-Valentino Brugato – Dream Log-

After I passed out I started having an unfamiliar dream. It was a lot more vivid than the one on repeat for the past week or so.

A flat plain with black dirt, gray sky and it went on that way for as far as I could see.

The only blemish on the landscape was a stump just a few feet in front of me. The bark was black, the growth rings were black and the other parts were a light gray. Whatever tree used to stand there was cleanly cut down. The surface of the stump seemed almost polished.

I felt drawn to the stump, when I looked out at the horizon, nothing else popped up. It seemed flat and empty everywhere I looked.

So I sat on the stump and waited.

-Twilight Sparkle – Private Record-

It's like he was hit something. When Princess Celestia appeared he stumbled backwards like he was struck hard. He was holding his head with one hand and wincing just a little.

"What is happening here?" Princess Celestia said, shocked.

"I-I don't know!" I said, just as shocked as she was.

We both tried to approach him but he stumbled back from us until he hit the bookshelf and knocked a couple of books down. He had one eye open and the other closed, he was looking straight at us.

"What's wrong Valentino?" I asked but he was focusing on Princess Celestia.

"Are you hurt?" Princess Celestia asked.

His other hand was holding onto the shelf, but it slipped off and took another couple of books with it. Princess Celestia caught them with her magic and...

That

That was when he started screaming.

He was always so even. His temperament was always so neutral that it could be frustrating. It wasn't because he was human either, he told me that humans were generally very expressive! When I asked why he was different he would just shrug his shoulders like he always did when he didn't want to answer my questions. I would always worry and ask about how he was feeling but he would just say something like "I'm dealing with it," or "I'll be alright."

His hands were clutching at his neck and he was screaming louder than I thought he could. But then I remembered how I heard it before, when it was muffled underground and how it put me on edge. His face was twisted in the most expressive form of pain I had ever seen.

Princess Celestia was so surprised that she dropped the books.

Valentino was staring right at Princess Celestia. He was fighting back his screams, clenching his teeth shut, grunting and breathing hard. His teeth were bared, strong white incisors and canines that made him looks dangerous and predatory.

"What do we do?" I asked Princess Celestia, desperate.

Before she could say anything Valentino's expression went soft. His hands fell to his sides and his eyes glazed over. His eyes were still on Princess Celestia as his head started to tilt to the right. Then the... blood started to stream out of both of his nostrils.

"Valentino!" I quickly ran over to him as he slumped onto the floor. His heart was beating and he was still breathing but I was still so confused and scared! I looked back to Princess Celestia who was just staring at Valentino with shock and concern.

-Valentino Brugato – Dream Log-

I was waiting for what started to feel like hours. Sitting on the stump. I didn't get tired or sore from doing it. In my head it was the only thing to do. I felt compelled to wait.

I had to wait there on that stump. So I did.

-Twilight Sparkle – Private Record-

I write this as I personally oversee Valentino's transfer to Canterlot. The extent of his physical trauma was a couple of burst blood vessels in his nose and a bump on his head. But he still hasn't woken up. Not only that but he is acting very strangely while he sleeps.

Valentino had some odd sleeping habits to begin with. From what I observed he would almost constantly move around in his sleep. His arms would sometimes be outstretched and grasping for something. He would murmur and sigh before settling back in. It was actually kind of cute.

But this was not the same at all. His body will constantly twitch and spasm. Sometimes his eyes will shoot open and he will stare blankly at the ceiling while he's still unconscious. He stays flat on his back. No major movements, just little twitches.

Back at the library Princess Celestia and I tried to examine him. We found out that somehow he was leeching off of Princess Celestia's magical energy. I cannot believe that this was intentional. I cannot believe this was even possible! I had studied him thoroughly and he had zero magical presence whatsoever! The rocks in Ponyville had more magic in them than he did!

I remembered from when I was transcribing his records that he mentioned on several occasions he mentioned a tingle in the back of his neck whenever I or somepony would use magic. That it even had varying levels of strength, the strongest being with me. Though the only other unicorn he interacted with was Rarity.

It must have been happening since he arrived. It was possible that it wasn't even his body that was reacting but our magic that was reacting to him. It was such an insignificant thing, it didn't disrupt spells in any detectable way.

Was it something about Princess Celestia that caused such a violent reaction?

Princess Celestia and I did make one very important discovery. Valentino went from having no magical presence of his own to having very slight one. It was very subtle and very calm in nature, just like you would expect from him. It would have been easy to miss it was so faint, but it definitely wasn't there before!

Princess Celestia wanted me to study this very carefully and tell her the moment Valentino woke up... but...

He never did.

Right after Princess Celestia left I took Valentino straight to Ponyville hospital. I didn't know what the extent of his potential injuries were. The doctors were a little confused when I brought him there, but his biology really wasn't too dissimilar save for obvious digestive differences. I wanted them to look for potential internal injuries. But they didn't find anything. Just a small bump on his head those burst blood vessels.

But why is he still unconscious? It will be his third night like this as this train pulls into Canterlot!

I wrote to Princess Celestia on the second day that he still hadn't woken up and she instructed me to bring him to Canterlot if he wasn't awake by the next afternoon.

I'm worried about him. Everything that has happened to him and now this.

It's almost been two weeks since we met. For all that time I don't really know that much about him. He's a detective from a large city that doesn't sound like a very nice place to live. He's a human, scientifically Homo Sapien, which in old human language means Wise Man. Class is mammalia. He is one hundred and eighty nine centimeters tall and weighs ninety kilograms. He likes sweets and he likes to take naps. He likes to tease others, especially Rainbow Dash, and he likes it when others tease him back. He seems to like to read but he'll often stop reading a book partway through before he picks up a new one. He's claustrophobic, but I am not sure to what extent.

