Joining the One Wolf Pack
They circled closer, their hot breath blowing across the back of my neck. I was trying to see if there was any way out of the mess I had landed in, but there was no apparent mean of escape. I got to my hooves, still very wobbly because of the age I was, and stood my ground against the circling creatures. I bared my teeth in the fiercest look I could muster and growled lowly in my throat. Luckily, I could make these noises with no problem because they didn't even need my vocal chords to be matured. Speaking would come later. My growling had caused the group circling me to back off slightly, but they were still there watching me cautiously.
I realized now that these creatures were wolves, and not the timber kind. They were flesh and blood wolves, and they were out hunting for food. And I was food to them most likely. I kept baring my teeth at them as I slowly made my way forward, shakily putting one hoof after the other. A wolf that seemed older than the rest slowly made its way towards me, but I felt as if it had no intention of harming me. I stopped growling and bearing my teeth, but I was still as tense as a young foal who can't even walk correctly can be.
It stood before me and sniffed the air. Its hackles raised as it let out a loud howl that the other wolves responded to. I flinched and tried to back away, but the fur of my neck was caught by one of the wolves that were circling me and I was carried at a fast rate from the clearing. I learned why we had made such a hasty retreat from the clearing; even the wolves were being hunted. As we raced through the forest, I could make out the cracking of twigs behind us and I could make out the glowing green eyes of timber wolves. We heard a yelp from behind, and I caught a glimpse of one of the pack being taken down by two timber wolves. The rest of the timber wolves converged on that one and began to eat.
We escaped, but it was at the cost of one of their family members. I was carried back to their den, a cave in the hills somewhere in the Everfree. The rest of the pack consisted of three females, all which were attending to eight young, and two older wolves that could barely move. I was put down next to one of the nursing females and was nudged closer to her. I got the feeling that they had adopted me into their pack, and they were telling me to feed. I was hungry, so I took them up on their offer. I pushed my way into the mass of pups and began to suckle on one of the teats that was unoccupied. The warm milk tasted good, and I drank my fill of it before I backed away from the mother wolf.
The group that had retrieved me was sitting on the far side of the cave next to the entrance. I unsteadily made my way towards them, and what I heard surprised me. They were speaking in hushed tones, and looking over at one of the older wolves in the corner I got close enough to hear them properly before they noticed me. The older wolf came over to me and picked me up. It set me down next to the wolf the others were talking about.
"Young one, you should stay here and let Moon-Moon watch over you. A member of the pack sacrificed her life so that you could live. I hope that you will not disappoint us or let her sacrifice be in vain." He walked off back to where the others were sitting. I liked how he spoke to me, he talked to me as if he knew I was able to understand exactly what he was saying, which I was. One of the other wolves from the group went over to a pile of dead animals and brought each female an animal. They fed and rested, which was what they needed to do to remain healthy and strong for their pups, and for me.
The next few years passed in a blur, me quickly progressing from drinking milk to eating animals. At first, my body rejected any sort of meat, but as time went on it grew used to meat. At first I could only eat cooked meat, but by the fifth moon I could eat it raw. My teeth had become like that of an omnivore, canines that were sharp enough to shred through flesh along with molars to grind food in the back. I was able to save food for the pack by eating plants, but they tasted horrible compared to the juicy meat of a fresh rabbit.
My first hunting trip with the pack ended up as a disaster. By that time, my body had grown sleek and powerful, with rippling muscles under a shiny coat of black fur. It must have been the protein from the animals that I had been eating that gave me stronger muscles. I had wrestled with Sharpclaw to see if I was able to join them on the hunt. It had been the quickest match witnessed in the den; I beat him in less than ten seconds.
But onto the hunt. When I was stalking a rabbit, its ears had twitched and it turned around. As soon as it spotted my mane and tail, it bolted like there was no tomorrow. I gave chase to it, but all the bushes and thorns it went through did well to slow me down, and it jumped down into its den before I could sink my teeth into its haunch. I couldn't fit my hoof into the den because my hoof was too big and inflexible. If I was a wolf, that rabbit would have been mine. I met back up with the rest of the group, all of whom had gotten at least one kill. They seemed disappointed that I hadn't gotten a single catch, what with me having beaten one of the best hunters in the pack.
My image was soon restored. One night later, a timber wolf sauntered up to our den. I had been placed outside on guard duty, when I heard it shuffle in the darkness. I turned around and saw it approach the den even further. None of my den mates would know what hit them because they were all asleep. I made my way up the incline to get an advantage against the timber wolf. I pounced down on it from above and had a brief scuffle with it. I reached in with my muzzle and ripped out the glowing vines in its chest that acted as its heart.
The others, having heard what was going on outside, came to see what had happened. They saw me standing in the pile of bark that was once a fierce timber wolf. They came up to me and congratulated me on my kill. They had a smart idea to help me when they saw me standing in that pile. They had to cut off my tail, but they said I would be able to keep my mane. I still asked them to give me a little cut because it was becoming unruly. They fashioned me armor from the bark of the defeated timber wolf. It completely covered my mane and I was still able to see clearly out of the holes in the helmet. The reason why they had to cut my tail off is because it wouldn't have fit in the armor correctly.
The next hunting trip couldn't have gone any better. I had found a rock that was tough enough to grind my hooves down into claw shapes, giving me another way to capture prey. The armor I had fit tightly and did not make any sounds as I moved through the grass and bushes. In fact, it made any sound I made seem muffled to anything around me. I had caught eight pieces of prey before the pack leader gave the signal to return to the den. I walked in carrying all of by kills on straps tied to my armor. I had gotten the most kills out of the entire hunting party. The first piece was given directly to the mother that had nursed me when I was younger and the rest went into the hunt pile.
The following hunting trips were even more prosperous for me. I quickly became the hunt leader, and protector of the den. As the years went on, more and more timber wolves found our den. The armor I had let me fool them into thinking I was one of them just long enough for me to take them out without any of my den mates suffering any injuries. The wolves kept on getting bigger, which was exactly what I needed because I was getting bigger as well. Each time a wolf was defeated, its bark would be added to my armor.
When I had reached the age of fifteen years, I gained my name in the pack. Midnight Spectrum. When I went into battle, it seemed as if the night itself had sent a barrage of colors to attack the packs enemy. There was much rejoicing that night, and the entire pack celebrated my new name. We sat in the middle of the den and conversed with each other. When it was midnight, they finally began the real part of the pack ritual. I took off my helmet and kneeled before the pack leader, but I was till larger than him by a staggering amount. In the years that had passed, I had grown to be a stallion that was larger than even Big Mac.
"In the name of Luna and our ancestors, will you, Midnight Spectrum, swear to protect your den mates and forever hold the name of the pack in highest regards?"
"I will." I spoke in a completely dead set tone. This was no joking matter for the pack.
"Then, we formerly welcome you into the pack. You may even be the leader one day, but do not count on it being any time soon." He gave me a wink and gave a howl to the moon. The others joined in as I put my helmet back on. I howled to the moon as well, reveling in being a full member of the pack.
