Terracana

Chapters

Chapter 1: First Impressions
Chapter 2: Showing Off
Chapter 3: Confrontation
Chapter 4: Meeting Royalty
Chapter 5: Settling In
Chapter 6: Sparring
Chapter 7: A Royal Pain
Chapter 8: Oh Shit!
Chapter 9: Learning History
Chapter 10: A Day Off
Chapter 11: Relaxing...
Chapter 12: Confessions
Chapter 13: The Knight of Equestria
Chapter 14: The Grand Galloping Gala Part 1
Chapter 16: Training Part 1
Chapter 17: Training Part 2
Chapter 18: Dragons, Treasure and Revelations
Chapter 18.5: Heat of the Moment (Clop)
Chapter 19: Castle of the two Sisters
Chapter 20: Fuck the Nobility
Chapter 21: A Date with the Sun
Chapter 22: Fury of the Sun
Chapter 23: Getting Answers and Getting Ready
Chapter 24: Badlands Assault Part 1
Chapter 25: Badlands Assault Part 2
Chapter 26: Now what?
Chapter 27: Share the Love
Chapter 27.5: Bath Time Romp (Clop)
Chapter 28: A Fancy Tea Party
Chapter 30.5 : Embracing the Sun (Clop)
Chapter 31: The Lapis Hive Part 2
Chapter 31.5: The Love of a Changeling (Clop)
Chapter 32: The Lapis Hive Part 3
Chapter 33: The Living Impaired
Chapter 34: A Nightmare?... A Vision?... Or Something Else...
Chapter 35: A Rescue and Implications
Chapter 36: Here's Discord!
Chapter 37: Walk in the Light. Step into Shadow Part 1
Chapter 37.5: An Awesome Foursome (Clop)
Chapter 38: Walk in the Light. Step into Shadow Part 2
Chapter 39.5: Breeding Cadence (Clop)
Chapter 40: Royal Wedding Part 1
Chapter 41: Royal Wedding Part 2
Chapter 41.5: Consummation (Clop)
Chapter 42: The Portal to Terra
Chapter 43: The Road to Elysium
Chapter 44: Meeting the King and Discord's Surprise!
Chapter 45: Welcome Home
Chapter 46: The Fall Heat Season
Chapter 46.5: Sweet Relief (Clop)
Chapter 47: Orc Attack Part 1
Chapter 48: Orc Attack Part 2
Chapter 49: Orc Attack Part 3
Chapter 50: Aftermath
Chapter 51: Recuperating
Chapter 51.5: Conflicting Emotions (Clop)
Chapter 52: Heart to Heart
Chapter 53: A Date with Cadence
Chapter 54: The Power of an Aspect Part 1
Chapter 56: The Power of an Aspect Part 3
Chapter 57: The Power of an Aspect Part 4
Chapter 58: The Power of an Aspect Part 5
Chapter 58.5: Stress Relief (Clop)
Chapter 59: Hearth's Warming Eve
Chapter 60: Meeting with the Warlord
Chapter 61: Traditions and Honour
Chapter 62: The Honeymoon Part 1
Chapter 63: The Honeymoon Part 2
Chapter 64: The Honeymoon Part 3
Chapter 65: The Honeymoon Part 4
Chapter 66: The Honeymoon Part 5
Chapter 67: The Honeymoon Part 6
Chapter 68: Heading Home
Chapter 69: Trial Part 1
Chapter 71: The Fire Aspect Part 1
Chapter 71.5: Master and Servant (Clop)
Chapter 72: The Fire Aspect Part 2
Chapter 73: The Fire Aspect Part 3
Chapter 74: Through the Eyes of a Child
Chapter 75: Dog Hunt
Chapter 76: The Fall of Ponyville
Chapter 77: Jade Hive Siege Part 1
Chapter 78: Jade Hive Siege Part 2
Chapter 79: Picking Up The Pieces
Chapter 80: Adjusting to Life in Canterlot
Chapter 81: Dragon Problems
Chapter 82: Spring Heat Season
Chapter 83: How To Train Your Dragon... Form Part 1
Chapter 84: How To Train Your Dragon... Form Part 2
Chapter 85: The Dragonlord
Chapter 86: A Big Surprise!
Chapter 87: Ponies Don't Like Change Part 1
Chapter 88: Ponies Don't Like Change Part 2
Chapter 89: Sweet Apple Acres Rises Again
Chapter 90: Training Continues Part 1
Chapter 91: Training Continues Part 2
Chapter 92: Training Continues Part 3
Chapter 93: Discord's Quest Part 1
Chapter 94: Discord's Quest Part 2
Chapter 95: A better life
Chapter 96: The battle of Aires Peak Part 1.
Chapter 97: The battle of Aires Peak Part 2
Chapter 98: The battle of Aries Peak Part 3
Chapter 99: Elf hunt part 1
Chapter 100: Elf hunt part 2
Chapter 101: Arcane Contract
Chapter 55: The Power of an Aspect Part 2
Chapter 70: Trial Part 2
Chapter 82.5 Part 1: The Fun Has Been Doubled (Clop)
Chapter 82.5 part 2: Loving the Sunshine (Clop)
Development Notes
Prologue: The Battle-Mage
Chapter 15: The Grand Galloping Gala Part 2
Chapter 29: Welcome to Equestria
Chapter 30: The Lapis Hive Part 1
Chapter 39: Walk in the Light. Step into Shadow Part 3

Chapter 1: First Impressions

Terracana
Chapter 1: First Impressions

I groan as I slowly wake up, I hear a gasp and then a door opening and closing.

My eyes slowly open as sunlight flows over me like a warm soothing touch from the open window.

I try to sit up, but I appear to be strapped down to the bed, I try to struggle but for some reason I feel slightly dizzy.

I hear the door open again and two small bipedal horses walk in, I'm not sure if I am dreaming or have gone insane. The one on the right looks male with brown fur and darker brown hair, and is that a horn on his forehead? The left one looks female with white fur and pink hair but she has no horn on her head, I also notice that their muzzles are shorter than a horse's, their heads are rounder with larger eyes as well.

"Good morning, Sir, how are you feeling?" he asks me.

I'm too shocked to reply as I just stare at them.

"Do you even understand me?" he asks again.

I slowly nodded up and down.

"Are you shy?"

I shake my head.

"Lost your voice?"

I shake my head again.

"...Surprised perhaps?"

I nodded.

"Ah... well please relax, you're in safe hands here," he tells me.

A sudden pain in my left thigh makes me look down to see bandages wrapped around it, my weapons, armour, and gear are missing, leaving me in just my underwear.

My mana has recharged, but I'll wait till I'm alone before healing myself, I don't want them to know I can use magic just yet.

"Can you untie me please?" I ask.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, we don't know what you are or why you were so well armed," he replies. "but I assure you, as long as you behave yourself no harm will come to you. As for your injury, we removed the poison from your body and cleaned your wound as best we could. For some reason you're very resistant to our magic," he says.

That's good then, at least I'll have an advantage if things go south. "How long have I been out?" I ask.

"Only an hour," he replies.

"And where are my possessions?" I ask again.

He's silent for a few seconds. "They're being stored at the guards Barracks in town, but Miss Sparkle is looking at a book you were carrying," he replies.

I frown at that, so not only did they take my gear, but they also took the book that could be responsible for sending me here.

"We shall bring you something to eat and drink in a few minutes, just lie back and get some more rest, I'll also inform Miss Sparkle that you're awake now," he says as they both step out.

I lie my head back and stare at the ceiling. I flex my hands, feeling the flow of my mana through them. I channel two life elements through my left hand and cast it on myself, I repeat the spell a few times and the wound is fully healed.

I wait for a few minutes and the door opens up, the white furred woman steps back in with a tray in her hands, she sits in the chair to my right and scoops some strange green mash like food onto a spoon.

"Open up," she says kindly. With nothing else to do and my hunger catching up to me, I open my mouth and she places the spoon inside, but the moment the mash hits my tongue, I spit it out, It tastes like grass.

"I know hospital food isn't the best, but you really need to keep your energy up," she says and tries feeding me another.

"Sorry ma'am, but I can't eat grass," I tell her.

She looks confused for a second. "Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't know, what do you eat?" she asks.

"Fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, berries, and meat," I reply. Her eyes widen and she drops the spoon. "Are you alright?" I ask her with a raised brow.

She runs over to the door and leaves the room yelling for a doctor. I'm quite confused as to why she just ran out the door, but judging from her reaction, I'm guessing meat eaters aren't welcome here. I channel two cold elements through my right wrist and try to freeze the strap holding me down. After a few seconds, I stop as it's starting to make my hand feel numb.

I pull on the strap and it snaps, I then undo the left strap and then my ankles. I rub my right wrist to get the numb feeling to fade, I can hear heavy footsteps coming from the other side of the door so I get up and walk over to the wall. I then place my hand on it, it's solid stone. That's good, I can use it to cast a weak stone armour spell if I need to.

The door opens and two male gold armoured horses walk in with their shields pointing at me and their hands on the grips of their swords.

"Put your hands up and get on your knees," the left one demands sternly.

"What have I done?" I ask.

The right one looks unsure while the left one glares at me. "Doesn't matter freak, get on your knees, now!" He draws his sword and the other does reluctantly as well.

I frown at them. "I'm warning you now, I do not wish to fight, but should you attack me, I will not hesitate to put you down," I tell them and channel a shield and earth element in my left hand.

The left one grins while the right one looks worried. "I was hoping you'd say that," the left one says and charges at me with his shield pointing at me.

I cast the spell on myself and the stone wall behind me breaks apart. I'm covered in a thin layer of stone and then channel two cold elements in my right hand, I hold my palm out and spray the guy's legs with a light mist of frost.

He's surprised and slows down enough for me to punch him in the face with a stone covered fist, he's sent onto his back and I pick up his sword.

A third armoured man steps in, this one has a horn which starts to glow. He fires a bolt of blue energy at me from his horn, which I block with my left stone covered forearm, the stone shatters and my arm feels slightly burnt.

I grunt in pain as I see his horn glowing again, I channel a shield element into my left hand and hold my palm out, I cast the spell and a small curved back semi-circle of golden energy forms in front of me. He fires another bolt which bounces off the shield and into the ceiling.

His eyes widen but I quickly cancel the shield, channel an earth element and fling a small piece of the wall at his head. It clangs against his helmet and he goes down, out cold.

The other shield bearing guard looks at his two unconscious allies and then back to me. "You'll let me pass or you'll be joining them," I tell him. He gulps and lowers his sword and shield. "Actually, drop your sword and shield and take me to the guards Barracks, I want my gear back," I tell him.

He nodded, drops his sword and shield, and slowly walks out, I follow him as we pass terrified nurses. We make it to the exit where four more guards are waiting outside.

Two of them have wings and spears, another has a horn and some kind of gem on a handle. The last one has neither but has a large two-handed hammer. "Stand aside and don't move," I tell my 'guide'.

He nodded jerkily and stands a few metres to my left. I channel an arcane element into my sword which gives it a sinister red glow, the guards all take a step back with unsure expressions.

"All I want is my possessions returned and I shall leave," I tell them. They all glance at each other, but before they could respond a voice yells out at us.

"WAIT!" I look to my right and see a purple woman with a horn and dark blue hair with pink highlights going through it. She's wearing a white shirt, a dark purple blouse, and a dark blue skirt going just past her knees, I also notice they don't have feet but hooves instead. "Please stop fighting," she says with a worried expression.

I look from her to the guards and then back to her. "I am defending myself, I just want my gear and book back," I tell her.

"Alright, just stop fighting okay?" she asks me.

I sigh and drop the sword, the four guards then decide to rush me. I quickly channel a shield and earth element and cast the spell making five stalagmites burst out of the ground in front of me, forming a stone wall. The four Guards run face first into them and fall to the ground in a groaning heap.

The purple woman walks up to me slowly with wide eyes. "H-How did you do that? You don't have a horn," she asks me.

"I'd be happy to explain, but first I want my stuff back, especially the book that was on me," I tell her.

"Oh, the book is back at my place, but your equipment is at the guards Barracks. Do you really need your weapons and armour right now? I promise you'll be fine from now on," she says.

The doors to the Hospital open and that white woman leans her head out. "Twilight! Get away from it! It's a carnivore!" she yells to this Twilight person.

I look back to the purple woman to see her wide eyed with fear and backing up slowly. I groan and place my right hand over my face. "And what does my diet have to do with anything? Also I'm not a carnivore, I'm an omnivore," I ask and tell them.

"Y-You aren't going to eat us?" Twilight asks shakily.

"No," I reply flatly with a deadpan expression. "Eating another sentient race is considered murder where I come from and is an unforgivable crime," I tell her.

She exhales in relief. "I'm sorry, but you said you're an omnivore?" Twilight asks me.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "Yes, I can eat meat and certain vegetation," I reply.

She gasps. "Really? There's never been a sentient race on Equis that's an omnivore before," she says circling me. She stands back in front of me with a hand out, I notice she only has three fingers instead of four and the tips all look like one solid fingernail. "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, welcome to Ponyville," she says, sounding much more relaxed.

I give her a small smile in return and shake her hand. "Greetings, I am Adrian Stormsword. And thank you, but I'd still like my leggings, shirt, boots, and money back at least," I reply. She looks down and notices that under the stone armour, I only have my underwear on.

She blushes and looks back up. "Oh, of course. Erm, shall we get going then?" she asks shyly.

I nodded and follow her.

Chapter 2: Showing Off

Author's Note

PLEASE NOTE!

Adrian can't go full five elements yet. He knows about other types of spells but can only cast beams, novas, sprays, walls, weapon enchantments and Armour spells. He can't cast mines, storms or resistance aura's yet. And his mana is low. His swordsmanship is average at best. I tried to make him weak compared to what players can do with the full array of powers they have in the magicka games. And he has been learning magic for six years from books and a retired mage from his hometown.

So don't think he's overpowered.

Chapter 2: Showing Off

Terracana
Chapter 2: Showing Off

I follow Twilight down the street with my stone armour still on, not only for protection but to at least cover myself up a bit. I'm getting a lot of stares my way from the residents of the town.

"So what are you? I've never seen anypony like you before," Twilight asks me.

Anypony? "I'm a human, what are you?" I reply.

"I'm a pony, a unicorn to be exact. I've never heard of a human before, where did you come from?" she asks again.

"I come from the Kingdom of Reymorah on the continent of Hedonia." I tell her.

She stops and looks back at me. "Reymorah? Hedonia? I've never heard of such a place and we've explored the entire world," she says.

I frown at that. "Where am I right now?" I ask.

"You're in Ponyville on the continent of Equestria," she replies.

Equestria? I've never heard of such a place before as well, or seen any people like these. "I've not heard of this place either," I tell her.

"Then how did you get here?" she asks as we continue walking, I look behind me and notice the guards following us, I look forward again and answer.

"I was given that book by a stranger and was told to only read it alone. I was then attacked by some bandits after we departed and I killed them," I tell her, to which she gasps at the news of me killing. "I sat down on a boulder and opened the book, a bright flash blinded me and I then found myself in a dark forest where a strange looking manticore attacked me. I got stung in the leg before I killed it, I then limped out of the forest and into this town where I collapsed," I finish saying.

"So that book brought you here? I must admit, I did feel some sort of magic in it, but when I tried to read it, the pages were blank," she says.

Blank? I'll have to look at it myself. We stop at a building in front of us, it's a tall cylindrical building with two long balconies, tall pink stained windows, and a pointed roof with flags around it.

"The guards Barracks are located behind the town hall," Twilight tells me. We walk around the tall building to see a smaller one that looks more like an apartment complex.

We walk inside where a guard behind a desk looks up at us, he nods to Twilight but raises an eye brow at me.

"Hello, Stalwart," Twilight says.

"Good morning, Miss Sparkle. What can I do for you?" he replies and asks.

"I'd like to get a few of Mr Stormsword's possessions back for him," she says.

"Oh, so he's been deemed not a threat then?" he asks.

"Erm, sort of? He just wants his clothes and money back for now," Twilight replies.

He stares at me for a few seconds. "Alright, wait here please," he says and walks into a back room. A couple of minutes later he returns with my torn black leggings and belt, an olive green long sleeve shirt, my iron boots and my money pouch. "Here you go," he says and hands them over to me. I cancel my armour spell and the chunks of stone fall to the floor. "You better clean that up," Stalwart says unamused.

I remove the bandages on my thigh and put my clothes back on and look inside my pouch, two of my gold coins are missing. "Where's the rest of my money?" I ask.

"What's the matter?" Twilight asks.

"I arrived with five gold, ten silver and twenty-two copper coins, there's only three gold coins in here," I reply and turn to Stalwart. "Where's the other two?" I ask him.

He just shrugs. "I don't know, I just store and retrieve whatever is put into the lockers," he replies.

"May I have a look at one of your gold coins?" Twilight asks me.

I pull out a coin and hand it to her. Her horn glows and the coin starts floating. It starts moving towards one of the beds in the back and lands on the third bed's pillow. Twilight walks over to it and lifts the pillow, revealing my missing two coins.

Stalwart frowns. "That's Crimson Blade's bed, I'll have a talk with him when he comes back from his shift," Stalwart says as Twilight levitates all three coins to me.

"Please do," Twilight says and then looks to me. "Now then, shall we head back to the Library so I can ask some more questions?" she asks me as she levitates the stone chunks off the floor.

I look with awe at the display in front of me. "Seems you have some questions as well," Twilight says with a giggle.

I nodded my head and look at Stalwart. "You better make sure my gear stays in good condition, it belonged to my father and if any of it is damaged, I'll kick your ass, got it?" I tell him.

He nodded un-fazed. "Don't you worry, I'll place it in a locker only I have the key to," he replies and heads back into the back room.

I turn around and follow Twilight out. The guards from the Hospital are out here glaring at me, I glare back and they back off. Twilight dumps the stones to the side of the Barracks and looks back at me. "Follow me, I can't wait to get started!" she says and pulls on my hand.

I stumble slightly as I follow behind her, I'm still getting some odd looks from the residents but now they're more curious than disgusted.

Not too long after we left the Barracks, we arrive at a large tree with a door, windows, and balconies built into it. I look from it to Twilight. "What?" she says.

"You live in a tree?" I ask.

"Yes, why? Something wrong?" she replies.

"No, just, unexpected," I say.

She opens the door and invites me in. "SPIKE! I'm home! And we have a guest!" she shouts into the house.

I look around and see bookshelves carved into the walls, a small table sits in the middle of the room with a couch and two arm chairs next to it, there's two doors to the left and a stair case in front of me.

"Be there in a sec, Twilight!" a voice replies.

A few seconds later a small lizard like person starts walking down the stairs, he spots me and gasps. "Wow! He's tall!" he says and walks up to me, he only reaches up to my thighs. "What are you?" he then asks.

"A human," I reply. "What are you?" I ask him back.

"Never heard of a human before... oh and I'm a dragon!" he says, before heading into what looks like a kitchen. "You guys want anything to drink!?" he yells.

"No thank you, I'm fine," Twilight replies and levitates some sheets of paper, a quill and walks over to the couch.

"I'd like a glass of water please," I reply as I walk over and sit next to Twilight.

"Okay! Be right back," Spike says and brings me a glass of cool water.

"So, let's get to those questions!" the purple girl says.

"So what would you like to know?" I ask her and start drinking.

"What was that magic you were using called?" she asks.

I put the empty glass on the table in front of me. "We just call it magic. We use eight elements to cast our spells and we can combine up to five elements at a time or mix elements to gain a different effect, I could give you a decent demonstration if I had my stave back. The spell you saw back there was a shield and earth element combined, then cast as a wall. It can also be cast as an area of effect spell which will surround the caster in a complete wall, or it can be self cast on the caster to give them a makeshift suit of armour, like the one you saw me wearing," I tell her.

"That's amazing! What are the other elements?" she asks me while writing.

"Water, cold, arcane, fire, life, lightning and two others that are made by combining two elements together, like fire and water make the steam element while water and cold make the ice element," I reply.

She writes everything I tell her down on the paper. "And what effects do these elements have?" Twilight asks.

"It depends on the manner of the spell. Target spells, which attacks a foe in front of you. Area of effect spells that attacks the area around you and self cast spells that effects the Caster."

"There's also different types of spells. Storm spells that leave a storm of fire, lightning, cold, water, and steam in an targeted area. Mines that leave small spheres on the ground that can deal damage or heal when stepped on. Quakes that cause the ground to shake and with other elements cause additional effects. Sprays that attack the area directly in front of the caster. Novas that blasts the area around you. Beams that attack a single target at a long range. Projectiles that launch a rock or ice shards on its own or with another element combined with it. Shields that reflect beams and sprays but are weak to physical attacks. Wards that reduce certain types of elemental damage against you and finally, walls that create defensive cover, blockades or unstable walls that will deal damage to those that break them," I tell her.

She's writing very quickly.

"Fire for instance, can have multiple effects. On its own it can spray out like a dragon's fire breath or blast a wave of fire all around the caster. Combine it with an Arcane element, it will turn into a beam of fire. With the Earth element, it will become a rock or boulder covered in fire that not only deals heavy physical damage, but also explodes on impact, or cast it as an area to cause a quake that also spouts fire out through the cracks in the ground. With the Shield element, it coats the caster in a fire proof ward preventing them from being burnt, or it can create a ring of fire around the caster or a wall in front of them. Elements can also be infused with weapons like swords or arrows to give them an added effect. Adding more of the same element only increases that element's effect," I explain to her.

"This is so fascinating! Our magic works so differently, we gather the magic we need from the atmosphere and store it within our horns, we then use our imagination and will power to form the spell we wish to cast and release the magic with the thought of what we want it to do," she tells me as she continues to write on the paper.

"Ah, we gather the mana within us to cast our spells. Our bodies contain two types of energies, mana is the energy allowing us to cast spells and Ki energy that allows us to perform feats of great strength or agility... If you gather it from around you, does that mean you can cast spell after spell continuously?" I say and ask.

"No we can't, our horns are like a muscle, constant use will strain it and make casting harder and more dangerous. The stronger the spell, the more strain is placed on our horn," she replies. "Can you give me some demonstrations out back of the Library?" she asks.

"Sure, as I said, they'd be a lot stronger if I had my stave though," I reply.

"That's alright, I just want to see your magic at work," she tells me. "Spike! I'll be out back if you need me!" she calls out to the young dragon.

"Alright! Just don't forget that Rainbow is coming soon for the latest Daring Do book!" he yells back.

With that said, we head out the front door and walk around the tree, there's plenty of space here for me to cast with.

"Okay, so what would you like to see first?" I ask her, moving at least six metres away from her.

"Can you show me each element on their own in all three forms?" she asks back.

"Sure, these are classed as spray spells," I reply and hold out my left hand. I channel a fire element and release the spell as a small cone of flame sprays out about two metres in front of me, I look back to Twilight and see her writing down what she saw. I channel another fire element and use it as an area of effect causing a small wave of fire moving away from me for a couple of metres, the grass was slightly burnt away.

"I can't cast a self fire spell as it would set me on fire," I tell her. "but the effect of doing that would dry me off if I was wet or defrost me if I was hit with a cold spell," I explain.

"Alright!" she says from the safety of her tree and starts writing.

I then channel a lightning element and cast it in front of me, short bolts of electricity spray out in random directions in a cone like manner. I then cast it again as an area of effect and an electrical discharge surrounds me.

"I can't cast this one on my self as it would only zap me instead, but this spell can jump from one target to another and deal more damage to those wet or wearing metal armour," I tell her to which she scribbles some more.

I then channel a cold element and cast it, a frozen mist sprays in front of me and the burnt ground is lightly coated in a thin sheet of ice. I cast it again as an area of effect, freezing the area around me.

"Again, should I cast it on myself, I would only freeze myself, but should my target be wet it would solidify the water on them and encase them in ice," I say and prepare the next element.

I channel a water element which creates a spray of cool water ahead of me. "This spell doesn't do any damage, but it makes a target wet to increase the effects of other elements like cold and lightning. It's also good for putting out fires and pushing light weight enemies or objects away as well," I tell her and recast the spell around me, soaking the area.

"Casting the spell on myself will just get me wet but also puts me out should I be on fire," I explain.

I then channel a fire and water element and release a spray of hot steam in front of me. "This would not only scald my target, but also soak them like a normal water element would," I tell her. I then cast the area version and a gust of hot steam fills the area around me.

"The self cast of this spell is pointless as it would just hurt me and get me wet," I finish. "These next two elements are classed as beam spells," I tell her. All this constant casting is starting to wear me out, but I try to continue as I did say I would show her.

I was about to channel an arcane element, but a cry of distress distracts me. "AAAAAAAAAH! LOOK OUT!" it says. I look up to see a sky blue woman with feathered wings wearing white shorts, a white shirt that exposes her toned stomach, a brown leather like sleeveless vest, and rainbow coloured wristbands. Speaking of rainbows, her hair and tail are the colours of the rainbow as well.

"OH BUCK!" she yells and crashes through one of the tree's windows. Twilight rushes in to see if she's alright and I follow.

"Rainbow Dash! Are you alright!?" Twilight asks as this Rainbow Dash is sprawled out on the floor groaning in pain, as Twilight tries to get her to come around, I notice her left wing is bending the wrong way with a lump sticking out from the middle. My guess would be it's broken.

Spike looks in from the Kitchen area with a worried expression. "Rainbow? Are you alright? Say something!" Twilight says with concern.

"Ooooh, that bucking hurt!" Rainbow says with a groan. She tries to sit up but yelps in pain as she tries to move her broken wing. "Aw horseapples! Not again..." she says with a frown and gritted teeth.

I walk over to her and kneel down. "Maybe I can help?" I say.

Rainbow looks up at me with a glare. "It's your fault this happened! I got distracted by what you were doing and lost control!" she replies.

"Then if that's the case, would you let me heal it?" I offer.

"Yeah right, even unicorn magic ain't that good... No offence Twi," Rainbow says.

"None taken," Twilight replies to her.

I chuckle which makes Rainbow glare at me again. "This isn't unicorn magic," I tell her. "So, would you like me to heal you or not?" I offer again.

She grumbles for a few seconds. "Fine, but no funny stuff!" she warns me.