He's forgiving, his will is strong, he is intelligent and perceptive. He can be impatient at times but I have never seen him really angry or cruel. A little sarcastic at worst.

He can be apathetic to my attempts to learn about him or teach him sometimes. But there are moments where he opens up, where he's kind and even smiles. I think he just likes to move at his own pace. He won't move ahead a moment sooner than when he's ready. That's fine, you shouldn't to push your friends when they aren't ready.

We are friends aren't we Valentino?

Please wake up.

-Valentino Brugato – Dream Log-

I was starting to think that if I ended up waiting on that stump for much longer I would fuse into it and become a new tree. But still I was compelled to sit on anyways.

Maybe another hour passed, or maybe it was just ten minutes. I could hear something echo through the gray and felt a cold wind blow. It was faint, a voice I had not heard before.

"...ost... ...u... ...en..."

Was someone trying to wake me from my dream?

Dream?

-Twilight Sparkle – Private Record-

As soon as I got Valentino off of the train we were greeted by two of Princess Luna's night guard who escorted us to a guest room with Princess Luna herself inside waiting for us.

"Princess Luna!" I said, quickly bowing my head.

"Princess Twilight," she reciprocated, bowing her head back to me. "He has yet to awaken?"

"I don't know what's wrong with him." I put Valentino on the bed in the guest room. His eyes were open again and his hands were twitching.

"My sister has told me of his predicament," Princess Luna stood beside the bed, staring intently at Valentino for a few moments. "As he sleeps, so he dreams. I shall do my duty and break him free of this trance," she said. Her horn and eyes started to glow brightly. I was a little worried about Valentino, even though the tests I ran on him showed that while he was out cold like this he wasn't reacting to magic in any way. He still didn't seem to be reacting except for that he had gone still, as still as Princess Luna.

It was quiet for a little while. I was getting sick of waiting and hoping. Princess Luna was confident though and having her help put me at ease.

"It is very dark here," I heard Princess Luna say, her eyes will still glowing bright and white, "Very little can be seen. A chair, a table with a tiny bowl filled with ash on it, a large clock that is stopped. I can feel his presence but it is somewhere... deeper."

I felt like any doubts I had were suddenly cast away. Princess Luna was doing it, she was helping Valentino.

"You are lost Valentino," she muttered, "you must awaken."

Princess Luna's magic faded and it Valentino's head twitched a little. His eyes started to focus and look around. He sat up and slowly looked around with a blank expression on his face.

"Valentino!" I almost shouted, he looked at me, stared for a few seconds and broke into a large smile. Larger than I had ever seen him give.

"Twi... light..." he said, broken and slowly. Something was wrong, he was always kind of delirious when he woke up in the morning but he was acting even stranger than normal.

"He is not whole, a large part of him is still lost." Princess Luna said, concern in her voice.

Valentino was staring at her now, curiously, his eyes were narrowing. "You..." he started, tilting his head to the side. Suddenly his expression soften and he brought his hands up slowly to Princess Luna's cheeks, "are very cute..."

I could only stare in shock. Princess Luna also looked surprised, her face flushed.

"Yes well," Princess Luna gently pushed him onto his back again, "I shall try again to pull him back completely."

-Valentino Brugato – Dream Log-

I was pacing in front the stump.

Dream.

Dream.

Dream.

I needed to wait at the stump.

No I didn't this was just a dream I could do whatever.

I needed to wait at the stump.

The stump was a dream, it was all a dream, it wasn't real.

You need to wait at the stump.

Stop lying to me subconscious I don't need to do jack.

You need to wait at the stump.

"ost... ...Val... ...mu... ...ake..."

You don't get to tell me what to do.

You need to wait at the stump.

This isn't real. I won't deal with this illusive bullshit.

You need–

I will not.

"You are lost Valentino. You must awaken," said the adorable blue pony standing next to me.

That I will do.

-Valentino Brugato – Private Record-

My dream fell away to reveal a strange room. Strange to me, unfamiliar. I did see a familiar face, a teary eyed Twilight Sparkle.

"V-Valentino...?" she said shakily.

A little confused I lifted a hand and gave her a little wave. "Yo," I said.

She leaped at me, wrapping her hooves around my chest as much as she could in a tight embrace that nearly knocked the wind out of me. She was sobbing.

Directly to my right I heard a sigh of relief. When I looked I saw that adorable blue pony. Adorable blue alicorn with a black crown, a mane that moved of it's own accord, that shone with all the stars of the night sky and moon emblazoned ornament around her neck.

"This has been a most arduous ordeal. Much of our night has been spent trying to pull you out of your comatose state, only to come up with just fractions of your mind. I am relieved you have finally revived," she stated.

The dream was still very much vivid in my head. Just how long had I been sitting on that stump, I wondered. I looked down at Twilight, who was sobbing and nuzzling into my shoulder. I lifted up my hand and started running it over Twilight's head and down her neck.

I turned back to who I could only assume was the Moon Princess. I nodded my head at her, "Well thanks for your help then. Sorry to put you through all the trouble, both of you."

The Moon Princess shook her head, "I am sorry for this turmoil that seems so intent on upsetting your life."

I shrugged my shoulders, "It hasn't beaten me yet." I could feel Twilight's grip on me tighten.

The Moon Princess smiled and her eyes darted away for a moment, "I must go, the night is short now and will need to make way for the sun. My sister will wish to meet with you. Please await her summons."

"Alright, thanks again Princess," I said, I bowed my head a little and she nodded at me before trotting out of the room.

Now it was just me and the purple pony crying into my shoulder. I kept running my hand gently through her mane. "Were you that worried about me?"

"...Yes," she said after a moment, her voice muffled by having her face pressed into my shoulder.

