-Valentino Brugato – Private Record-

On the walk back to the castle I absently kept running my hands over my arms and face. My newly exfoliated skin was smoother than ever and it was more than enough to distract me from the curious looks I got from ponies while walking down the streets of Canterlot. Olive Branch was humming happily as she trotted along beside me.

"Sorry about your vest," I said.

"It was just a little mud! And it made for a really fun picture!" Olive said brightly, nodding back to one of her saddlebags.

Earlier that day prodded Olive about making good on her promise to take me to her mother's spa. It was an all day affair that sent me through a variety of treatments. Of course there was a massage performed by Olive herself. One of the treatments on the agenda was a mud bath. There was very little I would be opposed to and I heard mud baths were supposed to be pretty relaxing. It was during that bath that Olive decided it was the perfect time for a fun photo together. I thought it would be even more fun to drag her into the mud with me right before the picture was taken.

We settled back into an easy silence as we continued along the path and I continued to enjoy my smooth skin.

I have to say that I felt a lot more at ease around the castle after Luna had managed to banish the dream skeleton. Though for cautions sake I was instructed by Luna, through Olive, to maintain my strict sleep schedule until she could certain the threat was eliminated. I understood where Luna was coming from after the thing had been jerking her around for a little while. She was very determined not to let it get one over on her again.

Still, I felt the turmoil of my life was starting to abate for once. Working with Luna directly and having a small hand in solving my skeleton problem helped me feel less... well, helpless in the face of all this magical malarkey. Though I was hesitant to be too hopeful, seeing how these feelings rarely lasted very long. Who knows what corner I would walk around only to have my arm blasted off by some new magical behemoth.

"Did you enjoy your time at the spa?" Olive asked after we passed through the main entrance to the castle.

"Oh yeah, I haven't felt this refreshed in a long time," I said, still rubbing my smooth cheeks with my hands. "Your mom's spa is pretty impressive," I added.

Olive took one look at me and giggled. "I'm glad you liked it!" she said. "I was worried you might have forgotten about going since you'll probably be leaving soon..." Olive said, her tone starting to drop and her pace starting to slow.

I only noticed once I was a few paces ahead of her. "Are you gonna miss me or somethin'?" I said teasingly.

"O-of course I will!" Olive said, snapping back up to attention. No matter how much I teased her Olive always reacted so sincerely. It's partly what made teasing her so fun and it was also partly what made her so adorable.

"Well, I'm sure I'll be back soon enough. It's not like I can't come visit," I said.

"That's right! And we can write each other letters too!" Olive said excitedly.

"Don't overload yourself on pen pals now," I warned.

"It's fine!" Olive said defensively.

"Though you will have to send me a copy of that photo," I said with a smile.

--

The next day was yet another earlier morning, being pulled out of bed before the sun was even up. Drowsy and hazy as I was I can only remember that initially I noticed Olive was very enthusiastic about something. I couldn't really comprehend what she was so excited about so I ultimately ignored her and went to the bathroom. Once I got done relieving myself I cleaned up and splashed some cold water on my face to try and wake myself up a little. When I eventually shuffled out of the bathroom the sun was up and I was cohesive enough to process what Olive was saying.

"You have a meeting with Princess Celestia first thing!" she said.

"Like... now?" I asked, still a bit confused in my morning haze.

"In a few minutes! We should leave now if you want to make it in time," Olive said guiding me to the door.

"Let me just... clothes..." I mumbled, breaking away from Olive. Once I was dressed in more than my boxer briefs Olive quickly led the way while I sleepily shuffled behind her, yawning the whole way.

I was ushered through a set of doors into a familiar sitting room. There, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were both waiting for me.

"Wow... Two Princesses..." I said with sleepy surprise as the doors shut behind me..

"Good morning Valentino," Princess Celestia said brightly as I moved in and sat down on the couch across from the two of them. I sleepily glanced from Celestia to Luna. Celestia was wearing the same warm smile that she usually did. To my surprise though Luna was looking more cheerful than I think I had ever seen before and had a small smile of her own.

"What's up?" I asked, leaning forward and resting my head on one hand.