When the ceremony was over, the others began their own ritual of sorts. They sat around me, eating the prey they had just taken from the hunt pile. They were laughing and telling stories. I piped up, "So you guys are the only ones left of your kind right?" They quieted down, and the elder came over to me and placed his paw on my head.
"Yes, we are the last of our kind. The timber wolves have hunted us down to extinction, and we are the only survivors of their attacks. Soon we will die off because we cannot repopulate just by ourselves. That is why we adopted you, so you can carry on the legacy and become the Leader."
"But what about…" I trailed off, because I knew he was speaking the truth. Even our entire pack was sure to die off at some point, even if it wasn't directly caused by the timber wolves. I quietly went over to the hunt pile and ate my fill. Then I went over to a corner of the den and went to sleep. I didn't have night duty because of the fact that I had just truly become a member of the pack and it was like I had a holiday.
It turns out that I really should have been on duty that night. As I slept, Sharpclaw, the one posted in my place, had come under attack by a large mass of timber wolves. I carried on sleeping, oblivious to the battle going on. The timber wolves made their way into the den and began to slaughter any of the wolves that were in there, which was the entire pack because nobody had been sent out to collect food alone that night.
As the sunlight made its way into the cave entrance, I opened my eyes slightly. What I saw was horrible. There were chunks of uneaten wolves strewn about the cave. It seemed as if the timber wolves had eaten their fill, but they still killed every last wolf that was alive. I had probably been spared because it seemed as if I wasn't there or because I looked like one of them. The leader was the only one left alive, but he had been gravely injured.
I ran over to him after I had gotten up. He had gotten a chunk of his side ripped out and it was bleeding profusely. I tried to do my best to patch him up, but it was to no avail. He slipped out of consciousness, and his last words will stay with me the rest of my mortal life.
"It seems that you became the leader much sooner than any of us expected. But, you are the leader of your one wolf pack." He laughed, coughed up some blood, and went limp. The light went from his eyes and left dull orbs sitting in the sockets.
I cried. I howled at the sun, at the moon, at anything that would hear my cry. I was alone. I had lost all of those that had taken care of me in my fifteen years of living on this planet, all to some wolves made out of wood that knew not what feelings were. They only strove to eat and hunt, not to love and be caring. They didn't even mourn over the loss of their comrades. It was at that moment that I knew what I had to do. I had to move on and be the leader of my pack. My one wolf pack.
I took a few days to properly bury my pack. I gathered up what was left of them on top of a pile of bark from the timber wolves I defeated and did not add to my armor. I set the pile on fire and moved a rock in front of the cave entrance. I spent a few more days carving words into the rock I placed in front of their grave.
"Here lie the ones who saved me, who gave me food, shelter, and warmth. They were killed by beasts that deserve not to exist. But, there is only one left who remembers them. I shall carry on in their memory, and tell of their kindness and compassion." As I finished the carving, I bit the soft flesh of my hoof and left a mark next to the words I had carved. It looked like a half hoof and half paw mark, and I walked away. This was when I gained my cutie mark, but I didn't realize this until later. It was a moon that had a rainbow ring around it, and on the surface was a single paw mark that was the color of the rainbow.
I went on the next few days wandering aimlessly through the forest, eating only when absolutely necessary and drinking whenever I came upon a river or pond. I destroyed any timber wolves that got into my sense range. Living with the wolves had given me new skills, which I used continuously on my journey to nowhere. On the fourth day, I ran into something I didn't plan on running into.
I had been bathing myself in a river that came from the mountains, its cold waters waking me up completely and giving me shivers. I had taken off my armor to bathe, but I heard a rustle in the bushes off to my left. I leaped out of the water, shook myself off, and put on my armor in less than ten seconds. I jumped into a nearby bush and waited for the unknown creature to present itself. Finally, it emerged from the bushes.
It was a Pegasus mare that was butter colored. She has long white hair that flowed down her back and almost touched the ground. She went over to the river and drank from it. It looked like she was the only pony around, because no other ponies joined her. She drank her fill and got a pitcher from one of her saddle bags and filled it with the river water. She walked back in the direction she had come from and I left the cover of the bushes I had been hiding in.
It gave me joy to see that ponies were still here on this planet, and that they were sentient beings that used what they had used when I had last been here. For some reason, the pony that I had just seen looked really familiar. I put it off and jumped over to the other side of the river and followed the scent trail the pony had left behind. I moved silently through the bushes as I followed her, making sure that I didn't alert her to my presence. I didn't want her to bolt because I wanted to know where she had come from.
I heard a scream from up ahead and I burst through any bushes or vines that were in my way. I ran into a clearing where the mare was surrounded by a pack of timber wolves. She saw me and screamed again, which caused the timber wolves to growl angrily and close even further on her. I jumped on the one closest to me and ripped out the heart. The other wolves, sensing the fall of their comrade, turned around and saw me standing a pile of bark. The snarled at me and leapt at me all at once. I slipped out from under their attack, which caused them all to hit each other and shatter.
They weren't out yet though. The broken pieces formed together to make a massive timber wolf. This had only happened one other time to me, and that was when I didn't bother to rip out their hearts when I defeated them. I came out from the fight with large portions of fur missing, which had grown back by now, and large bruises all over my body. I knew exactly how to fight these ones since I had learned of their weak spots from the last fight.
I jumped onto its back and began to tear apart the bark that covered its heart. It shook me off and tried to snap at me, but I leapt out of its reach before it could get its jaws around me. The bark that was torn off was completely apart of the wolf, and it had to take some bark from its sides and chest to cover up the hole I had made. These wolves could use other parts of their body to regenerate their wounds, but they couldn't use any of the wood that was torn off of them to heal. This meant that I could slowly weaken it by slowly tearing it apart.
My main goal was to keep its attention off of the mare, which was paralyzed with fear. I leapt on its back again and began to tear it apart. I got even more torn off this time before I was shaken off. I landed somewhat awkwardly and almost injured myself. I only had to do the same thing two more times before its chest was exposed, and I would be able to rip out its heart. It didn't even know what I was trying to do, it just kept trying to attack me. I did the same routine twice more, and forced it to open its chest area. I leapt at it and tore apart the cage that protected its heart. I grabbed it in my jaw and ripped it out.
I fell to the ground and was showered with debris, getting more injuries from the debris then I had received from the fight. I was hit over the head with a large chunk of wood that made me black out. The last thing I saw was the mare standing over me and trying to see if I was alright. I blacked out knowing she was safe.
When I came to, I was sleeping on a comfortable couch and covered in a yellow blanket. I looked around and winced when I felt some of my smaller wounds open up. Luckily, all of my wounds were covered in gauze so no blood seeped onto the couch. I was in a small room of a building that seemed really natural. There were small holes in the walls and there were rods sticking out of the walls that I guess were bird perches. This place looked really familiar, but I still couldn't place my hoof on where I was. I heard a quiet gasp from the doorway behind me and I turned around and saw that the mare I had saved was standing there in front of a whole group of small animals.
