. That'll be awful lonely, won't it? All by yer lonesome, in this great big house."

Placing his head in his hand, Ryan rolled his eyes before realizing what she was getting at, "...you wanna keep me company like this, don't you?"

"It wouldn't be weird, I promise!" Eris nodded, perhaps too quickly as she held up her hand, "Scout's honor! Unless you'd rather my actual self...."

"No! Ah mean...no, that's...if this is going to happen—and it seems like it is—at least this way it's not as...weird if ya do what ya did this morning."

"Splendid!" With that Eris floated him into a chair and poofed on an apron that read 'Cooking Eris: Chaos Magic' before going to work in the kitchen, "Just rest right there, read the paper, and I will make you a batch of my famous, other-world renowned pancakes."

Raising an eyebrow at this, Ryan couldn't help but ask something, "...what exactly is gonna be in these? Ah assume yer still aware of what humans can and can't eat, right?"

"Oh please, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't know just what would make my friend happy? Speaking of..." Eris flicked her tail, causing a glass of chocolate milk to rain down on the table, "I know it's your favorite, even if you don't openly say so."

Looking at the glass complete with silly straw in the shape of Eris Ryan slowly picked it up before sipping...and then staring as his eyes glazed over.

'...partner?'

"This...is the richest, most delicious chocolate milk ever." Ryan's grin threatened to break his face, "Okay, how bad could this turn out? It's just the Rule 63 form of Disky...that's not a bad thing. Right?"

Turning to face you, Ryan repeated his question though sounding slightly less confident. “...r-right?”

After breakfast in which Ryan learned that Eris was, oddly, a very good chef she had stated she wished for some quality time. Said quality time being spent watching a movie, sitting on a couch...and, unfortunately for Ryan, lounging out with her head in his lap.

"This...okay, looking past the fact you pulled a television and a DVD player out of absolutely nowhere and the fact that of all movies you chose a romantic comedy must you place your head there?"

"Ooooh, but this is the comfiest spot." Eris whined cutely, "Besides, why wouldn't you like a romantic comedy? After all, is your life not one itself?"

"...don't bat yer eyes at me. Just...watch the movie."

"Hee-hee, okay."

'This is fun.'

"...how is this fun, Dark?"

'Because we're not alone while our herd is off doing something mysterious.'

Looking down at Eris who was smiling as the movie played out, Ryan supposed he had a point, "Ah guess...it could always be worse, right?"

As the movie came to an end, Eris smirked before looking up at him, "Ry?"

'Uh-oh.'

"...ignoring him, yes Eris?"

"I'm hungry~ Let's go out for something!"

Ryan blinked before stammering, "U-uhm...out? U-us? For food? W-why do that? Can't we just...ya...ya know? Cook something here?"

"But Ryyyyyy, I wanna go out for something. Maybe something nice...as I recall you do have a very sharp looking outfit modeled after yours truly."

Ryan sighed before glancing away, "Thanks Rares...."

Looking down and seeing Eris' eyes unwavering in their intense pleadingness, Ryan groaned before slowly nodding his head. Eris let out a squee of glee before hopping off the couch and pulling him up, "Come now, then! We must get you dressed so we might enjoy the afternoon!"

After being dragged upstairs and told to change, Ryan found himself walking through town...with Eris latched onto his arm. Looking over his ensemble, he silently cursed how well his marshmallow was at turning any pattern into magnificence. As it was, most of the ponyfolk were giving second glances when they saw the human and draconequus walking about towards the quaint restaurant on the east end of town. As they passed by the market, Big Mac, who had been selling their first harvest of apples, caught sight of the two and became confused. That confusion led to mistaken thoughts, and that eventually led to him wandering over and confronting the two.

"Mac?"

"Eyup!" Big Mac frowned, "And what are you up to? Mah sister and the others are only gone for one day so far and ya already got some floozy hanging all over you?"

"What? Mac!" Ryan sighed, "It's not what ya think."

"Then what is it? Ah suppose yer gonna try to say this is Discord or something crazy like that, eh?"

"....well."

'Actually...'

Big Mac blinked his eyes before tilting his head, "...what?"

Eris batted her eyes before winking at Mac, "Hey there big guy, how's it going?"

Looking to the ground, back to them, and then to the ground again, Macintosh tried to make heads or tails of what was going on before sighing, "Ah probably shouldn't ask, but Ah'm gonna guess this is some kinda thing...she cooked up because mah sister and the others are gone."

Eris chuckled softly, "Oh you know me too well."

"Well, he does get a bit sad when he can't go off with his herd somewhere." Big Mac snickered, "Mah brother...he's...he's one to get real lonely real fast, that's fer sure!"

"MAC!" Ryan grumbled, bopping him on the noggin, "Must ya?"

"Eeeeeeeeeeyup~"

After bidding farewell to Big Mac, Ryan and Eris continued down the street towards the cafe where they enjoyed a rather pleasant lunch...despite the fact that many ponies including the wait staff couldn't make heads or tails of what the hell was going on and did their best not to stare. When they finally finished eating, Eris dragged Ryan down the streets towards the shops intent on indulging her sweet tooth.

"Eris...we just ate. Do ya really need candy?"

"Oh silly boy, of course I do. Besides..." Eris pouted, "You wouldn't treat sweet little me?"

'Guh!'

"The eyes....Eris."

"Yes?"

"...and that smile." Ryan sighed, "Why can't Ah win with this?"

Eris merely chuckled in return before pulling him into Bon-Bon's sweet shop. Ryan was thankful it was quiet in there, with only one other pony browsing about. As it was, Bon-Bon went to welcome them as they entered, "Welcome! Today we have a...Ryan? Who is this...lady you're with?"

"Well she's..."

Bon-Bon narrowed her eyes, leaping over the counter and staring down Ryan, "Don't you remember what I said about not breaking Lyra's heart? I don't know where she went with the others in your herd, but is this how you spend the time you're left alone? Hanging about with...whoever this is?"

"B-squared, it's not what you think. God..."

'Yeah, Bonnie...this chick is not who she seems.'

Bon-Bon looked at this "chick" as Dark said while she browsed the cases full of candies curiously, "Okay then...who is she?"

"She is Discord."

"....what?" Bon-Bon blinked before shaking her head, "Why....? How?"

"Ah...Ah'm not sure why either but...something about keeping me from getting lonely while mah herd is off? Something about being a good friend..." Ryan shrugged, "Either way, at least Ah'm not bored so Ah'm just rollin' with it."

Bon-Bon narrowed her eyes, “...I see. Well...as long as yer not doing anything to two-time Lyra I guess that’s okay….?”

‘Works for me, Bonnie….but yeah, it is a little off-beat even for Cordy. Not that he hasn’t done this before, mind you, it’s just been….a very, very long time.’

“...right. This is getting weird so...is there anything I can get you two since she’s getting something?”

“Just the usual fudge Ah like, B-squared. Ah kinda need it with the day Ah’ve been having. Heh.”

After acquiring enough to satisfy Eris’ snaggly sweet tooth, the two of them had returned to Ryan’s home where they unwinded with some game-time on the prototype Supah Ponetendo that hadn’t exploded into colorful bits when first powered up. While initially suggesting to start with the co-op sequel to ‘Super Mare-io Sisters’ that they’d been working on for Luna, Eris had instead been drawn to a cartridge with a strangely super cute and colorful title instead. Of course, the cover was a bit misleading as when they started the game it was deceptively violent as enemies filled the screen and both her and Ryan’s character were made to dodge, weave, and throw punches like a boss on the mean streets of some city in Fauxquestria.

“So...the whole point is to beat the the ever-loving fun stuff outta all those punk and gang looking ponies in order to save the one dragon-chicks stallion?”

“Pretty much...why else would they be the Double Dragons?”

“Hence the pun-filled name. Clever of you.” Eris’ eyes lit up as she did some kind of super-powered spin-kick, “...this is actually really fun. What is this called?”

“A beat-em-up. At least back home it was called that, since it’s just a side-scrolling game where you punch, kick, and just be a total badass. Yer actually pretty lucky, Eris. Of all the prototypes Ah tried making with T-Sparks, this is the only one that didn’t explode. And of all the attempts to make that game, that’s the fifteenth copy to work.”

Eris hit pause and turned to him, “Fifteenth?”

“Yeah...see...the first fourteen worked...but when we hit certain parts of the game...the cartridge exploded into pure magic fire.”

“....so then the other prototypes…?”

‘Bingo! Those were lost when Ry tried to beat a game and instead got plastic burning flames!’

Eris giggled at that, “Oh you boys and yer silly games. I suppose it’s admirable at the very least: trying to use magic to replace knowledge is some messy business, but you sure don’t let that stop you any.”

Ryan blushed at that, “...what is with you and that giggle, Eris? Sheesh...come on, let’s keep playing.”

And so it was that they played long into the night, testing and trying out whatever prototype cartridges that were lying about until the clock finally chimed in at 3am. Ryan gave a mighty yawn and slumped against Eris without even really thinking about it.

“Sleepy, big guy?”

“Kinda...Ah haven’t stayed up this late in long time. That herd of mine, despite what ya might think, usually gets me to bed at a reasonable hour.”

“Heh, they really do keep an eye out for you don’t they?” Eris laughed softly before noting a lack of response, “Ryan? Ryan?”

Looking down at him, she could see he’d finally succumbed to his sleepiness and passed out once they’d stopped playing. Realizing she really had kept him up quite late, she smiled before turning off the monitor and picking him up. “Oof, yer heavier than you look, Ry. How the hell those little pones of yers manage to carry you to bed is something I can’t fathom.”

Having arrived at his bedroom, Eris set Ryan down before pausing for a moment.

‘...I know what you want to do.’

“Guh...Darkness?”

‘Heh, what? While it’s true I sleep when Ryan does, that doesn’t mean I have to. I just usually do since I can’t do much other than that when he is. But...this time, I wanted to see what you did. Haha...I’m not surprised by what you’re thinking.’

Eris smirked before rolling her eyes, “Just like the past, huh? Why is it this never phased you?”

‘Because yer chick self is hot...plus, isn’t that how this kinda plot device goes? Hahaha, at least that’s what I gather from Ryan’s mind and what he knows of situations like this.’

“Idiot...but...I suppose it wouldn’t do any harm. He didn’t seem to mind too much this morning.”

‘That’s Ry...he rolls with the weirdest shit!’

“Quite. Well then...we should get to bed.”

‘Right. Good night, old friend.’

Ryan yawned, the sunlight waking him as he sniffled a bit before looking around. “Odd...Ah kinda figured that Eris was gonna be all snuggled up to me again like last time. Although…”

Looking at the covers showed the sign that someone was there but had recently left.

‘She’s probably the source of that delicious smell.’

“Hmm?” Ryan sniffed the air before grinning. “Oh yeah. There is quite the aroma floating about.” With that he hopped out of bed and laughed. “Oh hey! And this time, mah pants are still where they belong. Huzzah!”

With that he headed downstairs to find a most lovely breakfast set out...but Eris was nowhere to be seen. Sensing this to be odd, he slowly sat down at the table and looked about curiously.

‘...where’d she go?’

“Ah’m not sure.” Ryan paused before looking at the lovely bacon and eggs arranged into a smile. “Still warm...what’s going on here?”

“Hello!” Eris greeted Ryan as she hugged him from behind.

“Guhacksk!” Ryan made a sequence of unintelligible sounds before breathing quickly. “Eris! Dammit...don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“Oh my, so sorry.” She giggled before ruffling his hair. “I really shouldn’t do that, but you make the most amusing sounds when someone startles you.”

Narrowing his eyes, Ryan ‘humphed’ before eating his breakfast. “Yer just lucky there’s bacon here to distract me.”

“Oh relax...always so stressed out.” Eris smiled as she sat opposite and enjoyed her breakfast as well. “Now then, I was wondering if you’d be interested in a little fun this evening.”

Ryan looked up at Eris and raised an eyebrow. Dark spoke for him as he kept eating. ‘Fun, eh? Should we even ask what this fun might be, Eris?’

“Oh, well...I saw that you have this delightful little club that’s such a lovely slice of a certain decade in Equestria that was marked with ridiculous fashion, crazy hair, and very awesome, cheesy music.”

“...what?”

“Oh...how to equate this into terms you would get, Ry? Oh.” She snapped her fingers, “Basically, it would be the Pony version of the 80’s from your world.”

“...you have mah attention. Also...how do you know what the 80’s are?”

“Oh you dear, dear man.” Eris giggled as she winked at him. “You should know the answer to that well enough. So then...is it a date?”

Ryan pondered that question for quite some time before smiling. “Why not? Sounds like fun...ya aren’t tryin’ to get me ta sing, are ya? Ah know it seemed fun when Deej was here, but singing all the time like that seems like it’d get a little stale...and God knows we don’t want that to happen with this.”

“Oh please, you worry so much over the silliest things. Hahaha.”

‘...that wasn’t a no.’

Ryan waved a hand dismissively. “Oh it’s fine. Well then...Ah’ll try to wear mah best fashion disaster as it were for tonight.”

That night Ryan was waiting at the front door wearing the most neon colored orange shirt he had, his cutie mark emblazoned on the back in similarly neon shades of red and yellow. Lifting up his shades and tapping his hi-top sneakers, he sighed as he waited for Eris to finally show up.

“Ah swear, what is it about gals and always taking forever to get ready? She’s got snappy Chaos powers, for crying out loud. It shouldn’t take but a snap for her to get set for this outing.”

‘From what I can see of your memories of this decade she mentioned, clothing back then was very flashy, tacky, and sometimes complicated. So just be patient...in all honesty, you look like a fashion disaster, partner!’

“That’s the 80’s, alright! Awesomely bad outfits and totally radical times!”

Eventually Eris did poof in, and man, did Ryan have to double-take at her get-up: a haphazard mix of colors decorated her over-sized top, she had the shortest denim mini-skirt he’d ever seen that was barely visible under her top, and then, to top it all off, bright yellow leg-warmers.

“...well, Ah can’t say Ah’m surprised 80’s fashion was nearly the same here given all that happened.”

“Hee, indeed, Ry. We’re just a pair of walking fashion disasters.”

Laughing, he followed her outside and towards town. “We are so tubular to the max, yo!”

‘...you guys looks ridiculous. I love it!’

Eris giggled again. “Oh Darkness, then you’ll love everypony else’s attire. Now then boys, this way~”

Following after her, they arrived at a building adorned with a very bright and gaudy neon sign signaling it to be some sort of ‘totally excellent and bodacious place’ as the vernacular of the 80’s would put it. Noting the bouncer let them in, Ryan was a bit stunned to see that nearly all the ponies there were wearing similar fashion faux pas and enjoying one another’s company while neon lights and laser beams danced across the room. His eyes bugged out slightly when he saw Cheerilee of all ponies sporting leg warmers and swaying to the beat.

“Heh, now that’s something Ah never thought Ah’d see...but we are kinda all the same age so it makes sense.” Not one to pass up an opportunity to tease his friends, Ryan smoothly made his way over to her and smirked. “So, does yer mother know a young thing like you is out at such a crazy club?”

Cheerilee was slightly startled as she turned to see Ryan. “Mister Ryan!”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Cheers, Ah told ya...we’re the same age group so none of that mister stuff. Nice outfit by the way, very awesome.”

“Oh, uhm, thanks...what are you doing here? I didn’t even know you knew about this place.”

“Ah didn’t…” Ryan pointed at Eris sitting at a table, ordering some drinks. “But a friend of ours decided we needed some fun while the herd is outta town on some kinda business.”

“Friend?” Cheerilee examined the one he’d pointed to and made a face. “...I feel like I know her...but why?”

‘Easy, ‘Lee: that there is a female Discord.’

“...what?”

“Exactly as Dark stated. Apparently he has this form...don’t, don’t ask too many questions. Ah’m just rollin’ with it because it’s easier that way.”

Cheerilee blinked a bit before smiling and shaking her head. “That definitely sounds like something you’d do, Ryan. Well, have some fun and don’t get into too much trouble.”

“Hey, this is us we’re talking about.” Ryan struck a pose and flipped down his shades. “When it comes to me, there is no such thing as “too much trouble”.”

With that he rejoined Eris, taking the drink she’d ordered for him. “...this drink is neon colored.”

“Well, what else did you expect you silly boy? Everything is flashy here, even the refreshments.”

Accepting that explanation, Ryan shrugged and down the strangely glowing, purple beverage before grinning. “Tastes like grapes...but with a boozey punch.”

“So you like it?”

“Eyup. To fun, Eris!”

Eris lifted her glass and clinked it with his. “Totally, Ry!”

As the night continued on, ponies poured into the club as the beats kept ramping up. Curiously enough, Ryan had noticed Eris’s lack of presence and started getting a bit suspicious.

“She’s up ta something…”

‘Oh come on, Ry. What could she be possibly planning?’

Blinking and then seeing her sitting in his lap, he could only sigh. “When chaos is involved, ya can never be too sure, partner.”

“Hmm? Are you boys talking about me, again?” Eris giggled before placing an arm around Ryan’s neck. “So, I was talking to the DJ and she’d love it if you came up and performed a song that totally fit in with this decade.”

“...DJ? Song? Wait…” Ryan turned to actually take a good long look at the DJ and—despite the disastrously 80’s attire she was wearing—there was no mistaken that it was Vinyl behind those table. “What? Wait? Sing? A song that fits here? Oh God. Ah know exactly which one yer wanting me ta sing, Eris…”

“Sooooooo…Will ya do it?” She batted her eyes. “It’d be quite fun if you pulled a page from your inter-dimensional friend’s book and performed for us.”

‘Does PON-3 even know how to play that song?’

Ryan sighed and nodded. “Eyup. She was quite taken with the music that followed me, so she knows that particular song.”

Eris watched as Ryan slowly moved her out of his lap before standing up. Downing the rest of his neon green drink, he smirked before making his way towards the stage. Vinyl, seeing that Ryan was game, grinned before winding down her current song.

“Okay you rad ponies! We’ve got a special treat for you all as we’ve been graced by one radically awesome dude tonight. I know him, you know him, and we all knows he’s totally tubular. Let’s hear it for Ryan!”

Ryan blushed slightly at the attention before waving to the crowd and grabbing the mic Vinyl handed him. “Dudes and dudettes! Y’all feeling amped to the max?!”

At that the crowd cheered, spouting so much terrible 80’s lingo that the whole decade blushed in embarrassment.

“Bitch’n. So then, Ah’m gonna sing a song that is the bombdiggity, yo!” Ryan turned to Vinyl and grinned. “So, ya know which song we’re playing, right? That one by Kaufmann?”

“Oh, oh, oh, yeah! That song is so boss! Just let me know when you’re ready, Ry!”

Tapping his foot, adjusting his shades, and clearing his throat, Ryan snapped his fingers and pointed to Vinyl. “Alright! Let’s give these pones some choice tunnage!”

Vinyl laughed and started the track, allowing the bouncing beats of the 80’s to flow forth.

Off the ceiling and onto the dance floor

Flashing colors are shimmering bright

As she watches him move, to her delight

At that Ryan began dancing to the beat as he sung, winking at Eris and any other lady in the crowd he met eyes with as he continued.

Like a tiger she waits in advance for

Her attack when the moment is right

In a jungle of laser beams, tonight

The pony manning the special effects cranked up the lasers, sending spectacular colors ricocheting across the dance floor and illuminating the fog that accompanied it, truly creating a jungle of laser beams worthy of jamming out in.

Follow me / Follow me!

Yer love is callin' me! Callin' me!

Take hold of me,

Like a sorcerer controllin' me

Couldn't be any clearer

Upon mah magic mirror, Ah can see

Yer true nature callin' me.

As the breakdown continued on, Vinyl working the song to the max, Eris giggled and walked up on stage to join Ryan, quietly singing out the echoed beats as she danced around him.

Your true nature calling me,

calling me,

calling me~

Your true nature calling me,

calling me,

calling me~

In a matter of moments she'll seize him

Like a lioness out of a dream

Gettin' ready to pounce with all her might

It took all Ryan could not to laugh as Eris grinned and began pacing, following Ryan on the stage and mimicking the song lyrics to a tee.

Like a kitten with yarn, she will tease him

Have him comin' apart at the seams

As they dance in the laser beams tonight

With one last flourish as Eris pounced and spun with him, she and Ryan posed as lasers illuminated the stage and gave them an otherworldly 80’s glow to help them bring the song home.

Follow me / Follow me!

Your love is callin' me! Callin' me!

Take hold of me,

Like a sorcerer controllin' me

Couldn't be any clearer

Upon my magic mirror, I can see

Your true nature callin' me.

Your true nature callin’ me,

callin’ me,

callin’ me~

As the song’s outro began playing, the head-bobbing beats slowly coming to a close, he couldn’t help the grin on his face at how much fun he’d had. Looking into Eris’ eyes as they slowly danced to the fading song, he chuckled softly. “Thank you mah friend, for a very fun night.”

“Hee, anything for our favorite humans, Ry.”

As the crowd cheered their performance, Vinyl was pumping them up for more. “That. Was. Sick! What a surprise with the duet! Mondo cool for reals! Alright you pones, let’s party till we ralph!”

Ryan rolled his eyes at Vinyl’s choice of words as he slowly made his way off the dance floor with Eris. “It’s getting late, wanna jet?”

“Sure thing, stud. Let’s motor.”

With that the two headed out, Eris wrapped around Ryan’s arm as they made their way back to his home under the light of the full moon, making idle chit-chat and enjoying one another’s company.

The next morning Ryan awoke to something poking him rather forcefully. “Hmm? Eris? What are you doing?”

“Ahem!”

Ryan’s eyes fluttered open to see a pair of green eyes staring at him. “Ack!”

He flopped about before falling off the bed and saying good morning to the ground. Groaning in pain, he rolled over and saw several ponies staring at him. “Ladies? Yer back! How was whatever ya had ta do?”

“Don’t you change the subject, mister!” Rainbow Dash shoved her face close to his. “Who is she?”

“Her? Heh, yer not gonna believe this, but that there is Disky...but...as a chick.” Ryan sighed, “It doesn’t stop sounding weird no matter how many times Ah keep saying it.”

AppleJack eyed him oddly before shaking her head. “Really? Discord? Apple Ryder, did ya hit yer head or something?”

“No...why?”

“Because that there is one crazy story and you’d have ta have some kinda brain damage ta think we’d buy that one.”

“Eris, back me up on this one.” Ryan huffed, feeling as if something was off.

“Oh dear Ry, why hide the truth?” Eris smirked as she floated over and curled around Ryan’s sitting form.

“Ah-ha! I knew it!” Pinkie exclaimed, throwing a hoof at Ryan accusingly.

“Pinks…” Ryan groaned. “Look. Why would Ah make up a story like that? And besides, how many other draconequus do y’all know of?”

“Uhm...Ah’m sure there’s plenty! Yeah!”

“Apps...you’ve got the eyes of a shifty fish going on.” Ryan narrowed his and smirked. “Y’all are giving me the business, aintcha?”

“Oh drat, girls, it would seem he’s just too smart for us.” Eris sighed cutely. “Still, we almost had him.”

“Maybe if AJ didn’t get all shifty eyes every time she fudged the truth we could’ve kept griefing our human just a bit longer.” Rainbow Dash sighed.

“Rainbow’s nonsense aside—”

“Hey!”

“We figured that you’d get lonely when we left so we asked Discord to keep you company…” Twilight laughed into a sigh. “We just didn’t think he’d get so...into the role.”

“Well, no harm Ah guess. Y’all kinda nail it on the head with me, since Ah do get lonely pretty easily. But...where’d ya go that ya couldn’t have me tag along? What were y’all up to?”

The girls all looked to AppleJack who gave a shrug. “Well, Ah don’t see any reason we can’t tell ya, since it’s gonna happen soon anyhow.”

“And what might that be?”

“Oh, we just spent the last few days paying a visit to each of our parents letting them know to come visit for your birthday at the end of the month.”

“Oh, well that should be okay. Ah have been curious to meet the others and—” Ryan blinked. “Wait...yer parents? All of yer parents? Oh boy...oh boy…”

“Besides, Ryers, we figured that maybe it’d be a good time to ask for their permission as well.”

Ryan sighed contentedly as Lyra nuzzled his side. “...a good time for what? Permission?”

“Yeah, silly: to marry us of course! I mean, you have said you plan to do that eventually when the time is right, so why not go ahead and get permission so we can make things easier down the road?”

Ryan squeaked out a noise and turned to stone at the thoughts running through his mind. Dark did his best to snap Ryan out of it, eventually breaking through and getting him to mumble incoherently. “Oh...oh...uhm...well...that...that is true. Haha. Heh. Hmm...well, how bad could it be? Ah mean, Apps and T-Sparks’ parents already know about me...and Ah imagine the rest of yer parents know what Ah am so...it won’t be that awkward. Ah hope.”

“Oh Rysy-Wysy, haha, you worry so much.” Pinkie nodded her head rapidly before grinning. “You did fine so far, and I know the rest of our parents will just adore you!”

“...maybe.”

“Heartsy?”

“My parents, well, heh...they never expected me to get married, let alone find a stallion, so they’re still kinda doubtful you’re real. Especially after they kinda found out that you’re, ya know, a human.”

Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. “And my dad...well, he’s pretty protective. So just anticipate that.”

Ryan finally stood up and stretched. “Well, no point in worrying about it now. Ah’ll just worry about it when the 31st gets here.”

“Well, I suppose this means it’s time I moved on.” Eris sighed cutely. “It’s been fun, Ryan, and hopefully this won’t make things too weird when it goes back to normal.”

“Haha, weird is normal here, dudette. But hey, if the occasion ever comes up again...feel free to visit.”

Ryan laughed as her eyes lit up at that. “Really, Ry?”

“Well, like ya said it’s been weird...but it has been fun too. Ah suppose now Ah can see why Dark would have enjoyed moment’s like this.”

‘Again, I admit to nothing.’

“Well, this is fun, but as I said I must be off, dear boy.” Eris smirked before kissing Ryan’s cheek and heading off. “Ta-ta!”

And with that she slowly disappeared, Cheshire Cat style until only she was only a pair of eyes and a smile...and then that was gone too.

“Well...that was something. Sheesh, better make sure Deej never finds out Rule 63 Disky was hitting on me...he’d never let me hear the end of it. Now then...shall we get to breakfast?”

A week after the whole Eris moment, Ryan and his herd were heading into town to meet with Mayor Mare about some kind of situation she needed their help with. She hadn’t said what it was that was bothering her, but that she needed to meet with them as soon as possible to help with the crisis she was worrying herself over.

“Ah wish she wasn’t being so vague about things.” Ryan huffed as they came upon Town Hall. “If she’s calling us, it’s gotta be something bad.”

“Well, maybe she just needs someone with experience in odd situations?”

“T-Sparks, are you saying we’re good at odd situations?”

“...yes? Is that not a given?”

“No, it is. Just wondering when you finally admitted to our normal always being abnormal, is all.”

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “Just get in the office, you big goof.”

As they entered, Mayor Mare was pacing slightly. Upon seeing them, however, she smiled and quickly welcomed them. “Ladies. Ryan. Thank you for coming.”

“No problem, Mayor. How’s it hanging?”

The Mayor chuckled at Ryan’s casual attitude. “As laidback as ever, I see. It’s okay...save for this situation. There’s been strange rumors lately about a creature roaming the edges of the Everfree. Ponies that travel and do business around there have been encountering...something.”

“I’m...I’m sorry. What do you mean by something?”

The Mayor sighed before sitting down. “What I mean, Fluttershy, is that the reports are all over the place. Some say they’ve seen loved ones that couldn’t possibly be there, others say they’ve seen terrifying monsters, and then...well…”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Well what?”

“Well, Mr. Ryder, others have said they’ve seen you.”

The group deadpanned at that. “...wut?”

“Yes, we’ve got very mixed reports so we’re not quite sure what is out there skulking about. So, I would like to request you and your herd go check things out. I can’t really turn to anyone else, since any other pony would most likely not be able to handle whatever they find let alone that forest itself.”

“Well, Ah suppose that isn’t too unreasonable a request. But…”

“The fact that the reports are so inconsistent throws you, right Rys?”

“Yeah, Dashie. Ah don’t know why they’d see such different things...including mahself.” Ryan sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. “Well, we won’t know what’s up until we head there so let’s do this thing!”

‘Hell yeah, adventure!’

The Mayor simply shook her head as they made their way out before laughing softly. “He certainly is one of the more curious residents of my town, that’s for sure. I just hope whatever they find isn’t dangerous.”

Having decided to start at the edge of the Everfree closest to their house, Ryan and his herd split off into two groups to cover ground a little more quickly. At first, certain members were against that because of what this place was and the trouble it had brought them before, but after working a few things out—which involved Fluttershy enlisting the help of a few forest denizens she’d managed to befriend—they began their search for this mystery being.

“Are you sure we can trust that thing?” Rainbow Dash eyed the Cockatrice cautiously as it followed alongside them.

“You remember what Fluttershy said, darling. This is the one she made friends with. It’s the same one that lent us that feather, isn’t that right you little sweetie?”

The Cockatrice bawked in reply before pausing. “Bawk…”

“That sounded ominous.”

“Yeah it did!” Pinkie giggled, “I mean..yes...yes...need to be serious here.”

Looking around cautiously, the group didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but that didn’t mean squat when it came to this forest. The Cockatrice slowly walked forward, peeking here and there. “Bawk.”

“Hmmm...that sounded not as ominous. Maybe whatever it was left?”

“Perhaps, darling, but…!”

“What? What is it, Rarity?”

“Rainbow Dash, for a moment...amongst the trees. I...I could’ve sworn I saw…” Rarity looked at the ground and scrunched her face in thought. “No...that wouldn’t be possible.”

Meanwhile…

“Ya think we’re gonna find anything out here, Apple Ryder?”

Ryan shrugged as they kept walking, occasionally cutting down vines when their path was impeded. “Ah’m not sure, hon. Something is out here, causing the pones to bug out, but it’s rather quiet now. Which is a bit...off, for the Everfree. Ah don’t like it.”

“What puzzles me the most is all the eyewitness accounts of this creature being so varied.” Twilight looked over some of the things the Mayor had given her before they left. “So many different creatures have been seen: ponies to griffons to even you, my peach. That one there bothers me the most.”

“Y-yes. Why would our human be seen? How would he even be here, when most of the times of those accounts have him elsewhere?”

“Ah don’t know how they saw me, Flutters, but we’ll get to the bottom of—!”

“Apple Ryder…?”

“Shhh…”

“What is it, Ryers?”

“Ah feel something, Heartsy...something...something unusual.” Ryan felt the hair on his neck stand straight up. “Oh, this is an odd feeling...and Ah…”

“Ry?”

‘No...it...it can’t be. C-Cecil?’ Dark, as far as Ryan could tell, seemed as if he saw a ghost. Looking to where Dark seemed to be, Ryan saw...a human? He seemed to be in his mid-to-late twenties and had shining, purplish silver hair. He wore some odd armor, and he was just staring at the group.

‘Cecil? Is...is that you? How...could it be….’ Dark seemed very puzzled at seeing what seemed to be one of his old friends...that then began to run off. ‘Cecil! Wait!’

Not wasting any time, Ryan took off after whoever this was, unaware he was leaving Apps and the others behind as they tried to keep up through the thick overgrowth.

“Apple Ryder! Wait!” AppleJack gasped, tripping over a root. “Dammit! Dark...what got into you?”

“I think I know.” Twilight explained as she and Fluttershy caught up to AJ. “This Cecil...we’ve seen him before, remember? On that odd device Dark pulled out of nowhere to show us the memory of the Amulet’s creation.”

“Twilight’s right. That man seemed to match not only one of the members of their group that went to investigate it during it’s origins, but I’ve also read about him in the books of the past from the secret library.” Lyra paused before shaking her head. “There was something interesting about him, and the kind of warrior he was, but now’s not the time.”

“Right! We’ve gotta catch up ta Apple Ryder! Come on!”

‘Cecil! Stop! It’s me, Darkness!’

“Dark...if this is him, which Ah honestly don’t know, how could it be him?”

‘I don’t know: ghost? Spirit? Remnant of the Past? Either way if...where did he go?’

Looking around, Ryan could see that he did indeed vanish...but the feeling of something or someone there did not.

“Oh, Ah’ve got the willies something fierce.” Ryan shook a bit as the chill went up his spine. “...there!”

Sure enough, poking out from behind one of the trees ahead of them was Cecil. Upon being seen, he hid behind the tree and poked back out after Ryan got closer. Only, this time, it wasn’t Cecil but...“Apps?”

Hearing no response, he moved closer, each time the figure disappearing and reappearing as somepony or someone else that he or Dark knew until finally he was in front of the tree. Waiting for the figure to reappear, he jumped back in shock a bit when he saw it was him. And what freaked Ryan out even more was when whoever this was started speaking in his voice!

“Get away...isn’t the guilt Ah have enough?”

‘Guilt…? Ryan...’

“Ah know, Ah’m confused.” Ryan, the real one that is, looked at this other him curiously. “Were you...all those other people?”

“...why do you keep returning?”

“Ah...Ah don’t…”

“WHY DO YOU KEEP HAUNTING ME?! Is this torment mah punishment for what Ah did to you?”

“What you...did to me? What in tarnation are you talking about? In fact, what is going on here?”

The fake Ryan stood there staring for a long time at the real Ryan before he spoke again, but not in the voice he and Dark expected. “...for….for killing you…”

‘Ryan….’

“Ah...Ah know….that voice!”

Sure enough, as he watched his copy fall to his knees, the image faltered as “he” continued talking. “...I didn’t want to. I really didn’t...it was...it all should’ve been different. But...their love...your love…”

Ryan was silent as the image finally shimmered away and there, flat out on the ground and crying, was somepony he never thought he’d see again. “Those forms...the strange reports. They all make sense now. You were all of them, because of what you are. Chrissy…”

“I couldn’t control how amazing it all was. It was so strong...too strong for me...I tried to conquer everypony...tried to control them...enslave them...put my children at risk. I hurt your herd...in the worst way. I killed you…” Chrysalis was in tears at this point, making it clear her mental state was all over the place after all this time. “I can’t ever fix that...so why is the guilt not enough? Why do you always show up?”

“Chrissy...Ah’m not a hallucination. Ah am here.” Ryan walked closer to her, only to stare as she started shaking.

“No...no more lying! Why are you always so calm when you see me? You aren’t ever angry...or mad. Only understanding and kind...be angry dammit! Hate me! Why...why….ugh…”

‘Chrissy!’

“...she’s weak. If she’s been out here as long as the reports say, then she probably hasn’t fed properly in so long. We need to get her some proper care...and then maybe figure out what the hell happened since the wedding.”

With that Ryan knelt down to see she was barely awake at this point. “...just...hate me...I deserve it...I….”

“Shhhh...this guilt has been eating you hard, hasn’t it?” Ryan frowned before doing his best to lift her up. “Uff...yer a bit heavier than mah herdmates, but Ah can still lift ya outta here. However…”

‘Right. We need to let the others know to regroup.’

“Way ahead of ya, partner.” Ryan adjusted his grip so he could raise an arm towards the sky before releasing a burst of magic that cleared the treeline and exploded in the shape of his cutie mark. “There. Now then...let’s get you back home, Chrissy. And get you healthy.”

Spike, who had been waiting outside the forest at the designated regroup point, was getting impatient. It was pretty close to when they were supposed to meet back here and so far there was no sign of them.

“Dammit big bro, I told you to let me come with you.” The young dragon grumbled, pacing about. “I know you needed someone to keep watch in case y’all take too long getting back but…”

And that’s when he saw the signal flare and realized something must have happened. What that was, he wasn’t sure yet, but not long after that he saw Twilight and the others emerging from the treeline. “Twilight! Wait! Where’s big bro?”

“Ryers isn’t here? But his signal…”

“Ah reckon he found out something and that’s what is holdin’ him up.” AppleJack turned to the trees. “Let’s give him a few moments to show up.”

“What I have to wonder is what did he find? If he found this mysterious creature, why would he not want us to meet up with him instead?”

“I’m not sure, darling, but our human knows what he’s doing…” Rarity bit her lip before laughing nervously. “Well, usually.”

“There’s not much we can do but wait, so let’s see what big bro managed to find out.”

About ten minutes later, Ryan was finally emerging from the trees, and what they saw on his back was certainly not what they expected.

“...a changeling?”

“U-uhm...I don’t think that’s just any changeling. It’s that queen one…”

“Chrysalis?” Lyra frowned before tapping her chin. “Why...why would she be here? I mean, that makes sense now that the reports as to who and what was seen varied but…”

“Ladies, we can sort out why later. Right now, Chrissy is in bad sorts. Her mind is still reeling from the fact that she almost killed me and she’s weak. Really weak. We need to get her to a hospital...but even that might not be enough to help her out.” Ryan looked over his shoulder to see Chrissy panting tiredly. “...get on the horn and contact Cellie and Lunes. Ah have a feeling we need them here as well.”

“...sorry….so sorry…”

“Shhh, just rest Chrissy. We’ll take care of ya...and fix things. Ah hope.”

“...I really don’t know what we can do for her, Ryan.”

“Redheart, there’s gotta be something.”

“Yes, but we don’t know much about changeling physiology. From what we’ve done of tests, she seems like she should be healthy but...she’s not. She’s weak. Almost like she’s malnourished.”

“As Ah thought…”

“She needs love, doesn’t she Apple Ryder?”

“That’s right, Apps...quickly!” Ryan raised his arm up and pointed towards the sky. “Love me mah ponies, so that Chrissy may feast on our passion and recover!”

“...wut?” Rainbow snickered. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m always down for fun with you, Ry, but that was overdramatic as can be.”

Redheart sighed. “I’m not sure I can let you do that here, but you perhaps have the right idea. Hmmm...perhaps if you just make out or something that would be enough?”

“But how do we know if she can siphon the love if she’s not all-together there?”

“Won’t know till we try!” Pinkie shouted as she lunged at Ryan, wrapping around him tightly and commencing with the smooching.

‘Haha! Now that’s my kinda medicine!’

“Clearly, my Darkness.” Luna commented as she and her sister entered the room. “Ah. So the report was true...you have indeed found the Changeling Queen. Though...she does seem to be in dire straights. Sister?”

“Yes. She is indeed suffering from love sickness. She clearly has not fed in some time and it’s taking a toll on her mentally and physically.” Celestia turned to see Pinkie still going at Ryan. “Ah! That should help nicely. Good thinking, my little human.”

“Uhm...mmmm. All in a day’s work, Cellie.” Ryan managed to get out before Pinkie continued on.

“Uh-uh...is it wrong that I want to join in? I-I mean...you know.” Fluttershy blushed before pawing at the floor. “To-to help Chrysalis recover and...stuff…”

“...don’t Ah get a say in this?”

“Oh my sweet, warm peach. Of course you do, but how could you say no to something that should help Chrysalis out? You wanted to help her, right?”

Ryan eyed Twilight as best he could as she sauntered over to where he lay, pinned to the ground by Pinkie. “Uhm, of course Ah do T-Sparks it’s just...with how things have been lately it’s been awhile since we’ve been all lovey-dovey like this and….oh my.”

Redheart sighed before hearing a change in the monitor’s beeps. Ignoring the human being “attacked” by his herd, she looked over the numbers and smiled. “Well, fancy that. It’s actually working.”

“Mmmm….love….so...delicious.” Chrysalis mumbled in her sleep, smiling at the bits of love energy drifting around the room as her body absorbed it. “...familiar….mmm…”

“Well, sister, I do believe this should sort out soon enough.” Luna nodded before biting her lip. “I only wish I could...no...no…”

Celestia smirked before whispering to Luna. “You wish you could help via Dark, do you not?”

Luna’s blush was all she needed to know she’d nailed that one on the head. Regardless, Luna shook her head and composed herself. “N-No...Ryan and his herd have it covered. We only wish to revive her, not drive her crazy again. Nurse?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“We will be waiting outside. With how they’re…handling him, it’s doubtful the Changeling Queen shall be asleep for much longer. When she awakes, and Ryan has no doubt explained what has happened, let us know so we may speak with her as well.”

“Very well.” Redheart watched the two alicorns leave...before she cleared her throat. “All I ask is you don’t make a mess of things.”

“R-righty-o~” Ryan shakily replied.

“Less talky, more kissy, Ry~”

“Yes, ladies.”

A few hours later, after Ryan had been, ahem, ransacked by love’s embrace, they waited patiently for Chrysalis to awaken. Slowly, but surely, they heard her make some groaning noises before finally opening her eyes. “What...where...ugh...I feel as though I have not been myself.”

“That’s an understatement, Chrissy.”

Chrysalis gasped as she whirled to see, “Y-you! But...but how? No, not another hallucination…”

“Chrissy...Ah’m not dead. Ah came awful damn close, but thankfully love is an incredibly powerful thing.”

“...”

“Not convinced, eh? Hahaha, well, maybe this will convince you.” With that, Ryan lifted up his shirt, showing her the nasty scar on the right side of his chest. “This is all that’s left of when you attacked me.”

Chrysalis’ face paled at seeing the jagged scar on his chest. “I...how long has it been since that fateful day? How long since I did something that I didn’t want to believe I did?” She grabbed her sheets and frowned. “I tried to forget it, to pretend I didn’t, but the guilt...that image of you, lying there in your blood, it burned itself into my mind. I broke...ran away from my hive...my children.”

“Chrysalis?” Twilight walked over and placed a hoof on hers.

“Twilight Sparkle...why? I tried to kill your human, so why do you…”

“Because I know things were not how they seemed...and I know that you weren’t entirely in control of your actions. The love of a human...you did not expect that nor know how to handle it, correct?”

Chrysalis nodded slowly before sighing. “I...did not. It was so intoxicating. My thoughts were so cloudy. I had never experience such raw power from an emotion before...I felt invincible. And that feeling was the downfall of everything. But again, I ask...why do you want to help me? I did such awful things...hurt so many...basically committed a crime against the ruling government. I’m surprised you don’t wish to kill me outright or make an example of me.”

“It is true that you did much to my subjects, and that you aimed to take down both myself and my sister…”

“C-Celestia…” Chrysalis choked on her voice, noticeably worried.

“And you did nearly kill our little human...but as they have said, we know that things were not how they seemed. The guilt you had...were you truly a heartless being, you would not have felt it.”

“My sister is right. You certainly would not have been driven mad by the guilt.” Luna nodded. “There is...most likely to be some that are still upset when they find out Ryan and the Element Bearers rescued you.”

“Heh...even with you ponies and all your friendship talk, it is no surprise that some would hold a grudge. I...I will accept any responsibility, but please...whatever is left of my children, please spare them. They are innocent in this...all they did, it was the product of a child’s love and devotion. That is...if they’re even still around.”

“What do you mean, darling?”

“It has been quite a while since I was at my hive. I do not even know if they are still okay...if...if they aren’t I…” Chrysalis began crying in earnest. “Then I will have truly lost everything because of one stupid act…”

Ryan, turning to his herd, saw them nod at his unspoken question before smiling. “Well, when you feel better, let’s go check on them.”

“Wh-what?”

“Ah said, let’s go check on them. Ah would assume you know where to go, yes?”

Chrysalis looked down before quietly replying. “...yes. However…”

“Yer afraid of how they might react with how you ran away?” AppleJack could see in her reaction she’d been right. “Look, they’re yer kids right? And ya...ya can’t leave like that, right? They don’t deserve that, and Ah know ya know that.”

Chrysalis took a deep breath before nodding. “Yes...Miss Redheart was it?”

“Yes?”

“Please let me know when you feel I am clear to leave. I...I must go make sure my children are still okay.”

“Of course. We’ll have you back in shape in no time.”

“Yeah we will! Especially if we keep the love train going by smooching our human.” Pinkie giggled before comically kissing Ryan.

“Guh!”

“Haha.” Chrysalis allowed herself to smile slightly. “You still are such an unusual being. But...thank you.”

Despite the shock her system took being so love-deprived, amazingly she was—as far as Redheart could tell with what she knew—back to a healthy enough state in order to travel to the location of her hive. Chrysalis still felt uneasy, but smiled slightly when she felt Ryan’s hand on her shoulder.

“Come on, Chrissy. Chin up. It hasn’t been that long, right? And yer kids, they were pretty tough so Ah’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“...I don’t deserve your kindness.”

‘Are ya still on that? Come on, Chrissy-baby! We told you to not sweat the details.’

“...very well, Darkness. If you would all follow me, it will take a bit of time. Our hive is...quite a distance from here.”

‘...it wouldn’t happen to be near the Badlands, would it?’

Chrysalis about leaped out of her skin at that one. “H-how did you…”

‘...a friend of mine told us about you...or rather, another you. I just took a stab in the dark that the same was true here.’

“Well...it is close to there, but even we know not to hole up in that horrid place. I imagine, then, that having said that you know a quicker way?”

“Well...we could teleport there if you give us a clear enough picture. Neither I nor my peach have been there, but if we have enough of a mental picture from you it should work.”

“Twilight Sparkle…”

“Besides, Twi is right! If we can, then that saves time and that might be just what is needed.”

“AppleJack…”

“W-well, let’s go then!” Fluttershy squeaked. “Even if they did cause trouble, that still doesn’t mean they should….die…”

“All of you….” Chrysalis frowned in confusion. “So...how...do we do this?”

“Heh, leave it to me!” Twilight remarked as the group huddled up around her.

“Uhmm...this is kinda uncomfortable. I’m freaking a little bit…”

“Relax, Chrysalis. If Twilight knows anything, it’s stuff like this.” Rainbow smirked, “Now just picture your hive...oh! But like, a clearing we can pop in to. Teleporting into other pones is not fun...or recommended.”

The changeling queen made a face at that and nodded. “...that does sound unpleasant. Very well. There is a clearing not far from the hive.”

“Hmmm...yes. I can see it! Ry?”

“Yes, T-Sparks.” Ryan closed his eyes and concentrated. “Ah can see it too. Hold on, everypony, we’re heading out.”

“...I better not end up hurling again.” Spike remarked, his eyes going all swirly. “These long-distance trips are always murder on me.”

And with that said, they blipped out of existence and traveled ridiculously fast across Equestria until…

“Ugh….” Chrysalis groaned, her wings buzzing slightly as she emptied her stomach into a nearby bush. “...I can see now why the little dragon would dislike this. That was...unnerving to say the least.”

“Eh, ya get used to it...ya handled it about as well as Deej does, so consider that an accomplishment, Chrissy.”

“...Deej?” Chrysalis was puzzled by this odd name but shrugged. “If he is an acquaintance of yours, then I suppose I should. Now then, let me get my bearings...oh, good. We’re closer than I expected us to be but…”

“Look, they’re your kids, right?” Lyra asked, motioning for her to lead on and smiling as she did. “So why worry? It’s possible some might be upset you left, but I’d wager that a lot of them will be happy to see you safe and in one piece. Changelings don’t strike me as weak, so I’m sure they survived.”

“Hmmm...perhaps you are correct. You sound as if you have experience with such a situation.”

“Heh, well, you know...when reuniting with a parent they haven’t seen in a while, a child usually shows great joy. Besides, they were there, they know what happened. I can’t imagine they didn’t and—”

“Heartsy? Why’d you stop—oh. That’s why.” Ryan remarked, having climbed the hill and joined the others to see a massive structure looming in front of them. Giving a whistle, he smirked, “Dang, Chrissy. That’s one nice castle. A little..odd architecturally speaking, but Ah imagine that’s the insectoid nature of yer species shining forth.”

“....it seems quiet.” Chrysalis took a deep breath before nodding and approaching the entrance with the others. “I certainly hope that is not a bad sign.”

Knocking on the gate, there was no reply for quite a bit of time. Eventually, a slot in the door slowly opened before a hissing noise was heard.

“Yesss? Who dares to knock on—my queen!!”

Suddenly, the door was quickly opened before a somewhat ragged looking Changeling peered around the door to see that Chrysalis was indeed there. “...mother? Is..is that really you?”

“Yes, my child. I...I’m…”

“Wait...who did you bring with…!”

Sensing his distress, she quickly tried to reassure him. “They are here to help.”

“You can’t be serious! I mean that with all respect but these ponies! And...him! How is he? That…”

Chrysalis stamped the ground hard before starring at her worried brood. “Silence! Stop this foolishness at once! They are here as emissaries of peace with our kingdom and...and were it not for him, then I would not be able to see you or the others again. So please...status report, my child.”

“Yes, your highness! I am sorry!” The changeling cleared his throat before leading her and the others inside. “Since we lost track of you, some of the higher-ranking Changelings have done their best to keep the hive together. They’ve done an admirable job, but more often than I would wish to admit we’ve been short on...our needs.”

“Ah take that ta mean you haven’t been able to get the love you need.”

“...yes, human. That is correct.” He spat with more bite than perhaps he meant. “...sorry. It’s just...that whole ordeal is a sore spot.”

“Hey, no big deal dude. Ah ain’t gonna argue that the whole thing was a mess. Ah just wish it could’ve gone different but…”

“Hmm...anyway, we’ve been able to secure enough from our agents still installed in other nearby cities, but...it’s just barely enough to keep us going. And that hunger...has made some very irritated.”

“...does this include you, Strike?”

“...yes, mother. Though I know better, some of the younger brood...well, perhaps it’s best if you talk to them. If you're here, perhaps we can bring them to their senses.”

“Ya know, if you guys are just needing some love, we’ve got a quick solution to help you right now.” Pinkie giggled. “We can just do what we did to help your mom and get Rysy-Wysy to assist.”

Strike raised an eyebrow at this, his wings buzzing in confusion. “What...does she mean?”

“Oh my dear child, she means for them to affectionately attack their human in order to produce his very potent brand of love.” Chrysalis chuckled at how Pinkie was eyeing Ryan once more. “You may recall having it before, when it was sent from Canterlot by...by…”

Ryan and his herd didn’t have to ask, they knew exactly what she was thinking. Ryan could only look at over his shoulder at his sword and grimace, his heart aching over that memory. “Ah’m sorry, Chrissy…”

“I know. I know.” Chrysalis composed herself. “You didn’t mean for it to happen, but my son was always like that. He was always so devoted to his mother, more so than any other of my children. Then again...he was special.”

Ryan’s eyes lit up at that. “Special…? Wait...no, it couldn’t be. C-Chrissy?”

“Yes? What is it, Ryan?”

“Was...was that particular son of yours...not hatched from an egg? Was he...actually born from you?”

Chrysalis was quiet, simply looking at Ryan with wide eyes. “How did you…?”

“We ran into someone from another world sometime ago. He told us of the you there, of what she did, and how he had interacted with her. He mentioned one born of her and not from an egg. In that case, it was a daughter.” Ryan shrugged. “Ah figure mah herd had the same thought, so Ah just decided to ask.”

“I see. Well, we can discuss that later. Right now, I must address my children before they become too unruly.”

“Yes, my queen. This way.”

In a large gathering hall, a number of changelings of various sizes were arguing with one another over what to do.

“I keep telling you that doing something like that will just cause us more trouble! We can’t just invade somewhere by force! Otherwise it’ll be Canterlot all over again!”

“You’re a coward! You would rather we scrape by on such meager offerings when we can live as we used to!? All because you are afraid of some ponies and their magical rainbows?”

“He’s right! The only reason things went bad in Canterlot was because of that human! He was the cause of things, but as we know our mother took care of him...before disappearing.”

“That’s exactly why we can’t invade! Do you think they’d take the death of someone like him so lightly? He knew both the Princesses and the Element Bearers. If we invade, they’ll be out for blood!!”