"Firstly, my sister has some good news for you!" Princess Celestia said enthusiastically, nodding to Princess Luna.

Luna looked from Celestia to me. Celestia's silence signaled her to speak, so Luna started by clearing her throat.

"I just wanted to inform you that it should be safe for you to return to your normal sleeping habits. I have cleaned up the small traces of the entities magic within the dreamscape and have found no new trace of its presence. I believe it has been completely banished," Luna said proudly.

"Oh that's wonderful," I said. "Does that mean I can go back to bed?" I asked after a yawn.

Celestia let out a small laugh. "I still wish to discuss some things with you Valentino," she said.

Luna on the other hand vacated her seat. "There is not much else for me to say, so I will take my leave sister," she said, nodding to Celestia. However she did not make her way to the exit. Instead she slowly made her way over and stood in front of me with an awkwardly hesitant look on her face.

I lifted my head up off of my hand and gave Luna a confused look. Without any regard to me Luna reared up and pulled me into a tight embrace with her front legs. My cheek brushed against her neck and her smooth dark blue coat. I couldn't enjoy the warmth of her near crushingly tight hug without noticing Celestia staring at us with a giant sparkling smile.

"Oh I'm so glad you've remembered what I told you about his human customs!" Celestia said with just utter delight dripping from her words.

I had to mouth the words "good job" to Celestia who just beamed more.

Unfortunately the comment prompted Luna to pull away from me. "I just thought it would be rude not to observe this parting custom after he has been so patient with demands that we all have put upon him," Luna said quite stoically.

"Thank you Princess Luna, it means a lot to me," I said, trying to sound as grateful as possible.

"I-it is nothing!" she said, flustered, before quickly making her exit.

When the door closed behind her I looked to Celestia who was still smiling.

"Parting custom, eh?" I said, shooting Celestia a questioning look.

"Well you would always bring it up before you would leave so I assumed that it was a parting custom," Princess Celestia said innocently.

"I wasn't really expecting Luna to be so assertive," I mused, ignoring Celestia's excuse.

"Do not be fooled Valentino, my sister can be very assertive. I worry what might happen when she grows accustomed to how well you are treating her," Celestia warned me, her tone starting quite serious before devolving into her usual playfulness.

"Of course, of course," I said, waving off yet another warning about teasing princesses. Honestly if I had to refrain from having my fun with these adorable ponies I probably would have lost my mind long before the whole skeleton incident.

"Alright then. Now, I wanted to discuss what happens now that your safety has been assured," she said.

"Oh?" I said, returning back to my original position with my head resting on my hand.

"Yes, I was thinking it would be best if you were to return to Ponyville so you can continue to get accustomed to life here in Equestria. I can think of nopony better than Twilight or her friends to guide you. I also believe there is a lot of wisdom you could impart onto them as well," Celestia explained.

"Works for me, so when does the next train leave?" I asked.

Celestia looked surprised by my sudden and simple concession. "You don't need to leave immediately, take whatever time you need Valentino," she assured me.

"Nah, I should probably get going. I've already taken up too much of your hospitality. Twilight is probably kind of worried about me anyway. If I can make it back this afternoon it would probably be a nice surprise," I said, rising up to my feet.

"What a considerate friend you are Valentino," Celestia said with a smile.

"Yes, yes," I said halfheartedly while I stepped closer to Princess Celestia. Once I was closer to her I fell softly against her and wrapped my arms around her neck. Just like always, embracing her filled my whole body with warmth. She quickly reciprocated, her front legs clutching at my sides. "Guess I'll see you later," I mumbled into her neck.

"Of course, Olive Branch will help you get settled on the train to Ponyville," Celestia said while squeezing me gently.

We stayed like that for a couple of moments before my obligations got the best of me and I pulled away from Celestia's warmth. She just gave me her usually warm smile.

With a small huff I turned to leave, only stopping at the door. "Try to catch a nap once in a while, it's not good for you to work too hard," I said, looking back.

Celestia giggled. "I'll try. As for you Valentino, you shouldn't be keeping secrets from your friends. You should tell Twilight about that drea–"

"Okay bye," I interrupted, quickly making my escape.

--

Not much more than an hour later I was fully dressed and at the train station with Olive Branch, who was looking pretty bummed.