"How long was I out for?"

"...Three days."

I tensed up at that, Twilight reacted and gripped me harder. Three days lost to a dream, to an illusion. I was just about livid. But I gathered it up and let it out in a large breath. I looked down at her. My hand was stopped on the back of her neck. "And you've been looking after me for all that time?" I asked.

Twilight pulled her head away from my shoulder and looked back at me with sad, glistening eyes. "Of course," she said.

I broke eye contact and looked to the side at one of the tall bedposts. "All that for a stranger..." I quietly mused.

Twilight's forelegs let go of my chest and grab onto my face. Her hooves dug into my cheeks as she roughly turned my head to face her again.

"You are not a stranger!" she said sternly, she was glaring at me with angry eyes that had new tears forming in them. "You're my friend!"

I was pretty confused by her reaction. I thought for certain I was the prime definition of stranger to this land. Unfortunately I hadn't quite considered the connections that had been forming between me and these ponies since I showed up.

"Friend?" I was about to refute her, but no contrary evidence came to mind. Twilight Sparkle had been looking over me during and helping with my recovery. She had been doing everything in her power to help me acclimate to my situation. Every moment of free time she had we spent talking during the week of my recovery. And I made it hard for her, every step of the way I danced around information she wanted. Information she wanted so she could help me better. But she always smiled anyways and seemed happy just to talk to me.

It wasn't all her though, I was happy to have her around. As sarcastic as I was I didn't mind her lectures or her attempts to study me. Sure I often didn't really care about to the extent of her lectures but... I was content with her there, I felt relaxed having her around. In the disorienting situation I was in I did not want to be alone. I was relying on her more than I realized.

"I guess sho," I slurred through my squished cheeks. Twilight let her hooves fall away from my face while the beginnings of a smile was starting to form on hers. I looked away again, back at the bedpost. "Looks like we became friends without me even noticing..." I quietly mused again.

"Some detective you are," Twilight teased.

"Only when I'm trying to be..." I murmured.

--

After Twilight had completely calmed down I got out of bed and stretched my aching body. For once I wasn't completely undressed after being knocked out. Aside from my trench coat I was just as I was as I was before. The sunlight had started to stream in through the tall windows of what I learned was the Canterlot guest room. I was able to look out on the city from those windows. Canterlot seemed defined by whites, yellows and purples. A little on the nose for the seat of power in Equestria and the mare who had been sitting on it alone for... how long did Twilight say until that Luna thing got resolved? A thousand years?

Twilight was dozing off until a knock at the door jolted her awake. She scrambled off of the bed and over to the door. I followed quietly right behind her with my hands in my pants pockets. There was a white pegasus stallion in ornate golden... armor, at the door. I would have been more surprised if it didn't seem to fit so well with the castle aesthetic.

He bowed deeply before Twilight, "Princess Twilight, Princess Celestia is ready to meet with you and your friend." He spoke evenly and didn't afford me more than a glance.

"Of course, let's go Valentino," Twilight said, I gave her a small nod.

The Pegasus escorted us down from the guest room which was at the top of the a large tower. Eventually the external staircase led inside and we were eventually in a main hall. There was a white and purple stone checkerboard pattern on the floor. A bright red carpet ran over the top of the polished floor. Just about every window was stained glass and had some depiction or another on it. It was going to be a lot more intimidating meeting the Princess in her castle than in a library.

We were led to a small door with two more guards in the same armor outside. At the sight of us the stood aside and as we approached the one on the right pushed open the door for us. Twilight walked straight in, I spared an extra glance for the guards. "Thanks," I said before walking in behind Twilight.

The room was a lot more muted, paler purples and darker yellows. There were several long couches and stools all facing each other. Pony couches were a little different, the backs weren't as tall and the couches and the seats were longer and wider. It was more for a pony to lay on than anything. It was comfortable enough to sit on though.

I finally got a good look at the Princess herself and truth be told she was an absolutely gorgeous creature. She had a white coat and a mane that flowed and sparkled a lot like her sisters. However, hers had shimmered with colors of green, blue and pink. She was decorated with golden ornamentation encrusted with purple gemstones. I hadn't seen a princess yet that looked more the part of a decorated ruler.

The most striking thing to me however was that she was big. Luna was quite a bit taller than Twilight but Princess Celestia easily dwarfed the both of them and she was laying on one of the couches. If she stood up I bet that our eyes would have been level.

At the sight of us she smiled warmly. The door was shut behind me and the guards remained outside. I lingered by the door, feeling very out of place.

"Good morning Princess Celestia," said Twilight rather formally before moving towards the center of the room.

"Yo," I called out from by the door, lifting my hand up in a painfully informal wave.

Princess Celestia was fairly amused. "Good morning, please make yourselves comfortable," she said, beckoning me away from the door.

I slowly walked over to the couch across from Princess Celestia and fell back onto it. I sat towards the edge so my feet could comfortably touch the floor. I was hunched forward a little with my hands resting in my lap. Twilight climbed up and sat next to me.

Princess Celestia was looking me up and down the whole time, once I was settled on the couch she spoke again, "I'm very happy to see you feeling better, Valentino."

I looked down at the ground for a second before staring back up into Princess Celestia's shining purple eyes, "I'm a little sore that I lost three days but... I'm thankful for your sister's help." I quickly glanced over at Twilight before adding, "and for Twilight, who has been taking such good care of me. It seems I'm giving Equestria's royalty a pretty hard time."

Princess Celestia was visibly unfazed by my last comment. "I think the one who has been having a pretty hard time is you Valentino," she said, there was a hint of playfulness in her voice which I wasn't quite expecting.

"Well it could always be worse," I said with a shrug.