I channel two life elements into my right hand and point my palm at her, Rainbow's eyes widen as she sees the two green orbs floating around my hand. I cast the spell and a green beam of soothing light hits her square in the chest, she gasps and clenches her teeth as the bone resets itself and repairs the damaged muscle and tissue around it. The small cuts, bumps, and bruises on her also heal, this would be so much easier if I had my stave.

After a few seconds I stop the spell and lie down on my back panting slightly, I think I used a bit too much mana from that and the demonstration. She extends and retracts her wing, her jaw drops and then she stares at me. "Dude... I... bu... how? You even removed the ache from when I last broke it!" she says with a grin.

Twilight is also staring at Rainbows wing with her jaw agape. "That... that was amazing! What would have taken a week to heal you do in seconds!" Twilight says and then looks at me. "Adrian, are you alright?" she asks seeing me panting.

I weakly wave an arm at her and let it flop back to my side. "Yeah I'm fine, just used too much mana from that and the demonstration," I reply. I feel a tingle as I glow slightly purple, I look at Twilight and see her frown a bit and then gasp.

"Why can't I lift you up?" she asks confused.

I chuckle a bit. "The Doctor at the Hospital said I was very resistant to unicorn magic," I tell her. "Now if you don't mind, I think I'll take a nap," I say and fall asleep.

Chapter 3: Confrontation

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 4: Meeting Royalty

Terracana
Chapter 4:

"Who are you," she asks.

I stand up and walk towards her, she frowns and her horn lights up faintly, I stop just a few feet away from her.

"My name is Adrian Stormsword, I am a battle-mage from the kingdom of Reymorah," I reply.

"And why are you here?" she asks again as another woman just slightly shorter than her steps in. She has dark navy blue fur with hair that looks like a piece of the night sky itself, her eyes are a teal colour and she's wearing a black dress with silver trimmings, an onyx black crown sits upon her head. Just like the first, she has a horn and wings larger than the others.

"I'm not sure, I was brought here against my will, I take it you are Celestia?" I reply and ask the white woman.

"Yes I am, and this is my sister, Princess Luna," she says gesturing to the dark blue woman. "Tell me, how did you arrive here?" she asks me.

"I was given a spell book by a stranger, he told me it had forgotten elements lost to time, he said I had the potential to be great," I say and head back to sit on the couch, this action apparently offended Luna.

"How insolent are thee!? Thou dare show no respect!?" she says angrily.

"I'm sorry if I have offended you, you are the first members of royalty I have ever met, so I don't know how to react to such a situation, so I believe I shall just be myself," I tell her and sit down, this seems to intrigue Celestia.

"So you would treat us as you would anypony else?" Celestia asks me.

"Yes, again, I'm sorry if this offends you," I reply.

She hums in thought and sits across from me on a small armchair while Luna sits on the chair next to Celestia. "If you cannot find a way home, what will you do?" Celestia asks me.

I frown and look down in thought, what will I do? I don't know the area or its customs, apparently my kind of magic is illegal here and there are no schools here that teach my kind of magic.

"I'm not sure to be honest, I was heading to the Capital to learn more magic at the Academy there, but now the only thing I have is that book by a mage named Starswirl the Bearded," I tell her.

Her eyes widen and she quickly levitates the book over to herself, she opens it only to find blank pages. "Thou jest with us? Thy book is blank," Luna says, her expression of anger getting worse.

"No, apparently only I can read the book, if anyone else looks at it, the words vanish," I tell her.

Celestia looks back to me. "Very well, prove it by reading this page," she says and flips to a random page then she floats the book back to me.

I take the book and read aloud. "The element of fire. This element is used mainly for offensive spells and has a multitude of effects when combined with others, it can be used as a spray, beam, nova, storm, mine, ward, or projectile and can also be used to light a campfire when travelling or provide a light source in dark areas such as caves," I say.

Their eyes widen as they look to each other. "Very well then, now, can you tell us why you assaulted our guards?" Celestia asks me.

I frown at them. "I did no such thing, I simply defended myself, the moment I mentioned what my diet consisted of, they got aggressive with me, I'm not about to just stand there and let them hurt or kill me," I reply. I give a glare to the guards by the door who recoil slightly.

"And what does thy diet consist of then?" Luna asks me.

"Fruit, vegetables, nuts, berries, grains, and meat," I reply.

Luna glares at me at the mention of meat, but Celestia looks even more intrigued. "You can eat plants and meat?" she asks again just to be sure.

"Yes, but as I've told Twilight, I don't eat anything intelligent. Mainly small game such as fish, chicken and rabbits or farm animals like pigs, cows, and sheep," I tell them.

They look uneasy but except it. "So thou shall not prey on us, even if thy life depended on it?" Luna asks with a sceptical expression.

I look her in the eyes. "I'd rather die first," I reply.

This brought a smile to Celestia's face for the first time since she arrived, it makes her look even more beautiful, Luna still looks unsure.

"We got reports of thee using Illegal magic that only our guards are permitted to use, is this true?" Luna asks me.

"That depends, my magic is completely different to yours and is perfectly legal where I come from, so how can my magic be illegal if its not even the same?" I reply with my own question.

Luna looks to her sister, Celestia then Looks to me. "Then would you care to show us your kind of magic?" she asks.

"Sure," I reply. I follow them outside and head to the same spot where I showed Twilight, I repeated the same spells and even showed what an Ice element does as the shards of ice stay lodged in a nearby tree.

"So thy magic is purely destructive?" Luna asks me.

I shake my head "No, it can also be used to defend and heal," I tell her. Again I cast the stone armour spell and stone wall spells. Their eyes widen at the thin layer of stone covering me, I cancel the armour and walk over to one of the guards. "May I borrow your sword?" I ask him, he looks to Celestia who nodded to him and he gives me his sword. I roll up my sleeve and cut the back of my left forearm.

"What do thee think thou art doing!?" Luna asks alarmed as I hand the sword back to the guard.

"Demonstrating the life element," I reply with a grunt of pain and channel two Life Elements through my left hand and cast it on myself. The small cut closes and they gasp.

"How did thou heal thine wound so effectively? Even we have to concentrate hard to get such results!" Luna says.

"Its just how my magic works, I've noticed your magic has a lot more variety in what it can do while mine is limited to what the elements mixed together can produce," I tell her.

Celestia walks up to me with a caring smile. "May I look at your memories? It will give me insight to who you are," she asks me.

"All of them?" I ask in return.

She simply nodded and held out her right hand, palm up. I frown and look at her hand for a few seconds, I have memories I'd rather not relive, I look back up to her eyes and she just smiles at me patiently.

I sigh and hold her hand with my right one, she closes her eyes and her horn glows. Silence spreads throughout the area as the gentle hum from her glowing horn is all that's heard, during the silence I see a single tear roll down her cheek.

After a few minutes her horn stops glowing and her eyes open, her expression looks mixed, I can't tell if its pity or something else.

"Well?" I ask.

She smiles at me. "You've had a hard life, but do not worry, I shall keep it between us," she replies. "I'd like you to come to Canterlot with us, I'd like to see what you are truly capable of," she asks me.

This will be a good chance to see the capital of this land. "I'd like that, but first I would like to get my gear back," I reply.

"Of course, from what I saw, it is in the Barracks correct?" she says.

"Errr, yes," I reply.

Celestia and her sister start walking towards the Barracks leaving a gawking Twilight at the Library. The two Sisters talk to each other while the guards flank us on all sides, Rainbow follows us in the air while the residents all bow to the two sisters, Pinkie has disappeared somewhere while we weren't looking.

We arrive at the Barracks where Celestia asks Stalwart for my possessions, he retrieves them and I equip my armour and sword, I put my pack on my back and hold my stave in my left hand. I check for the other things I had as well, my lock-picks, gems, and water flask are all accounted for.

"That's everything," I say.

"Good, now let us head back to Twilight's Library where we will take the carriage back to Canterlot," Celestia says.

We start walking back to the Library and I see that guard with the black eye again glaring at me as we pass, I ignore him and keep following Celestia. We arrive to a well polished dark wooden carriage with gold trimmings, what confuses me is that there are four of the winged guards in harnesses at the front, do they pull the carriage for the Princesses? And why only the winged ones? The images of the sun and moon are adorned on the doors, I also notice a large light blue gem or crystal attached under the carriage.

Twilight then walks over to us. "I'll try to visit some time when I can, Princesses," she says to Celestia and Luna and then points at me. "Be on your best behaviour! Being invited to stay at the Castle is a huge honour," she tells me and hands me my book.

I chuckle. "Don't worry, I'll be on my best behaviour," I reply with a smile and place the book in my pack.

Celestia gives Twilight a farewell hug while Luna just says her goodbyes, we step into the carriage and each take a seat. The sisters sit next to each other while I sit across from Celestia.

"To Canterlot Castle please," Celestia says to the guards and the carriage starts moving.

A light humming sound from under the carriage fills the air, then the carriage starts to tilt back a bit, I stare wide eyed out the window next to me... we're flying.

Chapter 5: Settling In

Terracana
Chapter 5: Settling In

I watch as the landscape passes us by, I hear the sound of my wooden stave bump against my iron boot and turn to see Luna holding it with a curious glance.

"Tell us, Sir Stormsword, what purpose does this serve? Is it a fancy walking stick?" Luna asks me.

I chuckle which seems to have irritated her. "No, it's not a walking stick. It acts as a focus for my magic, I can channel elements through it to the amethyst at the top, this stave can double the effectiveness of my spells... So I kindly ask you not to damage it please, as it's the only one of its kind here now," I tell her. She looks at it wide eyed and gently places it back next to me.

Celestia then speaks up. "From what I gathered from your memories, you wished to be a high ranking battle-mage to catch or eliminate outlaws and criminals?" she asks.

"Yes, I believe you also saw the reason why?" I reply.

She sombrely nodded. "That I did, it is a tragedy I wish nopony to go through," she says. Luna looks like she wants to know but keeps quiet.

For the next few minutes I just watch the land go by, I see a lake with a small cottage nearby with what looks like a small boat next to it.

I eventually fall asleep from the relaxing ride.

POV: Celestia

I watch Adrian closely, he looks so calm and peaceful. "Dost thou think we can trust him?" Luna asks me.

"I believe so, he's had a rough past from what I saw of his memories, but a kind and strong personality," I reply to her. What I neglect to mention is that he's been alone for the last few years of his life. No friends, lovers or family. Yet he still pushes on.

I notice he starts frowning with discomfort. "Luna, can you see what he is dreaming about?" I ask my Sister.

"Very well," she replies and places her right hand on Adrian's head.

After a few minutes, Luna gasps and removes her hand, her eyes start to get moist which she quickly rubs away with a handkerchief.

"What's the matter, Luna?" I ask concerned.

She looks at me with a sad expression. "He feels so alone, and the fact of being here just seems to increase that feeling," she tells me. If anypony knows that feeling better then any other, it's Luna.

"Then we'll just have to be as friendly as we possibly can to him, help him fit in at the Castle," I tell her and look back to Adrian who now isn't frowning any more. "I take it you gave him a nicer dream?" I ask her.

She smiles and nodded. "That we did, he now dreams of a future with friends and possibly more," she replies.

I smile and watch the scenery go by in silence.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

"Sir Stormsword? We have arrived at Canterlot," I hear a voice say, bringing me out of my strange dream.

I yawn and stretch my limbs, then look out the window to see a city on the side of a mountain, it's not as big as the Capital of Reymorah, but certainly looks grander. Buildings of white with deep purple roofs dot the whole city, I look to the left and spot a Castle that would put Reymorah's to shame, tall towers of white with roofs of purple and gold reach up over the city.

We land within a tall wall next to the Castle and the doors open up with what look like a couple of maids holding the doors open.

"Welcome back, your Majesties," they say in unison. The left one has light pink fur and blonde hair while the other has green fur and purple hair, I've only just noticed that these ponies have marks on the back of their hands, the pink one has a feather duster while the other has a stack of clothing neatly piled.

The Princesses step out and the maids close the door on me, I burst out laughing at the humour in it, they didn't even notice me. I hear a pair of gasps and the doors open again.

I step out with my stave in hand and smile at the maids, who blush with embarrassment while looking down, I walk over to the Princesses with a smile.

"I apologise for that, they weren't expecting us to bring somepony back with us," Celestia tells me with the faintest hints of a giggle.

"It's alright, I found it amusing," I reply with a grin.

The two maids walk over to us. "We are very sorry about that, Sir," the pink one says to me as they both bow.

"It's fine, no harm done," I tell them and turn back to Celestia. "So what do we do now?" I ask her.

"Thy lack of manners is... somewhat refreshing, if we are to be honest," Luna says.

"I take it everyone treats you like as if they upset you that you would punish them for it?" I ask.

Celestia sighs. "Yes, or to gain some sort of position of power or status," Celestia replies with a sad expression and a slight shake of her head.

I stand in front of her and hold my hand out to her. "Well, rest assured, I'll ask of no such thing from you, as long as I have a roof over my head, three meals a day and a place to practice my swordsmanship and magic, I'll be happy," I tell her.

She smiles at me and shakes my hand. "Speaking of a roof over your head," she says looking towards the castle. "You're welcome to stay in one of the guest rooms if you'd like," she offers me.

Wow, free stay in a castle? Who would refuse such an offer? "I would like that, Celestia, thank you," I reply with a slight bow.

"That's Princess Celestia to you, peasant," a voice to my right says. I look to the source and see a grey man with combed back black hair and a horn, he has a pompous looking scarlet outfit with gold trimmings and puffy frilly pieces on his upper arms and thighs. I couldn't help but snicker at him, it looks ridiculous if not uncomfortable.

He looks at me with disgust before turning back to Celestia. "Princess, there is a matter of import that requires your immediate attention," he says passing a scroll over to her.

She takes the scroll, but I see a slight frown on her face towards the man. She opens the scroll and reads it, another sigh leaves her lips. "They continue to demand that we send them some of our ponies as a delicacy or risk war?" Celestia mutters in a whisper.

What the... someone is actually demanding Celestia to send people to get eaten? Who the hell would demand such a thing?

"Very well, I shall be in my office should I be needed," she says rolling the scroll back up. "Luna, would you please escort our friend here to his room please," Celestia says to her sister which caused the man to sharply breath in with wide eyes, I give him a smirk.

"Of course, sister. Come, Adrian. We shall show thee where thou shalt be staying," she tells me and I follow behind her.

The interior of the Castle is breath taking; finely polished marble walls and floor, tapestries adorn the walls with beautiful patterns and stain glass windows with what look to be snippets of this lands history. We head up some stairs to a long curved hallway with large doorways along it.

We stop at a door with the number five. "This shall be thy room while thou live here," Luna tells me.

I open the door and look inside, my jaw drops at the splendour of it, a large circular bed lies in the middle of the room with a drawable curtain around it, to the right is a door and a dresser, to the left is a desk with paper and writing utensils on it, a comfortable looking chair is in front of the desk and landscape paintings decorate the walls. I notice doors to a balcony behind the bed, I close my mouth and look to the giggling Princess.

"It's amazing!" I tell her.

"Just do not make a mess whilst thou live here. If thou need directions, just ask a guard or maid and they shall guide thee," she informs me. I notice a guard not too far away standing at attention just down the hallway.

"Thank you, both you and your sister. I wasn't sure what I would've done if you didn't come to... where was it again? Ponyville?" I say and ask.

She nodded with a smile. "Yes, Ponyville. We are just glad thou art nothing like the last human to come here," she replies.

I frown in thought for a few seconds. "Who was this other human?" I ask her.

She sighs and gestures into the room, we both enter and she takes a seat on a couch I didn't notice just to the right of the door, I sit on the edge of the bed.

"His name was Grogar, a powerful necromancer who raised an army of the dead. We suffered heavy losses when he invaded our kingdom one-thousand, two-hundred years ago, but with the aid of the Elements of Harmony, we managed to seal him within stone and locked him away in the deepest pits of Tartarus," she tells me.

I frown for a few seconds then my eyes widen at a realisation. "Wait... you said you sealed him away over a thousand years ago? Then that means you and Celestia are..." I say but she interrupts.

"Yes, we are over a thousand years old," she tells me.

I shake my head after staring for a few seconds. "Well, you look great for your age," I say without thinking.

She barely blushes under her dark blue fur. "We, thank thee for the compliment," she says and stands up. "We... we must head back to aid our sister, if thou need anything, just ask a maid or guard," she tells me and quickly heads for the door.

After she left, I remove my pack and place it next to the dresser, I walk over to the balcony and step outside. The sun is high above my head and it looks just about noon as I gaze across the city; winged ponies fly across the skies towards their destinations, some carrying items or pulling carriages.

I look down and spot what looks like a training ground, an obstacle course, practice dummies, and sparing rings are set up with a large, long building to the side of it all.

I watch as the guards train below me, some of the horned ones are shooting bolts of different coloured magic at targets, I wonder what other spells can they cast, from what I'm seeing, my magic is much more effective for combat.

I kind of want to go down there and join them, if only to see what else they can do.

I leave my pack in the room but keep my sword and stave with me, I leave the room and ask the guard just down the hall to guide me down to the Training Grounds.

He simply nodded and told me to follow, the trip was silent as he didn't speak a word, even after I asked for his name. Once we arrived, he just pointed to the grounds and left.

I walk over to the large building and enter, the inside looks similar to the Ponyville Barracks, just bigger. "What do we have here?" a snobbish sounding voice asks.

I turn to see an ice blue furred man with silver hair that has a light blue streak going through it and a horn, he's wearing guard armour and has one of those gems on a handle like the one I saw in Ponyville on his right hip.

"That's some rather... antique looking armour you have there," he says in an insulting tone.

I frown at him. "It was my father's," I reply calmly.

"Yes, well, why is a strange looking creature like you here? This is the guards Training Grounds, not some tourist spot," he says contemptuously.

"Thought I'd ask whoever is in charge here if I could use the facilities to practice my skills," I reply.

"And what skills would a commoner like you have? Do you even know how to use that sword?" he asks with a smug smile, so judging from his attitude, he's either wealthy, racist, or a Noble.

I draw my sword and channel two fire elements through it and point the blade at him, his eyes widen as the blade has a fiery aura around it. "Want to find out?" I reply.

"Stand down, both of you," a voice orders firmly from behind me.

I cancel the fire elements and the flames fade away, I turn to see a white furred man with two toned blue hair and a horn in what looks like a fancy military uniform.

"Who are you?.. And what are you?" he asks me.

"Adrian Stormsword, Sir. I'm a human," I reply and sheath my sword.

"Alright, and why are you here?" he asks again.

"I wanted to ask for permission to use the facilities here," I reply.

"Oh? You a member of the guard or planning to join?" he asks with a raised brow.

"Neither, I just arrived around thirty minutes ago with the Princesses, I'm staying in the Castle until I find something to do... I thought I could practice my magic and swordsmanship here until then," I tell him.

He hums in thought. "What kind of magic do you specialise in?" he asks with curiosity.

The other man interrupts before I could reply. "Sir, you can't be thinking of letting this commoner who isn't even a guard be here?" he asks, clearly not liking the idea of me even being here.

"That's up for me to decide, you're dismissed until your shift later, Frostbite," the blue haired man replies.

Frostbite snorts and walks out. "Sorry about that, most Nobles think they can order poorer ponies around, I'm Shining Armour, Captain of the Royal Guard by the way," he says holding a hand out.

I shake his hand, already liking the guy. "Nice to meet you, as for speciality, I use a different kind of magic than yours, would you like a demonstration?" I ask him.

He smiles. "Different kind of magic huh? Sure, let's see what you got."

We step out and head to the target range.

Chapter 6: Sparring

Terracana
Chapter 6: Sparring

POV: Luna

I head to my sister's office quickly, my cheeks feel like they're burning and my heart is beating faster than normal, in my long life have I never felt like this before.

I arrive at Tia's office and I quickly open the door and enter, Tia looks up with a surprised expression. "Lulu? Is something the matter?" she asks with a concerned tone.

"We are not sure sister, we feel, strange. There's a feeling in our chest we have never felt before!" I tell her.

"A feeling? Can you describe it?" she asks me with a raised brow.

"Our chest feels tight like it's hard to breath, our heart beats as fast as a humming birds wings, and our cheeks feel like they art burning," I tell her.

Her other eyebrow raises slowly and a smile forms on her lips. "Oh, Luna, you're perfectly fine," she tells me sweetly.

"How art we fine sister! We have never felt this way before!" I say.

"Because my dear sister... you have a crush."

POV: Adrian Stormsword

Shining Armour and I arrive at a fence with targets down a range.

"So what kind of spells do you have?" he asks me.

"Well from what I've been told, they're classed as illegal unless you're a guard," I reply.

"So you know combat spells?" he asks as I point my stave at the closest target.

"Yes, a lot of combat spells," I say and channel an arcane and lightning element at the tip of my stave.

"What's that?" he asks pointing at the orbiting orbs.

"My kind of magic, I can combine elements to create an effect. These are arcane and lightning elements," I reply and cast the spell, a small beam of Lightning impacts the target instantly, I hold it for five seconds and cancel it. The target is scorched slightly black.

Shining's eyes widen with a surprised expression, a wave of whispering amongst the guards can be heard nearby as they start to crowd around us.

Shining shakes his head. "That was rather impressive, what else can you do?" he asks intrigued.

I then cast a fire beam, water beam, cold beam, and an arcane beam. "These are beam spells, I have other types of spells as well," I tell him.

"So when you said elements earlier, you meant the actual elements?" he asks.

"Yes and no. The Elements are just different aspects for a spell, for instance," I reply and channel a shield and earth element into my stave. I cast the stone armour spell and stone from under the ground covers me, it's twice as thick now than when I cast it without my stave.

More hushed whispers spread throughout the gathered guards. "This spell uses a shield and earth element. The shield element dictates that the spell will be a defensive type spell. The earth element gives the spell a physical attribute, I can then cast it in one of four ways, on my self, which is what I just did, in front of me creating a wall of stone, in an area as a wall all around me or through a weapon." I explain to him.

"Fascinating," he says making me chuckle. "What's so funny?" he asks with a raised brow.

"Sorry, you remind me of Twilight when you said that," I reply.

"Twilight? As in Twilight Sparkle?" he asks with his right brow raised.

"Yes, do you know her?" I reply and ask.

"Yeah, she's my little sister," he replies with a chuckle. "How do you know her?" he asks.

"I was injured by a manticore when I first arrived here earlier this morning, I stumbled into Ponyville and passed out from the poison. Woke up in a hospital where I... knocked a few guards out in self defence," I tell him with a chuckle.

"So you're the one I got a report about in Ponyville," he says with a slight frown.

"Yeah, but I'm not sorry about it, they attacked me and I defended myself. Anyway, Twilight showed up and stopped the first fight," I tell him.

"First fight? You mean to tell me you got into another fight with the guard?" he asks unamused.

"Yeah, I went with Twilight to at least get my clothes back from the Barracks and then went to her Library. She was interested in my kind of magic so I showed her some, just like I did for you, seems like someone reported it to the guards. I healed Rainbow Dash's wing after she crashed through the Library's window a few minutes later. I took a nap, then the guards burst through the door demanding my arrest for illegal spell casting after some time reading," I say and sigh. "I then jumped through the shattered window where I was then surrounded, I froze their legs to the floor where Twilight broke it up again. After that, the Princesses arrived and questioned me, now, here I am," I finish.

"I see, well at least you're here now where we can keep an eye on you, no offence, but with your kind of magic, you could be quite a threat," he tells me.

"None taken, I just hope to prove I'm friendly while I'm here. I still don't know what kind of spell brought me to this world," I tell him.

"Wait, world? You're from another world?" he asks shocked.

"That's what Twilight believes, and I have to agree with her. She's never heard of my country before as well as I've never heard of Equestria before," I reply.

"So you're stuck here?"

"As far as I know, yes," I say with a sigh.

Shining pats me on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, you're alive and safe, that's what matters for now right?.. Or did you leave somepony behind?" he asks.

"No, I was alone, I was heading to the City to learn more magic when I was sent here," I reply.

"Ah, well, I hope you enjoy your stay here, and as to you using the facilities, you can use them as much as you want. If there is no way to send you back, I suggest joining the guard, you'd make an excellent addition," he tells me before looking around. "What are you all staring at? GET BACK TO TRAINING!" he yells out at the other guards who scramble back to their areas.

"You also said you wanted to practice your swordsponyship?" he asks me.

"Yes, I'm a battle-mage, I fight with both blade and spell," I reply.

"Care to have a friendly match with me?" he asks pointing over to a circular ring on the ground.

"Sure, sounds fun," I reply and walk over to the weapon rack with wooden swords, spears, maces and shields. I place my sword and stave next to the rack and pick up a wooden longsword an inch shorter than mine, Shining also picks the same kind of sword.

"Here's the rules; first to hit the other three times with solid blows wins, glancing blows don't count, no aiming for the head or below the belt and no magic, agreed?" he says and I nodded in reply. "Okay, en garde!" he says and takes a swing at my left arm. I parry the strike and thrust at his chest, he sidesteps the thrust and flicks his wrist, swinging at my extended right arm, I duck and bring my arm down.

His swing goes over my arm and I swipe at his left shin, he yelps and hops on the spot with his right leg while rubbing his left shin, some of the other guards watching chuckle at Shining. "Ow, not bad, not bad. Time to step it up a bit," he says with a chuckle. Wait... he was just playing with me before?

He swaps his longsword for a wooden rapier and changes his stance, he holds his sword, pointing it at me with his right arm as his left is behind his waist.

I frown and hold my sword in front of me, I don't recognise that stance. He quickly thrusts repeatedly and I parry as best as I can, on his sixth thrust, he hits my right thigh. "AH BUGGER!" I yell out and start rubbing my leg, he chuckles and gets back into his stance, I can hear more chuckling from the guards.

I hold my sword to the right and get ready, I act first this time and swing for his stomach, he steps back, just avoiding the tip of the blade. He then thrusts at my right shoulder and I lean away and rotate my body around, I swing for his left hip and barely hit him with the tip, a glancing blow.

He chuckles. "Glancing blows don't count, you need to hit me with a solid blow," he tells me. I get back onto my feet and we resume.