And on and on it went, devolving into angry yelling and noise until the doors swung open, silencing them all as a voice cried out loudly.

“STOP THIS MISBEHAVING AT ONCE!!” Chrysalis yelled in the Royal Changeling Voice. “BEHAVE YOURSELVES NOW, MY CHILDREN!”

‘...damn, Chrissy-baby has got some lungs on her.’

“Q-Queen Chrysalis?!” Many of them stuttered after being blown back by her shouting.

“Yes. And to return only to see my children bickering and apparently planning reckless actions has made your mother quite upset.”

“So? You left us. You disappeared after that encounter in Canterlot! Why should we even care what you have to say?” One Changeling in particular marched towards them, his wings buzzing violently. “Especially when you dare to bring that damnable human and those ponies with you! You truly have gone insane, haven’t you mother?”

“I WILL NOT TOLERATE SUCH INSOLENCE!” Chrysalis bellowed, causing the upstart Changeling to cower. “Ahem...I may have disappeared, and I may have brought them here, but they are an envoy of peace. They are here to help save our hive, and to save you, my children.”

“...and why would they do that?”

“Because we know you guys only invaded Canterlot as a last resort. Chrissy here was forced into what she thought was her only option.” Ryan explained, hoping they’d listen. “All to save y’all. So we’re wanting to give it a….”

“Do over!”

“That’s the perfect way to say it, T-Sparks. Indeed, we wish to work things out peacefully so that no one gets hurt. There’s been enough pain in Equestria as it is…” Ryan closed his eyes and frowned. “If we can do anything to prevent more, than we should take those steps.”

A large majority of the Changelings there thought over his words, as well as what they meant for their future, before looking towards Chrysalis and bowing.

“We will follow your will, mother.”

“My children…” Chrysalis noticed a few of them still hesitant. “And you?”

“...we will watch. But if it does not work, we will do as we feel fitting.”

“So insolent…” the Changeling Queen huffed before rolling her eyes. “Teenagers, am I not right?”

“Ah suppose.” AppleJack shrugged, “We all were a bit unruly at that age after all.”

“Hey, wait...I’m a teenager now so I feel like I should be offended by that statement.” Spike noted, making a face.

‘Relax, little bro. You’re overthinking things.’ Dark laughed softly. ‘Now then, Chrissy-baby, we’ll arrange the details with Tia and Woona and then...well, let’s hope those pompous airbags can shut up long enough to listen to her suggestions.’

Two days later, in Canterlot…

Celestia and Luna were waiting patiently as they prepared for court, the nobles beginning their usual, self-absorbed nonsense as usual...save for the few that actually seemed to care about something other than furthering their own causes. As such, they were awaiting the arrival of their guests as well as their little human and his herd before finally the large door opened and in they walked.

Only for the nobles to start freaking out.

“I say! What is she doing here?”

“Is this another invasion? And why is that rapscallion of a human with her?”

“I always thought he wasn’t to be trusted.”

“And the Element Bearers? What-what? I demand an explanation for this.”

And so on and so forth it went as most of those gathered there wouldn’t shut their yaps for one moment as Chrysalis and the others joined the two Princesses. Celestia attempted to speak, but her voice was being drowned out by all the bickering. Eventually, Ryan and Dark got slightly annoyed by all this and initiated their rebuttal.

“IF YOU OVERBLOWN WINDBAGS WOULD KINDLY SHUT YER YAPS FOR ONE SECOND AND TAKE THE STICK OUT OF YOUR BUTTS, THEN MAYBE YOU’D GET AN EXPLANATION AS TO WHAT IS HAPPENING!” Ryan and Dark huffed. “Oh, save for you Fancy Pants. You and your group are always quite respectful, so thank you for waiting patiently and our apologies for our uncouth, yet necessary, outburst.”

“As always, dear sirs. And think nothing of it! I am most intrigued to find out what is going on.”

“Hey! What gives you the right to act so brutish towards us? You may have connections to the Princesses, but you are far from royalty.”

“Then as a member of royalty, I would kindly ask you to do as he says and pull the stick out of your rear post-haste.”

“Who dares?!”

A light grey unicorn with slightly amber hair rose and stared down this noble. “I do.”

“P-Prince Blueblood? Why would you…”

“While I must admit I too am confused by the sudden presence of Changeling royalty, my aunt would not do something without reason. So does my decree of shutting your trap suffice, sir?” Blueblood eyed the noble intently. “I will not have you disregard a friend of my aunts in such a manner. So be quiet and sit. Down! Am I clear?”

“Y-yes, Prince.”

Needless to say, that little display quieted the rest of the murmurs and finally allowed silence to descend over the court.

“Heh, thanks Blues. Well played.” Ryan smirked as Blueblood nodded at him before he turned to Celestia. “Well ladies, that’s yer cue.”

“Well, that’s one way to do it, my little human.” Celestia snickered, amused at the antics of not only Ryan but her nephew as well. “Ahem. Now while I am quite aware you would be hesitant to see a Changeling again after past events, know that their Queen is here under a more peaceful pretense. I will be short: her children are suffering and she has come here today to ask for our help.”

“What gall! She attacks us and then wishes for help?”

“Why should we help anyway? Changelings are a nasty lot that steal your very soul! Won’t someone think of our children?!”

Luna huffed, rolling her eyes. “This is why I hate holding court. Stuffy nobles that won’t listen to anything but themselves.”

‘Quite, my Woona.’

Chrysalis frowned before turning to Celestia. The Princess regarded her for a moment before nodding and allowing her to speak.

“I know what we have done in the past was not the most...tactful action. I have no excuse for the actions I set in motion, but I can only say that I was desperate. We were dying and if I did not find a source of love, then my children were going to die. As a mother, I could not let that happen, even if I had my doubts about what was to be done.” Chrysalis bit her lip, calming her emotions before she continued. “I never once considered just asking, as pony kind and Changelings had not interacted in hundreds of years. As your words show, you only have remnants of rumors making us out to be some kind of “love bogeyman” to be feared or hunted. But truthfully, are we any different? We both look similar: our frames, our features. We have wings, as do the Pegasi, and we have horns, as do the unicorn. We simply are somewhat more insectoid in nature.”

“Like Ah’ve said before, horseflies.”

Chrysalis smirked at Ryan’s bad joke. “Yes, if that is how you wish to put it, human. Either way, we have similarities that shouldn’t be ignored.”

“Like your love for your children.” Celestia looked at those gathered. “Who among you with little ones of your own would not do all you could to protect them?”

There were quiet mumblings from a number of nobles, which was all the answer she needed.

“So then, should we not meet them on this offer of peace? It has been so very long since peaceful contact with Changelings has been a reality, and despite having suffered somewhat from her assault, I am willing to give Queen Chrysalis a chance to turn over a new leaf.” Celestia closed her eyes and nodded. “At least, for the sake of her children.”

While it seemed some of the crowd was swaying towards this decision, some were still unconvinced. One mare in particular stood up before clearing her throat. “And what of the human and his herd? What do they think, considering that the very Queen before us nearly killed him?”

“...Ah don’t like her tone.”

“AJ, relax. She’s just trying to rile us up and cause a scene.”

Ryan blinked. “That was oddly reasonable of you, Dashie.”

“What? I can be smart and calm too, ya know.”

“Anyway, to answer yer question Miss…”

“Money Bags, if you will.”

“...really? Ahem, anyway, Miss Money Bags, yeah. Chrissy did impale me and by all accounts Ah probably should’ve died, but Ah didn’t. And, besides, during that whole fight all Ah could feel was such sorrow behind her actions. As if she was pained that this was the option she had to go with.” Ryan rubbed his shirt, feeling the scar underneath. “The fact that when she’d been knocked to her senses by mah little bro and reacted as she did, well, that makes me feel like she genuinely wants to co-exist. So, Ah’ll vouch for her.”

‘As will I!’

“Well said. I shall as well!” Fancy Pants remarked. “Let us show the world that we can put differences aside for a common good and let bygones be bygones, eh young man?”

“Quite.”

“As usual, I cannot find fault in your words, Ryan. Sometimes I do that hate that about you.” Blueblood smirked. “But I too wish to see how this will all play out.”

Eventually, one by one, all the nobles there began to give their affirmation as well before Ryan redirected his gaze towards Miss Money Bags. “So, does that suffice?”

“...yes.” She tersely replied before sitting back down.

“Well then, sister, I do believe that a peace treaty between us and Chrysalis’ hive has been approved. We should get to writing it up then, so that it may truly become official.”

“Indeed, Luna. If there are no other matters, court is adjourned for today.”

A few minutes later, after the nobles had cleared out and the others had moved to the throne room…

“Thank you. I...I honestly don’t know how you guys can do this. I really screwed up, but you still want to help.”

“Well, your kids did do some crazy stuff, buuuuuuut other than Rysy-Wysy dying, that action-y stuff was super fun!”

“...you’re so weird sometimes, Pinkie.”

“Heh, aren’t we all, Lyre-Wyre? You and your human stuff, me and my parties, AJ and her apples, Rarity and her designs, Twilight and her books, Rainbow and her awesomeness and Flutters with that clutch intimidation of hers. But it’s so perfect!” Pinkie grinned before hopping up on to Ryan’s shoulders. “After all, our human is pretty dang crazy too! He even has another voice in his head! He’s the literal definition of crazy! And so that’s why helping you is totally in line with our actions, Chrissy-pie.”

Chrysalis regarded all this oddly before laughing softly. “You all are too kind...I wish I could go back and start it all anew, with a different plan. A less...invading one. Then perhaps we could’ve avoided quite a bit of...unpleasantness.”

“We can’t turn back time.” Twilight looked left and right quickly before laughing nervously. “Well, you can, but it’s best to not change the past.”

“What Twilight is trying to say, darling, is the past is the past.” Rarity put a hoof around Chrysalis and smiled. “So let us look towards a future that is fabulous!”

“Thank you. Though...until this treaty is officially enacted, I still need assistance in acquiring enough love to keep my children happy.”

“Heh, not to worry. My peach and I have been thinking on something, and we think having a small presence in Ponyville may help ease the other ponies into eventually accepting the Changelings into our lives. We even have somewhere you can stay so that you can collect love to send back to them.” Twilight smiled sheepishly. “That is, if you’re okay with that, Chrysalis.”

“Somewhere to stay? But where would you find somepony that would be willing to give me room?”

“Oh that’s easy!” Pinkie giggled, pulling on a red and blue plumber’s outfit.

“Pinkie, what are you doing?” Lyra tilted her head before gasping. “And where did that giant goal line come from? And...is the tape in the middle moving?”

“Getting us to Ponyville the fast, fun way!” Pinkie grinned, running towards the tape and jumping. “And as for your questions….the answer is fun! YAY!”

As she broke the tape, a strange melody could be heard which made Chrysalis look around oddly. “Wh-what is she doing? What is the sound? What?! Why is it getting darker, where is this darkness coming from?”

Laughing, Ryan smirked before giving the peace sign. “Oh, such a classic. That and three will always be the best 2D ones. But it’s simple, Chrissy: nothing beats a classic iris fade for scene shifting.”

Before Chrysalis could get any kind of reply out, the scene went totally black….before opening up to show all of them now in front of the Treebrary.

“How? What? When? I Don’t….” Chrysalis continued making twitchy, confused remarks as she tried to process exactly what had just occurred. “That is...I...I…I don’t feel good.”

“Was that too much, Rysy-Wysy? I really thought she could handle our shenanigans.”

“Hmmm…” Ryan stroked his chin in thought. “Ah-ha! Rare-bear, are you thinking what Ah am?”

Rarity eyed their human oddly, before a thought dawned on her. “Oh yes! She could definitely benefit from something relaxing like that.”

“...what are y’all plannin’?”

“It’s easy, Apps: Chrissy right now needs assistance, but not the kind the Elements of Harmony can give. Oh no, no, no...rather, she needs the help of the Elements of Therapy.”

“The what-who now?”

“The Elements of Therapy: our very own Lotus Blossom and Aloe. We’ll get her the full package after we introduce her to her roommate.”

Chrysalis paused as Ryan opened the door. “...roommate?”

“Yeah! She’s great, you’ll love her. She’s energetic and friendly, and has lots of love for everypony so she’s sure to help with those supplies yer kids will need and…” Ryan suddenly was muffled as a ball of fluff latched onto his face and gasped in joy. “Oh...hewwo, Fwuffle.”

“Pbbbt.”

“Yes, Ah can tell yer glad to see us, especially since we’ve been so busy lately. Now then...we’ve got someone we’d like to introduce you to. She’s gonna be yer new roommate for however long she needs!”

“Phbbbbt?”

“Heh, she’s right there, darling.” Rarity pointed to Chrysalis. “This is Queen Chrysalis, leader of the Changelings.”

“Well, technically leader of the only remaining changelings. But details.” Chrysalis waved her foreleg dismissively. “Anyway, I suppose we are going to be roommates then? You certainly fit the company that—”

Fluffle had put a hoof to her mouth, signaling her to be quiet. “Pbbt.”

“I...did she just say I had her at ‘Well’? Also, how did I...” Chrysalis attempted to talk, before Fluffle pressed her hoof against her mouth slightly harder.

“Ah’m gonna go with yes.” AppleJack chuckled. “As for how she talks without using anything other than ‘pbbbt’s...some mysteries ain’t meant ta be known.”

“You’ll help her out and get her settled here, right Fluffle?”

Fluffle nodded repeatedly to Ryan’s question, before dragging Chrysalis around and showing her the different areas of the Treebrary. Chrysalis gave Ryan and his herd a confused look, trying to get any kind of answer as to what was happening.

“She’s taken a liking to you, that’s what, Crissy-wissy.” Pinkie giggled. “Besides, Ryan did promise someone with a large source of love...and Fluffle has the most to give that I’ve seen from any pony! She’ll help get your kids rolling in no time!”

Still not completely at ease with that as an answer, she none the less let herself be given the tour. Seeing that Chrissy was in good hooves, Ryan and the others bid them farewell till later so that he could focus on one very important thing coming up in a few short weeks.

“So...Dark...how did you handle it when ya met Lunes and Cellie’s parents?”

‘Me? Well...I think I handled it well enough. After all, their dad was pretty chill, but their mother greeted me with a massive fireball to the face. Something about wanting to see if I was truly this ‘hot stuff’ as her dear little moonie had told her.’

Ryan facepalmed. “That’s...that’s not very reassuring.”

“Apple Ryder, it ain’t gonna be that hard. Ya already met and know some of our parents.”

“Ah know Apps, but...the ones Ah haven’t met, Ah’m worried about what they really think about this whole thing we’ve got going. Ah love y’all and won’t change mah plans even if some of them are unhappy with it, but it’d mean a lot more if they all were okay with us being together.” He turned to his herd. “And Ah know that’d mean a lot to y’all as well.”

Lyra nodded, sensing some of her herdmates distress. “I know my parents are a bit...hesitant after I told them about not only who I was dating but in what way. My mother seemed okay but dad...he never did like grandpa telling me about Equestria’s past and of the humans from back then. Said it would lead me to become some kind of crazy delinquent. But ya know, Ryers, whatever happens we’ll still love you. Nothing will change that, even if not all of our families are on board with us being together.”

Ryan smiled at that, especially when the other gals reaffirmed this with their own words. “Haha, we’re just one big, crazy, happy family ain’t we? Y’all, me, our little bro, and our little sisters. And Ah suppose Darkness as well, which means Cellie and Lunes are in there too.” He looked up at the clear sky and smiled. “Ah wouldn’t change that for anything! Now then! We’ve work to do: a town to prepare for Changeling co-habitation and, of course, the details involving mah birthday and yer parents visiting.”

‘You heard the man! Let’s get awesome, everypony!’

Author's Note

Oh dear sweet loveable mare butts!
This took way longer than it should have to write, but it's finally here and finally done! Yay! :yay:
:rainbowdetermined2:And now comes the fun part, right Rys?
You'd be right! See, as Ah was writing this chapter Ah had a thought: only some of the parents of those in the group have been shown, while the others are up to fan-interpretation. Like Apps' parents, for instance, which brings me to mah point: Ah want yer help! Ah want to include mah fans in the process, much like Ah've done before with suggestions, and see what y'all can come up with name-wise and such for the parents yet to be seen.
There's quite a few, after all, for those in the herd so let's see what those noggins can cook up!
Well said, Dark! We look forward to hearing yer suggestions fer names! And with that, we leave y'all till next update! And as always, we hoped ya enjoyed this silly, yet productive, chapter! :pinkiehappy:

24th Harvest

For the past week it had been a whirlwind of activity in Ponyville as the Elements and their human worked with Chrysalis to establish the first of hopefully many coexistence moments in Equestria in regards to the changelings. After the peace treaty was made official, the ponies that were a bit wary decided to give it a chance and, to their surprise, found that they actually did have more in common than rumors and legends led them to believe. Having sorted out one issue, Ryan and Dark were hard at work on another they’d been wanting to finish up, but had been sidelined due to the unexpected visit by Eris as well as finding Chrissy of all things. Looking over the photos and clippings one more time, they thought they’d finally found their answer.

‘Could it really be true?’

“That’s what it seems like, partner. All these photos have something in common, and the clippings over time as well as the reference materials point towards something curious.” Ryan looked over on in particular, staring at a young filly in the background. “She might just be who we were looking for.”

‘If that’s so, then...perhaps not all was lost back then. Are we sure, though? I’d hate to be wrong and get his hopes up for nothing.’

“Ah can’t see this info leading us to the wrong conclusion...it’s all a matter of trying to track down those that are watching over this filly...but, either way Ah think he’ll be happy to know that he may not have lost all that he thought.” Ryan stretched, hearing his back crack as he stood up. “But enough screwing with the audience and being vague...in just one short week it’s mah birthday and ya know what that means.”

‘Of course I do!’ Dark laughed loudly. ‘You get to be all awkward and meet the parents!’

“Don’t sound too excited, partner.” Ryan rolled his eyes, walking over to the calendar. “One week...too bad Ah have no clue where it’s gonna take place. Pinks is being super hush-hush about where and when and all those helpful details. Heh, guess she wants it to be a total surprise.”

‘Oh you’ll do fine. It can’t be any worse than what I told you I dealt with, Ry.’

“Yeah, yeah.” He waved his hand before walking downstairs. “We should go check in with the gals and see how things are rolling.”

Heading out, Ryan and Dark made their way towards town where the gals had been helping Chrysalis get settled into a more normal routine, as well as help her children that had followed along get acclimated to a less secretive form of existence. There had been bumps, and some townspeople were a bit hesitant to allow Changelings to work for them. Yet once they saw how hard they wished to work towards their new future, they realized giving them a chance wouldn’t be all that bad.

‘...just like old times.’ Dark commented, noting changeling and pony working side by side. ‘Heh...this is how it should be. Working together and making things better for everyone because of it.’

“Dark...Ah’m sure the King and Queen you made friends with back then would be proud to see things back this way.” Ryan smiled as a younger changeling was playing with some younger fillies and bumped right into him. “Heh, careful little one.”

Buzzing sheepishly, the young changeling nodded before running off with his friends. Sighing happily, Ryan opened the door to the treebrary...and was immediately hit in the face by a book. “...some things never change.”

“Oh, hello Ryan. Nice of you to come by. Your herd and I were just having a discussion about….uhm….stuff.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow at that. “Stuff? Chrissy, that’s suspicious. Also, why did Ah get hit by a book again?”

Hearing a ‘pffft’, he turned to see Fluffle sorting some of the books in the library...or at least attempting to.

‘Looks more to me like she’s building a fort out of them.’ Dark laughed. ‘But yeah, yer lack of telling things is kinda curious, Chrissy-baby.’

Chrysalis merely shook her head. “It’s nothing you boys need concern yourselves with. You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Alrighty...fair enough.”

“By the by, darling, what brings you by?”

“Oh well, just figured Ah’d check in with y’all, Rares. Ya know, cause Ah’ve been kinda focused on that project of mine.”

“Rysy-Wysy...you wouldn’t be thinking of trying to sneak the details of your party, would you?”

“Well n-no...not exactly.” Ryan sat down and huffed. “Ta be honest, Ah’m kinda freaking a little. Having all yer parents here, together, at the same time? For both mah birthday and to, ya know, meet the ones Ah haven’t so we can see how they feel. Ah’m just worried some of them might not approve or...react negatively towards me. And Ah’d hate what that might do to y’all.”

“Hmmm...you need to relax!”

“What?”

“I think that what you need is to go spend a calm day with your herd somewhere. Go have some fun.” Chrysalis nodded as she talked. “Yes, you’ve been working so hard lately helping my children and I as well as whatever has kept your attention when you’re not doing that. Thus I believe you are overstressed. And I can sense that, as your love energies are just all over the place.”

“That sounds like a lovely idea!” Twilight grinned. “I know there’s still a lot to do, but we’d be failing our stallion if we let him get too stressed out. So a day of resting up might just be what’s needed.”

“Hmmm...well, Rys has been locking himself away for some time now...okay! I’m game for some fun if the others are.” Dashie pounded her hooves together. “So what should we do?”

Pinkie, in one of her superhuman—or should that be superpony—moments, grabbed her fellow herdmates and Ryan before grinning. “Why with breakfast, silly! I can hear Rysy’s tummy rumbling from here. You haven’t eaten yet, have you mister?”

“...m-maybe. Ah did get caught up in mah research so…”

“Then it’s agreed!”

“What? Pinkie, we haven’t even—”

“No objections, Twilight! It’s food time!”

Chrysalis watched in amazement as Pinkie managed to drag all of them away and out the door. Turning to Fluffle, she watched her stare at them as well before she slowly turned to face her way.

“Pfft.”

“...what? What do you mean let’s make like them and have fun too?”

“Pffft!”

“Ack! Are you insane?” Chrysalis gasped. “Change scene, change scene!!!!”

“Oh God! Look out!” Ryan gasped, knocking AppleJack out of the way just as a pancake came flying at her. “Pinkie! Why did you think this was a good idea?!”

Pinkie giggled as she faced off with a cinnamon roll. “I couldn’t have known that adding that super special ingredient from Discord would’ve done this, but this is so exciting!”

“Darling, this is not exciting in the least!” Rarity bemoaned, knocking aside a bagel and weeping. “There’s cream cheese all over my mane! This will take forever to get out!”

Spike, meanwhile, was tied up as french toast circled around him with forks. “...that’s the least of our worries. Talk about your baked bads. Even my flames aren’t phasing them.”

‘Partner...you don’t think….’

“Ah do...though Ah have no idea what this is gonna do to our stomachs.” Ryan struck a pose and growled. “Pinkie!”

Sensing what he was up to, she giggled before joining him. “Right! 4th Wall powers activate!”

Throwing his arm out to match her pose, Ryan smirked. “Black Hole Stomach!”

Spike blinked before staring at them. “...wut?”

With that Ryan and Pinkie ran at the baked bads, pulling their best Kirby imitations as they inhaled all manner of breakfast items in order to save their friends from a sweet and tasty demise. While some, like the cinnamon rolls, went all too easy, others proved a bit more challenging.

Like the pancakes.

That decided to buzz around like deadly, fluffy buzzsaws.

Flinging chocolate chips everywhere.

“Oh d-dear! Ow! Eeep!” Fluttershy gasped as she tried to hide behind a chair, her poor exposed bottom getting pelted with. “Ryan!”

Grabbing Pinkie, he quickly threw her at the pancakes, watching her twirl and twist with grace as she chomped them out of the air. Eventually, all the offending goods had been handled...although Ryan looked rather ill after all that.

Spike sighed and shook his head as he pulled off the ropes holding him. “See? This is why I just wanted to have some simple cereal...but noooooooo.”

“Ryers, you okay?”

“Ugh...yeah, Heartsy. Just ate….waaaaaaaaaay too much.” Ryan covered his mouth, looking ill. “Well, on the bright side...Ah’m not hungry anymore. Haha….ugh…”

“Well, that’s good to know but…” Lyra looked around, puzzled by something. “What happened to all the syrup?”

“The syrup?”

Spike gulped, “Uhm, guys. I think I found it.” He pointed at the doorway behind Lyra.

“Huh?” Lyra turned before gasping. “Ry!!!”

“Heartsy!”

The goopy, sticky syrup had somehow combined into one messy, horrible abomination of goo….that in that moment completely landed on Lyra and encased her in it’s depths.

Lyra gasped out for help, bubbles slowly appearing in the thick syrup, but she was caught tight.

“You bastard!” Ryan shouted, his aura flaring. “Just who the hell do you think yer screwing with?! Pinkie!”

“Right! Yaaaaaah! Secret technique of the Random!”

“Ultimate Lick of Devastation!”

Needless to say, that Syrup Monster didn’t know what hit it as the pony and human team dealt out Justice in the form of literal tongue-lashings, soon leaving just a very sticky and disoriented Lyra collapsed on the floor.

“Oh you poor dear.” Rarity trotted over to try and soothe her. “And to think I was complaining about cream cheese...well we’ll get this fixed up right away. Right, Ryan?”

“Ugh…..” Ryan fell back, clutching his gut. “Oh God….”

“Rysy?”

“Yeah, Pinks?”

“...next time, let’s just have something simple...like toast. And sorry...”

“Sounds good. And sorry fer what?”

“For things getting like this…”

Ryan smiled, rolling over to pull her close. “You goober...Ah might feel a bit ill, but that certainly was fun in a weird, curious way.”

Pinkie grinned. “Ya mean that?”

“Sure...but Ah think we can all agree we need one thing right now….”

A few moments later…

“Welcome to the Ponyville Spa, how might we….oh my goodness!” Aloe gasped, seeing the state Ryan and his family were in. “Mr. Ryan, what...what happened?”

“Breakfast. Now then...we need to unwind. Might you be able to help?”

“But of course! This way everypony!”

After a relaxing two hours at the spa, the relaxed but tired human decided their best bet to relax would be to head home and while away the rest of the day there just chilling out. His herd certainly had no objection to that, and thus they had spent quite a while just chatting and enjoying one another’s company as they reminisced about old memories.

“Oh Ryers….” Lyra lightly kicked her backleg as Ryan scratched away at her tummy. “Why are you so good at this?”

“Lots of practice...plus, as yer aware mah mint mare, hands are a hell of a thing.”

“Mmm, Ah’ll say.” Lyra sighed, staring at her hoof. “I wish I could know what that’s like...that spell I have is okay, but to really have hands. That’d be awesome.”

Hearing that, Ryan glanced over at Twilight and smirked. Hoping she’d catch on and play along, he grinned when he saw that mischievous glimmer in her eyes. “Hmmm…”

“What is it, my sweet human?”

“Oh, it’s just...we had dinner just a little while but I could probably do with an after dinner mint.” He looked about before frowning. “But...we don’t have any.”

“...Ry? What are you talking about?”

“Hmmm...oh! But we do have a mint pone...Ah suppose that might just do.” Ryan shifted a bit so he could lean down and nuzzle Lyra’s tummy.

“Ry~” Lyra giggled. “That tickles...what are you doing?”

“This.” He remarked, nibbling at her tummy.

“Ry! The others are watching! Stop~” She giggled, her face turning red.

“Oh noes!”

Looking up, both of them were surprised to see Rarity gasping in horror as she looked at the two of them.

‘Well, well...looks like the marshmallow is gonna play along. Oh, this is gold.’ Dark thought to his host, bringing about quite the grin to their faces.

“Rarity, what’s wrong?”

“Don’t you know to never let a human nibble yer tum-tum!? Don’t you know what happens?!”

“...w-what?”

“Only the Worst. Possible. Thing. Ever!” Rarity sighed, falling back on to her couch. “When a human nibbles you there...you become a human. Forever!”

Lyra gave Rarity a blank stare as she craned her head to look at her. “You can’t be serious? Do you realize how dumb that sounds? How does that even work? He’s not a zombie...or a vampire or something that changes you with a bite. He’s a human...and why only the tummy? He can nip our ears or other places and we’re fine, but the tummy?”

“Oh, you poor thing.” Fluttershy frowned, shaking her head. “Denial is the first sign of the change happening.”

‘Flutters too?’ Dark silently chuckled in Ryan’s head. ‘Our herd is the best.’

Waiting for a joke or a punchline, Lyra decided to start worrying a little bit when she saw no such response coming. Looking from member to member of her herd, she bit her lower lip and groaned. “Come to think of it...I do feel a little weird and sweaty.”

Slowly getting out of Ryan’s lap, Lyra stumbled a bit before feeling a bit woozy. Glancing at T-Sparks, Ryan smirked as he saw her cast the spell and sit back to admire her naughtiness at work. The mint unicorn made an odd noise before gasping as her back legs began to change, forcing her to stand upright more.

“Oh no!” Rainbow Dash cried in ‘terror’. “It’s happening!”

“What...what do I do?” Lyra gasped, watching as she now had feet instead of hooves. “I don’t want to be stuck a human forever! I actually like being a pony despite what others might think!”

Ryan felt bad, biting his lip to try and not laugh at the reaction they were getting from her as she continued to change. “Oh, quick! Wrap this around yer body, Heartsy!”

Feeling a blanket tossed at her, she seemed puzzled...until more of her began to change. “Oh, right...humans don’t have ways to hide their fun bits.” She let out a whimper as her body continued changing, until finally she was a female human, hands and all. “Ryers...why?”

“...oh God, Ah can’t hold it in anymore.” Ryan snickered before pulling his now mint-haired human in for a hug. “We’re just teasing you, Heartsy. Ya ain’t a human forever. Ah can’t take that look ya were given me.”

“...what?”

“Well, truth is, T-Sparks has actually had a human transformation spell for some time. She’s only used it once before, back before ya joined our herd, but it would seem she’s been practicing.” Ryan wiggled his eyebrows. “This version of it is much improved. Plus, when ya brought up wondering what it’d be like to actually have hands, well...once again, mah bookworm seemed to pick up on mah idea.”

“Of course, the rest of us figured we’d play along when we could.” AppleJack chuckled softly. “Turns out only some of us had to, since it just went way better than we could’ve expected. You were panicking more than a snake that tried burrowing through quicksand.”

“...Apps, that made no sense.” Ryan shook his head, before hugging Heartsy tight. “Anyway, sorry for pranking ya, but ya gotta admit it was the best setup for it, right?”

“Yeah...I guess so.” Lyra took a moment to look at her hand, flexing each finger one by one before smiling...and then slapping Ryan across the face. “Don’t ever make me panic like that again!” She then grabbed his head and kissed him hard. “You stupid, funny, lovable human of mine. Mmm...kissing you like that was different. I wonder what else is different?”

‘You’ll find the human form lends to quite a few different things, Lyrs. Most of them are pretty enjoyable, let me tell ya.’

“Ya know, ya don’t always have to say what comes to mind, Darkness.”

‘Oh, I know, AJ. It’s just more fun if I do!!’

“...somehow, somewhere, a certain friend of yers is probably shivering in annoyance and disgust, partner.”

‘Oh please, he loves how I act the same as the rest of you; he just can’t bring himself to admit it yet.’

“Soooo...what now? You had your fun and I’m a human for the time being….till the spell wears off, right?”

Twilight nodded. “Yep. Once it wears off, you’ll be back to a pony. As for what to do...I’m not really sure.”

‘I have an idea.’

“Darky-Warky, even I’m not sure I should ask what your idea is.”

‘Oh come on, Ponk! Have my ideas ever disappointed? ...don’t answer that! Anyway! It’s a great idea to help Ryan reduce stress with something different!’

“I dare say you’ll tell us anyway, Darkness, so we might as well hear you out.”

‘Thanks, Ra-Ra! Anyway, you lot should go get some rest with Ryan and snuggle aplenty!’

“...but we do that a lot.”

‘Ah! But here’s the best part that makes it different: you go human like Lyrs here and do it that way.’

Rainbow Dash tapped her chin before smirking. “Ya know, the D-Man has a point. We have never snuggled like that with him before. That would make for an interesting—how do you put it, Twilight?”

“An interesting experiment.” Twilight chuckled before focusing her magic. “I think that’s a wonderful idea, wouldn’t you agree girls?”

“Well shoot! Ya ain’t gonna hear me say no to time like that with our human. So Ah’m game, especially since ya seemed to work all the kinks outta that spell, Twi.”

“...Dark, what have you gotten me into now?”

‘All sorts of fun! You can thank me later.’

Ryan sighed, watching Twilight’s magic do its thing. “Ah guess it’s a good thing Spike ain’t here to get caught up in the hijinx.”

‘Yeah...but I do have to wonder just what happened between Chrissy and Fluffs that they needed his assistance of all things?’

Meanwhile, back at Golden Oaks Library…

“What do you mean she fell in and never came out?”

“Pbblt.”

“You were...what?”

“P...pblt.”

“Right...and why was there jelly on the floor?”

“...pblt.”

“Sandwiches?” Spike raised an eyebrow before shaking his head. “You know what...I probably shouldn’t even try to pry. It’d probably end up like that Katamari Cupcake incident all over again. So...how do we get her out?”

At that Fluffle pulled out a rope, tying it around Spike before holding the other end. “Pblt. Pblt. Pbbblt.”

“...you want me to jump in? I’m not sure it’s safe….”

“Pblt….”

“Ugh, when you’re being that sad about it, fine.” Spike sighed before readying himself. “If I don’t come out of here alive, tell big bro I forgive him.”

And with that Spike jumped into her fur, the rope disappearing with him as he apparently fell and fell and fell. Holding tightly to the rope, Fluffle grinned before somehow getting yanked with the end of the rope she was holding into herself and disappearing from sight.

“...ya know what, Dark?”

‘What?’

“You were right.” Ryan sighed, snuggling into his herd’s embrace. “This was just what Ah needed.”

‘See? Do I know you or what?’

“Shhhh.” Lyra placed a finger on Ryan’s lips. “No talk, only sleeps.”

“Yes, Heartsy.” Ryan closed his eyes and relaxed...until he heard an odd noise. “...Ladies, what’s that sound?”

Seeing a few heads pop up, they listened in trying to figure out just what the heck was going on.

“...darling, it appears to be getting louder.”

“Ah’d noticed, Rares. It sounds almost like…” Ryan’s eyes went wide when a hole in reality opened up above them and grunted when something heavy and mare-shaped fell on top of him. “Uffff!”

“Oh thank sweet merciful Kakuna, we’re back in Equestria!”

‘...Chrissy?’

“...Dark?” Chrysalis blinked before looking down to see she was on top of Ryan. This caused her to blush, especially after seeing he was apparently missing his shirt. “...Oh. Well...uhm...hmm. In the lowlight, your scar doesn't look all that bad. Wait, no. That’s a stupid thing to say.”

“Pblt!!”

“Hey, you’re the one that said you had a hold on the rope, Fluffle.” Spike groaned, picking himself up off the floor. “Whoa. You guys went human? What the heck did I miss? Wait...no, probably don’t want to know.”

“A wise choice, Spike.” Twilight sighed. “I should probably ask how you got here, but for now could you please remove yourself from our human, Chrysalis.”

“Right! Sorry.” Chrysalis quickly flew off of him before clearing her throat. “I’ll...I’ll just see myself out.”

With that Chrysalis left, followed by Fluffle, and lastly Spike who just shook his head before heading towards his room to sleep the whole ordeal off. Ryan’s herd seemed a bit puzzled by just what happened, looking to him for an explanation.

“...why me?”

Well, you usually are the cause for most of the weird things that happen, right?

“You...you shut up!” Ryan groaned, rolling his eyes. “Ah suggest we just go back to sleep and find out what happened with Spike in the morning.”

Figuring that was probably the best option given the situation, they all got comfortable before fading into a peaceful night’s rest.

Ryan awoke, but immediately he could sense something was horribly, terribly amiss.

“It’s quiet...and unless Ah’m tripping on some of Pinks’ special cupcakes, everything seems more vivid than usual. What do you think, partner?” Ryan waited, but no response came. “Partner? Dark? Hello? Ya awake up there?”

‘What? What’s all the noise for?’

“Dark, Ah think something is wrong. Something is really wrong right now.” Ryan got up, pulling on his shoes before heading downstairs to see nopony around. “...man, now Ah’m feeling even more sure about that bad feeling. Girls?”

‘...Ryan, do you feel some uneasy magic in the air?’

“Is that what that weird oobly feeling is? Ugh, it’s making mah stomach ache.” Searching room after room yielded no results, his family still nowhere to be seen. “...Ah don’t like this.”

Dark frowned, growling softly. ‘We should check outside and see if anything is off there.’

Figuring there wasn’t much else they could do, they stepped outside only to see they were in Ponyville and not the outskirts on the farm. Looking around, things seemed even more vivid than usual as well as...smooth. Really, really smooth. In fact, looking at himself, he seemed to look less like the weird cartoony reality filter Equestria had and more CGI-esque and super smooth. Almost fake and plasticy.

“Well, that’s unusual...plus this layout looks really—Flutters?”

Looking down the main pathway, he and Dark could clearly see Fluttershy running her little heart out as she seemed quite spooked by something. Unsure as to what had his butter pone so worried, he ran towards her only for her to jump up into his arms. Steadying himself, he waited for her to catch her breath before asking what had her so spooked.

“Oh Ry...i-it was so...I don’t know how...I just...so scared.”

“Flutters, what happened? Where’s the others?”

“...I don’t know about Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash...but Pinkie...and...I’m sorry...AJ…”

Ryan’s eyes widened in fear at this. “Wh-what do you mean by that? What about Pinks and Apps?”

“...I...I don’t want to believe it but...I...I think they’re dead.”

‘...Fluttershy, who killed them?’ Dark growled softly but deeply, his anger rising at hearing such a thing.

“Ah’m with mah partner, who has the death wish?”

Fluttershy shivered, her eyes shut as she tried to remember despite her fear. “I...it...it looked like...looked like AJ but...was wrong. So wrong. Her stance, her eyes, the way she moved and talked…..if it wasn’t for that chocolate bar then...then I’d probably be dead too.”

‘...what the hell? Looks like AJ? But off? Some kind of misshapen Changeling? But...they’re allied with us now, right?’

“Unless we’ve got a rogue one on our hands, but Ah have this gut feeling it’s more than that...” Ryan closed his eyes, fighting back all but a single tear. “Apps….Pinks...Ah will personally end whoever took you from me. But first...we need to find the others and warn the Mayor, get the word out to the others before somepony else gets hurt.”

Setting Fluttershy down, they made a beeline for City Hall only to see the rest of Ryan’s herd was already there looking a bit flustered. Seeing their human and Fluttershy their spirits raised a bit, though not seeing AppleJack and Pinkie...well, Twilight had to ask the question. “Ryan…”

“Yes. They are. Flutters found...Ah guess what was left of them.” He turned to see her nod before leaning against him and crying softly. “...damn. We need to get the ponies somewhere safe...Canterlot maybe? The Princesses should know what to do.”

The Mayor nodded. “We’ve alerted the residents of town that something peculiar is going on, but to hear that’s what has happened...I’m sorry Mister Ryder.”

“It’s...it’s okay.” Ryan did his best to maintain his composure. “...We...we can grieve them once we save our home. They’d...they’d want us to protect it first. Now then...Celestia has been informed?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. She has been sent notice of something unusual happening and has agreed to house the residents of Ponyville until it is sorted.”

‘Good. Get them all here so we can teleport them to safety...that way they won’t be in the way when we murder the son of a bitch that took away our herdmates.’

“...Darkness, darling...are you okay?”

‘Nopony messes with our herd...especially like this.’ Dark growled softly again before sighing. ‘Ryan, Twily...get the others out of here as soon as they arrive.’

It wasn’t long before the residents of Ponyville had all gathered, waiting in worry at what was possibly going down. After helping calm the crowd and inform them of what was to happen, they collected themselves somewhat...but not much.

“Lyra, what is he talking about?”

“I don’t know myself, Bonnie, but you need to go with the others where you’re safe.”

“But Lyra…”

Lyra looked down before gritting her teeth. “AppleJack...Pinkie Pie...they were my fellow herdmates. Whoever took them away from my beloved human….they have to pay.”

“Lyra…”

“It’ll be fine, Bonnie, you’ll see.” Lyra gave her a smile before hugging her tight. “Help the Princess keep the others calm, okay? You know how this town can be.”

“Haha, that I do. Be careful.”

“Mister Ryder, Miss Sparkle? We’re ready.”

“Alrighty, Mayor. Ry?”

“Right...stay safe, everypony. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

With that, they sent their fellow residents away to Canterlot...and then there was a tense silence in the air. The wind blowing was the only sound to be heard, kicking up dust in it’s wake in the now empty town. Without a word, those remaining in his herd took their respective Elements...leaving Honesty and Laughter as a reminder of what had been lost. Ryan stared at the two necklaces before picking them up and securing them to his belt.

“Apps...Pinks...we will find Justice for the two of you.” Ryan closed his eyes, his control on his emotions breaking for a moment. The two Elements seemed to glow briefly in response to his words, before he roared loudly, ice cascading around his body. “Flutters…”

“...y-yes. I know. F-follow me and I’ll take you to where I found...found them.”

But that would have to wait, as a strange noise began to echo through the town. Straining, it appeared to be a voice...but one that was highly unnatural.

“Waheey!”

‘...the fuck was that?’

“Shhh. Listen.”

The group strained themselves, and heard more weird talking followed by…

“...that sounds like the same kinda beeps from those old Atari games…” Ryan suddenly turned and saw something very odd down the street. “What the fuck?”

“Em no scitamehtam ycnaf rey esu t’nod!”

“It’s that thing!” Fluttershy gasped, hiding behind Ryan.

‘Ryan…’

“I know, it looks like...ACK!” Ryan gasped as it appeared in front of them in the blink of an eye….

“APPLEJACK!” Ryan shouted, shooting up and look around...only to see three ponies eyeing him oddly. “...just...a dream?”

“Apple Ryder, are ya alright? What’s going on?”

“Apps!” Ryan calmed his breathing before nestling up against her. “That...was not a fun dream. Gotta ask Lunes about that one.”

“Having nightmares again, Rys?”

“Yeah.” He took a moment to ruffle Lyra’s mane. “Probably just stress getting ta me over the fact that Ah’ll be meeting all of y’alls parents soon...and mah birthday too.”

Taking a moment to stretch, the three still sleeping with him smirked before getting out of bed. AppleJack nodded before pulling on her hat. “Well, it’ll be over here soon enough. The others are already in Canterlot for the preparations so ya should probably go ahead and get dressed, Apple Ryder.”

Ryan’s eyes went wide as his pupils shrank to pinpricks. “...wut?”

“Yeah, it’s today you goof!” Rainbow Dash chuckled, “Twilight and the others figured you needed the sleep, so they left us here to make sure you’d get ready. Did you forget the date already?”

Looking at the calendar on the wall, it sure enough showed the 31st...which only made Ryan wonder how the hell time had gone by so fast.

‘Either way, it’s time, Ryan.’ Dark chuckled. ‘So I suggest getting up, getting dressed, and getting ready to be your charming self like always. You’ll do fine.’

Sighing, he rolled out of bed and started digging through his closet. “Yeah, yeah, Ah know. It’s just...meeting parents of a significant other is so very...stressful. Hmmm...what outfit should Ah wear anyhow?”

Lyra quickly shuffled over and drew his attention towards a bag hanging on the door. “Here! Rarity said this is what she believes will be your best choice of outfit for the big birthday shindig of yours.”

Taking it out, he smirked at what he saw and just how perfect it would be. Quickly spinning in place, he became a blur before he struck a pose, his outfit now perfectly placed and ready for action. “Dark’s right! Why worry? What’s the worst that could happen right?”

Rainbow Dash smiled, but her laughter sounded slightly off compared to that of the others. “Yeah, it’s just our parents, right? What could happen?”

“Okay! Everything is ready, Princess!”

“Very good, Twilight. I’m sure this birthday will be just perfect for our little human. Speaking of, where is he?”

“Hahahaha, oh I feel as if he’s going to be here any minute with the others!” Vinyl shouted, readying her decks for epicness. “In fact...I’ve got the perfect song for his entrance. Ultra DJ timing senses activate!”

Slamming her hoof down on the power button, her records began to spin as a pulse-pounding song starting playing over the speakers. At the same moment, a burst of magical energy exploded from the doorway, blanketing the entrance in dust.

“Have no fear, everypony, the Birthday Star is here!”

With that declaration, Ryan strutted forth from the smoke, the three mares with him flanking his sides. Bobbing his head to the music, he smirked before laughing. “What’s with the shocked looks? This is a party, and what do you at parties? Ya get down!”

‘So get ready. 3, 2, 1...DROP THAT BASS, PON3!’

With that the musical intensity picked up as Ryan began to sway to the beat, Dashie, Apps, and Lyra providing some backup dancing to go with it. Spinning and striking a pose, he passed it off to them as they popped and locked to the beat before the break started.

“Perfect song choice, Vinyl. And great timing too.”

“Anything for the birthday boy, let’s make this birthday rock!!”

Pulling on his shades and flexing his wings, he smirked before motioning to the others. “Come on! Let’s finish this start in style, everypony!”

As the beat dropped once more, he had somehow pulled not only his herd, but all the others there as well into one final sequence of boogieing down. As the song finally came to an end, he smirked before laughing. “And that’s how ta make an entrance. By the way, love the decorations. Great job, gals!”

“Hahaha, that is indeed quite the way to make an entrance, Ryan.”

Whirling around, he could see none other than Twilight’s mom and dad standing there, clapping their hooves.

“Night Light! Twilight Velvet!” Ryan laughed nervously before walking over to greet them, “A bit early aren’t you?”

“Now now, son, it does say that the party starts promptly at 1pm, yes?” Night Light smirked. “And judging by my watch it’s five till, so I hardly think that qualifies as that early.”

“Heh. Fair enough. Glad you both could come.” He smiled, giving them both a hug. “It’s good to see you both as always.”

“We feel the same.” Twilight Velvet replied, hugging him back tightly. “It’s always nice to see how well you’re taking care of our daughter, especially when she gets out of hoof.”

“Mom!” T-Sparks gasped, rolling her eyes.

“Ah’m kinda glad you two showed up first...in all honesty, you and Apps’ parents are the ones Ah’m least worried about.” Ryan rubbed the back of his head and sighed. “Ah haven’t really had much time to meet any of the others—well, save for mah Rare-bear’s for a brief moment—so having y’all here first helps settle mah nerves.”

“Somepony mention us?”

“Ma! Pa!” AppleJack shouted before running over and hugging them. “So good ta see y’all!”

“Hey there, mah little appleseed. It’s good to see you too.” Star Dust smiled before ruffling his daughter’s mane. “Especially after hearing about all the crazy things you’ve done since we last talked. Fighting the Changeling Queen and her army? Protecting the Crystal Kingdom? Helping save Darkness from Hell of all places? You even made friends with the God of Chaos from what I’ve been told. You’ve been very busy with your stallion and herdmates.”

“Well, we certainly haven’t been avoiding the limelight, that’s fer sure. Hahaha.” AppleJack chuckled softly, blushing at her father’s words. “Ah’m glad ya were actually able to get time off from your work.”

“Heh, anything for my darling daughter.” Apple Spark laughed softly, nuzzling her daughter. “Especially if the rumors are true as to why all of us parent-type ponies are being invited here.”

Ryan gulped and laughed nervously. “Goodness. Don’t tell me yer parents know why they’re coming? Gals?”

The others in his herd laughed and smiled at one another before poking their hooves together.

‘Oh, they totally know something is up, don’t they? Well, Ryan, you have fun with that. I’m just gonna go...do something soul related.’

“Ya damn traitor!” Ryan shouted at him, before making a motion with his hand.

‘Oof!’ Dark grunted as he apparently hit the ground. ‘H-how...how did you just piledrive me with your mind like that?’

“We are more or less one, partner.” Ryan chuckled, “Not exactly hard ta do given that.”

‘...very well. I’m in this come heaven or hell. Not that it’ll be hard...oh.’

“Huh?” Ryan turned to see two ponies he’d never met before had shown up, but he certainly recognized them from photos at Sugarcube Corner. Walking over, he introduced himself, offering his hand. “Y’all must be Pinkie’s parents. It’s a pleasure ta finally meet ya both. Ah’m Ryan Ryder.”

“Hmmm. I’m Igneous Rock.” The brown stallion eyed his hand before offering his hoof, and smiling slightly. “You certainly do seem to match my daughter’s description of you.”

“Ah hope that’s a good thing, haha.”

“Indeed.”

‘...that’s not terribly clear.’

The two ponies looked at each other for a moment before staring with wide eyes. Eventually, Pinkie’s mother spoke up. “Oh yes. Pinkie did mention something unique about you, besides being human. I believe who we just heard was named Darkness Shade, yes?”

“Yes, ma’am. He’s a bit of a knucklehead sometimes, but loyal and helpful to the end.”

“I see. Well, my daughter does speak of him quite often, so they must get along.” She smiled before offering her hoof. “I’m Cloudy Quartz, and it’s nice to meet you.”

“Thank you.” Ryan smiled at how well the introductions were going...at least they seemed that way. “Feel free to get something to drink and mingle a bit, hopefully the other guests will be here soon.”

“Thank you, young man.” Igneous went to walk passed him before stopping. “Young man?”

“Yes, sir?”

“...I like what I’ve heard of you from my daughter. I trust you will never hurt her...or the others.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Good. Now then, if this party is like any of my darling daughter’s, I do believe I’ll go find the punch. Coming, Cloudy?”

“In a moment dear, I need to talk to Ryan about something.”

Watching him nod and walk off in search of punch, Cloudy turned to a slightly confused Ryan.

“Ma’am? What’s the matter?”

“...you know, right?”

“Ma’am?”

“My daughter has a very...special talent as you are no doubt aware of. I know you are, because I can sense you have that ability as well.”

“...Ah’m...Ah don’t...wait. Ma’am, do you mean…” Ryan made a motion as if to point at something beyond them. “That?”

“Yes. I wanted to confirm what I suspected of you. To be honest...she got that ability from me. I could never embrace it the way she did, I was always too worried what others would think, but it sets my mind at ease knowing you understand that special gift of hers and can even use it yourself.” Cloudy smiled softly. “While I do wish to get to know more about you, as does my husband, I don’t see your request being a problem.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course, the readers want it to be a problem, right? They do find such amusement in you being flustered.” Cloudy giggled. “I’ve always wanted to say that. Thanks for giving an old mare a safe chance to have fun.”

“Fer Pinkie’s mom, anytime. And yer right...those crazy fools are probably eagerly awaiting some shenanigans.”

‘And that’s the cue...’

“Dark, what are ya getting a—ack!” Ryan gasped as he was tackled to the ground, his eyes spinning. “Did anyone get the number of that low-flying football?”

‘...wait. Football? Hondo, is that you ya crazy stallion, you?’

“Ahhh, what gave me away?”

“Daddy!” Rarity gasped before rushing over. “Why in Equestria did you tackle our stallion?”

“He’s probably just trying to make sure mah skills aren’t fading...in which case.” Ryan smirked before pulling off a crazy reversal, resulting in him now having Hondo in a headlock. “Not too shabby, Magnum, but ya gotta try a bit harder ta get the drop on me and make it stick. Haha.”

“Hahaha, yeah! I know, I know.” Hondo chuckled as Ryan let him up, before he gave him a mighty hug. “Nice to see you’re still just as capable.”

“Heh, quite. However, forgive me for not saying hi to you as well, Cookie.” Ryan gave a slight bow before smiling. “You keeping this crazy guy in line?”

“Haha, of course dearie. Someone has to, otherwise he’d just be fishing and eating overcooked food all day.”