The smile on her face receded just a bit. "I suppose that is true," she said after just a brief moment of hesitation. I was beginning to notice that some of the darker toned things I said didn't really sit well with ponies. But maybe I was just imagining it.

"Valentino, I was hoping we could discuss what happened when I first came to meet with you," said Princess Celestia, directing the conversation down a more productive path.

"All I really remember is being hit with that train you brought with you," I joked. Though I hardly had a better way to describe it.

This did, however, manage to earn a short laugh from the Sun Princess and a sharp nudge by Twilight's hoof. Being intimidated by the meeting as I was made me just want to mess around more.

"That is part of what I want to talk about, Princess Twilight and I made several discoveries after you fell unconscious," she continued. Despite her amusement Princess Celestia did her best to steer the conversation.

At that point Princess Celestia and Twilight both told me about the magical goings on in my own body. Apparently that tingle on the back of my neck was my body reacting to the excess of concentrated magical energy and Princess Celestia is full of potent and ancient magic. Just looking at her you could probably tell that. If it was true that she raised the sun every day then it's no wonder I reacted violently.

But the disconcerting thing was apparently was that somehow this whole event resulted in my body either adapting to the magic or the magic adapting to my body or some combination of that. Either way I apparently went from being non-magic to being, essentially, magic. It's in my cells and is as much a part of me as my blood.

I still cannot fully wrap my head around the logistics of it. My knowledge of magic is very basic and it's a excessively complex subject when you get into the details of how it works. Is it energy? Can I call it energy? It can act like basic forms of energy. The problem is that magic has limitless potential in it's applications and can be manipulated to nearly any effect by unicorns. The only limiting factor there is the potential and knowledge of the unicorns manipulating it. Otherwise it's consistent in it's effects on the other flora and fauna of this world.

Trying to define it using terms that I'm familiar with is endlessly frustrating and I wouldn't even bother trying if it wasn't now a part of me.

When I was made aware of this my body tensed up and I nearly jumped out of my seat. I had this stuff in me? Part of me? I hadn't felt any different until they made me aware of it and then I started feeling odd tingles and itches all over my body. My rational mind kept telling me that it I was just being hyper aware of myself but I still had doubts.

I spent a good few minutes trying to rationalize what was happening. At the peak of my frustration I gave up and put my head in my hands.

"So what now? Can you get it out of me?" I asked.

There was a moment of hesitation in the air, with my face buried in my hands I couldn't read either of the ponies expressions. "It's... possible, but I don't know if it's necessary. In all honesty I believe it will actually be helpful to your acclimation to your new environment," Princess Celestia said.

At the thought that she might be right I sighed loudly. There went my hope for a smooth transition.

"Truthfully there is no way to predict the kind of changes this may have on you. It's my theory that your body and the magic you had already absorbed forcefully adapted a more passive presence in response to your violent reaction to, well, me. Actually, could you tell me if you feel anything right now?" Princess Celestia asked.

I dropped my hands to see her horn glowing with a brilliant yellow color. She was levitating a small stack of papers next to her. I didn't feel anything, no tingle on the back of my neck. I slowly shook my head. "Nothing," I said.

"Wonderful. Still, I would like it if you would stay here in Canterlot for a few days as my guest. That way we can observe and address any potential changes."

"Yeah, okay," I sighed, feeling like my control over my entire situation had been completely lost. Who was I kidding? It was gone the second I climbed out of that coffin. Striking out from Twilight's library by myself, tackling that issue with the old griffon made me feel like I still had a bit of power. Turns out I didn't and I was right back to feeling pretty helpless.

I wasn't doing a very good job of hiding how defeated I felt. I felt a hoof press gently against my leg. When I looked over at Twilight she was looking up at me with concern.

Then she let out a large, unbelievably cute yawn. "E-excuse me!" she stuttered, embarrassed.

That was enough to distract me from my own self-pity. I smiled down at her and then looked over at Princess Celestia. "I think Princess Twilight Sparkle has had a long night and needs a good rest."

"I'm alright!" Twilight insisted.

"It's fine Twilight, go get some sleep," Princess Celestia motioned with her head towards the door as she spoke.

Twilight nodded and got down from the couch and I stood up to follow after her. Princess Celestia however had other plans. "Actually Valentino, I still have some time and was hoping you could stay to discuss a few more things with me," she said.

"Sure," I nodded at Princess Celestia and turned back to Twilight, "I guess I'll see you in a bit."

"Okay," Twilight said with a drowsy voice before making her way out of the room.

I fell back onto the couch, pulling my legs up and crossing them over each other. "So what else did you want to talk about?"

Princess Celestia had sat up and was staring at me eagerly. "I was hoping we could talk about you," she said with a large smile.

"Weren't we already talking about me?"

"I meant personally," she elaborated.

"You want to get to know me personally Princess? That's awfully forward of you," I said, giving her a slight grin.

Princess Celestia narrowed her eyes at me playfully. "I believe it's far less forward than when you were caressing my sister's face while you told her how very cute she was."

While I didn't have a clue what she was talking about I saw a more important opportunity to strike back. "Don't be jealous Princess, you are quite the cutie yourself," I said, putting on a sly grin. Princess Celestia's eyes widened at my quick response. "Also, what was that about your sister?"

The Sun Princess did manage to quickly compose herself, "Luna mentioned it. She said you were acting very strangely while she was trying to wake you. But with the expression she had on her face I made her tell me everything."

I recalled Princess Luna mentioning something about pulling me partway out of my weird dream state. I shrugged my shoulders, "Ah, well that makes sense then, she is very cute."

Princess Celestia was giving me that playful look of hers again. "Are all humans as bold as you are?" she asked.

I casually shook my head. "Nah, I'm just a big tease," I said.