He swipes at my upper left arm which I block with my sword, I try swinging at his right forearm, but he pulls his arm back into a vertical stance with his sword pointing up, I thrust at him and he again steps aside with grace and thrusts back, he hits me in the gap of my chest plate under my left armpit.

"GAH!" I yelp. Damn that stings!

"Two to one, pick up the pace, Mr Stormsword," he taunts me.

I frown with a smirk, he's good. I get ready again and was about to strike when a voice calls out. "Mr Stormsword! The Princesses have requested your presence for lunch!" a guard tells me.

As I turn to him, Shining thrusts his sword right onto my tail bone. "OW! MOTHER FUCKER!" I yell and drop my sword as I rub the bruised area, a few of the guards laugh at my misfortune.

"You shouldn't let yourself get distracted," Shining says to me.

I glare at him but chuckle all the same, I place the wooden sword back on the rack and retrieve my weapons. "Yeah, yeah. I expect a rematch later!" I tell him as I walk over to the guard.

"Sure, but it'll just end up the same either way," he replies with a chuckle.

Shining puts his sword back, gives me a handshake, says farewell and heads into the Barracks. The guard leads me to a large Dining Hall where both Celestia and Luna are sitting, drinking tea and chatting with each other.

They then spot me entering. "Hello, Adrian. We were getting worried when you weren't in your room," Celestia greets me.

"Oh, sorry about that, I went down to the Training Grounds for some practice," I tell them.

"They let thee on the grounds?" Luna asks, her cheeks are again tinted a darker shade.

"Well, one of the guards tried to shoo me away, but someone by the name of Shining Armour let me stay and has granted me permission to use it when I want," I reply and sit to Celestia's left and across from Luna.

"Oh? He must have taken a liking to you then, it's rare he lets anypony not a guard use the Training Grounds," Celestia tells me.

"Huh, well he even suggested I join the guard," I tell her as waiters walk in with platters of food.

The silver trays are covered with fruits, vegetables, eggs, cheeses and breads. Some bowls of sauces are placed down and pitchers of water as well. A plate is placed in front of me, Celestia, and Luna, another plate is also placed next to Luna.

"Who's that plate for?" I ask.

Before they could answer, the halls doors open up.

A guard next to the door starts shouting. "Announcing his royal highness, Prince Blueblood!"

Chapter 7: A Royal Pain

Terracana
Chapter 7: A Royal Pain

"Announcing his royal highness, Prince Blueblood!" the guard by the door shouts out.

A man with white fur, blonde hair and a horn walks into the hall, he's wearing an even more ridiculous outfit than that last guy.

He walks with his nose pointing slightly up and takes a seat next to Luna, who looks suddenly unhappy.

"Hello, nephew. I take it your day has been splendid so far?" Celestia asks him, nephew? Is he Luna's son?

"Dreadful actually, one of the maids mixed my white tuxedo with the red silk sheets which has stained my attire pink! If I catch the one responsible, she'll be packing her bags by the end of the day!" he says while picking what he want's from the platters, he then apparently just notices me. "And who is this, aunty?" he asks Celestia.

"This is Adrian Stormsword, a human from... a far away land. He has come to practice his skills with the guard," she says. I'm not sure why she's lying, but I guess I'll play along.

"A human? I can't say I have ever heard of such a race, well, as long as he is civilized, I guess I shall say, welcome to Equestria," Blueblood says. "I am Prince Blueblood, I help manage the Nobility of Canterlot," he introduces himself and extends his hand to me.

I shake his hand. "Thank you, I'm just here to sharpen my skills with a sword and my magic," I tell him.

"So are you a mercenary? Or are you looking to join the guard?" he asks me.

"I'm no mercenary, as for joining the guard... I don't know. I've only recently arrived here, I'd rather get to know the area before I make any big decisions," I reply.

"I see. Well, if you need to know anything about the Nobility or of Canterlot customs and traditions, I shall do my best to teach you," he tells me and takes a bite out of his meal.

I notice Celestia and Luna look worriedly at each other.

"Thank you, I shall be sure to ask if there is anything I don't understand," I say with a small bow.

We eat in silence for the rest of the meal. Once we have all finished, Celestia speaks up. "Thank you for joining us, Sir Stormsword, but I must return to my duties. Luna, could you give our guest a tour of the Castle?" she asks her sister.

Luna smiles but is interrupted by Blueblood. "I would be honoured to show him the Castle, aunty. It is no trouble at all," he says.

POV: Celestia

What is Blueblood up to? He never offers to go out of his way to help others anymore, I share a worried look with Luna.

'What is he planning, sister?' Luna asks telepathically. Seems like I am not the only one who thinks so.

'I'm not sure, he must be after something... but what though?' I reply.

"That is not necessary, we can guide him through the Castle," Luna tells Blueblood.

"But I insist, I would also like to get to know more about him and where he comes from," Blueblood replies.

Adrian then speaks up before we could reply. "I don't mind, I'm sure you both have royal duties to perform, I wouldn't want to get in the way."

Luna looks slightly down cast at that. 'Do not worry Lulu, you can talk to him tonight. Perhaps you could invite him to the Gardens,' I tell her.

She looks back to me with a small smile. 'Mayhap we shall,' she replies.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

Blueblood and I say our goodbyes to the two Princesses, we walk out of the hall and down an empty hallway, I notice that it is eerily quiet and there are no guards or maids around.

Suddenly, Blueblood turns around and pins me to the wall with his right arm, making me drop my stave.

"Now then, peasant. Let me make a few things clear for you, I saw what you can do down at the Training Grounds, I can use talent like yours. So tell me, who do you work for?" he asks me.

I frown at his sudden change in personality. "What the hell are you talking about?" I ask him.

He growls and sends a small electrical discharge from his horn to my chest, I grunt from the mild shock and glare at him.

"I'll say it again, who do you work for?" he asks in a stern tone.

"I'm warning you, let go or you'll regret this," I threaten him. Prince or not, I'm not going to let myself be treated this way.

"Wrong answer," he says and zaps me again. "You work for me now."

I've had enough and charge my mana into my left hand without any elements, I release the mana and a gust of air blasts out and pushes him off of me and into the wall across from me.

He grunts from the impact but gets up quickly. "You dare attack me!? You're just a filthy commoner, no pony disobeys me without punishment!" he yells now furious.

He points his horn at me again and sends a stronger bolt of lightning at me, I dive to the left where I pick up my stave and draw my sword. I channel a Shield element and cast it in front of me, I then boost the shield to full strength.

Blueblood fires off another bolt which bounces off my shield and back to him which barely misses his head, he gasps in surprise and glares at me.

"If you will not work for me, then you better watch your back, because if you are not with me, you are against me... and do not bother telling my aunts about this either, I will just deny it. Besides, who will they believe? You, or their beloved nephew," he says with a wicked smirk and walks away.

Once he is gone, I cancel my shield spell, sheath my sword, and frown. I should tell Celestia and Luna about this... but I get the feeling that would just make matters worse somehow.

Chapter 8: Oh Shit!

Terracana
Chapter 8: Oh Shit!

I walk back down the hallway and spot a guard, I ask him to guide me back to the Training Grounds, right now I'm angry and need to vent my anger out on something.

The guard nodded and leads me to the Grounds, I head back over to the target range and practice my aim with the earth element. I channel a single element into my stave and aim at a long range target, a rock the size of my fist comes out of the ground where I channel more mana into the spell to increase the force and distance of the rock.

I fire the rock and hit the fourth inner ring, I keep practising, but not once did I hit a bullseye. The other guards are watching with wide eyes as I channel an earth and fire element and cast the spell, the rock is now engulfed with fire and explodes once it hit the target, which is set on fire.

"WHAT THE BUCK WAS THAT!" I hear the voice of Shining Armour shout out.

I turn to the Barracks and see him walking over to me. "Adrian? Why do you look like somepony just spat in your cider?" he asks once he's next to me.

I didn't realize it, but I'm scowling hard... do I tell him? "I'm fine... actually, can I talk with you in private?" I ask him.

He looks surprised. "Sure, let's talk in my office," he says and we head into the Barracks and into a side room.

Once the door closes, he sits behind a desk and I sit across from him. "So, what's got you all riled up?" he asks me.

I sigh. "First, you promise that what I say here doesn't leave this room?" I ask him.

"Alright," he replies with a nod.

"I had lunch with the Princesses and their nephew," I say, which he frowns upon when I said nephew. "Luna was about to give me a tour of the Castle, but Blueblood offered to instead. I thought nothing of it at first, thinking he was just trying to be nice, he led me down an empty hallway and then pinned me to the wall..." I tell him what happened after that as well.

"I see, he has been trying to increase his personal guard lately, mostly by threats or bribes I hear. If he saw your demonstration earlier, then I'm not surprised he would try to get you in his guard, but I've never heard of him attacking anypony for it before, he probably sees you as a threat," he says rubbing his chin with his right hand. "And I agree not telling the Princesses just yet, knowing them, they'll try to punish Blueblood and he might do something rash. I'll ask my guards to keep an eye on him, just to make sure he doesn't do anything to retaliate against you," he tells me.

He then gives me a serious expression. "Just be careful, I believe he's done some rather... unethical activities in the past couple of months, but I can never find the evidence to back it up. If he tries to attack you again, come here and tell me, alright?" he asks.

"Okay, but am I allowed to defend myself if I have to? I don't want to get in trouble if I have to fight back," I ask him.

"Fine, but don't kill anypony, do what you did in Ponyville and root them in place or knock them out. Now then, you're welcome to stay here until the Princesses call for you again," he says.

"Thanks, I think I'll practice my magic some more," I tell him and head back out to the target range.

After about two hours of practice, I take another break to let my Mana recover. I finish off the water in my flask and lie down on the grass, I then pull my hood over my eyes.

I can hear some hushed voices and the sound of footsteps approaching me. "Excuse me," a soft female voice says. I look up to see a woman with a horn, dark orange fur and red hair, she has sapphire blue eyes and is wearing a robe of some sort with one of those gem rods on her hip. Her hands have a ruby with a flame around it mark on them.

"Yes?" I say politely.

"Me and a few others were wondering if you could teach us those spells you were casting," she asks.

I sigh and sit up. "I don't think that is possible, from what I've seen and heard, you cast magic by thought or through a muscle in your horns and gather magic from around you. I cast my magic with Mana that is generated within my body and cast my spells by using different elements together," I explain to her.

"Oh..." she says with a disappointed expression. "I'm sorry for disturbing you then," she then says and walks away back to a group of ponies waiting for her.

I lie back down again and try to take a nap.

I wake up to the sound of a blade being drawn, I look over to see a guard wearing light blue coloured armour standing in front of a training dummy. That's odd, I thought the guards wear purple and gold armour? I also notice he's glaring at me.

I stand up and brush the loose grass off of me, I pick up my stave and head towards the castle, ignoring the glaring guard.

I just realise I left my bag in my room, unprotected. I rush inside and follow the hallway Luna lead me down before, the guards and maids look at me with raised brows as I tear through the halls. I arrive at my room and look inside, my bag is still where I left it, I check it's contents and find nothing missing. I sigh and pick up the spell book and walk over to the bed.

I sit down and open the book to the air element again, I read the text and learn that the element has an interesting effect when combined with a shield element. When cast as a target, a wall of turbulent wind is created in front of the caster, deflecting projectiles to the sides. When cast as an area spell, it creates a tornado around the caster pulling enemies towards it and deflecting projectiles.

But it's the self cast spell that has my attention, similar to how the earth element adds armour to the caster, the air element gives the caster wings made from the air itself. One air element allows the caster to glide while two increases the gliding speed, three air elements allows the caster to fly like a bird by controlling the wings and four elements increases the speed again.

I spend the next hour practising to control the air element, I've lost control a couple of times and cut my hand, which I healed quickly, but I finally have decent control over it.

I try combining it with a shield element like the book says, glowing yellow and white orbs orbit my stave's gem and I self cast the spell. Two wings of gently flowing air hover just an inch from my back, they're both a transparent white colour and about two metres long each.

The door then suddenly opens without warning. "Adrian?" Luna asks as she leans her head in. She spots me and her eye brows shoot up... as well as her wings. "T-Thou has wings? Why did thou not tell us?" she asks and walks towards me.

"I, errr. I learnt this spell just now actually," I tell her as she tries to stroke the right wing where her hand goes right through, but I don't feel a thing.

"Amazing... can thou fly with them?" she asks.

"No, this is a weak version of the spell. I can only glide slowly at best. Still, it would prevent me falling to a gruesome death at least," I reply and cancel the spell.

"We see," she says and lightly shakes her head. "We've been looking for thou for the last half hour, did our nephew show thee the castle like he said he would?" she asks me.

I think for a second, what do I tell her? "Erm... yeah. He's an... interesting guy," I reply.

"Then which way from here would thou go to find the Archives?" she asks and frowns at me.

I chuckle nervously. "Down the hall and to the left?" I reply with a sheepish grin.

She sighs. "We thought so, where did that pompous foal take thee to?" she asks me sternly.

I sigh as well. "He took me to an empty hallway and tried to force me into joining his personal guard..." I tell her.

If I thought she looked angry when I first met her, she looks absolutely pissed off now. "That conniving spoiled colt! We'll make sure he understands that he can't do as he pleases anymore!" she says and starts walking over to the door.

"Wait!" I say to her.

She stops and turns to me. "Why? We art just going to discipline him," she tells me. I get the feeling that involves hospitalising him.

"He said to watch my back, and if he knows that you now know, he might do something rash," I tell her. I've met a few people like Blueblood before... and they don't make idle threats.

"And thou think that he is a threat to us or our sister?" Luna says.

"Maybe not to you, but I don't know what he has or is capable of, I'm just asking you to wait for awhile and see what he does," I ask her.

She frowns. "Fine, we shall wait and see what our nephew will do... but should he do anything to harm thee, he shall feel our wrath," she replies.

I raise an eye brow, confused as to why she's being so protective of me. "Fair enough," I say.

She leaves the room and I sit on the bed, I pick up the book and continue to read about the air element.

POV: Blueblood

Blasted creature, he will regret not taking my offer.

I walk back to my office and sit down at my desk. "Silent Shadow," I say, calling my Spy.

A shadow from under the desk moves out and forms into a black furred unicorn stallion with a dark red mane and grey eyes. He's wearing a black vest and trousers with many pockets and vials on them, he also has a black pair of daggers on each hip.

"Yes, Master?" he asks, making me smile.

"I want you to keep an eye on our new... guest. Let me know what he does or says to anypony, I get the feeling he'll be a thorn in my side later... but if you can get rid of him and make it look like an accident, do it," I tell him.

"As you wish, Master," he replies and turns back into a shadow.

I chuckle and start sorting though some of the nobles requests.

POV: Celestia

I yawn as I finish writing my reply to the gryphons, even if it means war, I shall not allow them to prey on my ponies. The door to my office opens and Luna steps in with an expression of deep thought.

"Is something the matter, Lulu?" I ask her.

She quickly looks up at me. "Nay sister, we art well... so how goes the matter with the gryphons?" she replies and asks me. I know something is up but don't press the matter, yet.

"Not well I'm afraid, they demand our ponies as a delicacy in exchange that they won't invade our lands to just hunt us," I tell her.

"And we shan't, if we must, we shall fight them in battle along with our guard!" Luna says. She always was the more hotheaded of the two of us.

"Let's just hope it won't come to that," I tell her.

A yell outside gets my attention. "Oh SHIT!" the voice says as somepony falls past the window.

"ADRIAN!" Luna shouts as we rush over to the window, we both watch as he falls to the ground, a bright white light bursts out from his back and a set of beautiful flowing wings appear on his back. He wobbles badly but glides down to the gardens, I wince as he lands face first into the grass, but stands up after a few seconds.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

Ouch, that's the last time I sit on a balcony's railings. I stand up and spit out a few strands of grass, I'm so glad I had my stave in my hand while I was practising the air element some more. Two flashes of light to my right gets my attention, Celestia and Luna are running towards me with concerned expressions.

"Adrian! Art thou alright!?" Luna asks me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I reply and look up towards the balcony, I frown and shake my head.

"How did you fall from the balcony?" Celestia asks.

"I was sitting on the railing while reading my book, I guess I lost my balance and fell, good thing I learnt that new spell then," I reply with a chuckle.

"Yes, it is, please refrain from doing so in the future," Celestia tells me sternly.

"No problem there, I think I've had my fill of heights for awhile," I tell her. I pick my book up off the floor and check for any damage, looks like it's still intact. "Sorry about worrying you both," I say.

"As long as thee aren't hurt, that is all that matters," Luna says. "At least thou got to test thy new spell," she says with a giggle.

I chuckle along with her. "I guess so, so what were you both doing before I interrupted?" I ask them.

"Just some paper work, nothing as exciting as what you were doing though," Celestia says. "Speaking of which, I must return to my duties. Luna, would you like to help keep our guest out of trouble?" Celestia says to Luna with a wink.

Luna smiles. "We guess so, mayhap we can teach him some manners while we are at it," she replies to Celestia.

Celestia disappears with another flash of light and Luna looks at me. "Come, Adrian. We shall give thee a proper tour of the Castle," she tells me, grabs my hand, and pulls me along behind her.

Chapter 9: Learning History

Terracana
Chapter 9: Learning History

Luna pulls me towards the Castle earning some odd looks from the guards and maids, she shows me around the Castle; the Archives, the Princesses personal gym, a hallway with statues and stain glass windows, the Throne Room, and lastly the offices both Celestia and Luna use when not in the Throne Room.

We walk into the office Celestia is in, she's sitting at a desk and writing on a piece of paper. She hears the door close and looks up at us with a smile.

"So, did you two have fun?" she asks.

"I had a good time, Luna showed me the Archives and a hallway with important parts of your history," I reply.

"I see, so what do you plan to do for the rest of the day?" Celestia asks me.

"Probably go back to the Archives and learn more about this world," I reply.

"We shall speak with thee later," Luna says and yawns.

I leave the Princesses to their work and I make my way to the Archives, I arrive with no trouble and head towards the history section.

I read for a couple of hours and learnt that the carnivorous races see the other races as just another food source. The gryphons especially believe they have the right to hunt anything they want for food or sport while the dragons and diamond dogs just eat anything not their own.

The other herbivore races have created some sort of alliance against the carnivorous races to help protect each other. The minotaurs are a race of strong warriors, the cervine are a deer like Druidic race that can communicate with nature and even control plants, the zebras are a shamanistic culture and can speak to elemental spirits and are quite skilled in alchemy. The earth ponies are physically strong, the pegasi are fast, agile, and can manipulate the weather, and the unicorns can manipulate the magic in the atmosphere with their horns but lack the strength and agility of the other pony types.

The changelings though are neither herbivores nor carnivores, they feed off of emotions, especially love. I don't know how that can be possible... but this isn't my world, I'll just have to expect the impossible to be possible here.

I read up on how magic works here, it seems it's as Twilight described. Each race that can use magic gathers it from the atmosphere and channels it through a specific body part or tool, unicorns and changelings use their horns while the cervine use their antlers or hooves, the minotaurs, diamond dogs, and gryphons can't use magic while the dragons use magic to fuel their fire breathing abilities, the zebras use a system similar to ours where they use staffs and totems to channel theirs.

I put the books away and head out for a bite to eat, I notice another one of those guards in the light blue armour glaring at me from down the hallway, I glare back as I pass him and head towards the dining hall. I enter and head towards what I believe is the kitchens.

I open the side door and see about ten people running around restocking cupboards and other storage areas, one of the women in a white chefs apron spots me and walks up to me. "Can I help you?" she asks.

"Yes, I'm feeling a bit hungry, is it possible to get something to eat or will I have to wait until dinner time?" I ask her.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait, only the princesses can order anything out of the normal serving times, I recommend going to one of the cafés in the city, or just wait until dinner is served," she tells me.

"I see, thank you anyway," I reply and leave.

I head back to the offices and knock on Celestia's door. "Come in," I hear her say.

I walk inside and see her put a stack of papers into a tray. "Hello, Adrian. Did you learn anything from the Archives?" she asks me.

"Quite a bit actually, I read up on the other races and how magic works here," I tell her.

"I see, and what do you think of the other races?" she asks.

"Why do all the carnivorous races eat the other sentient races?" I ask her.

She sighs and puts her quill pen down. "We believe it's just in their predatory nature, others believe they just have a lust for blood. The gryphons even have a large arena in their capital where they force their warriors against the other races they capture just for entertainment," she tells me.

I frown at that. "Well I also read that all the herbivorous races have formed an alliance, why not just force the gryphons to back off?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "We all prefer to try and keep peaceful relations with the gryphons, dragons, and diamond dogs, but should they openly attack us, we will all rally against them," she replies.

"Then if you'll just gang up on them, why are they demanding you to send your people to be eaten then? Are they not afraid of such repercussions?"

"Not really, they're twice our size and weight and have a high resistance to our magic, they also have great strength and naturally sharp talons and beaks, it would take five ponies working together just take on one of them," she tells me.

"So what would you do should they decide to attack you directly? Has it happened before?" I ask her.

"They have attacked once before, we suffered heavy losses, but they also lost their King during their invasion. The pony who killed him sacrificed himself in order to do it," she says with a sad smile.

My stomach decides it wants feeding and lets out a loud rumble getting Celestia to softly laugh. "It would seem somepony is hungry," she teases.

"I tried getting something to eat from the kitchens, but they said only you and Luna can order outside of serving times, they suggested I go into the city to find a Café, but I don't think my money is good here," I tell her.

Her horn glows and a small pouch appears in front of her. "Take this and go treat yourself," she says and levitates it over to me.

I take the pouch and look inside, there's different sized gold coins in it with numbers on them. "Are you sure? I can give you the coins I have for them," I offer.

She hums in thought. "I'd like one of each type of coin you might have, I can add them to my collection of oddities, it's not every day you come across the currency of another world," she says. I chuckle and give her one gold, one silver and one copper coin.

She then picks up the silver coin and examines it. "Your coins have a lot more detail put onto them than ours," she says as she puts it down onto her desk.

My stomach rumbles again. "Well then, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off to get something to eat," I tell her.

She smiles at me. "Very well, please don't be gone for more then two hours at most, that's when dinner will be served," she replies.

"By the way, where's Luna?" I ask.

"She has gone to bed, she stayed up later than normal because of your arrival," she says.

I nodded to her. "Alright, I'll be back in an hour," I tell her and head to the Castle's entrance.

On my way out, I notice more and more of the guards in light blue armour around, and each one is glaring at me, I ignore them and head out into the city.

I notice a lot of the people avoiding me, I'm not sure if its my appearance or if it's because of my weapons and armour, perhaps I should have left them at the Castle...

After a good twenty minutes searching, I find a nice little café with tables outside, I walk in and a bell above the door rings.

"Hello! And welcome to the..." a powder blue unicorn woman with blonde hair trails off as she sees me.

I just smile as I walk over to the counter, I look at the food and drinks on a display board above her head. "Hello, may I get an earl grey tea with one of those sandwiches and a slice of that orange cake please?" I ask pointing to a sandwich with cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce.

She snaps out of her daze and makes the cup of tea then places the sandwich and cake on a plate. "T-That'll be fifteen bits please," she says. I pull out two gold coins, one with the number ten on it and the other with a five and hand them over to her. "Thank you, enjoy your meal," she tells me with a smile.

"Thank you," I reply and nodded slightly.

I head outside and sit at an unoccupied table and eat my sandwich and cake. I then pick up my cup of tea and start taking sips while relaxing. I finish off the last of the tea and leave the cup on the table. I start heading back to the Castle, but a scuffle to my right grabs my attention, It appears a dark brown furred man with wings is harassing a mint green unicorn in the back of an alley.

I walk over to see what's going on but the man suddenly hits the woman's left cheek. "AAHHH!" she screams and starts sobbing.

"Ahem!" I cough loudly and get his attention.

"Huh?" he mumbles and turns around, by the red tint on his nose and cheeks, it appears he's drunk. "An what doesh yoooou want huh!?" he says aggressively.

I just stare at him with a neutral expression. "Simple, I want you to leave the lady alone," I tell him.

He then scowls at me. "Oh yeah? And what you gonna do abo... *hic* 'bout it?" he says and pulls out a small pocket knife.

I draw my sword slowly, letting the sound of sliding metal ring out through the alley and glare at him. "I'll cut off your only means at having children," I say coldly as I channel a fire element through the blade giving it a fiery aura and lighting up the dark alley.

His eyes suddenly widen and he drops the knife, he quickly spreads his wings and flies away out of the alley. I watch him leave before I cancel the element and sheath my sword, I walk over and offer a hand to help the woman up. "It's alright now, he's gone," I tell her.

She stares at me with wide eyes, her left cheek looks red and it's swelling slightly. She takes my hand after some hesitation and I pull her up onto her feet. "Hold still," I tell her and point my stave's tip next to her cheek.

I channel a single Life Element through the stave and cast a small beam onto her cheek, she gasps as the swelling disappears and she rubs her cheek. "Feeling better?" I ask her.

She nodded and smiles. "Thank you for helping me," she says.

"It's no trouble at all," I say and hold my hand out again. "My name is Adrian Stormsword," I tell her.

"I'm Lyra Heartstrings," she replies and shakes my hand.

"Do you know who that was?" I ask her.

She sighs. "He's an old classmate of mine, he's had a crush on me since school and has asked me out many times since then, but I'm already in a relationship with somepony else and he still keeps trying," she tells me.

"Hmmmm, I suggest telling the guard and get a restraining order or something along those lines," I tell her.

"Maybe... again, thank you for your help," she says and she starts walking out of the alley. "Oh! Also, if you're ever in Ponyville, come say hi sometime!" she says and walks away.

I smile and start heading back to the Castle.

Chapter 10: A Day Off

Terracana
Chapter 10: A Day Off

A month has passed since I arrived in this world, I returned back to the castle after saving Lyra from that drunk man and went to my room where I read up more on the air element before dinner where Luna kept glancing at me now and then, Blueblood didn't even show up.

Celestia got word of my helping Lyra and thanked me, I've been spending most of my time at the Training Grounds practising my magic and swordsmanship. Shining and I had our rematch and he still beat me, though I did manage to get two hits in.