I totally realized who this mare reminded me of right then. She looked like Fluttershy, but she was younger and different colors. I was obviously in the cottage just outside of Ponyville. I got up quickly, but I wobbled dizzily and fell back down on the couch. The mare rushed over to my side and chided me for getting up so quickly, I still had to recover from my injuries. Apparently she had put my armor back on me after she had bandaged me up, luckily. I would feel as if I had lost a part of myself if I lost my armor.
"You should know better than to move after having received all those injuries. You still have to take the time to heal up." She got a sponge and dipped it in a bucket of water she had carried with her. She leaned around the armor and bits of gauze, cleaning up any blood that had seeped out.
"How long have I been out?" I asked as I looked around more, making sure that I didn't open any wounds.
"You've been out for a few hours. I have never seen anypony else with this natural ability to heal. Your wounds started to close even before I had gotten you here to patch you up. If you keep up this rate of healing, you should be fine by the end of the day." She put away the sponge and bucket in a nearby closet. The animals still seemed uncomfortable around me, but they still had moved into the room where I was. I guess being a predator, I seemed like I would attack them at any second.
"So who do I owe my life to? I would like to at least know your name."
She stuttered and hid behind her mane. "I… I'm Sun Burst."
I sighed and leaned back into the pillows. "Well that seems like a great cheery name. It even fits your colors."
She looked surprised. "You heard what I said? Usually, everypony has to keep asking me the same question before they hear what I say." She looked over to me from where she was sitting. "So, who should I thank for saving my life?"
I fidgeted around so that I was facing her while I was on my side so that I was more comfortable while talking to her. "My name is Midnight Spectrum."
She leaned her head to one side. "Can I ask you a question?"
"That was a question, but sure, shoot."
She walked up to me. "Are you a guard? I've never seen anypony fight like that before."
I shook my head. "No, I am not a guard. All my moves I created by myself, or I learned from my family."
"Are you from the Apple family then? You seem to be even larger than Big Mac used to be before he broke his back and had to start using that walker to get around."
"No, I am not from the Apple family either. I got this large from my unusual diet that I adopted from a young age." I realized that I covered up the entirety of the couch and the blanket didn't cover my entire form. "I have lived my entire life in the Everfree forest with my pack."
She looked at me as if I had something crazy. "Did you say pack? As in, pack of timber wolves?"
"No, meant pack of real wolves. They brought me in when I was just a foal, not even a year old."
"But that's impossible. Dusty told me that they went extinct over forty years ago."
"Well, now they truly are extinct. The pack that brought me in was killed by a pack of timber wolves about two weeks ago. I'm the only one left because the timber wolves spared me. I made a grave, burned them, and have been wandering the Everfree for four days. That's when I saw you, and since you and I are the same species I thought that I would follow you. Who is this Dusty pony by the way, is he some sort of information broker?"
It took her a few minutes to realize exactly what I had said, and then she began to cry. She sobbed hysterically. "I… I didn't know. I'm so sorry!" She wrapped me in a really tight hug, cutting of my airflow. I had to tap her a few times to tell her to stop hugging me so tightly. "I'm sorry; it's just that you lost all of your family in one day and that must have been really hard on you."
"It was and it still is, but I have to move on with my life. Besides, you didn't answer my question. Who is Dusty?"
"Oh, Dusty is the librarian of Ponyville. She is the grandchild of the princess Twilight Sparkle. Twilight stopped living here when her duties came to be too much of a problem if she lived here, but Dusty chose to stay here and run the library." She got up and went over to the kitchen. "Since it seems that you are completely capable of feeding yourself now, I'll make you something to eat. What would you like?"
I was about to ask for a nice juicy rabbit, but then I remembered that ponies didn't eat meat like I did. "I'll have a fruit salad please." I would have to tell her sooner or later that I also ate meat. It would probably be hard to be friends with her when she knew, but I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret for that long.
"Ok, one fruit salad coming right up" She went into the kitchen and started to rummage around for the ingredients. The animals slowly inched their way towards me. I sat still as I could so that I didn't scare them. But as soon as a rabbit got right up next to me, it smelled the blood of my last meal on my fur. It skittered off into one of the holes in the wall, and the rest of the critters followed its example. I 'tched' and then Sun walked into the room carrying a bowl in her mouth.
She set it down on the small table in between us, and sat down in the chair across from me. "I'm surprised that you knew what a fruit salad was. Did you have any while you stayed with the wolves?" She watched me as I picked at the fruit, and shrank back behind her hair again. "Oh… did I ask you something I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. And no, I didn't have any fruit salads when I was living with the wolves because there aren't many edible fruits in the Everfree around where I lived. They simply talked about how much I would have probably liked them over what we normally ate." I ate the rest of the salad. There was an awkward silence that hung in the air.
"Um, if I may ask, what did you normally eat?" She looked at me expectantly, probably hoping that I wouldn't say ponies or small animals.
"Are you sure you really want to know. You probably will really hate me if you do." She just nodded and I sighed. "Well as you know, I don't eat ponies." She breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that. "But take a look at my teeth." I bared my teeth so that she could get a good look at them. "My canines are sharp, but I also have molars in the back of my mouth for vegetables and fruit. My usual diet is…"
She leaned in closer to hear what I was saying, because I had gotten more and more quiet as I went on.
"…rabbits and other small animals." I whispered, waiting for her to cry out in fear or to scream at the top of her lungs. When that didn't happen, I looked up and was face to face with her. She looked slightly taken aback by what I had said, but she didn't seem overly scared. "Are you not going to run away or scream, telling your friends that you met a monster pony today or something? Then when they come with torches and pitchforks, you show them exactly where I go to?"
She looked aghast at the idea. "No, of course I wouldn't do that. Of course, living with wolves for your entire life would alter your diet. I even take care of some animals that need to eat meat to stay healthy. I can say that it isn't pleasant, but it's what they need so I get it for them. If you stick around, I can get you some meat, just stay her for a moment." She got up from her seat and went into the kitchen again.
I was shocked that she was so calm about this. If I was a pony that took care of animals of any size, especially the smaller ones, I would have been freaked out about what had just been said. But Sun Burst had just taken this information in stride and had offered to get me some meat. I sat there with a blank look on my face, wondering how much had changed in the world I had apparently once known. She came back out carrying a large bird on a plate.
"This is the most I can give you, because I have to save the rest for Bearsty. She gets really angry when she doesn't have enough food."
I looked at the bird on the plate, and sized it up to the meals I had been used to eating. This one bird could have counted for about three meals. I decided to give it a taste to see if I would like it. It was amazing; the meat seemed to tear apart with the smallest flick of my tongue. "This is amazing! I forgot how great cooked meat could be, especially if it is seasoned correctly." I polished off the plate in a short amount of time, leaving only the bones. I licked the plate clean and let out a small belch. "Oops, 'scuse me."
She giggled and picked up the plate. "Well, since you're the first one that is actually able to tell me of what the dish was like, I'm glad that it was to your liking. Do you normally eat in small portions or large portions?"