"M-make sure you write me as soon as you can!" Olive cutely demanded.

"You know I'm not like one of your foreign ambassador friends. It's not that long of a train ride. You could come visit me if you get some time off," I said.

"Really!?" Olive said, brightening up.

"Though I bet you'd rather spend that time being... intimate with that stallion of yours," I teased with a devious smile.

Olive's face went bright red immediately. "Oh s-stop!" she stammered, shoving me lightly with her front legs.

I chuckled and stepped closer to the train. "Don't worry, with my luck I'll be back with some new, excessive problem in a week," I said. Olive did not look very reassured.

"Y-you can come just to visit too you know!" Olive insisted.

"And interrupt your special time with your–" I was interrupted by another, harder shove by a very embarrassed Olive which just made me laugh harder than before. "We'll see. Thanks for everything Olive," I said, giving her a far more genuine smile.

"It was nothing! I was happy to help! And I got to learn a little about humans!" she said, quickly switching from embarrassment to her normal sincere enthusiasm.

Before I could say anything the boarding call was announced near the front of the train. The other ponies nearby started boarding. "Well Olive, see you next time," I said, turning towards the train.

"Um!" I heard her squeak, which cause me turn back to her again. She was looking fidgety. "It's just... P-Princess Celestia told me..." she stammered, losing steam very quickly.

I took one knee in front of the flustered Olive and wrapped my arms around her neck. Olive stiffened up a bit at the sudden contact bet fell quickly into the embrace. She brought up her front legs to return it and hummed softly into my shoulder. "Goodbye Valentino," she whispered.

I pulled away, gave her a pat on the head and boarded the train back to Ponyville.

--

The ride to Ponyville was quite pleasant. I did manage to spend some of the ride exercising my reestablished sleeping rights. However one hesitant mare ended up prodding me out of my rest to tell me I was snoring quite loudly. She stammered quite a bit when confronting me, the unknown creature on the train. In order to assuage her fears I apologized as politely and profusely as I could. It seemed to not only put her, but the surrounding ponies at ease. So at ease that they started asking questions...

What I was, where I was from. You'd think the time I spent in the castle with mostly nothing but guards who were mostly apathetic to my existence would have allowed me enough of a respite not to be sick of the "Who are you? What are you!?" line of questioning. Still I couldn't deny those curious little ponies.

I condensed my story down quite a bit, leaving out quite a bit of the confusing or morbid details and replacing them with more relatable circumstances. Basically that I was forced to flee my homeland, which was far, far away, by some other horrible humans. Shoved into a magical portal that brought me to Equestria.

I didn't think it was that much more believable than my spontaneous coffin journey but the ponies all seemed to buy it. Not only did they buy it but my sad tale seemed to tug at the heartstrings of most of the ponies in the cabin. I dispelled their concerns by saying I was being taken care of by some wonderful ponies and was even coming back from a great visit with the most wonderful Princess Celestia herself.

I left out the sketchy skeleton details, obviously.

Before I knew it at least ten ponies were all around me. Those who weren't huddled into the seats nearby seats were standing in the aisle. All of them were so colorful and so adorable. It was just unfair to have so many of those sweet, smiling pony faces looking at me. I couldn't help but answer all of their questions.

Questions that drifted from my unhappy circumstances to things like my occupation. I didn't mind bragging a little to wow the ponies. Telling them that I was a well known detective among my people. That I was often called upon to solve only the most heinous and complex of crimes. Again, I left out some of the gorier details, not wanting to put off any of the ponies on the train. Still they were impressed.

The more we talked the bolder the other ponies became. Before I knew it I had ponies commenting on how tall I was or touching me and commenting on how smooth my skin was. I did not mention the spa treatment I got only the day before.

The positive attention was nice. From my observations ponies seemed to be very, well, friendly creatures. They seemed to form bonds quickly and really put a lot of emphasis on those bonds. I learned that lesson pretty quickly from Twilight but it was constantly reaffirmed with nearly every pony I met. The train ride put it into a broader, general context. I wasn't that lucky to have been taken in by such sweet ponies, since ponies just seemed to be sweet in general.