Hondo winced at that one. “Hon, you make it sound like I’m some kind of layabout.”

“Well it’s true. Any free moment you’ve got is spent out there on the lake, fishing away!” Cookie giggled. “Honestly, like a young colt during the summertime. Playing in the water with your fishing rod.”

‘Hahahahahahaha, oh man, Hondo. She’s got ya good.’

“Yuck it up, Darkness. I’ve heard stories of you and our beloved Princess of the Night, so don’t think you’re so innocent.”

‘Guh! How did you?!’

“Well, he is Magnum after all. His investigative prowess knows no bounds!”

“Ryan, darling, I don’t think I’ve ever asked this but…” Rarity trotted over, readjusting his outfit slightly after the little event with her father before continuing. “But why do you call daddy, “Magnum”? He honestly seems okay with it, but it’s just an unusual choice.”

“That’s simple, mah Rare-bear.” Ryan smirked, before making his hand into a gun shape. “Your father’s looks and attire remind me of a certain show from mah world, in particular the character from it. The mustache, the features, and of course that Hawaiian shirt style he always has—”

“Hawaiian?”

“—Practically scream Magnum, P.I. Plus, the fun fact that yer dad actually does investigative work for businesses is just too fitting. Hence the nickname.”

“I see.” Rarity tapped her chin before laughing nervously. “Oh darling, as usual your unusual way of thinking is rather...charming.”

“Aw, Ah love ya too, mah marshmallow~”

“So adorable how you can make my darling daughter blush.” Cookie laughed softly much to Rarity’s annoyance. “It’s just the cutest, don’tcha know?”

“Mother, must you?”

“Oh relax, sweetie.” Hondo smirked before hugging his daughter. “You know your mother just likes to tease you. Anyway, I see some amazing refreshments with my name on it, so if you’ll excuse me.”

With that Ryan watched Rare’s parents walk off before he mentally ticked off who was left.

‘Well, from what I can tell, partner, it’s just Butter Pone’s, Speedy Snooze’s, and Lyre Bottom’s parents that are left.’

“Hmm, yeah. No surprise Lyra and Dashie’s are taking their time from what we were told...hmmm?” Ryan turned to see a pink mare with a yellow mane cautiously looking in the door.

“Is..is this the right place? We’re looking for the Ryder party.”

“Well then, let me be happy ta say that yes, this is the right place, and Ah’m Ryan Ryder.” Ryan put on his best smile. “And who might you be, my dear?”

“Oh! That’s good!” The mare turned down the hall and shouted. “Honey! This is the right place. Down here! Oh! My name! Right. Sorry. Didn’t mean to be rude.”

“Heh, no worries.”

“My name is Flutter Breeze, and I’m Fluttershy’s mom.” Breeze explained before gasping as Ryan was tackled by a flying blur. “Honey!”

“Holy crap, you really are a human!” Shouted an over-eager stallion that was grinning widely. “That’s awesome! So mysterious and stuff! And it’s not just a conspiracy! Way too cool.”

“Dad...you’re embarrassing me.” Fluttershy bemoaned, staring at the ground with red cheeks.

“Dear.” Breeze sighed before yanking him off of Ryan and body slamming him to the ground. “Please behave yourself. You’ll have to excuse my husband, Wild Rush is a dear stallion but sometimes he just loses his common sense.”

“Haha, it’s okay. Ah must say, Flutters, yer parents are...not what Ah expected given yer personality.”

“Well, Ryan, that’s...ya know...dad was always so crazy and mom so strong that...I guess I just naturally became quiet.”

‘Ah yes, strong willed parents can do that.’

“Heh heh, sorry about that.” Rush grinned sheepishly before offering a hoof. “Whenever a theory turns out to have validity like that, I tend to jump the gun a bit.”

“S’all right. Considering a certain other pone, Ah’m kinda experienced in dealing with craziness like that.” Ryan smirked as he glanced at a slightly blushing Lyra. “But hey! Come on in! Mingle! Try the punch! We’re still waiting on a few more guests and then the party will be ready to go!”

With that Breeze dragged her husband off to mingle with the other parents while Ryan could only sigh and laugh as this was going about as well as he figured it would have. Strangely, thirty minutes passed without any sign of Rainbow’s or Lyra’s parents. While they didn’t say anything to him, their human could sense the unease in their thoughts.

“Hey, Ah’m sure they’re just running late, that’s all.”

“Maybe…” Lyra scrunched up her face. “They did say they’d come, after all...I just worry.”

‘Come on, Lyrs...even if your parents have their doubts about Ryan, I’d hope they care enough about you to at least give the big lug a chance.’

“...Dark’s right, although he could’ve used a better term ta describe me.” Ryan rolled his eyes before noting two ponies walk in. “Oh? Here we go. Hmmm, with that hair...that stallion can’t be anything but Dashie’s dad.”

‘Is that his wife?’

“Actually, that’s my mom.” Lyra smiled slightly at that. “But...where’s dad?”

“...and where’s Dashie’s mom?”

‘Ya know, come to think of it...she didn’t really say anything about her mom when they sprung this on you originally, did she partner?’

“No...just something about her dad.” Ryan blinked before seeing this rainbow-haired stallion was suddenly in front of him. “Ack!”

“Daddy!”

“So this is the human that’s grabbed my daughter’s heart, huh? Hmmmm….”

Ryan felt uneasy as he was given the once-over before the stallion huffed.

“He’s not much to look at...he certainly doesn’t look terribly athletic either.” He poked Ryan in the gut, the act of which said human was not happy with.

“Hey! Mah size might not speak it, but Ah’m more athletic than ya might think, sir. Besides, even if you are Dashie’s dad, ya could at least introduce yerself before ya start prodding and analyzing me.”

“The name’s Rainbow Blaze, and honestly I don’t see what my darling daughter does.”

Ryan took the outstretched hoof and shook, feeling a bit put off by how gruff Rainbow’s father was acting. “Well, hopefully talking and such with this party will help ya see that. Although...where might the misses be?”

Blaze narrowed his eyes at that before snorting. “That’s not your concern. So don’t ask.”

With that he walked away, leaving the confused human to wonder just what the hell that was supposed to mean. Figuring it didn’t matter that much, he turned his attention to the mint-colored mare that was currently hugging his mint-colored mare.

“...you gonna be okay, Ryers?”

“Hmm, yeah Dashie. Go talk to yer pops, we’ll worry about his attitude later...and Ah might ask you about his issue with your mom later too.” With that Ryan walked over before smiling. “So, Ah finally get to meet the mom of mah human crazy mare.”

“Oh my, hahahaha. My little lyre always was a handful ever since she heard all those tales from my father. Oh how her eyes would light up whenever he would visit. Of course, my darling husband didn’t exactly like him filling her head with so many tales...but I suppose they were more than just that given your being here, Mr. Ryder.”

“Haha, indeed.”

“I’m Minty Note, and it’s quite nice to finally meet you in person. Though she may have exaggerated a bit whenever she wrote us, I’m happy to see most of what she spoke is true. Though, a mysterious voice in your head. Oh my.” She giggled. “So silly.”

‘Oh yes, very silly. What could ever make Lyrs think such a thing?’

Minty blinked before staring at Ryan and tilting her head. “Did...did you just talk without moving your mouth?”

“Ah don’t know. Did Ah?”

‘Yes, did we? I mean...Ah?’

Lyra rolled her eyes before hopping up to whap Ryan on the back of the head. “Don’t tease my mother like that, please?”

‘Hahaha, sorry, but you gotta admit that was an opportunity that we couldn’t pass up.’

“Yeah, yeah, Dark...just don’t drive my mom into the nuthouse, okay?”

“...yes, dear.” Ryan sheepishly smiled before bowing slightly. “Sorry, Mrs. Note. Dark and Ah can just be a bit playful is all.”

Minty giggled softly before waving a hoof dismissively. “No harm done, boys. So long as you try to pull the same joke on my husband, I can live with you pranking me.”

“Oh, speaking of, where is dad, mom?” Lyra frowned. “More work?”

“Now Lyra, dear, you know your father works hard with his studies. He promised me that he would make it here for the party. He might be a little late, but he will get here come “hell or high water”...whatever that was supposed to mean.”

“Sounds good to me...well, if that’s everyone for now, let’s PARTY!”

“Oh yeah! That’s totally Ryanese for DROP THE BASS!” Vinyl laughed loudly before getting the music really going.

A short while later, things were pretty calm all things considered, all the parents mingling and—despite the embarrassment to their daughters—regaling Ryan with tales of their childhood as well as other stories that made certain members of his herd want to absolutely die.

“And so, she walks into the room with all these slightly inflated balloons tied to her hoofs and says “Look Mommy! I have hands now!””

Ryan and Dark doubled over in laughter, trying to catch their breath as Lyra hid her face in her hooves, her normally minty coat now a deep shade of red. “Oh God, mom...why?”

“Oh please, as if your other herdmates haven’t been teased in the same way. Why should you be left out?”

“Speaking of…” Igneous cleared his throat before turning to Ryan. “While we have been enjoying another one of my talented daughter’s parties, I do believe you did invite us all here with a purpose in mind, correct?”

“Yes, sir.” Ryan nodded, suddenly feeling rather nervous again. “Though Ah imagine you’ve all figured out what it could be anyhow, Ah asked you all here so that we could—”

And that’s when a loud crash rang out, glass falling everywhere as what appeared to be a stallion wearing a fedora crashed into the hall….followed by a few uninvited guests.

“What the hell? Who is that? Why does he look like Harrison Ford? And who are they?”

“Dad!”

Ryan looked at Lyra and then back to the mystery stallion. “Dad? Which means….”

Not wasting anytime, Ryan donned his wings before rushing to aid Lyra’s dad against these...were they Diamond Dogs? They looked like them, but something seemed off.

“Need some help?”

The stallion smirked. “Sure thing, kid.”

“Mind telling me why they seem cross with you?”

“Oh, there was this artifact they took...and I got it back. Ya know, cause it belongs in a museum. So now they’re angry. Pretty simple stuff. You good with a fight?”

‘Haha, are we good with a fight? Let’s show him how good we are, partner!’

“Sure thing, Dark!” Smirking Ryan ran up to the nearest one and started trading blows with it, before landing a number of punches. “Time to take out the trash! Shoryuken!”

The other two Diamond Dogs (?) watched wide-eyed as their colleague was catapulted back out the broken window and started sweating as they stared at Ryan.

“That guy can keep the damn thing! I don’t care what trouble awaits us, it can’t be worse than getting beat up by this freak.”

‘...dang...more chicken than dog, huh?’

Willing away his wings, Ryan nodded. “Well, that was...fun. And weirdly easy. So, yer Lyra’s old man, huh? Guess you really take your archeology work seriously.”

“History is serious, young man. It is facts, you know.” The stallion smirked. “Then again, moments like that are seriously fun as well.”

“Honey, you know I don’t like it when you call harrowing moments of life and death “fun”.” Minty sighed. “At least you made it here in one piece, and that’s what I should be thankful for.”

“Indeed! Oh, but my manners must be terrible. Young man, I am Indiana Pone.”

Ryan blinked for a few moments before snapping out of it and shaking his hoof. “Pleasure to meet ya, Mr. Pone. Ah’m Ryan Ryder. You certainly aren’t what Ah was expecting from what your daughter told me of you. Ah expected more “book focused” archeologist and not “in yer face finding history” archeologist.”

“Well, though she does share a rather large interest in such things with me, I did try my best to hide more...chaotic moments like that from her.” Indiana chuckled nervously into a sigh. “Guess that’s outta the bag now, eh my little mint chip?”

“GUH! Daaaaaaad! Don’t use that nickname in front of Ryers! It’s so super embarrassing!”

“Ahem. If your father is done making a spectacle of himself, I do believe Ryan had something to say to all of us...”

Rainbow Dash glared at her father for being a bit rude and could only sigh as she tried to avoid making eye-contact with everyone for a bit. Ryan frowned at this, but wasn’t sure exactly what he could do, so he nodded before resuming where he left off before Lyra’s dad’s smashing entrance.

“Mr. Blaze is correct. Now then, as Ah was about to say before Mr. Pone here made quite the entrance, we’ve asked you all here today for one simple thing. It’s no secret that we all care about each other a lot and we’ve gotten pretty dang close in the last few months, so eventually thoughts turn to the future. That’s why Ah wanted to go ahead and ask that, when we feel the time is right, do Ah have yer permission to marry yer daughters?”

“Heh, well dang. Guess he did get the gumption up to ask it after all.” Star Dust laughed loudly before patting Hondo on the back. “Guess that means you get some free Apple Family Reserve on me.”

‘Placing bets on Ryan, are we? Yer bad, Star. But even worse is you bet against a detective. That wasn’t too smart if I may say.’

“Now, now, Dark. When it comes to Ryan, you know that his personality can waver between ultra outgoing and strangely shy, so it was anypony’s guess as to whether he’d actually get through saying the question without being all nervous.”

“And ta think, yer gonna be one of mah future father-in-laws.” Ryan stuck his tongue out at him. “What in the heavens am Ah getting into?”

“A large amount of responsibility, for example.”

Everyone whirled around at this new voice to see a very shiny mare slowly sauntering her way into the room. Though confusion was on everyone’s face—including his—Ryan noted that Rainbow Dash seemed a bit worried, and her father was not looking very happy.

“Prism.”

“Blaze.”

“Ah’m sorry, who are you?” Ryan finally asked, noting the tension in the air. “Do you know Dashie’s dad?”

“Hmph, unfortunately. My name is Prism Shine...and I am Rainbow Dash’s mother.”

“Yer mom? Dash, Ah thought ya said yer mother wouldn’t be coming?”

Rainbow sighed. “I know I did, AJ, but looks like I was wrong. So then, mom, why are you here?”

“Is that anyway to treat your mother? Especially after I haven’t seen you in so long. You’ve grown nicely, dear daughter. Quite beautiful.” Prism eyed Ryan up and down before frowning. “Though your taste in stallions is a bit...curious.”

“Mom...do not talk bad about Rys.”

“My my, very well. Now then, young man, you asked for permission to marry our daughters...though I question as to why my darling color wheel would chose somepony like you, I won’t interfere in her happiness.” Prism smirked though in a way Ryan did not like. “Let us only hope she does not take after me and make a...mistake.”

“What did you say?” Blaze narrowed his eyes and glared at Prism. “You’ve got some nerve saying that after what you did.”

“Still so touchy...peh.”

‘This ain’t good, partner. Seems Dashie’s parents have some bad blood between them.’

‘Ya can say that again.’ Ryan noted the others were a bit puzzled as well and at a loss for words as the two ponies continued digging at one another.

“Mom...dad...stop.” Rainbow Dash tried to get a word in edgewise to keep her parents from arguing about the past, but she was mostly ignored. Seeing the hurt and ache on her face aggravated Ryan something fierce until he could no longer stand by quietly.

“KNOCK IT OFF!” He bellowed, spooking some of the group and drawing the stunned attention of the two arguing ponies.

“Don’t you talk to me like that, you bipedal beast.” Prism grunted, aghast at being talked to in such a way. Blaze, however, seemed rather curious that Ryan had butted in.

“Ah don’t care if ya are Dashie’s mom and dad. This ain’t the way ta behave, especially here.”

“Oh my, afraid of a little ruined birthday?”

“I couldn’t care less about that, I’ve got bigger concerns in life. Like mah herd’s well being. And right now, you two are causing nothing but grief for mah Dashie-kins.” Ryan looked down to see Rainbow nuzzling his side. “Ah don’t know what the hell has got you two so bothered or what bad blood y’all got between ya, but act yer damn age and stop this fussin’. Y’all should be ashamed, taking digs and being so spiteful towards one another. What kinda example is that for your daughter? For the kinda pony you are?”

“Well you, I can’t believe….who do you think….hmph!” Prism sputtered indignantly, unable to form a response. “I don’t know why I bothered to come here if this is how I’m going to be treated. Peh, enjoy your freak, daughter. He’s got a big mouth, just like your father.”

With that the group watched as Prism angrily stormed off, slamming the doors behind her as silence settled over the room. Eventually Ryan let out the breath he had been holding before sighing. “Sorry everypony. Ah just...Ah couldn’t stand them making Dashie feel like crap like that. Oh, by the way. Cellie? Lunes? Ah know yer there with the cake. You can come in now.”

“We had hoped to surprise you with this cake, but sadly our timing was poor.”

“Not yer fault, Cellie.” Ryan turned to the others there and shook his head. “Ah am sorry about that. Like Ah said, shouldn’t have raised mah voice but Ah just couldn’t stand that arguing any more...Ah hate it when family argues like that. Especially that kind. Ah’m kinda surprised ya ain’t angry at me too, Mr. Blaze.”

“To be honest, I’m more surprised that you had the guts to call us out on our bullshit.” Blaze waved a hoof when Ryan tried to speak. “No, no, don’t say it isn’t, because it is. I always let myself get caught up in that with my ex-wife, despite always telling myself that I shouldn’t.”

“Well, Ah know how difficult it can be dealing with an ex, whether it be wife, girlfriend, or what have ya. Still...whatever must’ve happened between ya two seems like it was pretty rough. Sorry about that.”

Blaze laughed softly before sighing. “It’s okay...you’d think after ten years I’d have gotten passed this, but that feeling still sits as strong as the day she left me. Sometimes the mind just can’t let go no matter how hard you try. Somehow, I have this feeling you understand that.”

‘More than ya might realize, Blazer.’

“Glad to know I’m right, Dark. Though…” He turned to the others there. “I should apologize to all of you as well. There was no reason for any of you to be caught up in that. Having seen his reaction, though, I can tell I had Ryan all wrong.”

“Hmmm? What do you mean, dad?”

“What I mean, Rainbow, is that he’s got the courage to stand up to to things in order to protect you...even if that which he’s protecting you from is your own parent’s immaturity.” Rainbow Blaze turned to Ryan and smiled. “When the time does finally come, I wish you all the luck.”

“Did...did you just….?” Ryan laughed softly. “Thank you, Mr. Blaze.”

“Well, since it seems that things are once again calm, allow me to wish you the same luck as well with our little apple.” Star Dust patted his back and grinned. “Just don’t forget those invitations, eh son?”

‘I’ll make double sure for him, Star.’

“Excellent!”

Eventually, one by one, all the other’s parents expressed their agreement with Ryan and the girls wish, even if Lyra’s were still a bit hesitant knowing their daughter’s slight obsession with humans and their history. Still, they seemed convinced enough she loved Ryan for his own quirks and style rather than what he was so that was good enough for them. The last group to make their thoughts known was Igneous and his wife, and Ryan had expected as much despite comments from earlier in the evening. Eyeing his with an intense gaze, Igneous let a slight smile drift on his features before he gave a quick nod.

“Thank ya, all of ya. Ah...Ah feel better about the future...about our future knowing yer all behind us on it. Ah can’t say it’ll be anytime soon, as far as Ah know, but it is a future Ah hope ta make real one day.” Ryan couldn’t smile any wider at how well things had gone, relatively speaking. “Now then...how’s about we cut into that awesome cake Cellie and Lunes brought out?”

“Sounds good ta me!” Pinkie laughed in glee before pulling out what appeared ta be a miniature version of Malus Domestica. “Slice! Confectionary Dancing Petals!”

“...did she just cookify mah sword?”

A quick flash was all that was seen as Pinkie apparently sliced the cake...and then the group watched in awe as it exploded into many a perfectly portioned piece for each of them. Of course, what was more surprising was none other than a certain draconequus appearing from the center of the cakesplosion.

“My my, can’t a deity of chaos make his own entrance? Still, nice assist by the pink one.”

Most of the parent’s eyes opened wide at seeing Discord of all people there. “Wh-what’s he doing here?”

“Relax, guys. He’s not a worry.” Star Dust remarked. “He’s turned over a new leaf, at least that’s what mah little apple told us, so he’s here to have fun not cause trouble. Right?”

Discord smirked. “Can’t it be both?”

“Fair point. I walked into that one.”

“Haha, so nice to meet one of you ponies outside our little group that doesn’t immediately freak out upon seeing me.” Discord rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Not that I can blame them, mind you, given my dreadful past, but still…”

‘Cordy...I get it’s Ryan’s birthday and thus, being our friend, you’d be here but...you seem as if you have something important on your mind.’

“Oh, I do indeed my dear, old friend, but it can wait a little longer until the ‘rents have had their fill of party fun. I had to make an entrance though, you know that.”

Ryan shook his head. “Indeed, Disky. Flashy as always. Hahaha.”

“Come now, boy, do you expect anything else at this point?”

“If Ah did, Ah’d be insane. But okay, Ah can wait till later to find out what’s on yer mind.”

“Splendid….oh, but wait. The little dragon was with me in the cake. Where did he go?”

“Spike?” Twilight looked around. “I did wonder where he disappeared to once we arrived here.”

“...I’m up here.” Spike sighed, having been slightly to one side in the cakesplosion and thus was adhered to the ceiling by a rather large chunk of icing. “You know, Discord, it’s starting to seem like hanging around with you is trouble.”

“Oh you flatter me, little dragon.”

Spike rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath. “That wasn’t exactly a compliment…”

“Oh relax.” Discord snapped his fingers, Spike appearing back on the ground and clean as a whistle. “As I recall, you were the one that seemed interested in learning from me after all.”

“...only after Ryan made it clear that he’d “skin you alive if his little bro was ever hurt while under yer watch.””

Discord coughed slightly. “Right...Either way, you chose to follow me and dabble in the chaos...but that’s neither here nor there.” Twirling about and donning a sombrero, the draconequus pulled out some maracas before shaking them about. “It’s time to party like it’s 1999!”

“B-but Disky...it’s 2015.” Ryan smirked, casually glancing towards the audience. “Though with the update schedule lately, it certainly can be forgiven if the actual time gets lost in the details.”

“...Oh, so that’s what you were talking about, Discord.” Spike nodded his head in understanding. “Those kinda moments.”

“Precisely! Now then, let’s fiesta!!!”

The party continued on for another few hours, free from any further drama as night slowly fell. Thanking them for coming, the group said their goodbyes to Ryan, their daughters, and their friends before they were left alone.

“Phew.” Ryan collapsed into a conveniently placed chair and sighed. “Ah don’t think Ah’ve been more exhausted on a birthday then that time Ah played DDR for seven hours straight. Hell of a party, Pinks. Ya outdid yerself this time!”

“Hee, well of course, Rysy-Wysy! I had to with all of our parents being here. I’m just glad they all seemed to like you as much as we do.”

“...except my mother….”

“Dashie…”

“Heh, I’m okay. Just wasn’t expecting to see her here, is all.” Rainbow turned to Discord who was lazily swinging from the birthday banner. “Hey, didn’t you say you had a gift for Ry?”

“You’d be quite right, Skittles!”

“...I told you not to call me that.”

“Oh come now, if the boy can have pet names for you all why can’t I as well seeing as we’re supposed to be friends, right?” Discord didn’t wait for an answer before continuing. “Right! So then, it took a lot of trying, but I’ve still got that ol’ chaos grooving enough to have found it.”

Ryan looked at his herd and friends before raising an eyebrow in Discord’s direction. “...found what exactly?”

“I found your home, Ryan.”

“...what, Ah...mah home?”

“Yes, Ryan: Earth. Or at least your Earth. I must admit I was hard pressed in my search for it. As you know the memories from when I had that lapse in...friendship are quite jumbled. Still, somehow I found the right spot in the cosmos.” Discord smiled slightly before looking nervous. “I...I must confess that I wish it was more than this, but at the least you can send them a message and try to get some kind of closure. Whether or not you’ll get a reply I can’t say. For some reason I can’t figure out, my magic is being...restrained? That’s probably the word to use.”

‘Restrained? But how? Your chaos magic is probably the most powerful magic in the world, right up there with Tia and Woona’s magic.’

“That I do not know, Darkness, but something more powerful than even I seems to be at work here. It might not seem like much but—”

Discord paused when he felt Ryan hug him suddenly, and smiled when he saw the happy tears in his friend’s eyes. “Disky...to even be able to send them a message. It’s more than I ever thought possible.”

“Well, ya know. Had to come up with a great present for my friend, and this seemed about right given all you’ve done for me. Besides, wouldn’t be all that becoming for the deity of Chaos that I am to skimp on getting you a birthday gift. I might be crazy, but even I know that’s not right. Though, to be honest, without Cels and Woonie’s assistance, finding your Earth would’ve been unlikely.”

“Thank you, all of you. So how do Ah….?”

“Heh, it is quite simple, my little human. We’ve worked the transmission to use that curious e-mail thing you and Twilight Sparkle came up with. It should be just as easy as sending one of those to whomever’s e-mail you wish to use.” Celestia smiled as she walked over and wrapped a wing around him. “You should be able to use the computer in the guest room to do such.”

“Ah assume that’s yer invitation to stay the night?”

“Haha, well, it is late, and even though I know you can just poof back rather painlessly, it is nice to have all of you here like this. It reminds me of the good times from back then.”

‘What’s this? Woona, is your dear sister having one of our moments now?’

Luna giggled softly. “It would seem as such, dear Darkness, but I too share her sentiments. The rare moments like this, when we can just be ourselves and be with friends...they are worth more than anything. But enough of that! Ryan has a message to deliver, so let us not hold him up.”

And with that, they led him to their room before leaving him alone with his thoughts. Ryan, for his part, stared at the screen before accessing his e-mail and trying his best to type...before staring even harder at the screen.

“...why is this so hard?” He spoke aloud. “It should be easy to just tell them Ah’m okay and such…but how do Ah prove it’s me writing? What can Ah do?”

‘Probably because you never expected to be able to do this, partner.’

“True enough, Dark...but...lemme check something real quick.” Ryan fiddled with some things before seeing he had all he needed. “Perfect, now then...let’s begin.”

With that the sounds of keystrokes echoing in the empty room were all to be heard.

Somewhere, deep across the cosmos, past incredible distances, planets, stars, even entire systems, a young woman was watching something when her phone went off. Checking it, she shrugged at first seeing it was just an email alert...until something on it caught her eye. Quickly getting out of her bed, she turned on her computer to bring up her mail and just looked at the text on her newest email.

“Could...could it really be?” She wondered, placing her hand on the monitor and running over the single word written in the title: TURNIP. She hesitated, not sure if it was possible or if this was even real. It had been so long, after all, that everyone had eventually given up and tried to move on with their lives. And yet….this word. She paused slightly as she hovered over the email before clicking it, and reading what was written there:

Ah know this might be a bit hard to believe, and for all Ah know, you may have not even read this and tossed it away. Ah wouldn’t blame ya if ya did given how long has passed, but assuming ya didn’t, it’s nice ta finally be able to talk to you again, Squirt.

She shook her head before collecting herself. “It...it…”

Ah’m not really sure how to explain just what happened or even how Ah ended up where Ah did. All Ah know is one day Ah went to the park by mah home and then the next couple of hours are just blank. When Ah came to, Ah was in a forest, but not the one from that park. Everything was weird: the trees, the sky, and then the people here. At first Ah was a bit worried, afraid even, but those that Ah met here were so kind, so helpful, despite the fact that Ah was so very different from them.

Sure, some had their fears, their worries, their unease at who and what Ah was, but over time they accepted me and helped me find peace with what had happened. While it might be tough to accept, Ah’m somewhere that y’all most likely won’t be able to come to. In fact, Ah’m not sure that Ah’ll even be able to talk to you again after this. It’s kinda a stretch as it is to send this message, but it’s possible thanks to those here that Ah’m happy to call family. Ah...Ah would love to get a reply, but they told me that even they’re not sure if that can happen. Ah know you though, Squirt...you’ll try to send one anyway so who knows? Maybe that ol’ magic will work another miracle for me.

The young woman paused, having to wipe her cheeks. “I didn’t know I was crying...it really is Ryan. But...not somewhere we can visit? I...I don’t understand.”

Ah’m sure yer confused by what Ah said, and it might be tough to think possible, but Ah’m on another world that is who knows where in relation to Earth. It’s very different, as Ah said, but not in a bad way. Not really anyhow. There’s still troubles that are similar to those we know, but the kindness here seems more open and genuine. At least in the small little town Ah found mahself in and call home now. That’s Ponyville for ya.

“Ponyville?”

There’s so much Ah wanna say to you, to mom, to dad, and our brother too, but Ah don’t know what kinda window Ah have time wise and desperately want this to reach you, so Ah have to be concise in what Ah say. But know this, and make sure you tell mom and dad as well: Ah’m happy! While Ah didn’t hate mah life on Earth, and was pretty comfortable with it, Ah’ve found things here that Ah’ve searched for some time: Friendship, true friendship….and even love. Ah was lucky to find some of the sweetest gals around, the coolest little brother and sisters—next to you and Drew of course—and even someone Ah’d classify as that one crazy uncle that’s really cool and does the wackiest shit. Haha.

Ah’m happy and as long as you guys know that, know that Ah’m alive and well and enjoying life here, Ah hope it helps ease the ache you no doubt have in yer hearts from mah disappearance. For so long Ah looked up into the night sky, wishing Ah could let ya know Ah’m okay, to give you closure so you guys don’t worry about me...and now hopefully that ache can finally be eased in all our hearts.

“Ryan….”

Ah’m...Ah’m getting kinda emotional now, and it’s making it hard to type and think straight, so Ah’m gonna try ta end this letter here. Ah...Ah debated whether or not to try and add this attachment to it, but Ah really want y’all ta see not only how well Ah’m doing, but the people that became family for me when Ah needed such comfort. They helped fill the void that not having y’all brought...they might look different than you’d expect, but trust me when Ah say they’re just as loving as you guys are.

She glanced to see there was indeed an attachment to the email, and a picture by the looks of it, but seeing there was just a little more text left she continued reading.

Well, Ah can only hope you got all this. And Ah hope ya truly believe it’s me. Hopefully our secret word as well as mah nickname for ya are enough. Ah’ll never forget when we came up with that word: we were on our annual family beach trip, splashing in the waves, when pops was heading our way to join us. We decided to mess with him and we made like Ah was telling you a joke and then just shouted ‘TURNIP’ so loud before we both started laughing. He was damn confused and from then on it was just this thing we never forgot and would always remember every so often much to our amusement. Like when you bought that actual turnip...and tried to cook it. Hahaha.

Everything we ever did Ah will always treasure and remember fondly. Ah love you guys so much and hope that you’ll find yer happiness too someday. Never give up on what you believe in and want, Squirt. And never forget the magic that resides in life and friendship, for that is more powerful than anything that might stand in yer way.

Sincerely,

Crush

“.....” She tried to stop the tears, but after reading all that, to find out he was still alive and doing well! There wasn’t anyway she was going to keep from losing it at reading the nickname she had for him. “Ryan...thank you.”

Clicking on the attachment, she waited for it to download before it opened and...well, she certainly was surprised and what Ryan had said made more sense now. It was weird, as wherever her brother had ended up looked slightly different than the world she knew: things were brighter, more colorful, and almost had this slightly animated look to them. Even Ryan himself looked different, more like those in the photo and quite different from the picture of him she kept on her desk. These people he talked about...they weren’t human at all. A dragon, what appeared to be ponies, and some kind of weird snake like creature that she could only assume was a chimera of sorts. And then something else odd about the picture, just above and behind her brother was the shadow of a smirking man that looked like him but seemed older, perhaps, and more mysterious.

Shaking her head, she wasn’t sure what to make of it, but with all that was written here, there was no doubt it had to be him. Nobody else could have possibly known what he had written here, and if those in the picture had truly helped him, had become a family for him, then she was grateful to them for taking care of her big brother. She wasn’t quite sure what to do now, but she smiled before moving her mouse to click ‘Reply’ and calling down the hall.

“Mom! Dad! Drew! You need to come here, now! Something...something incredible happened!”

It was a few days later as Ryan stretched and groaned after another long day of getting ready for this year’s cider season. He, Apps, Big Mac, and even Dashie had spent quite a bit of time prepping things up. Chuckling to himself about Rainbow having some ulterior motives in regards to the cider help, he got cleaned up best he could despite a certain apple pony’s mischievous antics. Having finally dried off and gotten changed, he gave a yawn before slowly stumbling to bed and collapsing there, next to and on his beloved mares….well, the ones that were there anyway. Twilight had been busy working on something crazy and was still out, and Lyra was on a little trip with Bon-Bon to catch up and make up for DJ totally wrecking her cart from his visit. Fluttershy had also gone off to study up on some kinda winged, tiny creatures...breeze somethings or other as Ryan hadn’t quite been paying attention at the time.

So that left just him snuggling in with the remainder of his herd, settling back into routine after his crazy birthday and the fact that his family may finally be at peace now. Closing his eyes, his thoughts were of how it seemed Disky and them had been right in guessing there wouldn’t be a reply: after all, it’d been about a week and nothing came so he could only go with the gut feeling that he’d at least gotten in touch with them even if they couldn’t do the same. Soon sleep overtook him, though it was an odd, mostly boring one where not much of anything was happening in his dreams. In fact this had been the norm for a few days now despite that bizarre nightmare from around his birthday, and the only thing that ever was the same was this weird book he kept seeing. Though he had no idea what it was, Dark felt as if he did but just could not remember why or how. Not that that really mattered at the moment, as Ryan felt something poke him in his sleep, causing him to wake. Seeing that it was Rarity’s muzzle trying to force it’s way into his gut he sighed before smiling and patting her head. Figuring he might as well get something to drink since he was up now, he slipped out of bed towards the kitchen before pausing at the light blinking from his computer.

‘That’s odd. Why would you get a message this late, Ryan?’

‘Not sure, Partner. Let’s see what it is...’

Letting out a yawn and clicking a bit, his eyes went wide before he instantly snapped awake.

“Ah can’t believe it….”

‘Ryan, is that your…?’

“Ah think so but…” Clicking the message, he began to read and as he did he smiled even more.

Not that long after he’d gotten up, AppleJack had awoken to a distinct lack of warmth. Patting the bed, she noticed the human component of their snuggle pile was missing and that made her wonder what was up. Rolling over and out of bed, she yawned before trotting down the hall and seeing a light from the living room.

‘Hmmm...wonder if that’s where Apple Ryder is? If so, what’s he up to?’

Seeing him sitting there, she was a bit confused before she saw that he was...crying?

“Apple Ryder?”

Ryan jumped a bit before turning towards her. “Hey Apps…”

“Ya okay?”

“Yeah, Ah just...mah heart feels at peace now.”

“Huh? Whatcha talking about?”

“Look.” Ryan pointed at the screen. “Ah can’t believe it, but mah sister got mah message. And she replied!”

Sliding up to get a better look, she looked over the words before blinking. “Tarnation! It actually got through! Ah have ta admit Ah had mah doubts given what Discord had said but...what all did she write?”

“It says here that she had to try and reply anyway, even if...even if it might be a futile effort. Mom and Dad didn’t want to believe her at first, didn’t possibly think that after over a year Ah’d actually be alive and doing well at that. But somehow she was able to convince them it was me, with the things Ah wrote. Things only we two would’ve known.”

“Golly...ya gonna be okay?”

“Heh...yeah.” Ryan wiped away a few more tears before smiling. “While they don’t quite know what to make of the picture Ah added to the message, they can tell that Ah do seem safe and well cared for.”

“Heh, ain’t that the truth.”

“Goober.” Ryan stuck his tongue out at her. “The last bit she wrote is kinda hard on me, but it’s hard on them too. She says that even though it is hard to come to terms with the fact that they most likely won’t ever see me again, that won’t ever change the fact that they love me and will never forget me and the times we shared. That no matter what Ah’ll be their son and brother till the end of time.”

“Ry.” AppleJack nuzzled his stomach before hugging to him as she felt him fail to fight back the tears again. “Yer family’s just like Ah figured from all ya said. Heh, they kinda are like us Apples ain’t they?”

Running his hand through her blonde mane, he laughed softly. “Yeah, Ah suppose they are.”

She felt him gently push her off him before he stood up and went to stare up at the night sky. “Somewhere out there is mah family. It used to bring me ache to know that and to know that they didn’t know how Ah was doing. But...thanks to a friend, Ah can now look up at that sky and smile. Ah see all it’s beauty, and feel the peace deep in mah soul.”

Saying nothing, she leaned against him and smiled. “Apple Ryder.”

“Apps. Heh. For the first time since Ah got here, mah mind feels completely at peace. Ah’ve got this feeling that from now on, things will only go up from here and mah heart won’t ache as much. While it’s not the same as getting to see them again...it’s enough to know they won’t be left wondering anymore.”

With that they slowly made their way back to the bedroom before curling up with the others. Sleep soon came to them, and for Ryan, this time it brought a dream of somewhere far away, with memories of those he missed dearly.

In the background of those replaying memories, a midnight blue alicorn watched quietly with a smile as Ryan relived good times with his family. She soon faded from sight, her mission here finished for now...

Author's Note

Good heavens it is nice to finally update again! Sheesh. Ah really do miss the pass gone days when Ah could write more and churn out updates for y'all a lot of faster. Alas, such is life when ya get older.
Still, seeing as the chapters are pretty sizeable and such, Ah think y'all still find each update worth the wait, right? :pinkiehappy:

Anyhow, with that out of the way, it's time to get to some serious stuff. The Season 3 tie-ins are quickly coming to an end and that just makes me even more eager to try and get more writing done, cause Ah totally can't wait ta start using Season 4 plot points!

Tell me about it, Ry. There's a lot of Season 4 I can't wait to be involved in...and Season 5 at that, but one step at a time. So get ready, dear readers, the next chapter is certainly going to be something. :trollestia:

Final Harvest

“It is not often that we find you here in our mental court, Ryan. What brings you here on this dream-filled night?”

“Something that’s been bothering me since before mah birthday, Lunes.”

“Ah. You speak of that bizarre dream, in which Honesty and Laughter were killed by some odd version of AppleJack.”

‘Curious way to put it, Woona, but yeah. Ry’s had that dream twice more now and it keeps getting weirder and weirder. It’s worrisome that, while not a direct sign of something, it might be foretelling some kinda danger.’

“Ah did write it off as just stress over meeting mah herd’s parents and such, but when it kept happening even after that…Ah started worrying as well.”

Luna nodded. “As you say, I have detected the recurring actions in that dream. But please, tell me, what exactly has been happening? With so many dreams each night, even I have a hard time piecing myself off to fully explore each one.”

“Well...this last one got all shades of strange….”

“Dammit! How is there more than one of those stupid things now!?” Ryan growled, running as fast as he could...but with one less pony in tow. “Dashie…those fuckers are gonna pay.”

‘Ryan, focus! I...I’m not happy either, but she bought us time to get away. True loyalty to the end...dammit, speedy snooze….’

“I think I’ve found somewhere safe to port to, Ryan.”

“...good job, T-Sparks. Everypony grab hold!”

With that the group poofed away moments before a large group of the bizarrely twisted AppleJacks descended on the location.

Huffing and puffing, the group of ponies plus one human caught their breath now that they were safe.

“For how long though?” Lyra wondered as she looked around. “...is this the farm? Won’t this be the first place they’d think to look?”

“Exactly. That’s why it’s genius. It’s too obvious, so we’ll have more time here than anywhere else.”

“Oh I hope so….oh Rainbow….” Fluttershy shivered before turning to Ryan. “We can’t let them keep getting away with this.”

The human smiled, gently caressing her mane. “They’ll pay. Don’t worry...Dark and Ah will see to that much. Ugh….can’t believe we got ambushed like that. How the hell are there more of them?”

“One can only wonder, darling. To think they have the same face as AppleJack…”

“Similar face, but that’s all. Those Eppaljecks are no pone of mine.” Ryan growled softly before grunting again. “Crap...whatever they did ta me hurt like hell.”

“We’ll keep watch, so rest if you need to.” Twilight focused before her horn lit up. “That should help us stay safe...for a little while anyway.”

‘As much as I don’t like it, it would keep yer mind focused Ry. Yer kind of all over the place emotionally...so much so yer E.S. is on the brink of exploding.’

“...yeah. Yeah…Ah know.” Ryan glanced at the three necklaces on his belt and closed his eyes. “...girls…Ah’m sorry….”

With that he closed his eyes and sleep claimed him.

“...Apple Ryder.”

“HuH!?” Ryan gasped to see himself in a weird, foggy landscape. A foreboding melody surrounded him as he shook off the grogginess. “The hell...hmmm….Apps?”

Looking around he saw the briefest glimmer of orange disappear into the fog, which he wasted no time in getting up to chase. “APPS!”

“....Rysy-Wysy…”

“Pinks!?” A wisp of pink appeared only to quickly disappear. “What the hell is going on here? Where am Ah? Am Ah dreaming now? Is this...mah guilt eating at me….”

“....Rys…”

“...Dashie too…” He chased after the hint of blue that swirled amongst the fog, but no matter how hard he ran he couldn’t seem to ever catch any of the colors he had seen. “What is going on here? Isn’t it bad enough that Ah’ve lost them? Must mah dreams torment me too!? Ah couldn’t save you three! Dammit! Ah couldn’t...no matter how hard Ah always worked to protect our happiness, to protect y’all...in the end it wasn’t good enough. All because of some magical abomination from beyond.”

“....Apple Ryder…”

Staring through his tear-filled eyes, the fog began to slowly lift and there, smiling sadly at him, was none other than Applejack.

“Apps...Ah’m sorry. Ah promised to always keep y’all safe...and Ah failed.”

“It’s not yer fault, Ry-Ry...we never could’ve guessed such a thing would happen.”

“Heh, that’s for sure.” Ryan turned to see Dashie had appeared to his right. “We’ve been through chaos gods, changeling invasions, the return of an evil shadow king, and even a cross-dimensional instability in all of reality. But those weird creatures…”

“Even our imaginations couldn’t have come up with anything that crazy, Rysy-Wysy.”

“But what are they?! How...how do we fight something that fast? That powerful? It...it makes others into it. We can only keep them away from the others in Equestria for so long. They’ll spread from Ponyville and then…” Ryan sighed as he stared at the ground. “Even Cellie and Lunes….hell, and Disky; Ah highly doubt those three would be able ta stop them.”

“Hey, what’s all this talk? You’re our human and remember what I always said?” Dashie smirked as Ryan stared into her eyes. “Nopony and no one ever beats you! You’re the strongest person I know. Your mind, your heart, and your fists. No matter what, you always find the way to win and to do it without harming those you fight. Ya might have to pull a page from your buddy DJ and fight with intent to kill with those creatures, but you will find a way to win and save the world.”

“Dashie…”

“It...it won’t bring us back...that’s true.” Pinkie smiled despite tears pouring down her face. “But you can save the world we love and live life to the fullest with those that are left. We’ll always love you, Ryan. That will never change even though we’ve moved on to the next adventure first.”

“Pinkie’s right, Apple Ryder. Nothing will change our love for ya. We’re gone, but we’ll never be forgotten.”

At this point Ryan could barely see he was so overcome by emotion. “But...Dashie! Why didn’t ya just come with us?! Ya didn’t have to do what ya did!”

Dashie sighed before running a hoof across the ground. “Yeah, I did. I had to save you, my human. None of the others would’ve been able to keep them at bay as long as you needed to get away. And Twilight’s magic has no affect on them for some reason.”

“But yer Element….!”

“It wouldn’t have made much difference against those things...and we couldn’t let them get ahold of any of them. Who knows what would happen?”

The fog began to roll back in, but Ryan refused to let go of them. He held tight before breaking down into an awful mess. “Don’t leave me….Ah don’t want a world where we aren’t all together. That kinda world...ain’t right.”

“Apple Ryder…” AppleJack’s sad smile did little to ease his ache. With a quick kiss from each of them, he felt their bodies slip from his arms and slowly vanish into the fog.

“APPS! DASHIE! PINKS! NOOO!” Ryan reached for them, but it was all in vain. Soon, he was left alone with his sadness in the fog. “....no...n-no…..”

His labored breathing echoed in the emptiness before he sensed something in the fog. Strange noises began to overshadow his breathing, the weird talking a clear sign on what was hiding just out of sight.

“Come on you sons of bitches!” Ryan roared, flaring his Elemental Sync and brandishing Malus Domestica. “YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME!? THEN COME TAKE IT! RAWR!!!!!!”

As the fog parted, there was a massive army of Eppaljecks surrounding the poor human. He didn’t care, though, he was going to make each and every single one of them pay for destroying his herd the way they did. With an inhuman growl he lunged at the nearest ones, doing what he could as he ran his apple-emblazoned blade through them. Hit after hit landed, but where one went down, two more took their place. Through tears and anguish, he pushed and pushed...but it was a losing battle. Eventually they began to swarm and overtake him as his sight began to fade.

The last he saw was an apple before blacking out.

“Ryers, wake up.”

Ryan awoke with a start, to see a very worried Lyra staring at him.

“Thank goodness. You were crying a lot in your sleep.” She looked away sadly. “I’m pretty sure I know why. I’m sorry.”

Reaching up to clear his damp eyes, and then blowing his nose after being offered a tissue by his marshmallow, Ryan sighed before shaking his head. “It’s okay. That dream was...almost too real. And strange...never thought in all mah restless dreams, Ah’d see that place. Ah reckon that was their way of saying goodbye. And yet…”

“What is it, my peach?”

Ryan stood up slowly before looking at them. “Ah think they may have been allowed ta gift us with the answer we needed to stop them. These things...they’re the opposite of Apps. And if she loves apples...they must hate them.”

‘Good thing yer sword is apple incarnate, partner.’

“Yer damn right about that one.” Ryan smirked as he glanced at his sword. “T-Sparks...Ah think Ah’ve got a plan ta stop them once and for all.”

“I get that your sword is involved...but what can we do?”

‘We’ve got that covered ladies. Ryan?’

“Yes.” Ryan pulled out their portable hole—grimacing slightly at the memories it drug up—before pulling out a massive gun case. “Dark and Ah, along with Pinks, had been tinkering with something after that day our breakfast went rogue. We finished it not too long before...before this happened. It’s sad that she won’t get to see them in use...but she’ll be happy that they’re going to save the day.”

“Darling...what are those?” Rarity stared at the now open case, noting the oddly designed contraptions within.

“The fastest way to end those fuckers, mah lady.” Ryan smirked as he shouldered his weapon. “Each of ya get one...don’t hesitate. Dashie was right with what she told me in mah dream: we gotta follow Deej’s example and not hold back on these guys. We have ta kill them before they destroy our world.”

‘Now load up, ladies!’ Dark shouted as another case appeared before opening with a hiss to reveal quite the interesting sight.

“...what are these?” Fluttershy took a box before sniffing. “Some type of pastry...this is our ammo?”

‘Indeed. We give you the P0P-74R7 Breakfast Heavy Machine Gun.’

“Or as Pinks liked to shorten it to: The Pop-Tart Gun! We’ll hit them fast and hard and then…!”

Before Ryan could finish his sentence the side of the barn exploded open to show a whole mess of quite agitated Eppaljecks. A series of bloops and bleeps were heard as the one that seemed to be in charge threw a hoof towards Ryan and the remainder of his herd.

“Eat me, Motherbucker!” The human replied, smirking as the abomination twitched in aggravation. “This. Ends. Here!”

“....and unfortunately, that’s where Ah woke up.” Ryan sighed as he looked at a very perplexed Luna. “Just what is going on? This dream is so bizarre...but Ah can’t help but feel as if something is going to happen because of it. Probably not what actually happens in the dream, but something that will affect not only mah herd, but all of Equestria.”

“Hmmm, I see now. No wonder you have been more tired as of late. Such a horrid nightmare.” Luna closed her eyes, pondering over those dreams. Quite a bit at that. Perhaps too long Ryan began to think before she finally turned to face him. “While it is worrisome, I wouldn’t think too much of it right now.”

‘...that sounds like a dodgey answer, Woona.’

“Indeed it does. You know something, and Ah think Ah know what it is, but ya can’t say because of events having to happen. Just tell me...will it be soon? Ah need ta know how ready ta be.”

“Hmmm...it would seem my sister and I were correct in realizing you had pieced together some things.” Luna snorted before rolling her eyes. “No thanks to Prince DJ Sparkle, I would imagine.”

“Eh, it’s not all his fault. Fifty/fifty, maybe sixty-seven/thirty-three. Either way, he was drunk too so...don’t hold it against him too much.”

“Lovely….soon. It is almost all in place. Though, I will say this: there isn’t much you can do to help. Just...be supportive when the time comes.”

“Cryptic. How typical of you, Lunes. Haha.” Ryan grumbled a bit. “Hmm...about time ta wake up, eh?”

“Yes. Thank you for visiting, though, it gets rather quiet since many ponies have long forgotten how to visit me here in the realm of dreams.” Luna smiled as Ryan began to fade away. “Oh, but my little humans...there will be something you must face. Be prepared for a visit from….”

Ryan slammed his alarm clock hard before grumbling. “Dammit...prepared for a visit from who? Stupid cliché dream cut-off to build drama bull-honky!”

And what are you gonna do about it?

“Shut up! Too early ta deal with yer crap.” He rolled out of bed and got dressed. “Besides, got bigger things ta mess with today.”

‘Someone just got burned. Oooooooh.’

Dark. In a trunk. Off a bridge.

‘So touchy.’

“Quit annoying him, we’ve gotta meet up with Dashie and see what all news she’s got about her joining the Reserves.”

‘Oh yeah! She’s gonna get the letter saying whether she gets the chance or not! She’s been going on about it for like, ever! What are ya dragging yer rear for? Get that flank moving so we can see how Speedy Snooze did!’

‘So why are we waiting at Dash’s home? I mean, it’s still technically her home even though we all live in the new house that was built...but why not there?’

“It has something to do with our status and address red-tape and...it’s kinda silly. Regardless, that’s where her letter is being mailed.” Ryan eyed his herd waiting nearby Rainbow’s cloudy abode. “Alright! Looks like we aren’t too late!”

“Sheesh, took your time, Rys.” Dashie chuckled. “Was afraid you were sleeping in too long. That nightmare again?”

Ryan shook his head. “No, but another equally confusing dream all the same. So where’s the letter? Aren’t they a bit late in delivering it?”

“Gasp! Rysy’s right! What if this means you aren’t getting in?” Pinkie gasped in worry. “Or if it got lost in the mail? Or the mailpony took a wrong turn and ended up in Albuquerque?!”

“...what’s an Albuquerque?”

“It has ta do with something random, T-Sparks. Ah wouldn’t worry about it.”

Watching Pinkie bounce and bounce in worry, eventually their human grabbed hold of her and started scratching right behind her ear. “Calm down, Pinks. The mail isn’t always on time, especially if it ain’t our awesome resident mailmare delivering it.”

“...hmmm. You’re right! Silly me!”

“Besides...Me? Not get in?” Rainbow chuckled before slicing through some low-flying clouds. “I’m the greatest flier in Equestria, how could I of all ponies not get in?”

‘Someone’s ego is flowing strongly today.’

Everypony chuckled at Dark’s words, though Rainbow simply rolled her eyes before seeing the mailpony come flying in.

“I’ve got a special letter for a miss...Rainbow Dash?”

“That’s me!” She excitedly stated, grabbing the letter from the stallion and ripping it open. “Hmm….hmmm….hmmm….”

“Well, darling, don’t leave us in suspense. What does it say?”

“It says...I didn’t get in.” Rainbow Dash faltered in her flying and frowning.

Predictably, the others gasped in shock and horror—well, mostly Rarity in this case as she does tend to be overly dramatic—though Ryan and Dark simply smirked.

“Dashie-kins...yer bad.”