"I normally eat my fill, but that is relatively small to what some of the others would eat. I also only hunt in moderation, as I was taught. Any other way of hunting is irresponsible and can lead to irreversible changes, at least in the short run." I grimaced, remembering what the leader had told me. "That was what happened with the timber wolves, if you didn't know. They simply hunted the wolves for the challenge rather for sustenance. They also hunted without any care for how many they wiped out. But enough of my sad tales, would it be possible for me to meet your friends, they seem like interesting ponies."
"Of course you can meet them! This is wonderful, I'm pretty sure that Dusty would love to meet you. As soon as you've healed up I'll bring them over. And by the rate you're healing, that will be tomorrow. Seriously, you have a ridiculously fast rate of healing. You must have some sort of magic in you that lets you do that. But you'll have to lose the armor before you meet them."
"I am not getting rid of this armor. It is a part of me now, as it has been the first day I got it. I only take it off when I wash myself. I would rather be set on fire than part with it." I said this dead set on what I was saying, making sure that she knew that there was no way of convincing me to get rid of it.
"Oh, if that is the way you feel I won't make you get rid of it. Can I at least see what you look like without it? I will tell my friends that you aren't a timber wolf before I bring them to meet you." She pouted, giving me the puppy dog eyes.
"Fine, I will at least show you what I look like." I took off everything but my helmet and the tail piece. I had to hide my mane and what remained of my tail that I had recently cut again. It grew really quickly, so much that it would be able to reach full length in just a few days when I didn't cut it. "How did you even bandage me up with my armor on? It looks like you would have had to take it off to do the job properly." My question was answered when the gauze fell off of my body. It was just being held there with my armor.
"The way I did it was that I just shoved the bandages and stuff under the cracks in your armor. It looked like pressure would have been applied by the armor if I just left the gauze under it, and I was right. Wow, you have such a lovely dark coat. What do you do to keep it so smooth and shiny? And how did you get to be so big?"
"I'm guessing that it had to do with my diet and the exercise I went through every day. The only problem with my fur is that sometimes it gets really oily and sweat makes dirt stick to it easily. Why did you ask if I was a guard? Do you know any personally?"
"Of course I do. My father, Steel Wing, is the commander of the Pegasus Royal Guard. I made friends with some of the recruits from the squadrons, and I speak with them periodically. Your coat reminds me of something, I just can't place my hoof on it." She was slowly circling me, looking at me carefully to remember what I looked like.
"Are you almost done, this is making me feel uncomfortable." And it was awkward for me, I was standing there fidgeting. I never really liked being the center of attention. I usually let other people take the spotlight while I did things in the shadows.
"Almost done, just a bit longer." Her eyes finally settled on my cutie mark and she moved closer to me. She put her hoof on it and cried a single tear. We simply stood there in silence for the next few minutes, not moving. The small animal that had hidden came out to comfort Sun. The animals didn't seem uncomfortable around me anymore once they knew more about me.
After the minutes had passed, Sun wished me good night and I wished her the same. I sat down on the couch as I put my armor back on, quietly looking around the cottage. If what I had heard from Sun Burst was true, I was in a time of about sixty to seventy years after the time I had been here last. The cottage hadn't changed all that much in the time that had gone by. Hopefully Ponyville wouldn't have changed that much either. I closed my eyes and went to sleep, falling into a black void that represented my feelings. I saw a small light that was growing in the darkness, and I knew that I would find a way to show true happiness again. I would make new friends and move on with my life, maybe even settle down with a nice mare and have some foals and fillies.
I didn't see at that moment that there were some more dark spots within that light. More hardships would fall upon me, some that would leave me broken, needing to be fixed with a loving hoof.
Grandchildren, Ponyville, and Home
I was rudely awakened by the glare of the sun through the blinds and an impatient bunny pounding my face. I bared my teeth and it flinched a bit before putting a scowl on its face and tapping me again. I growled and it jumped away from me, but before it went into its hidey hole it blew a raspberry at me. "I swear I can tell you're one of Angel's offspring. That sass and that attitude haven't changed one bit in all this time."
I got up and stretched, popping some joints as I went through my normal routine for the day. I had to limber up every day to prepare for hunting and running, otherwise I would be sore at the end of the day and I would burn out while trying to run. When I finished I went over to one of the windows and looked out, my eyes adjusting to the light outside of the house. Everything looked the exact same as it did years ago. It really looked like nothing had changed.
I heard Sun coming down the stairs and I went over to the foot of the stairs to greet her. She screamed and hid around the corner when she saw me. She poked her head around the corner and gave a sigh of relief. "My goodness, I had almost forgotten that you were here. I thought you were a timber wolf in my house. You really shouldn't scare ponies like that." She floated the rest of the way down the stairs, landing softly in front of me.
"Well, I didn't mean to scare you. I was only going to greet you at the stairs when you saw me and screamed." I pointed over to the bunny that woke me up. "If I may ask, what is that little creature's name?"
"Oh, that one is really special to me. His name is Hale, like halos on angels, because he is my little angel." She went over to the bunny and picked it up, placing it on her back. It 'hmphed' and crossed its front paws.
I knew that the little devil had to be one of Angel's offspring. That behavior is not learned from ponies, it is passed down from generation to generation in bunnies. Only a single bunny in the offspring has it though. I was about to ask Sun if she could go get her friends before I heard something rushing for the door. It was a steady, but fast, beat of wings. Before the unknown creature hit the door, I pulled Sun out of the doorway. The door slammed to the floor, and standing on top was a dark blue pegasus mare, who had a rainbow mane and tail.
"I heard you scream! Is there something wrong Sun?" She looked over to where we were standing and automatically went into a stance that said she was ready to fight. "Whatever you are, timber wolf thing, unhoof Sun this instant. Either that, or prepare for the beating of your life."
I let go of Sun, and pointed at the door the new pegasus was standing on. "Before you do anything else, fix the door. I'm pretty sure you could have just opened it normally instead of breaking it down. And as you can see, Miss Sun is not in any danger from me. She simply has helped me in my recovery, and I was resting here while I recuperated." I looked over to Sun. "By the way, who is this pony?"
"Oh, this is one of my friends, Cloudy Gale. Cloudy, this is my new friend Midnight Spectrum. He saved me from timber wolves that attacked me yesterday when I went to get some river water for the chickens."
I looked over at Sun. "You have a small creek that runs right next to your house. Why would you need to get water from the river in the Everfree just for your chickens?" I scratched at my ear, getting around my armor.
Cloudy seemed to agree with me. "Yeah, it's really dangerous out there. Remember the last time we went out there to meet with Zauna; we were attacked by a hydra. And this time you were attacked by timber wolves. You shouldn't go out there alone, and you were lucky this guy was there to help you." She looked over to me. "Thanks for that by the way. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost my best friend to timber wolves. They've gotten really aggressive lately, and I don't know why. Neither does Dusty."