"I think you should be more cautious about teasing princesses."

"That doesn't sound like any fun at all," I said flatly, raising an eyebrow at Princess Celestia.

After a moment of intense silence Princess Celestia started laughing, and even gave a soft chuckle of my own. Messing around like that was helping me push down my earlier sour feelings. Princess Celestia also turned out to be a lot more mellow than I was led to believe.

"But seriously, about you," Princess Celestia started.

"Ugh, I'm not that interesting," I interrupted, trying to dodge a potentially complicated topic.

"On the contrary! Nearly everything about you is very mysterious and fascinating!" Princess Celestia said, there was a bit of excitement in her voice and her eyes lit up with curiosity. "An unknown species from an unknown place, very different yet very similar," she started looking wistful as she continued speaking.

"Well I supposed it's matter of perspective," I conceded with a sigh. "What do you want to know?"

"For now I want to know more about who you are. I've read your records and you said you introduced yourself as a detective to help my little ponies know who you are. What I want to know is what being a detective means to you."

I started laughing, loudly.

Princess Celestia was shocked, I could see that much on her face when I started to calm down. I don't think I laughed that hard since I was dumped in Equestria. I tried for a good few moments to calm down and to wipe the dopey expression off of my face but I couldn't get rid of the smile. So I just sat back and looked up at the ceiling with a big stupid grin on my face.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting you to ask me that," I said.

Princess Celestia cocked her head to the side and gave me a confused look. I glanced at her and then back at the ceiling.

"It was maybe six years ago, I had built a pretty good reputation as a detective but I also built a reputation in the station as being a rude guy who was a pain to work with. They were right, I was rude to nearly everyone. Not just the other detectives either, but everyone I had to interact with in some way or another. I said it then and I'll say it now, our little county had it rough when it came to law enforcement."

Even as I spoke I couldn't wipe that grin off of my face, in that situation the nostalgia hit me pretty hard. Every time I glanced at Princess Celestia she was staring at me with rapt attention.

"I don't remember who said it, but one of the other detectives was being snide about me criticizing my partner. 'Don't worry, no one is good enough for Brugato,' he said. After hearing that I just went to town on all of them. 'No, none of you are good enough, you are the most incompetent group of morons I have ever seen,' I said." I started to laugh again, but I tried to keep going with my story. "They were all really mad! But I asked them, 'what does being a detective even mean to any of you!?' I didn't let it go either, most of them didn't even want to answer me they were so upset but I kept grilling them until everyone gave me an answer."

"What did they say?" asked Celestia, breaking her silence.

"Oh, lot's of different things. 'Fuck you Brugato,' was a big one," I chuckled again, Celestia gave me a suspicious look. "But when they got serious about it was a lot of 'Justice' and 'Career' and 'Protect the public,' those kinds of things. I was furious. 'You're all idiots, none of those things have anything to do with being a detective,' I said. And then just two years ago I had the same argument with my latest partner. But he was way more angry with me than any of the other guys were. He was a 'Justice' guy, and was for the pursuit of that more than anything else. He was mad at me for not taking it as seriously as he did, very self-righteous. He actually tried to yell and lecture me about it, telling me I was too slow and meticulous while criminals were still at large. That I didn't take the threats walking the streets seriously. But I told him the same thing, that he was an idiot and that's not what it was about."

"What is it about?" asked Celestia, sounding even more enthralled than before.

"The truth," I said simply. "It's not about bringing in criminals or keeping the public safe and definitely not about advancing your career. All of that stuff will come in the wake of being focused only on the truth. But I've seen so many of my fellow detectives get so focused on one suspect or one lead and then hit a wall when it doesn't work out. Then they get mad at me for bailing them out, for seeing something they missed because it didn't fit in with their assumptions."

I let out a long sigh, my smile finally dropped away and I lowered my eyes from the ceiling to the ground.

"Well, if they didn't like me much before then they really hated me after that incident six years ago. But I was pretty exhausted with them as well so I just stopped helping. After a little while some of them started asking for help. I would be dismissive and say something like 'whatever conclusion you've come to or whatever lead you have or witness or evidence, just look at it again and ask yourself if it's really true.' I wouldn't help them after that. Some caught on, some didn't and the ones who didn't eventually were let go. That partner I had later who thought he could lecture me about my job nearly got laughed out of the office." I lifted my gaze up and stared intensely into Celestia's.

"Truth is what it means to be a detective. A determined pursuit of the truth and nothing else," I stated firmly in answer to her original question.

Princess Celestia was smiling softly, warmly. She seemed pleased, maybe proud, I wasn't sure. "That was much more of answer than I was expecting from you Valentino," she said.

I shrugged and said, "it seemed relevant."

--

They day had barely begun and I already felt exhausted.

After my long story Princess Celestia ushered me on my way and said she looked forward to talking to me more. Another guard was called to show me back to the room I was staying in. I wondered if I could get a good nap in, hopefully with no weird stumps and comas. When we got up the tower I said thanks to the guard and he left without saying a word.

Inside the curtains were drawn and the room was dimly lit. I shut the door quietly behind me and made my way inside. I walked up to the bed to investigate the little lump I saw from the doorway. Twilight was curled up under the covers with her head resting on a pillow. The blanket rose slightly with each soft breath of hers.

Damn Twilight is cute.

I sat gently down on the edge of the bed and just watched her sleep. I hadn't really caught her sleeping before even though we shared a room. She was always up pretty late with some business or just reading some book. I'm more of a early to bed, late to rise kind of guy. Broken leg or not. She was rather peaceful when she slept, I think only once her fuzzy little ear twitched.