I've finally managed to channel three Elements at once and the results spoke for themselves, my spells are stronger but also consume a lot more mana as well, I'm going to have to focus of increasing my mana pool before trying to use four elements at once.

I also found out those guards in the light blue armour are Blueblood's personal guards and the reason they glare at me is because I refused his offer. If they think they can intimidate me they've got another thing coming.

I've been sending and receiving letters to Twilight about how I'm adjusting to Castle life and what's going on over time. She managed to visit twice during the month like she said she would, first time to see how I was getting along and the second was to show Celestia a new spell she was working on and to visit her folks and brother, she even got word from Lyra about what happened in that alley and thanked me for helping her as well as someone else named Bon Bon.

I've also noticed a lot of accidents have been happening around me, like a suit of armour falling over near me where I almost got mauled by its halberd, there was another time where a potted plant almost hit me on the head, and the time when a maid was carrying cutlery for dinner, she tripped and all the utensils flew towards me and only me, mainly the knives. I panicked and cast a stone wall spell to block the cutlery and destroyed the marble floor in the process.

The maid apologised to me while I apologised to Celestia, she said it was fine and instantly repaired the floor with her magic. I swear I saw a shadow of some kind escape under the kitchen door afterwards.

I've heard nothing from Blueblood all month and I think that's a good thing. Luna has also been asking me to join her in the evenings more often as the weeks progressed, same with Celestia but during the mornings, we talk about each other and our worlds during breakfast and dinner, although Blueblood has ordered his meals delivered to his office stating he was too busy with a backlog of paperwork.

The Princesses and I have gotten to know each other so well that they've asked me to address them by name all the time instead of their titles, much to the displeasure of the Nobles. It still amazes me that she and her sister raises and lowers the sun and moon here.

I am sitting in the gardens with Luna while looking up at the night sky. "We've been keeping a close eye on Blueblood these past few weeks," she tells me. "We've noticed he has been speaking to somepony when he thinks nopony is listening."

"And how do you know that?" I ask her.

"We have sent our best spy to keep an eye on him," she tells me.

"And anything to worry about yet?" I ask.

"No, all she has managed to find out thus far is that he's talking to somepony, but hasn't seen who this is yet," she replies.

We chat about an up coming event called the Grand Galloping Gala for the next ten minutes, apparently I am invited to it, as well as Twilight and her friends. We're interrupted by a dark grey unicorn woman in dark purple leather like armour with lighter purple hair and two curved daggers on her hips, her eyes are cat like and the tips of her ears have tufts of fur on them, I also notice she has small fang like teeth and her horn is slightly curved backwards.

She kneels and bows to Luna. "Princess, I've just come back from Blueblood's office, it would seem he's been talking to what appears to be some sort of assassin, a black unicorn with a dark red mane and tail named Silent Shadow dressed in all black leather armour with many vials and other items on him," she tells Luna.

"We see, so those accidents during thy stay here were not mere accidents, but mayhap an attempt at thy life..." Luna says to me.

If that's the case, I'm going to have some words with Blueblood. "So what do we do then? What if he's listening to us right now?" I ask.

Luna's horn glows and all three of us are teleported to her room, my head spins from the sudden change of location but I shake it away.

Luna looks slightly dizzy after having to teleport me. "Now no pony can hear us or enter without our knowing," she tells me. "As of what to do, we shall tell our sister of what has transpired. For now, just keep thy eyes open for anything, should this Silent Shadow make another attempt on thy life, thou has our permission to defend thyself," Luna tells me then turns to the Spy. "Night Blade, keep an eye on Blueblood, we wish to know what else he may be up to. Also, search his office when thou get an opportunity to do so to find any evidence," she orders her spy.

"As you wish, Princess," Night Blade replies, her horn glows and she fades into the shadows.

Luna now looks at me. "We shall walk thee to thy room where we shall place a ward alerting us if anypony other then thou or our sister and our-self enter thy room,"

"Alright, sounds good," I reply.

We make our way back to my room in silence, I'm constantly on guard in case something else happens, though I doubt it will with Luna here.

We enter my room and her horn glows, a few seconds later, she stops and sighs. "There, the ward is in place, should somepony enter without our permission we shall know of it instantly," she says.

"Thank you," I say and yawn.

"Get some sleep, we have a surprise for thee tomorrow," she tells me.

I raise my right eyebrow with a smile. "I'll be looking forward to it, I'll see you tomorrow, Luna."

She smiles and leaves the room, I strip down to my trousers and get into bed. After a few minutes I fall into a restful asleep.

I wake up to a bright sunny morning and stretch. I slide out of bed and get dressed, though, I might need to get some more clothes... my own three sets are starting to get a bit worn out.

I equip all my gear and head out to the Dining Hall, I see Celestia and Luna already here waiting for breakfast to be served. Celestia smiles at me and Luna waves me over. I sit across from Luna and place my stave against the table beside me.

"Good morning you two," I greet them.

"Good morning, Adrian. Did you sleep well?" Celestia replies and asks.

"Very well, thank you. So, Luna tells me you have both have a surprise for me?" I ask them.

Celestia nodded. "That we do, it should be arriving any minute now," she replies getting me to raise an eyebrow at her.

The kitchen doors open and a few trays are carted in, one leaves the hall, no doubt Blueblood's breakfast, but three others are brought over to us, a plate is placed in front of me and the lid is lifted off, the smell of a cooked fish greets my nose, I stare at the food wide eyed. There's scrambled eggs, strips of fruits and vegetables with some kind of sauce next to them, and next to all that looks like a perfectly cooked bass.

I look at the Princesses and see them smiling, I smile in return. "Thank you, where did you get the fish from since you don't eat meat?" I ask.

"We went to the lake below the mountain and teleported one out of it for thee. From what thou told us, thou do need a source of protein correct?" Luna replies.

I nodded. "Yes, thank you for doing this for me, but if it's all the same, do you think you can find me a fishing rod so I can catch my own?" I ask them.

They look at each other, still smiling. "I don't see why not, while we ponies don't fish for food, we do fish as a sport and pastime," Celestia tells me. "Do you remember seeing a building next to the lake when we took the carriage from Ponyville to here?" she asks me.

I frown in thought, I do recall seeing a cottage besides it. "I think so, why?" I reply.

"Tis actually the Ponyville fishing club," Luna tells me.

Huh, sounds like it could be fun. "If I wanted to go, how would I get there?" I ask and start eating.

"Some of the guards and Shining Armour on their time off go down there to relax, you could ask them to tag along if you want," Celestia informs me.

I finish off half of the fish before talking. "I'll have to ask Shining about it later, so what plans do you have for today?" I ask.

They look at each other before looking at me. "Nothing at all, today is the day we take off each month to relax. Why? Do you wish to spend time with us?" Celestia asks.

I chuckle. "Sure, I've got nothing special to do, I was planning to go back down to the Training Grounds, but I can do that later. So, what do you want to do today?" I ask.

"We we're planning to go down to Ponyville to visit Twilight and then go to the Spa to relax," Celestia tells me.

"Okay, I'd also like to know how Twilight and her friends are doing since I came here," I reply.

We finish off breakfast and head out to the courtyard where a carriage is waiting, I see Celestia has a scroll in her hand where her horn glows and it disappears. We then step inside the carriage and take off.

"How is thy training coming along?" Luna asks me.

I look from the window to her. "Pretty well, Shining is teaching me different sword styles while I'm learning more about my magic from the book," I reply. "By the way, I remember you told me that Starswirl was one of your greatest unicorns a thousand years ago... so why do I have a book written by him about human magic?" I ask them.

Celestia sighs. "He disappeared while trying to perfect a long range teleportation spell. Unfortunately, he miscalculated and just vanished. We tried searching for him but found nothing, with your arrival, we guess he was teleported to your world and learnt about your magic," she replies.

Hmmm, so I have a book that's nearly a thousand years old? Then why have I never heard of such a well accomplished mage back on my world? Surely the history books would have records of such a mage...

My thoughts are interrupted as we touch down in front of the Library, Twilight's already outside with a smile on her face, a white unicorn woman with indigo hair wearing an elegant blue dress is also standing beside her.

I exit first and hold my hand out to help the Princesses out, they both giggle and thank me, they then walk up to Twilight as she bows to them.

"Oh my! What a gentlecolt," the white unicorn says.

"Good morning, Princesses. It's so good to see you," Twilight says and hugs Celestia.

"Good morning, Twilight. How have you been lately?" Celestia asks her.

"Pretty good, I'm getting closer to completing that new spell since I last showed you," she replies.

I walk over to spike who just came out of the Library. "Hello, Spike, how have you been?" I ask him.

"Oh, hi, Adrian! Yeah it's been quiet around here since you went to the Castle," he tells me.

"How's Rainbow and Pinkie doing?" I ask.

"The usual, pranking the town, Pinkie's throwing parties and Rainbow's practising her stunts," he replies.

The white unicorn then holds her hand out with the back facing me. "Hello, darling. My name is Rarity, I am Ponyville's resident Fashionista," she introduces herself. She sounds like the classy type.

I lightly hold her hand and give a light kiss to the back of her hand. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Rarity. My name is Adrian Stormsword," I reply and let go. I notice Spike frowning at me.

"Oh my..." Rarity says while fanning herself with her other hand. "A stallion with proper manners," she says and giggles.

Twilight then taps me on the shoulder. "Hello, Adrian. Still running around in your armour I see, is there a reason you always keep it on?" she asks.

"Hello, Twilight. And yes I am, it's just a habit. I've always wore it, I guess I'm just more comfortable with it than without," I reply.

"I see. So, the Princesses tell me you're here to join us at the Spa?" she asks. Rarity looks at me with raised eye brows.

"I guess so, I had nothing important to do today," I tell her.

"Wonderful! Maybe you can tell me more about your world's magic while we're there!" she says excitedly.

I see Luna stifling a giggle and Celestia just smiling. "Sure, I can tell you about the Kitsune, Elves, and Aquarian peoples magic," I tell her.

She has a large smile and starts pulling me towards the centre of town. "Then let's hurry! I can't wait to hear it!" she says. Luna is now laughing while Celestia is lightly giggling as they follow us. Two guards also follow us while the others stay by the carriage.

Along the way, people are bowing down to the Princesses who smile and wave back at them, we arrive at a building with a three pointed dark pink tent like roof, a sign of an elegant looking woman posing hangs above the door.

We all enter and are greeted by two women who are exact opposites of each other, one is light blue with pink hair and the other is pink with light blue hair. "Welcome to our Spa your majesties, how can we be of service?" they ask at the same time.

"We'd like the full treatment," Celestia replies. Why am I getting a bad feeling about this?

Chapter 11: Relaxing...

Terracana
Chapter 11: Relaxing...

"We'd like the full treatment," Celestia says.

"Very well your Majesties, please follow us to the changing rooms," the pink one tells us.

I lean down to Twilight. "Who are they?" I ask her.

"Oh, the pink mare is Aloe and the blue mare is Lotus, they're sisters that both run the Spa together," she tells me.

"Please pick a locker and place any belongings inside and take the key band once you're done," Lotus tells us.

I was about to follow them inside but Aloe pulls at my arm. "The stallion changing room is over there, Sir," she tells me and points to the right.

"Oh, thank you," I reply and enter. There's plenty of lockers and I pick the one closest to the door, I strip down and place my clothes and equipment inside and take the towel and shorts that are hanging from the locker door. I put the key band on my right wrist, put on the shorts and wrap the large towel around my waist.

I step out of the changing room and a chorus of gasps greets me. I see the others in robes matching their fur colour, their robes are hugging their bodies tightly leaving nothing to the imagination, but what they're staring at is the large scar going from my right shoulder down to my left hip, I look down at it and don't see what the big deal is.

"Adrian... how did thou get such a scar?" Luna asks. Rarity has a hand over her mouth while Twilight, and the Spa sisters all look shocked. Although Celestia looks sad as she already knows how I got it.

"Four months ago, I was knocked out and captured by bandits during my travels, they woke me up by slashing me with a sword for their amusement," I reply and they gasp in horror. "Sufficed to say, I was not happy. I broke free of the poor rope they used to bind me and killed the four of them with my magic, I healed the wound as best as I could, but it was too deep, and so left this scar," I tell them.

Luna walks towards me and trails the scar downwards with her left hand, I smile and hold her hand mid way. "I'm fine, Luna. Didn't we come here to relax?" I ask. Her cheeks turn a dark red and she pulls her hand back.

"Y-Yes, we did," she replies and steps back next to Celestia.

"So what are we doing first?" I ask.

"You'll be in the sauna while we get the tables ready," Aloe replies.

We're taken to a room with hot coals, a bucket of water with a ladle in the centre, and a long bench that encircles it. I sit down on the right side while the others walk in without their robes and are each wearing a bikini, I had to look away just to stop staring at them. Twilight and Rarity sit on the left, Celestia sits in the middle and Luna sits beside me.

I lean my head back against the wall and close my eyes as someone levitates the ladle of water onto coals making steam fill the room, five minutes pass and I feel something lean against me. I open my eyes to see Luna resting her head on my right shoulder, I see Rarity and Twilight staring at us with wide eyes while Celestia is just smiling at us.

I'm just sitting here with a blush on my face. After another five minutes, the door opens. "The tables are ready now," Lotus informs us.

Twilight and Rarity leave first while Celestia follows behind them. I shake Luna and let her know it's time to get out, we leave the room where five tables are set up, the others all pick a table and I get on the last one.

The Princesses got their massages first, then Twilight and Rarity, and then both Aloe and Lotus massage me starting with my shoulders. I sigh as they work out all the tension and turn my muscles into jelly.

They finish and I feel like a new man. The next thing is the girls getting facials of some green goop with cucumber slices over their eyes, I declined having any put on me and went to lie back on a long chair nearby.

For ten minutes or so they chatted among themselves, pretty sure I heard my name mentioned a few times. Aloe then takes us to some mud baths built into the floor, the girls all sink into one each and I hesitate. After some 'encouragement' from the others, I sink into one as well. It actually feels pretty nice, its warm and has a pleasant fragrance.

Twilight then asks me about the magic of the other races from my world.

"The kitsune people are masters of illusion magic. They can create copies of themselves or others and control the copy like a puppet, they can also make you see things that aren't really there. They prefer to be left to their own way of life, some do travel to other cities, but that's probably like eight percent of the population in total," I tell her.

"The elves are more in-tune with nature than the other races, kind of like the cervine here. They can communicate with nature and mainly live in forested areas, although they can use magic, most of them prefer using bows over staffs and swords. The aquarians are merfolk, top half human, bottom half fish, they can breath underwater and control water like it was a part of them, they can also walk on land by creating a pair of legs out of water, though it only lasts a few hours. They can also communicate with sea creatures," I finish telling them.

"Amazing, can you give us a detailed explanation on how human magic fundamentally works? You've already told me what the effects are and how they are cast, but I would like to know how you form the spells," she asks me. Luna looks interested as well, but Celestia already knows from my memories I think.

"Well, There's a flow of mana within our bodies, kind of like how blood flows through your veins. We can channel it to our hands and concentrate it there, we can also enhance the potency of the mana through items like staffs, staves, spell books, weapons, foci, and wands, though they're not required," I explain.

"To change the mana into a specific type of element requires concentration and focus. If you should mess up during the conversion, it could backlash and hurt the caster depending on the element they failed to form. For instance, I was practising the air element all last month and at first failed to form it correctly, resulting in the element destabilising and cutting my hand with sharp blades of air," I tell them.

"I take it you just healed it with your life element?" Twilight asks.

"Yes, that's why mages learn the life element first so they can heal the wounds that they get from learning the other elements. I remember failing the shield element the first time I tried it. I encased both my hands in shields and couldn't pick anything up for ten minutes," I tell them with a chuckle, they also giggle or laugh at that.

"Where was I?" I muttered. "Oh, right! Once you have converted the mana into the sequence of elements you want, you then fuse them together and release the stored mana. Depending on the elements and how you want to release the spell effects what it will do, an arcane based spell will be a beam if you direct the mana forwards, it will become a nova if you release it all around you, and will flow back into you should you self cast it, but self casting an arcane spell is just asking to be hurt. The arcane element has also been known as the death element, as it can heal the undead," I tell them.

"Wait... so does that mean Grogar was a master of the arcane element?" Luna asks.

"I would guess so if he was raising the dead, he would of used it to heal and empower his forces, but the undead can be killed quickly with the life element as it will purify the arcane energies within them," I reply.

"So you would be able to fight an undead head on and win?" Twilight asks.

"I've never fought an undead before, but I guess so. All I have to do is use the life element against them. If I combine the life element with a cold element, not only would I be damaging them, it will also slow them down to a crawl," I reply.

"We really could have used thine help when we first faced Grogar... then maybe we would not have suffered so many losses," Luna says sadly.

I'm not sure how to respond to that.

"You mentioned a spell type called storms before, do they do exactly as it sounds?" Twilight asks.

"Yes, storms are basically elemental walls that hurt or knock-back anyone who walks through them. You channel a shield element first followed by a fire, water, cold, lightning, ice or steam element and cast it in front of you, creating a wall of whatever element you used. A fire storm would set anything ablaze that walked through it while a cold storm would slowly freeze them. The water storm is the weakest as it only pushes anyone that walks through it back out and soaks them, but cast a lightning based spell through it and you'll deal heavy damage to whoever is in or wet near it," I tell her.

"Amazing, is there a reason why all of your spells are more combat based?" she asks.

"On Terra, there are creatures that can be twenty times our size and strength. I guess we evolved to be able to fight off such creatures ourselves without having to grow as big or as strong as them," I reply.

"I see, thank you for explaining it to me, Adrian," she tells me.

"You're welcome," I reply, I then lean back and just relax.

The others chat amongst themselves, mainly Twilight and Celestia discussing what I just told them about.

Lotus returns and asks us to follow her to the showers so we can rinse off the mud and head to the next part. We all step into a room just across the mud baths, I guess to minimise tracking the mud everywhere, and each step into a shower cubicle. I wash off the mud and I'm surprised at how smooth my skin feels.

I step out and dry myself off, the others also step out still wearing their bikinis. Luna leans back and stretches, making her chest stand out, I look away again with a blush on my face.

We're lead back into the main room and into a corner where some lounge chairs are set up and Celestia, Twilight, and Rarity sit down and get their finger nails, hooves, and horns polished and filed. I decide to step into the hot tub next to them and slowly sink into the warm bubbling water, I sigh and just go limp.

A few seconds later Luna joins me and sits beside me. "Are thou enjoying thyself?" she asks.

"To be honest, I was hesitant about this, but it's been rather relaxing and fun," I reply.

She giggles and leans against me again. "We art glad to hear it, most stallions would run away at the mention of going to a Spa," she tells me.

I try to fight my blush returning. "How so? Doesn't seem that bad to me," I say.

"Most think it's more of a mare thing and they'll lose their 'studlyness' just standing in here," she says.

"I still feel as manly since the moment I arrived," I boast.

She giggles and looks up at me as I look back at her, her eyes reflecting the light off the water, making her eyes look like stars in the night sky. She slowly leans forward and I find myself doing the same, our lips were about to touch, but a loud roar from outside snaps us out of it.

"What was that!" Rarity shouts out after her little jump.

I quickly get out the tub and look out the window, a manticore is running through town swatting aside the guards trying to fight it. It looks familiar, it's missing the tip of its tail and has a large scar across the left side of it's face, it also has four patches of missing fur... Wait a minute... it's the same manticore that attacked me when I first arrived!

I frown and head back to the locker room to retrieve my gear, I dry off and equip my armour and weapons.

"Adrian! What are you doing?" Twilight asks.

"That's the same manticore that attacked me when I first arrived! I thought I killed it before, I guess I wasn't thorough enough," I reply.

"So what are you going to do about it? The guards can handle it!" she tells me.

A scream from outside gets our attention, a butter yellow woman with wings and light pink hair in a long pink skirt and green sweater is running away from the beast who is giving chase. I quickly run past the girls and run outside and draw my sword, I channel an earth element into my sword and swing down between them, a straight wall of rock rises between them and the manticore charges head first into it. The wall shatters, but the manticore also falls to the ground with it.

It roars and shakes off the rubble on it as the guards nearby move to surround the beast, I look to the left to see three guards on the ground, one is missing his left arm, the second is missing half of her right wing and a large gash on her stomach. The third, unfortunately, is missing half of his head. I quickly channel an earth and two life elements through my stave and fire the life infused rock between them which explodes in a mist of green energy, closing their wounds at least.

I turn back in time to see the manticore charging at me with an expression of utmost rage and I quickly channel a lightning, arcane, and lightning element in that order and cast the spell. I feel myself pulled forward and vanish for a split second, then reappear behind the manticore feeling slightly dizzy. I'm so glad I decided to learn the teleport spell three days ago, still makes my head feel like I was running around in circles for hours though.

I shake my head and see the manticore looking around for me, I channel three arcane elements and fire the black and red beam at the beast. It turns around and raises its left paw and blocks the beam, I hear everyone watching gasp as the beast roars out in agony, its leg starts to bloat and expand, finally exploding in a shower of blood, bone, and muscle.

It falls to the dirt and writhes in pain while I channel two water elements and soak it, I then channel three cold elements and blast it with a spray of ice. It slows its struggle as I encase it in a thick layer of solid ice. Finally, I channel three earth elements and launch a large rock twice the size of my head through the frozen manticore.

It shatters into hundreds of pieces and the rock rolls to a stop in the middle of the road.

I pant heavily, exhausted from casting so many spells one after another, I fall down to my knees and drop my sword. "ADRIAN!" Luna and the others call out and rush over to me.

I smile at them and look over towards the forest. I squint my eyes and see someone in the shadows of the trees looking at me, I blink once and then they're gone, I then blink a few more times, maybe I'm just seeing things...

I yawn and go limp, I think I'll just take a quick nap.

Chapter 12: Confessions

Terracana
Chapter 12: Confessions

POV: Luna

Adrian passes out in my arms and I start panicking. 'Please don't be dead,' I think to myself and I place my ear next to his nose, I sigh in relief as I can hear and feel him breathing.

'Is he alright, Luna?' my sister asks me telepathically.

'He is still breathing, we think he passed out from exhaustion,' I reply.

"Is he okay?" Twilight asks.

"He is fine, just tired," I tell her.

Twilight and Rarity both sigh as I look down at Adrian, he looks so peaceful.

'Take him to Twilight's Library, I'll manage out here,' Tia tells me as a crowd begins to gather.

I smile at her and lift Adrian up, he's heavier than he looks, even with the armour. Twilight picks up his stave and sword and follows behind me.

We arrive at Twilight's home where I place Adrian on the guest bed and I remove his armour leaving him in his shirt and trousers. I lean forward and lightly kiss his forehead. "Sweet dreams," I whisper to him and I see a small smile on his face.

I leave the room and wait for my sister downstairs.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I open my eyes and yawn as I look around and see that I'm back in Twilight's Library. I rub my eyes, sit up on the side of the bed, and stretch my arms and legs.

I notice my armour and weapons placed neatly next to the bed, I decide to leave them there for now and head towards the door.

Walking down the stairs I see Celestia, Luna, and Twilight talking with each other and drinking tea. Luna spots me and instantly smiles.

"Tis good to see thee up and about," Luna says.

"Yeah, I think I may have over done it," I reply with a chuckle. "How are the injured guards doing?" I ask them.

"They'll live, thou stopped them from bleeding out at least, but they'll have to be discharged from the guard as they can no longer fight at full capacity anymore," Luna replies.

"But there was nothing to be done for Stalwart, he shall be given a full military funeral with a medal of valour," Celestia says. Twilight looks like she's been crying, I guess he was a friend of hers.

"So, how did a manticore get into town?" I ask.

"Witnesses say that it just appeared in a flash of red light and started to attack everypony in sight," Celestia says. I walk over and sit on the couch next to Twilight.

How can it just appear?.. Wait... I remember seeing someone in the Forest... "Celestia, before I passed out, I remember seeing someone in the forest just behind the trees, they were looking at me and when I blinked, they vanished," I tell her.

"Do you remember what they looked like?" she asks me.

"Erm... I think they were wearing all black, and had a hood covering half of their face, but other that, It was too dark to tell," I reply.

"Do you think it was this Silent Shadow Blueblood has been speaking to?" Luna asks her sister.

Twilight looks confused. "What does Blueblood have to do with this?" she asks.

Luna and Celestia share a look between themselves. "We believe Blueblood may be trying to... get rid of Adrian after a disagreement they had," Celestia puts it lightly. "but we have no evidence other than a night guard's report," she says.

I lean back into the couch and frown. If it's true that this was another attempt at killing me, then Blueblood went too far and got other people killed, crippled, and injured. He will pay for this if he's responsible.

"I say we confront him and you read his memories, if he has nothing to hide, he'll let you, if not, then we'll know he's behind it," I offer.

"But then we'll have a political scandal should he be innocent, the Nobles will demand recompense," Celestia says.

Well damn. "Has Night Blade found any evidence yet?" I ask Luna.

"Nay, but she is still keeping an eye on him," she replies. My stomach once again decides to let everyone know that it wants feeding and rumbles out loudly. Luna giggles behind her left hand. "Sounds like somepony's hungry," she teases.

I smirk and frown at her. "Let's see you cast spell after spell and see if you're not hungry afterwards," I reply mockingly.

"We'll discuss this at another time, shall we go and get some lunch?" Celestia asks.

We all agree and leave the Library and head off into town. I asked Twilight where Rarity went off to, she tells me Rarity has some orders to complete and that Spike was helping her. We meet some of Twilight's friends along the way, Rainbow Dash said hi to us while the butter yellow woman, named Fluttershy, I saved from the manticore thanked me for saving her. We arrive at a large building that looks like it's made of sweets, cake, and pastries.

The others enter first and I follow in last. "Why is it so dark in here?" I ask.

Suddenly the lights come on and lots of people yell out. "SURPRISE!"

"FUCK!" I yell out and self cast a shield element, coating myself with a barrier, I then channel two lightning elements into my right hand and look around; everyone now looks a bit worried, I chuckle sheepishly and cancel the elements and shield.

"Sorry about that, I'm still a bit jumpy," I apologise, a few of the people laugh at that.