Though even at the time I felt it necessary to remind myself not to put too much stock in generalizations. The next pony I met could very well surprise me. Best to be cautious.

Though looking again at those sweet faces would probably break down that facade of caution pretty quick.

--

My stop at Ponyville had me say goodbye to a lot of nice ponies I was riding with. The few who got off in Ponyville I said my goodbyes to when we broke away from the station. I wasted no time in making my way through the streets and trying to find the giant tree that was as close to home as it got. I spent quite a bit of time wandering around before I found the familiar path I took often between Twilight's place and Sugarcube Corner.

Once I was on that familiar path it took me no time at all to find my way to Twilight's library. Capitalizing on my sudden return I decided to keep my entrance as inconspicuous as possible. I slowly opened up the door just a crack. It was a public library after all so there was a small bell hanging just over the door. A sudden opening would jingle that bell and alert whoever was inside to potential book borrowers.

After getting the door open a bit I poked my head through and saw not just Twilight but three familiar fillies. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, difficult names to forget, were engaged in a variety of activities with Twilight. Most importantly though they had their backs to the door which allowed me to silently slip in unseen.

My shoes were leagues quieter than hooves on the wooden floors and I kept my movements in time with their talking to mask what little noise I did make. My eyes were pinned on them, paying attention to every movement. At the slightest twitch I planned to freeze in place, make it look like I had been standing there watching for however long they had their backs turned. Fortunately, Twilight's long winded lecture had them frozen in place and I was able to approach without much pause.

The lighting of the room kept my shadow from casting over them so I was able to get quite close before I stopped and just sat down on the floor behind them.

My little surprise didn't involve me shouting or startling. Just sitting and waiting. If it was Twilight by herself I might have tried to stalk her a bit, trying to stay out of her line of sight and following her around for a while before making my presence known. But four sets of eyes in the room made that considerably harder. I was lucky to have gotten close enough to reach over and touch them without being noticed.

When Twilight finally turned around she let out a yelp which startled the three fillies. She was using her magic to hold up a large book, the magic dissipated with her surprise and the book ended up slamming into the ground

"Yo," I said, waving lazily.

"Val!" the three fillies all exclaimed once they caught sight of me and before I could react I was tackled to the ground by the giggling group.

"Where have you been!? I haven't seen you since you helped out Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo said.

"Yeah! And I only saw you when you came to beg Rarity for more clothes!" Sweetie Belle announced with a giggle.

"Human's are very reclusive you know, they need to be coaxed out," I lied, sitting back up after the fillies got off of me. "Though you only need a–"

"V-Valentino!" Twilight shouted, cutting me off with an extremely concerned look on her face. "What are you doing here!? What happened!?" she asked.

"Luna gave me the all clear. I came back," I stated simply.

"What!? But– Why didn't write ahead!? I would have prepared– I mean I wanted to tell–" Twilight stammered, growing incredibly flustered.

"Wouldn't have been a surprise if I warned you," I explained. Twilight looked at me and then glanced at the smiling fillies before stopping to take a deep breath.

"And... you're sure everything is okay?" Twilight said, calming down but still looking concerned.

"I'm as good as I can get. Celestia even told me I should head on back. I'm your problem again," I explained with a smile.

With that Twilight flung herself at me. I caught her in a quick, tight embrace. With just one squeeze she pulled away and gave me a serious look.

"I want you to tell me everything that happened! Your letters were not very detailed," Twilight said with a hint of irritation in her voice.

So I recounted the tale of how Luna and I defeated the dream skeleton. I threw in some halfhearted dramatization for the sake of the three fillies who were still hanging around. Their faces betrayed their every emotion as they listened intently to my story. Twilight on the other hand kept giving me this serious look. But the fillies were hanging on every word.

Their eyes filled with fear as I described the dream skeleton and it's many whispering, chanting voices. They audibly gasped as I described how I had been turned against Princess Luna and had her in the grip of my many shadowy tendrils. Scootaloo quietly exclaimed "Yes!" as I explained how Luna got a powerful shot in on the Skeleton that disrupted it's hold on me long enough to strike back.

