The group of five gave their suits of armor back to Shining before they left, and Broadsword and Nagare promised to have their rematch on a later date. Everyone went back to Ponyville, with Celestia and Luna and a duo of royal guards pulling a chariot following the lot of sixteen (vultures included) along the way.

A bit of bickering ran rampant as they trotted back to Ponyville, and it was rather heated.

“How the HELL did the monster turn more pony-like than everything else we’ve seen?!” Tenmei cried, eyes wide. He had raised a point; the monster-object was much more pony-like than even the Aliglass-Q, and that said something.

“I wish I knew!” Nagare cried, snapping a glare at the tan-pelted pony and flaring his wings like he was flinging his forelegs to the air. “You expect me to have all the answers to the damn universe?!”

“And then there’s SOMEONE who decided it was a fine idea to misjudge a ledge and nearly die doing it!” Yuuki exclaimed, spreading one wing to point the tips of the feathers accusingly at Rekka.

“Aren’t we past that?” The unicorn asked, still being carried by Big Mac.

“I don’t think we are past that until Kaguya bites your face off once she hears of it!” Yuuki replied, a vein appearing on her cheek.

“Great,” Rekka scoffed, rolling his eyes, “the anger issues have already begun.”

“Excuse you?!” Yuuki asked, though she sounded more like she was yelling. She snapped her head towards the unicorn, a narrowed-eyed glare scrawled onto her face.

“Take a chill pill, for crying out loud.” Rekka replied curtly, eyelids drooping a little bit. He covered his mouth with his good foreleg and yawned into it.

“Can’t we all just calm down?!” Koto shrieked, causing attention to be drawn to her. “We’ve already beaten the monster, and personally, I think every one of us--princesses included--needs a nap!”

“Today was rather tiring indeed. I hadn’t expected something like this to happen.” Twilight agreed with a nod.

“Then again, it was the same case with the hourglass thing--we didn’t see it comin’.” Applejack stated.

“My sentiments exactly.” Rarity agreed, also nodding.

“Perhaps I should throw a ‘We-Beat-a-Bad-Monster party!’” Pinkie chimed, hopping about rather than walking.

“Later. We just have to get back home first.” Rainbow remarked, flying low and rather slow.

Yuuki began to slow her walk a bit, and her legs shook a bit. “Bloody hell…” She murmured with a sigh escaping her lips after that.

“What’s wrong?” Celestia asked as she saw the display. It was then an aroma hit her nose--a very peculiar aroma she knew all too well with some of the female guards in the ranks.

The legs of the purple pegasus shook some more before they gave out. Her anger faded, leaving just a sleepy, exhausted look in its place. Her eyelids drooped, and she blinked lazily. “I...feel drained…” She murmured, head leaning towards the ground with a few jerks that brought it back up for a moment.

Nagare also collapsed, the same phenomena happening to him. “Ditto…” He sighed, also struggling to stay awake.

“I’m not sure...what it was…” Koto said as she too fell down. “Nighty night…” She murmured before her head met with the ground. She was sound asleep.

The royal guards who pulled the chariot along the ground stopped their walk as magic gripped the collapsed ponies and gently lifted them up. The pegasi, now sound asleep themselves, were the first to be put inside the vehicle, followed by Koto in short order. Tenmei climbed in on his own accord before he too collapsed, resting his head on his front legs lazily.

Luna looked at the snoozing bunch and sighed. “Whatever it was that had drained them did a number on them. At least they have earned this bout of sleep.” She sighed, smiling warmly.

“Indeed. It takes a lot out of a pony simply to face a monstrosity.” Celestia agreed with a small nod. “But, for now, let’s escort everypony home before we return to Canterlot.”

The rest of the trip lasted a while; when the group returned to Ponyville, the land was graced in the orange hues of a vivid sunset. Big Mac carefully put Rekka, now asleep himself, with the others in the chariot. Fluttershy looked at the wounded foreleg, cautiously undoing the bandages beforehand, and saw that the nasty wound had scabbed over and was healing nicely. Delicately cleaning the wound and re-dressing it afterwards, she smiled at her handiwork.

“Where do we go from here?” Asked one of the guards, glancing at the makeshift pile of sleeping ponies in the chariot.

“Follow me. I know where they live.” Twilight replied with a sigh soon after. She, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity followed her as she began to trot to the house of the five, with the guards doing as they had been asked to.