Pinkie Pie then appears in front of me. "Hiya, Adrian! Were you surprised? Were ya were ya?" she asks.

I just stare at her for a few seconds. "Very," I simply state.

She giggles and drags me over to a table with an assortment of food and drinks. "This party is for you! A thank you for saving the town and Welcome to Ponyville party!" she tells me.

I pick up a small cake and take a bite out of it, it tastes like strawberries. "This is really good," I say and try the other food.

"Thanks! Baked them myself. Here, try this!" she says and stuffs something in my mouth. I chew on it, tastes like vanilla.

I try a few more of the food and some of the drinks. Pinkie then drags me over to a picture of a woman facing left and bent over slightly, but she's missing her tail. "Lets see how well you can play pin the tail on the pony!" she says and blind folds me.

She places something fluffy in my right hand and then spins me around, I start to get dizzy and she stops me spinning. "Okay! Try and pin the tail in the right spot!" she tells me.

I wobble forward getting a few chuckles and giggles from behind me, I reach out my left hand and feel the wall ahead of me. I then push the pin into where I think is the right spot, followed by a chorus of oooohs sounding out. I pull off the blindfold and see that I pinned it an inch away to the right of the woman's backside.

"Very close!" Pinkie says and goes off to talk to other party goers.

The rest of the party goes by quickly and all the food and drink is gone. I had a go at bobbing for apples, unfortunately, the apple I got was attached to a spring and it pulled me back into the tub, I gave a mock glare at Pinkie but ended up laughing.

There was a dancing game where everyone had to pick a partner and copy Pinkie Pie's dance moves. Luna decided to drag me into it and we managed to get third place, I'm surprised how flexible Pinkie can be... my back is a little sore trying to do what she did.

The party ends and everyone heads out, I stay behind with Celestia, Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Luna.

The Princesses excuse themselves for a minute as they lower the sun and raise the moon.

"Hey, Adrian!" Rainbow says as she walks over to me. "I saw you kick that manticore's flank! That was bucking awesome!" she says.

"Hmm, I did it to protect the town... and I owed it payback for poisoning me when I arrived here," I reply.

"Wait... that was the manticore that attacked you?" she asks.

"Yup, I cut off its tail after it stabbed my leg with it and then smashed its face in with a rock... I thought I killed it the first time," I tell her.

"Well, it ain't gonna get back up this time!" she says.

"Adrian... could thou walk with us for a while. We... we have something we wish to tell thee," Luna says as she walks up to me.

"Oh, erm, Sure," I reply and follow her out of the building I learned is called Sugarcube Corner.

We walk in silence to a park with a pond in the centre, I can see the moon's reflection off its surface.

Luna stops and faces me with slightly red cheeks. "So what do you want to tel..." I start to ask but I'm cut off as she kisses me, my eyes go wide and she pulls back.

"Would thou give us the honour of being our coltfriend?" she asks shyly and looks down.

I space out and touch my lips with my right fingers. "I... Bu..." I mumble.

She looks up at me with a worried expression. "We have come to like thee, Adrian, and we wish to court thee," she says holding my left hand with both of hers. "Over the last month, thou hast treated us like a normal mare, thou do not fear us or shy away when we approach," she tells me.

"Y-You wish to go out with me?" I ask dumbly. She nodded and smiles, a Princess wishes to court me? "I..." She looks at me in the eyes, her smile slowly fading, replaced by a sad expression. Why am I hesitating? She's been the nicest person to me and my best friend since I've been here. "Yes," I reply.

She squeals and immediately hugs and kisses me again. "We thank thee," she says.

I smile and hug her back.

We walk back hand in hand and talk about what we're going to do at the up coming Grand Galloping Gala. She says she's going to have a dress and suit made for us that'll match each other, I don't think I've ever seen her this happy.

We enter Sugarcube Corner, still holding hands. Twilight looks over at us and her eyes go wide. "Adrian? Why are you holding Princess Luna's hand?" she asks. Everyone else looks over at us and Celestia has a big smile on her face.

"We've asked Adrian to be our coltfriend," Luna says and wraps her arms around my left arm while smiling making me blush a little.

"Y-You, and the P-Princess..." Twilight says to me. I smile and nodded.

"I am happy for the both of you," Celestia says as she walks over. "I trust you'll treat my sister well?" she asks me.

I look at her right in the eyes. "As if her life was my own," I reply.

Celestia nodded. "Very good, it is time we head back to the Castle," she says and turns to Twilight. "Today has been very interesting, to say the least. I shall contact you when we can visit again," she tells Twilight.

Twilight's still looking at me and Luna just nodded with a blank expression.

Rainbow walks over to me and elbows my right arm. "You sly dog, bagged yourself a Princess! You better treat her right or you'll answer to me, got it? And your fancy magic won't be able to save you either!" she tells me.

I laugh and ruffle up her hair. "No problems there," I tell her. We say our goodbyes and I follow Celestia out with Luna still holding my hand. Two guards fly down to us and escort us back to the carriage, I collect my gear from the Library first and then enter the carriage where we fly back to the Castle, Luna sat next to me and leaned against me on the way.

When we arrive, we head into the Castle where we have dinner and there's still no sign of Blueblood, though Celestia gave Luna some teasing about being my marefriend. Once finished, Celestia bids us good night and I walk Luna to her room, we're standing outside her door and she looks at me. "Would thou... would thou stay with us tonight?" she asks.

I look her in the eyes and smile. "If that's what you really want," I reply.

She nodded and opens the doors, she pulls me in and walks over to a walk in closet. I remove my armour and shirt and place them at the foot of her large round bed. Her room looks beautiful, it's like a piece of the night itself was used to decorate it.

She returns after a few minutes and her hair and tail are no longer flowing, her hair is now a soft blue colour that goes down just past her shoulders with slight curls at the ends, her tail is shorter as well and also curled at the end, she's also wearing a black nightgown that goes past her knees.

She looks at the floor shyly and walks over to me. "What happened to your hair?" I ask her.

"When we stop channelling magic through it, it returns to its natural state," she tells me.

I reach up and comb my hand through her hair, it's very soft and she hums in content. She then grabs my hand and pulls me towards the bed.

We slip under the covers and she cuddles up to me. "We thank thee for giving us a chance," she tells me.

"Of course, you're a kind and beautiful woman, and if other people can't see that, then they don't deserve to know the real you," I reply.

She quietly sobs happily into my chest until we both fall asleep.

Chapter 13: The Knight of Equestria

Terracana
Chapter 13: The Knight of Equestria

I wake up with something soft and warm in my arms, I look down and see a smiling Luna still asleep, she looks so beautiful just laying there.

A knock at the door grabs my attention and a maid walks in. "Princess, breakfast is read..." she trails off as she spots us. It's Feather Duster, the same maid who closed the carriage door on me when I first came to the Castle.

I lift a finger to my lips and shush her, she just stands there and slowly nodded.

I place my right hand on Luna's shoulder and lightly shake her. "Luna, it's time to get up," I say to her.

She just mumbles and snuggles deeper into me, I chuckle and stroke her hair. "Come on, breakfast is ready," I tell her.

"Just five more minutes..." she says and wraps her arms around my chest, I look over to Feather Duster and see her smiling at us.

I try to pull away from her and slide to the edge of the bed, she stubbornly holds on, groaning in protest. I didn't realize I reached the edge and roll off. "WHOA!" I yell and fall on my back with Luna on top of me, she groans and opens her eyes.

"Alright, alright, we are up. Though we would rather stay in bed with thee," she says and kisses me.

The maid then decides to cough and Luna sits upright and looks at her. "P-Princess, breakfast is ready and Princess Celestia is waiting for you both," she tells Luna with a blush on her face.

"V-Very well, we shall be down in a while, we thank thee for telling us." Luna replies. The maid bows and exits the room.

Luna looks back at me and then at the position she's in, she blushes and quickly stands up. "W-We shall be back in just a moment," she says and hurries off into her closet. I chuckle and get dressed myself, I equip my armour and weapons and wait for Luna to come out.

She comes back out in a dark blue dress with a silver crescent moon on her right hip with stars all around it that twinkle when she moves, her hair and tail are back to their flowing majesty.

"Are thou ready?" she asks.

"Whenever you are," I reply. She grabs my hand with a smile and pulls me towards the door, she's like a little girl with their first crush.

We walk down the hallways holding hands. "What have you got to do today?" I ask her.

"We have to help our sister with the matter of the gryphons. To be honest, we'd like to go there and smack some sense into the arrogant lot," she tells me.

"Were they always like that?" I ask her.

"Nay, before our banishment, they were a proud race of hunters, they never hunted anything but animals," she replies.

Wait a minute... what banishment? "You were banished?" I ask surprised.

She gasps, her eyes go wide and she places her right hand over her mouth. She looks down and has a regretful expression. "Yes... we... we were banished to the moon for a thousand years when we tried to veil the world in eternal night," she tells me quietly.

"Why would you try to do that?" I ask her calmly.

She stays silent for a few seconds before answering. "We got jealous of the attention our sister was getting for her day while ponies ignored and slept through our night..." she says and starts to cry. "We understand if thee wishes to leave us," she says quietly.

She gasps as I wrap her in a hug. "The past is the past, you're not like that anymore. Do you still want to plunge the world into eternal night?" I ask her and she shakes her head. "Then don't worry about it anymore. Live for the now, not the past," I tell her and she lets her emotions out and cries against me, fortunately there was no one else in the hallways with us.

Once she calms down, we head towards the dining hall. Luna is feeling a lot better now that she got that out, we arrive and I open the door for her, she smiles and enters.

Celestia is sitting at her usual spot and we join her, but this time, I'm sitting next to Luna. "Good morning, Celestia," I greet her.

"Good morning you two, from what I've heard, you both slept rather well," she smirks at us.

Luna blushes and drinks from her cup and I smirk back. "That we did, Luna here makes a rather comfy pillow," I reply.

Luna spits out her mouthful of water from her embarrassment all over Celestia, I laugh while Celestia looks unamused, Luna blushes even harder and apologises to her sister.

"I suppose I deserved that," Celestia says as her horn glows, she's instantly dried off.

"Luna tells me that you'll both be sorting out the gryphon problem today," I say to Celestia.

"Yes, we're trying to find a solution so that we don't have to send anypony to their deaths while ensuring that they don't attack us," she tells me.

"We still say we should show them that we will not tolerate threats against us..." Luna says with a frown.

"That's just not how things are done nowadays, if we were to do such, it would break the agreement we have with our allies of never attacking another nation. Should the gryphons attack first, then we can retaliate, though I hope it never comes to that," Celestia tells Luna.

The dining hall's doors open and Blueblood walks in for the first time in over a month, he gives me the faintest of glares and sits at the other end of the table, Luna is openly glaring at him while Celestia has her neutral expression.

Breakfast arrives and we eat in silence. Luna and Celestia finish off their food and stand up. "We shall see thee later today," Luna says and gives me a quick kiss, I hear Blueblood give a sharp inhale to my right.

I ignore him and smile at Luna. "You can count on it. Until then, I'll head back to the Training Grounds for some more practice," I tell her.

They both leave the room, but not before keeping a guard by the doors. I'm almost done with my breakfast when Blueblood speaks up.

"So, you are courting aunty Luna it seems," he says distastefully.

"That's none of your concern," I tell him.

"Actually, I think you'll find that it is, only those of high military rank or of Noble birth may court royalty," he tells me. I look at him with a frown, he just smugly smiles. "Your courting of the Princess is against the law and punishable by sending you to the dungeons," he says with a wicked grin.

I stand up and head towards Celestia's office without acknowledging the prick of a Prince who is laughing at me, I arrive and knock on the door.

"Enter!" Celestia calls out.

I enter the room still with a frown on my face. "Adrian?.. What is the matter?" she asks me with concern.

"Blueblood told me that unless I'm of Noble birth or of a high military rank, I can't court Luna," I tell her.

Her eyes widen and she frowns as well. "I cannot believe I forgot that old law, I thought I abolished it centuries ago," she says.

Luna doesn't look worried at all. "So all he needs is a high military rank correct?" she asks.

"Yes, but that would take him years to get." Celestia replies.

"Is the law of allowing us to choose a knight in our name still in effect?" Luna asks.

Celestia gasps and smiles. "Yes! I just haven't had the need to choose a knight for the last eight hundred years, but yes, the law is still very much alive," she tells her.

Celestia and Luna both walk over to me and each summon a sword, Celestia's is a long golden sword with a ruby embedded into each side of the hand guard while Luna's sword is the same as Celestia's but a white silver colour with sapphires in the hand guard. "Adrian Stormsword, do you except the title, Knight of Equestria?" Celestia asks me seriously.

I gulp nervously. "And what does a Knight of Equestria do?" I ask.

"Thou shalt be our protector in times of danger and escort us in diplomatic meetings. Thou shall also be called to arms should thou be needed to protect the citizens from powerful beasts and demons," Luna tells me. "Tis also one of the highest ranks anypony can receive that only we can give," she says.

"So I'll basically be your personal bodyguard?" I ask.

Luna giggles. "Basically yes, thou will take your orders directly from us," she says.

I smile and kneel in front of them. "I accept," I tell them.

Celestia taps my right shoulder with her sword while Luna taps my left. "Then rise Sir Stormsword, Knight of Equestria," Celestia says and I stand back up. Luna's horn glows and an armour stand with what looks like a dusty suit of armour coloured white with dark blue trimmings appears behind them. Celestia's mark is on the right pauldron and Luna's on the left, a sword is strapped to the left hip of the armour.

Luna takes the sword and holds it out to me, I take the sword from her and draw it, the blade is a dark blue with a white flame pattern going up the blade, the hand guard looks like a crescent moon and the pommel looks like a sun. A diamond rests embedded at the base of the blade on each side.

"The sword's name is 'Twilight's Edge', a blade that will never dull and is very light," Luna tells me, both hers and Celestia's horns glow as the suit of armour warps slightly and reshapes to fit my body structure, the leggings turn into a chainmail like robe connected to the bottom of the chest plate while the helmet turns into a chainmail coif that my hood can go over, the upper arm plates turn into chainmail that hang from the pauldrons rims.

"Please remove your armour," Celestia tells me.

I carefully take my armour off and stack it in the corner. I take the boots, chestplate, coif, gauntlets, and put them on. Their horns glow again as they adjust the size to fit perfectly, the armour is lighter than my father's.

I move around in the armour and surprisingly, it doesn't restrict my movement. "The armour is made of the same steel as the guards, but enchanted to be lighter without the loss of density," Celestia tells me.

I sheath the sword and face them. "So what do I do now? Will there be a ceremony or something?" I ask.

"Normally yes, but I believe revealing you at the Gala would be just as good," Celestia replies.

"Shall I go practice with the sword and armour while you do your paperwork then?" I ask.

"That would be wise, it'll help you get accustomed to it," Celestia tells me.

Luna walks over to me. "We shall be seeing thee later, Sir Knight," she says and playfully pushes me out of the room.

I chuckle and head down to the Training Grounds. The guards I pass, both the Princesses and Blueblood's, stare at my new armour with gaping jaws and wide eyes. I couldn't help but smirk a bit.

I arrive at the grounds and walk up to one of the training dummies, I draw my sword and grasp it firmly as I pull my sword back and swing horizontally, leaving a deep cut in the metal and wood. I then channel an arcane and fire element into the sword and it gives off a dark red flame along the blade.

I swing at the dummy again and this time, the cut is even deeper and the dummy it set ablaze, I wonder if the diamonds in the sword are increasing my channelling efficiency.

I notice the man that insulted my armour the first time I was here is just gawking at me. "Adrian... is that you?" I hear the voice of Shining Armour ask me.

I turn to see him walking towards me. "Yeah, it's me," I reply.

He looks my new armour over. "Where did you get the armour? And why does it have the Princesses cutie-marks on it?" he asks.

"Have you heard about me courting Luna?" I ask him.

"I've heard rumours floating about, so it's true then?"

"Yes, and Blueblood told me about a law that only those with a high rank in the military or of Noble birth could court a Princess, so the Princesses made me their Knight," I tell him.

He gasps. "They made you a Knight of Equestria!?" he blurts out, causing other nearby guards to gasp and start murmuring.

"It was Luna's idea, I personally am happy with it, Means I can stay with Luna and also protect her," I tell him.

"Well then, since you're the Princesses Knight, I'll have to train you to be one of the best swordsponies there is," he tells me as he walks over to the wooden weapon rack.

He then looks back at me. "What are you standing there for? Let's get started."

Chapter 14: The Grand Galloping Gala Part 1

Terrcana
Chapter 14: The Grand Galloping Gala Part 1

Two Weeks Later

Over the next two weeks, Shining Armour has been training me hard, I'm still not as good as he is, but I can now hold my own for a lot longer and use my sword more effectively.

Blueblood got word of my Knighting... and to say he was upset was an understatement, he was absolutely livid.

I spent my mornings in the Training Grounds with Shining Armour and practising my magic, my mana pool has increased a small amount but not by much, I then go to lunch with Celestia and Luna where we talk about the upcoming Gala and other topics such as how our day has been. Blueblood only showed up five times during these two weeks.

I spent my time after lunch reading more from the spell book, I found two more unknown elements called light, a golden circle with a ray of light going across it, and shadow, a dark grey circle with what looks like black mist on the bottom half. Try as I might, I just can't stabilize the elements, the light element blinded me for ten minutes when it failed and the shadow element made me deaf to all sound around me. Though I have gotten much better with the air element.

I've had new clothes made for me and placed in Luna's room where I have been staying now, at Luna's request. Every night she cuddles up to me and I have to admit, it's much better then sleeping alone. Luna and I have been together every day at seven pm till bed time, she told me of what the world was like before her banishment and how drastically it changed on her return.

It also seems that the attempts on my life have stopped for now, whether or not the assassin isn't brave enough to face me after watching me defeat that manticore, or he's biding his time to find the perfect opportunity to strike. Either way, if he shows himself to me, I'll make sure he'll regret his actions in Ponyville.

Twilight and her friends visited once for a lunch date with the Princesses three days before the Gala, I said hello to them but left them to it while I practised my swordsmanship and magic.

I wake up and slowly open my eyes to see Luna is clinging onto me with her constant smile, I yawn and just hold her until she wakes up.

A few minutes later she opens her eyes and looks at me. "Good morning," she says and nuzzles me. She's been doing that a lot lately, it's apparently a sign of affection for the ponies.

"So today's the day huh?" I ask her.

"That it is, tis a shame thou cannot wear thine suit we had made," she replies slightly upset.

Since I'm being revealed as a Knight of Equestria, I have to wear the armour. "Yeah, it looked really nice too," I say.

We both get up and take turns showering. Once clean, Luna puts on her black dress with the silver trimming while I equip my new armour and weapons, my old armour and sword is in Luna's closet at the back.

We head down to the dining hall and open the doors, Celestia is at her spot and once again, no Blueblood. "Are you looking forward to the Gala, Adrian?" Celestia asks me.

"Yes and no, I've never been to a formal party before and I'm also nervous about the whole revealing thing as well," I reply.

"Thou shalt be fine, just be thyself and everything will go well," Luna tells me.

We eat breakfast and then go about our day until the Gala starts. The moon is now high in the sky and people are flocking to the Castle.

I'm standing beside Celestia and Luna as they great the guests, I go wide eyed as I meet some of the other races that attended. A cervine doe in a white dress with vines and flowers woven into it greets Celestia and Luna while two stags with large antlers and armour stood beside the doe.

A few minutes later and I meet my first minotaur, he's as tall as Celestia and me and wearing a rather fancy black suit, his shoulders are twice as broad as mine, but his legs are shorter. He has an escort in thick plate armour next to him.

Next up is a person that looks just like the ponies, only grey furred with black stripes. She's wearing a brown robe with a few small animal bones along the belt, she's also wearing gold rings around her wrists and neck, her left ear is also pierced with a golden ring as well.

A white man with a monocle, pale blue hair and moustache walks up to us. "So this must be the stallion the rumours say Princess Luna is courting," he says looking me over.

"Ah, Sir Fancy Pants. It's a pleasure to see you again and yes, he is Luna's coltfriend," Celestia says to him with a smile.

"I see, I wish the both of you the best of luck then. By the way, that is some rather impressive looking armour you are wearing. Oh! But where are my manners?" he says holding his hand out. "My name is Fancy Pants, and this beautiful mare is my wife, Fleur De Lis."

I might as well act like a Knight and shake his hand. "It is a pleasure making your acquaintance, Sir Fancy Pants," I tell him. I then kiss the back of Fleur's hand. "As with you as well, my lady," I say and slightly bow my head to them.

"He certainly has good manners doesn't he," she says with a smile.

"That he does. I say, would you be interested in visiting our home for tea sometime in the future?" Fancy Pants asks me.

"We'd be delighted to," Luna replies for me.

"Splendid! My schedule is quite busy, but how does two months from now at three in the afternoon sound?" he asks.

Luna hums in thought. "That seems acceptable, we shall see thee then, Sir fancy Pants," Luna tells him.

"Wonderful, We'll see you both then," he says and turns to Fleur. "Come my dear, we have many ponies to talk to," he says as they both walk away into the sea of people.

"He was rather nice," I say.

"He is one of the few nobles who actually cares for others and Canterlot, unlike the rest who only care about their status and wealth," Luna tells me with a bitter tone at the end.

Huh, I'm actually looking for to meeting him again then.

Twilight and her friends arrived all wearing beautiful dresses made by Rarity. I'm also introduced to an orange woman with blonde hair named Applejack, she runs an apple orchard next to Ponyville. Twilight stayed with us while the others went off to do their own things, Twilight also told me that Spike went somewhere else on his own.

It took two hours of greeting guests before we entered the throne room where classical music is playing in the background and everyone is talking to each other. Compared to Pinkie Pie's party, this looks rather dull.

Celestia and Luna walk over and stand on the stage. "Fillies and gentlecolts, we thank you for attending the three-hundred and twenty-seventh Grand Galloping Gala. Before we begin, we have an announcement to make," Celestia says and motions me to the stage. I nervously step up onto the stage next to them. "We are honoured to reveal Equestria's newest Knight, Sir Adrian Stormsword."

A few gasps and quiet murmuring spread throughout the crowd. One of the Nobles then speaks up. "There hasn't been a Knight in almost eight centuries, why have you suddenly let a creature that is not even a pony become a Knight of Equestria!?" he demands, clearly not happy about it.

Luna glares at the noble. "We have knighted Sir Adrian for his skilled swordsponyship and ability to perform high level magic, he is one strong enough to be our Knight," Luna tells him.

Another Noble speaks up. "And it has nothing to do with the rumour of him courting you?" she asks.

I look at Luna, to see her barely holding back her anger. The other Nobles are also voicing their disapproval, It's a crime against nature. He's not of noble blood. He could be a spy from another nation. A Spy? Really?

I've had enough. "Yes, I am courting Luna," I tell them and they fall silent, Luna looks at me with surprise. "I love her for who she is, not her status or power. I became their Knight just so I can stay by her side," I say, draw my sword, and glare at them. I channel a fire element through it and a flame engulfs the blade, causing the Nobles to look nervous. "Both Celestia and Luna have been my closest friends since I have been here, I will risk my life for them if I have to. But if anyone tries to pull Luna and I apart just because of race, origins of birth, or titles... then they'll have to do it by force!" I shout out. "And let me get one thing clear, I won't make it an easy task to do," I say and cancel the element in the blade, I sheath my sword and turn to Luna and Celestia. "I apologise for my outburst, your highnesses," I say and bow.

Luna has tears in the corner of her eyes and hugs me, which I return. Celestia softly smiles and I'm shocked when I hear Fancy Pants speak up.

"Well said good, Sir Knight," he says and claps his hands. Soon, others join in, including Twilight and her friends. Many of the other nobles look insulted at being addressed like that.

With nothing else left to say, I step down. Celestia wraps it up and the Gala goes on, many pieces of music was played by the small band on the stage, many of the guests talk to the Princesses, mainly the minotaur, zebra, and the doe, who are the representatives of the other races and some nobles, though most of the nobles kept their distance from me. Twilight looks miserable since every time she tries to talk to Celestia, a guest would interrupt, she gave up and decided to talk with me instead.

I tell her everything that happened over the past two weeks, she's surprised that I've befriended her brother and that I'm learning swordsmanship from him but tells me to keep at it, she already found out about my knighting from Celestia during their lunch date three days ago.

I spot Pinkie talking to the band during their break, the band looks confused and get their instruments ready.

Pinkie then turns to the crowd.

"Come on, everypony! I know what'll make you shake those groove-thangs!" She takes a deep breath and the band starts playing a different type of music. "You reach your right hoof in, you reach your right hoof out, you reach your right hoof in, and you shake it all about! You do the pony pokey meeting lots of folks with clout! That's what I'm talking about!" she sings.

She continues singing and the crowd looks very unamused, she even tries to drag a few in an attempt to get them dancing. I feel embarrassed just watching it.

As she continues, she then starts to interfere with the musicians by tapping keys on the piano and pulling at the cellists bow.

"You do the pony pokey, you do the pony pokey, you do the pony pokey and that's what it's all about. Yeah!" she spreads her arms wide and is greeted only with silence.

A well dressed woman then speaks up. "This isn't that kind of party," she sternly tells Pinkie.

Pinkie then frowns sadly and trudges off to the drink bowls.

"Well, that just happened..." I say quietly.

Luna looks confused while Celestia has a smile on her face and Twilight just looks embarrassed.

I look around and notice Rarity leaving with Blueblood, that's not going to end well.

An hour later, Pinkie is back with some strange table with two spinning disks, buttons, and switches on it. Music I've never heard before with a fast beat starts playing and again she tries getting the crowd to dance. Suddenly, Applejack walks in with a cart carrying a multi-layered cake with apple slices on it.

Pinkie then dives off the stage with her arms spread wide, I'm guessing she wants the crowd to catch her but instead they move out of the way and she hits the cart. I flinch at the impact, that looks like it hurt. The cake flies off towards Rarity who just entered next to us looking rather angry with Blueblood next to her.

Blueblood screams like a little girl and pulls Rarity in front of himself, she yelps as the cake hits her. Blueblood drops her and backs away from the mess. "Thank the heavens that my attire is unsoiled!" he says relieved.