Rainbow chuckled before returning the smirk. “Come on Rys, at least let me have a little fun. But yeah, guys, I got in. Was there any doubt?”

“Woo-hoo!” Pinkie shouted in glee, grabbing Rainbow and dancing about. The letter fluttered around before landing on Ryan’s head, causing the human to grab it and take a look himself. As he neared the bottom, something caused an eyebrow to raise as he looked over it quite intently.

“Ah know that look, Apple Ryder. There’s something Dash forgot to note, isn’t there?”

“Yeah, and it’s kinda weird at that. It says here that she’s only accepted and granted arrival rights if Ah show up as well.”

“...wut?” Rainbow Dash shook Pinkie off before zooming over to her human. “But? Why? What gives?”

‘Heh, I’ve a few guesses.’

“Quite.” Ryan sighed before rolling his eyes. “Apparently Spits is still quite curious about me after that meet and greet.”

“What are you talking about?” Rainbow eyed him curiously. “What does that mean?”

‘It means she was getting flirty with him.’

“Weird. But wait...that means you have to come. Otherwise I won’t get my chance!”

Hoping to nip her anxiousness in the bud, Ryan ruffled her mane before grinning. “And who said Ah wouldn’t go? Ah happen ta be an awesome flier mahself, and though it’s not her true intention, Spits is gonna see that she’s getting more than she bargained for. So get ready, Dashie-kins: we’re gonna rock this shit and be the best Wonderbolts ever! Reserve or otherwise, right?”

“Heck yeah! That’s the way, Rys!”

Pinkie nodded happily in excitement along with the others before she blinked. “Huuuuuuuuuuuh! That means our human is gonna be gone for a short while too! Noooo! Not the snuggles and the tummy wubs! What will we do without them?!”

“Oh please, and I’m supposed to be the one obsessed with those wonderful hands of his.” Lyra giggled. “We’ll survive a few days without our human, Pinkie. It’s not like we need him to function, he just greatly assists in getting through the rough parts of the day. So I suggest we take the few hours we have to enjoy time with our human and dear friend before they go rock that academy hard!”

‘I like where this is going! Oh yeah~’

Ryan simply facepalmed, his hand slowly dragging down his face...and nearly taking his glasses with it. “Dark…”

‘Yes~?’

“Goddammit, Dark.”

After that silly moment with the soul man, our little group enjoyed a short time of peaceful snuggles and such before Ryan and Rainbow waved goodbye and took off for the Wonderbolts Academy. As they flew, he noted that Dashie seemed pretty quiet...which seemed off.

“Dashie-kins? Hon? Ya alright?”

“Huh? Y-yeah! Just fine.” Rainbow laughed into a sigh. “Just...trying to figure out what weirdness is going on here with Spitfire requesting that you come along as well. It’s not like Dark said, is it?”

Ryan spun around to face her as they flew and shrugged. “No idea. It could be. She did send some pretty crazy vibes mah way when we were in Cloudsdale at that show, but that was so long ago now. It’s almost been a year, so it seems odd if that were still the case.”

‘Well, partner, we are pretty dang awesome and such a specimen of sexiness that it wouldn’t surprise me.’

Ryan and Dash blinked at this comment before rolling their eyes.

“Dark, you’re something else.”

‘Hell yeah I am!’

“That’s not...she wasn’t...ugh...yer such a brat!!”

After that lovely slice of Dark’s charming behavior, they flew the remainder of the way in silence before finally spotting the Academy on the horizon.

“Yeah! There it is, Rys! Wonderbolts Academy, where only the best get to be the super best!”

It sure enough seemed impressive, both from its size as well as the design as they swooped overhead. Down below, there were a multitude of other pegasi arriving themselves as well as doing what appeared ta be drills of some type. Eventually, Ryan and Dashie came to a landing not too far from a yellow and orange maned mare decked out in a rather impressive looking suit. It didn’t take long for the human to figure out who this was.

“Spits looks weird not in her normal flight suit. And dang.” He let out a low whistle. “That’s a lotta medals and such.”

‘Well, Ry, she is their leader so it’s no surprise she’d have a lot of accolades under her belt.’

Ryan smirked. “She’s not wearing a belt, partner.”

‘...you know what I mean, smartass.’

“Well, well, well. Look at what we’ve got here. A fresh batch of recruits that think they’ve got it what it takes to be Wonderbolt.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow as he watched Spitfire move down the runway, examining and eyeing the other recruits before she stopped dead in front of him and Rainbow Dash.

“So, do you think you have what it takes? Do you think you’ve got the skill? The speed? The finesse to be part of Equestria’s top flight team?”

“Sir, yes sir!” Rainbow Dash barked out, maintaining an oddly serious face. “I will be a Wonderbolt and no one will stop me!”

Spitfire smirked before looking up at Ryan and winking. “And what about you, Mr. Human? Do you think you have what it takes to fly with these Pegasi?”

Rolling his eyes, Ryan glanced down at her with a smirk of his own. “Well, considering you invited me here without my having to apply, Ah’d like ta think that speaks for itself. Still...ya wanna see how well Ah can fly? Then let’s get this little introduction over with and start on something more...challenging.”

“Oooh, you’ve got a lot of spunk, Mr. Human. I can’t wait to see you in action.”

With that she continued on, though Dark was pretty sure she was accentuating the movement of her hips just a bit more than before.

‘Damn...she’s not trying to be terribly subtle, is she?’

“Not even. Oh well. We’re here, might as well kick some flank and make the most of it.”

“Come on Rys!”

“Hmmmm….”

“Rys! All the cadets have to meet up now that we’ve checked in and got our flight suits.”

“Yeah...about that…”

“Oh come on! You’re not telling me your shy now, are you?”

“No! It’s just…” Ryan sighed before finally stepping into sight. “Ah dig the yellow and blue, always have, but it’s so...so….form-fitting.”

“Oh Rys, you’re too much at times. They’ve gotta be aerodynamic, ya know? Helps ya fly better! Now come on!”

Realizing he really didn’t have much of a choice, Ryan followed along before taking his place alongside Dashie and the others candidates vying for a shot at the Wonderbolts Reserve roster. At Spitfire’s command, the recruits stood at attention and awaited what she had to say.

“Yes, yes...the suits do help.” She eyed Ryan with a smirk. “Very much so, but looking the part can only get you so far. It takes endurance, skill, and perseverance to survive as a Wonderbolt!”

With that she started glaring hard at the numerous Pegasi there. “So then, do you have what it takes? Can you keep pushing without backing down? Or you? You’re probably the worst flier in all of Equestria, let alone all of the world! You won’t last one day!”

“Try me!”

‘Oh man, she’s pushing the Rainbow Dash button, partner.’

‘Eyup. This is gonna be fun!’

“Is that so?” Spitfire circled around Rainbow Dash before letting out a ‘hmph’. “And you—”She turned to face a light turquoise colored pegasus with golden amber hair”—I bet the breeze from a butterfly would send you of course!”

“Hmph, then test me!”

“Oh? Eager to prove yourself, eh? Well then! Here’s your first shot at it: 501 laps! All of you! Now!”

Amongst the groans and grumbles from most of the Pegasi, Ryan’s quiet question of confusion could barely be heard as he took to the skies as well. “...why 501?”

Nearing the end of their lapfest, Ryan looked about to see quite a few of the Pegasi struggling to hit that finish line. Given all the practice he’d had in the time since first acquiring his wings, something stamina testing like this wasn’t too difficult. If anything, he was a bit worried about how overzealous Rainbow was being along with that other mare that seemed far too happy to compete with her.

‘That’s not really a problem, Dash is competitive, so such things are to be expected.’ Dark laughed softly. ‘I think the bigger issue is where exactly Spitfire has been looking with those binoculars of hers this whole time.’

“Her what?” Ryan flipped about to look at her situated on the runway and faltered slightly, nearly face-faulting out of the sky. “...that explains why we put the uniforms on before any sort of initial test. Hmmm….”

‘Should we do anything about that?’

“She hasn’t done anything wrong or pushy so far, so Ah don’t see why we need to worry about it. It’s just…” Ryan finally finished his last lap, touching down for a ten-point landing and striking a pose for show. “Well...it just makes me feel really awkward. Like how things were with Eris…”

‘Except Eris kinda, sorta, had this weird level of being allowed, right?’

Ryan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “...dammit, Dark. Not the time. Speaking of fliers, though, where’s Dashie?”

‘I think I saw her talking to that golden haired pegasus as she blew passed us. Perhaps she made a new friend?’

“Possibly.” Ryan felt his stomach grumble. “Hmm...perhaps they’re at the mess hall?”

‘Something tells me ya just wanna head there cause yer hungry…’

“Can’t it be both?”

‘Fair enough...come on. Should probably fuel up before the next test begins.’

Sure enough, Rainbow had indeed been with the curiously competitive pegasus—whom they now knew to be Lightning Dust—and getting a bite before their next challenge. As it was, both Ryan and Dark couldn’t tell which one of the two pegasi was more eager to prove themselves, let alone as the best. Still, something about this new mare’s attitude didn’t sit well with Ryan.

‘You weren’t too talkative while we ate.’

‘That’s because something doesn’t seem right with this Lightning Dust chick.’ Ryan was washing his face off in the bathroom, readying for their next test in a few minutes. ‘That and, for whatever reason, Ah got this strange feeling that Pinks is sitting at the house, staring at our mailbox.’

‘Eh? Why would she do that? It’s barely been a day.’

“Ah can’t rightly say, partner, but Ah just have this feelings she’s gonna do something silly...and involve mah mares in the process.”

Having finished up, Ryan joined the others back on the runway where a very bizarre machine had been rolled out.

“What’s that?” Came a murmur from the crowd.

“Cadets, this here is the finest in Wonderbolt testing technology: the Dizzitron.”

“Kinda looks like an overclocked carousel on it’s side ta me...a one-seater at that.” Ryan quietly mumbled. “...also, there’s no way Ah’m fitting on that thing.”

“Hahaha, quite the imagination. But! Don’t worry, we thought ahead and modified our other model just for you, Mr. Human.” Spitfire, smirking as another device was rolled out. “Now then, this marvelous piece of tech is designed to simulate a spin-out, and more importantly how well you can recover from it. So then...who’s first?”

“Me!” Rainbow and Lightning pretty much spat out at the same time. “Hey! I called dibs first!”

“Hmmm….you!” Spitfire pointed at one of the other Pegasi that hadn’t been paying much attention and chuckled as she got strapped in. “Alright! Start her up!”

‘...that’s pretty fast. Ya sure ya can handle G’s like that?’

“Ah’ve done a Rainboom, partner.” Ryan twirled to follow as the pegasus was launched out and spun through the air, slowly gaining control and skid-landing to a stop. “Plus with all that fighting we’ve done...please. This should be easy enough.”

“Next up! Rainbow Dash!”

‘Think she’s gonna finish in under ten?’

“Knowing mah rainbow mare, oh yeah. Rock it, Dashie!”

After reaching it’s max windup time, Rainbow was thrown upwards but as expected she easily recovered, zooming down and landing in front of Spitfire like it was nothing. Spitfire blinked before checking her stopwatch in surprise. “Dang! Six seconds? That’s an Academy record there. Heh, not bad.”

“That’s mah Dashie, making it look easy.”

Rainbow smirked as she walked back over to him. “Oh come on Rys, I make everything look easy, remember?”

Dark snorted and chuckled a bit at that. ‘Oh yes, how foolish of us to forget that.’

Though amused as well, Spitfire barked out Lightning’s name next for the test though once she was loaded she had a request.

“What? To maximum? Are you serious?”

“Yes ma’am! I need to push my limits and test the boundaries of what I can do!”

“Heh, you heard guys. Give this cadet what she wants!”

‘...starting to think you're right about this one, partner.’

Ryan merely made a noise of agreement as he tried to keep track with how fast L.D. was spinning before finally being flung away. He had to admit it was impressive how fast she recovered, but it still wasn’t as quick as his Dashie had recovered.

“Now then….how about you?”

Ryan looked left then right before realizing Spitfire was talking to him. “Me?”

“Yeah. Let’s see how you handle a spinout, flyboy. I’m looking forward to seeing those wings of yours in action.”

“Heh, well then. It’s a good thing we feel the need then.”

“...what need?”

“THE NEED FOR SPEED!” Ryan and Dark roared as they strapped in and were sent spinning at ridiculous speeds. “Ya see. This is why. Ah hate. ROLLERCOASTERS!”

“Huh, it’s actually working. That’s a surprise.”

“What?” Rainbow gasped. “You put him in something that wasn’t even tested?!”

“Well, we tested it best we could.” Spitfire laughed sheepishly. “Kinda hard to replicate the real thing since we’ve only the one human in Equestria. Besides he’s...oops.”

“Oops? What do you mean by ‘oops’, ma’am?”

Well, said oops would be the sized-up Dizzitron starting to smoke and sputter before the harness broke free, sending poor Ryan careening through the sky.

“Oh shit.” Ryan watched the world spinning rapidly as he tried to shuck off the harness. “Ugh...mah sense of direction’s all fuzzled up.”

‘Just shatter it, Ry!’

“Right!” Ryan roared, releasing a burst of ice magic that froze his harness. Following up with an exaggerated movement of his arms and legs he broke it into shards that fell away from him. “Now that just leaves the insane dizziness. Which way’s the ground, partner?”

‘Uhm….uh….that way?’ Dark mentally pointed in three different directions.

“Lovely!” Focusing as hard as he could, Ryan spread his wings wide to halt his spinning before finally orienting himself correctly. Giving a quick counter spin, he finally could see straight and folded his wings, diving down towards the other cadets and Spitfire. Moments before impact he opened them wide, slowing his descent and landing on one foot. “Nailed it!”

“Heh...ten seconds. Considering what happened, not too bad. Not a record, but well done.”

“Ya know…” Ryan smirked, before winking at Spitfire. “Considering Ah’m the only human cadet y’all have had, pretty sure anything Ah do is a record, Spits.”

“Mmmm, we might just have to test that then.”

“Huh?”

“Just glad you're okay. Now then...NEXT!”

After everypony else had their turn, and Spitfire had noted that she’d be splitting them into teams the following morning, Ryan had returned to his room to get a change of clothes before heading to the shower to clean up.

“Ugh...this water feels good.” Ryan sighed, just standing in the shower. “Kinda makes me forget how we could’ve totally died, right partner?”

‘More or less. What the heck was Spits thinking putting ya in that contraption?’

“Probably too stuck on the sight of me in that skin-tight suit. Man, now Ah know how them comic heroes feel wearing that stuff. That or Link.” Ryan sighed again before washing his hair and groaning as he got soap in his eyes. “Dammit all! Everytime!”

‘What is it with you and blinding yourself in the shower?”

“Hell if Ah know.” Ryan grumbled, fumbling about for a towel...and somehow finding one. “...odd. Ah don’t remember the towel bar being there.”

“Oh, that’s because it wasn’t.”

Trying to focus through his stinging eyes, Ryan saw a familiar shade of orange and yellow. “Spits…?”

“Yeah. Saw you could use a...hand. Funny thing, I might need one, too.”

“What? Wait...Gah!” Ryan quickly wrapped the towel around himself before his face flushed red. “The hell are you doing in here?!”

“What? It’s the showers. Usually one comes here to get clean.” Spitfire calmly remarked as she stepped over and turned one on. “Awwwww. So refreshing.”

‘...damn. Talk about being caught off-guard.’

“Shush! Spits...what Ah mean is why are you, a female, in the men’s shower?”

“Oh. That’s easy: we don’t have a separate facility. Everypony shares the showers.” Spitfire shook her head, luxuriating in the hot water. “It’s not really a big deal.”

“It kinda is since Ah was, ya know, naked?!”

Spitfire smirked before washing her mane. “Oh please, us ponies are always naked and you don’t see us freaking out.”

“You know there’s a big difference since Ah’m not a pony.” Ryan turned to glare at Spits, but only flushed red again when she began soaping herself up. “Yeesh, must you do that?”

“What? Shower? Well, that is what you do when you get sweaty, right? Oh!” Spitfire turned and smirked. “Seeing as you are here, big boy, mind lending me those hands of yours and helping get around my wings? I always have a lot of trouble getting right between them.”

“WHAT?!” Ryan gasped, stuttering to come up with an excuse at such a thought. “Uhm...uh...Ah think...Ah might have...left...the light on?”

“The light, huh?”

“Oh yeah. The light.” Ryan laughed nervously. “Ya know...can’t let that bulb get too hot, or the magic might explode! So...bye!”

With that he dashed out of there, passing a very confused Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust.

“Hey, wasn’t that your weird monkey boyfriend?”

“Well, he’s not a monkey, but he’s certainly weird.” Rainbow looked in the direction he’d run off towards before shrugging and entering the showers with Lightning. “Wonder what had him running out of here with only a towel on?”

‘Okay...so...she’s clearly trying to seduce you, Ryan.’

“Ya think?” Ryan sighed, rolling outta bed the next morning and reluctantly getting ready. “Well, can’t exactly avoid her so best go see what teams she made.”

Heading to the mess hall, Ryan saw Rainbow Dash looking a little bummed out. “What’s the matter, hon?”

“...she made me a wing pony.”

‘What? With your skills? That seems odd, Speedy Snooze.’

“And if that’s not strange enough, just go check out who you got paired with.”

Feeling that to be ominous, Ryan looked over the list and seemed confused. “...wut?”

‘Uhm, so...that says your Lead Pony teamed up with Spits. The hell?’

“So Dashie what does…” Ryan looked around to see her gone. “Dashie?”

Not sure where she had disappeared to, but figuring she’d find her way back, he quickly ate breakfast before joining up with the other recruits for their next challenge. Oddly, Rainbow had returned looking a bit off and Spits was no longer in her dress uniform, but in her actual Wonderbolts uniform.

‘Guess that means she is gonna tag up with us.’

“Yeah...clearly she’s crushing hard on me. What the hell man?” Ryan sighed heavily. “Who could possibly get entertainment out of me being in such a situation?”

We both know who, Ryder.

“...” Ryan pinched his nose before sighing. “Yeah, yeah…”

“Today we are holding a flag hunt!”

‘Sounds like fun.’

“If you think that, you’re quite wrong, Darkness.” Spitfire paced back and forth, making sure all the teams were at full attention. “You’ll be split into two teams, and if you separate from your assigned wing or lead pony you’ll be disqualified. Work together to find the most flags!”

“Okay, but ma’am? Why are you dressed for flight?”

“Heh, well, seeing as we have an odd number of recruits, I’ve taken the liberty of assigning our flyboy human to me. Given how he handles things, it would take a skilled flier to keep up with him.”

“Hence yer making yerself mah wingpony partner.”

“Exactly! Show me what you’ve got, Ryan.”

“...fine. Let’s do this.” With that Ryan jetted off into the air, intent on giving Spits what she wanted.

‘Are you sure that’s wise?’

‘She wants mah best, she’ll get it!’

And thus the flag fest was in full swing, ponies zooming left and right all in search of flags for their team. From what he could see, Dashie was having no issues keeping pace with her lead, but as for him, it seemed as if his wingpony was doing all in her power to stay behind him.

‘Dude, she’s totally checking out yer butt in this outfit.’

Sighing in response to his mental counterpart’s riveting statement, he spotted a flag and began dive bombing towards it...only to see Lighting Dust diving full force towards it as well. At the last minute, Ryan had to swerve to avoid a collision, before turning around and glaring at the mare. “What the hell are you trying to do? Ya damn near plowed into me!”

“Heh, but I didn’t. And I got the flag. That’s all that matters, right ma’am?”

“Oh. What?” Spitfire shook off the trance she’d been in. “Well yeah! You have to do your best, so do what ya can to achieve that!”

Ryan and Rainbow Dash looked at each other and frowned, but said nothing besides that.

“Well, what are you all standing around for? Get back to it!”

“...Ah get the feeling something’s up with Dashie and her partner.”

‘Yeah. That Lightning Dust is all shades of reckless from what I observed. Hard to believe that the Wonderbolts think that is what makes a good candidate.’

“Hmmm…”

“Alright! Good work with the flag drills, but don’t get cocky! It’s time for this!” Spitfire motioned to her right and grinned. “This is the ultimate test of your abilities and flying aptitude! But I will make one thing clear: This is NOT a race. There is no winning or losing. It is merely designed to test your prowess and get a clear view of what you can do. Understand?”

With a reply of mostly ‘yes’ and ‘of course’, the cadets made their way to the start, but right away Dark noticed something off. ‘Ryan? That Lightning character is kinda knocking other ponies away.’

“Yeah, Ah’ve noticed. Any thoughts on that, Spits?”

“Oh, she’s just being enthusiastic.” She brushed it off before huffing. “Besides, you need to focus. You and those sweet wings of yours.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Please. This course is similar to the one you had set up at your show last year in Cloudsdale. It’s a piece of cake for yours truly.”

Needless to say, it was but Ryan wasn’t really in the mood considering the way he saw Dashie’s teammate treat the others. And Dash going along with her, he could sense she didn’t like it but something was forcing her hand.

“Mmmmhmmm, those moves were pretty fine back there, fly guy.”

Ryan yelped when Spitfire smacked his rear, snapping from his thoughts. “The hell!?”

“What? Can’t I give you a congratulatory plot slap? Besides, those moves will come in handy with our next test. Let’s see how that style of yours handles the raw forces of nature!!”

‘...I’m beginning to think Spits is not as she’s portrayed.’

“What makes ya say that, partner?”

‘She’s saying that...about clouds. Not thunderstorms, not ice storms. No. Just simple, everyday, normal moisture-born puffs of wispiness.’

“Well, Ah mean, technically it doesn’t get any more raw than that. Base component wise, anyway.”

‘...yer not helping, Ry.’

“Maybe not you.” Ryan snickered, sticking out his tongue. “But you’ve a point. Spits is getting a bit loopy. Then again, staring at mah fine behind would do that ta any mare. Yeah!”

“Indeed. Get that behind of yours in gear and give me a hand assisting those that had a problem with the precision aspect of the course so we can get onto the next test.”

Rolling his eyes, Ryan gave Spitfire a hand helping untangle the other cadets from their tossed about states. Eyeing Dashie and Lightning walk off, he still couldn't shake the bad feeling he got from that mare and what her actions were forcing his rainbow mare ta do all in the name of becoming a Wonderbolt.

With the blow of a whistle, the teams took off to bash away the clouds hovering above the academy grounds. As expected, most of the teams took the direct approach and plowed, flew, punched, kicked, and dashed their way through the clouds to blast them away.

“Heh, this ain’t that hard.”

‘...would be easier if our “teammate” would assist.’

Looking over his shoulder to see Spitfire off in her own world, he shook his head. “It’s the wings, isn’t it? If it wasn’t for those, Ah highly doubt she’d be acting so goofy.”

‘Or maybe she’s just got a thing for tall, mysterious men.’ Dark snickered. ‘Well, at least it seems as if things are going smoothly this time.’

“Why did you say that?”

“Hey, Ryan! Check this out! Follow my lead!”

Wondering what she was up to, Ryan watched Spitfire flying quickly towards a rather large collection of clouds and gave chase; given her actions he figured she wanted to tag-team this particular batch. Of course, what he wasn’t expecting was for her to yelp moments before he saw her start plummeting to the ground.

“What the hell?!” Ryan gasped, dive bombing to try and catch up to her. “Spits!”

‘She must’ve pulled something. Her wing looked oddly bunched up before she fell. We’ve gotta catch her!’

Giving only a nod in return, Ryan poured on the speed as he tried to catch up to her. Just as he finally grabbed hold of her and thought he could relax, he felt a rather intense gust of wind from out of nowhere.

“...that can’t be good.” Quickly looking his shoulder confirmed this as a massive twister was heading their way, sending them two of them spinning wildly. Grunting, Ryan forced himself right but not without growling in pain as he struggled to keep aloft. “The hell…?! Wait a minute! Spitfire!”

‘She’s down there!’ Dark noted, seeing her on the ground. And safely at that. ‘How did she…?’

“Hold on...her wing.”

‘She was faking? Why?’

“...of all the...wait? What’s that rising above the clouds?”

‘Is that...Twily’s balloon? What the heck are they doing here?!’ Dark gasped. ‘Wait! The tornado!!!’

“Oh no!”

Sure enough, the balloon was helplessly sucked into the tornado, the other members of his herd were screaming in hysterics as they were tossed about. Rushing as best he could to save them, he gasped as his wings faltered. “Dammit! Diving after Spits and then saving us from that spin-out...Ah think Ah pulled something. There’s no way Ah’ll make it in time!!”

At that moment, a blur of color tore through the sky, squashing together a mess of clouds that cushioned and then bounced the girls back up where the other cadets finally grabbed them and set them down on the more solid hovering ground of the runway. Slowly floating down with a grunt, Ryan smiled when he saw they were alright.

“Good job, Dashie. That was way too close for comfort.” Ryan sighed before shaking his head. “But what are y’all doing here?”

“Well, Apple Ryder, Pinkie missed the two of ya something fierce, so she wanted ta bring ya a care package so ya wouldn’t forget her.”

“Forget Pinks? Is that even possible?” Ryan laughed softly. “You crazy ponk you, how could anyone ever forget you of all ponies?”

“Well, you never can be too careful.” Pinkie giggled, “But man, that was some ride.”

“I’ll say!” Lightning Dust touched down, grinning at her handiwork. “Not a cloud left, nothing but clear sky! Man I’m awesome!”

Just as Ryan was about to unload on this reckless mare, Rainbow beat him to it. “Awesome?! Awesome!? My friends could’ve been killed! And over what?!”

“Oh come on. They’re fine, right? Besides, we took out so many, it’d take forever for the other cadets to win.” Lightning held out a hoof, still wearing that cocky smile.

“A hoof bump? Are you nuts?! You’re reckless! You made me hurt myself with your disregard to safety, clobbered our fellow cadets on that obstacle course, and then nearly killed my friends. You’re damn stupid if you think I’m gonna hoof bump you after all that!”

Lightning Dust scoffed. “If I’m so damn stupid, why did Spitfire make me lead pony? Clearly the Wonderbolts want someone like that, otherwise you wouldn’t be wing pony.”

“You know what? Yeah, she did.” Rainbow glared at Lightning before taking off.

“Where is she…?” Ryan looked around, suddenly remembering Spitfire’s stupid stunt that complicated things. “Oh yeah! Where did Spits get of to?”

‘Good question. Maybe we should check her office.’

Spitfire was indeed in her office, trying to recoup from the twister that caused issues and ruined her little ploy. “Dang it. Was in his arms and everything.”

A sudden knock at the door startled her, but only for a moment. “Who is it?”

Not bothering to wait for permission to enter, Rainbow pushed it open. “Rainbow Dash, ma’am.”

“Oh. Shouldn’t you be up there busting clouds? This better be important.”

“They’re all gone, ma’am. No thanks to Lightning Dust.”

“Really? How so?”

“That tornado. She decided on that as a plan of attack.”

“Hmmm...excessive, but effective I guess. Despite messing up my plans…”

Dashie raised an eyebrow at that one. “Ma’am?”

“Anyway, what’s the issue?”

“The issue is that as effective as that was, it not only hurt my stallion, but almost cost my herdmates their lives. There’s a big difference between pushing yourself and being reckless, and clearly you guys don’t care to differentiate despite one being the wrong way to advance.” Rainbow Dash reached up and pulled her badge off, setting it on Spitfire’s desk. “And if the Wonderbolts reward recklessness, then I can’t be a part of them…”

With that Rainbow exited the office, not bothering to look back.

Before Spitfire could recover and make a move to catch up to her, Ryan showed up in the doorway to her office looking a might irritated.

“Oh. Ryan.” Spitfire narrowed her eyes slightly in an attempt ta be flirty. “What are you doing here?”

“Cut the crap, Spits. Ah’m done playing around.”

“What?”

“Ah played along, came here with Dashie like ya requested, because Ah love her enough to tolerate whatever stupid ploy ya had running through yer head when ya came up with that. Her dream to be a Wonderbolt meant a lot to her, and so Ah made sure it could happen. But ever since Ah got here, you’ve been making them eyes at me, those comments, and even faking an injury so Ah’d save you.”

“....”

Ryan sighed. “Look, Ah don’t get why y’all seem so drawn to me. Maybe it’s a human thing, maybe it’s the wings, maybe it’s the fact that males are so grossly outnumbered by females here.”

‘Hell, maybe it’s Maybelline.’

“Or maybe it’s just funny to something beyond us...in fact, there’s a good chance that’s definitely part of it. But no matter how much ya might be attracted ta me, Spits, it won’t happen. Ah’ve got seven lovely mares that mean the world ta me, and what we’ve got is special. We’re complete. We’ve all agreed on that and Ah’m not one ta break a promise like that. So Ah suggest ya cool yer jets, accept that fact, and quit the shenanigans.”

Calmly removing his Lead Pony badge, he sat it on the table—though not before curiously eyeing the Wing Pony badge sitting there already—before turning towards the door. “Ah’m sorry, Spits. But Ah’m done here. Though if you try ta take it out on mah Dashie, and keep her dream from happening…”

‘We’ve connections you don’t want on your bad side.’ Dark let the threat sit for a bit before smirking as it finally dawned on her. ‘Yeah. You know who I’m talking about, Spits.’

Ryan paused a moment at the door, sensing Dark still had something to say.

‘If...if it means anything, you are very pretty and that determination of yours is admirable. Ya just didn’t find Ryan fast enough, and for the heartache yer gonna feel cause of that...we’re sorry.’

With that they left a rather flabbergasted Spitfire staring into space as her mind tried to process just what had happened with both Rainbow Dash and Ryan.

“You just up and quit!?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“But darling, this was your dream.”

Rainbow sighed. “Maybe...but I’m just gonna have to find a new one.”

“There you are!” Ryan remarked, happy to see Dashie was with the rest of his herd. “Ah was wondering where ya vanished to after Ah saw ya walking away from Spitfire’s office. Speaking of...what were you doing there?”

“Quitting.”

‘What?! Why?!’

“The Wonderbolts aren’t...aren’t who I thought they were. Not if they reward the way she was acting so…”

“Ryan Ryder! Rainbow Dash!”

Both of them whirled to see Spitfire of all ponies calling their names, her two assistants as well as what appeared to be Lightning Dust following her.

“What did she say your name, Rys? What did you talk to her about?”

‘Hmm...I do wonder just what she wants to say.’

“How dare you two storm away like that without even giving me a chance to respond! Rainbow Dash, the Wonderbolts are looking for the best flyers out there...which is why you’re right that it shouldn’t come at the cost of safety of others as well as watching out for the wellbeing of your fellow fliers. Pushing ourselves in the right direction should always come first, and you totally showed that today. You’re no wingpony, you’re a lead pony.” With that she walked over to Lightning, tore the badge from her suit, and then placed it on Rainbow’s instead.

“Oh my Gosh, oh my Gosh, oh my Gosh!”

“Now then! Get up there and give me twenty!”

Rainbow saluted. “Yes ma’am!”

With that Ryan smiled as he watched her fly up to the others who returned her salute before they began to fly off. “Well done, hon.”

“As for you, Mr. Ryder.”

“Hmmm?”

“It was very unprofessional of me to not only force you to come with such tactics, but then to allow myself to be so unfocused that I didn’t notice any of what was going on. Especially to the point of others getting hurt.” Spitfire sighed, pulling out his lead pony badge as well. “Even though you didn’t intend to become one of us, you're more than capable of being one. Your ability to handle the nonsense I put you through with such grace and to still respond to trouble when it showed up...you’d make a great addition to our ranks. If you’ll accept that is. I can understand if you don’t…”

‘Aw hell, Spits…’

“Hahaha.” Ryan took his badge before carefully placing it on his suit. “Ah will admit, being part of this world’s Blue Angels would be a pretty sweet deal. Ah’m game if you are...oh.”

“Hmmm? What is it?”

“Just one condition…” Ryan leaned down to whisper as he gestured towards Lightning. “Her heart’s kinda in the right place, but she needs discipline to help her control those reckless tendencies. While Ah’m pretty sure yer plannin’ ta kick her out, maybe reconsider and find a way to help her learn so that she can succeed at becoming a Wonderbolt the right way.”

“Okay...but why? She nearly got your herd killed.”

“Maybe...but the look on her face when you ripped the badge away. Ah don’t know...Ah’m just a sucker for mares maybe, but she deserves some kinda chance ta make things right. Be a shame to waste that talent all because she doesn’t have great self-control on her thoughts.”

“Well…” Spitfire seemed a bit conflicted, till she apparently had an idea. “Okay. I think I know what I can do. Lightning Dust!”

Having been staring at the ground, Lightning was a bit startled to hear her name. “Yes?”

“Come here.”

“...yes ma’am?”

“The type of actions you displayed here show a lack of maturity when it comes to thinking through your actions and making decisions in regards to the well-being of your whole team and not just yourself.” Spitfire smirked slightly. “However, you have talent and it would be a shame to waste that. Despite my desire to kick you completely to the curb, Mr. Ryder here has made me see that doing so might not be the best idea.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“What it means, Lightning Dust, is that I will be finding you the assistance you need to work on that decision making. So while you aren’t quite ready for the Reserves yet, if you put your all into improving yourself in that regard, you might just still make the cut.”

“I...I don’t know what to say...honestly I’m not sure how to feel. Why would you try to defend me—to forgive me even—when my arrogant actions damn near killed somepony?”

Ryan shrugged. “Well, considering Ah forgave the god of Chaos despite the fact he killed me, it’s pretty clear Ah feel everyone deserves a second chance. It won’t be easy, and not gonna lie, the way you’ve acted here shows you’ve got a lot to learn.”

‘But if you’re willing to take the help, then as Spits said, all that raw talent would be a terrible thing to waste. So don’t waste this chance….cause you probably won’t get another one.’

Lightning Dust took all this in before slowly nodding. “I know I don’t really deserve such kindness after how I behaved but...thank you. For now, I’d like to just shower and collect my thoughts. If I may, ma’am?”

Spitfire signaled she could and so she was escorted off, leaving Ryan and his herd to watch Dashie flying around with the others.

“Ahem!”

“Huh?”

“Mr. Ryder. I do believe you are a member of the Reserve now, correct?”

“Why yes...hahaha.” Ryan smirked, flapping his wings. “Ah get what yer hinting at.”

“Good. Now get up there and show me what you’ve got!”

With that Ryan flew up and off to join the other pegasi flying in formation, all while his herd watched from the ground. Everything was calm until Pinkie suddenly exclaimed in despair. “Waaaaaaaaaait! You didn’t even look at the care package I brought!”

A short time later, after having returned to Ponyville and resuming their normal routine, Ryan had been peacefully working in the study when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Figuring one of the others would get it, he was slightly irritated as the knocking continued. Sighing, he stood up and went to answer, only to see no one there. The only thing he did see was a package, floating about pony eye level.

“Hmmm….” Reaching to grab it, he found he could and then saw a letter addressed to Twilight from Celestia and Luna. “Weird...wonder what this is? Looks like a book...Yo! T-Sparks! Package for ya!”

Jumping back slightly at the poof of purple magic, Ryan glared at his book mare for plopping in so suddenly. “Ya know, a bit of warning would’ve been nice.”

“Sorry dear.” Twilight took the offered package before tearing it open. “It’s a book! A really old looking one at that, too.”

‘...I know that symbol…’

“Dark?”

‘...that...that’s my mentor’s symbol.’

“Star-Swirl?” Twilight began reading the note that had been sent with it. “It is! Princess Celestia has apparently given me a task. There’s a spell in here, one that Star-Swirl was unable to finish. Apparently I’m the only one that can solve it? Really? I’ll certainly give it my best, but...hmmm.”

‘Be careful, Twily. As you know, Master came up with a lot of powerful magic...so if it’s something he couldn’t finish, take caution.’

“I will, Darkness. I wonder what the spell is anyway?” Twilight flipped through the book before plopping in a chair. “There’s so much in here I could learn...so many lessons, so many spells...to think Star-Swirl himself once held this book. Ah!”

“Did ya find it, hon?” Ryan peered over her shoulder to take a look as well. “...gotta say, his penmanship is surprisingly neat. With how he acted Ah expected some crazy chicken-scratch only he’d be able ta read.”

‘As you’ll recall from our meeting with him, Master is full of surprises. Still...why would Tia send you this?’

“Another lesson, perhaps? Or maybe a...test?” Twilight shrugged before finally finding the unfinished spell. “Here we go. It says “From one to another, another to one. A mark of one's destiny singled out alone, fulfilled.””

“...the hell is that supposed ta mean?” Ryan shook his head and sighed. “Once again, yer mentor ain’t making a lick o’ sense, partner.”

‘I must admit, even I am unsure as to what this spell’s purpose could’ve been. Hopefully speaking it aloud won’t have any weird consequences.’

“Well, it’s unfinished so it shouldn’t even work...either way, it’s getting late.” Twilight turned around before rising, only to tug at Ryan’s shirt. “You need ta get cleaned up for bed, mister. You’ve been in that study since breakfast doing who knows what, and while the scent of you hard at work isn’t all that bad, we much prefer the scent of you squeaky clean.”

Rolling his eyes and muttering a ‘yes, dear’, Ryan followed along to get cleaned up, Dark in tow making yet another wisecrack at his expense. What none of them noticed was the book letting out a soft glow that resonated with the Elements of Harmony nearby, setting off a chain reaction of events that would change their lives forever.

The following morning, Ryan awoke to find all his mares save for Lyra missing. Finding that ta be a bit curious, he gently shook said mint pone only for her to sigh and roll over, her tongue flopping out slightly on to the arm she was currently pinning.

“Heartsy…” He smirked before reaching up and brushing his fingers over her stomach. “Wake up!”

Letting out a snort of laughter and actually neighing, Lyra flopped about before rolling over and staring into Ryan’s eyes. “Ryers! You know I’m ticklish there when you aren’t slowly doing it! What gives?”

“Haha, couldn’t resist. But ya kinda had mah arm trapped and...to be honest, it seems too quiet in here.”

Lyra yawned cutely before swishing her tail slightly. “Maybe they just had some important business come up? You know how the Princess can be with her sudden summons.”

“Maybe...but something doesn’t feel right. Not sure why, but mah gut feels off about something.”

Hopping out of bed and getting dressed for the day, Ryan and Lyra headed downstairs to see things a bit in disarray as well as the front door wide open.

‘Odd...it’s almost like someone left in a hurry after noticing something.’

“The question is…” Ryan paused as he looked out the window.

“That question is what, Ryers?”

“The question is possibly answered. Those clouds look really funky for some reason.”

Sure enough, said clouds appeared ta be weaved together, almost like a quilt of some kind.

‘Well, that explains the snow, rain, and sun all happening at once.’ Dark sighed. ‘I wonder if Disky had a hand in this one?’

“No, no….while it seems like something he’d do, it’s too tame for his style. Something else is going on with this.”

“Maybe we should find the others, they might know what’s going on.”

“Good idea, Heartsy! Let’s head towards town and see if they might be there!”

As the—technically—three of them ran off to find their herdmates, a figure watched them run off while chuckling softly. Sensing that the time was soon to enact its plan, the figure vanished from sight…

“Rares is making weather, Apps was trying to sew...and Flutters was trying to make everypony laugh.” Ryan rubbed his forehead in thought. “What the hell is wrong with them?”

“Their cutie marks were all wrong as well.” Lyra scrunched up her face. “Do you think the others were caught up in this as well?”

‘Considering the fact that Twily wasn’t to be found, odds are that yes is the answer. More than likely she’s trying to figure out what’s happening. But switching cutie marks...I’ve never heard of a such a magic spell before.’ Dark growled slightly in frustration. ‘How would one even figure out a way to do that?’

“How indeed. Hahahaha.”

The three there whipped their heads about trying to figure out where that voice had come from, only to stare at a shadowy figure in the distance.

“Ryers...that…”

“Yeah, looks like me...Ah don’t know what’s going on here, but Ah’ve got a hunch our mystery man there has a hand in this!”

“Hahaha, perhaps I do or perhaps I don’t. Either way, follow me if you want some answers.”

With that the fake Ryan began running away, prompting the three of them to give chase.

‘This feels like a trap to me...anyone else sensing that?’

“Yeah. It’s clear he doesn’t want us to find Twily for some reason, but Ah’m willing to bet there’s more going on here than we realize.” Ryan huffed as the stranger stayed just one step ahead of them, continuing to lead them all around town. “Dammit! Stay still and let me catch up to ya, ya damn doppelganger!”

“Where would the fun be in that?” The fake him taunted, rounding a corner and out of sight momentarily.

“Ry! If he loses us….”

“Ah know Heartsy, we can’t let him get away.” With that they turned the corner only to see...nothing. There was nopony, no human, no one at all there. “How…?”

‘You know, this streetway seems awfully quiet...suspiciously quiet.’ Dark seemed to be thinking before smirking. ‘Ryan? Walk down the street. If I’m right, we might just get to the bottom of this mystery.’

“Well then, Dark, Ah’ll trust yer judgement. Heartsy…”

“No way, Ryers! I’m sticking to you! Nothing is keeping me from helping. I know...I know I’m not an Element bearer, but I’m still one of your mares and I won’t abandon you.” Lyra winked and stuck out her tongue. “Even if we’re heading into something unknown. Besides, if all else fails, they’ll feel my flames of fury!”

“Hahaha, alright then.”

With that the trio walked down the street and, sure enough, vanished from sight...only to be missed by Twilight and Spike who were running around in a state of worry.

“How can I fix this? Everything is so wrong. My peach...where are you when we need your help?”

Where was Ryan indeed, that was certainly the question. After having vanished from Ponyville, he, Dark, and Lyra were trying their best to ascertain exactly where they had ended up. Judging by the wild sky patterns, strange land masses, and bizarre creatures flying about, it was rather clear they were not in Ponyville anymore.

“Perhaps not even Equestria. Where did that doppleganger lead us?”

‘Well, there he is in that oddly out of place field...let’s go find out.’

The figure smiled and clapped slightly as they came to a stop close to him. “Well done. Mr. Ryder, Mr. Shade, and Ms. Heartstrings. Such bravery to follow after me.”

“Heh, if you’re pretending to be me, ya should’ve known how Ah’d react.” Ryan slowly moved his hand to rest on his blade’s hilt. “Now then...you best be talking or things are going to very quickly get real.”

“My my, so eager. Then again, this is your beloved herd we’re talking about. The ones you’d be ever so lost without. If you want answers.” The fake Ryan reached up and pulled out his own version of Malus Domestica. “You know what you must do...but I know what I’d prefer for you to do.”

“Oh really?” Ryan smirked as he drew his blade. “Ah reckon ya might want me to say something about how “ya ain’t me” and such, right?”

The shadowy Ryan laughed softly before his eyes shined yellow. “Indeed. But I know that’s not gonna happen. Still...for the sake of enjoyment, let’s start this off right!”

Unleashing a wave of energy, the now decidedly dark looking version of himself cackled malevolently. “I am a Shadow... The true self...how was that?”

“Haha, perfect! Especially since Ah get to say words Ah’ve always wanted to since that game came out: Ah’ll Face Mahself!!!” Ryan spun Malus Domestica around before motioning for Lyra to get back. “Keep back and find cover, Lyra. If this guy really is supposed ta be some dark version of mahself, then who knows what might happen.”

With that he dashed at his copy, their blades striking and clanging as they unleashed a flurry of swipes upon the other. Blow after blow rang out, but neither one could seem to land a hit on the other’s body. Hopping back, Ryan figured a change of strategy was needed. “Let’s see how ya handle this! Propogate! Malus Domestica!”

“Heh, you tell me, Mr. Ryder.” The fake Ryan copied his actions, producing a copy of his fake Malus Domestica as well. “I’m your shadow, remember? Whatever you do, I can do as well!”

‘...somehow I doubt that.’ Dark muttered as Ryan charged in again, the same result occurring but with double the noise as the now four blades clashed and sparked as the two Ryans moved about the field. Eventually, the real Ryan got fed up and began unleashing blasts of magic that proved rather ineffective as the fake him copied him flawlessly. Each blast fizzled and exploded as it contacted its twin, leaving Ryan and Dark a bit puzzled as to what to do next.

‘Any ideas, partner?’ Ryan grimaced as his doppelganger smirked.

‘Well, it’s clear whomever this is knows about you quite well.’ Dark thought for a second before grinning. ‘So then you just need to do something that he has no idea you can do yet.’

‘There’s a few things but...some of them Ah don’t wanna show off just yet. What could Ah possibly do out of…!’

‘Haha, there we go. Figured it out!’

“Hahahahahahahaha.”

The fake Ryan seemed puzzled by the laughter and demanded to know just what was so damn funny.

“The fact that Ah figured you out. See, ya can copy most of what Ah’ve done because of one simple thing.”

“Because I’m you?”

“Nope. Because you’ve seen us fight, you know about us...but tell me, how far down that hole have you gone? Ah guarantee, there’s some things you’ve no clue about...but hey!” Ryan roared and flared his Elemental Sync. “Let’s find out, eh?”

With that he flew towards his opponent, not surprised at all to see an Elemental Sync staring back at him. The shockwave of their strikes sent snowflakes flying every which way, which only seemed to excite Ryan even more.

“Okay...okay...not bad. So you’ve kept up that far. Then how about….this! Soul Cross!”

“Let’s see you try and copy this much raw awesomeness, faker!” Dark growled, unsheathing Eclipsis and smirking.

“Seems easy enough.” Came the response, Dark’s spitting image staring at him though with darker features. “Why so surprised? You and Ryan are connected, right? So why would it not stand that your shadow resides within me as well?”

As the fight continued on, this time Dark clashing with himself and sending blasts of lightning across the battlefield, Lyra looked on in worry and confusion.

“Ooooh, this can’t be right. There’s no way an evil version of Ryan and Dark exists. This all has to be some kind of magical illusion. The question is...who would do such a…!” Lyra scrunched her face up as she looked about the unusual scenery. “Of course...it’s so obvious to not be obvious to be obvious! There’s only one creature who would enjoy this much raw chaos...Discord.”

“Mmmmmmyes?” Discord poofed into existence behind Lyra, though at a smaller scale than usual. “Did you summon me, Miss Heartstrings?”

“Gah!” Lyra nearly lept out of her fur at that before glaring at Discord. “I knew it! I knew you’d be here! So what’s the deal?! I thought you weren’t out to cause this kind of trouble anymore?”

“Oh, such hurtful words from the mint one.” Discord sighed, clutching his chest. “Oh the ache, deep in my heart. Please, Miss Heartstrings, do give me some credit. While this is certainly entertaining, you have my word that this little doppel-nonsense is not my doing.”

Lyra eyed him for a long while, despite the noises of the battlefield distracting her thoughts with worry over her human. Eventually she sighed and nodded. “Yeah...it’s rather clear you have changed, so I believe you. But if you aren’t behind this, than just who the hell is?!”

“Haha, that is the question is it not?” Discord snapped his fingers, poofing up two chairs and some popcorn. “Why not take a load off and enjoy the show? You have my promise that Ryan will be unharmed. This is merely...a test.”

“A test of what, exactly?”

“Why of his resolve, amongst other things. Something big is on the horizon, and he needs to be ready.”

Eventually, having reached the height of their own individual prowess not seen since their duel with DJ and Malice Sparkle, Ryan and Dark panted as they were quickly running out of options.

“Ah must say, you’ve done well to keep up with us this far. You’ve clearly studied us intently.”

“Don’t tell me that’s all you have. Surely you have something else to try.”

Ryan grimaced before grinning. “You know what? Yeah! Ah do!” With that he flapped his wings hard, gaining more and more altitude before shouting as loud as he could. “Even if you’ve done all that, there’s no way you have the skill to match this move! Few others do, so let’s see you try to copy this! Dark!”

‘Right! Yer ready, partner!’

“Then here we go!!!!!” Ryan roared, diving towards the ground at insane speeds. Slowly but surely, flecks of color formed around his body and then. “It’s Shadeboom time, bitches!”

A crack of sound and explosion of grey, black, and purple rang forth as Ryan zoomed towards his doppelganger. Though at first he had expected Ryan to pull up, it became quite clear what his intentions were.

“Impossible! Are you insane?!?!?”

“Ah’m human….so that answer is pretty much yes!! Let’s go, Dark!!!”

‘Hell yeah!’

“Ultimate Speeding Strike of Justice:DARKNESS SHADEBOMB!!!”

With an explosion that would probably level a town or two, Ryan collided with his shadow self and sent a cloud of dust flying for miles around. Discord had acted quickly to shield Lyra, the debris and shockwave not affecting them within his sphere of protection. As it was the greenery as well as the weird animals flying about were tossed around in the fallout of such an attack. The dust slowly began to settle, showing a massive crater from the resulting smash...but unfortunately Ryan looked worse for the wear.

“Ugh….” Ryan grunted, holding his arm. “Damn. That was a lot more intense than Ah was expecting.”

‘You alright?’

“Yeah, yeah. Nothing broken, luckily, but man Ah’m aching pretty fierce. At least...heh. At least that bastard didn’t see it coming. Speaking of though…” Ryan groaned at seeing his shadow self a bit banged up, but still standing. “Yer a tenacious S.O.B., aintcha?”

“Well, I am supposed to be you, so is that a surprise?”

“Heh...point.” Ryan coughed violently for a bit. “Oh shit….”

‘Ryan!’ Dark gasped as he fell to one knee. ‘I knew we weren’t ready for that yet!’

“Ugh….” Ryan struggled to stay awake, but after falling to one knee that was becoming harder and harder. “...who knew that the most powerful opponent Ah would ever fight...was mahself?”

‘Ryan!’ Dark watched as he collapsed, though the shadow him continued moving closer. ‘No...I...I can’t let this happen! I can’t...without him awake I can’t use Soul Cross….’

“Hahahahaha. Guess you just didn’t have what it took. Pity, but perhaps you aren’t ready just yet.”

‘No. No! We won’t go down like this! I refuse to let this happen to him! I….’ Dark suddenly paused, finally realizing something. ‘...it has to work, this time. It must work! I wanted to save this for the sequel but...to hell with the sequel!’

The shadow Ryan stopped, confused at the strange events happening to Ryan’s body and just now hearing the ramblings of Darkness Shade. “What...what is going on?”

‘Making sure...that my brother...doesn’t go down like this!!!!!!’ Dark growled loudly as lightning began to arc forth from Ryan’s body.

“What are you doing?!?!”

‘Saving the day! SOUL! SEPARATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!’ Dark roared, a blinding flash of light blanketing the area in its glow.

Peering from behind their shades that Discord had so kindly produced, Lyra and said draconequus were unsure as to what just happened.

“First that bomb attack, and now Dark just went nuts. What in the name of Celestia is going on?”

“Here.” Discord handed her a book as well as a pencil. “A gift. You’re going to want to document this down. What we’re going to witness here...it’s going to be spectacular~”

As the light faded, Ryan’s body still lay collapsed on the ground...however, standing above him, Eclipsis at the ready, was the one, the only: Darkness Shade.

“....how?”

“How?” Dark smirked. “By never resting on our laurels, by always pushing our limits, and by the grace of knowing a man that has a heart bigger than all of Equestria. Heh...he always swore he’d help me get a body of my own again one day...and it looks like he wasn’t a liar.”

“No! There’s no way this is possible!”

“Oh but there is. For whatever reason, it finally worked when I needed it to do so the most!” Dark roared and flared straight to his Elemental Sync MK.II, lightning ricocheting all over the place. “Whoever you might be—and I’m beginning to think I know who—it’s time we ended this farce!”