"Well, before you burst in here, I was about to ask Sun here if I could meet her friends. I think it would be better if we went out to meet them; I don't do well in enclosed spaces for long periods of time." I pushed Gale off of the door that was still on the floor and I pushed it up to the doorframe. "Can one of you get me the bolts for the hinges?" Sun nodded and picked them up in her mouth and brought them over to me. I grabbed them with my teeth and put them in the hinges housing. Picking up things with my mouth had become normal for me in the time I had spent here; it didn't bother me anymore like it did when I first came as Ordeus.
"What's with the get-up anyways? Are you dressing up for Nightmare Night? You don't have to do that now 'cause that isn't for like three more months." She knocked her hoof against my armor. She pulled it back when she realized that this wasn't just a costume.
"I would rather not talk about it now. I will tell you and the others when we can all get together. I don't like having to repeat myself, but I've already told Sun some of the story." I opened the door and gave a small bow. "After you, because I have no idea where I'm going." They walked out the door and I closed it behind us. "So where are we going? What are your friends like?"
Gale spoke first; because Sun had taken on the shy look I had Fluttershy use so often. "We're going to the library 'cause the others said they would be there today. If they aren't there yet, at least we can introduce you to Dusty first and wait on the others." As we walked through Ponyville, Gale told me about her friends. They sounded like the same ponies that I had come to know as friends in the past. The ponies that passed us looked scared; a pony dressed in timber wolf armor was walking through town with two mares beside it.
I smelled something amazing and I followed my nose, breaking away from Sun and Gale. I meandered through the streets, taking familiar turns that lead me straight for Sugarcube Corner. I walked in and heard the ding of the bell above me, and a mare behind the counter held up a hoof.
"One moment and I'll be right with you." She was searching around some drawers in search of a pan probably. When she finally found the one she was looking for, she got up and turned around and looked at me. "Hello, and how may I…" She froze for a moment before she screamed and dropped the pan she was holding. It clanged against the floor and a skinny stallion rushed into the room.
"What's wrong Cheese, why did you…" He stopped when he saw me standing there. "Ahh, there's a timber wolf in the store!"
I waved my hoof at them. "Um, I'm not a timber wolf. I just look like a timber wolf. I came here because I smelled something amazing. What was it?"
They stood there in silence, looking at me and then at each other. They laughed and the stallion went back through the double swinging doors that led into the kitchen. "Okay, you got us this time Starry. Tell your friend to take off his costume, it's scaring off customers."
The pony known as Starry poked her head out from upstairs. "That's not one of my friends… yet!" She rushed over to stand in front of me, leaving a golden blur in her wake. "Hey, my name is Starry Pie, but you can call me Starry. I knew there was a new pony in town but I didn't know where and I really knew that I had to throw you a welcome to Ponyville party but I didn't know who you were until just now and I always throw welcome to Ponyville parties for new ponies. What's your name?" She said this all in one breath, not even taking a small sip of air. She was definitely the grandchild of Pinkie, because nopony else would have been able to do that.
"I'm Midnight Spectrum, and as you just said I am new to Ponyville. I don't require a party though, I was just hoping to have a small get together with the rest of your friends at the library." I looked past her because she was bouncing in circles around me. My ear twitched and I got a small itch on me left back leg. "Were you baking something to bring over?"
Gasp "How did you know? Do you have the 'Sense' too? That means we're related in some way! Cool, I have a cousin that I never knew I had! That calls for an even bigger celebration!" She rushed upstairs and came back down with a party hat and streamers. "Take this and meet up at the library. I have to set up the party."
I realized that I was the grandchild of Pinkie as well. I was my own grandpa. Heh, my own grandpa, like that one song. It explained why I had the coat I had, and I must have gotten the rainbow tail and mane from the Rainbow family. I was surprised at how events had brought me here. Cheese and the stallion looked at me and shrugged. "Are you going to buy something or are you just going to stand there and scare away customers? You may be a cousin of Starry's but that doesn't mean you can loiter here."
"Oh, sorry about that. I was just thinking about how fate has funny ways of working. I was just about to leave." I headed for the door, but before I left I had a combo. "Don't forget about the cake in oven four, you don't want it to be burnt." The stallion went wide eyed and went to check on the cake. I chuckled and stepped out of the store. I walked around Ponyville some more before I was pulled into a store by a white hoof.
"Hurry, before you get any dirt on my floor, take off that dirty armor. I have to make you something new that doesn't make you look like you just crawled out of the forest." She started to tug, with her magic, on the vines holding my armor against me.
I jumped back and growled. "Don't touch the armor! It may look like I just crawled out of the forest, but I've been out of there for about a whole day. You must be Amethyst; I've heard many good things about you. But, this has not been the best first impression. You pulling me into your shop and attempting to strip me has given me a bad impression."
She blushed and led me to one of the covered sofas in the parlor. "I'm sorry about that; it just seemed that you were some fashion disaster that was walking through town. I just had to help you. But it seems that I just annoyed you. Can you forgive me?"
"Of course I can. You were just trying to be generous by helping somepony you saw walking the streets. I just came by to ask you why you weren't at the library for the get together that was planned. And before you ask, I was invited by Sun Burst. She helped me yesterday after I helped her in the forest."
"Well, I just had the most wonderful idea for a new dress and I just had to draw it before I left. I finished right before I pulled you in here because I was just about to head out. If you would like to, you could come with me to fetch Applejem." I pulled a face at the name. "Yes, I always told her that her name was too much like her grandmother's and had only half of what she did in it, but she said she was proud of her name." She pulled her saddlebags over to her and placed them on her back. "Come, we should go now so that we aren't late. I would hate to leave Dusty waiting."
We walked out of the store and she locked the door behind us. We walked towards Sweet Apple Acres, chatting on the way there. She talked about designs she had thought of since seeing my armor, they were based on nature and blending it with the modern fashion. I told her about anything I knew about fashion, but that was an abysmal amount of knowledge. I knew next to nothing about fashion, and she seemed sorely disappointed that I couldn't help her at all.
We arrived at Sweet Apple Acres just in time to see Applejem run through the gate straight towards us. Amethyst got away in time, but I didn't even think about moving. Applejem ran straight into me and almost knocked me down, but I stood firm against the force. She was sent flying back, and she got up slowly looking around dizzily.
"Hmm, Ah don't remember there being a tree there. Oh, howdy there Amethyst, how ya doing?"
"I am doing just fine, thank you for asking." She levitated a handkerchief over to the dizzy Applejem. "I don't know how dear… what was your name again, I don't recall you telling me who you are?"
"My name is Midnight Spectrum, and I am doing perfectly fine. This is a really good reason to show you why I wear this armor all the time basically. See, I wasn't even hurt when she ran into me with such force. And there isn't even a dent in the armor." I tugged at a vine so that my armor still was tight on my body. "It just knocked it loose a little bit." I looked over at Applejem. "Thanks for calling me a tree by the way."
"Whoo wee, you is some big fella aint you? Sorry bout running into you, I'm just kinda in a hurry to the library. See, I was doing my chores when Ah remembered that Ah promised Dusty that Ah would be there before twelve this time. Well, I'll see ya around Ah guess." She tipped her Stetson to Amethyst and I and ran off towards the library.