They were on the edge of their seats, so to speak, when I explained how the creature grew to a massive size within the dream world. I told them about how Luna stared the thing down and effectively crushed the behemoth into nothing but a tiny orb of red magic before she banished it forever from the world of dreams.

"Woah," they all said in unison. Twilight on the other hand seemed contemplative.

"But... if Luna was protecting you then how did it manage to get into your dreams in the first place?" she asked.

"Oh, that was my idea," I said.

"What!?" Twilight shouted.

"Well, Luna was having trouble tracking the thing down so I suggested we lure it to us. Can't lure anything without bait," I explained.

"So you thought of how to find it when Princess Luna couldn't?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"That's awesome!" Scootaloo chimed in.

"No no, I bet you she already thought of that. But you can't just ask someone to put themselves in harms way, even if you'll be there to help them. I just volunteered when she was looking frustrated," I said.

"But wasn't it scary?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Hmm, sure it was. It wasn't really fun when that thing got it's claws into me the first time... or the second time. But... well I knew Princess Luna was looking out for me, so I wasn't that worried," I explained. It seemed to be enough to impress the little fillies.

Twilight though just breathed a sigh of relief after I got to the end of my story. Once I finished indulging Apple Bloom and her friends Twilight caught my attention. Her expression was finally a little more relaxed.

"I'm glad it worked out," Twilight said a smile finally growing on her face.

"Me too," I said flatly as I rose back up to my feet. "Anyways, I'll let you all get back to... well, whatever you were doing. I've got other ponies to surprise," I said. The fillies all let out a disappointed "Awww!"

"Oh... Okay. Have fun!" Twilight said hesitantly.

I lifted one hand and waved back at them as I made for the exit. "I'll be back later," I said.

--

I spent the next hour or so looking around for Rainbow Dash. It usually didn't take long to find her because she usually spotted me pretty quickly. I ended up finding my way to the hill her house floated over without catching sight of her.

If she was home I had no idea how to get her attention. I could have yelled like an idiot. Chances are she wasn't even home. Not to mention fatigue from the trip back to Ponyville and wandering around for an hour just trying to find her was catching up with me. I certainly did not get the sleep I wanted on the train. I laid back on the grass and decided if she came home or left home she would probably see me sleeping under her house. If not, well, it was a nice day for a nap.

I don't know really how long I slept. I do know that waking up was... interesting.

I was jarred awake by something pushing harshly against me. My arms were gripping tightly onto something soft, my vision filled with a bright field of multicolored strands.

"Come on Val!" Rainbow Dash groaned as she struggled against my grip. I had one arm around her neck and one around her midsection and had her back pinned to me as well as one of her wings pinned under my arm. Her limbs were wiggling in the air uselessly and she was arching her back as she tried to pull away from me.

Once I realized what was happening I let go and Rainbow Dash stumbled away from me and up onto her hooves.

"That's not fair! I thought you were asleep!" she complained. As soon as I sat up Rainbow Dash was pushing her weight back onto her hind legs with her wings spread out. As soon as her hooves left the ground I fell back onto the grass just in time to see the multicolored blur pass right over me.

"I was asleep," I called back to her after she roughly touched back down a few feet away. "You must have been trying to do something... naughty to me," I accused.

"Huh!?" Rainbow Dash yelped, quickly flipping back around.

"Molestation is a serious crime. Of course I'd try to restrain you," I said plainly.

"I was not!" Rainbow Dash asserted, stamping her hoof for effect.

"Now now, I understand. I am quite... irresistible," I said, running my hand through my hair and giving her an overtly flirtatious smile.

Rainbow Dash just gave me a deadpan look. "All I did was come over to say hi and you just grabbed onto me," Rainbow Dash explained.

"Yeah, I'm a little grabby," I said with a yawn. "So what's up?" I asked.

"What's up!? Come on! When did you get back? What happened!?" Rainbow Dash asked, quickly shaking off my teasing.

I recounted yet again the story of my final encounter with the dream skeleton monster. Rainbow Dash was pretty reactive to my tale, just like the fillies were. I played up some of the more intense events just because the enthralled look on her face was so cute.

"... Then this morning Princess Luna told me I was safe to do whatever and Princess Celestia told me I should come back here. So I hopped on the next train out," I finished.