“Heh. If you are so confident, then by all means come at me...bro?” The fake Ryan blinked and gasped as Dark was already upon him, Eclipsis wrapped in lightning utterly obliterating the fake Malus Domestica. “Impossible! What are you?”

“Me? Just a man with a stylish jacket and shades for days.” Dark easily dodged the punches thrown his way before grabbing hold of the shadowy Ryan and launching him into the air. “I am the last human of Equestria! I am Darkness Shade! And I am ending this. Right! Now! Rawr!”

‘Heh...you’ve come so far. Perhaps you will be ready after all…’

Raising his hand to the sky and taking aim, Dark shouted as loud as he could. “Now show us who you really are! Revealing Shine of Hope! Lunare Lumen!”

With the shining purity of the light of the moon guiding his strike, the shadowy Ryan hissed and growled before succumbing to the might of Dark’s resolve. Dark was slightly puzzled, however, when nothing showed in its place and whatever that had been merely disappeared.

“...so I was only partially right.” Dark smirked as he closed his eyes. “Though not you, it was your handiwork. Isn’t that right...Master?”

The sound of clapping came from his right as a cloaked pony wearing a pointy hat appeared from out of nowhere and stopped in front of him. “Well done, my student. You always did have a knack for deciphering my tests...but I must say, I did not expect you to actually be standing here of your own will.”

“Heh...we’ve been training quite diligently when it comes to the Soul line of magic, Master. It was inevitable that we’d master this one as well...but it seemed I just needed that extra push to force the success.” Dark glanced back at Ryan’s unconscious form. “Needless to say, your doppel magic did a number on the poor guy.”

“Ah yes...I did not expect him to use such an attack on it, but he certainly surprised me by harnessing his Shadeboom in such a way. He truly is a reckless man...but that ability to test limits will be most useful.”

Dark rolled his eyes before laughing. “Haha, there you go, being vague as hell again. Something is happening, isn’t it? That’s why you brought us here. Twily...whatever is happening she has to solve on her own, doesn’t she?”

Star-Swirl nodded. “Yes. Her test is her own this time. She must solve it using her own skills.”

“Okay, but then why this? Why make a magical double of Ryan and lead us here?”

“Heh, that should be simple, Darkness: you two have your own test to deal with. One that so far you’ve done quite well on...but with what is soon to come, it’s imperative you are ready.”

“If Deej were here, he’d probably wanna slap you for being so secretive...but thankfully for your sake, he ain’t.” Dark sighed. “This has to do with what he let slip, doesn’t it? Twily...she’s about to class change, right?”

“Well...you’ll just have to wait till your task is done.”

“Hmmm…”

“...something on your mind, my student?”

“Yes...thinking on all this, it reminds me of something from long ago. Something we once discussed some time after I had acquired my Elemental Sync state.”

Stroking his beard, Star-Swirl nodded at the memory. “Oh yes...I remember that day. What a dreadful day that was when you found your Sync state. When you saw the Lunar Princess go down….”

“...I lost myself to that inner darkness.” Dark squeezed his fists tightly, the sights from that day still fresh in his mind as the day they happened. “I razed that battlefield, electrocuting everything and everyone in sight. I...I won the battle that day...protected Woona...but the loss...the screams...even now, in my quietest moments, I can still see the fear, feel the terror. On that day, I promised to never let that power ever drive me that deep…to never let the darkness blind me like that again.”

“Indeed. It is no small reason you were so agitated by DJ Sparkle at his insistence to dive into the darkness.”

“Yeah, but I can’t ever tell anyone what happened that day. No one should have to bear such terrible memories.”

“...save for you?”

“They are mine. It was my rage, my anger...my inability to control such power that forged such a memory.” Dark shook his head before returning his gaze to his mentor. “But that was a long time ago, when I was young and inexperienced. And now…”

Star-Swirl smirked as Dark powered back up to his Mk.II state. “Now you can control magic far greater than that day, and you have the experience to keep level-headed despite what that form can do to one’s mental state. I am quite proud of all that you have done.”

“That means a lot to me, Master…however.”

“However?”

“However, seeing as we are here, and I can tell you still wish to test me...remember what I first asked before that slight detour down memory lane?”

“About a discussion we had after you’d gained more control of your Elemental Sync?” At this Star-Swirl had to really think, fidgeting with his hat and causing the bells to jingle slightly. “...of course. It was when you asked about Celestia and Luna’s forms.”

“Exactly.” Dark chuckled softly, the silence of the battlefield being replaced with something more...fitting. “Remember how we hypothesized as to whether or not there was a state beyond what Tia and Woona—and now myself—have?”

“A state beyond a Mk.II...yes. As I recall, we deduced that to achieve such a level—were it to even exist—an individual would need either an intense emotional event even stronger than the one that initiated their Elemental Sync…”

“...or a drive so hard that they wouldn’t accept any result other than achieving said state.”

“So then, my pupil, why bring this up?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because all that talk...it wasn’t just theory.”

“...what?”

“It exists, Master. And I’m going to show you it.”

Star-Swirl was confused and, as expected, motioned towards Ryan. “But Ryan...he’s out cold...how…”

Dark slowly shook his head as the lightning around his body began to sizzle and crack. “No, Master….I’m not talking about Kouki.”

Discord could only chuckle from the now more comfortable seating he’d poofed up for him and Lyra to enjoy. “Now, mint mare, watch closely. You are about to witness something that even I thought impossible. We should feel honored to see magic that has never existed before.”

“Mallie...this one is for you.” With that Dark roared loudly, his lightning exploding in all directions as he continued to pant and shout as he gathered and focused his magic. Star-Swirl had to take a step back and hold one hoof up to cover his face at the amount of wind being kicked up, all the while watching his pupil glow brighter and brighter the more he shouted.

“...my word...through all my journeys, all my travels, and all my time-hopping...of all the possible events I saw...I would never have guessed such magic could exist.” The older stallion smirked at this. “Then again, who else would be crazy enough to try than my pupil? You’ve made an old man proud, Darkness. Now show me what you’ve got!”

And show him he did, his hair jutting out into the wildest directions and his wings sparking as his aura continued to flare brighter and stronger. With one final roar, a massive ball of electricity enveloped the area around Darkness and nearly blinded all those watching for a few moments. When the light finally died down, there, glowing brilliantly for all to see, was one amped up looking Darkness Shade.

“This, Master, is my Elemental Sync Mk.III.” Dark calmly spoke, his body twitching slightly in time with his lightning bursts.

“Impressive, my pupil. Most impressive. To think that you have come so far.” Star-Swirl chuckled softly. “The friendship you have with that angsty spirit must mean a lot to you to give you such motivation.”

“...like we said, a drive so hard that I wouldn’t accept any other result. Though I know not when, we will meet again. And on that day, I look forward to showing Mallie-kun how much he means to me. But until then…” Dark smirked, upturning his palm and motioning at his master. “Please do me the honor of a sparring match with you, Master.”

“Well now...that sounds like a fun idea. It has been so long since I’ve gotten “down and dirty” as the kids say.” Star-Swirl magically untied his cloak and levitated his hat off his head before poofing them over to Discord. “I say, old friend, please keep an eye on those for me, will you?”

Discord, having already put the cape and hat on, gave a wave and grinned. “But of course. Now then, how about you show me something as well. Can’t let dear Darkness have all the fun, can we?”

“Haha, indeed we can’t.” Star-Swirl took a deep breath before closing his eyes. “I won’t be holding back, Darkness.”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way, Master. Now then...show me your Elemental Sync once again and face me as we once did, so long ago.”

All was quiet save for the crackle surrounding Darkness, until Star-Swirl’s body began to lightly shake, the ground beneath him rumbling and shifting as bits of the earth levitated upwards as he focused his magic. Swirls of lightning and fire began to shift and dance around and through his mane and tail, while flecks of ice circled his hooves. With all the fanfare of a true mage, four symbols appeared in the air in front of him before exploding outwards and leaving him now glowing a brilliant shade of blue.

Dark gave a long, drawn-out whistle before smirking. “Now that’s what I remember, that mutation that only a true Master such as yourself could obtain.”

“Indeed. This is my Elemental Sync Prime.” Star-Swirl noted.

“Whoa!!!” Lyra’s eyes were wide as she furiously drew in her notebook. “So not only could the legendary Star-Swirl the Bearded wield an Elemental Sync...but his has all four base elements?!”

“Hahaha. That seems to be the case; who knew ol’ jingle bells there was hiding such a thing from me?” Discord clutched his chest and sighed as it fell apart into pieces. “Breaks my chaotic heart.”

“Oh pish posh, Discord. You simply never asked.” Star-Swirl laughed soundly before whipping up a whirlwind of elemental devastation. “Now then...let us begin, Darkness!”

With that Dark and Star-Swirl moved at insanely faster speeds, one only narrowly blocking the other’s strikes and kicks as they maneuvered their way around the battlefield. As hoof met fist, lightning streaked through the sky as the ground itself shifted and contorted under the strain of such raw magical power. The distortions they were producing were so great, that reality itself was warping and the strange chaos land they were in was actually turning normal and making a lot more sense.

Leaping backwards, Dark panted and grinned. “Damn...still as tough as ever, Master.”

“Hahaha.” Star-Swirl panted as well, the movements of the elemental particles around him becoming more erratic. “And you’ve gotten tougher than before, my pupil. You aren’t making this easy on me, but therein lies the fun. This old man hasn’t been able to enjoy himself this freely in so long.”

“Glad to hear it.” Dark stepped back and drew his sword. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not. I was hoping to test those skills as well.” At that, Star-Swirl reached deep into the ground and produced a blade that had Dark staring in disbelief.

“How?! How do you have that blade of all blades?” Dark’s mouth hung open as he tried to process the slightly glowing, black blade his master was now holding. “...I...that sword...it’s currently locked away in the castle at Canterlot! I know it is! Before DJ and Malice left, they inquired about the room it was locked away in. Granted, that didn’t make the story’s final cut, but it’s still something that happened.”

“Now that you’ve referenced it happened, right?” Star-Swirl turned towards you and winked. “But worry not, as time is so fluid this is and yet isn’t the sword known as Eclipse ~Last Hope of Illuminated Dreams~.”

“Hey, Discord.” Lyra nudged him slightly after sketching the mysterious, otherworldly looking sword. “What’s so special about that blade? I mean, I can understand why it’s called Eclipse given the way it’s glowing like an actual one, but…”

“...that blade cannot be used by just anybody. It must accept you as being worthy to allow you to pull it free from its bonds, let alone harness its power.” Discord seemed to stare into space for a while, his face contorted in thought. “...was it always imprisoned? I remember someone….”

“Discord?”

Seeing worry in Lyra’s face, he shook his head before grinning. “No worries, Miss Heartstrings. I just seem to be having some issues remembering things. Either way, from what I know of that sword, Dark has his work cut out for him.”

“Are you worried, my pupil?”

Steadying his stance, Dark shook his head. “No. Eclipsis will not fall, even to that blade.”

Star-Swirl wasted no time after hearing such confidence, grinning as Eclipse met Eclipsis with a resounding twang. Once more, the sparks danced as each strike was parried and countered, the two combatants giving their all with each swing. Darkness grunted as he barely dodged a strike, rolling to his right and groaning as he felt blood begin to drip down his cheek.

“Damn...that was too close.” Checking, he was relieved at the wound being not nearly as bad as he thought before wiping his hand off on his jeans. “If I don’t end this soon, it might get just as messy as last time.”

Spinning the sword above his head and striking a pose, Star-Swirl figured a bit of smack-talking was in order. “What is the matter, Darkness? Are you the ruler of those that clean?”

“...wut?”

“You know, those that clean? The ones that scrub messes?”

Dark dead-panned as his eyes turned into simple dots. “Are...are you trying to call me a scrublord?”

“Yes! Is...is that not what the kids are to say when talking the smack to their opponent?”

Dark face-palmed and sighed heavily before standing back up. “Master...that hurt more than the sword wound. And now I know I have to finish this soon, before you embarrass yourself even more.”

Planting his sword into the ground, Dark put his hands together before flashes of dark purple began to emerge from his palms. Sensing what his intentions were, Star-Swirl planted himself firmly in the ground, the earth itself latching tightly on to his hooves. Readying Eclipse, he barely prepped himself before Dark shouted.

“Let’s see you block this when it’s amped up to three, Master! Darkness Eraser...CLIMAX!!” With that...interesting suffix to his iconic attack, a wave of magic fired forth, wrapped in all sorts of chaotic lightning patterns. Star-Swirl seemed a bit surprised by its ferocity, but he held his ground and struck it dead on with his blade. The earth shifted a little at the impact, but Star-Swirl managed to keep his footing. Seeing this, Dark grimaced before roaring loudly and doubling the size of his attack. The older pony grunted as his balance shifted and he began to be pushed back.

“Haha...you have gotten quite strong, my pupil. I am proud of that. However…” Focusing all four elements into his grip, he pushed with all his might and cleaved Dark’s attack in half, sending it flying off and exploding in the background in a brilliant shower of sparks and debris.

“Da...dammit!” Dark grunted before gasping in pain, watching as his electricity began to fade. “No...shit, as I thought. It’s still too unstable to maintain like I want. I’m still not fully there.”

“Impressive, my dear student. Most impressive.” Star-Swirl slowly walked towards Dark’s kneeling form as his looks shifted back to his base one. “That form...it seems as if it does exist, however…”

Dark grunted as he was flung back by his Master’s attack, landing on his back and panting.

“It would seem it’s not quite perfected, and in that state it burns magic like crazy. Heh, I imagine the only one possibly capable of handling such an imperfect version of that mutation is that purple one...but she’s far from learning that one, let alone her Mk.II.” Star-Swirl smirked. “Indeed, she’s got much to learn...especially with the task she’s dealing with right now. As for you, my pupil...this duel needs it’s end...you did well, but I can’t say you’ve passed…”

“Heh...still as vague as ever. Whatever this test is, it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Good to hear!”

The battlefield was silent for a moment at that, before Dark started chuckling widely. “Dammit, Ryan! You and those puns, even now!”

“Haha, yer all smiling, you know it. Also, sorry for the jarring way of doing that, but FiMFic totally needs an option to code different fonts at will. Would have made that waaaaaay easier.” Ryan winked before dashing over and knocking Star-Swirl backwards. “Still, yer being pretty tough on mah partner, and that ain’t fair.”

“So then, Ryan, how long have you been awake for?”

“Enough, Swirly. For some reason, yer keeping us away from T-Sparks while she’s dealing with whatever nonsense that book of yers unleashed. Probably so she can learn on her own, without relying on her human for help. That’s fine and dandy.” Ryan held his arms out to his side and shook his head. “But pretending to be us? Or rather, creating a magical shadow version of us? Dragging us here to fight? Ah’ve heard of worse reasons to test someone, but man, do you have a portal to pop culture in our world or what? It’s getting pretty hard to keep these references believable.”

Star-Swirl chortled for a moment. “As if you care about things being believable.”

“Point, but still. Ah have ta keep some semblance of order in all that chaos, otherwise we’d lose all those fans...and Ah’d hate for that to happen.”

Dark slowly stood up before flaring his Elemental Sync and smirking. “Nicely done, bro. Keeping Master busy with your reality bending chat gave me enough time to catch my second wind.”

“Always. Who doesn’t enjoy having fun like that? Now then...you want a worthy result, right? Heh, then we’ll show you that as long as we never give up on each other…”

“Then nothing can stop us from protecting who we care about. Ya ready, partner?!”

“Always, Dark. Especially when the beat fills me with such determination!”

With a quick 1,2,3,4 of what appeared to be the fusion dance and a shout of Soul Synchronization!, Ryan and Dark were no longer there, and instead…

“We are the champion of Justice! The Ally of Harmony and all that is Righteous! We are Kuroyami Kouki, and it’s time to get down!” With that Kouki began dancing in sync with the beat, all while motioning for Star-Swirl to come get some.

“...what the hell is he doing?” Lyra raised an eyebrow as she drew the odd scene she saw in front of her.

“He’s fight-dancing.” Discord chuckled, watching as Kouki was giving Star-Swirl a run for his money as he bobbed and weaved in time with the beats. “Most impressive. I knew the boy had some fancy footwork, but those are some funky steps he’s laying down. The old man is getting a bit frustrated by it all. Hahaha.”

Indeed, Star-Swirl found it much more difficult to land a hit on Kouki, getting slightly frustrated as each swipe of his sword continued to miss the fused being...and only left him open to counterattack as he got wapped over and over again. Eventually he began swiping faster and faster, but this time both Eclipsis and Malus Domestica blocked back the ancient sword, keeping it at bay until finally….

“You’ve had yer fun, but that thing needs to go bye-bye!” Kouki shouted, channeling his combined magic into both swords and striking Eclipse as hard as he could.

Star-Swirl gasped and watched as said sword buckled before slicing in two, the pieces flying off into the horizon. “...heh, you figured it out.”

“Indeed. While quite close to it, it truly is and isn’t the same sword.” Kouki hopped back and smirked. “So then, what now, Master?”

Not saying a word, Star-Swirl began to flair his magic before summoning forth a large amount of ice, earth, fire, and lightning around the fused human, laughing softly all the while. “Now then, you two….let’s see how well you can dodge this!”

Eyes going wide, but still feeling the beat, Kouki snickered and began spinning his swords wildly as he fought off the onslaught of elemental destruction. The sparking sizzles of each reflected attack hissed in time with the melody of the battlefield, leaving Lyra too enraptured to properly capture the moment.

“Getting caught up in it, Miss Heartstrings?” Discord chuckled. “I must say, it is a sight to watch...as is that of their purple horse.”

“What?”

“See for yourself.” Discord pulled a strange bubble out of the wizard hat on his head and smiled. “As Ryan and Dark face off with their own trial, Twilight Sparkle seems to be figuring hers out. She’s already fixed three of her friends’ issues, and most likely she’ll be finished by the time this duel is over.”

“Ooookay, but what does that mean? Why are they both having to deal with this?”

“...I’m not completely sure as to why.” Discord looked at his old friend, throwing all he could at Kouki during the duel. “Sure, I may be a god of chaos, but even I can’t exactly see the future. Not like ol’ Swirlsby there. Something must be coming, something big. That...almost would worry me were it not for what I know of those mares...and of course the human they love.”

“Yeah...we’ll get through whatever comes our way.” Lyra grinned, putting the finishing touches on the current sketch. “As long as our hearts are one, we’ll protect what we love and cherish.”

“Hahaha, oh I hope so, Miss Heartstrings. I have found myself becoming rather attached to this place, so I would like it to remain here for some time.”

“Huff, huff….huff...my my, that form of yours certainly is quite the beauty.” Starswirl laughed before coughing. “Even with the full might of my elemental barrage, you’re still standing and ready for more.”

“What can we say, Swirly? We’re just too stubborn for our own good sometimes.” Kouki chuckled softly before grimacing, his magic flickering around him. “But...we’ve gotta finish this. You wanted to see all that we have, right?”

“Indeed. I need to know if you’re ready…”

“Very well then.” Closing his eyes, Kouki took a deep breath as several flashes of light began surrounding him. “It’s a delightfully chaotic day out, isn’t it? The birds are swimming and the fish flying...on a day like this, Master, we’ll show you the power to make evil burn in Hell.”

Their eyes opening suddenly, they stared at Starswirl before the lights took on familiar shapes. “Justice Blitz Ω!”

Starswirl closed his eyes and smiled. “Well then...it would appear you really can harness those...looks like my theories from back then were right after all. Who could’ve guessed? Hahahahahaha!”

“Honesty!” With all the added strength of Bucky McGillicuddy and Kicks McGee, Kouki launched himself straight at Starswirl before landing a devastating kick that sent him flying. Quickly reacting, the older mage did his best to pull out of the blow only to see a rainbow blur heading his way.

“Loyalty!” With that Starswirl gasped as another kick landed, followed by another, and another as his fused student’s speed batted him around like a ping-pong ball. Eventually they ceased their attack, watching as the bearded stallion grunted as he impacted the ground.

“Generosity!” Kouki was motionless, a pale purple glow surrounding him as Starswirl watched cautiously. Noting they still hadn’t moved, he went on the offensive and unleashed with all the magic power he had left. Barrage after barrage struck the fused being, kicking up a rather large dust cloud that blocked him from sight.

“Kouki!” Lyra shouted, though paused when she felt Discord’s paw on her shoulder. “Huh? What the? Discord? Why are you wearing a blue hoodie…? And are those fuzzy slippers? What the heck!?”

Discord could only chuckle, his left eye glowing ominously. “Why, just getting into the spirit of things with the boys. Nothing says I can’t have a little fun with that pesky wall as well.”

Lyra raised an eyebrow, but figured that it wasn’t worth prying. “Ooookay, but why are you laughing? Starswirl just unloaded on them! And they stood there taking it!”

“Hahaha, oh you’ll see just why, mint mare. Something tells me Swirlsby is about to have quite the bad time...”

For yet another time, things were quiet and tense on the battlefield as Starswirl stood panting. His gut knew that wouldn’t be enough to stop them, and sure enough he watched them come flying at him. Each punch felt worse than the last, no doubt Ryan and Dark doing their all to return the might as generously as they could. Soon enough the onslaught ended, the fused human grabbing Starswirl and swinging him around and around before throwing him with intense force. Vanishing from sight, Kouki appeared in front of Starswirl, two familiar stars on his palms.

“Oh….this most assuredly will sting.”

“Magic!” Unleashing a strike in the shape of said Element of Harmony, it impacted the wizard and sent him hurtling back towards the ground. Thinking quickly, Kouki dove towards him and caught him just before he left another crater in what was quickly becoming a pot-marked field.

“Kindness!” With that, Kouki pulled a table from out of nowhere, complete with tablecloth, tray of cookies and...was that a pot of tea?

“Still take your tea the same way, Master? Eight cubes of sugar and a dash of cinnamon?”

Starswirl seemed slightly puzzled but slowly nodded. “Why, yes...I’m surprised you remembered after all this time.”

Handing him the cup, Kouki smiled before laughing. “Master, who can forget a pony who would only drink tea if it was more sugar than tea?”

“Oh yes...Celestia always did hate that. Especially when our glasses would get mixed up. That face she would make, scrunched up and perplexed...oh, priceless.” Starswirl sipped it softly, grinning from ear to ear. “Oh yes...that’s the sweetness.”

“Indeed, Master…”

“Hmmm? Darkness?”

“We hope you’ve enjoyed this small reprieve...but sad to say, we’re not done yet, Swirly.”

“Pardon?”

“Laughter!” Though he should’ve seen it coming a mile away, it would seem even a pony that has a mastery over time itself can be taken by surprise. Said surprise being Kouki springing back and sending Starswirl rocketing into the sky from an uppercut of ludicrous proportions. Grunting and rubbing his jaw, he slowed his momentum and floated in the air, staring down at the fused being that became ever more intriguing the more they fought.

“Not bad, not bad...but that’s six Elements. While you may have done them in a different order than before, I know that’s the end of your attack...and I’m still standing. Until I’m unconscious, you haven’t proved ready.”

At this a flicker of light began to spark from behind Kouki, the Applemon cutie mark on his jacket flaring brightly before he held out both his hands. Slowly, a bright light formed in his palms as he smirked. “JUSTICE FINISHER!”

“WHAT?! There’s another move?!”

“My oh my, those boys have been busy.” Discord snickered. “You still drawing, Miss Heartstrings?”

“Yeah but...why are you so worried about that?”

“Hahaha, never you mind...just keep at it. It will be ending soon enough…”

Starswirl prepared himself as best he could, but was surprised as nothing happened. In fact, it would appear that Kouki wasn’t firing at him at all, and rather was shooting what appeared to be lemon-shaped lights passed him.

“Uhm...ya know, usually, you’re supposed to hit who you’re fighting with.” He watched him continue to miss. “Seriously, are you even trying to hit me?”

“NO!”

“The hell do you mean no?” It was then the unfortunate pony looked behind him. “Oh.” Then above. “Oh.” Then all around him. “Ooooooooh….shit.”

“LEMON LIGHT BARRAGE!!”

‘Oh man...light lemonade tastes awful. Dammit!’

In that moment Starswirl got absolutely wrecked by the overwhelming amount of detonating balls of lemony light, explosions rocking him left and right before finally all was quiet and his body fell to the ground where it lay limp and beaten. Kouki let out a sigh and slowly lowered to the ground, grunting in pain.

“BOOM SHAKALAKA! Damn...glad ta see that training paid off but...is he really done?” Kouki slowly walked over to Starswirl and gave him a nudge. “Master? He’s still breathing but...why does he look untouched? ...!”

Kouki gasped as he was struck with a full strength Elemental Sync punch, sending him flying back and colliding with a mountain that came out of nowhere. Coughing and clutching his gut, he could see that Starswirl was not only still standing, but looking as fresh as he was when their duel had begun. “H-how?”

“Hahaha, oh my dear pupil...do you not remember my speciality?”

“...Time.”

“Quite. I am a master of time, having traversed it so much. Why else would they name that wing after me?”

“...of course. The moment that attack went to hit, you traveled through time.”

Starswirl smirked, staring up at his student as he hovered just in front of where he’d impacted the mysterious mountain. “Correct. And once the attack ended, I simply reappeared in time, throwing you off and letting you get close. You almost had me with that last attack, seeing as I wasn’t expecting it. Clever, but not enough…”

“...we aren’t done. There’s one last thing to do...let’s see you time-skip yer way outta this!”

Steadying himself and shouting, Kouki began to pant heavily before glaring at his Master.

“Ultra...Fightin’...Miracle….”

Discord smirked, pleased that he finally got to see this and it wasn’t because it was being used on him. Meanwhile, Lyra was about to wear out her pencil as she scribbled furiously, capturing the moments as best she could. At the same time, Starswirl was quite perplexed: why would Kouki pull out this move, let alone so far away? He must know that a beam struggle battle was not going to happen and that he’d end up missing, especially since there was plenty of distance to give Starswirl the time he needed to time-out from reality and then just reappear.

“You know this won’t work!”

“Why?” Kouki smirked, striking a dramatic and heroic pose before pointing at Starswirl. “Because you’ve seen through time? You’ve seen the future? Please! We’ve seen Back to the Future, so we know that the future isn’t written! It’s whatever we want to make of it, and we’re about to write an awesome ending to this one!”

“...is that so? Then by all means, Ryan and Dark...give me all you’ve got!”

“Harmonized….Justice….” And at the last second, Kouki instantly teleported to right in front of Starswirl, hands together and surrounded by the symbols of all six Elements. A wide-eyed Starswirl was momentarily stunned at such an unexpected move, but smirked as Kouki finished his move and this fight. “CANNON!”

The full force of Harmony itself unloaded on Starswirl, sending him careening into the sky for quite a distance before the attack fizzled. Sensing that there was no time-travel shenanigans this time, Kouki ran as fast as his tired body would allow before he dove to catch his Master’s unconscious self. Grunting in pain, he split back into Ryan and Dark, the latter of which was holding Starswirl.

“Bravo, boys, bravo!” Discord remarked, clapping his paw and claw as he and Lyra headed over towards them. “I don’t think ol’ Swirlsby has had a challenge like that in some time. And look at you two, my my you’ve gotten stronger. You might actually be a challenge for myself as well if the need ever arose.”

“Ah hope...fer yer sake, Disky...it doesn’t. Ah’d hate to have to kibosh a friend. Hahaha.” Ryan groaned. “Damn...that wore me out something fierce.”

“...yeah.” Dark steadied his breathing, using what little power he had left from the fusion to heal his Master up, the diamond shaped Element representing it glowing lightly on his hands. “Master...it’s...it’s...heh, it’s so good to see you again. Even if this is only temporary...if I’m only my own self thanks to the background chaos of this dimension. It’s weird, thinking on how you are here and how time is just too messy. Haha...but, whatever your reason was to fight us…”

“...Dark.” Ryan quietly stated, watching him hug his Master tight and lose the battle to hold back his tears.

“...It’s been so nice to be able to talk with you and, yes, even spar with you again. I...I just wish things could’ve been different...we could’ve had more time...we could’ve...we could’ve done so much to help others.”

“...heh, time often never works with us, eh Darkness?” Starswirl chuckled as he slowly opened his eyes. “Yowza, you two really hit me with your best, huh?”

Setting him down, Dark nodded with a smirk. “Of course! To do any less would be dishonoring our duel.”

“Quite right. Goodness...it’s so weird, isn’t it? To you, I’ve been gone for hundreds of years...but for me, it’s as if I just spoke with you yesterday.”

“Master…?”

“Hmmm?”

“When...when you passed away...you told me that everything would be okay. But...but it wasn’t. I lost...I died...Cordy was petrified...Sombrero fell to darkness...Woona was banished...how could that have been alright?”

Starswirl hung his head sadly. “Alas, though I knew what was to pass, I could say nothing. Time had to be preserved, and you all had to find your path in it. But...I did not lie that day. Everything will be and always shall be okay as long as you never forget the power in Friendship. Though it took much time, eventually things began to right themselves, yes? We have that stubbornly devoted young man to thank for that, more or less. Though it was his herd that saved the Moon Princess, he helped you save your friends: one from the madness of solitude and the other from the madness of arcane evil. It took a very long time, but the sadness I could not prevent from passing is being healed.”

“Okay, okay….Ah hate interrupting yer touching moment between sensei and disciple, but Ah’m confused by something: what was all this?” Ryan gave a sigh. “Why did you feel it necessary to keep us away from T-Sparks? And why to test us?”

“Something is coming that will test all of you.” Starswirl looked at the ground, his hat and cape reappearing on his person. “...that’s all I can say. I see a great challenge in your future...one that I, despite not wanting to meddle, had to know you had the strength of heart to face.” The old pony smiled slightly from under his hat. “I feel I may have worried for no reason. That purple one is resourceful and refuses to give up. And you two...you face any challenge for the sake of your friends. Heh, even if your friend is said challenge. That young Prince was on to something when he said what he did to me. Indeed, that will most certainly aid you in another world…”

“...another world?” Lyra titled her head, puzzled by those words. “What is that supposed to mean…huh?!”

“Master?!” Dark remarked, watching him slowly fade from sight.

“Haha, it’s alright. My time here was limited, I pretty much burned what was left taking that hit from Kouki.” Starswirl smiled at Dark, his emotions now getting to him as his eyes began to water. “I’m proud of you, Dark. You’ve made this old man happy and that is why, from here on out, you are no longer my student...you are my equal.”

“...w-what?”

“In other words, you’ve passed your test as my pupil. You are a full-fledged mage, in both spirit and title now. Congratulations, Darkness!”

“Hahahaha….” Dark sniffled, watching Starswirl fading even more. “Even if you say that, you’ll always be my Master. Will we meet again someday?”

“Who knows?” Starswirl chuckled as he faded from sight. “Only time will tell…”

And like that he was gone, leaving the four of them there to wonder what next.

“Well it’s not like I don’t know.” Discord remarked, fiddling about in his hoodie. “Ah! Good! We haven’t missed it yet! The old man knows his timing, that’s for sure.”

“What are ya talking about, Disky?”

“Why the end result of your dear book smarts’ test, of course. Come on! I know a shortcut!”

With that he grabbed all of them by the hand as one moment they were standing in the chaotic dimension….

….and the next, they were back in Ryan’s home looking at five very confused mares surrounding a strange burn mark on the ground.

“Apple Ryder!” AppleJack practically tackled him. “Where in the hell have ya been?! Do you have any idea what’s been going on, let alone what just happened?”

“Ah’ve had mah fair share of troubles today, so ya mind filling me in?”

“Jeez, Rys...there was all this crazy stuff! Our cutie marks got flipped, and we all did each other's jobs, and man did we suuuuuuuck at them!” Rainbow sighed. “But Twilight figured a way to help us and one by one she fixed our marks and then, when she’d fixed everything, she figured out the end to some spell in that dusty book she got.”

‘Master….’ Darkness mentally glanced at Starswirl’s journal and frowned. ‘What happened next?’

“Well Darky-Warky! After that, things got all crazy and lights shined and then suddenly Twilight just went poof!”

‘Poof?’

“Yeah! She just disappeared and left that strange burn mark on the ground! We’re not sure what’s going on.”

“Hmmm...what do you think Disky? Disky?” Ryan looked around, only to see him missing. “Where the heck...doesn’t matter. Ah wonder if this is her test that he mentioned…”

“Darling...what test? What exactly is going on?”

There was a sudden burst of light outside and upon heading out there as quick as they could, the sight in the sky told them they’d get there answer soon.

“That’s her cutie mark...at least a variation of it.” Lyra titled her head. “Why six points?”

“Something tells me we’re about to find out. “ Spike shielded his eyes as the cutie mark sign began to descend down towards them before it dissipated only to reveal, “Twilight?”

“Goodness me! She has wings now!”

“That’s certainly somethin’. Mah bookworm is an alicorn now?!”

“U-uhm...d-does that mean that she...she’s a princess now?”

“Indeed it does, dear Fluttershy.”

Turning their attention to the new voice, Celestia herself had appeared with a rather large smile on her face. “There have been many trials, many challenges, and many difficulties in the journey of Friendship you’ve made since coming to Ponyville.” Celestia glanced at Ryan and chuckled. “Even if the appearance of a certain human changed things in ways I did not expect, you still met each new test with the determination and strength of heart I knew you were capable of.”

“...ya know, Ah feel that’s a sleight against me, but Ah can’t rightly argue. Ah do cause quite the commotion.”

“Indeed.” Celestia chuckled softly. “And through all that, Twilight, you did something that even the great Starswirl himself was unable to do. You’ve come to understand Friendship in a way that no other has yet and for that I congratulate you, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“I...I still...is there a book about being a princess? I feel like I have more to learn…”

“Heh, there will be time for that later. However...we have a coronation to plan for tomorrow. Perhaps someone can help us plan such a thing?”

Pinkie grinned widely and nodded her head. “Oh me, me, me, me, me! Pick me!”

Celestia smiled warmly before nodding. “Of course, Pinkie. We’d be happy to have your help...hmmm? Twilight?”

“Princess...does this mean that...that I’m no longer your student?”

“Twilight...I will always be there to help you when you need guidance, but this also means that you have things to teach me now, as well. Now then...rest up! Tomorrow will be a big day.”

‘Heh, in more ways than one, I imagine.’ Dark chuckled softly before sighing. ‘Man, Master...when you said something was going on, I never would’ve thought it’d involve a new princess. Noice!’

“Technically, partner, we kinda did…”

‘Maybe...but we were just guessing, not like DJ ever said we were right. Haha.’

“Fair enough...let’s just rest up. After today’s shenanigans, Ah can tell we most certainly need it.”

The next day, inside Canterlot Castle, Twilight was fidgeting a bit as she waited with her fellow herdmates and human for Celestia and Luna to arrive.

“Relax, hun.” Ryan smiled softly, helping her slightly adjust her mane. “It’s easy-peasy. Some things are said and ‘boom!’, you get a crown and totally become an awesome pony princess….”

“Hmm? What’s wrong my peach?”

“...nothing, just...remembering something Deej told me about this world. Ah never thought such phrases would be normal ta me, but then again Ah’m anything but so guess it all makes sense.”

‘Exactly, Ry! Pretty pony princesses are totally a thing you can roll with. Need I bring up the brushie-brushie time again?’

Ryan sighed, facepalming and dragging his hand down his face very slowly. “No, Darkness...you need not.”

“Tsk, tsk…” Rarity wrapped her magic around Ryan’s glasses, poofing them clean. “Dear, do try to keep from dirtying your glasses. Even if that scamp of a soul warrants such actions, you must look your best.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Ryan rolled his eyes, thankful to see Luna and Celestia finally showing up. “Thank you God...now then, let’s crown us some new royalty!”

“Well then, are you ready Princess Twilight?”

“...that’s going to take some getting used to, but yes, Luna, I am.”

“Then let us not keep the crowd any longer.” With that Celestia led them out on to the balcony overlooking the square and boy oh boy was there a lot of ponies gathered together.

“Goodness...that crowd is loud.” Spike laughed softly. “Then again, not everyday we get a new princess.”

“True enough.” Ryan nodded before moving to the side with the rest of his herd as Celestia and Luna took point with Twilight.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts, we are gathered here for a momentous occasion. Some time ago, I sent my student Twilight Sparkle to Ponyville to learn about the magic of Friendship. In the time that she was there, she not only reunited me with my sister, Princess Luna, but with the bonds she shares with her friends, was able to repel the god of chaos twice and even reform him.”

‘...technically, Ryan was the last pushing point, but details, Tia.’

“Ahem, as I was saying. Having done all that, today is even more special as Twilight has created a brand new magic. In doing so, she has shown that she is ready to be crowned the newest Princess of Equestria. So without further delay, we now present to you Princess Twilight Sparkle!”

‘Heh...ya know, Master...the others would’ve loved seeing a day like this come to pass. Human, pony, or otherwise...it would’ve given them so much hope for the future.’ Dark was lost in his thoughts for a moment before he joined the cheering of everyone else there. ‘Hell yeah, Twily! You rock!’

As it was, the cheering of the crowd was almost too overwhelming for Twilight as she stood there a bit stunned at the moment. Only after an encouraging nudge by Celestia did she finally gather herself enough to address the crowd.

Clearing her throat she put on a smile. “As the Princess said, I was sent to Ponyville to study Friendship which, at the time, I really didn’t deem all that worthwhile a pursuit. Today, however, would not be possible were it not for all the friendships that I’ve made in my time there. I honestly doubt I’d have come so far were it not for all of you, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“Always happy to help, T-Sparks.” Ryan winked and struck a pose. “Now then, maybe we should get moving to the crowning and reception, otherwise Ah feel like Shiny there is gonna drown us all in his tears.”

“Huh?” Twilight was shocked to see her brother crying. “Shining?”

“I’m just so proud of you, Twily!” Shining couldn’t hold back his emotions. “Besides, it’s liquid pride! Totally not the same thing!”

‘Heh, if you say so Shiny.’ Dark laughed, as well did the others at his teasing.

“T-Sparks…” Ryan knelt down and took her in a big hug. “Ah’m so proud of ya, hon. And Ah know that no matter what changes this brings about, our herd will get through it like we’ve always done: together.”

“Thank you my peach.” She nuzzled his cheek before smiling.

“That’s all happy and stuff and we’ll totally come back to all the lovey-dovey, but we’ve got a celebration to get started so come on!” Pinkie shouted, pushing everyone along until somehow they were now in the coronation parade.

“...how did we get here from the balcony?” Rainbow asked, looking quite puzzled.

“It’s Pinkie, don’t question it.”

“Fair enough, Lyra.”

With ponies cheering and singing as they walked, it seemed as if everything would be all right as Twilight spread her wings and soared free amidst exploding bursts of petals from Malus Domestica. And as Ryan watched her flying high, he figured that yeah, just maybe things would be all right….until a thought struck him hard and moved all focus to him. “Oh no…”

“...what’s wrong, Apple Ryder?”

“T-Sparks is a Princess...that makes her royalty now.”

“...yer point?”

“We’re all connected to her...specifically in a romantic way.”

“...still not getting what yer hammerin’ at.”

“Don’t ya see, Apps?! That means if she’s a Princess, and therefore royalty, we’ll be royalty too!” Ryan seemed overcome by that fact for a moment. “...which means...Ah’m kinda a prince just like Deej now….that’s, uh, that’s gonna be fun. Heh, eyup. Yeah...that’s...that’s…”

And at that moment Ryan, no doubt realizing what kinda pressure that was going to add to their lives, collapsed as his herd watched on in slight worry, but mostly amusement that as usual their human was overthinking things. As the group laughed and hefted him up to continue on, Discord and a hooded figure were watching from a distance with slight smiles on their faces.

“My, my, and here I was hoping the boy wouldn’t be too worried about being a prince now.”

“Seems par for the course with that one, Discord. So I’ve heard, anyway.” The hooded figure was quiet for a moment before speaking up. “The mint one...you made sure she got the art book and began an interest in capturing their journeys?”

“Of course I did. Please, give me some credit: while a plan is technically order, I can still pull one off. I’m not that unprofessional you know.”

“Heh, of course. That’s good though...it will prove most useful when the time comes.”

“I’d ask exactly what that was supposed to mean, but given how little you’ve been willing to share with me to begin with I highly doubt you’ll tell me now.”

The hooded figure paused a moment before looking at Discord. “The memories that will go into that book...they will be important, Discord. Terribly so.”

“Oh, how mysterious~” Discord scoffed. “You know, I’m usually one that is all for surprises, but something about how your acting is rubbing me the wrong way. Almost as if...I wonder. Hmmm...are you sure we haven’t met?”

“Who can say? However...it’s best you don’t know more. Even this is...probably, no, definitely breaking some rules.” The hooded figure motioned for Discord’s paw before depositing something into it.

“Huh? This is…”

“Shhh...when the time is right, you’ll know when to make use of this.”

“Is that wise, leaving me of all people in charge of something like that?”

“I have my reasons to trust you...despite what…”

Discord’s eyebrow raised so high at that, it might as well have been in space. “Despite what...?”

Shaking his head, the figure bit his tongue. “Regardless of why, you’ll know when that will be relevant. But Discord, please promise me…”

“Hmmm?”

“Don’t make the same mistake he did...heh, who knows? Perhaps the next time we meet, I can finally explain everything to you.”

“Okay, I’ve gone along with this because you said it had something to do with the boy and those ponies of his, but unless you start making sense I’m not sure I can be patient with you for much longer.”

“Heh...the god of chaos asking someone to make sense? Never thought I’d see the day. Maybe you will be different than him.” The figure began to fade away, flicks of green sparking all around him. “Remember what I said, Discord...a lot is riding on it. Don’t waste it…”

And just like that Discord was alone again, the only company he had his thoughts and the item he currently held. Unsure as to just what it all meant, and realizing that irritated him more than it should, he figured it wasn’t worth worrying about now. After all, there was a new Princess in town...and once she, her friends, and that human of theirs had gotten time to settle into that fact, he’d be right there to congratulate them. In his own way, of course.

“Hahaha, something tells me that the most delightfully chaotic storms are brewing. Oooooh, that makes me shiver a little. I simply can’t wait to see what is carried on their winds.” Discord smirked before turning towards the audience. “And, were I to wager, neither can you. Oh yes, dear friends, let us anticipate together…”

Author's Note

Heh, so what did y'all think? Not a bad way to cover that Season 3 finale without rehashing what happened in the actual episode, right? But man, Ah've been wanting to write this chapter for so very long. Seriously, had the ideas in place ever since Deej and Ah started working on the crossover...the one y'all know about anyway. Haha. As for who our mystery person is, well...Ah wouldn't worry about whomever that is too much for now. But hey, Ah'd still love to hear what kinda guesses y'all might have. Heh. :trollestia:

It's been nearly three years since Ah started this story after becoming a fan of this fandom (July 2013 to May 2016 for those wondering), and it's been a crazy run writing this story. It's actually the first story in a long time that Ah've gotten to a point to deem it complete, so yeah, for those that saw that it's true. Just Horsing Around is finally a complete story on its own...but if you think there aren't more shenanigans for Ryan and Dark to drag those pones through, then yer crazier than we are! After all we've got what...two, sorry, three new seasons of content to use?
Heh, that's not even to mention a certain trio of movies that's about to become four involving a certain shimmering beauty and her path of redemption. You lovely folks know just who I'm talking about here.
Ah bet they do, Dark, but for all of those that enjoy this story and all that Ah produce with these characters, thank you. While Ah do enjoy writing this for mah own fun, having all of you to motivate me, inspire me, and even directly influence moments in the story just pushes me to make this series even better for y'all. From something as simple as the idea of Dark as Kamina, or a machine gun fueled by pop-tarts, to something as grandiose as DJ and Ah's massive crossover of our two series into this intertwined web of delightful madness, this story is shaped by y'all as much as it is by me. Oh, and once again thanks to mah buddy ImpCJCaesar for the awesome Sanscord picture! :pinkiehappy:

So thanks for coming along on this ride, and we both hope you'll continue to follow along to see where things go next...and boy, do we have plans.
It's gonna be a hell of a time folks, and that's a guarantee backed by the Darkness Shade Seal of Approval™!!

1st Harvest

"Ugh....my head is killing me. Where am I?"

A lone human slowly blinked, his eyes opening to see the sunlight filtering down around him through the treetops; grunting he slowly got the energy to sit up and then immediately regretted it.

"Oh my head....let's try that again."

Taking a deep breath he slowly sat up and then finally managed to get himself into a sitting position before taking a better look around; from what little he could tell he was in a forest of sorts and while he didn't think he was in any immediate danger he was pretty sure he wanted to get out of wherever this was and find civilization quickly.

"Hmmm...I'm not even sure where I am, or how I got here to be honest. What was the last thing I did?" He groaned, holding his head as he slowly walked in what he hoped was north, "I had work....and then I came home and went to the...park? Hmmm...if that was true I should have my music player and phone with me."

Checking his pockets, he did see that his player was in his pocket and still charged as well as his phone but unfortunately for the hapless man he couldn't seem to get any signal which led him to heave a huge sigh.

"Marvelous...well, at least that confirms my thoughts about where I last was. Nothing seems to be broken, nothing really feels off save for this headache....let's see, my memory other than how I got here seems to be intact still...I still remember my name and a bunch of stuff...."

Sighing again at how confusing and disheartening the situation was, he shook his head before nodding and continued on till he thought he heard voices.

"I think it's over this way! We're getting close to where the Princess said she detected that strange influx of energy!"

"Hey! Wait up! I can't run as fast as you with my little legs Twilight!"

The man paused for a moment, wondering who these two voices were; deducing that one was female and the other sounded like a young male he paused before deciding that making contact of some kind was better than tromping about this unknown forest all by himself.

Of course, when he got to where he thought he had heard the female voice running off to he saw something he wouldn't have ever expected: a purple unicorn.

"...well, that's curious." He remarked before noting the unicorn had turned her attention to him, "Hey, easy...easy girl. I'm not here to harm anyone...I'm just lost and thought I heard voices."

The unicorn stared at him with wide eyes as he slowly stepped closer in as non-threatening a manner as he could; when he was close enough to do so he reached out and began to stroke her mane slowly.

"Heh, well I can't say I ever expected to see a unicorn that's such a lovely shade of purple but at least I'm not alone anymore." He laughed softly at the confused look in her eyes, "I'm Ryan by the way...heh, look at me, expecting you to talk back. I guess I'm just tired...of...."

Ryan slowed his speaking when he saw a young dragon of all things come walking up; that wasn't the thing that surprised him the most however.

Oh no, that surprising act was when he began talking before he noticed Ryan.

"Oh finally, there you are Twilight; you shouldn't leave me like that, this forest is always so...creepy?"

"...a talking dragon?"

"Twilight, just a few question: what is that? Who is that? And perhaps most importantly, why are you letting him pet your mane?"

"I don't know, but he seemed lost and confused and I think petting my mane has helped calm his nerves some." Twilight explained before turning and seeing Ryan just standing there looking like he was in a daze, "He said his name is Ryan but I've never seen a creature like him before...I'm so curious but..."

"Twilight..."

"But I wonder what he could be...I wonder if any of my books have something in them about this?"

"Twilight...."

"Maybe he's an unknown species? Or a lost species? Oh! What if he's....!"

"TWILIGHT!"

"...yes Spike?"

"He doesn't look too good."

Sure enough, looking at him she could see Ryan begin to sway and clutch his head.

"Oh mercy, this is a bit much for me to handle at the moment...going down." He groaned before fainting and falling backwards.

Thinking quickly, Twilight used her magic to cushion his fall so that he only fell with a slight whoomp before hitting the soft grass and dirt.

"Is he okay?"

"I don't know Spike but I don't think he was expecting either of us...or that we'd be talking the same language as him." Twilight explained, frowning as she looked at this curious guy, "Stay here with him, I need to go get Applejack to help me carry him back to town."

"You're just gonna take him to Ponyville?!" Spike gasped, "What if he's like a menace or a monster or something?"

"Spike...the way he was acting, he seemed confused and worried; even if I don't know what he is I can't just leave him out here in that state. You know I'm right..."

"I know." Spike sighed, nodding his head, "Hurry up and get Applejack, I'll keep an eye on the big guy."

"He's so weird looking...with those long legs and no tail and...what the heck is he anyway? He's so weird! Maybe you shouldn't have brought him back?"

"Rainbow Dash! You can't just leave a pony...critter...whatever he is just lying there in need of help! That just wouldn't be kindly."

"AppleJack's right; no matter how weird somepony looks if they're in trouble you should help them."

"I for one would like to know where he got that amazing jacket; it has such style and that shirt of his....oh he must have exquisite tastes."

"I don't know about that Rarity, but I bet this guy totally loves to party and stuff! Just look at that shaggy mane of his! Sure it's not as long as ours but it's totally wild and I love it!"

"Guys! You need to be a bit quieter; he obviously had some ordeal given how he was acting before he passed out."

Ryan groaned softly, the sound of six distinct (and clearly female) voices ringing about making it rather hard to stay asleep; as he slowly came too from his dazed state he no longer had the headache that had been bothering him but he still felt achey all over.

"Probably from fainting like that..." He groaned, his eyes fluttering open when he heard a number of gasps surrounding him, "Uh......hi?"

"Holy ponies he can talk!" Rainbow Dash gasped, flying back and hiding at the end of the bed Ryan saw that he was situated in.

"Uhm, yeah, I can talk; hmmmm....I'm still rather confused." He sighed, sliding back into a sitting position and looking at the six...ponies he figured even if they weren't all the same, "Uhm...where..."

"Are you?" Twilight asked, noting he was still a bit disoriented.

"Yeah, that one; not that I don't mind somewhere soft after all that happened but...is this someone's house?"

"...it's...it's mine."

Ryan looked for the owner of the really quiet voice but he couldn't see head nor tail of who said it until he saw a pair of eyes peering at him from behind a chair.

"Oh, well thank you Ms...."

"Uhm...I'm....Fluttershy."

"I...can you speak up a bit? I didn't catch your name."

"Uhm...Fluttershy...my name is Fluttershy."

"Heh, that makes sense from what I can tell...at least what I think passes for sense given I'm clearly not on Earth anymore." Ryan sighed, clutching his head and taking a deep breath.

"Heh, what are you talking about you silly-ba-nilly? This is Earth!"

Ryan looked at the clearly hyperkinetic pink pony and shook his head.

"Well, then I guess I should say it's not my Earth; on my Earth, ponies and other creatures don't speak the human language....nor do unicorns and dragons and...I'm guessing your two hiding friends are Pegasuses? Pegasi? Either way a lot of what I've seen already does not exist in my world." Ryan explained, groaning again and leaning back, "I don't even know where the heck I am?"

"Human? Now what in tarnation is a human?"

"I'm a human...a human being? Do you...do you not have those here?" Ryan asked, looking at the bright orange pony who clearly had a southern accent going on, "Maybe...maybe if we exchange names all around that might help things out....I'm Ryan."

After a quick greeting all around in which Ryan had learned the names of the six ponies (and of course the dragon Spike), he was sitting with them around a table as he tried to come to grips with where he was as well as explain some things.

"Anyway AppleJack, a human being is basically what you're looking at; two legs, two arms, opposable thumbs and fingers." He explained, wiggling his fingers for effect, "I mean, other than getting into deeper physiological bits that's the basic gist."

"Oh, so you've got hands like Spike then."

"Like me huh? Okay! High five for having opposable thumbs!" Spike joked, waiting for Ryan to give him said high five...and then grinning when he finally caved, "Alright!"