Rarity turns towards Blueblood with and expression that says she's going to kill the guy. "Your attire!? I spent weeks making this dress and you have the nerve to use me as a shield! You, you... ruffian!" Rarity shouts at him and throws a piece of the cake stuck to her onto Blueblood's chest.

"Aaaahh! What do you think you are doing you commoner!" he shouts in surprise.

Rarity huffs and turns away from him with her head held high. "It's no more then you deserve!" she replies.

Blueblood raises his right hand in what looks like a gesture to hit her, so I step in between them and glare at him to which he growls at me and storms off out the door he came in.

The back door leading to the Gardens bursts open and a lot of animals flood inside, a ragged looking Fluttershy breathing heavily with an expression of pure frustration runs in. "You're... going... to... LOVE ME!" she shouts out loudly. Holy crap! I thought she was a timid woman!

So now the Gala has been reduced to a chaotic mess. "What do we do now?" I ask no one in particular.

Luna's horn glows and all the animals levitate off the floor and are taken back outside, Celestia surprisingly is still smiling. Luna returns while floating a sheepish Fluttershy next to her. "I'm sorry..." Fluttershy says quietly.

Maids are cleaning up the cake off the floor and the mess left by the stampeding animals.

"I have to say, tonight wasn't as boring as I thought it was going to be," I say.

"I'll have to agree with you," Celestia tells me.

"You're not upset that the Gala was ruined?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "The Gala is always boring, this is actually a rather pleasant turn of events," she replies with a light giggle.

After a few seconds of looking around I spot Rainbow Dash walking over to us. "Whoa... what happened here? Looks like a hurricane came through," she says.

"Close enough, so, where have you been?" I ask her.

"Trying to talk to the Wonderbolts... but they were constantly swarmed by the press and I couldn't even get close to them," she says and crosses her arms with a frown.

"At least you didn't get the worst of it then," I tell her.

"What are you talking about?" she asks with a raised brow.

I point over to Pinkie who's sitting on the floor rubbing her right arm with Applejack trying to help her up.

"What happened to her?" Rainbow asks and I explain it to her. "Aw, I wish I was here to see it," she says with a slight pout.

I chuckle and look around, it's a complete mess. After ten minutes of cleaning up, screams come from behind the Ball Room doors, the doors suddenly slam open and four large gryphons walk in, two of them holding a guard each in of their talons.

The lead gryphon looks at Celestia with a cruel grin. "Princess, you throw a party and didn't invite us?" he asks mockingly. "Tsk, tsk. That is rather rude," he chuckles coldly. I look behind them to see some guards dead on the floor.

"We received your reply to our... request... I'm afraid the Elder Council doesn't share your sentiments, we're here to tell you that Equestria is now our hunting grounds," he says. The two gryphons holding the groaning guards by the head take a bite out of their throats and swallow, the guards go wide eye'd and gurgle for a few seconds before dying.

Celestia and Luna look absolutely furious, the guards in the room surround the gryphons as they laugh at us.

Enraged, I draw my sword and channel three earth elements through my stave, a chunk of marble rips out of the floor which I point it at the lead gryphon and release my spell.

Chapter 16: Training Part 1

Terracana
Chapter 16: Training Part 1

Day 1

Luna and I both wake up and get ready for my training session, Luna walks out of her closet wearing her armour from the Gala.

We head down for breakfast where Celestia is talking to Blueblood in the Dining Hall.

"Aunty, the Nobles are demanding an immediate response to the gryphons attack," he tells Celestia.

"That is why we are having a war meeting with the Captains today," she replies.

Blueblood looks over to us. "Good morning, aunty Luna," he says to Luna with a respectful tone, then glares at me. "Sir Knight," he practically spat out but still sounded respectful.

I just ignored him and look at Celestia. "Good morning, Celestia," I greet her.

Celestia looks confused as to why Luna has her armour with her. "Yes, good morning. Is there a reason why you're in your armour, Luna?" she asks.

"Yes, we will be training Adrian ourself from now on," Luna replies.

POV:Celestia

'You're what!?' I ask her telepathically with shock.

'We shall be training Adrian ourself to make him stronger,' she tells me again, sitting next to me and Adrian next to her.

'What suddenly brought this on?' I ask.

'He shows great potential, but his form and technique could use some more work,' she replies.

I sigh. 'That is true, while he did admirably against the gryphons, he was nearly killed due to his inattentiveness. Very well, just go easy on him at first,' I tell her with a chuckle.

I notice Blueblood squinting at Adrian while Adrian is just adjusting his armour.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

After adjusting the straps some more so my armour is more comfortable, breakfast arrives and I gather an assortment of foods.

"So what kind of training will I be going through?" I ask Luna.

Blueblood grunts in disgust. "You are a Knight now, you'll most likely be put through standard guard training, then through the higher level training programs," he says.

Luna ignores him and answers me. "We shall first improve thy perception, thou failed to notice the gryphon thou knocked down recovered. We shall teach thee to always observe thy surroundings," she tells me.

Blueblood gasps. "You're going to train him yourself!?" he shouts.

"Is this a problem?" Luna asks him calmly.

"Of course! You are a princess, what of your duties to the nation?"

"I shall see to the nation, my sister shall help Sir Adrian hone his skills," Celestia tells him.

"...Very well then," he replies, though I can tell he isn't happy with it.

After we finish breakfast, Luna and I head to the Training Grounds where she informs Shining Armour that she'll take over my training for now. He nodded and went back to training the other guards, she then throws me a wooden training sword as she also picks one up.

"Firstly, we shall test thy hearing, we shall use an invisibility spell and thou will try to locate us by our hoofsteps," she tells me.

"Sounds easy enough," I reply.

Her horn glows and she fades away, I close my eyes and listen intently. It's hard to locate her with the noise of the other guards training.

I hear a slight shuffle to my right and focus there, I then hear another to my left, wait... how did she get over there? I then hear a step in front of me and I lunge forward. I hit nothing but air and receive a whack to the back of my head. "Ow!" I groan from the light tap and rub my head.

"Focus, Adrian... again!" Luna says and I listen. Two steps to my right, three behind, two to the left... hold on, she's behind me again. I turn around and swing horizontally Clunk, Luna reappears holding her sword vertically where she blocked my swing.

"Much better, now we shall use our wings, listen for both our hoofsteps and our wing beats," she tells me and vanishes again.

I listen out for her, two steps left, one ahead, three right, wings flapping behind me, flapping above and steps to the left. I swing left and miss, I get another bash to my noggin. "Oooooh..." I hiss as I rub my head again.

"Thou were very close, let us try again," she says.

We practised for hours, I've gotten a tiny bit better but not by much, but it's a start. We take a short break where maids bring us refreshments. Once rested, we get ready for the next exercise.

"Now we shall see how thou can use magic to support thy attacks," she says.

She quickly teleports behind me and clonks me on the head. "Bugger!" I yell and some of the guards laugh, including Shining.

"We have seen thee teleport during thy fight with the manticore, we shall now have a little contest, neither of us can leave the circle, we both can only move via teleportation and the first to get three strikes wins," she says.

"Whoa whoa whoa, I can barely teleport without throwing up my lunch as it is, shouldn't I get used to it first?" I ask her.

She sighs in irritation. "Very well, thou has one hour to practise, then thou shall rest and then we continue," she replies.

So over the next hour I practise teleporting and I was very close to losing it after the third teleport, but after forty teleports, taking five minute breaks in between, I didn't feel as nauseous. Though it wasn't completely gone.

After resting up, I join Luna back in the circle. "Good, now thou has the first move," she says.

I quickly channel the three elements for the spell and teleport in front of her, she looks at me with wide eyes, I guess she expected me to go behind her and I swing at her. She quickly teleports herself away and I get clonked again.

"Thou need to shorten the time it takes thee to channel thy elements," she tells me, easier said then done.

She waits for me again and I cast the spell, I teleport to her left and swing, she teleports to my right and I just teleport in time to evade her attack, I appear right in front of her in a crouched position and bash her in the shin.

Her armour absorbs the blow and she yelps in surprise, I stand up and grin at her. "Yes yes, thou got us, now get ready," she says.

Two hours pass and I'm exhausted, Luna stepped up her game and I didn't get another hit in, I healed myself after receiving many, many bruises.

We head in to get lunch and Luna tells me what I need to do to improve myself. Once lunch is finished, we head back out.

We're standing back outside but this time at the target range. "We want thee to practise thy aim with thy earth element projectile spell, since normal magic shall not work on the gryphons, thou shalt improve thy physical based magic," she tells me.

I channel three earth elements and pull a rock out of the ground and channel mana through my stave, I fire the rock at the target and hit the forth ring... and rip a third of the targets top left corner off.

"Thy aim needs work, but at least thou hast power behind it, does it require thee to charge the spell up to increase velocity?" she asks.

"Yes, if I were to cast it without charging, it would look like I'm just trying to throw it," I reply.

"We see. Well, try again then, we must work on thy aim," she says.

For the next hour or two, I practise my aim. I can now score hits on the second inner ring, but moving targets are still a problem for me. It's now about five in the afternoon and Luna takes me to our final area of training for today.

We arrive at her's and Celestia's personal gym where we do some stretching before she sets me up on a strange platform with handles on each side and a panel in front. "We shall now run for three miles together," she says and stands on another to my left. "Now, do as we do," she tells me and presses a button on the panel in front of her, part of the platform starts moving and she starts jogging on the spot.

I look at my panel and press the same button she did. "Whoa!" I yelp startled and I stumble a bit before jogging along with her.

Ten minutes in and I'm really sweating, running in armour, even if it feels light, is not very easy. I then trip and fall onto my side, the platform still moving, launches me into a wall with my ass in the air. "Ow..." I mutter.

Luna giggles and steps off of hers. "Come on, up with thee," she says and helps me up. We both get back on what Luna told me is called a treadmill and finish the run. Celestia then walks in wearing a rather tight looking pair of pink shorts, a sleeveless, stomachless pink top, wristbands and a headband.

"Oh, Hello, Luna. I'm surprised to see both of you here," Celestia says as she gets onto one of the treadmills and starts a light jog. I had to look away from her out of embarrassment, her outfit showing off her body's curves.

"Well, our equipment is more suited to his size than the guards, we thought it would help speed up Adrian's training," Luna replies.

Celestia giggles. "It's alright, just don't break anything," she mockingly tells me.

Luna then drags me over to a bench with a set of weights, she tells me to remove my armour as she places a few metal disks on each end of the a bar. "We now want to see how much weight thou can lift," she tells me.

Once out of the armour, I lay down on the bench as she instructs me on what to do. I grip the bar as she tells me to and push, I extend my arms fully and hold it for a few seconds, it's not that heavy.

"Fifty pounds, put the bar back please," she tells me and I do so, she replaces the disks with bigger ones and tells me to lift again. I push, straining a bit as I do so. "One-hundred pounds, bar down again." She adds the other disks back on and again tells me to push, I grunt from the exertion but barely manage to lift it for a few seconds before placing the bar back on the stand. "One-hundred and fifty pounds, we need to build thy arms up some more," she tells me.

For the next hour or so, we do different exercises and lifting. I do sit-ups, push-ups, chin-ups and even rock climbing on an artificial cliff face on the back wall.

Once we finish, we all take a shower in the two shower cubicles in a room through a door to the left of the gym. I let them go first while I do some more weight lifting, then wash myself when they're done. I put on fresh clothes Luna brought for me and re-equip my armour after my shower, Celestia is wearing her white dress with the gold trimmings while Luna is wearing her black dress. Once ready, we all head down for dinner. "Thou did well for thy first day," Luna says. I yawn feeling extremely tired. "But tomorrow we shall increase our pace," she says causing me to groan and the Princesses to laugh.

"After dinner, we shall be holding a war meeting with the Captains to discuss what we shall do about the gryphons," Celestia says, suddenly serious.

Dinner was quiet as we ate and Blueblood didn't show up. Once finished, Celestia leads me to a room in the back of the Castle with a round table and chairs all around it, a map of Equestria and it's borders on the table.

Celestia sits at the back in the middle with Luna to her left and me to her right. Luna tells me that we'll be doing what we did today over the next two weeks, the doors open as five people walk in, the first is Shining Armour.

The second is an orangey yellow pegasus woman with fiery red hair wearing a tight blue suit with a yellow lightning bolt down the middle, she also has a pair of goggles on her head.

The third is a large muscular grey earth pony man with black hair wearing heavy looking plate armour and a massive hammer on his back.

The forth is someone who looks just like Night Blade, with the tufts of fur on the tips of his ears, the eyes and the sharp looking teeth but with leathery bat like wings instead of a curved horn. He has dark purplish grey fur with dark blue hair, he's wearing what looks like purple and black leather armour, but it's probably a different material since these people don't like killing animals. Then again, it could be the hide of a dangerous animal they had to put down... I'll have to ask later.

The fifth is a light green unicorn woman with yellow hair that has two white stripes through it, she's wearing robes with a gem rod on her left hip.

They all sit down at the table and Celestia speaks up. "Thank you all for coming, as you know, we were attacked yesterday during the Gala," she says making the Captains frown.

Luna then takes over. "We are here to form a plan of retaliation, they wish to treat us as livestock, then we shall put them down as the animals they are," she says, receiving nods from all the Captains.

"But first, introductions. Captains, this is Adrian Stormsword, the first Knight in over eight-hundred years," Celestia says. The captains all greet me. "Adrian, you already know Shining Armour who oversees the entire Royal Guard."

I smile and nodded to him which he returns. "Next is Captain Spitfire of the pegasi guard, who specialize in air to air combat with speed, agility, light weapons and bows, also known as the Wonderbolts," Celestia says towards the orange woman.

Spitfire smirks at me. "Nice to finally meet the colt that swept Princess Luna off her hooves," she says making Luna's face blush a bit.

I chuckle. "Nice to meet you as well," I reply.

"Next is Captain Hammer Strike of the earth pony guard, who specialize in heavy armour and weapons," Celestia says.

Hammer Strike gives a deep sounding chuckle. "I hear you crushed one of those turkeys heads in with a rock, is it true?" he asks.

"Yes, but it was a spell, not me throwing the thing. Probably would have dropped it on my own foot if I tried that," I reply.

He lets out a loud laugh while the unicorn Captain just rolls her eyes. "I like him!" Hammer Strike says.

Celestia smiles. "Next is Captain Bright Mind of the unicorn guard, who specialize in offensive and defensive spells."

"How you got the Princess's attention with your lack of manners is a mystery," Bright Mind says. "No offence to you of course, Princess," she then says to Luna, who looks annoyed.

I decide to throw in the ol' prince charming routine. "I apologise if my manners are not up to your expectations, my lady. I shall refrain from any future vulgarities and uncouth behaviour in your presence," I reply with a bow of my head, sounding as respectful as I could.

She looks at me wide eyed while Hammer Strike is once again laughing. "I really like him!" he says still laughing. I just sit there looking as calm as possible while Bright Mind glares at Hammer Strike.

Celestia coughs to get our attention. "Ahem, lastly is Captain Dark Wing of the thestral guards, who specialize in stealth and reconnaissance."

Dark Wing just nodded at me which I return.

"Now onto the matter of the gryphons," Luna says gaining all of our attention. "Our sister offered a means to live peacefully, but they responded by killing our guards and attempted to kill us. We are still unsure on how they managed to get in, but an investigation is under way," she tells us.

Celestia then takes over. "And as such, their act of aggression and openly stating that they shall now hunt us within our own borders, we have declared war upon the gryphons, any gryphon on Equestrian soil that isn't a legal citizen and without the correct paperwork will be either taken prisoner or killed if they resist," she states, anger showing in her eyes. "For now, we will station guards at each town and city along the border for protection, we want you Captains to sort mixed squads of twenty of each guard and send them to the towns. Each squad will have a pegasi messenger to return with news of any attacks where we shall send reinforcements if needed," she tells them.

They all nodded and Shining speaks up. "What will Adrian be doing during this?" he asks.

"We shall continue to train Adrian until such a time he is called upon," Luna tells him.

Hammer Strike gawks at me. "You're training him personally? Lucky bugger..." he grumbles, making me chuckle.

"Until we can gather enough Intel on the enemy forces, we shall defend the border and repel any attacks. Once we receive adequate information, we'll plan a counter-attack on the gryphons Elder Council at Aires Peak," Celestia says.

All the Captains agree and are dismissed.

POV: Silent Shadow

After listening to the meeting I head back to the Master's office, I step out of the shadows and kneel before Prince Blueblood.

"Ah, Silent Shadow, I take it the meeting is over?" he asks me.

"Yes, Master, they plan to send squads to the border towns and gather Intel on the gryphons forces before devising a plan of attack," I tell him.

"I see, keep watching our esteemed Knight, I want to know how he's progressing and if we can find a way to remove him without suspicion," he tells me.

"As you wish, Master," I reply and step back into the shadows.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

Luna leads me back to her bedroom where we say good night to Celestia as she goes to hers.

We strip down to our night wear and get into bed, or more like fall onto the bed in my case.

"Get plenty of sleep, thou will be needing it for tomorrow," Luna tells me, I just groan knowing what I'm in for.

Chapter 17: Training Part 2

Terracana
Chapter 16: Training Part 2

Day 5

Over the last four days, I have been training hard under Luna's guidance. We repeated the same exercises and my skills are getting better, I'm still having trouble trying to locate Luna with my hearing, and I have plenty of bumps to prove it. She can still out teleport me easy, but my aiming with projectile spells has gotten pretty good, I'm now hitting bullseyes and second rings on the stationary targets and at least hit a moving target four times out of ten.

Twice I've found myself staring at Celestia in her workout outfit, where Luna teased me and got me to refocus, why she wasn't mad about it I don't know.

Luna and I are getting closer and she's even showing public displays of affection, even during our training sessions at the Grounds, where the guards howl and whistle when they catch us doing so, though Shining puts a stop to that quickly when it happens.

Day 14

For two weeks we've been doing the same routine, I can now hear Luna much easier and half the time find her, I only get half the bumps I used to get. I'm much faster at teleporting now, it took Luna eight teleports to hit me this time.

My aim has gotten very good, I can bullseye the stationary target ninety percent of the time while getting a fifty percent chance at a moving target.

I can now lift one-hundred and fifty pounds easily and run for longer before getting tired. Celestia is still wearing that tight outfit, I got a nosebleed when she bent over stretching, trying to touch her hooves with her fingertips in front of me, and once again Luna teased me about it.

I've also got the feeling of being watched thanks to Luna's perception training, whether or not I'm imagining it, I don't know.

Day 15

Today, Luna has given me the day off to go fishing with Shining, Hammer, and a few of the other guards. I'm carrying my pack with my lunch in it and I also have a water proof bag to hold any fish I catch to cook for later.

They get on a carriage where four pegasi guards pull it, I decide to practice with my air wings since I can now use two air elements instead of one and increase my gliding speed. I cast the spell and the wings flow from my shoulder blades, some of the guards are impressed by it.

The carriage takes off and I hesitate for a few seconds when I look over the edge of the mountain, I run and leap off the edge while having a heart attack doing so, I wobble a bit but stabilize pretty well. I glide behind the carriage where one of the guards inside waves at me through the back window.

After a ten minute flight we land beside the lake, more like slide across the grass in my case, I'll need to work on my landings, also my mana nearly feels empty... good thing I'm taking the carriage back up then. We all set up along the lake where me, Shining and Hammer stick together.

We're all sitting on foldable chairs, each with a rod in hand and a bottle of cider in the other.

"So how's your training coming along? From what I can see at the Grounds, you're doing great," Shining asks.

"Yeah, it's going good, but at the end of the day I feel like I just want to sleep for a week," I reply.

They both chuckle and Shining's rod goes taut, he starts pulling and reeling it in with Hammer cheering him on.

He pulls it out and it's a decent sized bass, about the size of his head. "Nice catch!" Hammer says and takes a sip of his cider.

Hammers line then starts moving like crazy and he quickly pulls and reels it in, Shining and I laugh as Hammer holds a small fish the size of his hand near his face. The fish then starts wiggling and slaps him in the face and we just lose it, I fall off my chair holding my sides.

Hammer groans and puts the fish back in the lake before sitting back down with his arms crossed.

five minutes later I get a bite and start reeling it in, it's a huge struggle, whatever this thing is, it's big.

It starts pulling me towards the lake and I quickly cast my stone armour spell to give me extra weight and stop it pulling me, Shining and Hammer both help pull and after a good two minute fight, we pull it out. It's an eel as long as I am tall.

"What the buck? What's an Everfree Eel doing in the lake?" Hammer says.

I zap it with a lightning element and it goes limp. "...Is it edible?" I ask.

They look at me with wide eyes. "Why would you want to know that?" Hammer asks.

"I haven't had any meat in awhile, thought I'll just cook it here and be set for a few days," I reply.

"Ah yes, I remember Twily mentioned you eat meat as well as plants," Shining says.

"Yup, so... is it edible?" I ask again.

"I guess so, it has no poisonous or toxic parts," Shining tells me.

"Alright then, you two continue fishing, I'm going to cook it," I tell them. Shining doesn't look that bothered, but Hammer looks queasy.

"It's not that bad Hammer, think of it this way, we now have a meat eater on our side!" Shining tells Hammer.

Hammer's eyebrows rise up slowly as it just dawns on him. "Well damn, do you think he can eat a gryphon?" Hammer says with a chuckle.

"Get me some pepper, seasoning and barbecue sauce and we'll find out," I tell them as I cast a single fire element and spray the eel after I finished gutting it.

They laugh, but then gag at the smell of cooking meat. After a good two minutes of spraying the eel on both sides, it looks crispy and ready. I cut a section off and take a bite, holy crap this tastes good!

I finish a third of it off and place the rest in the bag Luna gave me.

Hammer gets another bite and this time, reels in a bigger fish three times his hand's size.

An hour passes and it's time to head back, the other guards all caught some fish but I caught the biggest with the eel, I also caught three bass about twelve inches long each. I hop in the carriage and apologize for the cooked eel smell coming from the bag.

They all chatted amongst themselves as I watched the landscape roll by, we arrive at the castle where the guards and Captains head back to the Barracks. I head off to the kitchen to place the rest of the eel and bass in a fridge.

Once done, I join Luna and Celestia in the Throne Room with my armour equipped and play my role as their knight by guarding them, much to Luna's delight and Celestia's amusement.

During my time with them, Nobles made requests and propositions to the Princesses, some were legitimate reasons, such as expanding farmlands to grow more crops, while others were just plain stupid. Like a Noble is asking Celestia to raise the taxes for lower and middle class citizens and lower the taxes for the Nobles...

It was so stupid I just told him to get out without thinking, Luna smirked at me while Celestia just shook her head with a very faint smile.

The Noble throws a hissy fit that would make a child look mature and demanding that I get thrown into the dungeons for speaking out of term.

"We believe Sir Adrian is correct, the taxes are fine as they are and there is no need to alter them," Luna sternly tells him, still with her smirk.

The Noble goes red in the face and storms out, Celestia gives me a stern stare but the faint smile remains. "Adrian, although you were correct to deny his request, it is our duty to pass such judgements," she tells me.

I just grin sheepishly. "Sorry, but you have to admit, he was pretty dense."

Luna giggles. "Don't be, we found it entertaining," she says.

"Luna..." Celestia says and mockingly glares at Luna, who just looks back at her with an innocent smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

After that, a few of the Nobles leave the line and out the door in a hurry, I guess they also had just as ridiculous requests.

Once court was done for the day, Celestia goes back to her office while Luna brings me back to her room.

"So what do you want to do?" I ask her.

"We wish to cuddle up with a good book," she says and get's into her nightgown. I strip down to my trousers and we both lie on the bed with her cuddled up beside me and a book floating in front of us, it appears to be a book about a tan coloured woman with black and grey hair going on adventures.

We read for an hour and Luna got me to read it aloud to her.

"Daring then flies across the chasm, escaping the thugs of Ahuizotl yelling at her as she runs down the cave's tunnels. Daring comes across a large cavern with moss covered walls and a small lake. In the centre of the lake is a small island with ruined pillars and a pedestal, a ruby skull sitting upon it."

"She flies over and reaches to grab it but Ahuizotl stands in front of her, blocking her path as he laughs. "You think you can take what's mine and just leave my dear?" he taunts her."

"Daring gets her whip out and cracks it on the floor. "I don't see your name on it." She replies with a smirk."

"They both get ready to fight for the ruby skull, Ahuizotl leaps at Daring as she pulls her whip back and..." I stop reading as I hear the soft breathing of Luna as she fell asleep.

I smile and place the book on the night stand and fall asleep as well.

Day 20

Luna and I are back at the Training Grounds where she now has me training to increase my mana pool. The best way for me to do that is to use my magic and rest afterwards, so for the last four days she's had me practising with my other elements during the day while I read up on how to create mines in the evening after a quick workout at the gym.

So far I can make one mine and I'm starting with the healing mines which is just a shield and life element together.

My mana pool over these two weeks and six days has improved nicely, I can fight for much longer now before getting tired.

Day 26

I've never felt so sore. My mana pool has increased, but I feel like a pack of wolves used me as a chew toy. Luna gave me today off to rest and I decided to take her out on a date at a nice café.

We're walking down the streets in casual clothing, though I still have my sword and stave with me.

"It is nice of thou to take us out for the day," Luna tells me.

"I thought we both could use a day off and relax, beating me to a pulp must be very exhausting for you," I cheekily say to her.

She playfully shoves me a bit as we walk towards our destination hand in hand. People bow to Luna and she nodded back, I get that feeling that someone is watching me again, and I don't think it's the citizens.

We arrive at the 'Golden Roast Café', a small coffee shop that I visit now and then when I decide to go out to eat.

I open the door for Luna and she thanks me as she enters. "Good afternoon, Mocha!" I greet the woman behind the counter.

"Adrian! How are you doing? I haven't seen you all week, you been kept busy?" she asks then notices Luna. "Princess!" she says in surprise and trips over herself trying to go around the counter.

Luna giggles lightly as I help her up. "Eh-heh. Erm, welcome to the Golden Roast Café, Princess! Would you like a private booth?" Mocha asks Luna.