"Where did she get the Stetson?"
"Did you not know? It belonged to Applejack, who gave it to her daughter who gave it to Applejem. I think she only wears it because it used to belong to a princess today, but she says that it is because she truly loves her family."
What, who, wait, huh? Did I hear her say Applejack was a princess? "Um, did you say that Applejack was a princess?"
"Of course Applejack is a princess. My grandmother is also a princess, along with the rest of those that will be in the library today. How did you not know about these things? Did you live in the forest until yesterday?"
"Um, yes, I did live in the forest until yesterday. But still, how did I not hear anything about this until just now. I thought that the others would have at least mentioned it or acted like royalty or something, but they act like normal ponies that enjoy their normal everyday lives."
"Well, that's because we do enjoy our normal lives. We leave the royal duties to our grandmothers because they already know how to deal with anything that comes up and they are the ones that wanted it this way. They told us that we should enjoy life to the fullest extent and not be held down by royal duties like they are now. As much of a blessing immortality and royalty are, they are also large curses."
She went on like that while we walked towards the library. She explained where the other princesses were in charge and what they normally did on a day to day basis. Applejack was presiding over Appleloosa, Pinkie over some place called Rock Pierce Gorge (I'm guessing it was rock candy), Fluttershy watched over the place where the breezies entered and exited from Equestria, Rarity over Manehattan, Rainbow over Cloudsdale, and Twilight over Ponyville and Canterlot. Celestia and Luna were taking a vacation, which was the reason why Twilight had to handle Canterlot as well as Ponyville. She finished explaining as soon as we got to the front door of the library. She let me go in first, which I didn't understand until I was blasted with confetti.
"Surprise! See I told you I would give you a party to welcome you to Ponyville and I did. And I also remembered that you said you only wanted it to be a small get together, which it is, but Princess Twilight joined us while we were waiting on Applejem, Amethyst, and you, so I figured that she would be more than welcome at this welcome party. After all, it was my grandma who welcomed her to Ponyville and I thought she would love to have the same experience of welcoming a new pony to Ponyville because not many ponies actually come to stay, they just sort of pass through and mph." Starry had a hoof shoved in her mouth, she continued to talk but none of what she said was understandable.
"I think he gets the idea, Starry. Anyways, welcome to Ponyville. If you ever want to see some awesome stunts, you know who to call." Cloudy did a loop in the air, almost knocking some books off of the shelf before they were enveloped in a magenta glow that came from the pony standing in the doorway to the kitchen.
"Cloudy, how many times have Dusty and I told you not to do stunts in a library. Rainbow Dash ruined so many books in her attempts at stunts that it wasn't even funny after the seventeenth time. So you are the new pony in town. Where are you staying while in Ponyville?"
Now or never to check if I was still in the same reality that I left behind. "Well, I was going to stay in my old house if I can get over there. I kind of forgot the way and it's kind of sealed up tight, might not want to open. And it also depends on if anypony has built any more houses near it. I kind of lent some of the lands around it to Applejack, but anything that she did with it was up to her."
Applejem looked at me. "Are you talkin bout that house that is just sitting there in that one orchard that we left to the vampire bats? When we tried to get near it, we got turned around by something."
"Oh, good, it's still there. I thought after all this time that something would have happened to it."
Twilight looked at me, trying to figure out who I really was probably. "Wait, are you really who I think you are?"
I took off most of my armor except for the helmet and the tail piece. "Depends, if you think I'm Midnight Cry, then you're kind of right. If you think I'm Ordeus, then you're kind of right. But if you guess that I'm Midnight Spectrum now, then that is the right guess." I took off the helmet and tail piece, showing everypony in the room what I really looked like. The bandages that were still on my head fell away and my mane fell in front of my eyes. I blew it out of the way and gave the girls in the room a smile. I looked over to Twilight after looking around the room. "Miss me?"
She picked me up in her magic and brought me over to her. She gave me a hard slap across the muzzle and then hugged me really tight. "You idiot, we thought that we had lost you forever. Pinkie wouldn't talk to anypony for a month after you left. After that she finally went out and tried to make her life normal again, having to raise a filly and foal on her own without your help. Those two were even more energetic than the cake twins."
"Well, I didn't have the choice on leaving or not. I would have loved to help raise those two, but it turns out that I am the son of one of them. So in reality, I am my own grandpa."
Starry waved her hoof in the air. "Ooh, it's just like that song…"
"Yes, Starry, I already made the connection for the readers. You don't have to do the same thing." I looked over to Twilight. "The thing is, I don't know where my parents went. When I arrived, I was in the middle of the Everfree as a foal. There was no sign of any other pony around, so I don't know what happened to them."
"Streak and Licorice went missing fifteen years ago. We don't have any indication of where they went, but we know that they are still alive. But enough on that subject, why were you wearing timber wolf bark as armor? And why did you cut your tail?"
I sat down to get comfortable, motioning for the others to do the same. "This is kind of a long story, so you all should sit down. Even you Cloudy, take a seat." When they were all seated I launched into my tale ever since I had returned, leaving not even the smallest detail out. When I got to the wolves, Twilight and Dusty looked like they had questions but I shushed them and continued. I told them of how I lived with the wolves for the past fifteen years, and how the timber wolves had ruined our lives. When I got to the part of the slaughter, everypony got teary eyed. I told them of how I built a grave and then just wandered into the Everfree without any destination, and that was how I came upon Sun and saved her from the alpha timber wolf.
When I finished the entire tale, everypony was silent. They just sat there stone still. I looked around at them before I went and voiced my thoughts. "There is one thing that is bothering me. The timber wolves seem way more aggressive now than they did back then. They also seem stronger. What changed them and made them what they are now?"
Twilight looked over at me and shook her head. "That's just it; none of us know what made them this way. This is only one of the problems we've been looking into, but it is the biggest one that has come to our attention so far. There is also a problem with parasprite swarms recently, but we have Discord working on those."
"Oh, so you guys haven't had to put him back in stone yet. How is he doing?"
"He's been doing absolutely fine and dandy. Been a pain in my flank every year on April Foals Day, but other than that, he has toned down his pranks. He also misses you, said he misses the chaotic spirit you had." She rolled her eyes and got up from the cushion she was sitting on, putting it away in a nearby closet.
"Wait, he still remembers me? Tim told me that only you, Tia, and Lulu would remember me." I put up my front hoof. "That lying no good piece of…"
"Whoa, hold up there. You don't want to say anything inappropriate in front of these mares do you?" She gestured to the mares still sitting in the room, shocked at what was going on.
"Ugh, fine, how did he still remember me? Unless Tim was lying and everypony still remembered me even after I disappeared."
"No, only the immortals or soon to be immortal still remember you. The girls still remember you, Discord does, and so does Cadance. It must have been the magic of fate that didn't let the mind wipe work on them. Everypony still remembers Midnight Cry though. The sword you used is being held in a museum in the Crystal Empire where everypony can learn about how they were saved and how the Crystal Empire came to be." She looked at the calendar hanging on the wall beside her. "Celestia and Luna should be there right now getting ready to come back to Canterlot. The springs were expanded and now there is a huge spa over there. I would offer to send you there, but you don't seem one to go to spas."