"Hahaha, I guess in a world where not everyone has them having opposable thumbs can be a benefit." Ryan remarked with a grin, "Although...how do you grab things without hands? Hmmm, you probably use your mouths but I can imagine you would be able to use your hooves somehow..."

"Well....you're certainly an unusual looking feller that's for sure..and a bit of thinker too."

"Heh, well, that wouldn't be the first time I've been told that but...it sounds a lot nicer coming from you." Ryan laughed, "So...this place? It is Earth...you said it's called Equestria?"

"That's right." Twilight replied with a nod of her head, "And right now you're in a town known as Ponyville where the six of us live."

"Curious." Ryan remarked before taking a glass offered by Spike, "Thanks little buddy, some water is totally what I need right now."

"Okay, so you seem harmless but...." Rainbow Dash fluttered her wings before flying all up in Ryan's face, "Why were you in the Everfree forest? Nothing good ever comes out of there...except Zecora. Where did you come from too? How did you get from there to the Forest!?"

"...heh, I'm guessing you're the brash one of the group huh Dashie?" Ryan asked with a laugh, "All valid questions though...sadly I can't answer as I've no idea how I ended up here of all places. The last thing I can remember before waking up in that forest is taking a walk to the park near my house; I was listening to my music player and then...it gets muddy from there."

"....Dashie?! Hmmmmm, whatever...just don't cause any trouble got it?"

"Will do Dashie."

With the ice broken well enough now, the group talked for a while as explanations as well as a few laughs were shared; all in all Ryan seemed pretty relaxed considering he had no idea why the heck he'd ended up here or how to get home.

"Hmmmm, while having this settled is all well and good...it dawns on me that I haven't a place to stay given my just appearing here." He mused with a frown, "And what will I do for employment or money concerns while I try to figure out what all happened? Hmm....this is a bit of a pickle I've gotten myself into."

"Uhm, if you don't think it too much to bear you could come stay with me and my kin at our farm; we've got plenty of room there so I'm sure we could set you up with something and well, if you don't mind hard work you can always help us with the harvesting to cover living there." AppleJack offered blushing a bit, "I mean, if you don't mind being around some nice country folk that is."

Ryan gave a slight laugh before nodding and winking at AppleJack.

"Darlin', it would make this southern gentleman more than happy to accept your kind offer." Ryan remarked in something more near his actual accent much to AppleJack's surprise, "In all seriousness though, y'all have been quite kind to someone as different looking as I am. I'm very grateful considering I'd be a little more than lost without yer help."

"Oh darling, we're always happy to lend a hoove to someone in need; speaking of, if you'd like to come by town tomorrow I'd be happy to take some measurements and make you some new clothing as long as you let me study that dashing jacket of yours." Rarity remarked.

"And I'd like it if you came by my library tomorrow as well, I can't help but feel that maybe something in one of my books has information about...hoo-mans?"

"Humans Twilight."

"Right! Humans!" Twilight chuckled, feeling a bit sheepish at mispronouncing it.

"Well then Ryan, it seems like y'all got yerself a full day tomorrow so how's about we mosey back to the farm and get some shut eye?" AppleJack asked, smiling when Ryan gave her a grateful smile in return.

"That sounds great AppleJack, well then everyone I'm quite thankful for all the help. I really don't know how to repay you." Ryan stated, giving a slight bow.

"Oh no, it's no problem." Fluttershy quietly replied, "I always help any fellow animal in need after all....humans are animals right?"

"Heh, technically yes we are."

"Oh good, okay then, yes."

With a group hug goodbye till tomorrow, Ryan left with AppleJack while the others made their way back to their homes.

"Well, at least the days seem to be the same length so I lucked out on that one." Ryan made idle small talk as he walked with AppleJack, "I can't imagine having to adjust to some crazy 30 or 48 hour day or something."

"Heh, that would be pretty darn weird I can imagine."

"Hey AppleJack?"

"Yeah Ryan?"

"Your family...they...they won't mind will they? I mean, I hate to impose..."

"Shoot! They'd be just as eager to help out as I am; we're good people so don't you fret. Just be the good pony, er, human you seem to be and you shouldn't have any trouble." AppleJack explained before smirking, "Although my little sister...she might be a bit crazy seeing someone as unique as you around so...try not to let her get to you."

"Haha, duly noted AppleJack."

The rest of the walk went by rather quickly, Ryan and AppleJack swapping some stories and just enjoying the evening; soon enough Ryan could see a large farm come into view, surrounded by apple trees from what he could see.

"Heh, apples. I can't say I'm not surprised." Ryan chuckled, winking at AppleJack as they walked towards the main farmhouse, "That explains yer name at least."

"Well, it is in mah nature after all." AppleJack laughed before motioning behind her, "I mean, that is why my cutie mark is what it is."

"...Cutie Mark?" Ryan asked, a bit perplexed before he looked back and saw a mark on her hind legs, "Oh...that's what those are; I was wondering about that the whole time I was talking with all of you but..a moment to ask never really came up."

"Yep! I got mine when I learned that I preferred the simple life out here in the country, farming on the family ranch."

With that AppleJack gave a knock before opening the door and leading Ryan into the main room where he saw two other ponies enjoying some music that sounded like something his grandfather would've listened to.

"AppleJack, your back at last." Stated an older looking mare as she slowly stood up and walked over to the two of them, "Oh my dearie, who is this rather strapping young buck you've brought back with you?"

"Granny!"

"Haha, he's a bit of a funny looking fellah but he seems like a nice boy; you've got mah blessing."

"Granny!"

"Hahaha, oh my." Ryan laughed softly, his cheeks slightly red at her insinuation, "While I'm flattered at your words ma'am, I'm simply a stranger in this land that your granddaughter generously offered to help out."

"Are you sure sonny? I think you and her would make a right fine pair."

"Eyup!"

"Big Mac, don't you start on that too." AppleJack laughed before eyeing her brother and shaking her head, "That over there is my big brother, Big MacIntosh."

"...so then would your Granny be...Granny Smith?" Ryan asked, thinking he was seeing the pattern.

"He's smart as a whip too!" Granny Smith laughed, going to slap her thigh and almost falling over if Ryan hadn't quickly moved to grab her, "And such a strong, kind man...."

"Heh, again you flatter me ma'am."

"Don't give me none of that 'ma'am' stuff, you can call me Granny like everyone else." Granny Smith explained before nodding, "AppleJack, I can tell yer friend her has had one hoot-n-holler of a day so why don't you go help him get settled in the guest room and we can talk more tomorrow?"

"I think that's the best idea." AppleJack replied before motioning for Ryan to follow her up the stairs, "I'm guessing my little sister must already be in bed so you won't get to meet her till tomorrow."

"Well, if she's as chilled out as your Granny and brother were about what I am then I think I'll be okay here."

"You'll see that Ponyville is pretty accepting of just about anyone; I can't guarantee you won't get yer fair share of stares though. Haha, ya do kind of stick out with yer walking on them long legs and stuff all upright. PLus you are kinda tall..."

"Well, compared to everyone else here so far...Big Mac seems to be the first pony I've met here that is about my height." Ryan laughed as he looked at the room they'd headed into, "Ah, that bed looks nice...and I think I'll just about fit on it."

It was a few hours later, after they'd turned in for bed when Ryan awoke after a bit of a fitful sleep; glancing at the clock he saw it was about five in the morning and the sun was still a bit of a way from rising.

Tossing and turning for a bit, he finally put on his glasses and got up before walking downstairs and sitting on the porch as he stared up at the stars.

"Curious...some of the constellations are the same...but I bet they have different names here." He quietly said, staring up at them and just thinking about his current situation, "Probably some kind of horse puns are involved..."

He was jolted from his concentration when an orange hoove tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to see a somewhat bed-heady (or would that be bed-maney?) AppleJack blinking tiredly and looking a bit worried at seeing him up.

"I didn't mean ta scare ya, I just heard you get up and walk outside." AppleJack remarked before sitting next to him, "You okay?"

Giving a slight sigh, Ryan leaned back and gave a small shrug at her question.

"Well AppleJack, I'm just thinking on the situation...wondering if anyone knows I'm missing yet." Ryan explained, "And just...had a bit of a nightmare so couldn't get back to sleep."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that sugar, but as long as yer here you'll always be welcome by all of us okay?" AppleJack asked, sliding over and leaning against him.

"Mmmmm." Ryan sighed, enjoying the warmth AppleJack's contact was giving him in the cool morning air as he reached out and scratched her messy mane, "Thanks hun, that helps me feel better; I just hope if someone does note I'm missing they don't worry too much. To be honest though..."

"Hmmmm?" AppleJack asked, her eyes closed as she enjoyed Ryan's attention to her mane.

"Haha, to be honest...I kind of don't mind a change of pace like this. My life was...kind of dull to be honest. I worked...exercised...played some games. But I didn't have friends anymore, at least that I could hang out with...I wasn't lucky with love...being alone kind of sucked. I had family, and they were nice even if we bickered, but family can only go so far ya know?"

"I kind of understand: family love and the love of a partner are two different things that people desire for happiness...but don't feel too bad, I haven't ever been in love so at least you've experienced it."

"Hahaha, that's one way to look at it...you silly southern belle you." Ryan teased, putting an arm around her and just hugging her close, "...I'd like to get back to bed but..."

"You don't want to be alone right? I imagine that's why you had that nightmare."

"Heh, smart too. I like that."

"Quit teasing me mister or I'll give you such a bucking." AppleJack teased right back, "Well, if you don't wanna be alone...and you don't think it'll be weird..."

"Hmmm? Do you have an idea?" Ryan asked, eyeing her curiously.

"Well...."

Ryan groaned softly, the bright light of day now shining forth through the window and smacking him right in the face.

He didn't want to get up and so rolled over...before making a puzzled face when he got a face full of hair; slowly opening his eyes he saw his face was buried in what appeared to be blonde hair and that puzzled him.

Then he looked about and noted he wasn't in his room and freaked out a bit, making a startled noise and jumping back...right off the bed.

"Owwww...." Ryan sighed, rubbing his head as he tried to get his bearings, "...wait...it's coming back to me..."

"Hmmmm, Ryan...you okay sugah?" AppleJack sleepily asked, having rolled over to see him on the ground, "...now what're y'all doing down there on the ground?"

"...testing the durability of the floor?" He joked, still rubbing his sore head as he lay there dazed, "Sorry, I just kind of forgot where I was for a moment and..."

"APPLEJACK! Why aren't you in your room? Are you in here?"

"Who is..." Ryan went to ask before seeing a smaller pony poke her head into the room, "Ah, this must be your sister...little sister it seems."

"There you are AppleJack, I was wondering where...." Was all the young filly got out before her focused moved to Ryan, "...huh?"

"Oh God!" Ryan gasped as he was soon tackled back to the floor as this young pony stared at him, "Uhm....hi. Can...can I help you?"

"Who the heck are you? And why are you in the same bedroom as my big sister? And what are you? And why are you in the same bedroom as my big sister?"

"You...you asked that one twice little one..." Ryan sighed, now seeing why AppleJack had seen to warn him about her little sister.

"AppleBloom, you get off mah new friend this instant! He's already having enough time adjusting without you getting yer hoove-prints all over his chest."

"...friend? Ooooooooh...is he your boyfriend AppleJack?"

"...somehow I get the feeling that your Granny and her seem to think alike on some things." Ryan joked before carefully removing AppleBloom from his person and finally standing up, "Goodness...this morning is already proving to be quite exciting."

"...so then he's not yer boyfriend? I mean, he's not a pony but I wouldn't be judging about...uhm....whatever he is if you did like him and stuff."

"AppleBloom....out!" AppleJack sighed, rolling her eyes, "...I'm sorry Ryan, I'm sure you're getting annoyed hearing that again."

"Hahaha, actually I'm just laughing it off; I guess you could say it makes my, uhm, ego feel good that even if I'm a total unknown in terms of appearances and species here in Equestria that people would still think I'd be boyfriend material." Ryan joked, giving a hearty laugh before patting her on the head, "Anyway...I think I smell something delicious and tasty cooking and I'm starving something fierce."

"Oooh, so that's what that rumbling noise I heard was...and here I thought it was just them critters stampeding again." AppleJack teased before laughing and dashing out of the room.

"You orange goober!"

With that Ryan dashed after her and ended up taking a slight tumble down the stairs before landing in a heap.

"....AppleJack...you are such a brat."

After collecting himself and having a nice apple-based pastry breakfast with AppleJack and her family (and once again getting double-whammied by both Granny Smith and AppleBloom insisting he must be her boyfriend), Ryan and AppleJack headed into town to go pay a visit to Rarity and Twilight as they had promised.

"...yer family is certainly interesting." Ryan laughed as they walked into town, before noting a few gasps and whispers of curious chatter as he passed by everyone, "...or everypony I imagine."

"What's that sugah?"

"Oh just...noting everyone kind of staring at me that's all; then again I can't blame them." Ryan remarked, trying not to let it affect him, "I can't imagine someone like me has ever wandered into town."

"Ah, don't think nothing of it; you give them some time and they'll be welcoming ya fer sure!"

After nearly getting tackled by a rather curious, cross-eyed Pegasus pony who Ryan could tell needed some lessons in flying, they finally arrived at a rather fancy looking house.

"So then, this is Rarity's house? Heh, even with what little I know about her I have to say it fits." Ryan joked before knocking on the door, "Hello? Rarity? It's Ryan and AppleJack!"

"Ooooh, darling. I was starting to wonder where you were you dear man...although I guess you must have forgotten to brush because your mane is just so dreadfully wild this morning." Rarity replied as she stared at Ryan's head.

"Hmmm? Oh, I've probably got like awful bed-head huh? ...I wonder if that's why everyone kept staring at me and not because I'm human?"

"Either way come in you two, I've been ready and waiting so let's not waste another moment!"

Looking about after walking in, Ryan could see she clearly took her designing seriously with all the fabrics, buttons, ribbons, thread, and all manners of clothing design pieces just everywhere; he was interrupted from his observations when he saw Rarity just staring at him...or rather his clothing.

"I must say that pattern on your shirt is just dashing; I'm already getting such amazing ideas for a new line of pony dresses." Rarity remarked, her eyes sparkling as she brought over a measuring tape, "So then...shall I get your sizes; I have to note this will be quite the challenge, I've never had to make clothing for a human before."

"...It's going to take some time for me to get used to that." Ryan chuckled, motioning towards the measuring tape floating in mid-air, "Magic...simply amazing."

"If that amazes you sugah, I can't even begin to imagine how you'd react to some of the things we've encountered before." AppleJack joked, watching with some amusement that somepony else was being the model this time, "Are you okay Ryan?"

"Uhm, yeah...just...oof, careful Rarity." Ryan groaned, blinking slowly, "I'm just not a big fan of having my measurements taken; as you can tell I'm not exactly the thinnest guy around so my measurements have always been a bit...large."

"Oh hush! You're quite dashing Ryan, so please, don't think so badly; besides, if you're going to be such a dear and help AppleJack out you'll be fit in no time." Rarity chimed in, smiling as she finished marking down measurements, "Okay, I think I've got the basic idea down...any particular colors you like darling?"

"Well, I'm partial to blue and purple and grey, but some more colorful clothing wouldn't be a bad idea." Ryan thought for a moment before smirking, "Hmmm...how about some reds, greens, golden yellow, and orange? Are those enough colors to give you flexibility?"

"Absolutely! Oh I can't wait to start! This is such a challenging task but I just know this will turn out marvelous."

"Heh, I appreciate it; I just wish I could repay you for your kindness." Ryan sheepishly stated before feeling Rarity take his hand in hers.

"Now Ryan, you don't need to worry about that; you need our help and besides, you're giving me such a unique opportunity: nobody else in Equestria can say they've made clothing for a human can they? Of course not, but soon I will so imagine how much of an honor that is." Rarity explained as she patted his hand, "So don't worry darling, it's all okay."

"Well then, far be it for a gentleman to deny such lovely hospitalities." Ryan taking her hand (hoove? He figured it didn't matter) and giving it a kiss, "It's nice to know that there still are such kind people, er, ponies out there in the world."

"Flatterer...now go, go, I've got so much to work on if I'm going to make your new clothing just right!"

With a laugh (and some teasing by AppleJack at his "gentlemanly" actions), Ryan and her headed off towards Twilight's house all the while being unaware that someone was following them.

"...hmmm, she lives in a tree; that I did not foresee."

"Is that weird that Twilight does?"

"Well, if we were on my Earth, a little bit; other than in books and stuff I can't think of anyone that actually did carve a home out of a tree." Ryan explained, "Anyway, let's leaf it at that for now."

AppleJack stopped her walking and slowly turned around to face Ryan before tilting her head and just staring at him.

"Sugah...did you just make a pun?"

"Y...yes?" Ryan quietly replied, "Was...was it that bad?"

"Nope! I thought it was tree-mendously funny but I figured I'd give ya some grief and let ya drift in the wind a bit."

"...and I thought mine was bad." Ryan sighed before laughing, grabbing AppleJack's hat, and putting it on himself.

"Hey! That's mine!"

"I know, but I'm gonna borrow it as retribution for a pun that was even worse than mine." Ryan teased before knocking on the door...and watching as it slammed into him, "Okay....again, ow."

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Twilight hurriedly apologized, watching as Ryan tried to shake it off, "...why are you wearing AppleJack's hat?"

"He claims it's "retribution" for a bad pun...anyway, you mind explaining why you smashed poor Ryan with yer door?"

"Oh, well, I got so excited about potentially finding out about hu-mans that I kind of, sort of, opened the door the wrong way?" Twilight offered as an explanation, to which Ryan gave a shrug, "I am sorry, are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Shall we go inside then?" Ryan asked, following the others in and blinking in surprise, "Wow, that's one impressive library you've got yerself here Twilight."

"Yeah, but it's still nothing compared to the one in Canterlot...."

"...Twi, are you okay? I can't help but notice you look a bit...frazzled." Ryan asked, eyeing her tired eyes, slightly messy mane, and sleepy posture a bit.

"That's normal when Twilight gets all excited over something." Spike explained, sorting through some books, "When she gets something new she can learn she kind of goes overboard."

"...so I might've stayed up till like 3 in the morning looking through my books to find anything about humans...I'm not crazy for that." Twilight defended her actions, though the amused look on Ryan's face told her while he didn't buy it, he wasn't going to grief her over it.

"A-Anyway, Spike has been helping me sort the last few books I have that might have some references to what you are...in case they don't though, I sent a letter to the Princess requesting some assistance."

"Princess?"

"That's a smart idea Twilight; if anyone can help find more info about Ryan here it'd be Princess Celestia fer sure." AppleJack chimed in before hearing an odd rumbly noise, "Now what in tarnation was that?"

"Uhm....that...that was me." Ryan noted sheepishly, "It's my stomach...I guess it's just getting a bit hungry."

"Well shoot then, let's get to helping with the rest of these books and then go get some lunch. That sound like a plan Twilight?"

"Sure then AppleJack...although, I hope we can find something that you'll eat."

"I don't think that'll be too much of a problem." AppleJack snickered, patting Ryan's gut, "He seemed happier than a pig with slop at breakfast this morning so I'm sure we can find something the big guy likes."

"...did...did I just get related to a pig?"

After going through a mountain of about thirty books, their search ended with nary a result save for one book that mentioned a creature that sounded like a human but other than a few words and a vague description from a long ago time their search came up empty.

"I guess this is one where y'all have to wait for Princess Celestia then." AppleJack remarked, noting her friend's slightly defeated posture, "But hey...until then you've got a human standing right here in front of ya so why don't we go get lunch and y'all can talk."

"Heh, that is true; if there's things you want to know then I'm more than happy to educate ya Twilight." Ryan added, giving a nod before blushing when his stomach rumbled again, "I think we'd better go grab some grub guys...my stomach's getting even angrier and it's making even Spike look tasty."

"...that, that is a joke, right big guy?" Spike nervously asked, laughing but not sure if he could relax during the laugh.

"Haha, well let's just say I have the mindset that usually if something lives and feels like you or I, it's not on the menu."

"Phew, that's a relief..."

"Spike, you act as if we'd let you get eaten..." Twilight sighed, shaking her head before heading out the door, "Come on, my treat since you are the guest after all...I just hope we can find something you'll eat."

"Don't you remember what AppleJack said? I'm sure there must be something...though I'm sure you guys don't eat meat what with being ponies." Ryan noted as they walked, once again all too aware of the stares he was getting, "Plus, I saw a cow that could talk so...yeah, things are a bit different here, that much is certain."

As their conversation continued on as they soon arrived at the cafe (and Ryan got quite the stare from their waiter before they ordered), Ryan began to get the feeling that they were being followed...and whoever was doing it was not very good at it.

"Darlin', you alright?"

"Yeah, do you not like your sandwich?"

"Huh? No, it's nothing like that girls; this is actually pretty tasty like I figured, but someone seems to be following us...and they're not very good at it." Ryan explained, "Don't draw attention to it but I think it's your little sister, AppleJack...and what I can only assume are two of her friends. They....appear to be trying to pass off as one pony in a trenchcoat."

"AppleBloom...do you want me to go tell them to stop?" AppleJack sighed, doing her best to not look around to spot them, "That's a might odd though that you noticed and I didn't."

"Maybe it has to do with that weird magical aura I can sense around him." Twilight suggested, "It's been sort of floating about him since I found Ryan in the forest."

"Magical aura? Me? Heh, that can't be right; humans don't have magic in my world. Not in the sense you do anyway, I suppose; we're kind of grounded more in science and such...though others like myself do like to believe in things more...magical if you will, then what we see."

"Interesting...is this why you haven't had much trouble coping to such a jarring change in your environment?"

"Probably Twi; I can't say all humans would react how I do if they were in this situation but a small percentage probably wouldn't have much of an issue." Ryan noted as they finished, "As for stopping them AppleJack, don't worry about it; let them have their fun. They're probably just curious about me like everyone seems to be; that or they're sizing me up as yer "boyfriend" material. Hahaha."

"...okay, I've been pretty quiet since Ryan made that joke about munching on me but...what the heck is he talking about AppleJack?" Spike stared at AppleJack curiously as he waited for an answer.

"Yeah, I have to say that's got me rather curious as well." Twilight added, leaning closer to her friend, "What's he mean?"

"Oh...it's so silly; Granny and Big Mac were teasing me last night when we arrived home...they said something about Ryan being "quite the stud even if he looked a little odd" and that "I had her blessing"." AppleJack sighed, lowering her blushing face, "Then AppleBloom came into the guest bedroom and saw us both in there and then she joined in on it...."

"It's a bit crazy but I find it curious...plus my ego did get a nice boost from it so I'm not bothered by it besides..." Ryan remarked, placing AppleJack's hat back on her so she could hide her blush a bit better, "When a Southern Boy is told he's good-looking and a good choice by a Southern Belle's kin, he can't help but smile at such a compliment."

"Wow AppleJack, I don't think I've ever seen you turn that red." Spike commented as she pulled her hat tighter on her head.

As the group laughed playfully at their friend's slight embarrassment, AppleBloom and her friends watched (from their poorly hidden location a few tables down where they were indeed pretending to be one tall pony in a trenchcoat) the scene unfold with curious eyes.

"See you two? I told ya he was real!"

"I guess you're right AppleBloom, but what is he anyway?"

"Sheesh Scootaloo, don't you remember? She said he was a human..."

"Darn right, Sweetie Bell...and my sister seems to be taking a liken to him."

"What, you mean like as a friend? ...and I still don't get what a "whoman" is."

"From what I can tell Scootaloo, a hue-man appears to be like a hair-less kind of pony that walks on two legs and is really tall! ...that mane is kind of wimpy though."

"Girls, focus! And Scootaloo, I mean like as in like a boyfriend...but I don't think she knows that yet. I don't rightly think he does either but I can see it! I can see the sparks bouncing about in how well they're getting along with each other!" AppleBloom energetically declared, perhaps a bit too much so as the three began to sway before spilling out along the ground, "Oh no! Our disguise!"

Looking up, the three "spies" could see that Ryan and the others had already left...which meant they had some catching up to do!

"Come on Cutie Mark Crusaders! We can't just let them leave us behind! We have facts to find out!"

"Notes to take!"

"And....and what else?"

"Duh! We gotta make sure my sister and that strange fella see the chemistry they got! Besides, maybe helping play matchmaker is what we're good at!" AppleBloom declared, "So we've gotta hurry...no telling where they ended up."

"...but didn't we already try that before with your brother and our teacher to horrible results?" Sweetie Belle noted, but was completely ignored and left behind, "Hey! Wait for me!"

Where they had ended up, as it would turn out, was on their way back to Sweet Apple Acres....only for Ryan to get harassed by an overly energetic Rainbow Dash.

"Why are you wearing AppleJack's hat? Is there something going on here I'm not in on?!"

"Dashie, I am simply wearing her hat as AppleJack thinks I look pretty...dashing in it." Ryan chuckled, "Is it really so odd that she'd let me?"

"Yeah, come on Rainbow Dash, I've got like a whole bunch of those hats at home ya know, so what's wrong with letting Ry here have one of them?"

"Hmmmm....maybe nothing if it weren't for you always being so attached to that hat of yours!" Rainbow Dash shouted, staring hard at AppleJack and then at Ryan, "I still don't know if you aren't trouble so I've still got my eye on you Ryan...you better not cause any trouble for AppleJack or you won't be able to run fast enough to get away from me."

"Well with a name containing the word Dash, I'd expect you to be fast Dashie...hmmm, I wonder who would win if you were to race him?"

"Who? There's someone fast that you know?"

Ryan laughed, amused that his nonsensical thinking seemed to get her so riled up.

"Heh, well it's not important; there's no way you'd be able to ever race him but that would be interesting to see who is faster: a Pegasus pony or a blue hedgehog?"

"....a hedgehog?!" Rainbow Dash scoffed, laughing herself into an upside-down flying fit, "How could one of those little fellows ever be fast enough to be a challenge for me? You're a strange pony Ryan...anyway, remember what I said and don't cause trouble or you'll be getting up close and personal with the clouds!"

With that Rainbow Dash, well, dashed off and left Ryan standing there looking rather perplexed along with AppleJack as they tried to sort out what that whole thing was about.

"Do you get the feeling Dashie was seeing something beyond what's there?" Ryan asked, giving a shrug as they continued towards the farm, "She seemed a bit confused about the whole hat thing."

"Well, Rainbow Dash has always been a bit flighty." AppleJack snickered, pleased when Ryan laughed as well, "In all seriousness sugah, I'm not sure what she was getting at."

"I see...well, let's hope she doesn't think on it too much...it's bad enough we've got your Granny acting the way she is." Ryan noted, motioning over his shoulder towards a tree they just passed, "Not to mention your sister and her friends apparently up to hijinx as well."

"Huh! How did he know we were here!?"

"Scootaloo, shush!"

That was followed by a loud crashing noise as the three Cutie Mark Crusaders fell out of the tree they were hiding in and landed in a pile as they watched Ryan and AppleJack stare at them for a moment before walking on after they saw they were okay.

"Ryan, I'm not sure how y'all did that but it's kinda weird; not in like a creepy or freaky way, but more like in a 'Woooooooo-e!' that was crazy kind of way....you understand?"

"Hahaha, of course I do Apps; to be honest it kind of surprises me as well but I figure why worry about it? If it's because of that magical aura thinger around me that Twi mentioned, then it's got to be a good thing right?"

"Apps? That's a new one by me but I kinda like it so I guess if that's what ya wanna nickname me sugah, then go ahead." AppleJack nodded before playfully poking Ryan, "Of course, that does mean I have to come up with an amazing nickname fer ya but...Ryan...Ryan...that doesn't give me much to work with."

"Haha, yeah I know most nicknames I've had were uhm: Ry-Ry, Ry-guy, Ry, Mister Wigglesworth, Rytoro, uh...Darkness Shade, Ryers...I'm sure I'm forgettin' one but those are a few." Ryan explained before he noted AppleJack giggling, "Wha...what are you laughing for?"

"Hee, Mister Wigglesworth?"

"Oh...yeah...uhm...that was with the first girl I loved and had a relationship with; I stared calling her Lady Limon because she liked lemons and so that's what she came up with for me." Ryan sheepishly explained, "I guess I just said it without thinking."

"No, no, it's cute; it really is." AppleJack snickered before calming, "Well, that certainly is a heapin' pile of nicknames but I'll come up with something; in the meanwhile, I think I'll go with Ry-Ry."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Ryan laughed, ruffling her mane before running off towards the farm, "Race ya there!"

"Darlin', I've got a feeling you're just a bit out-matched." AppleJack laughed, catching up to him easily enough and passing right by before slowing down and matching his pace, "Not too bad fer a fella that only uses two legs."

"Well, I've also got a bit more weight to deal with so...I was pretty sure I wasn't gonna win that one. Hahaha..."

Meanwhile, AppleBloom had been watching all this with great interest and simply nodded at what she saw.

"I can see so clearly...Cutie Mark Crusaders, we're on a mission now."

"...are you sure we should tamper in someone's love life again?"

"I think Sweetie Belle might have a point here AppleBloom. I mean, I want to find out about this new dude as much as you do but..."

"I know, I know, we really screwed up on Hearts and Hooves Day but this time I think I'm right about these two...but we have to be careful."

"I still have that bad feeling in my gut about this..." Sweetie Belle sighed, watching AppleBloom start trekking off towards the farm, "Come on Scootaloo, we gotta make sure she doesn't do anything reckless...or at least try to anyway."

2nd Harvest

"So, ready to get some work done harvesting?"

"Well, sure, but...how do you guys harvest without ladders or hands?" Ryan asked, helping AppleJack carry out some baskets.

"We just buck of course! Just watch!"

With that AppleJack faced away from a tree, reared-back, and kicked the tree as hard as she could with her hind legs; Ryan watched curiously as the tree shook something fierce before all the apples fell into the baskets surrounding the tree.

"Hmmm, impressive Apps. Let's see here." Ryan remarked, walking over to another tree and sizing it up, "Hmmmm....."

"What do y'all think he's doing?" AppleBloom asked, watching from under an empty basket, "He's just staring down the tree."

"I don't know but how is he going to buck when he walks on two legs? I can't see him pulling anything off like that." Scootaloo noted, "Wait...what's he doing?"

Ryan seemed to be concentrating for a moment before letting out a shout and kicking the tree with his right leg as hard as he could.

"...what was that all about?"

"I don't know Sweetie Belle...even my sister seems a bit perplexed."

"Ry-Ry...are yer legs not strong enough?" AppleJack asked, frowning a little bit.

"Shhhh....wait for it." Ryan stated before smirking as the apples began to shake and then fell off in one fell swoop, "Heh, I guess I've got the touch."

"Sweet rainbow colored wings, did you see what that guy did? That's like almost Rainbow Dash levels of awesomeness." Scootaloo gasped, "How did he..."

"I guess that makes some sense though, he does walk on just those two legs so they're probably super strong thanks to that." AppleBloom deduced, "So he's strong like my sister...interesting. Let's keep watching."

"Told you to be patient Apps." Ryan laughed, grabbing a basket and hefting it up.

"I have to say sugah, I was a bit worried there you weren't strong enough but I guess ya showed me a thing or two about humans." AppleJack laughed, "That's good then, always nice to have another strong pair of legs helping out."

And so it was that Ryan spent the rest of the day helping AppleJack with the harvest, all the while AppleBloom and her friends kept spying and watching while formulating all manner of nonsensical hijinx.

"I must be absolutely fascinating to watch." Ryan remarked, dumping the last basket of apples for the day into the holding bin before giving a sigh, "Phew, I'm so glad Rarity is making me some shorts...it's a bit too hot to be out in jeans."

"What are ya talking about sugah? And that reminds me...why were you in such cold weather clothing anyway?"

"Oh yeah, I guess that would seem a bit weird too huh? Well, the only thing I can figure is that seasons or time don't match up between our worlds for some reason. See, it was winter where I'm from but apparently it's summer here...hmmm, I wonder what month it is?"

"I could show ya a calendar if you'd like, to at least help ya get yer bearings Ry-Ry." AppleJack offered, "Anyway, you were a big help already so I'm glad yer here."

"Haha, thanks Apps." Ryan quietly replied, "Getting praise is something I'm always shy about so..."

"Haha, now I get to make you red."

"Goober."

"Anyway, that was a heaping load of work so I'm ready to get some dinner and rest; sound good?"

"Sure thing Apps, I suppose you're sister should come along as well right?" Ryan asked, glancing over his shoulder at the three fillies hiding in the hay, "Come on AppleBloom, dinner time! If you'd like, I can talk with yer friends tomorrow and answer all their questions and stuff."

"...awww, do I hafta? I liked spying on ya....I mean..."

"Hahaha, she's a cute kid, silly, but cute. Kind of reminds me of my sister when we were younger..."

"Ryan?"

"Huh?" Ryan asked, noting he'd been staring off into space as AppleJack looked at him with a frown, "Heh, sorry Apps; I just wasn't too close with my little sister when we got older...just thinking on that."

"...I can be yer sister if you'd like." AppleBloom offered, running over and glomping on to Ryan's leg.

"Hahaha, seriously, super cute." Ryan laughed softly before picking her up and giving her a hug, "Thanks AppleBloom, I just might take you up on that offer."

"You will?! Okay then, that makes my plan even easier then! Er, I mean....something not suspicious?"

"Hahahaha oh boy, to be young again." Ryan sighed as he ruffled her mane before setting her down, "Come on, I'm sure yer friends need to get home...and I can hear Granny ringing the dinner bell. I don't know how it is here, but if it's like back home we'd best get there before someone else eats it all...like Big Mac."

"My brother is big...I dare say you both probably eat the same amount."

"Eyup!"

"Hey!" Ryan jumped a bit at Big Mac giving his trademark word before running by, "Oh no you don't! I'm not letting you beat us to the table. Let's go Apps!"

"Already on my way sugah!"

"Gack! I've been had!" Ryan laughed as he began to run before noting AppleBloom was lagging behind, "...okay!"

"Okay...whaaaaaaaaaack!" AppleBloom gasped as Ryan picked her up and hoisted her on to his shoulders, "Are ya sure I'm not too heavy?"

"Naw! Besides, can't leave my "little sister" behind can I? The answer is no, I can't so let's go!"

"...I guess you do run faster than me so okay, onward to dinner!" AppleBloom shouted, pointing towards the farmhouse as Ryan did his best to catch up to Apps and Big Mac.

"...that hue-man is certainly something else huh Scootaloo?"

"You said it Sweetie Belle..." Scootaloo remarked before the two of them headed back to town, "Still...I got a feeling some cool stuff is gonna revolve around him; tomorrow can't come soon enough!"

"Hmmmm..."

"What is it sugah?" AppleJack asked as Ryan was thumbing through the calendar she'd given him, "Find something interesting?"

"Yeah, it would seem our world's calendar methods are startlingly similar; same amount of months and days in each month and even the month's are similarly named save for a few changed spellings. So then not only was I sent to another Earth, but I was also sent back in time by about four months." Ryan explained, "Fascinating. Wait...so then it's....oh!"

"What is it Ry-Ry? What's got you grinning like a pig in mud?"

"Again with the pig comparison." Ryan laughed softly, "If my reading this is right, then my birthday is at the end of this month."

"Hoowee, we'll have to celebrate then sugah." AppleJack remarked before grinning, "And boy howdy did you luck out when it comes to knowing a pony that is a party pro."

"One of you is a party pro? Hmmm...heh, if I'd have to guess I bet it's that super energetic friend of yours...the pink one. I think her name was Pinkie Pie?"

"Yer right...but I'm kind of surprised that we didn't see her in town today; with how she is I would've figured she'd be all over ya asking questions and making sure you two became friends." AppleJack mused before giving a shrug, "Oh well, I guess she must've been busy baking."

Setting the calendar down, Ryan gave a yawn before stretching and flopping back on his bed and getting comfortable.

"What a busy day...but I feel they'll all be pretty interesting here. Haha, still it's fun so far so."

"I'd hoped you'd be enjoying yerself."

With that AppleJack flopped herself next to Ryan and snickered when he avoided eye-contact a bit before slightly blushing.

"Heh, no need to be all shy Ry-Ry...I noticed how peacefully you were sleeping after you weren't alone last night so I don't mind."

"Heh, sheesh...as old as I am and being afraid of having loneliness induced nightmares." Ryan sighed till he felt AppleJack take his hand, "Hmmm?"

"That's a fear that can affect anypony regardless of age sugah, so don't feel so bad about it. I just enjoy teasing ya when I can since yer so good at doing that to me." AppleJack explained before nodding, "Now then, I reckon you'll be needing yer energy if you're gonna deal with mah sister and her friends...and then Pinkie Pie when we tell her your birthday is coming up soon."

With that AppleJack turned out the light and lay back, all while still holding on to Ryan's hand.

"Don't worry Ry-Ry, ya aren't alone here in Ponyville. You've got a heap of friends who'll make sure of that."

"Mmmm....thanks Apps." Ryan quietly replied, having already closed his eyes and gotten settled, "Goodnight AppleJack."

"Goodnight Ryan."

That night Ryan slept rather well, and was still sleeping peacefully when AppleBloom slowly tip-toed into the room to observe the progress of her "mission" as she put it and couldn't help grin at what she saw.

Apparently sometime during the night, Ryan and AppleJack had rolled about in their sleep and so AppleJack had ended up closer to Ryan, her head nuzzled against his chest while his arm was hugged around her, fingers laced through her mane; of course AppleBloom, with her crazy scheme already in her mind, mentally cheered at such a sight, her mind thinking that maybe this time her attempts at matchmaker might work out correctly.

As she enjoyed the moment (and thoughts of possibly becoming Ryan's little sister officially), she heard Ryan begin to stir and so ducked into the hallway so she could see what his reaction would be.

"Mmmmm....what a pleasant sleep I...." Ryan began to say before he noticed a weight on his chest and then his hand caressing something soft, "Hmmm? Soft? Huh?"

Slowly but surely he became more awake and that was when he looked down to see blonde hair and suddenly realized what that weight was on his chest; almost immediately his face began turning red but as time slowly passed he realized it wasn't all that unpleasant and so he decided to have a bit of fun with AppleJack since she was still sleeping.

"Oh Apps honey, the sun has risen." Ryan teasingly stated, carefully caressing her mane before gently patting her shoulder, "I know I make a nice pillow and all, and we're all snuggly comfy, but we do have to get up; things to do and all that."

"Mmmm, huh?" AppleJack sleepily asked before blinking and seeing where she was, "Sugah? What? Where? Oh tarnation, I've been rolling in mah sleep again huh?"

"I must say Apps, you make a delightful cuddle-buddy." Ryan teased again, ruffling her mane, "I dear say though, if your sister or Granny saw this I can only imagine how they'd take it. Hahaha."

"...don't remind me darlin'." AppleJack laughed into a sigh, her cheeks clearly taking on a red hue, "Wait...what was that?"

Turning towards the open doorway, the two saw nothing there but it had seemed like they were being watched; giving a shrug the two got up and headed downstairs for breakfast...only to note AppleBloom looking a little too happy.

"...that's not suspicious." Ryan joked as they sat down to eat, "AppleBloom, you seem pretty happy this morning."

"Why wouldn't I? I get to spend today learning about ya with mah friends and introducing them to ya!"

"Uh huh...alright then, I'll buy that for now."

"Now you treat Ryan right, ya hear me AppleBloom? Don't go causing trouble for him."

"So why are we going this way?" Ryan asked, following AppleBloom farther into the farmlands.

"We're meeting mah friends at our secret meeting spot."

"Secret meeting spot?"

"You'll see; it's where we, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, hold all our meetings."

Finally coming upon a large tree, Ryan looked up and could see a rather well-built tree house and quickly put two and two together.

"So that's yer clubhouse...hmmm, I hope it holds my weight."

"I'm sure it will, this tree has been here since my sister was a filly so it's nice and sturdy." AppleBloom reassured Ryan before leading him up the ramp and into the clubhouse, "Mah friends should be here soon so get comfy."

Well Ryan tried his best to get comfy, as it was he at least wasn't hitting the ceiling when he sat down and waited before he saw the two fillies from yesterday finally come in.

"Sorry we're late but Rarity needed a little extra help this morning working on her hue-man clothing." Sweetie Belle explained, "Oh, hey he's here already! Hi! I'm Sweetie Belle!"

"And I'm Scootaloo!"

"Haha, howdy to ya both. I'm Ryan...and what about Rarity? Do you live with her?"

"Sometimes I visit since I am her little sister; I like spending time with her when I can after all. I have to say though, I haven't seen her so fired up before."

"Heh, clearly she's quite thrilled to be making such unique clothing." Ryan laughed, "Anyway, you three goobers were snooping on me and the others yesterday so I can only imagine you have a lot of questions."

"You sure bet I do! What are hue-mans anyway? Why don't you have any hair other than that small mane?"

"Why do you always wear shoes? And your hooves? Why do they look like that?"

"Why are you so tall? And why do you only walk on two legs? And what's the deal with you and AppleBloom's sister?"

"Yeah! Why are you two so buddy-buddy? And make each other blush? And all that stuff?"

"Goodness me, so many questions." Ryan laughed, "Well, let's see if I can field them all: it's pronounced as 'hue-men' Scootaloo and well, you can see what a human looks like. As for my "mane" that's usually all the hair a human has on them save for some scattered here and there in places you can't see because I wear clothing. I wear shoes because my feet aren't protected enough to walk around without them; unlike your hooves, human feet aren't super durable. My hands, which are what these things are called, look like this because that's how humans are. We have hands with opposable thumbs."

"Oh yeah, Spike has things like that doesn't he?"

"That's right Sweetie Belle and humans are generally tall, I'm slightly over the average for guys so that's why I'm tall and well, I walk on two legs because that's how humans developed so that we walk on two legs and have our arms to handle other things; I suppose for a greater sense of range too. As for the last question....I'm not quite sure what yer getting at."

"Oh come on Ryan, I saw how well you two were getting along this morning." AppleBloom noted, nudging Ryan with her hoove, "And you two just seem to complement each other so well."

"As I suspected; Apps was right in sensing somebody spying on us. While I will admit I find her easy to be around and interact with, I'm afraid I still don't get what yer trying to hint at."

"The teasing and making each other blush...and the hat!"

"Scootaloo's right! Mah sister loves that hat and wouldn't let just anypony wear it ya know?"

"Really? Hmmm...maybe that's why Dashie was acting so weird when she saw me wearing it? But I still don't understand...are you trying to say what yer Granny suggested at about me and her?"

"I think we have a correct answer!" AppleBloom shouted, "Don't ya see? I've never seen mah sister get along with any guy as well as she does with you...there's something about her smile that just seems kinda different when she's around ya."

"Really? Hmmm....wait, you three aren't up to something are you?"

"What? Us? We're just a couple of young, innocent fillies, that's all." Scootaloo remarked, casually staring at her hoove and whistling, "What could we possibly do?"

"Hahaha, funny. I don't know if she'd think that way about me....I mean, I'm not even the same species. Though, I must admit I'm not sure how things like that are here so..."

"Spike isn't the same species as my sister, but he still has a big crush on her...and even told her so and she dotes on him quite a bit." Sweetie Belle explained, "Isn't it more about what's inside, in your heart that matters? The outside might be different but we're the same inside aren't we?"

"Fundamentally we are. Heh, just don't cause any trouble." Ryan sighed, smiling at the adorable little scamps, "And let things go naturally...I can't say I don't like how sweet she's been towards me, but if something is to develop, let it happens on its own accord."

"Yay! That sounds like permission to observe to me!" AppleBloom declared before glomping on to Ryan, "I'll be yer little sister fer real soon enough!"

"Awww...but I want to be his little sister; I bet he could teach me all sorts of cool stuff!" Scootaloo pouted before glomping Ryan as well.

"I guess being your little sister would be cool, and then I could totally have someone on my side when Rarity won't do things with me."

With that said, all three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders completely glomped Ryan forcing him to the floor amidst laughter and smiles from all involved until Ryan began ruffling everybody's mane before they finally let up.

"Goodness, you three are just as interesting as the others. Hmmm?" Ryan paused, noting a note poking out of his pocket, "What is this?"

"That Apps, being all sneaky and slipping me some money to treat you guys." Ryan laughed as he walked into town with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, "Ice Cream sound good?"

"Oh yeah! I love ice cream!" AppleBloom remarked from her position on his shoulders, "You guys have to give this a try sometime...it's so cool being so much taller than everypony!"

"Well I can fly...sort of...so I kind of know what that's like." Scootaloo added, though not very confidently, "...maybe later."

"Just one problem though?"

"What's that Ryan?"

"...where do you go for snacks in Ponyville?" Ryan sheepishly asked, "I am still learning the town after all so..."

"Oh, that's easy! If it's snack time we just have to go to Sugarcube Corner!" AppleBloom explained, grabbing Ryan's head and pointing him in the direction of what appeared to be a massive gingerbread house looking building, "I betcha Pinkie Pie can help us out with our ice cream wishes."

"Pinkie...she's that hyper-active one isn't she?"

"Yep; she kind of drives my sister and the others crazy but her smile is just so infectious you can't really be mad at her." Sweetie Belle noted, "...also, you might want to duck."

"Huh? Duck? What for?" Ryan asked, before seeing that pony from before come flying at him and making him swerve, "Ack! Derpy! Watch where yer flyin'!"

"Sorry! It's just I'm delivering mail and I'm so late!"

"Sheesh, that girl is a bit flighty huh? Anyway I'm guessing Pinkie Pie lives here? Not that I'd be surprised given how hyper she seems." Ryan joked before ducking down (so he wouldn't conk AppleBloom into the doorframe) and entering, "...hmmm, it's quiet."

Setting AppleBloom down, Ryan looked about before noting a bell and, giving a shrug, he tapped it...and then tapped it again.

"That ringing is quite pleasant." Ryan noted turning around to examine the store...before turning back around and seeing Pinkie Pie staring right at him, "Ack!"

"Oh my gosh! I didn't mean to startle you!" Pinkie shouted, rushing over to help Ryan off the ground, "Oh hey! It's you, the human dude! What brings you here Ryan? Oh! Oh! Oh! I bet I know, you came to see how your birthday party was going didn't you? Silly billy, you can't peep on that; how will it be a surprise if you know what's up?"

"...heh, so energetic." Ryan laughed, "No, I'm here with the CMC's explaining a few things about humans since they were curious and, well, AppleJack gave me a little spending money to treat them to some ice cream."

"Yeah! Ice cream! Whooooo!" The three Cutie Mark Crusaders shouted in unison.

"That's just perfect! I made a fresh batch of my signature ice cream this morning so you have to try it! You do you do!" Pinkie Pie rapidly nodded her head, bouncing all around Ryan, "Does that sound good everyone?"

"Yeah! Pinkie's mix is the tastiest!"

"Haha, looks like the crowd's spoken; make that five orders then."

"Hmmm? But there's only four of you I.....oooooooooh! You're asking me to join you guys! Okay! It's sort of, mini pre-party time then! I'll be right back!"

"So Pinkie, what, uhm, what is exactly in this ice cream?" Ryan asked, taking another spoonful of it, "I mean, don't get me wrong it's actually pretty tasty but I can't quite put my finger on everything I'm tasting..."

"Well Rysy-wysy, I can't really give away my secrets but it's full of all sorts of yummy things! It's nice to know human tastebuds enjoy them too if I ever get another chance to serve more than you!"

"Hmmm....I've got an awesome idea." Ryan remarked, walking over and picking up two chocolate chip cookies...at least they looked like chocolate chip cookies, "Okay!"

"Hey, what's the big guy doing?" Scootaloo asked, seeing him take a scoop of ice cream and plop it on to one of the cookies.

"Okay! He's experimenting! I like him already! Oh! Oh! Whatcha making?!" Pinkie Pie asked, leaning in to get a better look.

"Hmmm? Oh, it's just an ice cream sandwich. See?" Ryan explained, placing the other cookie on top and pushing them together, "I really shouldn't be doing this, since the sugar is so not good for somepony that's big like me but...I haven't had something so sweet in so long."

It was at this point Ryan noted the four ponies just staring at him like he'd created something absolutely amazing; after slowly finishing the bite he'd taken he just blinked before finally asking that all important question.

"...what? What is it girls?"

"THAT'S THE BEST IDEA EVER! Why haven't I ever thought of it?" Pinkie excitedly shouted, hopping up and getting cookies for herself and the CMC's, "This is a brilliant idea! We'll call them Ryan Sandwiches!"

"...uhm...maybe y'all should alter that name a bit."

"AppleBloom's right, if you want to credit me and sell them here then call them the Ryan Special." Ryan noted, watching as Pinkie practically inhaled hers, "...I take it you like them?"

"You bet I do! I seriously don't know why I didn't ever think to do that! I wonder what other amazing combinations you know of that I don't?!" Pinkie Pie twitched a bit, clearly hyper-charged by all the sugar, "Okay everypony, celebration dance!"

For a moment Ryan merely watched as Pinkie Pie began dancing and singing about how wondrous an ice cream sandwich was...but then he felt the infectiousness of her actions kicking in and before he knew it he was dancing right along with her, turning her song into a duet that was going all super well until they finished and Ryan saw AppleJack standing in the doorway, grinning widely and snickering.

"I see y'all got caught up in her random nature." AppleJack teased, "I was wondering if you'd be here Ry-Ry."

"Well, ya know, it was just kind of fun and....ahem! Anyway, yeah, I had a feeling you might come by after I find that well-placed note in my pocket. Haha, yer pretty sneaky Apps."

"Have to find ways to one-up ya in our little back and forth after all; yer a pretty clever fellah so I have to do what I can."

"As I can tell, then again when I have moments like this morning I think I get extra points in our little game." Ryan teased, watching AppleJack turn a light red again.

Now Pinkie Pie, being Pinkie Pie, had been watching this whole exchange quite curiously and had to wonder just what this little game was; when she saw AppleJack blush she started to get ideas in her head and grinned just a little too widely for Ryan's taste.

"Pinkie...that smile is just a smidge creepy." Ryan admitted, "What thought has those gears turning in that noggin of yours?"

"Oh nothing! Just more ideas for your awesome party that I'm totally not going to tell you about!" Pinkie explained, winking at AppleJack before looking panicked, "Oh goodness! Is it this time already? Sorry guys but I've got things to bake and work on! It was fun and don't worry, I'll get to work adding the Ryan Special to the menu!"

After saying goodbye to Pinkie, AppleJack and Ryan were left alone while the Cutie Mark Crusaders stated they had "very important business" to attend to...which Ryan could only see as their way of meddling without meddling.

"So I hope they haven't been too much of a handful."

"Naw Apps, nothing I couldn't handle." Ryan laughed softly, "Very curious fillies...and they have some interesting thoughts, but no harm done."

"That's a relief...just know if she ever gets out of hoove, she means well but she tends to let her lack of a cutie mark get to her."

"Hmmm, that at least means I deduced right. Her two friends didn't have one of those marks either so I guess they're crusading for them." Ryan noted, "Anyway Apps, what's up? I know you aren't the kind to come snooping like that."

"Maybe I was just worried about ya...especially after I told Pinkie about yer birthday being this month."

"At least that explains how she knew."

"Yeah, I kind of let it slip when I came to town earlier. You aren't mad are ya?"

"Naw, I'd wager whether I was there or not doesn't change how she reacted in the slightest." Ryan joked, "So why did you come by Apps?"

"Well, I bumped into Spike and he said that Twilight wanted to see ya; something about magic auras and the Princess? Spike seemed to be in a rush so he wasn't exactly clear but I guess she wants you to meet her at her place."