"That will not be necessary, a table for two would be just fine," Luna replies.

Mocha nodded and leads us to a table with two chairs. We sit down and I look around. I notice a few of the other customers are looking at us shocked and a couple disgusted. This is a popular spot for the Nobles due to the great quality of the food and drinks served here. I guess they're still upset with me for courting Luna or from what I said at the Gala.

"What would you two like?" Mocha asks us.

"I'll have my usual please," I reply.

"We'll have what he's having," Luna says.

"Okay. I'll be right back!" she says writing it down.

I ignore the stares directed at us. "So, how's Celestia been handling the nations problems while you've been training me?" I ask Luna.

"She has been doing fine, but we can tell she is starting to feel stressed about it, and the fact a small gryphon hunting party tried attacking a small town near the border has her even more aggravated." She tells me.

"Did we suffer any casualties?" I ask.

"A few guards were injured and one lost her life, but the five gryphons were all put down. Seems the gryphons didn't take the guards seriously," she replies. "Oh, also, starting tomorrow, we shall be training thee deep In the Everfree Forest," she tells me.

I raise an eye brow at her. "Won't it be a hassle to go back and forth everyday?" I ask confused.

"Nay, thou still has thy camping gear correct?" she asks back.

"Yeah, it's with my pack... why?" I tell her.

"Then we shall pack enough for two weeks there, we shall see how thou fairs against the beasts and monsters that call it home," she replies.

My eyebrows both rise up. "You want me to fight the beasts of the Everfree Forest?" I ask her surprised.

"Yes, we wish to see how well your training is coming along," she says.

I'm not as sure as she is, but if it'll help me get stronger... then alright. Our lunch arrives and Mocha puts the plates and drinks in front of us.

We both have a large sandwich with lettuce, cheese, tomato, cucumber, and a sweet tasting mayo in it. We both have a cup of green tea and a couple of biscuits as well.

We start to eat and the stares and glares continue towards us. "Mayhap we should have taken a private booth..." Luna says quietly, also noticing their stares.

"Just ignore them, they want to be jealous and petty, that's their problem. This moment is just about us, don't let them get to you and ruin it," I reply and lightly squeeze her hand. She smiles, leans over and kisses me. I hear a growl of disgust but ignore it.

We finish our lunch and I pay the bill of twenty-four bits. Luna want's to go for a walk through the park and I oblige her.

She wraps her arms around my right arm and leans her head on my shoulder as we sit on a park bench. Children are playing with each other their parents in the open field and Luna just watches on with a smile. I rest my head on hers and we just sit there for a few minutes.

"We thank thee for taking us out today," she says and stands up. "but we must return to help our sister with the paperwork," she tells me and we head back to the Castle. She then informs me she will see me tonight and left me to find something to occupy myself with. I head back to Luna's room to read more of my spell book.

On the way I hear something moving behind me, I guess Luna's perception lessons are paying off. I turn to see a shadow just hide behind a potted plant. "Who's there," I state.

I grip my stave tightly and continue to walk and the noise of something like cloth being lightly dragged across the floor follows me. I channel a life element into my stave and quickly turn around and fire a beam at the shadow on the wall, it's startled and quickly slithers away.

I watch it go with a frown, I'll tell Luna and Celestia when it's time for dinner. I arrive at the bedroom with no sign of the shadow behind me, so I enter and sit on the bed with my book.

I take a break after three hours of reading and do some exercises to stretch my limbs. I then returned to read for another two hours, continuing my study on the air element and practised channelling it with other elements. A maid then comes by to tell me dinner is ready.

I thank her and head down to the Dining Hall where I tell Luna and Celestia about the shadow.

"It could be that assassin again?.." Luna wonders.

"What do we do about it? Has Night Blade found anything yet?" I ask.

"She believes so, but she needs more time to investigate it," Luna tells me.

Dinner arrives and we chat while eating. Celestia, as Luna said, looks very stressed. She's been dealing with the Nobles and the gryphon problem almost every day since the attack at the Gala. Luna assured her that after the next two weeks, she'll help her with it.

Celestia asks what's happening over the next two weeks and Luna tells her about the training in the Everfree Forest. To say she wasn't happy about it was an understatement.

"Are you sure you have to do this? Wouldn't a simple test against the other guards suffice?" Celestia asks Luna.

"Nay, we wish to see what Adrian can do going, as they say, 'all out'. He cannot show his full power against the guard, thus, we shall face the beasts of the Everfree," she replies.

Celestia sighs. "This isn't like the days when we were fillies, Luna... but alright. Just come back if things get too dangerous," Celestia tells us.

"Of course, sister," Luna replies.

We finish our meals and say goodnight. Luna and I head back to her room. We wash and change into our night wear, then we both go to bed and fall asleep.

Day 27

I yawn and notice Luna is missing, I look around and see a few bags on the floor next to my pack.

Luna steps out of her closet fully armoured along with her scythe. "Thou needs to get up, it's time to go!" she says in a rather happy tone.

"Why are you so *yawn* excited?" I ask her and stretch.

"Tis been many years since we have gone camping, we are looking forward to it," she tells me.

I shrug and get my clothes, armour, and weapons on. I place two spare sets of clothes in my pack along with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Luna puts her own pack on and carries another in her hand.

"We shall head down for breakfast first, then we shall fly to the Everfree. It will be good for thee to practise with thy wings," she tells me and gives me a kiss.

We head down for breakfast where Celestia still looks unsure about us going, no Blueblood once again. We say our goodbyes after we finish and Luna practically drags me along with a big smile on her face.

We're both standing by the edge of the city and I cast my air wings spell. "Are thou ready?" she asks.

"Yeah, I take it I'm following you?" I ask. She nodded and jumps off, I jump off following behind her.

We fly for a few minutes, well I'm gliding, over Ponyville and right above the Everfree. We both land in a small clearing, I stumble my landing and trip over which gets Luna to laugh and then help me up.

"Thou needs to work on thy landing," she tells me. She looks around seemingly to find something. "As a filly, there was a cave nearby that we used to camp in, but the forest has changed much since we were last here," she says sadly, still looking around.

Her expression then lightens up. "Ah we remember now! Tis this way!" she says and starts walking. I dust myself off and follow behind her.

After a ten minute walk, nothing of interest happens as we reach her destination. "Here it is!" she exclaims and walks in.

After a few seconds of walking, we enter a large cavern with a large pile of gems and gold in the middle.

"Whoa... where did all of that come from?" I ask.

A low rumble echoes throughout the cavern as the pile moves. A large green reptilian head pops out of the pile and its slitted orange eyes glare at us.

I stare wide eyed at it while Luna growls. "What is a dragon doing in the Everfree Forest!?"

Chapter 18: Dragons, Treasure and Revelations

Terracana
Chapter 18: Dragons, Treasure, and Revelations

"What is a dragon doing in the Everfree Forest!?" Luna shouts out.

"Do dragons have any weaknesses?" I ask quickly as the dragon pulls itself out of the pile of gold and jewels.

"Electricity can stun them for a few seconds, but their scales are too tough to cut, even our scythe can't cut a fully grown dragon's scales," she tells me.

"What are you doing in my cave! Here to steal my hoard!?" the dragon roars at us.

"Errr, no. We're just looking for a place to set up camp," I tell him.

"Sure you are, at least I'll have a little snack before my nap," he says and lunges at us.

"OH SHIT!" I yell and channel an arcane and two lightning elements through my stave and fire a beam of electricity at him.

His eyes go wide as he roars while shaking violently, I keep the beam going for ten seconds before stopping. He drops onto his hoard and I look to Luna. "Now what?" I ask.

"We run! It would take our sister, us, and a hundred of our guards just to repel a dragon!" she tells me.

The dragon roars in rage and fires a fire ball at us from its mouth. I dive to the side and Luna flies over it. The fire ball impacts the cavern's entrance, causing it to cave in. I cast my stone armour spell and to my surprise, the gems from the hoard attach to me forming a solid coating of rainbow coloured armour, Luna's horn glows brightly making the cavern light up.

I cast another lightning beam and fire at the dragon. He dodges and swings his tail at me which I teleport behind his tail before it hits and let out a sigh of relief. Luna swings her scythe at the dragon's head and sparks fly off, enraging him even further.

He slams his tail on the floor knocking me up into the air. I look down and see him open his mouth ready to eat me.

"OH FUCK NO!" I shout as he lunges up and swallows me.

POV: Luna

My heart stops as I watch Adrian get eaten by the dragon. "Adrian?" I whimper. Tears falling down my face as I watch the lump in his throat go down.

The dragon then turns to me and snarls. My anguish turns into a burning rage and my eyes shine brightly, overflowing with magic.

"THOU SHALL SUFFER OUR WRATH FOR TAKING OUR MATE FROM US!" I yell at him with my Royal Canterlot Voice.

I charge at him and slam the back of my scythe into the side of his head like a hammer. His head slams into the ground causing a small crater. He gets back up and fires a ball of fire at me.

I swipe it aside with the back of my left hand, ignoring the slight burn. I fire a beam of pure magic at him and blast him into the back wall.

For the next minute, we fight tooth and nail. My rage blinding me, making me fight like a savage at the loss of my coltfriend... my mate... my Adrian.

Suddenly, the dragon roars in agony. Its stomach starts bloating, blisters start seeping out from under its scales. After a few more seconds, its stomach explodes and showers the ground and part of the hoard with blood.

A gasp and coughing gets my attention and my eyes widen in relief.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I start coughing and wipe my face. I'm so glad I replaced my stone armour with a barrier shield, though I still suffered some burns and blisters from where the dragon's stomach acid started to get at me. I quickly drop my barrier and heal myself. I then fall on my back panting now that I can breath again.

"ADRIAN!" I hear Luna call out. She's quickly beside me and hugs me, despite the fact I'm covered in dragon blood.

"Hey, Luna. Remind me never to do that again..." I tell her. I had to stab the dragon with my sword and channel a constant flow of arcane energy through it while holding my breath. Good thing their insides aren't resistant to magic like their scales are.

Luna then starts sobbing into my chest. "We thought we lost thee," she says.

"It's alright, Luna. I'm here, I'm alive," I tell her and grip her hand. She helps me up and uses her magic to clean the blood off of us while I use mine to heal her wounds.

Once done, we look at the remains of the dragon. I look from the corpse, to the hoard, and then to Luna. "Does this mean this is all ours now?" I ask her as I start looking through the pile.

Luna is standing beside me, still sniffling a bit. "Well, technically it all belongs to thee now. Dragon law states that should any other creature kill a dragon, its hoard will belong to the one who killed it. Though this was mainly put in place for other dragons since it takes a dragon to kill a dragon," she tells me.

Well, I guess I don't have to worry about expenses anymore. Something catches my eye and I pull it out. It's a bow, but not just any bow, it's an elven bow from Terra. It looks pretty old with a cracked leather grip and faded wooden finish with small bits of mould along it, there's also four small gems, one above and below the grip on both sides.

A ruby, sapphire, emerald, and a diamond, representing the four natural elements. I recognize this from a book I read on elven magic, I tap the ruby and it starts to shine. I place two fingers on the string and pull back where an arrow made of fire forms, I can feel my mana get drained from myself to form the arrow. I let go and fire the arrow at the wall where it explodes on contact.

"What manner of bow is this? We've never seen anything like it," Luna asks me intrigued.

"This is an elven bow from Terra... but how did it get here?" I reply and ask.

"We do not know, mayhap we can take it with us? We would like our researchers to examine it, they may be able to replicate it for our guards," she asks me. I nodded and place it on my back between my pack and me.

"What about the rest of this?" I ask, waving to the huge pile of treasure.

"We shall send a letter to our sister to send a recovery team to take it back to the Castle's Treasury," she tells me.

I stand back up and look at the entrance. "So how do we remove that?" I ask pointing to the blocked entrance. Luna's horn glows brighter and the boulders blocking the cave roll outside. "That works," I say with a chuckle.

"Let us take a break and set up camp on the other side of the cave," Luna tells me.

I nodded and we head over there. While Luna starts to drag the dragon's corpse out of the cave very slowly. I set up the tent and a small fire pit with my cooking utensils next to it. I place a thick mat in the tent, two small pillows, and a blanket over it. A small lamp is hanging in the middle of the top bar that's holding the tent up.

Once finished. I help Luna by spraying the hoard and ground with my water spray spell to wash most of the blood away to the other end of the Cavern.

Luna returns once I'm done and removes her armour. She goes inside the tent and I follow her in after removing my armour as well.

She's laying on the mat with a piece of parchment and a quill in her hands. I lay next to her and wait until she's done. Her horn glows and the letter disappears in a flash of light.

"There, they should be here by at most tomorrow," she tells me.

Luna then cuddles up to me and I wrap my left arm around her. "So, would you like to take a nap before we get to training?" I ask her.

"Mmhmmm," she hums in reply and rests her head on my chest. We both lie there in silence and fall asleep.

POV: Celestia

Another Noble walks up and asks if she can buy the rights to a Spa located next to her house. I know this Spa as I tend to visit it now and then when I can.

"I am sorry Miss Clear, but I'm afraid I can't allow that. The family that owns that Spa are good friends of mine. I ask you don't bring this up again," I tell her calmly, but my patience is starting to wear thin with all these, as Adrian called them, dense Nobles.

She frowns but nodded and left. Before the next one in line could speak a scroll appears before me. Ah, a letter from Twilight, just what I need to get my mind off... I think to myself but stop as I see Luna's seal on it. I quickly open it and read it.

Dear sister.

We have arrived at the Everfree and have set up camp at our old camping site when we were fillies.

But a dragon has been inhabiting this cave for who knows how long and attacked us. It attempted to devour us and swallowed Adrian.

I gasp and place my left hand over my mouth as my eyes go wide.

Surprisingly though, Adrian managed to kill the dragon from the inside. We art both fine and in perfect health. I ask thou send a recovery team to collect Adrian's new hoard to store in the Castle's Treasury, along with the remains of the dragon, we art sure it's remains could be valuable in making a variety of magic resistant weapons and armour.

Your sister, Luna.

I breath out a sigh of relief, but then I get a worried expression. Adrian managed to kill a fully grown dragon and from within it no less. If other dragons get word of this, they would come seeking to challenge him.

I write a reply telling Luna not to mention this to anypony.

I send it off and stand up. "An important matter has just come up I'm afraid, court is adjourned until further notice," I tell them with a slight bow.

Once the Throne Room was cleared, I call in the recovery team. "Yes, your Majesty?" the mare in front asks.

"We are to head down to the Everfree Forest to recover a large dragon hoard from a cave... as well as the dragon's corpse." I tell them.

Gasps ring throughout the room. "A... d-dragon's corpse?" one of the stallions at the back asks.

"Yes, details will be given on route. Let us head to the carriages and begin," I say and look around for any signs of anypony not meant to be in here. Once I see and feel nothing, we all start walking to the courtyard.

POV: Luna

I slightly open my eyes, still laying on Adrian. I close my eyes and smile, my head slowly rising and falling on his chest along with a rolled up scroll from my sister. I ignore it for now and after a few minutes I hear a cough. My eyes snap open and I see Tia with her head poking inside the tent with a smile.

I carefully stand up without disturbing Adrian and exit the tent. Tia then hugs me and I return it. "I am so glad to see you both unharmed," she tells me, relief clear in her tone.

"We art fine sister. Though we have Adrian to thank for that," I reply looking back at the tent.

Tia then turns to the hoard. "That is quite an impressive hoard the dragon collected," she says looking over the pile of treasure. The guards then start loading it onto the ten carriages they brought with them. It takes about an hour to get only half of it on board. Once loaded fully, they take off slowly due to all the extra added weight.

Tia goes back with them but said she'll be back for the rest once that batch is stored. I notice Adrian is awake and looking through the pile still here, just examining the gems and gold. He gasps and is holding up a particularly big amethyst. "Tis an amethyst... why art thou so excited about it," I ask him.

He looks at me with a grin. "It's not just any amethyst, it's a pure one. If I could get my hands on a good long piece of rose wood, I could make myself a proper staff with this! Shame it's a rare and hard to find tree. I don't know if you even have them in this world," he says and takes it over to his pack and puts it inside.

"Rose wood? We have a rose wood tree growing in the Castle's Garden," I tell him.

He looks up at me with a wider grin. "Can I perhaps have a branch from it?" he asks me eagerly.

His excitement causes me to smile at him. "Sure, but could we also have at least a third of the gold? It would help boost our funding for Equestria," I ask.

"A third? Heck, get me a nice straight branch and you can have half of the entire hoard," he replies.

I smile wider and hug him. "Tis a deal."

POV: Adrian Stormsword

Once we settled on our agreement, we wait outside the cave for Celestia to return. I look around and it looks just like it was when I first arrived. The dragon is laying to the left of the cave and starting to smell bad. A few minutes later, growls to our right grabs our attention. A pack of wooden wolves with glowing sickly green eyes slowly creep towards the carcass. I draw my sword and stand in between them and the dragon corpse, then I cast my stone armour spell and just glare at them.

Luna stands beside me with her scythe in hand and armour equipped. I channel an earth element with two fire elements and point my stave at the three closest together. After a few seconds just staring at each other, one of them pounces and Luna cleaves it in two at its mid section. I release my spell and a fire ball hurtles towards the middle wolf.

It explodes making it shatter into pieces, the two next to it are set on fire by the blast and start rolling on the grass to try and put themselves out. Luna is keeping them from getting near me while I spray two more with three fire elements. A large wolf is standing on a boulder not too far away snarling at us, must be the alpha.

I channel three Ice elements and charge it up. Luna bashes a wolf out of my way and I fire my spell. Nine shards of ice rip through the large wolf who slumps to the floor as bits of its legs get blown off.

To our horror, it howls and the others, dead or alive, start to merge with it. It's now six times bigger and much more sinister looking.

I quickly channel an arcane element with two fire elements and cast the beam at it. It howls in pain as it's set on fire wherever the beam hits.

Luna throws her scythe at its front left leg, slicing it off. I erect a stone wall in front of us as cover, just in case. It starts thrashing and even throws its severed leg at us. We duck behind the wall and get showered in splinters, I look over the wall to see the wolf limping away.

I sigh and lean my back against the stone wall. "That went well," I say and cancel my stone armour.

"Very. Though they do not look it, timberwolves are very dangerous and are only weak to fire based attacks," she tells me.

We just sit behind the safety of the wall until Celestia returns, while we wait I use water elements to put out the fires still burning. Luna then tells me that we'll head to her old Castle in the Forest some time during next week.

Celestia returns and loads up the rest of the hoard, Luna also tells her about our deal and she agrees. After Celestia hugs Luna, she surprises me by giving me one as well.

"Thank you for keeping my sister safe," she tells me with a small gentle kiss to my cheek. I stand there dumbfounded as she steps into one of the carriages and flies off back to Canterlot.

I turn to Luna, who looks completely fine. "Did Celestia just kiss me?" I ask her.

"Yes, is something wrong with that?" she replies.

"You're not angry at her for it?" I ask confused.

"Nay, if she would ask thee to court her, we would support her decision," she tells me.

My jaw drops. "Wait... you wouldn't mind if I courted both you and your sister?" I say flabbergasted.

"Nay, we would encourage it. Thou hast proven thyself loyal and not after power or titles. Thou treats us as friends rather than rulers or goddesses. Tis a feeling we have not felt in centuries," she says. She then frowns. "Does your kind not take multiple partners?" she asks.

"Errr, no. We take one partner at a time," I reply.

"We see. Well, in Equestria, the male to female ratio is three mares to every stallion, so stallions can have around three to five partners at a time," she tells me.

I just stare at her for a few seconds, processing this information. I shake my head and smile at her. "Well if you are alright with it, I wouldn't mind giving her a chance. I have to admit, I found her very appealing during our workout sessions in the gym," I reply with a chuckle.

"We noticed," she says giggling along with me.

I then look her in the eyes. "Are you really positive about this? I don't mind being with just you," I tell her.

"That is very generous of thee, but we can tell our sister has feelings for thee," she replies.

I sigh and Lean against her, should I give Celestia a chance? "So you would really let Celestia join us?" I ask.

"Yes, we understand it will take thee some time to adjust to such a concept," she replies.

"Yeah, I'll think about it during our stay here," I tell her.

She smiles and pulls me towards the cave and back to the tent. We go back inside, cuddle up in the tent and fall back to sleep.

I awaken to the smell of something sweet. I look to my left and see Luna clinging to me with flushed cheeks. I lightly shake her shoulder with worry, I hope she hasn't got a fever. She moans and slowly opens her eyes, she also has a dopey smile on her face. "Hello, love," she says seductively.

I raise an eye brow at her. "Are you alright?" I ask.

"Mmhmm, we are alright as long as thou art near," she replies and straddles me.

I blush as she starts rocking back and forth. She moans and then her eyes shoot wide open, as if afraid. "By our stars... we're in heat."

Author's Note

Next Chapter will contain cloppy goodness. (Will be my first time writing clop so lets hope it goes well :rainbowwild: )

As I've stated. Clop chapters will be skippable.

Chapter 18.5: Heat of the Moment (Clop)

Terracana
Chapter 18.5: Heat of the Moment (Clop)

"...We're in heat," Luna says and moans again, still grinding on my crotch.

"Heat?" I ask, blushing furiously.

"I-It means our b-body, ooohh, is ready to breed, and w-we get the urge to m-mate," she tells me and grinds harder. "b-but our cycle should not h-happen aaaahh! F-For another month or two!" she tells me and leans down where she grabs my cheeks and kisses me hard and passionately.

I couldn't help but return the gesture. After a few seconds she breaks away, saliva bridging our lips. "We want thee so badly!" she says and clenches her hands on my shirt.

"But if we were to, mate as you call it, wouldn't you get pregnant?" I ask.

She moans again and her horn glows. I see a soft light over her stomach. "W-We have just m-made ourself infertile for a week... n-now we can m-mate without any w-worries Nnngghh aaahh!" she tells me, grinding even harder.

My erection is fighting to get out of my trousers and get to her. Luna notices this and slides down, she then starts undoing my trousers and pulls them down with my underwear, letting my member free and spring up towards her face. She licks her lips and then starts to lick the tip slowly, savouring the taste.

I go cross eyed and lean my head back, letting out a low groan from the stimulation. She giggles and starts swirling her tongue around the head and then wraps her lips around it. I gasp as she starts to suck and lick, slowly going further down my dick.

She gets half way and then starts bobbing up and down. I place my hands on her head, scratching and rubbing her ears. She moans into my member, causing vibrations to go through it. I gasp and pinch her ears making her groan and take the whole thing into her mouth and just into her throat. She gags for a bit before bobbing up and down the whole length of my cock.

For five minutes she does this, bobbing, sucking, licking, and jerking me off. I try to hold on, but it's too much, I start cumming in her mouth and she moans in delight. After a few seconds, I rest my head on my pillow and pant heavily.

I hear her gulp down my cum. "Thy essence tastes delightful," she says and crawls up my body. Her horn glows and my shirt and her clothes are gone, her hair and tail also return to their natural light blue colour and short style. She sit's on my chest as I feel her slit leaking on me. "We have tasted thee, now thou shall taste us," she says seductively and scoots forward until her dripping sex is right in front of my mouth.

I breath in deeply and close my eyes, she smells like blueberries. I wrap my arms around her thighs and extend my tongue. She gasps and moans as I circle her vulva. "Yesss, more!" she demands.

I give her a long slow lick from base to clit making her moan deeply as she starts grinding her groin on my face. I poke her lips with the tip of my tongue and slip inside her wet slit. "AAAAAHHH!" She screams and grips my hair. I start thrusting my tongue in and out, getting her to moan and encourage me further.

For three minutes I continue to lick, thrust, and suck on her sex. I can feel her trembling, so I wrap my lips over her clit and start sucking and licking rapidly. She screams as she sprays my mouth and chin with her juices. She slides down my body and starts to make out with me like a crazed animal, her tongue is invading my mouth and coiling around mine as we continue to press into the kiss.

She slowly gets up and turns around, bending over on her hands and knees. She moves her tail to the left and exposes her dripping lips to me.

"Hurry, Adrian! Buck us!" she tells me. I'm already hard again and climb up behind her, I line myself up ready to penetrate her.

POV: Luna

I can feel him grip my hips as his tip presses against me. "Don't tease us! Put it inside!" I beg him, my heat driving me insane.

With a grunt, he pushes in and I scream from the pain and pleasure. My mind goes blank as I see spots fill my vision. My walls clench down on his member, trying to pull him in deeper. After a few seconds, I can feel his groin against my rump. My wings shoot out, poking the sides of the tent and my tail wraps around his waist.

"Are you alright, Luna?" he asks me, concern in his tone.

"W-We are just aaaaahh! F-Fine. Just give us a oooh... a m-minute to adjust," I reply. I can feel his stallionhood pulse and throb within me.

After some time I look back at him. "W-We are ready now," I tell him. He nodded and slowly pulls out making me moan in pleasure and lean back to try and keep him inside of me. He then thrusts forward making me scream as he hilts me again. "M-More, Adrian! Rut us!" I beg him.

He grips my flanks and digs his fingers into my cutie-marks while picking up his pace and starts thrusting at a pleasurable speed. "Ooooh, we thought we AAAH! we would never g-get to f-feel Nnnngh! like t-this!" I say as he gently thrusts into my marehood. Wet squelching sounds echo throughout the cavern as his hips slap against my rump.

My arms give out when he starts thrusting faster and harder. He leans over me and uses the base of my wings as hand holds. I scream out in utter bliss as he twists my wing joints, my eyes roll up in the back of my head and my tongue lolls out onto the blanket. My marehood is dripping all over the blanket as he bucks me like a savage beast.

I can feel my peak approaching and clench my teeth. "ADRIAN! WE ARE SO CLOSE! DON'T STOP!" I scream at him and grip the blanket beneath me. My inner walls are clenching and squeezing, trying to coax him into releasing his seed.

I hear him grunt and his thrusting starts to get erratic and after a few more hard thrusts and I feel his essence flood inside me. "NNNGGGHH! WE'RE CUMMING!" I yell out as I clamp down on his shaft, milking every drop I could get as my orgasm makes me shake violently.