"You got that right, but I kind of need to get a hooficure to fix the claws I made out of my hooves. On the soft ground of the forest and in flesh, they're fine, but against the cobblestone they're horrible." I looked down at my hooves and showed her that they were all scratched up from walking on the roads all day. "Do you know who runs the spa nowadays?"
"Of course I do. I'll send them a letter and some money to pay for a full job on you tomorrow. Their names are Honey and Comb. Honey works on making your coat all shiny and new looking, while also working on hooves. Comb, of course, works on manes and tails. You can go back to her when your tail grows back to get the most the treatment can offer." She looked at the stump that was my tail. "Want me to grow it back for you? It might take a really long time otherwise."
"Sure thing." I turned my stump towards her and her horn lit up briefly before my tail magically grew out three feet. Or hooves, however you wanna measure it or whatever. "Thanks, I'll be sure to head on over there tomorrow. And sorry about the info dump girls, I didn't really think all of this would actually work out the way it did. Good news is, I have a place to stay so I won't be imposing on any of you, and bad news is it might not open. Who wants to come with me to see my home?"
They all raised their hooves slowly. "Great, let's get going before it gets too dark. Twilight, can you put my armor somewhere safe where I can access it easily. I might need it later or something." She lit up her horn and put my armor somewhere, I didn't know where exactly, but I didn't have to know now. As we walked through the town towards my house, I noticed something. The town was filled with only mares. "Is it just me, or has the ratio of mares to stallions changed dramatically since I was last here?"
Twilight, who was walking next to me, nodded her head. "It isn't just your imagination. There are only four other available stallions in this town. Many moved out when they found out I was leaving, and the rest slowly left after that for other reasons. There are still the married stallions that stayed with their families, but other than that Ponyville's population is basically wholly composed of mares."
"Well, that's ok with me as long as I don't become some kind of breeding stud or something. So, how has Spike been doing? Had any kids of his own?"
"Spike has been doing really well. He stays in touch with me by sending letters, and his daughter is staying with me in Canterlot like Spike did with me when he was young. She is such a cutie. Her name is Gem and she has the brightest purple spikes along with the whitest scales."
"She Spike and Rarity's kid?"
"Yes, we didn't think it was possible at first, but when she said that she was carrying his child we were all so happy. Then a few years after, they broke off their marriage and went their separate ways. Rarity remarried and had her children with a guard at the castle. After he passed away, she decided that she would live without any lasting relationships because of the heartache it causes. Outliving your friends and loved ones is a tremendous stress on your soul."
"I can believe that, outliving somepony and seeing them dead when you still live can be traumatizing at first. I didn't have to deal with that until recently, but it wasn't because of immortality. Close to the same thing though, still outliving loved ones." We reached to front door after navigating through the apple trees and avoiding any bats that flew over our heads. "Well, we're here. You guys wanna come in and get comfortable while I make us some tea. We can chat here for a while because we didn't really get to at the library."
The girls gave their affirmations and I walked up to the door and put my hoof on the knob. I slowly turned, and pushed the door open. Everything was exactly like I had left it, except for one thing. There was a small lamp of Discord that was made out of little bits of something stuck together. I had forgotten to put up a ward against Discord before I left. I walked over to it and knocked it off of the table it was sitting on.
"You didn't have to do that, Midnight. Why did you break your lamp?"
"Because I didn't have that lamp there when I last entered the house, meaning that it is either Discord or Discord left it here as a surprise gift. If it's a gift, I have to apologize. But I seriously doubt it is because this is just the way he would welcome me back into my home. Now that I have explained this, Discord, you can fix yourself now." I tugged out the lamp cord that was attached to the broken lamp.
Discord appeared, but when he tried to talk the only thing you could hear was senseless noises. I let go of the cord, which flew into his mouth and became his tongue. "You figured me out, my dear boy. Welcome back! I already have the water boiling and the lounge set for guests. Right this way." He waved his arm and was dressed in a butlers outfit. He ushered us into the lounge and seated us in fluffy pillows that I had scattered about when I had entered here first. He had actually put them in a semblance of order for a small group of friends to talk. He got us our tea and Starry pulled out the cake she had made for the friends, and she also had enough to accommodate Discord, Twilight and I.
As we ate and drank, we chatted about how life had been for the group. They apparently got into trouble like the girls did when they were young. It was less often now that there were nine alicorns looking over Equestria, but there were still problems that arose that they were right there for. Discord told me about the pranks he had been pulling on Twilight and her group of ruling friends over the past years. It was true that he had toned them down, but they were still pretty funny. Twilight smacked him when he told me about the joke he had played on Twilight and Flash Sentry on their honeymoon.
I had an idea while I was looking around my house. "Hey, girls, is there a Heartstrings living in Ponyville right now?"
Starry popped up. "Yeah, and she really likes these things called humans which is really weird because there is no such thing as humans because they're only a legend and she said they're real. She lives just a couple of streets down from Sugarcube Corner and she comes down like every day and jabbers on about humans and their inventions and things like that. Ooh, that reminds me of when she told me about their sweets and then I found this book in the basement that had all these amazing recipes for sweets and cakes and bread, urmph!" Applejem had put her hoof in Starry's mouth so that she would be quiet.
"I'm going to give her some of the old armor I have upstairs. I'm going to keep the Nightmare King armor of course, but she can have everything else. I can also give her some of the tools lying around. I'm sure she would get a kick out of them." I rummaged around in the next room, which was my tool room, and found some tools that were specifically for human use. The girls looked at them in wonder; they had never seen them before. I went upstairs, and in less than twenty minutes I had my armor on the stands on a trolley that would let me pull it along by using my tail. I loaded the tools onto the trolley as well and put it next to the door.
Cloudy raced up to the armor and poked at it. "So you're telling us that humans aren't legends. We've never seen anything like this, except for the sword at the museum. That was definitely not made for ponies, it's too long and flexible for any guard."
"I'm saying that humans are a legend now. Same as the wolves. Used to exist, but now they don't. I only knew of one human while I was last here, and that was me. The entire time I spent on the planet, I never saw another human. I don't really understand how Lyra got interested in humans, but she did and she passed it down in her family for some reason. I'm sure Heartstring will love this stuff."
"Of course she will, she loves this kind of stuff. She'll come to you to ask you about human stuff though, but she'll leave the rest of us alone. Be ready to be annoyed to boredom. She can go on for hours about humans, she pulls up facts about them from nowhere."
"I don't really mind, and I'll be getting her off of your backs, metaphorically of course. Along with her, all of you are welcome here anytime. Even you Discord, just make sure you don't leave anything permanent in my house. Everypony just has to be careful when they enter doors. Make sure you read the sign above them before you enter, and don't enter any that I put red signs next to." I looked straight at Starry. "That means you Starry, I know that Pinkie wouldn't listen to me about his and you're probably the same. There are some doors that open to dangerous areas, and I don't want anypony getting injured or killed. Some of them are that serious, so take the red signs seriously. You're all welcome here for the next," I looked at the clock and saw that it was seven, "three hours. After that, I would like you all to leave so that I can get some sleep."