"Hmmm...curious...Princess? Oh yes, Celestia I think you said her name was? Well, I don't see what harm that could do to see what she wanted so let's make haste then, shall we? I have to say though, I seem to be getting less stares today than I did yesterday so I think everyone is getting used to me."

"See? I told ya all the folks here are pretty accepting...usually; of course it probably helps that they've seen you around us too."

"I wouldn't doubt that...you six seem to be pretty popular. The...Mane Six if you will."

"Darlin'...those puns of yours are just so awful, but heck if they don't make me laugh. Now come on, Twilight's probably pacing herself silly if I know her...and I do."

"Oh come on, I mean, I can see she's a bit of a worrier but she can't be that bad...."

"Okay, I take it back Apps, yer totally right on this one." Ryan remarked, noting a slightly frazzled looking Twilight pacing around a groove in her floor, "Uhm...Twi? What's, uh, what's on yer mind?"

"Oh! Good! Your here!" Twilight shouted, spazzing a bit, "Oh nothing much...just that the Princess wants us to meet her for an audience in Canterlot so she may meet the new visitor; she would come here but she doesn't have much free time at the moment so it's easier if we go see her."

"....and what's so worrisome about that? Sounds pretty simple to me."

"Simple!? I'm sure she'll ask me all sorts of stuff about you and that aura around you and I don't know ANYTHING!"

"Twilight....take a deep breath." Ryan commanded, walking over and gently petting her mane, "Relax....you're getting quite strung out and that's not good for your body."

"But...but...."

"Shhhh, look, I'm new here, an unknown as far as we know. From what little I gather, this Princess Celestia is pretty knowledgeable and powerful so if anypony would know something, it'd be her. I don't think she'd hold it against you that, in the two short days I've been here, you haven't had much chance to fully explore what's brought me here....or that weird aura surrounding me."

"I...I.....you're right." Twilight admitted, taking a deep breath and relaxing, "Perhaps I have been a bit crazy."

"Well tarnation, I ain't seen anyone manage to calm Twi down like that." AppleJack stated in stunned awe, "That's pretty darn impressive."

"Eh, I used to get like her in my younger years but eventually learned how to be mellow so that helps." Ryan laughed, "Anyway, did the Princess say when she wanted us to come visit?"

"She wants us to make our way to Canterlot in two days so I guess we all need to get packing." Twilight explained before pacing again, "Oh but what books do I need? And papers...and..."

"And there she goes again. As for packing, not like I have much to pack at the moment." Ryan sighed before noting Spike showing back up, "Oh, hey little buddy."

"Hey Ryan; Twilight still acting crazy?"

"Just a bit."

"Oh! That reminds me! Rarity bumped into me and asked that if I happened to see you to let you know she has some of your clothing ready. She seemed really eager to get you to her house so...probably best you get over there." Spike chuckled softly, "To be honest she doesn't look like she's been sleeping all that much so..."

"As Apps might say "Tarnation; I bet that don't make a heap of difference to you Spike.". Ya know, since you've got the hots for her." Ryan teased, watching Spike blink and AppleJack snicker at his impression, "Hmmm, purple, green, and red. Amusing."

"Gack! First you say you're gonna eat me and now you're teasing me over my love life...just go see Rarity...I've got help Twilight with her packing!"

"Hee, I've got to say you've got a real knack for making people blush Ry-Ry."

"Well Apps, I blush pretty easy too if ya haven't noticed." Ryan admitted before knocking on Rarity's door...and getting no answer, "Hmmm...should we just walk in?"

Seeing a shrug in reply, Ryan went ahead and opened the door and saw Rarity still at it, fabric and thread and all manners of things still going at it...despite the fact that she had apparently already gotten quite a bit done and had some of it sitting on what seemed to be vaguely human-shaped mannequins that he could only guess she'd put together somehow.

"Rarity....Raaaaaaarity~" Ryan stated, slowly increasing the volume until he finally got her attention, "Hi! Spike said you wanted to...whoa!"

"Oh yes darling; I just knew my Spikey-Wikey would get my message to you! Now come! I need you to try on some of the things I've made so I know I got the measurements right." Rarity noted, floating over a number of clothing choices and tossing them at him, "...hmmmm? I have a feeling it might be a bit improper if you didn't try them on in the changing room dearie."

"Well, yeah...I figured as much as well Rarity." Ryan laughed as he took the articles of clothing and headed into the changing room.

"I'm not sure why, but fer some reason I find this all amusing." AppleJack admitted, laughing when she heard Ryan grunting a bit as he tried to get something on.

"Are you alright in there darling?"

"Yes Rarity, just a little snug on the shorts but they fit fine." Ryan explained before pulling on a shirt, "Okay...hmmm? I like this..."

"Well don't be shy, come out and let me see how it looks on an actual human and not my off the cuff made mannequins." Rarity asked before seeing the changing room door open, "Goodness!"

"Well I'll be, you look like you belong on Sweet Apple Acres now Ry-Ry."

Ryan was wearing a dusty brown pair of cargo shorts that hung slightly below his knees, the pocket embroidered with a small logo that looked suspiciously like AppleJacks's cutie mark, a light orange shirt, and finally a short-sleeve red, white, and green checker plaid shirt to wear over it.

"...if I didn't know any better, I'd think you might be saying something quite similar to what a few other ponies stated Rarity." Ryan teased, "I do like it though; these shorts are much cooler than my jeans. The fabric is so soft too...but it feels really durable."

"I must say, for my first work on a human it looks quite dashing on you; I see what you meant by snug though...I could adjust the shirt if you like, shouldn't take much work." Rarity fawned over her work as she circled Ryan, "Does everything else fit well enough?"

"Naw, it's just an over-shirt so it's no big deal about resizing it; as far as I can tell everything else fits well enough...including the uhm, stuff you can't see." Ryan admitted, blushing slightly.

"Aw yes, your delicates." Rarity giggled, "Well, that's good to hear; while I don't quite understand fully why humans wear so much clothing I'm sure the reasons are sensible so I'm glad that I did well even on those. Now then, let me get a photo...do strike a pose dear!"

"Huh?" Ryan asked before gasping when he saw a flashbulb go off, "Oh, okay...you probably want shots to study...and for a fashion mag no doubt."

"Such a smart boy you are, now come on: show the camera some love!" Rarity began taking photos, all the while amused at the poses Ryan was coming up with, "Are you sure you haven't done this before Darling? You're a natural."

"Heh, posing is one of my favorite things to do...but mostly when it's for...JUSTICE!" Ryan remarked, striking a heroic pose and smirking, "Oh yeah!"

After about thirty minutes of Rarity getting her photos and Ryan trying on all manner of other clothing she'd managed to get done for him in this batch, Ryan was currently being assisted by AppleJack in carrying it back to the Farm.

"I tell ya sugah, I don't know how y'all convinced me to take part in a few shots as well." AppleJack sighed before grinning, "Still, you've got some nice moves in ya cowboy."

Ryan gave a laugh, amused that she seemed to like his newest outfit as well...and why wouldn't she, he thought, seeing as the colors matched her own natural ones quite well.

"Well, Rarity seemed to just be beaming about her exclusive material to send to her favorite magazine." Ryan laughed softly before winking at AppleJack, "Don't worry, I won't let them turn me into some high-falutin supermodel that forgets about all his friends and becomes a total jerkface."

"Ha, that'd be the day; I've only been around ya fer two days Ry-Ry but I can tell you aren't one to let things like that go to your head. I hope Rarity gets some sleep though, she seemed rather tired...and judging by this heap of clothing we're carrying back I'm wondering how much sleep she must've gotten."

"I don't know Apps, but I hope she rests up before our trip to meet the Princess. Is there anything I should know though?" Ryan asked as they finally arrived at the Farm, "I mean, I've never met a princess before so..."

"I wouldn't worry too much sugarcube, Princess Celestia is very nice and pleasant to be around; she is a Princess after all." AppleJack joked, "Well then, let's get these clothes of yers put away and then get to bucking!"

"Sounds like a plan to me Apps hun!"

And with that Ryan and AppleJack spent the rest of the afternoon as they had the previous one, harvesting the apples and putting them away all while enjoying each other's company and Ryan began to plan for his eventual meeting with what he could only guess was Equestria's ruler.

Even after another pleasant dinner with AppleJack's family, his mind was still going at it as it tended to do whenever he had something coming up that he was trying to prepare for.

"Ry-Ry, y'all should get to bed and stop thinking on it so much." AppleJack noted, yawning before flopping back on her side of the bed, "You don't want yer stress to give ya nightmares even with me keeping ya company do ya?"

Ryan took a moment to pause from his contemplating and turned to look at AppleJack before offering her a smile and nodding; with that he flopped into bed as well and gave a sigh.

"Okay, so maybe I'm not as mellowed about thinking on things as I might have said...but ya gotta admit: I'm still a lot more lax about it then Twilight is." Ryan joked, pleased to hear AppleJack giggling as well.

"Ain't that the truth sugah." AppleJack sighed, rolling and scooting over a little closer to Ryan, "Well, uhm...if'n you don't mind...."

"If I don't mind what, Apps?" Ryan asked with an amused look on his face, rather sure about what she was soon to ask.

"Well, ya know, seeing as how I'm just gonna toss and turn anyway...I was wondering if ya just wanted to cut out all the middle-pony nonsense and just, ya know..." AppleJack didn't know why she found it so hard to say this, so she just nuzzled her head to his chest, "...go ahead and end up in the position we'd be in anyway?"

"Hahaha, well with logic like that, how can I argue?" Ryan teased before getting settled and running his hand through her mane, "I suppose that makes sense...that way neither one of us wakes the other, right?"

"Yeehaw...I-I mean I knew you'd understand." AppleJack quickly sputtered out before relaxing, "Can ya reach the lamp?"

"Of course." Ryan quietly replied, reaching over and turning it off before gently caressing her mane, "Heh, yer lucky yer such a sweet southern gal otherwise I don't think I'd let ya get away with being so cute."

"Somehow...I find that...hard to believe...sugarcube." AppleJack yawned, slowly talking before being lulled to sleep by Ryan's caressing, "Night..."

"Heh, goodnight Apps."

With that Ryan closed his eyes and did his best to relax his mind so that he too could get some needed sleep.

Two days had come and gone rather peacefully as far as Ryan was concerned; without anyone (anypony? He still felt odd using the local vernacular but figured that since it was what most people understood he probably should make a habit of getting into it) asking any extra questions and things being pretty quiet (save for Rainbow Dash's occasional "checking in" on him and making the same curious remarks), he was rather relaxed due to the normalcy of just living life on a farm.

"Of course, that's about to all get flipped and turned upside down with me heading to a new city where no one knows about me." Ryan sighed, hefting the bag AppleJack had lent him as they stepped on to the train, "...I suddenly now know how an Apple Turnover must feel."

"Ry-Ry, y'all gotta stop with them strange metaphors and puns."

"Oooh! Does that mean you taste like one too?!" Pinkie excitedly asked, licking Ryan's cheek and shaking her head, "Oh darn, you just taste like...I guess how a human tastes."

"...Pinkie...why...why did you lick me?" Ryan sighed, shaking his head and wiping his cheek off on his shirt, "Goodness, remind me to not make any more food metaphors around you."

"Okie-dokie-smokie!"

"...anyway, let's get on-board and settled as the train is about to pull out." Twilight stated, slightly less twitchy than she was two days ago, "Everyone's got their own room....well, except for Ryan; you're going to have to share with AppleJack. I hope that's okay. This isn't usually a problem when it's just the six of us...but AppleJack assures me that you should be "plenty fine" with that arrangement, whatever that's supposed to mean."

"Oh I'm sure that won't be a problem for the big guy." Rainbow Dash teased, elbowing Ryan, "Him and AJ have been getting pretty buddy-buddy after all....just don't cause trouble."

"Again with the trouble thing...why can't you be like the others and just accept I'm not here to start some kind of destructive event?" Ryan sighed before smirking at her, "Or could it be that you only tease me because you like me Dashie? Heh."

" What? Wipe that ridiculous smirk off your face! And....that's ridiculous! You can't even fly!"

"Neither can four of your friends...."

"Okay, but...still...that's just a stupid idea and totally isn't cool in the least. You'd have to be at least twenty percent cooler for such a thought like that to even exist....which it totally doesn't! Ack! I can't take this, I'm gonna go crash in my room!"

With that Rainbow Dash ran off into her room, slamming the door behind her and causing the others to jump a bit.

"Hmmm, was it something I said everypony? I didn't mean to make her upset, I just meant to tease her back." Ryan frowned slightly.

"Oh darling, it's not your fault; we can all tell she does like you but Rainbow Dash has always been a bit stubborn." Rarity explained, patting his shoulder, "You shouldn't worry too much about it, she'll come around eventually."

"...hmmm, it's odd but she's kind of acting like how I did about my crush on Rarity before I came out and told others about it." Spike mumbled mostly to himself, "...I wonder."

"Really? I would've thought it ran on coal-t power." Ryan remarked, "Eh? Eh?"

"I...I'm afraid I don't get it." Fluttershy timidly replied.

"Well the train runs on coal right?"

"...yes."

"And so a type of horse is a colt, right?"

"...yes."

"So then shouldn't it run on coal-t power?"

"Oooooooooh.....I'm sorry, I still don't get it." Fluttershy quietly replied, "I tend to be immune to the form of humor known as puns."

"Unfortunately for us, sugarcube, we're not; Ry-Ry...that was a completely awful pun." AppleJack sighed, shaking her head, "You must be bored..."

"No, not completely but sort of...I made puns all the time back home though so I'm just a little rusty with this being a new world and all but don't worry, I'll be back in the saddle soon enough!" Ryan barely got out before laughing himself silly.

"Ugh, even I feel that was a terrible pun." Spike groaned, face-palming quite intensely.

"Really? I thought it was just super funny!" Pinkie Pie added, giggling before poking Ryan, "Another pun, come on!"

"What am I? A pun machine?" Ryan joked, "Creative genius takes time, it can't always be on the spot."

"...but wasn't that last pun you made just off the cuff?" Twilight asked, trying not to let her brain explode from Ryan's brand of humor.

"Yeah, you've got a point but I'm not really trying; we are just horsing around after all."

"Yay! He made another really bad one...that makes it even funnier!" Pinkie admitted, rolling about in laughter.

"....as much as I love hearing you fashion one pun after another darling, my poor head just can't take anymore. Could you find it possible to put a halt to it for now? Perhaps we could partake in some lunch?" Rarity asked, overdramatically swooning and flopping on to her seat.

"Hahaha, very well Rarity; I will hold my tongue in those regards for now...as I'm sure everypony here (except maybe Pinkie Pie) is grateful to hear." Ryan conceded, "Besides, lunch sounds pretty awesome."

And a good lunch they had indeed, though Ryan seemed a bit distracted in his thoughts as he glanced out the window as they traveled down the train tracks.

"Something on your mind Ryan?"

"Oh, just trying to figure out more things about your world Twilight." Ryan replied, "It's interesting that you have steam engines for your trains...I would've expected something closer to electric ones given the fact that you guys clearly have a system for electricity in place since you have things like lamps and refrigerators and such."

"...what kind of engines do they use in your world?"

"Well most trains I know of in the human world, save for those steam ones that are on heritage tracks, run on either diesel or electricity. I can only imagine that there are factors at work that haven't made either of those viable options. Then again, who's to say the coal you burn in your engines is as bad as the coal on my Earth and there isn't some magic involved. It's curious, for me it's almost like adjusting as if I've gone back in time a few decades." Ryan mused before noting most of them were just giving him some confused, blank looks, "Sorry...my contemplative self tends to get a little long-winded. Haha."

"Interesting...I wonder if the Princess has ever thought about that." Twilight mused, the only one actually curious about talking more with him, "Is there anything else about your world that we don't have?"

"Well I've noticed a distinct lack of planes."

"Plains? But there's like some many of them here!" Pinkie Pie chimed in.

"I know about plains, like the grassy ones..." Fluttershy added, "Are...are they different?"

"Haha, yeah, the planes I'm talking about are spelled p-l-a-n-e-s. They're devices humans came up with to fly."

"WHAT?" Rainbow Dash gasped, running over and staring at Ryan, "Fly? You? Hahahahaha! That's crazy!"

"Says the rainbow-hair Pegasus pony that would be called the same thing in my world." Ryan retorted, smirking at Rainbow Dash, "Basically they were large metal...uhm... I guess ships with engines on them that generated a lot of lift. That's probably the easiest way to explain them to y'all."

"Ooooooooh!" Twilight remarked, her eyes sparkling as she tried to picture this "plane" device, "This sound curiously like airships but they aren't are they?"

"We have those as well, but they're more used for local travel and events, so okay, you've got those. Interesting." Ryan mused, "Hmmmm...."

"Okay, so even if you did have a way to fly...were they fast?" Rainbow Dash asked, "I doubt it."

"Hmmmm...let's see, it's convenient you use pretty much the same measurement system as on my Earth so I think I can sum it up this way from my own experiences flying in them....which, by the way, is a bit of scary experience. Turbulence is not fun." Ryan remarked, "I could travel a distance of 3,000 miles (which is basically from one end of the country I lived in to the other) in about five and a half hours. And that's just a commercial flight, some of the military jets and stuff have been clocked at like 2,000 miles per hour or so. I think that's like Mach three-ish..."

"Hmmm, those things sound awful fast; I wonder if they'd be giving you a run for yer money Rainbow Dash."

"As if AppleJack! Some stupid machine couldn't ever be as fast as me, let alone when I pull off my Sonic Rainboom!" Rainbow Dash scoffed, "Then again, I guess he hasn't ever seen me pull one of those off."

"Well, I know what a Sonic Boom is but what's this Sonic Rainboom?" Ryan asked, "I must admit Dashie, you've got me curious."

"It's only the coolest thing ever!" Pinkie butted in, pushing Rainbow Dash aside, "RD gets all super fast and charged, the air electrifies around her, and then she lets out this awesome boom! And then she goes super, duper fast! Zooooom! And even leaves not only a rainbow trail in her wake, but also sends a rainbow wave in all directions from where she set it off!"

"Heh, well, I would've explained it cooler than that but Pinkie got the gist of it explained." Rainbow Dash remarked, rubbing her hoove against her chest and smirking smugly.

"Impressive. You'll have to show me this one day Dashie."

Ryan stood up and stretched, having realized he'd been sitting for quite some time and groaned a bit at hearing his joints pop before he sat back down.

"So how much longer is this trip going to take anyway? Not that I'm in a hurry, just curious." Ryan asked, glancing and seeing Rarity had apparently fallen asleep after lunch, "...I guess that explains why she's been quiet; I imagine she needs her sleep though after working herself crazy to make me some new clothing."

"Well, to answer your question Ryan it'll take about a day; sometimes it takes less but that's usually when we take the express train." Twilight explained, "That particular one only runs once a week though so, given when the Princess wanted us to show up, we had to take the regular one."

"Well, I always did want to take a train trip with friends...not how I pictured it would happen but I'm having fun all the same." Ryan laughed before smirking at Rainbow Dash, "Even if Dashie is still grilling me about being a human."

"Wha! I'm not grilling anypony, I'm just...being careful and all that stuff...stupid Ryan."

"Hahahaha, so predictable. Your reaction is pretty cute though Dashie." Ryan teased, clearly intent on making red the more dominant color of Dash's rainbow.

"C-cute? I'm not supposed to be cute! I'm supposed to be awesome! Twenty percent more awesome! I...I need some air!"

With that Rainbow Dash ran off towards one of the other cars to "get some air", all while Ryan couldn't help but laugh along with the others.

"Tarnation, y'all just get a kick outta teasing poor RD don'tcha Ry-Ry?"

"Well Apps, I figure if she's gonna have some fun with me, I might as well have some fun back."

The rest of the evening went smoothly enough and before long everypony had retired to their room for the night, though not without some friendly teasing towards Ryan about the fact he was sharing a room with AppleJack.

"Heh, the others were really teasing me something fierce weren't they Apps?" Ryan joked as he lay there in the darkness.

"Well, Rainbow Dash wasn't exactly lying when she said we've been getting buddy-buddy." AppleJack quietly added with a giggle, "Besides, it's all good natured teasing."

"Oh, I know that...I'm just a shy southern boy deep down after all."

"Darlin', it's always so weird when you slip back into that accent; is that natural for ya or is yer normal voice yer regular accent?"

"I was wondering if you were ever going to ask about that; while I do in my normal voice have that slight inflection, I can enhance it when necessary for effect." Ryan explained, "It doesn't bother ya when I do does it Apps?"

"Nope, just wondering Ry-Ry. Now come on...we've gotta get to bed; you've got a big day tomorrow meeting the princess."

"That's right." Ryan yawned before assuming the cuddle position he and AppleJack had gotten quite fond of, "...heh, something tells me this has nothing to do with rolling around in your sleep anymore Apps."

"Oh shush...y'all just relax and get to resting."

Ryan couldn't help but laugh at the content smirk on her face that showed her true feelings as he closed his eyes and slowly slipped into the realm of sleep.

3rd Harvest

The following morning...

"Now why are we sneaking around quietly without waking Ryan and AppleJack?"

"I told you Twilight, I'm gonna get proof myself that those two have been getting buddy-buddy."

"Rainbow Dash, darling; while I admire your devotion to watching out for a friend, what harm is there if they are? He is a rather charming man regardless of his species."

"I'm with Rarity! He's such a cool character...you haven't even tried that awesome Ryan Special he came up with! Oh, I could totally go for one of those right now!"

"Are...aren't we supposed to be quiet?"

"Fluttershy is right, shhh..."

"...this is ridiculous, I'm going to see what's up for breakfast." Spike sighed, walking away from the group, "Seriously...Rainbow Dash isn't hiding her crush on Ryan too well."

Opening up the door, Rainbow Dash was delighted to see the two of them still sleeping and in the position they had been for the last three nights that seemed the most relaxing for both of them; Ryan shifted a bit and hugged AppleJack tighter before relaxing again.

"I don't see anything to get all excited about here." Twilight remarked before rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, I bet he's all warm and stuff so who wouldn't want to get all cuddly with him? He's like a big teddy bear if you think about it."

"Pinkie Pie is right." Rarity yawned, "My beauty sleep should not have been ended early for something so harmless."

"But, but, but, but..."

"Shhhh, morning voices Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy commanded before smiling and pulling the door shut, "Let's give them a few minutes to wake up."

"I don't...but you guys....I mean...we still don't know if he's good or not." Rainbow Dash sighed, "What if he hurts AJ?"

"Rainbow Dash, I understand your worries but Ryan hasn't shown himself to be anything but a kind...person? Is that the word he used to describe himself?" Twilight mused before shaking her head, "Anyway, we're all grown ponies and Ryan appears to be around our age so why make such a big deal about it?"

"...."

"...I see; Ryan was right wasn't he?"

"I...I...I need some more air."

"Rainbow Dash...." Twilight sighed before shaking her head and seeing the door open again, "Oh, we didn't wake you did we?"

"Naw, we're good T-Sparks." Ryan yawned, before stretching, "We've actually been up for a bit but we were too comfortable to want to move."

"Oh, I see then. So...how much of that did you hear? Also...T-Sparks?"

"Enough to be surprised I was right. And why not? I've been trying to come up with unique nicknames for all of ya and that one came to me last night before I fell asleep." Ryan explained, "I'm not sure what to do about Dashie though...hmmmm."

"Well, for now let her have her space. I'm sure she needs to do some thinking." Twilight explained, "Anyway, perhaps we should make like Spike and check out the breakfast situation?"

"That sounds like a fine plan Twi." AppleJack remarked, having joined the two, "Ryan's stomach has been rumbling since the sun rose and boy howdy is it loud."

"Apps!"

"Hee, oh mah stars, did I say something I shouldn't have?" AppleJack cheekily stuck her tongue out at Ryan, winked, then dashed off to the dining car.

"Heh, she's such a brat sometimes...but that just makes her all the more charming."

After a rather pleasant breakfast (despite Rainbow Dash not saying much and avoiding eye-contact with Ryan as much as possible), everyone readied their luggage as they were just about to pull into Canterlot's station.

"So...is there anything I should know about Canterlot that might help before we meet the Princess?" Ryan asked, feeling nervous for some reason.

"Just be yourself and you'll be fine. The ponies here are a little more, uhm, posh I suppose so you might get more stares than in Ponyville but don't let it get to you." Twilight cautioned, "The Princess won't care though, she's very understanding."

"I must say though, that outfit is quite perfect." Rarity remarked upon seeing Ryan's attire, "It looks positively amazing on you but won't you be warm wearing those pants?"

"Well, I figured shorts were too casual for the Princess but the short sleeve shirt helps balance it out." Ryan explained, "Besides, black and purple is like one of my favorite color combinations...especially this shade of purple. Thanks again Rarity, your expertise in clothes making is amazing."

"Flatterer, but thank you all the same." Rarity giggled as the train pulled to a stop, "Oh, but darling I forgot to tell you...those pictures?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, they might've already been published so...while it might not happen, you might get recognized here since fashion is high on the list in Canterlot. I wouldn't worry but...just do stay on your guard okay dearie?"

"Okay Rarity...the last thing we need is for everypony to mob me out of curiosity's sake." Ryan laughed, "Seriously...being at the bottom of a pile of ponies sounds painful."

With that the group disembarked from the train, and right away Ryan could feel the "burning" feeling of numerous sets of eyes staring oddly at him; trying his best to shake it off he continued on with the girls and followed them through the town towards the castle.

'Hmmmm, interesting looking place; definitely a lot more hoity-toity than Ponyville is.' Ryan thought, noting all the shops and stuff, '...I'm already missing the simple life back in Ponyville and I've only been here two minutes. Hahahaha, crazy.'

"Are you alright darling? You have the oddest look on your face."

"Hmmm? Oh yeah, I'm okay Rarity; just intrigued by how different Canterlot is from Ponyville, that's all." Ryan explained while staring up at the castle, "I assume the Princess lives there? It's rather majestic looking."

"Ha, this is nothing Ryan! You should see when the streets are all decorated for the holidays, especially Hearth's Warming Eve! Oh yeah!" Pinkie Pie chimed in, bouncing about as she tends to do, "The lights, the trees, the decorations! Oh I can't wait to show you! It's amazing!"

"Haha, well I get the feeling I'll be around for it so I can't wait to see what kind of holidays you guys have here in Equestria."

"Halt! Who goes there?"

The group came to a stop when an armor-clad pony lowered a spear towards them, blocking the path.

"Oh come on guys, it's me Twilight Sparkle." Twilight sighed, rolling her eyes, "You guys see me like....how often up here to see the Princess? And usually with my friends in tow."

"Relax newbie, she's cleared to come in. Sorry everypony, he's new so he hasn't met any of you yet." Stated another armor-clad pony, though this one seemed to recognize Twilight right away.

"Hey, it's cool." Ryan remarked with a smirk, "No harm no foal you two; keep up the good work."

"Wheee, he did it again!" Pinkie giggled while most of the others groaned, "I'm gonna like this!"

"Thank you for understa-wait, what are you sir? I've never seen anyone like you before."

"Relax big fellah, he's with us and here to see the Princess." AppleJack explained, "He's what you call a human and he's still rather new to Equestria."

"I see....well, the Princess did tell us to expect someone unusual to show up with her favorite student. Very well, head on in as I'm sure her Majesty is waiting for you."

"Thank you very much sir." Ryan politely replied before they headed in and he truly got a view of how grandiose her castle was, "My word...this place is amazing looking."

"I reckon y'all don't have anything like this back on yer Earth Ry-Ry?"

"Well, we have castles and stuff Apps but the country I live in doesn't really have much in the way of them. I've only seen pictures and stuff but I've never been to an honest to goodness castle...let alone one that was still occupied and being used and kept up." Ryan explained, "...I don't know why I'm feeling nervous."

"Haha, we were all like that when we first met Princess Celestia Rysy-wysy, so don' worry." Pinkie reassured him, hopping in a circle around him, "You've got your friends here and she's so nice. Her sister is too so don't be scared of her either!"

"...her sister?"

"Yes, Princess Luna...though I don't know if she'll be here since it's the middle of the day." Twilight added, "Anyway, let's get our luggage settled in our rooms and then head to the main chambers; if I know the Princess she's already aware we've arrived."

"...so she's omniscient?" Ryan mused, making a puzzled face as he followed Twilight and the others, "Curious...now I'm quite eager to meet her."

"Right this way everypony, the Princess is waiting for you in the throne room."

"Well, this is it." Ryan remarked before the large doors were opened and the group walked in to see not one, but two quite tall (pretty much the same height as him best he could tell) horned Pegasi not too far in, "Wow. They're so beautiful."

"Heh, your compliment is most welcome."

"I agree with my sister, thank you and thank you everypony as well for coming when I have asked. I am Princess Celestia and this is..."

"Princess Luna." Ryan noted as he looked to the darker of the two Pegasi before taking her hoove and kissing it, "Nice to see you again my lady."

"Oh my, but yes that is my name. How do you know my name human?" Luna asked, blushing slightly at Ryan's actions, "...wait, of course."

"Yes, I wasn't sure about it...but I saw someone that looked very similar to you in my dreams that first night I was here your majesty." Ryan explained, "If I were to guess, I imagine you have the ability to go into nightmares?"

"Why yes, I can project into dreams...heh, I'm surprised you saw me as I was trying hard not to be seen as the energy of your nightmare was quite different from any I had ever encountered. Still, you are a resident of Equestria and part of my duty is to help aide those with nightmares when I can."

"Something to which I'm sure they're grateful for." Ryan replied, giving her a polite bow, "I do hope you will continue to watch out for me as well."

"Hey, AJ, what's he talking about?"

AppleJack turned to Rainbow Dash's whispering self and smirked, "Well, he was having a bad dream since he was sleeping alone...that's kind of how we started getting, as you put it, "buddy-buddy"."

"Princess, I was hoping that since you asked us here you actually knew more about what Ryan is...and possibly why he's here." Twilight spoke up, nudging up next to Ryan, "From your letter it sounded as if you knew all about humans."

"That is correct; however, while I do have some knowledge about humans, it has been a long, long time since one has ever been here in Equestria." Princess Celestia explained, "You might be surprised to learn that we once co-existed with them here a long time ago."

"Are you serious?" Twilight asked, her eyes sparkling at this new knowledge, "Ryan's kind used to live among us? But...there aren't any books detailing anything about that. In fact...as far as I could research, all that I could find was gibberish."

"Indeed, my sister does speak the truth; it is only from keeping the information hidden away that over time our world has forgotten about the humans that once called Equestria home." Princess Luna added, "...I must say though, something about your friend Ryan here...you've sensed it as well, haven't you sister?"

"Indeed...there is something interesting about you." Princess Celestia remarked, glancing towards Ryan who seemed a bit puzzled, "Something about you seems familiar."

"Familiar? How so Princess?" Ryan asked, giving a shrug, "Maybe if you explained a few things about humans from here it might help."

"Of course, allow us to explain while we walk; I have a feeling what I'm about to talk about will have a need for us to head there in the end anyway."

"Where is there?" Ryan asked as they walked.

"It's somewhere that only few have access to: it is where any knowledge about humans from long ago is." Princess Celestia explained, "Long ago, we all lived in peace with one another as you all no doubt know thanks to Hearth's Warming Eve and the tales told with that; what is left out of that is that humans played their part in existing with us and, though nopony knows this anymore, were originally occupants of the country we now know as Equestria."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." Rainbow Dash butted in, "Are you telling me that the true story and what we put on every year aren't the same?"

"That is correct; over time the original knowledge was lost and, as you'll see the reasons why shortly, it is perhaps for the best to avoid such sorrow in our hearts."

"Such sorrow? Why would we feel sorrow if we knew about them?" Rarity asked, a bit confused, "As far as I can tell from Ryan, humans are a rather charming lot."

"You would be right Rarity, as the humans were more than happy to share their land with us after hearing of the plights and troubles we overcame to find a new land. While the way they lived, mostly due to their dietary habits being somewhat different from ours, did cause minor strife, we happily lived in peace for some time...until he appeared." Princess Luna continued her explanation, before pausing a moment, "I believe all those but Ryan know to whom I'm referring."

"You don't mean...that meanie Discord?" Fluttershy quietly chimed in, "Just thinking of him makes me feel all jittery."

"Discord?" Ryan asked, slightly puzzled, "That name alone doesn't sound good..."

"Your senses serve you well; Discord was a malevolent force of chaos that turned our poor land into a nightmarish realm for many years. He seemed particularly fond of tormenting the humans, though one could only wonder why." Princess Celestia continued as they made their way down a long spiraling stairway, "The reason my sister and I find you strangely familiar Ryan is that the strange aura around you, and your mannerisms so far...they remind us of one human in particular that played a key role in helping us find the Elements of Harmony."

"But yer majesty, I thought you and Princess Luna always had the Elements of Harmony?"

"While it is true that we possessed them since that fateful day AppleJack, at least until you six took over ownership of them, it was thanks to that young man that we were able to locate them in the first place without Discord catching wind until it was too late."

"Princess...." Ryan asked, having an odd feeling about the question he was about to ask, "What was this guy's name?"

"He was a strange man, who never really gave his true name. He claimed to not know it, which is why we, and the others that came to call him friend, knew him simply as...Darkness Shade."

Ryan paused for a moment, catching himself so he wouldn't fall down the staircase and tumble down all over the others; finally remembering to breathe he took a moment before looking at Celestia and Luna.

"Can...can you say that again?"

"Darkness Shade....does this name mean something to you?" Luna asked, carefully analyzing Ryan, "Ryan?"

"Ry-Ry, isn't that there one of the nicknames you told me you went by?" AppleJack asked, staring at a very befuddled Ryan.

"Yes...Darkness Shade was the name of a character in the stories I write that I came up with. He had dark grey hair, a smirk always on his face, a very cocky but caring attitude, was always very friendly with the ladies, and did his best to make sure his friends were safe." Ryan gulped as he thought on all this, "His trademark was a pair of shades and a leather jacket he always wore...that and a rather random sense of humor and acting."

"But darling, weren't you wearing a leather jacket when you showed up?" Rarity asked, to which Ryan gave a nod.

"That's right Rarity...Princesses...does...does any of what I said match up with this Darkness Shade?"

"How very curious...but it does. For you see, he was so dedicated to the cause of freeing us (despite being a very random man himself) from Discord's uncontrolled chaos that most of us saw him as much of a pony as he was a human. I'll never forget the last time we saw him." Princess Celestia remarked as they finally entered a small library with a large statue situated in the center, "He had found the Elements...risked his life to get them to us...and bought us the time we needed to wield them and attack Discord."

"Princess?" Twilight asked, noting she seemed on the verge of tears, "Are you okay?"

"Discord was furious...while he'd always been maniacal, that was the first time I had ever seen him truly malicious as he..."

"Princess?" Ryan asked, placing a hand on her shoulder, "He killed him didn't he?"

"I'm not quite sure what he did, but I still remember Dark clearly from that day as he used everything he had learned: his glasses were cracked and shattered, his jacket ripped and torn, his clothing quite scuffed up, and his body covered in cuts and injuries but still he held Discord off so we could attack." Princess Celestia sighed slightly, turning to face Ryan, "Just as we were ready to finish Discord off, Dark fell to his knees in agony and so Discord took his shot....but Dark, he just grinned and looked at the two of us with a, thumbs-up I believe is what it's called, before he was engulfed in a bright light."

"Whoa....that human sounds more than twenty percent cooler....he's like eighty percent." Rainbow Dash muttered in awe, "But what about the other humans?"

"That's right, that's right! That just accounts for this Dark guy!"

"Pinkie, relax; I'm sure the Princess is getting to that." Twilight added, "Well Princess?"

"As you all know, my sister and I used the Elements of Harmony to turn Discord into stone...but as one last spiteful act of vengeance he cast a spell that made our human friends disappear from this world." Princess Luna added with a frown, "While we tried desperately for a long time to find our human friends we were never able to figure out the spell he had cast...while we created this statue to honor Darkness Shade for his sacrifice, over the years the knowledge of humans slowly faded away and we felt it best that no one remember save for those like us. The heartache of losing ones we cared about, and an entire species from Equestria, was too much to let everyone bear."

"That's some tale...Ry-Ry, what do ya...Ry-Ry?"

AppleJack turned about to see he was missing and soon spotted him in front of the statue, gazing at the unmistakable image of what seemed to be his other self.

"Darkness Shade....you've even got the wings. How very curious this all is." Ryan remarked, reaching out and touching his hand, "It's nice to know I was right about you, and that you really were a hero; granted you weren't a half-demon in this world, but you still looked the part none-the-less."

"Ry-Ry? You gonna be okay?"

"Hmmm? Yeah, I'm okay AppleJack, it's just really interesting that whatever small voice I had to create Dark in the first place when I was writing seemed to somehow know that he did exist somewhere, a long time ago. Curious, this placard said he did his mentor, Star-Swirled the Bearded, proud in his final moments. Who's Star-Swirled the Bearded?"

"He was taught by Star-Swirled the Bearded?!" Twilight gasped, rushing over and reading the plaque, "Amazing...so then he must have been an exceptionally magical human."

"He was...and to be honest with you Ryan, the aura I sense around you is very reminiscent of his."

"Of mine? So then....does this mean I could learn magic like Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and I guess any unicorn?" Ryan asked, turning to look at Princess Celestia who was carrying a box over to him, "Hmmm?"

"Seeing as you don't have a horn like us to focus your magic, I feel it only right that, given the similarities to him, you use his wand."

Ryan took the box and opened it slowly, revealing an elegant looking wand of swirled purples, grays, and blacks that, for some reason, had....

"A lemon?" Ryan asked, staring at the lemon shape etched near the top of the wand, "Why..."

"As you know, humans do not have cutie marks like us ponies; Dark, in his random ways, somehow deduced that a lemon was his cutie-mark." Princess Luna explained, "He never really said why, but we found it charming that he would do such a thing."

"Heh, I shall do my best to honor his memory my ladies." Ryan gave another thankful bow before smirking, "After all, can't let down my brother can I?"

"Haha, he certainly does act like him doesn't he?" Princess Celestia laughed at his antics, "Now then, I hope you'll be able to join us both for dinner tonight...though, I'm a bit sheepish in saying this but even with what I remember of humans I don't really remember what they eat."

"Hahaha, no worries; well, while I've mentioned this to the girls, and Spike, before, humans do eat meat but things are a bit different here so that's not really an option." Ryan sighed awkwardly, "I'd love a hot dog but I'd rather not make anypony feel awkward. Hmmm...fish."

"Fish?"

"Yes, you wouldn't have a problem serving fish would you?"

"That would be a wise compromise as we have been known to dine on fish as well; very well, with that matter solved I would like to ask my favorite student to give Ryan a tour around the castle."

"Yes Princess! I won't let you down."

"Heh, knowing T-Sparks I'll be sure to learn quite a bit." Ryan joked before noting the two Princesses looking at him oddly, "Hmm?"

"T...sparks?"

"Oh yeah, that's the somewhat clever nickname I came up for Twilight."

"T for Twilight...and Sparks for Sparkle...aw! I get it!" Princess Luna remarked, laughing loudly, "That is clever!"

"Thank you my ladies, I do try my best."

"Alrighty there Casanova, I think yer time here is done; let's get a move on showing you the rest of the castle." AppleJack laughed, smirking as she grabbed a hold of Ryan and started heading back upstairs.

"Wait! One question for the Princesses." Ryan remarked, feeling AppleJack pause so he could ask, "So, I've been wondering...how exactly do you get your hair to wave like that when there's no wind down here?"

"Haha, that my dear human is a trade secret." Princess Celestia laughed, "Now go, enjoy yourselves and we shall see you tonight."

"Goodness, you all have had some adventures haven't you." Ryan remarked, looking over the beautiful stain-glass windows depicting major events in Equestria, "So this Discord fellah came back and caused trouble again huh? Y'all must be pretty tightly knit with friendship to beat him back...though I am surprised to learn that Luna used to be evil; I'm glad she reformed, I've always been a big fan of the redeemed villain."

"Speaking of...if you wanted to, would you like to see Discord?"

Ryan turned to Twilight and tilted his head; what did she mean by see?

"See? As in, he's here? But I thought..."

"Yeah, yeah, he turned to stone but the Princess keeps him here so we know if he ever tries anything again." Rainbow Dash added, "You should go check him out though, just to see what he looks like at least."

"Well, if you think I should let's go take a look." Ryan remarked, "So...a thought occurs to me."

"Oh yeah, what's bouncing around that thing you call a head now?"

"Cute Dashie...it was something the Princesses said, about how they were there back then. If they were, and are here now, does that mean they're like...immortal or something?" Ryan asked as they headed out into the garden maze area, "I vaguely recall T-Sparks telling me they control the sun and moon rising and setting so I'd at least put together they have some amazing powers."

"To be honest, I don't know if they're immortal per se I guess...the species that inhabit Equestria tend to live rather long lives but the Princesses don't necessarily show they've been around for a good thousand or so years." Twilight explained, "The only thing I can think is that they're magic is so powerful, they don't really age at any rate we could perceive."

"I suppose that answer suffices...and after you show me this Discord fellow I feel like tackling that hedge maze! I've always wanted to try something like that!"

Soon enough, after passing a good number of other statues that Ryan was assured were actual statues and not transformed chaotically mischievous entities, they came upon the one and only petrified form of Discord.

"He...kind of looks discordant as well; fitting name then I suppose." Ryan remarked, examining him and noting the slightly surprised look he was frozen with, "I'm guessing he didn't expect you six to beat him."

"Heck no! He used all sorts of low-down, dirty tricks to turn all of us against one another." AppleJack replied, clearly still annoyed at Discord's underhanded tactics.

"Yep! He made us all the total opposite....and made Rarity completely obsessed with a giant worthless rock she called Tom!"

"Pinkie!" Rarity gasped at her giggling form and blushing as she glanced at Ryan's smirking self, "We promised to never speak of it again remember? Anyway darling, Discord is certainly a troublesome fellow but he's safely imprisoned."

"I sure hope so...I never want to act like that again." Fluttershy added, shaking her head, "I couldn't believe how mean he made me."

"Huh...and Darkness Shade took on this guy single-handedly huh?" Ryan paused for a moment, pulling out Dark's wand before glancing at Discord and doing a double-take, "What?"

"Something wrong Ry-Ry?"

"I...I think I'm seeing things everypony; for a second there I could've sworn that..." Ryan paused before shaking his head, "It's nothing; I must just be feeling a bit weak from hunger. How about we take a look at the town and catch some lunch?"

With an agreement from the group, Ryan hung back for a moment staring at Discord's statue before feeling someone tugging on his pant-leg; looking down he saw Spike giving him a worried look and frowning.

"What's the matter little dude?"

"....you saw it too didn't you?" Spike asked before feeling himself getting lifted up and hoisted on Ryan's shoulders as they hurried to catch up with the girls, "For a brief moment Discord's facial expression changed..."

"...yeah, when I pulled out the wand and both of us were in view." Ryan paused for a moment to glance back at the statue but saw the same surprised look from before, "...let's not say anything at the moment; I don't want to worry the girls."

"Sounds okay to me...hopefully nothing comes of it."

As expected, Ryan got many a stare as they walked the more hoity-toity streets of Canterlot and even dining was a bit of a hassle as the waiter was quite, not so much rude, but very belligerent in regards to Ryan's presence.

"...so much for everypony being accepting; you'd think I cut his tail off or something." Ryan sighed, sipping his tea and shaking his head, "Oh well, just like on my Earth I can't expect everypony to be decent."

"Y'all shouldn't have to deal with that though sugah." AppleJack huffed, "Ya want me to have some words with the management?"

"No, no...there's no need to cause such a ruckus Apps. It's not that big a bother and I'd rather not possibly risk getting someone fired."

"Heh, ever the classy gentleman I see." Rarity teased, "Still, that's quite considerate of you."

"He could just be having a bad day too so...is there anywhere of interest we should check out after we eat?" Ryan asked, noting the server returning with their food, "Thank you sir."

Getting a huff in return to his statement, Ryan resisted the urge to roll his eyes and merely waited till everyone had their food before speaking again.

"You've got some coolness in you to handle yourself like that. I guess that makes you about ten percent cooler than I thought before."

"Heh, thanks for the compliment Dashie."

"Well, to answer your question we could go check out an art gallery; I think we're too late to catch a play at the theater." Twilight remarked as they ate, "Hmmm..."

"Oh! We could watch the Wonderbolts race at the track!"

"Sorry Rainbow Dash, but they're off on tour in Los Pegasus remember?"

"Darn it!" Rainbow Dash huffed, staring at her lunch before angrily eating it.

"I wouldn't mind seeing what art looks like in Equestria. I'd be curious to see if it's comparable to anything from my Earth's history." Ryan gave a nod and smiled, "Looks like we've got a plan then before dinner tonight with the Princess."

With that the group of friends had some laughs, ignored the waiter being a compete jack-ass (with no offense intended to any donkeys in the audience), and enjoyed their meal before making their way to the art gallery.

"...hmm, I'm noting a unusually quieter mood around here; we seem to be missing a certain hyper, pink pony."

"....Pinkie did take off." Fluttershy quietly noted, "She said something about...looking for a surprise?"

"Surprise?"

"I'm...I'm sorry but I don't know what she's talking about."

"Heh, that's okay Flutters." Ryan remarked, ruffling her mane, "Whatever she's up to, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."

Fluttershy blushed and quietly smiled, avoiding eye-contact with Ryan briefly out of her trademark shyness before finally speaking up again.

"Thank you Ryan."

"Yer welcome." Ryan remarked as they came to a stop outside a massive, beautifully designed building, "...yep, this looks like an art gallery. Haha."

At first glance, Ryan was quite surprised that it seemed a many number of styles were similar to ones he'd seen...which the exception that the artists all seemed, in some cosmic joke only he seemed aware of, to be ponified names of famous artists from his world.

"While I can't really draw all that well, I've still been able to appreciate the intricacies it takes to do such varied forms of artistry. I will say T-Spark, that so far I haven't seen any kind of works that are surprising."

"Really? I wonder why? Perhaps the similarities between our worlds that you've already noted could be a reason as to why." Twilight replied, "You seem to be snickering too when you read the artists' names..."

"Oh well, let's just say the similarities are even deeper than you might think." Ryan laughed softly before heading into an open garden full of statues, "Hey, this is that Star-Swirled fellow the Princess was talking about....he certainly fits the wizened old mage look well."

"So, do you think there's any truth to what Princess Celestia said?"

Ryan turned to his current companion (the others, with their varying degrees of interest, had wandered about on their own to explore leaving Ryan alone with Twilight) and gave an unsure look.

"I'm not sure; the coincidences do kind of stack up too much to just be coincidences." Ryan mused, before looking at the wand again, "The aura...the name...the mannerisms...I can't rightly deny their words seem to have some truth behind them. As for this, I'll have to get Rarity to make a holster of some sort for me."

"...I'm sorry, but did you say Rarity? As in Rarity from Ponyville?"

Ryan and Twilight paused from their discussion and turned to this new voice that apparently belonged to, what Ryan could tell at first glance, a very posh pony indeed.

"Well yes sir, that is the Rarity I'm speaking of." Ryan replied before offering his hand to shake, "My name is Ryan...and you are?"

"Oh yes, yes, how rude of me dear boy." The posh pony replied, taking Ryan's offered hand and shaking it before looking at him oddly, "My name is Fancy Pants. I must say...I've never met someone as unique looking as you."

"Well, I guess you could say I'm a rarity myself." Ryan laughed softly, though it was partially to not laugh at this pony's amusing name, "I'm a human...and apparently the only one in Equestria as far as the Princess tells me."

"Ah, so you are friends with Princess Celestia as well. Tell me, did Rarity make that rather eye-catching ensemble you're wearing?"

"Hmmm? This?" Ryan asked, looking at his black slacks accented by a simple embroidered diamond at the bottom cuff and his purple shirt, "Why yes; in fact all of my clothing has been made for her since I showed up in Equestria."

"...wait a moment. Ah! Now I know where I've seen you before; in the newest issue of Stylish and Rich Ponies." Fancy Pants remarked, "So you're this new mystery model that Rarity sent in! You're the Ryan!"

"Shhhh...I'm trying to keep that on the down-low so I don't get mobbed." Ryan whispered, making a hushing movement with his hands, "I stand out as it is so I'm surprised nothing has happened yet but..."

"Wait...did Fancy Pants just say that was Ryan?"

"Ryan? Oh, that peculiar model in the newest Stylish and Rich Ponies?"

"The one that has all those amazing poses?"

"And all those marvelous clothes designed by Rarity?"

"...but where's his partner? That adorable southern lass?"

Ryan merely blinked for a moment, hearing all the murmurs building and building before he noticed how many pairs of eyes were now staring at him.

"...oh cow patties." Ryan sighed, slowly walking backwards before glancing to Twilight, "T-Sparks...time to hoof it!"

With that Ryan began running off with Twilight in tow as a crazed mob of ponies chased after them.

"Oh dear, I say old boy I'm quite sorry for bringing this on you!" Fancy Pants yelled out, hoping Ryan would hear him.

"Think nothing of it dear sir! I'm sure this was not your intention! Till next we meet!" Ryan shouted back, quickly dashing down a hallway and huffing as he tried to outrun everyone, "This is gonna be trouble."

Meanwhile the others had regrouped and were milling about before they felt a shaking sensation and looked around for the source of it.

"...what do you guys think is causing that?" Spike asked, trying to stay balanced against the rumblings, "And earthquake?"

"No...this doesn't seem cool enough to be one." Rainbow Dash remarked, "Hey wait...isn't that?"

"Ry-Ry? What in tarnation is he doing running like that?" AppleJack noted, seeing him coming closer and closer before running pass them with Twilight, "Darlin'? What the heck is wrong with them?"

"Oh AppleJack dearie, I think that is the reason why." Rarity remarked, pointing at the charging herd and panicking, "I think he may have been uncovered; I suggest we run!"

With that the other ponies of the Mane Six, and Spike too, began to run for their lives (or maybe not so much, either way Ryan didn't want to get buried in a wave of fashion-crazed ponies) in a hilarious sequence of events rather reminiscent of old Saturday morning cartoons.

"Why is this place so damn big?!" Ryan grumbled, huffing, "I'm not sure how much more I can keep this up girls."

"...while I can't say I approve of cursing, this is a bit of a situation so the frustration is shared and understood." Twilight replied, surprising Ryan that swears were apparently the same here too, "Rarity! You come here often! Which way is the exit?"

"I'm sorry darling but even I fear I'm lost this time."

'...trust your instincts.'

"What?" Ryan looked about for the strange voice he heard but as far as he could tell no one had talked, "That was weird..."

"What was sugah?" AppleJack huffed, giving Ryan a push when he started slowing down, "Hang tight Ry-Ry!"

"I just...heard a strangely gruff voice but....okay!" Ryan remarked, getting a slight second wind, "Follow me!"

"What's gotten into the big guy?" Rainbow Dash asked, easily keeping the pace.

"I don't' know, but he seems confident...let's follow him!" Fluttershy quietly shouted, "Come on girls!"

Through whatever strange miracle that happened, Ryan was able to find the way out of the art gallery and, once they were back into the open, quickly ducked down an alleyway and crouched behind some dumpsters while staying quite silent.

Sweating he could see the crowd that had been chasing them pause and look around before deciding to run in the opposite direction they had and so, finally, he could breathe a sigh of relief.