Now when I was about eight years old my parents got me a cat. It was a solid black cat and pretty adorable. I absolutely loved the little beast. She was a little quirky, and could play a little rough but I didn't care. I spent every moment I had with that cat, petting, playing, snuggling and napping. I would skip schoolwork just to mess around with my cat. My parents were not happy about that. Ten years later my cat died and I never wanted another one.

But the point is that these damn ponies were just as cute if not way cuter than my cat was. But they weren't pets, they were intelligent and emotional on a level matching mine. So in order to avoid making already awkward social situations worse I had to restrain myself constantly. Constantly in my head I had to remind myself, 'they aren't animals idiot, don't do anything stupid.'

But I only had so much restraint.

I reached over and started softly petting Twilight's head. Her ears twitched a little and she let out a little sigh while she nuzzled a little deeper into her pillow. That was all though and I kept at it for a little while.

When I was finally satisfied I got off the bed and quietly walked over to the couch on the opposite side of the room. I laid back and closed my eyes. I welcomed a dreamless sleep.

-Twilight Sparkle – Private Record-

I don't think I had been asleep for that long when a loud thump woke me up. I thought maybe it was the door but there wasn't anything there when I looked. I scanned the rest of the room and saw Valentino on the floor with just a couple of his limbs hanging onto the couch. I stared at him for a moment, half asleep myself I didn't really realize what was happening. After a little bit he slowly flipped over onto his back with one arm laying over his chest and the other flung out away from him. His eyes were shut and I was able to piece that together with his behavior and figure out that he was asleep.

Asleep...

A little bit of worry entered my head so I climbed out of bed and quietly walked over to Valentino. He was acting like he normally did when he slept, fussier now then he was before. Probably because he didn't have that heavy splint on his leg anymore. I wasn't sure whether to put him back up on the couch or not, or if he would just fall off again and maybe hurt himself.

He rolled over again onto his side and facing me. His arms were outstretched and his hands grasping at the floor. Curious I prodded one of his hands with my hoof and he made a cute little noise. His hand turned around and his fingers wrapped around my hoof. Then his hand moved up my leg, his fingers gently touching and exploring. It tickled a little and I had to try to hold back my giggles. His hand finally stopped on my neck and I was too busy quietly giggling to myself to notice his other arm come up.

I gasped a little as Valentino yanked me down to the floor and I fell with my back facing him. His hands wrapped around me and he gently pulled me into an embrace. He nuzzled his face into my neck and I could feel his breath as he let out a long contented sigh.

It was strange, in my shock I focused on his sigh. He sighed quite a lot actually, always when he was frustrated or annoyed. I had never heard him sound so content before. I could feel him physically relax against me. His grip on me loosened as he nestled up against my back.

I always observed his sleeping habits from my own bed. I always thought that his discomfort came from just about everything that had happened to him since he arrived. But maybe this was just human instinct. Many animals are social sleepers and sleeping in pairs or groups can be comforting for many ponies. It must be a much more developed trait in humans given how Valentino acts at night and how quickly he latched onto me.

And of course he wouldn't tell me about it. He would never be straightforward about something if it was bothering him! Some things i'm sure he just wouldn't say at all! I'm sure he was just trying to be considerate of me, not wanting to impose. But as he was my friend and my responsibility I needed to be accommodating to his human needs!

I very, very carefully lifted him up and off of me using my magic. Almost immediately he started fussing in the air. I couldn't help but smile, he tried so hard to be aloof but his very nature was to seek out companionship.

I got up to my hooves and stretched out my wings. Then I carried him over to the bed and peeled back the covers before I put him down on top of it. I hopped up onto the bed after him. I nestled in as close to him as I could and very quickly his arms sought me out. He pulled me in and held me tightly against his chest. He let out a little huff as he nuzzled into my neck again.

I was doing my best to fight back my giggles. I didn't think that Valentino could act so adorably. Just like before when he got settled, he let out a sigh and a happy little hum.

He was nice and warm, though still dressed so I could only feel the velvety smooth skin of his hands. But I thought for sure that Valentino would make an excellent cuddle buddy.

-Valentino Brugato – Private Record-

I managed to sleep pretty well and for a quite a bit longer than I had planned. It was not really surprising though as it appeared I had been moved to the bed. Twilight must have moved me when she woke up. She was very considerate, though I did have to pull a very long, purple strand of hair out of my mouth and hoped it was from her mane and not her tail.

The rest of that day was spent being poked and prodded magically by Twilight with little to show for it. Passive seemed to be the word to describe... my... magic. Twilight seemed insistent on saying that it was my magic now. It wasn't mine, I had no say in this relationship, I was adopted, I hate this family, no one understands me.

I hoped, I still hope, that Princess Celestia was right and this was just a freak thing to help me adapt to the presence of magic. Twilight tried to reassure me, saying that the very nature of their magic was harmonious and was certainly not malevolent. Seeings as that's what I theoretically adapted or what theoretically adapted to me I suppose I believed her.

I still didn't really like it though.

As night rolled around I wondered if I would see Princess Luna again. Probably not, I had already taken up a whole night of hers so she was likely swamped with other duties. It turned out I was right.

Twilight suddenly said she was going to go to bed early while I was setting up the couch as a more serviceable sleeping place. I was bringing over some pillows when I noticed Twilight was staring at me.

"You don't need to do that," she said when I looked over. "You can sleep here with me, I don't mind!" she said with a big innocent smile. I shrugged and brought the pillows back over to the bed.

"Fine, but I'm..." I was just about to say that I was going to sleep in my underwear but I was struck with the realization that there probably wasn't an intelligent species that would care less. In fact I probably could have slept in the nude and she wouldn't have batted an eye, but I still had my own modesty to consider. Besides, Twilight had already enough free access to naked body while I was recovering. She'd have to work a little if she wanted more. Hm.