"And then you had to come see your best bud right?" Rainbow Dash added.

"Yeah I went and saw Twilight," I said flatly.

Rainbow Dash socked me in the leg with her hoof and let out a little huff. I reached over and ruffled up her mane and she giggled.

"So what are you going to do now?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'll probably just go and say hi to everyone. Next few days I'll probably be catching up on all those naps I missed," I said.

"Aw, that's boring!" Rainbow Dash whined.

"Yeah... I dunno, Princess Celestia said that from now on I should be absorbing pony 'culture'," I said.

"Well you can't do that if you're sleeping all day," Rainbow chided.

"Yeah... and I don't know how much pony 'culture' I'm gonna get from you" I teased.

"Only the best parts," Rainbow bragged.

"Then I guess I'll have to keep hanging around you then," I whined.

"Duh," Rainbow said, sticking her tongue out at me.

It was unbelievably fun being able to tease Rainbow Dash again. So much so that I couldn't keep from smiling.

--

After our roughhousing and short conversation Rainbow Dash informed me that Twilight wanted to see me. She was actually quite insistent about it. If Twilight wanted to see me so bad then I could not keep her waiting. So I got up, dusted myself off and said I would go see her right away. Rainbow Dash eagerly volunteered to accompany me, to which I just shrugged.

It was a fairly short walk back to Twilight's, especially without all the pointless wandering.

I was not as devious about my entrance when I approached the front door. I just swung it right open only to be greeted by an explosion of confetti for my consideration.

"Surprise!" yelled Pinkie Pie, surrounded by balloons, a big banner that said "Welcome Back", Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Spike and Fluttershy.

I blinked a couple of times as the confetti settled around me, landing mostly in my hair. I looked at all of the smiling ponies, back at Rainbow Dash who was also grinning, over at Spike who was stirring a big glass bowl of punch on a nearby table then back over to Twilight.

"Twilight I thought I said I wanted to do the surprising," I said dryly.

"Well–"

"It was surprising!" Pinkie shouted, interrupting Twilight. "Twilight came in and asked Mrs. Cake for a big chocolate cake! Which was pretty strange because it wasn't anypony's birthday! I mean I definitely would have known about that and Twilight wouldn't have needed to order the cake! Mrs. Cake asked what it was for and she said that you came back all of sudden! I ran out of the kitchen so fast that I knocked over a big bowl of batter and a huge can of sprinkles! I asked Twilight what was going on and she told me that you just showed up out of nowhere! I was upset because I wanted to throw you a huge party with lights and music and cookies and cupcakes and everything! But since I had no time to plan I had to get everypony to help me blow up balloons and make the banner and put up streamers and bake the cake and make the punch! But even while we were all running around nopony managed to bump into you! We had everything ready as fast as we could and you were nowhere to be found! So we sent Rainbow Dash out to find you and she did so here you are!" Pinkie Pie explained, panting heavily after her long-winded rant.

I gave Pinkie Pie a blank stare while she caught her breath. "So... you said there was cake?" I asked.

"Yeah! Over on the table!" Pinkie Pie happily pointed out.

"Awesome," I mumbled, making my way over. My almost complete disregard for Pinkie Pie's rant earned a few scattered giggles and a loud laugh from Spike.

The table just had a stack of empty plates, utensils, a glass bowl filled with light pink punch and simple round chocolate cake with brown chocolate icing.

Written on top of the cake in white frosting was "Welcome Back Valentino" which managed to give me pause.

"I feel like I've been saying this a lot, but all of you really didn't need to go through the trouble," I said looking back over my shoulder. I instantly could see Rarity roll her eyes.

"Of course we did! We couldn't welcome you back home without a welcome back party!" Pinkie Pie stated loudly.

"Um..." muttered the quiet yellow pony that managed to sneak right up next to me. I looked down to see Fluttershy looking straight back up at me. "We just thought that it would be nice to remind you that there is a place for you here and that we're all happy that you're back," she said with a small smile.

"Yeah!" barked Applejack. "What kinda friends would we be if we made it seem like we didn't care if ya came or left," she explained. The other ponies all nodded in agreement.