"That....was enough exercise for today everypony." Ryan sighed, flopping back and unintentionally leaning against AppleJack, "....I can honestly say that's a first for me."

"Are you going to be okay?" AppleJack turned to see a very tired and still panting Ryan collapsed against her, "I have to say though, you kept pace with us pretty well."

"Heh, well...it's not like I'm completely unathletic." Ryan laughed softly, taking a deep breath and standing, "So...how about we casually and inconspicuously make our way back to the castle? After all that I need a shower...and a nap just to get back my energy for dinner."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me big guy, but....ya know...all this coolness is making you about ten percent less suspicious." Rainbow Dash remarked before blushing when Ryan ruffled her mane.

"Thanks Dashie, nice to know I'm earning that trust." Ryan joked before poking his head out of the alleyway, "Okay everyone, let's get moving."

"I do have one question darling."

"And what's that Rarity?"

"How's it feel to be such a wanted and famous star?"

"....exhausting. Those models can have it! I just wanna have a nice, steady, peaceful life in Ponyville on Sweet Apple Acres surrounded by mah friends."

"Heh, I can sympathize Ryan." Fluttershy giggled, "Right Rarity?"

"Indeed; it is not the life for everyone, that much I do know."

Without any further hassles, the group had been able to make their way back to the castle no worse for the wear and so, while the girls were doing what they wished to, Ryan was currently napping with AppleJack in order to recover from the harrowing ordeal at the gallery.

As it was his outfit has gotten slightly torn and, though Rarity said it was no bother and she'd fix it right up as soon as she could, he had still felt bad that the nice outfit she'd made for him got all banged up...but AppleJack was quick to settle his mind about all of it and so he'd been able to get a peaceful nap in.

This was why he wasn't really aware of the gentle knocking on the door before Rainbow Dash poked her head inside and saw the two of them still snoozing away, AppleJack's hat pulled down over Ryan's head for some reason.

'....Ryan.' Rainbow Dash felt something inside her ache slightly, though she wasn't sure why, '...I can't have a crush on him! That's just...twenty percent dumber!'

And yet, seeing him lying there contently with AJ made it all the worse; knowing that Twilight had asked her to wake them up so they could get ready, she gave a sigh before walking over to the bed and looking at Ryan.

"....no more time to be any percentage of sleeping big guy!" Rainbow Dash shouted before poking his stomach, "Wakey-wakey!"

"Hmmmm?" Ryan sleepily mumbled before shifting about and putting his other arm around Rainbow Dash in his sleep-stupor-state, "....Shhhh."

'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!' Rainbow Dash hurriedly thought over and over, '...I...uhm...what do I do?!'

Cracking one eye open and seeing AppleJack looking back at him as well, the two shared a secret gesture before he felt her nod slightly against him; with that Ryan smirked and tugged Rainbow Dash up and pulled her into a hug as well before getting settled back into bed.

"Ack!"

"Shhhh Dashie...just a few more minutes okay?" Ryan whispered before getting settled, "Besides, I figure I owe you some kindness after teasing you so much earlier. Apps agrees, right?"

"Eyup."

"I...well...that is...who said I even wanted to...to...to cuddle like this?" Rainbow Dash quickly stated, but she made no movement to break out of his hug, "....whatever, just don't let anyone catch us like this or I'll be so many percentages less awesome."

"Ry-Ry wouldn't let that happen sugarcube." AppleJack laughed softly, "Now shhh; y'all can't rest if you make noise."

Figuring that was the end of that, Rainbow Dash just got settled in and closed her eyes before smiling at a silly thought.

'Ya know...Pinkie Pie was right; he is soft and warm like a teddy bear.'

"I'm not sure where they are Princess, I....oh, there they are." Twilight remarked, seeing Ryan, with AppleJack and Rainbow Dash in tow, come walking down the hall, "You've been gone for like twenty minutes...what happened?"

"Oh, we just had a little talk and spent some quality time together." Ryan chuckled, sharing a smirk with Apps and Dashie, "Anyway, as far as I can tell we're still on time...maybe not T-Sparks time, but normal human and pony time."

"...another light jab at my crazy task oriented self." Twilight sighed, before smirking at him, "As AppleJack has noted, you're quite adept at pushing a pony's buttons."

"Heh, blame my father; he was a master at that. Hahaha."

"Haha, he certainly sounds as charming as you." Princess Celestia remarked, "Based on its design, I'd almost dare say that outfit you're wearing was based on my sister."

"Is it?" Ryan looked at the midnight blue slacks he was wearing, black outlines running down the seams and curling around the cuffs along with a black polo shirt embroidered with a stylized crescent moon, "...I'm beginning to think that dear Rarity used many ponies as inspiration for my clothing line. Hahaha, I hope Luna doesn't mind."

"Considering her and Darkness were rather close, I don't think she'll be too upset." Princess Celestia teased, snickering softly before leading them into the dining hall, "So then, do you like Pinkie Pie's decorations? She seemed insistent on making it look, how did she put it? "Party-riffic"?"

"Heh, that sounds like Pinkie...where is she anyway?" Ryan asked before turning away from the Princess and seeing a cannon pointed right at him, "Ack!"

"PARTY!" Pinkie shouted, firing her cannon at Ryan and laughing at his reaction.

"...I'm not dead?" Ryan was puzzled, till he opened his eyes and saw he was covered in confetti, "...A Party Cannon. I APPROVE!"

"Hee-hee, I'd hoped so!"

"Well then, shall we sit? From what I've been told you had a bit of an adventure in town."

"Oh Celestia, you don't know the half of it...you know, I just realized I've been calling you and Luna by your names directly. I hope I haven't offended either of you princess."

"Now now, no need for such actions." Princess Celestia noted, smiling kindly at Ryan, "I myself know that always having to add 'princess' before mine and my sister's name can be tiresome."

"Indeed; while it is the royal way, we are all friends here are we not?" Luna walked up beside her sister before looking at Ryan's outfit and smirking, "My, my...it would seem I'm quite the trend-setter."

"Heh, you'd have to ask Rarity about that one." Ryan laughed, "She made all my clothes save for what I poofed here with."

"Well, you see Princess, I just thought that if I was going to make him various outfits, the citizens and royalty of Equestria had such wonderful color schemes and...."

"Calm yourself Rarity, I am truly flattered you felt my colors...oh, and even my cutie mark I see, that you felt those worthy for such a rare undertaken." Luna laughed softly, much to Rarity's relief, "Besides...I think Darkness would've looked good in my colors."

"That's understating it."

"Sister!"

"Hahaha, I'm so sorry; I could not resist a playful joke." Princess Celestia calmed her laughter, "Now then, let us relax and enjoy each other's company; I'm quite curious to find out about the humans from your world as well Ryan."

"I'm more than willing to talk about my kind...though not everything is sunshine and puppy dogs."

"Well, we ponies have had our rough times as well so I'm sure it's fine."

With that the group sat and were served a wonderful dinner, Ryan talking about the many things his world had that were different from Equestria and vice versa as everyone listened and had their own comments to make.

"A pick-up truck? I don't know what that there thing is, but it sounds like somethin' I'd have some fun with." AppleJack remarked with a grin, "Is it like them car things you were trying to talk about before sugah?"

"Yeah, it's basically a car but bigger, more rugged, and usually more powerful; the only drawback is it isn't as efficient since it's using more power to pull than go far distances."

"I must say, the humans in your world seem to have a magic all their own."

"Well Luna, science is magic in a way; while it's fundamentally different from the magic here, they're still both ways of achieving great things while still having their own logic about them."

"...he certainly speaks in the same manner."

"That much is true sister." Princess Celestia laughed much to Ryan's feigned annoyance, "Ah, he can make that same face too."

"I want to hear about these computer things more!" Twilight's eyes sparkled brightly in rapt attention, "Something that has a ton of information, thousands and thousands of books worth, all in the space of a table?"

"Even smaller than that to be honest." Ryan remarked, reaching into his pocket and pulling something out, "This little thing here could do all sorts of things."

"But that's only the size of your hand...that's amazing."

"Well, I guess where it wouldn't exist it is Flutters." Ryan laughed softly, "I would surf the internet, read books, use special programs to do anything, take pictures..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! That little doo-hickey can take pictures? I thought it was a music player!"

"It does that too Dashie...in fact, how about we take a photo to commerate this moment?"

"...you can take a photo just like that?" Twilight asked, leaning over and looking at his device, "Hmmm...why does it have an apple on it?"

"Oh, that's just the logo for the company that made this." Ryan explained, before noting AppleJack smirking a bit at the coincidence, "But yes...though sadly I'm not sure how I could print it out for everypony since I don't have a printer...or anything to hook it up to. I wonder if I could build a computer here? Maybe magic could substitute in places..."

Ryan shook his head, realizing such a thought wasn't the most important at this moment; standing up he asked everypony to gather together before he looked about and had a thought.

"Hmmm...I'd like to be in the photo too but....oh! I can use the timer!" Ryan remarked, quickly arranging something together on the table to hold the camera in place, "Okay...I'm gonna jump in-between the princesses so everypony say cheese!"

Pressing the button, Ryan quickly hoofed it and took his position before smiling; just as he noted Dashie getting impatient, the clicking noise sounded signifying he'd gotten the picture taken.

"And voila, I give you our photo."

"Oh my gosh, it totally is!" Twilight gasped, magically grabbing his device and staring at it, "This is amazing!"

"Oh and I simply look marvelous; such a sharp image." Rarity added, "Pity then that it's stuck on your little computer thing."

"Well, I'll have to put my head together with T-Sparks on that..."

"Ry-Ry, you've been here a few days...how'd ya keep this thing going?"

"Well Apps, it just happened that the park I was heading to in my world has outlets and I was gonna bum off their power to charge up my player; so I just happend to have the plug and cord. I wasn't quite sure it was going to work, but plugging it into the outlets here actually charged it and, ya know, didn't fry it and turn it into an expensive paperweight."

"How very convenient."

"Yeah, I know, but my luck is all weird like that. Haha."

Spike, after wrestling it away from Twilight, was eager to see how well it had turned out too but frowned when took a look at it.

"Hey! It cut off my bottom half!"

After getting another group picture (this time leaving Spike whole), the group had enjoyed some music, some laughs, and had even ended up doing a conga line after continued pestering from Pinkie Pie about it.

All in all, Ryan felt it was curious how normal the Princesses acted...and wasn't sure what to think of how friendly Luna was towards him but he figured she just had some longing for the man from so long ago he just happened to remind her of.

"I feel bad for her too....that's two people that are hurting because of me." Ryan sighed, sitting on the bed and drying his hair out, "I mean, it's indirectly but still..."

"What y'all talking about hon?" AppleJack turned and looked at the still slightly damp human, "Two ponies?"

"Dashie with her crush, as you're aware of....but apparently Darkness and Luna, from what Celestia mentioned and with how she kept looking at me, were rather close. I don't know what a humans lifespan here in Equestria was, but it sounds like not getting to have the time she should've with him thanks to Discord was rough."

"Makes a pony wonder if perhaps something like that had a role in eventually making Princess Luna become Nightmare Moon."

"Perhaps Apps, the ache of love can be a powerful thing; having a crush and not being able to fulfill that crush is bad enough as I've been on that side a few times in my life." Ryan flopped back into bed and sighed, "But...to have someone you do like...that you love, as there isn't any way those two weren't from the look I saw in her eyes tonight, and then to lose them for the remainder of the time you should've had...that's just the worst pain."

"Golly...I can't rightly even think of how such a thing would feel." AppleJack quietly spoke before looking at Ryan, "Ry-Ry?"

"Heh, I can Apps...that's how I lost her."

"The girl you mentioned that first night?"

"Yeah...the thing that sucks the most is I still wonder sometimes if she's okay but...she probably isn't."

Ryan gave out a long sigh before rolling over and hugging AppleJack; sensing his distraught thoughts she hugged him back and held tight.

"Hey, it's okay Ry; no need to be all sad and stuff when you've got plenty of friends here by yer side."

"Heh, I know, just...that heart of mine being all caring and stuff."

"It certainly is quite big and caring with how easily you've fit into the herd with your warm actions."

"Apps, you just seem to know just what to say to make me feel better..."

"Well shucks, I guess us southern belles just know how to make southern boys feel happy."

Ryan gave quite a laugh before messing her mane up something fierce, much to her dismay.

"I do declare Apps, you're starting to pick up some of the humor of mine." Ryan sighed happily as he rolled back over and got settled, "Well then, we've had quite a day...but I'm looking forward to getting back to Ponyville tomorrow...or I guess the day after with the train trip."

"Canterlot not to yer likin'?" AppleJack asked as she shifted over and got comfy with Ryan.

"Let's just say I'm not ready for the fame quite yet...I need to get a little faster first."

The next day, after saying goodbye to the Princesses (and Luna giving Ryan quite a hug that required her sister's assistance to break) the group boarded the train and began their journey back to Ponyville at last.

The train trip home was pretty uneventful, which was fine with Ryan after how exciting the last day had been; as it was he simply enjoyed watching the scenery go by as AppleJack was stretched out, her head resting in his lap as she lightly dozed.

"Anyway Twilight, you were saying?" Ryan asked, watching as she was still looking over his player fervently.

"Right, well, as far as I can tell it shouldn't be too difficult to do what we talked about the other night; the components, from what I can read with my magic, seem to be comprised of items that all exist in Equestria. It's just getting our hands on them."

"Well, that's something to write Celestia about then; I still don't get how that whole letter thing works involving Spike's fire but...magic has logic that I'm trying to get ingrained into my noggin."

"Well, like you said, science is yer magic Ry-Ry." AppleJack noted, opening her eyes and lifting her hat up to look at him, "By the way, what happened to all that relaxin' mane caressing?"

Ryan gave a short laugh before resuming his caressing of her mane, much to AppleJack's amusement.

"Anyway, I guess we've got a side-project to work on then when I'm not helping Apps out on the farm. As far as I can tell you've got pretty much everything in place that's needed...it's just trying to make it work with how physics and logic is in this world."

"You guys and your big word talk is making my head hurt." Rainbow Dash groaned, "Great, now we've got two Twilights to bore us to death."

"Hey!" Ryan and Twilight replied in tandem.

"Now Rainbow Dash, we should be happy that someone here seems to not only understand the things that Twilight says, but that dear man also knows how to simplify it for those of us that don't quite speak that unique way she does."

"Rarity is right! In fact!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing in her seat, "He seems quite adept at being around any of us: he talks like Twilight, can be all fashion-fancy like Rarity, has an attitude like RD, loves being crazy and silly fun like me, is kind and a bit bashful like Fluttershy, and of course is quite fond of the simple southern life with AppleJack!"

"Boy howdy is he...he's also great with kids; them little fillies just seem enthralled with him." AppleJack teased, smirking at Ryan's blush.

"Ladies...." Ryan sighed into a laugh, "I suppose it's all true as stated; I'm just adaptable in that way."

"...hey, you left out me!" Spike shouted, much to everyone's amusement.

"I reckon we did and that's just not right little dude." Ryan remarked, "Hmmm, let's see..."

"Oh, I know! I know! You both really like helping people! And you both understand Twilight when she gets all fancy talking!"

"Hmmm...okay Pinkie Pie! That sounds good to me!" Spike happily proclaimed.

"Heh, that and liking people that aren't your species." Rainbow Dash teased, watching as Ryan and Spike both sputtered a bit and coughed, "Hee."

"You brat!" Ryan mumbled despite his smile, "But hey, looks who's talking."

Now it was Rainbow Dash's turn to cough and sputter before smiling as well; with that the whole group laughed softly as their train ride continued in peace.

10th Harvest

"No, no, no, no, no!"

Twilight and the girls could only watch as the dust filled the air from Discord's final strike of bitterness, unable to see what had happened.

"Ooooh! That spoil-sport dirt bag!" Rainbow Dash growled, pounding her hooves into the ground, "We finally beat him again and...and he...."

"Now hold on...we're not sure anything has happened yet!" Twilight tried to keep everypony calm, "The dust is too thick to see what happened."

"But Twi, that attack was pretty strong and Ry-Ry, he...he seemed pretty worn out from fightin'."

"I know AppleJack but...let's just stay hopeful."

Not saying anything more than that, the six of them headed closer, watching as the smoke rose up and away as the wind blew over the now quiet battlefield; while the moment was filled with apprehension, as the last of the dirt in the air cleared away they could finally see something.

"What...what is that?"

"It appears to be a pair of jet-black wings...but I must say I've never seen a pair like that before." Rarity remarked, "They're absolutely gorgeous."

"...ugh....that bastard trying to pull a fast one."

"Ryan!"

Sure enough, the wings unfurled to show Ryan and Spike unharmed...well, save for their previous injuries anyhow; he slowly stood up, taking a moment to admire his handiwork.

"Not bad Darkness, not bad....totally saved mah butt."

'You're welcome...enjoy them!'

"So then girls I...." Was all Ryan was able to get out before being glomped by all of them, "Ugh! Haha, I know yer happy to see me everypony but please...I've got places that ache!"

After quite a few moments of the group happily celebrating their victory, they finally let Ryan get up before asking where he got wings from.

"Hmmm? Well Darkness...."

"Dark?"

"Yeah, apparently his soul is still part of me so he can kind of talk with me sometimes...."

"That's pretty crazy Ryan."

"Heh, I known Dashie but it's true enough; you can ask Luna and Celestia if ya like but anyway, he was working on this move but ended up being unable to finish it before his fight with Discord and well...."

"I think I get it; he wasn't able to use it and so that's why he lost to Discord." Twilight remarked, "But I don't understand...his statue had wings."

"Yes, I asked that same thing; while he had the ability to gain wings and fly they weren't adapted for his spell. His Pegasus Barrier as he called it allowed him to use his wings to shield himself and anything within it from Discord's magic." Ryan explained before clutching his arm, "Ow...anyway, it's sad: had he finished it he would've survived. Then again I guess I wouldn't be here if he had so...hmmmm."

"It's a bit hard to think on that one, eh Apple Ryder?" AppleJack remarked, giving a sad nod, "Well, I'm just glad that Dark fellah was able to help keep ya safe."

'You're quite welcome oh sweet southern belle.'

"...did...did everypony hear that?" Fluttershy asked, looking about nervously, "Was...was that Darkness?"

"Haha, guess he felt like adding his two cents." Ryan joked before feeling Rainbow Dash poke his back, "Hmmm?"

"Okay, so that explains these awesome wings...not as awesome as mine but still pretty cool but...what's this mark on your jacket?" She mused, "It kind of looks like a cutie mark..."

"Say what?" Twilight gasped, quickly turning Ryan around to stare at it, "I can't believe it, it totally is."

"Are ya sure? Humans don't get them." Ryan was quick to point out, "...also, that wasn't fun so please refrain from spinning me quickly T-Sparks."

"It seems pretty hard to deny...but what I don't get is why of all things you have a half-apple/half-lemon mark darling."

Ryan took a moment to think on it before smirking, "Well Rares, I think it's something related to what Spike told me...about how if I could have a cutie mark it would be related to Justice."

"Really? And how's that?" Spike asked, "I was right?"

"Well little buddy, Justice is sweet (like an apple) to those that rely on it to protect that which they care for and it is sour (like a lemon) to those that fear it's righteousness. In a way, that's kind of like me too if ya think about it: I would do anything to help and make mah friends happy and keep 'em safe, but to those that would wish to harm them...all they'd feel is the bitter sting of my fury. Now then...has anypony seen mah sword? I'd like to collect it before we...head....back..."

"Rysy-wysy?" Pinkie asked, noting him beginning to sway slightly, "You okay?"

"Guess that...battle was just...." And then he went silent before finally collapsing from the stress of the battle.

"Apple Ryder!"

"He's okay AppleJack, I think he's just worn out and injured from fighting...Spike, send a letter to Princess Celestia quickly and let her know we need help."

"You got it Twilight! I'm on it!"

The resident hero tossed and turned in his unconscious state, sweating profusely at whatever terror had a hold on his mind; the monitor watching his vitals was beeping loudly as the scenario his subconscious was playing apparently came to its high-point.

"APPLEJACK!" Ryan shouted as his eyes shot wide open and he quickly sat up in bed only to be very confused at his location, "....wait, it was...a dream? So then...Discord! The fight! The girls!"

Looking about wildly, he could see he was once again in the infirmary of the castle and so let his heart rate calm itself; examining himself, Ryan could tell his injuries were a bit more this time as he felt all manner of bandages wrapped around him...and that his left arm was in a sling as well.

"I guess that explains the beeping...but how long was I out...and where is everypony?" It was at that moment that the door to his room opened and in walked a very tired looking AppleJack, "...Apps?"

"...huh?" She gasped, looking over and seeing Ryan sitting up and smiling at her, "Apple Ryder! Yer finally awake!"

"Ugh...careful with them hugs sugarcube." He grunted as she ran over and glomped him before wrapping his right arm around her and hugging her to him tightly, "...."

"...it's okay." She choked out through tears before noticing he was crying as well, " Ry-Ry? Why...why are you crying too? I didn't hurt ya did I?"

"No...no..." He sniffled, burying his head in her mane, "I'm just so glad that was a dream....a horrible dream...but a dream nonetheless."

"Tarnation Ry, what happened while you were out?"

"...I'd rather not talk about it right now. I can...tell ya a little later on if you like but for now let's just say that it was, well..."

"Hmmm? Well what sugah?"

"If the way things happened here, with y'all being so friendly and stuff without a second thought ta me the moment I showed up, is to be considered a best case scenario...let's just say I was dreaming about the worst case scenario."

"Worst case?" AppleJack tilted her head before nuzzling his chest, "Yer heart's still racin'...what in tarnation happened? Did we do something?"

"...let's just say it reminded me of how humans might react were an alien visitor to appear on mah Earth; it...it...and you..."

"Now shhhh, y'all shouldn't worry about that; I won't press since it's clear what happened really messed with ya. You can tell me later, like ya said." Placing a hoof on his shoulder, Ryan let a smile drift slowly onto his features as Apps tenderly kissed him, "I'm just glad yer finally awake; they were worried about yer injuries but they said something kept most of yer vital spots protected....something they couldn't figure out at that."

Ryan sat there for a moment, before a thought came to mind, "...Darkness..."

"Hmmm?"

"Dark probably helped out....isn't that right buddy?" Ryan laughed quietly at his question, all too aware of the answer.

'Well, ya know...one pony already lost her human, couldn't let another one lose hers so....'

"I reckon he's just one big softie just like you are Ry-Ry."

"Hahaha, if he's anything like I know then yer right Apps." Leaning into her, he nuzzled her mane and just enjoyed the moment, "Mmmm...ya smell like cinnamon apples. Haha, where's the others? And how long was I out?"

"Uhm...a little over three days; it's been a bit of a mess to fix things up but everythin' back home is how it should be."

"And Discord?"

"He's out of the garden, hidden away where he belongs...but under tighter security."

"That's good....heh, it's a pity though."

"What's that Ry?"

"...it's nothing, just a silly thought. Now...I'd like to get up and see our friends so...would ya lend me a hoof and help me find mah pants? I can't imagine they aren't nearby."

"Well they were here...maybe they headed off with the Princesses back to the throne room?"

Ryan gave a slight nod as he slowly walked with AppleJack, his good hand resting just over her neck as she helped him walk around as they looked for the others. Making their way there, they could see two guards standing watch as always, though once they caught sight of the pair they were surprised to see Ryan up and walking.

"I don't suppose Celestia and our other friends are in there, are they?"

"The Princesses are indeed in there, as are Twilight Sparkle and her friends." The one guard nodded and opened the door, "I'm sure they'll be quite happy to see you up and about Ryan."

"Heh, thanks Swift Cut; it's good to be up and about."

"Heh, looks like me made the right guess, eh darlin'?" AppleJack remarked, helping him hobble in to the room.

"I'll say Apps." He laughed softly before looking up and seeing everypony turn towards the open door, "Howdy y'all...hope I didn't worry ya too much."

The following was a bit of a ruckus in which his friends pretty much bum rushed him (save for Celestia and Luna who remained a bit more reserved...though it goes without saying Luna showed great effort in not joining the crowd) and he was surrounded by all their happy faces, joyous chatter, and being hugged wherever possible.

"Heh, sheesh...ya guys act like I died or something." Ryan joked, ruffling everyone's mane with his free hand before groaning, "Oh ow....laughing still bad."

"Ohmygosh,ohmygosh,ohmygosh,ohmygosh! You're still hurt! Why are you moving around?"

"I've been in a bed for three days Dashie...any longer and I'd probably become one with the darn thing."

"Are you okay though? Some of the injuries looked pretty bad."

"I'm fine T-Sparks, don't worry about it. It all still hurts but I can live with that after thinking on what could've happened...speaking of, how did y'all treat mah injuries? As far as I know, pony doctors don't quite know how to handle human physiology. I know y'all patched me up last time, but that was mostly surface scratches save for where Discord freaking bit me."

"I believe I can field that one." Luna remarked, finally walking over to the group with her sister, "I helped."

'Woona...'

"Hahaha, Darkness should know all too well it was me; after all, when he was here I did my best in order to be able to...well to be with him." She explained, pausing as she shook off the memories, "After all, I wanted to be able to take care of him if anything happened...I'm just glad that knowledge from so long ago came in use once more."

Ryan nodded before wincing, "Ugh...thank goodness for that. I'm just glad things can get back to normal soon enough however..."

While most of his friends were accounted for, there seemed to an absence of the dragon variety and that bothered him, more so when he remembered how beat up he looked, "Gals, where's Spike at? He was up and about before I passed out so..."

"He's still healing up at the moment. While he was okay, he actually passed out the second day we were back at the castle." Twilight looked down before continuing her explanation, "Turns out when Discord hit him, his internal organs got all beat up. He's been asleep since they got him out of surgery."

"...little buddy." Ryan growled, clenching his fist, "Damn it Discord...will he be okay?"

"The doctor's managed to patch him up so it's just a matter of him waking up now....Ryan?" Twilight looked up and saw that Ryan had turned around and was angrily stomping off towards somewhere in mind, "Where could he be going?"

"Heh, I guess it makes sense that Swift Cut told me I wouldn't like where they put him." Ryan grumbled, heading in the same direction as the secret library, "However, if it keeps him from getting out undetected again then that's all that matters."

The others had been puzzled when he stormed off (after a brief chat with the guard that got a little heated before Swift Cut finally acquiesced after Celestia discreetly gave him the O.K.) and had followed from a distance curious as to what had him so angry. As it was they had no idea Ryan knew they were following him, but in the state he was in he didn't really care that they were; hanging a right instead of a left he came to a sizeable room that was guarded by two of Luna's royal guards.

"I need to see him."

"I'm sorry, but access is only authorized by those that..."

"What part of "I need to see him" was not clear?"

"Sir, I know you have a high status given your relationship to Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, but we cannot just allow you to go everywhere you please; there are still rules to follow along with procedures."

"I won't be long...just give me a few moments."

"Sir..."

"Please, just...tell Luna I forced you by beating you up or something if she gets upset; I'll take the rap for it."

"...heh, you certainly are as crazy as they say."

"Sir?!"

"It'll be fine...he's proven worthy of my trust after what he did against him anyway. We'll just, as he said, tell Princess Luna he beat us up."

"Heh, thanks."

"Just a few minutes, that's all."

"Don't worry, that's all it'll take." Ryan gave a nod, smiling as the guards opened the door and let him in, "So then...you're back where you started you troublesome jerk."

The girls watched as Ryan entered and the door sealed back up behind him before the guards resumed their position...though the younger one seemed a bit more nervous about the whole situation.

"Why would he want to see Discord?"

"Ah don't know Twi, he seemed mighty upset that Spike was hurt like that."

"Do...do you think he wants to yell at him?"

"More like beat him up Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash growled, "I wouldn't blame him for being angry...I know I certainly would if I almost died..."

"I don't think Ryan would be as barbaric as that considering he hasn't shown tendencies to be so...ruthless." Rarity remarked, feeling icky even putting that word and Ryan's name in the same sentence, "Is there any way we can listen in Twilight?"

"Oh! Oh! I can help! I can help!"

"Pinkie, how are you going to help us hear inside that room? You don't have magic."

"Nope, but I've got my handy-dandy spy gear!"

"...spy gear?"

"Yep! Ryan was working on this for me so I could be sneakier with my surprise parties but it should let us hear inside."

"...ah don't rightly understand half these contraptions he comes up with, but I can't say I'm not curious as to what Apple Ryder has to say to that snake in the grass. Do yer stuff Pinkie!"

"Roger-dodger-woger!"

Fiddling with the controls like Ryan showed her, Pinkie contorted her face in thought as she fiddled with the dials before finally hearing his voice crackle through.

"...you...mah friends...complete waste of abilities."

"Alrighty, there we go."

Meanwhile, Ryan was glaring at the stone statue, almost sure that if Discord could he'd be rolling his eyes at him, "I'm sure ya can hear me...I'd bet on it, but I'm pretty pissed that you hurt mah friends....and with all the power you've got behind you, you choose to use it on trouble. It's a complete waste of abilities.

"Not to mention you tried to kill me, and pretty much succeeded if Dark hadn't intervened with his little gambit; as it was it was still the most painful thing I ever experienced. I can only imagine what the others would've done to you if I had died...if you think being stone is bad, I'm sure there are worse fates than that. Anyway...

"I didn't come here for that, I came here because you hurt Spike...you injured him far more than you did me and...and in a way that'll affect him for a while; they say he'll be okay, but injuries like that take their toll on someone. Who knows what long lasting effects he'll have to deal with and for what? All because he stood up to you after you killed his friend?! Was it really necessary considering how much of an advantage you had over him!? Was it!?" Ryan seethed, holding back the urge to literally knock his block off, "...maybe you'll think over things while yer locked away again...but I doubt it, people like you never seem to learn."

Taking a deep breath, he began walking back towards the door before pausing and narrowing his eyes as he coldly glared at Discord, "I'll tell ya this much Discord...if Spike doesn't come out of it....I will be back...and I'll gladly repay the act by murdering your ass."

With that he knocked on the door, waited for it to open, thanked the guards again for their help and heaved a huge sigh at how drained that whole moment made him feel; as it was he glanced in the direction the girls were trying to hide and smirked.

"Ladies...I'm pretty tired and hungry so, would you be so kind as to help a tired fool hobble his way to the kitchen?"

"...how does he do that?"

"Ah don't know Twi but it's pretty amusing when he does, I bet hide and seek would be unbalanced against him."

"Oooh! I'll take that bet AJ!" Pinkie giggled, "Challenge accepted!"

Ryan could only laugh as he hobbled over towards them with a smile, though in the back of his mind he was still quite worried for his little buddy.

'He tried to take over when I fell...and now he's paying the price Dark.'

'I know Ryan...just have faith; he did what he felt to be right after all.'

Deciding his counterpart had a point, he gave a slight nod and walked in a clam silence with the others as they headed towards the kitchen.

"Alright....so since no one is gonna bring it up, I guess I will." Rainbow Dash remarked as they finished up lunch, "Ryan?"

"Hmmm?" He asked, sipping his tea before glancing in Dashie's direction, "Yes?"

"We heard what you were talking to Discord about."

"Oh I know."

"Yeah we...wait what?"

"I know; I did give Pinkie that kit and I do have my sources. As she says, the walls have ears."

"Oh...well, okay, then this should be easier...you said you'd murder Discord."

"I do recall saying that, rather angrily too." Ryan scratched his cheek before looking at her, "And?"

"Well...that's a bit intense isn't it?"

"Why? I mean, he has caused an awful lot of turmoil to not only those I care about, but to those Dark cared about, to Cellie and Lunes, and to all the former humans that lived here. He's done some horrific things...he even tried to kill me, remember? To be honest, he did. I was worried that...that y'all...that Apps...would be victims of him because of that failure."

"...we all know that Apple Ryder but I guess what Rainbow Dash is saying is that side of you was a bit unusual to see."

"Hey, I'm still me; it's not as if I'm any different than before. Tell me though, if someone you cared about was killed by Discord, taken away from you, from everyone...would you say or do anything different?" Ryan suggested, "I mean, if it spooked ya I am sorry, but mah little buddy is all messed up because of him...because I wasn't strong enough despite my efforts."

"Spike should be okay though..."

"Yeah T-Sparks, but he wouldn't be in that spot if I...I had been strong enough." Ryan sighed, lightly tapping his balled up fist on the table, "I shouldn't let it eat at me like this...but when a friend is hurt because I wasn't strong enough, it...it kills me inside. I hate showing y'all this side of me, but I guess I can't hide it too well being all beat up mahself. Just one of mah flaws I reckon...part of my humanity if ya will."

"Darling, you don't have to hide how you feel from us; we're your friends." Rarity patted his shoulder and smiled, "We're there for one another...so if you're every feeling off or worried about something, you can talk to us about it."

"Heh, I know Rares...I just don't like burdening my friends with my problems...at least those kind anyway. To be honest, if y'all hadn't shared yer friendship with me...been so kind when ya found me...I probably would've broken down something fierce when certain realizations kicked in. And yet...I had the fortune of ending up around such caring individuals that did what they could to help put mah mind at ease as quickly as they could. So I didn't and I could focus on more important tasks...and, though I still do miss my family and hold out hope Cellie will find a way I can send them a message that I'm okay, I don't really mind being stuck here now. I'm happy and I know that's what my parents would want... it's what any parent wants for their children after all."

"Well, ah know I do mah best to make ya happy Ry-Ry." AppleJack teased, leaning over and kissing his cheek, "I am yer marefriend after all so...ya don't need to hide yer sadness from me. I'm pretty sure I can help cheer ya up when those pesky thoughts bother ya."

"Hahaha, I'm sure ya can Apps...and that's the honest truth."

And so the next day came, Ryan's injuries slowly healing as he began to keep active again: he'd spent the next day making sure everypony else was alright and reassuring his family he was okay though one individual was missing and that bothered him.

"Ry-Ry, what's eating at ya now?"

"I wanted to thank the Doctor for his help; those little enhancements he gave my sword really helped a lot. In all honesty, without them I don't think I would've lasted as long as I did against Discord. Those little unexpected surprised really threw him for a loop and help me keep him off guard."

"Well why can't ya thank him? Did he disappear?"

"Yeah. Derpy left a note saying it was fun but that the Doctor had other things to tend to; he did say he was glad to help though but I'll get to thank him someday. After all, if his show is anything go by, the TARDIS will bring him where he's most needed after all...and I'm pretty sure Derpy needs him in Ponyville quite a bit. Haha." Ryan explained, watching as Twilight spent some time with her brother down in the courtyard, "Good to see those two catching up...that remind me though...how is Spike?"

"I was wondering when ya were gonna ask about him. Twi said he's still stable but he hasn't awoken yet; they don't know why but...maybe y'all should go see him?" AppleJack gave a nod before standing up, "Come on, I'll go with ya; maybe hearing yer voice will help him some."

"I can only hope." Ryan quickly replied, slowly standing up and groaning, "These joints are still unhappy with me."

Walking a little faster than the day before, and even under his own power (though Apps did stay close by just in case), Ryan's mind was going over something that Twilight had mentioned about Spike's condition. He knew they told him he shouldn't let what happen eat at him, and even he knew it was Discord that had done it and not him, but when she said they had no idea how it might affect Spike's health or abilities in the future...well, it just wouldn't leave him be.

"Ryan..." AppleJack spoke, drawing his full attention at actually using his normal name and not one of the many pet names she seemed fond of, "Yer making that scrunchy worried face again."

"...that obvious huh?" He laughed, ruffling her mane and taking her hat, "...that reminds me, ah lost mah hat in the fight; I'm sorry hon."

"I wondered where it was...but that's okay. With everything you were dealing with it's no surprise it got caught in the crossfire. If'n ya like, I can fix that one up the same for ya no problem."

"How did I get lucky enough to be yer stallion?"

"The same way I'm lucky enough to be yer mare." She teased, quickly hopping up and wrapping her forelegs around his neck, "Ah think you know where to go from here Ry-Ry."

"Haha, I think I know indeed." Ryan chuckled softly before pressing his lips to hers and hugging her tight, "Mmmm, I feel better already."

"Goober."

"Guilty as charged. Now then, let's look in on mah little buddy."

Standing over his bed, Ryan couldn't help but frown looking at Spike: he seemed peaceful enough lying there but Ryan could see all manner of wires and such plugged into him and those just filled him with dread. Reaching over, he gently took the tiny dragon's hand in his and softly squeezed, "Come on buddy...wake up for us. We can't really call this a win until you do...and we can't really get back to life as usual without ya either. After all, I've got to have someone to fist-bump...and T-Sparks...she...she needs somepony to keep her in check when...when we aren't around..."

AppleJack watched as Ryan's composure slowly eroded, his voice choking slightly as he tried to hold back tears; she hated seeing him like this, but it was touching how much he cared about his friend. Then again, they had all reacted this way after he suddenly passed out like that and poor Twilight was hit the hardest having known Spike for so long. She slowly walked over to Ryan and nuzzled his side, "Just have faith Ry, he'll wake up soon enough and then we can celebrate."

"I...I know Apps." Ryan quietly choked out, clearing his throat to get his voice back, "...seeing him like this only makes me hate Discord more."

Reaching up he gently patted Spike's head before taking a deep breath, "Spike buddy...ya better pull out of this...we can't lose you...not like this."

The pair then sat there for a while, just watching their still sleeping friend and listening to the almost rhythmic beeps of the machine tracking his vitals; AppleJack held Ryan's good arm close as he just stared at his little buddy and kept hoping he would just wake up.

"....come on Apps, let's go take a walk. I know Spike wouldn't want me to just sit here waiting."

"Are ya sure hon?"

"Yeah...I'll go crazy...okay more crazy if I just sit here like this. The fresh air will help ease mah mind some...I hope."

Giving him a nod, she helped him to his feet and walked alongside him as they slowly exited the room; meanwhile, the hand Ryan had hugged with his slowly twitched and a small smile appeared on Spike's face.

"Ugh..."

"Are you okay Ryan?"

"Yeah Lunes, I'm alright; just mah shoulder acting up."

While on their walk, AppleJack and Ryan had run into the two Princesses who had decided to join them; currently they were walking around the gardens near the hedge maze.

"Are you sure you'll be okay? Perhaps we can slow down our pace."

"No no, I'm okay Cellie...it's gonna ache for a while till it heals so nothing I can do; can't stop living right?"

'Heh, look at you being all tough; don't worry Woona, he's not as hurt as he seems...I made sure to see to that.'

"Haha, is that so then Darkness? Very well then, I will let Ryan continue to act the tough guy."

"...thanks for ratting me out Dark."

'Yer quite welcome partner.'

"...ahm not the only one that thought him doing a southern accent with that growly voice of his sounded weird am I?" AppleJack asked as she paused in mid-step, "Also...it's kind of weird that mah boyfriend's got voices in his head."

"Yes dear AppleJack, Ryan was crazy enough as it was and now...."

Ryan let out a groan and facepalmed, "Oh man, it was bad enough with Lunes poking fun at me but now even Cellie is? Oh mercy."

"...I must apologize for something though."

Ryan turned to Luna and titled his head, "What in tarnation are ya talking about?"

"That dream you were having...I was unable to help you."

"Oh yeah...that. Well, at least ya tried to Lunes."

"Yes...I'm not sure why I could not get through, but I can only imagine it was the remnants of Discord's magic keeping me out."

"...hmmm." Ryan paused, his face twisting in thought as he stood there, "Well, I think ya might've gotten through in some way...by one thing that stayed the same."

"I did?"

"Yeah, the only thing that was the same was Apps and mah family."

"Ya know, ya never did tell me what that dream was all about other than...how did ya put it? It was a "worst case scenario"?"

Ryan simply nodded, not really wanting to think on it since it had been a pretty horrid series of events; though they were all in his subconscious, at the time it felt all too real to him. Noting everypony staring at him with worry in their eyes he quickly waved it off, "Yeah, yeah...I guess if y'all really want to hear about it I could tell ya...but it was pretty spooky."

"Hmmm, I can sense it still affects you so. I would not wish you to do anything that would bring you discomfort Ryan."

"No, no...it's probably best I say something about it and not let it fester." Heading over towards some benches, Ryan sat down and waited for his friends to do the same. Smiling as AppleJack sat next to him and lay her head in his lap he did his best to recall all the details, "It started off much like how I did arrive here, only no one found me in the forest. I had to find my way out of there alone and just as I saw what I guess was Ponyville, I collapsed.

"The next thing I knew I woke up somewhere unknown to me: it was dark, far too quiet, and upon further note I was in chains of some kind. Strong ones too since I couldn't break free of them...and then I heard a voice that seemed pleased I was awake. It was a purple unicorn which surprised me a little bit, but seeing as I was more concerned as to why I was chained up I didn't focus on that fact."

"...a purple unicorn? Ry, was that Twi?"

"Yeah, it was her...or at least a very strange version of her. She remarked that she was curious as to what I was and couldn't wait to begin experimenting. Well...that didn't sit well with me so I naturally asked what the hell was going on and promptly regretted it when she flung me to the ground with her magic."

"I did WHAT?"

Turning around, Ryan could see that Twilight as well as a few of the others had apparently seen them and headed over; in his talking he hadn't even noticed that fact, "Heh, I must be getting sloppy with my injuries; I didn't even hear y'all show up."

"Well what I want to know is what are you talking about? When would Twilight ever do something like that to you?" Rainbow Dash gasped, her face showing heavy confusion, "I mean, unless you inexplicably became evil or something uncool like that..."

"If you'll kindly take a seat with the others, I'll continue relating the nightmare I had while I was in my little coma. Now then...after that I decided to be a bit more tactful and carefully ask what she meant by experiments...and to try to figure out where I was. I got the same, if not more brief, answers that y'all first gave me before she got to...experimenting. I won't go into detail, but she seemed very distant and cold about all of that...it's like the fact that I was sentient just as her didn't matter.

"I'm not afraid to say that, though I tried to remain tough, after a week of it all I would break down into tears at night from the stress of all of it...but even that seemed to hold no sway over her actions. It wasn't until almost a month passed that I finally got to see daylight again...though I was rather restrained due to her magic. The others all met me then: Dashie was very distrusting and rather mean, Flutters acted condescending, treating me like I was a little puppy or something, Rares called me one of the most hideous things she'd ever seen, Pinks didn't know what to say which, as we all know, would be pretty weird, but....Apps, she was still the same. Kind, caring, and she called that Twilight out on how she'd been treating me. I believe that bit of sunshine in this otherwise dreary alternate reality was thanks to Luna's attempts to help."

"...that's pretty bucking messed up Ryan!"

"Though her language is a bit undesirable, I share dear Rainbow Dash's sentiment. Such a dreadful nightmare..."

"I know Rarity but it does get a little better. AppleJack, or that one anyway, managed to convince Twilight to let me go into her care on the farm and...the me there slowly found some happiness working away on the farm and finding a new family with the Apple clan. As the months passed, everypony started to change towards me and treat me better, more or less anyhow. That Twilight even apologized for how she'd first treated me, saying her curiosity got way out of hoof but...Rainbow Dash was the only hold out. If anything, it seemed she started hating me more for some reason.

"Though we're about to where I finally came out of this nightmare: a murder had happened and everypony was in an uproar over it. I don't know how or what started it, but somehow the town got it into their head I did it being the outsider. You all knew better...but Dashie still joined the crowd against me. The Apples...mah family did their best to keep them at bay but there were just too many of them to hold out against. They told me to run when a very angry unicorn broke through and charged right at me; he seemed hell-bent on getting some kind of revenge but I could only feel pity for him: after all, it was his sister that was killed.

"Just as he nearly impaled me with his horn, Apps kicked me out of the way and took the hit. I...I didn't know what to say as I decked the unicorn and scooped her into mah arms as she coughed and shivered in pain. I could only ask why...why would she do that for me? And you know what she said? "Ah wish I'd told...ya sooner sugarcube but...I...I love ya. Ah know it's too late now but...." I was shocked but...I felt the tightness in mah heart as I told her I'd felt the same for a while but didn't know if there was a chance with our differences.

"She smiled at that before grunting in pain and looking at me with those large green eyes. "Ahm so happy you feel the same way....I just wish that...we...could have had more time..." I shook my head and pleaded with her to not go, to hold on; I shouted for anypony to help but none would. As I kissed her, I watched her cry and then....she went silent. I felt empty inside at that and just held her tight; Twilight and the others finally made their way through the crowd and saw what happened but they knew it was too late. And then I woke up from it, covered in sweat and shouting Apps' name loudly."

Looking up after finishing his tale, he could see his friends were quite silent, no doubt shocked from such a horrible set of events; even if they hadn't happened, just the fact that if reality was in any way different they could have shook them to the core.

"Apple Ryder." AppleJack nuzzled his chest, "No wonder ya seemed so shaken up. That Discord...he's a real bastard isn't he?"

"He sure is Apps...but thank goodness you gals put him back on ice." Ryan gave a heavy sigh before smiling, "I must admit though, mah mind feels more at ease now; I know it was rough to hear but thanks fer listening ladies."

"...you do know I'd never do something like that to you, let alone anypony right Ryan?"

"Hahaha, yes T-Sparks, I know you'd never take advantage of me like that for your own gain of knowledge; like I said it was just a dream. A worst case scenario...but then again what is Discord but a worst case scenario?"

"I suppose that is true." Twilight remarked, "Still...if that magic had gotten to you, I wonder if it's affecting Spike as well."

"It's possible Twilight Sparkle, as I am having the same difficulties going into Spike's mind as well." Princess Luna nodded before frowning, "I suppose we can only hope that much like Ryan, he'll wake up when he finds his ending."

Rainbow Dash meanwhile didn't feel like talking and didn't seem to want to keep eye contact with Ryan, no doubt feeling a bit weird at her dream self being such a total jerk; hobbling over to her, he ruffled her mane before giving her a smile.

"Dashie, why are you being so mopey? It was just a dream."

"I know but...I was such a jerk to you! It just...it bothers me because I did distrust you at the start...and to see where it could have gone..."

"Could have gone, not did go Dashie."

"Yeah, yeah I know but...it's too bad I can't kick his butt again, I'd really like to give Discord a piece of my mind!"

Ryan smirked, "Now that's the Dashie we know...now then how about..."

He was interrupted as one of the nurses watching over Spike came running out to find them before trying to say something and it getting all fumbled as she tried to catch her breath.

"Safety Cross, are you alright?" Celestia asked, noting her tired expression, "What has happened?"

"Finally....found....you all. It's your friend..." Safety tried to catch her breath before continuing, "Spike, he's finally woken up!"

The girls looked at Ryan, who looked at them, who looked at the Princesses, who looked back at all of them before they finally all stared at Safety Cross, "What?!"

Not wasting a moment the group quickly (well, quickly with the exception of Ryan who was still hobbling some) made their way through the castle to Spike's room, eager to greet their friend after his ordeal.

Having finally caught up with the others only thanks to AppleJack's help, Ryan could see they were already crowding around poor Spike but he couldn't help the smile on his face when he finally saw him awake and heard him talking, "Little buddy!"

"Huh? Oh hey it's Ryan! How long have you been up big guy?"

"Long enough to be worried about you." Ryan laughed as he walked over and held his hand up for a fist-bump, "Sheesh, making us worry and stuff."

Spike smiled and slowly reached up to return the fist-bump, "Yeah...I had such a strange dream: everypony was so mean and not how they should be...and they all chased me out of town for something I didn't do. It was awful..."

"...sounds like Discord did to you what he did to me as well; either way I'm glad yer up. Now things can finally get back to normal."

"Not yet!" Pinkie gasped, bouncing in place, "We haven't even had our "Hooray we totally beat up Discord again!" party! And Ryan and Spike need to see the awesome new addition the Princess had made in honor of it!"

"...addition?" Ryan blinked, puzzled by her words, "Hmmm...guess you've been busy the last few days huh Cellie?"

"Well, it's only right to honor those that would give their all to save our world."

"Ya hear that Spike? I guess that means we are heroes."

"That's really cool and all Ryan, and I'll totally enjoy that fact in a little bit, but do you have any gems on you?" Spike held his stomach as it growled, "I'm starving!"

It was a few days later after Ryan and Spike were finally patched up and pretty much back to normal when Princess Celestia held a ceremony honoring those that had saved Equestria from Discord once again; Ryan was sharply dressed in an "absolutely fetching" outfit that Rarity had whipped up for the occasion. Needless to say, he could tell it was living up to its description as he walked with the others towards Celestia and Luna.

"It is with great pleasure that we are finally able to honor those who once again put a stop to the chaotic designs of Discord; while most of you are no doubt familiar with my student Twilight Sparkle and her friends that wield the Elements of Harmony, not all of you may know of the others that helped her succeed when it seemed all might be lost and how they gave all they had to restore the world as we know it love it."

"Sheesh Princess, are ya trying to make me blush?" Ryan joked, feeling the heat go to his cheeks, "I just did what anypony would for his friends after all."

A few ponies in the crowd (as well as his friends) laughed at his attempt to divert his shyness, though a few clearly did not know who or what he was as they looked on quite puzzled.

"Such humble words from the hero, but though he might not make a big deal of it, both he and the young Spike fought valiantly against forces they knew were dangerous and in the end were able to help their friends once again seal away the menace that is Discord."

Luna's words, however, brought forth quite a cheer from everypony...which simply made Ryan blush a bit more; still, he had to admit it was kind of cool getting to be the hero and so he smiled and gave a wave in reply to their enthusiasm. He had to gasp, however, when a few mares in the crowd seemed to be flirting with him, batting their eyes and making kissy faces at him.

"Mercy me...heh, sorry ladies, but I'm happily taken." He teased, reaching over and squeezing Apps in a tight hug, "This stallion's already been claimed."

"Darn tootin'." AppleJack replied, leaning up to kiss him, though she felt a little self-conscious after realizing she did so in front of so many ponies, "Ah ah mean...ah to hay with it! I love mah Apple Ryder!"

"Oh my." Celestia teased, "Clearly the hero already has quite the fan club."

"Cellie...but hey, I'm not the only hero so..." He remarked, lifting Spike up on to his shoulder, "There ya go little buddy, soak it in!"

"Yeah! Whooooo! Hello Canterlot!" Spike happily shouted, "Are you all ready to party?"

"Oh! Oh! I'm totally ready! In fact I've been ready for sooooooo long, but now that this day is here it's all set up and I've got so much awesome partying to do and...."

"Well then, seeing as everypony is so excited let the celebrations commence!" Celestia noted, cutting off Pinkie before she got out of hoof again, "Any last words for the crowd before we enjoy ourselves?"

Ryan glanced at his friends (pausing to wink at Rainbow Dash who took off), his gal Apps, and then at his buddy Spike situated on his shoulder before smirking and giving the crowd the peace sign. To enhance the awesomeness of the moment, Rainbow Dash had perfectly timed a Sonic Rainboom to coincide with his parting words to the crowd, "Friendship is always magic!!"

Author's Note

So yeah, with the battle over comes the aftermath right? And it's not all apples and cream seeing as it took a bit of a toll on both Ryan and Spike; the nightmare scenario he detailed is something I thought of in terms of what might happen if the ponies were as distrustful and such as I imagine most humans might be were an alien species to appear on our Earth. Basically the worst case scenario for an HiE. Plus, why not show one last little spiteful move by that sore loser Discord, still causing chaos even in defeat. However, in the end, the wounds heal and a celebration can commence letting things get back to normal...which means silliness and such like how the story started. Thanks for reading, the next part should be coming soon enough.