Well anyways I coughed a little to cover up discarded statement and just said, "that's fine."

While I undressed Twilight started pulling the covers back on the bed. Once I had stripped down to my light gray boxer briefs I folded my other clothes and set them down on the couch. Then I climbed into the four poster bed and before I could bring the covers back up Twilight was right next to me. She was laying on her side facing me, her eyes were level with mine and she was giving me one of her normal happy smiles. I raised an eyebrow at her.

Her hooves wrapped around my neck and she pulled me against her chest. "It's alright," she said, resting her head on top of mine, "we're friends after all."

I laid there with my face half buried into Twilight's chest wondering what on earth was going on. Or what in Equestria was going on I suppose. Was it a pony thing? I guess friendship was just a more intimate thing among ponies, or maybe this wasn't what a pony would consider intimate. I came to the conclusion that pony friends were just snuggly and I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Hm.

Well anyways, I contentedly wrapped my arms around Twilight's midsection. I enjoyed the feeling of her warmth and the soft feeling of her coat while I resolved to put forth an effort to make more pony friends.

--

The next day was more of the same except I was being led back and forth constantly between Twilight and Princess Celestia. Twilight made me jog for a while, which was some exercise I desperately needed anyways. I didn't stop with the jog, I filled it out with some squats, crunches and push ups. All while being pelted with questions from Twilight about what I was doing and why. I didn't mind explaining the workouts and what I was accomplishing with them. At least it kept my mind off of the work.

After a shower I got to some of Celestia's tests which were a little more intimidating. She wanted to see how I would react to certain spells. I started by saying that I didn't want to be turned into a frog or something and she reassured me that she wouldn't be doing anything so complex.

I grunted but I didn't bother voicing any more of my trepidation. Celestia was completely confident about the positive effects of magic and having magic and being magic and blah blah blah blah. While over the course of Twilight's study I didn't feel at all different I was still agitated by the whole thing. But the ponies were just as chipper as could be like this was just a wonderful time.

I almost wished the magic in me would hurry up and do something if it was going to and get it over with.

And it did. But to spite me it just continued to be super subtle and non-specific about whatever it was supposed to be.

The spells Princess Celestia cast on me were meant to alter my body in some significant way, in ways that went against what naturally occurred in my body. The comparison she made was the spell Twilight used during my recovery. She described that as something that went with the grain, enhancing my body's natural regeneration. If my bones weren't set or the lacerations properly treated I'd be stuck with a bum leg and a bunch of ugly scars. It was a fairly safe spell, or so she said.

The good old days.

So the first thing she did was make me bioluminescent. So my skin glowed a bright orange for a little while, I didn't feel a difference but I was lit up all the same.

Next was height, without warning she knocked me down couple feet to about the height of Twilight.

"Like your boys shorter than you then?" I said, transferring my frustration into teasing. The guards in the room were giving me angry looks but the Princess just laughed a little.

"Well... you don't look too bad down there..." she said and feigned some intense consideration.

I crossed my arms in my baggy sleeves and waited for her to set me back in order. She hesitated a little longer before giggling again and putting me back to normal height.

The next thing she did was something a bit different. She said it was a 'cloud walking' spell and I raised an eyebrow. One of the winged guards flew out the window and she did another spell on me. Nothing physically changed about me. The guard pushed in a big fluffy cloud. I knew pegasi could manipulate clouds and weather, I did see Rainbow's house after all.

But still my head was in my hands.

They wanted me to get on a cloud, they wanted me to walk around on a mass of water vapor like it was a god damned shag carpet. No, they weren't regular clouds, I'm sure those clouds were as magic as the rest of them. No, the rest of us. Everything was crazy magic and I had already hopped into the crazy magic ocean. Why not walk on a cloud!? Then maybe Celestia would give me a pair of wings so I could fly up to the tallest tower of the castle and then she could push me off.

With a great big sigh I stomped onto the cloud and it was like walking on a big damn pillow. I stood on top of it with my arms crossed, shooting Celestia the most unamused look I could manage.

So as it turned out I was even more receptive to magic than before.

I nearly screamed when Celestia broke that news to me. I thought my magic was supposed be passive or something, subtle and keep other magic from screwing with me. But actually what it was doing was acting as an anchor so that spells wouldn't affect me negatively.

All of those spells were enacting changes in my body that weren't really possible. But the cloud thing was the kicker. I could have been shorter and I could have been bioluminescent under different or outrageous circumstances. But cloud walking wasn't in any way possible without the forces of magic at work.

If I didn't have that magic working within me the first two spells likely would have just hurt me and the last one probably wouldn't have done anything. The whole thing turned out to be Celestia trying to prove to me that the magic in me was helpful and great. I was kind of reassured.

I was also reassured that my assumptions were off and I was still an idiot about magic.

I gave Celestia a half smile and I was led back to Twilight who poked at me some more with her magic.

According to the both of them everything was looking normal.

--

The last stop of the day was back with Celestia just after the sun had set. I met her again in that comfy little sitting room. There was a fire going.

The first thing she did when I walked in was levitate a large stack of papers into my hands.

"What is this?" I asked, taking the papers.

"Everything you'll need in order to become an Equestrian citizen," she said casually.

"Become what?" I asked indignantly.

"I thought of it just after we spoke yesterday. Things will be easier for you in the long run if you are officially recognized as an Equestrian citizen," she stated matter-of-factly.

I walked over to the couch right across from Princess Celestia, sat down, set down the papers at my side and wished with all of my heart that I had my cigarettes. But all that wishing didn't give me the opportunity to chain smoke my last pack of cigarettes down to nothing. So instead I did what I had been doing all day and buried my face in my hands.

"It's not working anymore Princess," I said through my hands.