I had a pretty good inkling so far, but I felt it was pretty much confirmed that I was surrounded by a bunch of sweet hearts. I let out a small sigh and turned my head back to table. "You guys are just trying to make me cry," I said, feigning like I was getting choked up. It got a few more giggles from the ponies.

With that sappiness done with I quickly started laying out plates and cutting the cake into even portions. Once I was done I laid the pieces all out on the plates before I stepped aside. "Well, everybody grab some cake and some punch 'cause I'm gonna tell a scary story," I said, taking on a darker tone.

"S-scary story?" Fluttershy stammered while the others started to line up for cake, Spike managing to snag his own plate before the ponies made it over to the table.

"Well I don't want to explain what happened back in Canterlot five more times," I said, pouring my own cup of punch.

"O-oh," Fluttershy said, still looking worried but eventually getting her own slice of cake.

Once that was all dealt with we all sat around in a circle with our cake. Pinkie Pie and Spike both wolfed theirs down as fast as they could while everyone else were a bit more reserved.

"So, everyone is already familiar with what prompted my stay in Canterlot right?" I asked the group.

"Somethin' to do with skeletons?" Applejack guessed.

"More or less. You see... there was a creature haunting my dreams," I started, allowing my tone and expression to go dark. "A floating amalgamation of bones and skulls, with great glowing red eyes. It would speak to me in a chorus of voices that came not only from it's skulls but also reverberated all around me and shook me to my very soul," I described. Already attention was off of the cake and the ponies had their eyes glued to me. "It hid... in a dark memory and after it made itself known in my dream it plunged it's claws into me," I said, pressing my fingertips against my chest to mimic the action. "Twisted all of my fears with it's magic and turned me into a panicked skeleton. All just because I had the nerve to take a nap," I said. I surprised myself with how quickly it turned from a dramatization to me just darkly recalling the event. "I was saved by Twilight and Rainbow Dash, but that thing was still hiding in the world of dreams," I said, closing up my dark summary of the previous events.

Then I went yet again into detail on the events leading to the defeat of the dream skeleton. My experience with Princess Luna, her frustration, my plan to draw the creature out and the outcome of that plan.

It remained silent for a few moments after I finished my story for hopefully the last time.

"Well, it sounds like it all worked out," Applejack said, breaking the silence.

"Yup," I said dully, finally taking the time to eat my cake.

"Princess Luna is certain that... thing is gone," Rarity asked.

I quickly tried to swallow down the bit of cake in my mouth so I could answer Rarity. "Luna took a few days to make certain. When she told me it was safe she seemed very optimistic," I explained. I heard a couple sighs of relief which was followed by another long silence.

"So that's what I've been up to! Well, that and the spa," I suddenly exclaimed trying to break the awkward silence.

Rarity perked up at that. "Spa?" she questioned.

This led to another detailed explanation of my time with Olive Branch, my visit to her mothers spa and Olive's amazing massages.

"I thought you said your back was super sensitive," Rainbow said, flying around behind me. I fearfully twisted around to look at her.

"It is, but her hooves were just... magic," I said, almost melting at the memory of her working me over. This earned a few unsolicited laughs.

We talked a bit more and Rarity brought up the meeting I had with Princess Celestia right after she showed up. I skipped around the conflict with the griffons however I did show off the document that proved my new legal residency. Everyone excitedly congratulated me, all I could manage was sort of a shrug in response. It felt more like an obligation than an achievement.

The mood though had brightened considerably and we chatted further into the evening.

--

I was constantly surprised by the consideration of ponies. They all helped clean up before taking their leave. All that was left was Spike, Twilight and myself.

Spike let out a long, loud yawn. "I don't know about you guys but I'm gonna go to bed," he declared.

"Bed does sound pretty good right now," Twilight agreed. Her expression fell though as she looked over to me. "Um... what about you Valentino?" she asked hesitantly.

Sleeping arrangements did get a little off-kilter before things really took a turn for the worse. But given what happened since then I considered that mess with Twilight far in the past. Still, with all the time we spent apart it was probably hard to tell what I was thinking.

"Yeah, let's go to bed," I said, moving to follow. Twilight immediately perked up and excitedly rushed up the stairs.