Twilight walked up to me. "Do you have a library of some sorts? Dusty and I want to see what kind of books you have."
"Yeah, just head upstairs and go into my study. That's where I keep my books and study desk. Starry, I have a load of cook books, which is where Pinkie got that one book from. I have books on everything, so that would probably be the best place for everybody right now. Discord, you can go to the simulator room and do whatever you want to do there." The others went off to where they wanted to, but Sun and Cloudy stayed behind. They walked over to where I was putting up red signs and waited until I had finished with the door I was on before speaking to me.
"Um, do you have a room with animals? It doesn't really matter, I was just wondering. Sorry if I'm being a bother." Sun hid behind her mane again, looking at me through her long hair.
"Don't worry about bothering me; I'm the host so it's my duty to serve my guests. Go down the east hallway on the second floor and you should see the animal room on the left somewhere." Sun left us and it was just Cloudy and I. "I'm guessing you want somewhere where you can fly." She nodded her head and I leaned my head to the door on my left. The sign above it said wind tunnel and other testing tools. "In there is a wind tunnel or you can go to the simulation room and start up a simulation of the air with any conditions you want it to be."
"But Discord is in there, and I don't want him messing with me while I try out some new tricks."
"Don't worry about it. Whenever the door is opened from the outside, it starts up another session for whoever opened it at the time. It doesn't interrupt any other sessions going on, and it can't be influenced by other simulations. So it will be like you're in a whole different world from Discord." She squealed just like Rainbow usually did and rushed off for the simulation room. I shook my head at her eagerness and carried on placing up the signs. Since I had welcomed everypony into my house, I would make sure to be a gracious host. I would also invite the entirety of Ponyville to enter whenever they wanted to. I would make my bedroom off limits of course and I would put up a sign for the rules just outside the door so that everypony that entered would know the rules of my house.
I finished as soon as the clock struck ten, and I met the group in the entrance of my house. Twilight and Dusty had gathered a few books that they wanted to borrow from me, and I told them it was fine. Starry and Amethyst had also found some books they wanted, and I let them have them since I was most likely never going to need the books they wanted. Sun had made some new animal friends and Cloudy had come out of the simulation room covered in sweat. She had set the heat too high, and she set the wind speed too fast, so she had gotten a better workout than she had bargained for. Discord seemed pleased with whatever he had done in the room, and I'm sure that I didn't want to know what really went on in there with the master of chaos.
"It was great having you girls over and I hope that you'll grace me with your presence in my home again soon. You can come whenever you want to as long as I'm here. Same goes for you Discord, my home is open to you as long as I'm here to supervise you and your shenanigans. Twilight, if you could tell the girls that I have returned, that would be awesome."
"Don't worry, I already sent them a letter and they'll be here tomorrow with you at the spa. I'll be joining of course because I need a break. Celestia and Luna should be back by tomorrow afternoon, and they'll meet us at your house. We look forward to catching you up with what has happened over the past few years." She gave me a wink and teleported out of the house, pulling Discord along with her.
"Since I'm pretty sure you girls all have busy days tomorrow, you also have to leave." As they all went out the door, I said my personal goodbyes to each of them. "Make sure you sort the books out correctly, Dusty. Amethyst, don't forget to make those dresses for the fashion show next week and make sure you use that one pattern for the last dress. Cloudy, don't even think about skipping out on your duties to nap on a cloud somewhere or practice. You might get fired if you do that. Starry, you have to wake up at six to get all the orders for tomorrow done and the real party set up in time for everypony. Here's the key to my house, just remember to stay out of the marked rooms. Applejem, I don't have to tell you what to do, you have a good shoulder on your shoulders. And Sun, just take a day off and relax, you need it. See all of you later." I closed the door and slumped down next to it.
"Ugh, I forgot how much energy it took to stay up this long. I only did this once when I was at a lock in and I stayed up from six in the morning until twelve the next afternoon, but even that was a long time compared to what I did today. I guess it was just the amount of activity I had today. Why am I even talking about this out loud when I should be getting sleep?" I got up off the floor and made my way to the kitchen. "Before I head off to bed, I should make myself something to eat. A ham sandwich sounds good right now."
I made myself a ham sandwich and ate it in three bites. Hunger satisfied, I headed up to my room and opened my door. It seemed really empty in my room without the armor and the stands. I would have to make myself some more; they really helped fill in space. I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, gargling water after I rinsed my mouth out with mouthwash. When I spit it out, I looked up to the mirror and got the first good look at myself since I had gotten back. I had to clean out my fur again from all the crud that was still caked on it but after I did that my fur would look great again. I saw something that really excited me. When I was on earth, I had gotten my ears pierced, and I saw that the holes still hadn't closed completely. I would just have to make sure that they didn't.
I rummaged around in some of the drawers in the bathroom and found some of the old earrings of mine that I always wore when I had gone through that phase. They were the type that went into the upper ear and looped around to connect through the ear. They were small though, just big enough to fit around my ear where I had the piercings done and not so small that they squished against my ears. I put the three earrings on my ear and found out that they were the exact same on my new ears as they had been on my human ears. They fit perfectly, just resting against the side of my right ear since I didn't really have much of a top ear to rest them on. I never really knew what ear to get pierced, but my right felt more comfortable than the left.
I took the earrings out and headed off to my huge bed. It wasn't really necessary to have this huge bed now, but it was more comfortable than I had remembered. It was also better than having a bed that is too small, as I had when I lived on earth. I slipped under the covers and got comfortable, letting sleep creep over into my body as my consciousness faded away into dreamland.
I landed in a very familiar meadow, with dark purple flowers surrounding me. This was the meadow I had seen in the others dreams, just with differently colored flowers. I assumed that Luna had finally found me after all these years, and I was correct. She walked up slowly from the other side, and gave me a polite smile before walking the rest of the way to me.
"We were glad to have heard of your return. But we did not know that you would seem so… different."
"It's been over a long time since you returned and you still haven't kicked that habit yet? The royal we? And I didn't really change all that much, just my appearance has changed. I'm still the good old Ordeus you knew, just in a younger body."
"I was not using the royal we. I worked that out fifty years ago. I was referring to my sister and me when I said we. Still, it has been good seeing you again after all this time. We shall all have the time to meet up tomorrow. Sadly, I have to leave now and tend to the other dreams of ponies. Be well and have good dreams." She floated off into the air with a light flap of her wings, disappearing into the moonlight of the rising moon.
"Would have been nice to have more of a chat, but I guess she was right about tomorrow." I looked around the meadow, trying to figure out what I could do. I looked at the nearest flower and clamped my teeth down on it. Immediately a rich sweet taste filled my mouth. "Even in dreams, these flowers taste amazing!"