"What's wrong Valentino?" Celestia asked with a motherly tone.

I roughly brought my hands down on the couch. "When this mess started I was able to brush it all off by saying 'at least I'm alive!' and now..." I trailed off a little and leaned back on the couch. "I don't know, I don't know and it's driving me up a wall. It's all just getting to be a little too much all at once."

"There is no rush on this Valentino, I just wanted to make this option available to you," Celestia said with concern in her voice. Silence hung in the air for a moment before she let out a little sigh. "Princess Twilight and I just want to help you Valentino. I don't mean to push you or make you feel uncomfortable. There is no easy way to handle this situation..."

"I know, I know. It's not that big of a deal I just... I need some time to adjust," I said to try and ease some of the tension in the air.

"Of course, but please keep it in mind," Celestia said, nodding to the paperwork. "I would love to add you to my subjects," she teased.

I was about to joke back when a pony guard burst into the room. "Princess! There's–" his voice was cut off and he gurgled a little. When I turned I saw a three sharp talons raking across his muzzle.

The guard's eyes went completely black and his body started to twist and contort. I could hear his bones snapping as his body twisted itself in impossible ways until the guard's neck finally bent back all the way until it let out a loud crack and he slumped to the ground.

Celestia was already on her hooves and I was up and quickly backing up to her, not taking my eyes off of the attacker.

The griffon Cronus was standing at the entrance of the sitting room. His eyes were a solid black like the guard's had turned, his beak which was chipped and cracked before was in even worse shape, missing large chunks and having more cracks running through it. He was missing patches of fur and feathers all over his body. He was twitching, his body was contorting much like the guards was and you could hear snapping and cracking coming from him. Around his neck was a rope and attached to the rope was what looked like a bird, or more likely a griffon, skull. The back of it was shattered so that only the face of the skull was left with the rope looping through the eye socket.

"Broke broke broke broke broke broke brokebroke broken broke... broke... brokebrokebroke...." he muttered over and over as he stood still near the entrance. I had my baton in my hand but I was planning on leaving this completely up to Celestia. His head was tilting to the side, tilting further and further until it started to make snapping sounds.

The Sun Princess quickly took charge and stepped forward, her wings extended and her eyes burning with intensity. But after that first hoof fell the griffon lunged.

"Broken!" he shrieked. An intense golden light slammed into the griffon's face and he flew back into the wall near the door. The griffon slumped to the floor.

Both Princess Celestia and I just watched the griffon for a long minute. He didn't move a muscle.

After the minute had passed I started to slowly make my way towards him. I extended my baton and made quiet, careful steps towards Cronus. I glanced over at Celestia and asked, "Can you keep him restrained?" My answer came as glowing bands of light bound the griffons arms and wings to his sides.

I tapped the griffons leg lightly with my baton, then tried moving his leg with my foot. His leg was stiff and difficult to move. I leaned down and felt his furry leg and stomach with my hand. "He's cold," I said out loud. I checked to see if he was breathing, and he wasn't. Growing bolder I put my ear to his chest and couldn't detect a heartbeat. I sighed and stood up, looking down at the shining black orbs in the griffons head. The tip of his beak had completely broken off. A thick black sludge was starting to drip out of his mouth.

"Well he's dead," I said flatly, turning back to Celestia who had a look of shock on her face.

"I did not in–" she started but I cut her off.

"He's been dead for a good few hours," I said and that look of shock only grew. "Body is cold and there's signs of rigor." I moved to the door, past the body of the pony guard and looked outside, there was another guard slumped and twisted on the ground out in the hall. "Another body out here same state as the other guard," I said back to Celestia.

Turning back into the sitting room Celestia had a complicated expression on her face. More than anything though she seemed at a loss. Three dead bodies and what was clearly a bunch of magic malarkey would put most anyone at a loss.

"I'd get some ponies here to thoroughly examine these bodies. The attackers name was Cronus and he was supposedly staying in Manehatten with his wife, probably want some ponies to follow up on that. Twilight and I had an encounter with Cronus back in Ponyville, he was being kind of a creep but he seemed to settle down after we caught him. Whatever was influencing him then might have resurfaced, but he wasn't violent then and he wasn't dead either. I can get you the records I wrote on the whole thing," I offered up everything I could on the matter.

Princess Celestia stared at me for a second, I maintained a blank expression. "Yes of course, good thinking. Would you go find Princess Twilight and tell her to meet me in the main hall?" she said, regaining her composure.

"Sure thing," I said and I hurried to find Twilight.

--

Our stay in Canterlot was cut short by the incident with Cronus. Twilight told me that when she met with Princess Celestia she told her everything she knew about the incident with Cronus at Sweet Apple Acres. It was requested that she send an official report and that my record of the event was officially requested as well.

Twilight was eager to blame herself for initially agreeing to let Cronus go. I asked her if there was a precedent for what happened in Celestia's sitting room and she firmly stated that there wasn't. I told her that it couldn't be helped then and that from my perspective she seemed to be fairly thorough when dealing with Cronus before. She seemed to calm down and apparently she had received similar encouragement from Princess Celestia.

We were on the next train back to Ponyville and I was actually relieved. In Ponyville I had been working on something resembling a routine. Sweets from Pinkie Pie and teasing Rainbow Dash were at the top of that routine. I wasn't sure if rationing my cigarettes was going to happen anymore. Once I got back I'd be lucky if I had one left.

Author's Note

Another chapter finally done!

I had a lot of fun messing with perspectives this time around, I hope you enjoyed it too.

This little project has certainly gotten a lot more attention and positive feedback than I ever anticipated. Also it's been very fun to work on.

As a little extra I doodled a some Valentino as a little babu with his cat.

You can peep that here.

Everyone who is still around so far of course thanks for reading!