One I slowly made it up to the bedroom Spike was already settled in and Twilight was arranging extra pillows on her bed. Once she caught sight of me she moved to one edge of the bed and used her magic to pull the blankets aside.

I dressed down to my usual shared sleeping attire and fell into the space on the bed Twilight made for me.

It was surprisingly awkward as we both just sort of laid there for a while. I was staring up at the ceiling for most of that time. When I finally looked over Twilight was laying on her side and staring at me with big eyes.

I shifted so that I was also laying on my side and facing Twilight. She pushed her head deeper into her pillow but was still just staring at me. She was adorable to be certain, all curled up with her face half buried in the pillow. But in spite of that the atmosphere was still a little awkward. Twilight just seemed kind of hesitant. In fact she had been pretty quiet throughout the whole party, even when Pinkie Pie wasn't interrupting her.

"Are you okay?" Twilight whispered, interrupting my contemplation.

"Hm? You've heard the story twice now, I'm safe and sound," I mumbled in response.

"No I mean..." Twilight stretched out one leg and put her hoof gently against arm as she trailed off. "Are you okay? When I left you were..." she trailed off again.

When she left I just finished having a complete meltdown and insisted that I needed time alone to get a handle on myself.

"Your letters were really... concise. I couldn't tell how you were feeling so..." Twilight's whispers trailed in and out.

Before then I just got finished chastising, punishing and otherwise taking out a lot of my frustrations on the pony.

"I just want to know if you are feeling better or if you need more time," she finally said.

"If I needed more time I probably could have stayed in Canterlot," I said. Again Twilight just silently stared at me.

"You know, before I left Celestia said I should go back to Ponyville because it was the best place to get used to life in Equestria. I told her to put me on the next train over and she said oh hold on, you don't need to go so soon," I quietly explained. "But I insisted on coming back right away. You know why?" I asked.

"Why?" Twilight whispered.

"Well, felt a little out of place in that big castle. Not a whole lot to do unless I wanted to be escorted around all day. Guards staring me whenever I would walk past," I rattled out one after another. "Mostly though... I missed some of my best pony friends," I said.

Twilight's eyes brightened a little and a small smile crept onto her face.

"So yeah, unless something else goes fantastically wrong I think I'll be okay. Don't worry about it," I said gently, trying to reassure her.

Twilight pulled her hoof away from me and stayed silent for a moment while she shifted slightly on the bed. Her little movements didn't stop as I noticed she was scooting her way across the bed and closer to me. I wasted no time in letting my arms wrap around her midsection. Her front legs pulled my head into her neck while she nuzzled into my hair.

Her warmth, her breathing, the way she liked to nuzzle into the top of my head, it was all very familiar. I enjoyed that simple familiarity, a little warm thing that helped me forget about the rest of the trouble I had to go through. Even if it did mean listening to Spike trying to stifle his laughter after such a sappy exchange.

I did not fall asleep too quickly while snuggling up to Twilight. Partly because I wanted to enjoy the sensation but also partly because I was hit suddenly with some new anxieties.

What do I do now?

Rainbow Dash had asked me as much earlier but I had given her a halfhearted response. I had already started studying ponies and their history seriously before. Continuing that was obviously a given, but what happens beyond then. Do I try to get some legitimate detective work? Is there a federal agency or law enforcement office to apply at? Would I have put in the same time as a regular officer before moving on as a detective? Would human credentials mean anything? I have no references that could be contact.

I quickly cut off that line of thinking. Answers to those questions would come with research. Research was my priority and coincided with the directions given to me by Princess Celestia, a pretty significant authority if ever there was one in this kingdom of ponies. There was no point in working excessively beyond that or even considering it. For the time I resolved to relish in the fact that I did not need to work myself to the limit night after night, up to my ears in morbid scenes and moral atrocities. Or magical mishaps, hopefully.

Do what I do best, take my time. Enjoy my sleep and those cozy ponies.

Author's Note

A shorter chapter! Friends are being friends and that's great!

Not to be a tease but I have some interesting plans for the next chapter! So interesting I've already started to work on them!

But boy oh boy! I'm so glad you made it this far!

As always,
Thanks for reading!