Kaguya trotted to the door as she heard the tell-tale sound of someone knocking on the wood. She opened it and found a hefty few ponies, one of which she recognized as a temporary employer at the Boutique.

“A big old monster nearly wrecked the entire Crystal Empire. Heck, only two out of the five sleeping bozos in the chariot could still fight.” Rainbow Dash said, her words eliciting an arched eyebrow from Kaguya.

“Why do you say that?” The elder mare asked.

“Nagare and Yuuki couldn’t fly, and Rekka and Koto had these weird fragments growing on their horns that seemed to have disabled their magic.” Twilight answered. She turned to the guards. “Bring them inside, two at a time, but be careful. We don’t want them waking up.”

Kaguya looked at the chariot as the guards undid their harnesses. The two picked up Tenmei and Koto, both of whom mumbled about noodles or something as they were carefully placed upon backsides.

“I assume they’re pooped?” She asked.

“Yes. They literally collapsed on the way here.” Rarity answered with a nod.

“Could you show us the rooms of these two?” Asked one of the guards.

“Yes, but please let these four mares inside first. I’d rather avoid ponies getting run over.” Kaguya answered, moving out of the way so the guests could go to the table. The two guards came in next, and Kaguya showed them where the ponies’ rooms were: Koto’s being the second door after the bathroom, and Tenmei’s room the one immediately after the unicorn’s. After that, the other three were placed in their rooms (Rekka being the first one after the bathroom, Yuuki the fourth, and Nagare the fifth.)

The weapons had also been returned to their proper owners, and after everyone went to the table (with the guards taking their leave), Kaguya had been told everything that had transpired at the Empire since the guests showed up.

“They...THEY JUMPED OFF A LEDGE!?” Kaguya shrieked, eyes wide and jaw agape. She slammed her front hooves on the table and stood up on her back legs.

“More like one of them slipping off and the other rushing in after him.” Rainbow Dash replied, wings twitching. “I saved them in the nick of time, though.”

Kaguya sighed in relief, sinking back into her seat. “Do I need to chew either of them out?” She asked, her face relaxing into a neutral look.

“No, it’s already been taken care of.” Twilight answered, sighing.

Kaguya nodded. “Sometimes I feel the need to do something just to take my mind off my worry...but it always comes rushing back after I do that something…” She murmured, sighing.

“Darling, your paranoia is getting worse and worse by the minute. I can practically sense it from Canterlot at this rate.” Rarity said, eyelids slanting in worry. “It really is a cause for concern.”

“I suppose you are correct on that front. But I just…” Kaguya trailed off, eyes averting for a moment as she searched for words, “I just don’t know what to do about it. It’s mind-grating.”

“Perhaps you could see a therapist?” Rainbow inquired, brow arched.

“If I had known of a therapist around these parts, I would’ve already paid my weekly visit to him.” Kaguya replied, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. “Closest that even comes to that is Twilight herself.”

“Perhaps you have a pent-up emotion or something of the sort. The longer it’s bottled in, the worse the damage it causes over time.” Twilight replied, brow arched. “We just have to figure out what that is, and we can go from there.”

“I see the wisdom in that. But I still don’t know what it is that’s bottled up.” Kaguya sighed, closing her eyes as she finished speaking. She hadn’t known a front hoof slowly moved to her private area until the two entities touched. Her eyes shot open wide as could be, and she pulled her hoof away with a raging blush on her face.

“I think the red face tells us all we need to know.” Rainbow remarked, blinking.

Twilight slowly nodded in agreement. “Sorry for sounding waaay too personal, but did you ever get with a stallion or another mare before?” She asked.

“N-No. I’ve never dreamed of it.” Kaguya replied quickly, her face still reddening. “Though...I’d like to get with one someday.” She added, blinking a few times.

“You just contradicted yourself. This is worse than I thought.” Twilight remarked curtly, causing Kaguya’s pupils to shrink in response.

“You don’t fix this now, hun, you’re gonna be in a heap later on.” Applejack added with a nod.

Kaguya chuckled nervously, shaking a little bit. Some strands of her mane popped out of place on their own accord, only further adding the look of a flustered, aroused appearance. Her jaw hung ajar again, and she could do little to hide her growing frustrations.

Author's Note

THE RIDE NEVER ENDS. Anyhow, I removed the chapter titles from within the chapters themselves since Fimfic did a new update that super-sized the titles, and the fact they were placeholders of, well, my place as I added to the story since I worked on this in G-docs. Next chapter should come soon.

~Dragon