After a few seconds he stops cumming but keeps thrusting, making my orgasm last longer.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I pant hard as I slowly pull out of her pussy. She rolls over and holds her arms out lazily so I lean over her where she then hugs me to her chest. "T-That felt amazing," she tells me with a happy smile.

I nodded and nuzzle her cheek. She starts to rub my back with her hands and I start to feel aroused again. I kiss her furiously, she groans and spreads her legs. "Rut us again... please," she asks. I kiss her again and adjust my position. I line up my dick with her slit and push inside making her moan loudly into my mouth and I slowly begin to thrust.

Her warm, wet walls massage my length and pull me in. I lean back and wrap my lips around her left nipple while my right hand gropes her other breast, the fur of her breast is soft and her moans of satisfaction are arousing me further. "Yes, play with our teats! Ooooh!" she says. To my surprise I can taste a warm liquid flowing into my mouth. It's creamy and sweet, which I greedily gulp down.

"Oh! Suckle on our teats, i-it feels Nnngh... so goooood," she says as I continue to thrust into her. Once I drained the left breast, I move onto the right. She holds my head to her breast and starts to nibble on my left ear. I groan in pleasure as I start to thrust faster. "Nnngh... faster! Harder! Buck us harder!" she begs me.

I sit up and grip her ankles where I then begin to hammer into her with all my strength. "Nnnggh, aaaahh! Yes! Ooohh mmmm, more! Aaah. Nngh AAAHH!" she screams her lungs out as I assault her overflowing pussy. Her eyes are rolled up, tongue hanging out, and she's breathing rapidly. Her hands are gripping the blanket like her life depended on it.

I can feel my peak getting close, and it seems she can feel it as well. "ALMOST THERE! DON'T THOU DARE STOP! AAAAAHH!" she screams as she cums, her warm juices soaking my groin. Her pussy grips me like a vice which makes me cum as well, my semen gushes out into her, filling her up some more. "AAAAAHHH! YES! WE LOVE THEE, ADRIAN!" she screams out.

I keep thrusting to prolong her pleasure. After a few more seconds, I stop and rest on top of her, her face is deeply flushed.

I lean over to her right ear. "I love you too," I tell her.

She wraps her arms and wings around me and I return the embrace. We're both sweaty and tired, but she still has the energy to go again as she starts stroking my member.

"Aren't you tired yet?" I ask her.

"Once more? Please?" she asks with a pout.

"Alright, one more go." I reply and lie on my back.

She smiles and straddles me, she then grips my dick and aligns it with her wet puffy lips. She rubs the head teasingly against her pussy making me groan, she then slowly drops down as she spears herself on my shaft.

She moans the entire way down and rests on my hips. "Aaaahh! So big, so deep," she says, rubbing her stomach and starts to bounce on me. Her breasts jiggle all over the place as she rides me. I reach out and grasp both her tits and squeeze them softly, kneading them in my palms. Luna groans loudly at the attention and bounces faster. I lower my left hand and use my thumb to massage her clit which gets her to howl out in pleasure.

"Oh yes! More, Adrian, more!" She praises me and I rub her a little harder. She's clenches her teeth and eyes shut as she cums again, shaking on top of me as I keep thrusting for her.

POV: Luna

Oh buck me! I cum so hard I fall onto my back where Adrian lifts my right leg up and over his left shoulder. He continues to thrust into me, not giving me a chance to rest as he pounds away at my marehood. "Oh, Adrian! Aaaaah!.. Fill us again!" I tell him.

After a few more minutes of rigorous bucking, he groans as he spills his load into me again, making me cum with him. "By our moon! Soooo gooooood~!" I moan out as he twitches and throbs within me, still squirting his seed. After a few seconds of bliss. I feel satisfied and my heat slowly dies down. He pulls out with a wet plop and I cuddle up with him under the cum stained blankets. "We thank thee so much," I whisper to him before falling asleep exhausted.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

Luna falls asleep and I gently stroke her hair. "You're welcome," I whisper back. I turn off the lantern and join her in the land of dreams.

Author's Note

So, how was my first ever clop chapter? was it as good for you as it was me? (smokes a cigarette)

Chapter 19: Castle of the two Sisters

Terracana
Chapter 19: Castle of the two Sisters

I wake up feeling really sticky, I look down and remember what happened last night. Luna is smiling while clinging onto me.

I lay back down and just wait for her to wake up. About half an hour later she yawns and opens her eyes. "Sleep well?" I ask her.

She hums in content. "Very, we feel like a new mare." She sits up and stretches, her chest is exposed as the blanket falls off. She then looks down and sees all the stains. "We think we should go and wash ourselves. There is a river not too far from here we can use," she says standing up.

I join her and we get dressed in our old clothes, no point in dirtying clean ones, I collect a fresh clean set of clothes and follow her out with my sword and stave.

"We thank thee for last night, and apologise if it was sudden. We did not expect our cycle to be so early," she tells me.

"It's alight, I won't lie and say I didn't enjoy it," I reply. She giggles and we keep walking. After five minutes, I hear the sounds of a flowing river.

We arrive and Luna strips down, I also undress and join her in the river. It's not a fast flowing river, but it's flowing at a nice gentle speed.

We laugh and giggle as we scrub each other clean in a teasing manner. After a good ten minutes, we step out and Luna uses her magic to dry us off. We then get dressed in clean clothes and head back to the cave.

Luna opens that bag she brought with her and pulls out a few fruits, bread, butter, a bottle of water, and some tea leaves. I get a couple of tin plates and cups from my pack and hand her one each. We fill our plates with apple, orange, and pear slices, and two pieces of buttered bread. I then boil the water in my pot over a small campfire, once boiled Luna makes us a delicious green tea.

"So what are we doing today?" I ask her and take a bite of my buttered bread.

"We shall try and look for a manticore, we wish to see how thou will do now compared to the one thou fought in Ponyville," she tells me.

"Well, compared to a dragon, this sounds much easier. At least I don't have to go down it's throat to kill it this time," I reply getting a small laugh from her.

We finish our breakfast and put on our armour and weapons, we then head out and begin searching. Luna seems to be following some kind of footprint. "Ah, here we go, manticore tracks," she says and we follow them quietly. Though she has a smile of her face, I think she's having fun with this.

We arrive after two hours of tracking and see a manticore standing outside of a small cave, dropping a carcass of some kind of lizard with a chicken's head inside. It then looks around and spots us. "Alright, Adrian, show us what thou canst do," Luna tells me.

I draw my sword and slowly approach it. The manticore quickly looks at the cave, gives a low growl and then looks back at me. I channel an earth element with two ice elements pulling a fist sized rock off the ground, the floating rock also has four inch long icicles sticking out of it, I release the spell and the manticore jumps to the left. One of the icicles catches its front leg making it roll across the ground.

The manticore gets up and looks at its leg, an icicle broke off and is now embedded in it. It growls at me and flaps it's wings, making it leap at me very quickly. Luna's training kicks in and I teleport behind it, I then channel three lightning elements and spray it at the manticore.

It roars in rage and pain as it spasms from the electricity coursing through it, It quickly shakes it off and pounces at me again. I charge up my mana with no elements and release a large gust of air, lifting the manticore over me and face first into the side of the cave's entrance.

I then spray it with three cold elements to slow its movement, It slowly gets up and I charge up three earth elements, ready to cave its skull in. Just as I'm about to fire, three little manticores look out from inside the cave, frightened and whimpering. I look back at the manticore and flashes of my parents getting killed in front of me make me drop the rock and stumble back.

"Adrian? What art thou doing?" Luna asks me as she walks over.

I frown sadly and turn to her. "I can't do it," I tell her. "It reminds me just how my parents were killed," I say looking back at the young manticores who are now whining next to their injured parent. "Killed in front of me where I was powerless to stop it." The parent has its tail wrapped around it's offspring and glaring at me.

I point my stave at the manticore and cast a healing beam at it, It yelps in surprise but relaxes as the icicle in it's leg gets pushed out and the wound closes, I slowly back away and pull Luna by her arm with me. The manticore keeps watching us as we walk away, once we're a safe distance away, I look back and see it licking it's children affectionately.

"Are thou alright?" Luna asks me.

"I'm fine, but I won't do to others what happened to me, even to wild beasts," I tell her and sit on a fallen tree trunk.

Luna sits beside me and wraps a wing over my shoulders. "Tis okay, we understand. But if it makes thou feel any better. Thou did much better against a manticore this time," she tells me.

I smile and wrap my right arm around her waist. "Thanks," I reply.

We get up and head back to the cave where we do some exercises, sit ups and the like. After two hours pass, we have lunch and get ready for the rest of my training.

One Week Later

During the last week, I've been fighting all sorts of beasts and monsters in the Everfree Forest. I've fought another manticore, but this one was alone this time, and had darker fur than the first one I fought. I've also fought two packs of timberwolves and something called a cockatrice. Luna warned me not to look it in the eyes, but the fight ended in seconds as I blasted it with an fire beam, roasting it in seconds.

Tasted just like chicken though.

I asked her why she wasn't as squeamish as the others about killing and hunting. She told me that long before she was banished, she and her father used to go hunting all the time. Mostly to get rid of dangerous beasts and monsters from attacking their subjects, and thus developed a liking to hunting. She made it clear it was not for food or sport, but protecting innocent ponies who couldn't protect themselves when they attacked.

She told me over the last one-thousand years of so called peace, the guard have gotten lax in their training. That's why she decided to train me herself and not with the current guards training program.

I tried asking about her parents, but she told me she didn't want to talk about it, so I didn't bring it up again.

Luna has also been sending updates to Celestia via letters about what has been going on.

We've also met a zebra named Zecora who lives nearby in the Forest, though her fondness for rhyming everything she says confused me now and then. She let us in her hut for tea and some company, she's a very nice woman despite how she talks.

Luna told me something called Nightmare Night was approaching in a few weeks. A night where children offer some candy to a statue of Nightmare Moon to appease her from eating them instead. Luna didn't look too happy that that's how she was seen over the millennia she was away. I told her I would stay with her if she would go to it or not, that earned me a smile and a kiss.

I've been thinking about what Luna said about courting Celestia, and that she also has feelings for me. I'm still uncertain about having a relationship with more than one woman, but Celestia is a kind and caring person. She gave me a place to stay and free meals. Heck, I even work for her now, earning a nice amount of bits as her's and Luna's knight. I'll wait until we start to head back before I decide anything.

I wake up and yawn while stretching my arms. Luna grumbles as she's splayed out on the mat. Her right leg is over my legs, her left arm is over her head while her right is wrapped around me. Ever since our intimate moment, she's been more of a cuddle bug than she used to be.

Not that I'm complaining.

I lightly shake her awake and she grumbles. "Five more minutes, sister... five more... minutes," she falls back to sleep and I chuckle. She then wraps me with both her arms and legs and sighs. What am I now? A hugging pillow? Again... not complaining.

I lightly kiss her forehead and her eyes slowly open. She yawns and smiles at me. "Good morning, Adrian," she says and stretches like a cat.

"So what's on the agenda today?" I ask her.

"Today we shall make our way to our old Castle. Last time we were there, we were freed from our corruption... we would like to see what has become of our old home," she tells me.

We get dressed and have breakfast. Our supplies are down to half, but there's plenty left to last us another week, although I've been getting a nice supply of meat and fish from the Forest. Once finished, we equip our gear and head into the Everfree Forest. Most of the Creatures have been avoiding us now due to our hunting.

We arrive at an old rope bridge going across a deep chasm, Luna flies over while I slowly make my way across. A couple of the boards break away giving me heart attacks, but I get across safely.

We walk over to a decrepit looking Castle ruin. Chunks of the walls and ceiling are missing and the windows are shattered, plant life has covered a lot of the wall from moss to vines, Luna looks upset at the state of the Castle. We carefully enter and look around, it's definitely smaller than Canterlot's Castle. We walk into the Throne Room where Luna says this is where she was freed. I can see scorch marks on the floor near the back window.

She then leads me through the Castle. The Library looks mostly cleared out, a few books lay scattered and in very bad condition. She walks over to one of the bookshelves and presses a hidden button which makes a small compartment pop open. She pulls an old looking book out from the hidden compartment.

"What's that?" I ask.

"Tis our diary from before our... incident. We hid it here since our sister kept reading it in our room," she says. Her horn glows and it disappears.

She then leads me to the armoury, everything that was left is all rusted or mouldy. I pick up a sword off the floor, only for the blade to just drop off. I place the hilt on a table and look around some more. I notice a faint red glow coming from under a pile of rubble in the back corner. I spend the next three minutes lifting and throwing the rubble out of the way.

Underneath is a shield with similar colours to my armour with the Princesses marks on it. In the top middle inside of the shield is a large ruby, but its cracked all the way through. I pick up the shield and the ruby falls out in pieces, the glow fades away with it.

"Luna, what's this?" I ask her.

She turns her attention from the old gem rod she's hold to the shield. "Where did thou find that?" she asks surprised.

"Under the rubble here," I tell her.

She walks over and examines it. "This is the shield that goes with thy armour. Where is the ruby that was inlaid to it?" she asks me.

I just look down and she follows my gaze. "Oh," she says with a frown.

"Could that amethyst in my pack fit into this?" I ask.

"Mayhap, once it is cut to the correct shape, but we thought thou wanted to use the gem for a staff?" she asks.

"Well, the inside of this shield looks like it was wood, it'll need replacing, but I thought the rose wood could be used to repair this shield. The gem would still act as a focal point, though how much it will amplify my spells will have to be seen. Besides, I've seen mages use shields before. Could work with this as well," I reply.

"If thou art sure. Now then, let us head to the next area of the Castle," she tells me and I hook the shield onto my back.

We head down some unsafe looking stairs into what looks like a basement. A few pieces of ruined furniture litter the floor and a large rusted metal door lies at the end.

"This is the artefact vault, it looks like it has not been opened since our banishment," she says and places her right hand on the door. Her horn glows and the door screeches as it unlocks and it slowly opens, we cover our ears and grit our teeth at the painful noise.

Once opened enough for us to enter, it stops, much to our relief. We step inside and Luna looks confused. "Over half of the artefacts are missing, and the rest seem powerless now," she says.

I pick up a dusty hand mirror from one of the tables and wipe it clean, it has silver embroidery at the base of the mirror. 'I wonder what Celestia is up to right now, she's probably bored out her mind.' I think to myself. I feel my mana being drained as it's surface ripples. I go wide eyed as I can see Celestia on her throne from above, talking to the Nobles and other people seeking help. "Errr, Luna... what's this?" I ask.

She walks over and gasps. "How art thou activating it? We never figured out what this mirror did," she says looking over my shoulder.

I notice Celestia looking around as if she heard something. "Hmmm, hey, Celestia!" I shout to her. Celestia gasps and looks up, her eyes widen as she looks at me. "I wonder if I can make it get closer to her," I think out aloud. As if hearing me, the mirror seems to respond and moves in front of her.

"Adrian?.. How are you doing this?" Celestia asks, she seems to look behind me and gasps. "You're in our old Castle's Vault?" she asks me in surprise.

"Greetings, sister. Yes, we are in the old Vaults, we wish to discuss some important matters with thou when we return," Luna tells her.

I can hear quiet whispering in the Throne Room. I make the mirror turn around and see a line of people just staring back. "Oh, right," I say and turn it back to Celestia. "We'll leave you to your business then, see you later, Celestia," I say and put the mirror back on the table.

"That was very interesting," Luna says and picks it up, but nothing happens. "How did thou get it working?" she asks me.

"I just picked it up, wondered what Celestia was doing, and felt my mana being drained into it," I tell her.

Her horn glows and it sticks to the back of her waist. "Then we shall take it back with us so we can have it looked at," she replies. The rest of the artefacts did nothing and were just useless objects now, whatever magic they once contained must have faded away over the years.

For the next three hours we explore the rest of the Castle. Luna checked her old room to find it bare and empty, the Dining Hall was completely overgrown with vines and moss, and the Servants Quarters was totally destroyed and inaccessible.

We leave the Castle where Luna takes one last look at it. "Let us return to camp, we believe we could have some lunch," she tells me.

My stomach rumbles in agreement, making her laugh. We start to head back when four loud roars makes me look behind us, a giant four headed long necked lizard stares at us with hungry eyes from over the treetops.

"Luna... what is that?" I ask.

"A hydra," she replies wide eyed.

"And how do we kill it," I ask again.

"We don't, RUN!" she says as the hydra charges at us.

Chapter 20: Fuck the Nobility

Terracana
Chapter 20: Fuck the Nobility

"RUN!" Luna tells me and starts flying over the chasm. I follow behind her and get to the bridge, I try to get across it as fast as I can, but one of the boards breaks away leaving my leg dangling down. The hydra looks like its smirking as two of its heads bite through the ropes holding the bridge up.

The bridge falls down and swings to the other side while I grip the ropes tightly with wide eyes. A few seconds later, I slam into the cliff face and almost lose my grip. The hydra seems not too happy that I'm still hanging on and roars at me. I frown at it and channel two earth elements which rips out a large rock from the canyon's wall and a fire element, I charge it up as the hydra is looking for a way to get to me. I cast the spell at its second head where it knocks it out and blasts the other two heads besides it with flames.

It roars again in rage and pain. I climb the bridge like a ladder and once on top, I turn back to the hydra who looks like it's throwing a tantrum. I channel three arcane elements and fire the beam at it's chest. It starts to bloat and blister, but then quickly heals the damage.

I frown and then I channel an earth element with two air elements. I've only tested this one out a couple of times before while practising with the air element, but it's supposed to make some sort of magic air blade shuriken. A rock the size of my fist hovers in front of my stave with what looks like a saw blade of air spinning around it about a foot long.

I charge up the spell and fire it at the neck of the third head, I grin as the air blade cuts through and chops the head off.

"STOP! Thou will just make it worse!" Luna tells me.

I look at her confused and then hear a nasty sound of ripping flesh and gurgling liquid coming from the hydra. The part of the neck that remains splits down the middle where another two necks and heads regrow.

"Arg... that's nasty," I say and cringe.

The hydra roars and starts biting parts of the ruined Castle and throws them at us. Luna takes to the air while I teleport out of the way.

I frown at the hydra but get an idea, I continue to cast the air shuriken spell again and again, cutting off heads while dodging the incoming boulders.

"Will thou stop this instant! Thy plan is not working..." she trails off as she looks at the hydra. It must have about thirty heads now and can't seem to move, where was it getting all of this extra mass from?

"I'd say it is," I reply with a smirk. It has so many heads now that its body can't handle the extra weight, it also looks like it's struggling to breath but still glares at me.

I notice it's quite close to the edge of the chasm so I start blasting the cliff face under it with rocks, Luna then joins in with her own magic. It finally gives way and the hydra tumbles down the chasm roaring with all thirty heads. That sound alone will probably give me nightmares.

I release a breath I didn't know I was holding in and sit down exhausted. 'Thank you Luna for the training and ass kicking you gave me,' I think to myself with a smile as Luna lands beside me.

"How did thou know that would work?" she asks me.

I pant and look at her. "It's just common sense... if it regrew two heads every time one is cut off, then that is its major weakness. You just make it grow so many heads until it can't support them anymore," I tell her. "Can it regrow other parts like organs and limbs?" I ask her.

"Yes, that's what makes it so dangerous, they can regenerate their scales, limbs and organs as many times they want, although not their heart, but its heart is covered in a thick layer of muscle and bone, so it would be near impossible to reach," she replies.

"How common are hydras here?" I ask and stand up.

"Not that many, they tend to live alone and near the bog, unless looking for a mate," she replies.

"Good, I don't want to do that again... I don't have the mana for it..." I say and stretch. My right arm is sore from where I hit the cliff side. "Can we go back to Canterlot now? Though the camping was fun... I'm really tired of this Forest," I ask her.

"Very well, with the dragon and now the hydra, thou has proven thy strength and wit," she tells me.

We head back to the camp with no problems and begin packing everything up.

"So, has thou thought of what thee will say to our sister?" Luna asks me.

I frown and look back to her. "I'm not going to lie. Celestia is beautiful, kind, and a great friend, but won't me courting her as well as you cause problems between us?" I reply.

Luna giggles at me. "Thou are still thinking like thee art still in thy own world. Remember, here in Equestria, stallions can have around three to five partners and live in harmony together," she tells me.

I sigh and look down in thought. What would I have to lose by just asking? And if it doesn't work out, we can still be friends... I look back at Luna with a smile. "Alright, I'll ask her when we get back," I say.

"Wonderful, though I recommend asking her in private as not to embarrass her in front of the Nobles... or thou can ask her in front of them, we would love to see their looks of shock," she tells me.

"Sure," I reply with a smirk and take down the tent.

Once all packed Luna says we should head back to Ponyville and wait for a carriage to come get us. We then start walking along the path back to town passing by Zecora who is picking some plants, Luna also teases me about how I'll ask Celestia out along the way.

We make it to the edge of town where I can see a small homely cottage to the left and the town to the right. We walk into town straight to Twilight's Library while Luna greets some people along the way, though some people try to avoid us. I guess they still fear Luna or remember what I did to that manticore a month ago... our armour and weapons probably don't help either...

After a few minutes of walking, we arrive and I knock on the door. "Thou does know this is a public Library, correct?" Luna asks me.

"Yes, but it's still her home," I reply as the door opens.

It's Spike who looks up at us. "Oh.. hi, Adrian, Princess," he says with a bow to Luna.

"Is Twilight in?" I ask.

"Na, she's out over at Rarity's helping her with something," he replies.

"Oh, can we wait here until a carriage comes for us?" I ask him.

"Sure, make yourselves at home," he says and opens the door fully.

Luna and I walk in and sit on the couch next to each other, she then summons a piece of parchment, some ink, a quill, and writes the letter to Celestia.

"So where have you guys been? And why all the armour?" Spike asks.

"Hmm? Oh, we were in the Everfree Forest doing some training," I reply.

"Cool, did you fight any monsters?" he asks again.

"A few, but they weren't that tough," I reply. I think I'll refrain from mentioning the dragon.

A flash of light besides me tells me Luna sent her letter. "And done, we just have to wait for the carriage to arrive," Luna tells me.

Spike goes back to cleaning the already clean looking Library while I turn to Luna with a question that's been on my mind. "So once we get back, will you continue training me or will you give me some sort of program to follow?" I ask her.

"We must return to our duties unfortunately, but yes, we will give you a list of exercises and tasks to perform. Mayhap thou can teach the guard once thou art stronger, heavens knows they need it," she replies with a roll of her eyes at the end.

We make plans for the coming week while we wait. I'll ask Celestia to court her while Luna takes over court duties for the week to let Celestia have some time off. I'll train in the evenings while I, in Luna's own words, woo Celestia in the mornings.

The carriage arrives five minutes or so after we finished planning. I open the door for Luna as well as help her up into the carriage, much to her amusement.

She leans against me on the way back in silence. We arrive and Luna's horn glows, she's now in her black and silver trimmed dress, her armour, bags, and the mirror are now gone, along with the bow and shield I was carrying. I step off and hold out my hand to help her down. She smiles and we head into the Castle.

There's a long line of people waiting to enter the Throne Room. I can hear a few of them sniff the air and look at me with wide eyes.

I just raise an eyebrow at them and enter the Throne Room right behind Luna. Celestia looks really ragged, her hair isn't flowing as much as before and there's dark bags under her eyes, but she instantly perks up at seeing us.

"Sister, Adrian. I'm glad to see you back unharmed, but I thought you would be away for another week?" she asks.

"Adrian has proven himself after defeating a hydra in a most interesting way," Luna replies.

"I see. You'll have to tell me about it later, as you can see, I'm rather busy at the moment," Celestia says with an intrigued expression and then looks at the line.

"Nonsense, we shall take over court for the week," Luna says and elbows me, nodding in Celestia's direction.

I sigh and close my eyes. Well, here goes nothing. I walk up to Celestia and kneel before her, she raises an eyebrow at me with a confused expression. "Princess Celestia, would you do me the honour of going on a date with me?" I ask her.

Her eyes go wide and the people in line gasp. I hold my right hand out, palm facing up. She looks at my hand and then at my eyes. I can see tears forming just at the sides of her eyes and a small smile on her face.

Just as she was about to reach out, the Nobles chose right then to ruin the moment.

"How dare you ask such a thing of the Princess!" a very old looking man shouts out.

"The Princess would never degrade herself for some commoner like you!" a women says angrily.

"The thought of both Princesses courting a savage like you is sacrilege!" another yells.

"The Princess is too pure to be tainted by anypony, much less somepony like you!"

More and more insults and objections are said. I frown at the Nobles then look at Luna who looks enraged at being essentially told she's worth less than Celestia, I then look at Celestia... to see her head down, hair blocking her face... silently crying...

I snap.

I draw my sword with an angry roar and without even thinking of the consequences, channel five arcane elements through the blade. A large swirling sinister blood red and black aura surrounds the sword and I swing it in front of the person at the front of the line. The energy rips apart the marble floor, leaving red and black energy to seep out of the cut floor like a mild flame. The man at the front and the others behind him stumble back with screams of terror.

My right arm is throbbing in pain and has a few blisters along it from channelling more arcane energy than I could handle, but I ignore it as I hang my head down with my eyes closed.

"Celestia and Luna are just like anyone else, living breathing people with wants and desires like you or me. You can insult me all you want, I don't give a damn what you fucking snobs think of me, but belittle Luna or make Celestia cry again with your pathetic selfish attitudes..." I say emotionlessly and lift my head to glare at them. "... you'll answer to me," I threaten them. They as well as Luna gasp at me, I look down and see my reflection on the polished marble floor under my feet.

The whites of my eyes are black and my irises are blood red, I frown and close my eyes at the reflection with a shake of my head. I look again to see my eyes are back to normal.

I then look up and glare back at the Nobles. "Get out," I simply say.

They quickly leave the Throne Room without looking back, the guards still in the room look confused and on edge. Once they're all gone, I drop my sword and grip my right arm as it goes limp with my left hand. My arm is in too much pain to hold it any longer. I sit down and channel two life elements into my right arm and slowly heal it.

"A-Adrian? Are thou alright?" Luna asks me, placing a hand on my shoulder, her anger now gone, replaced with concern.

I sigh and look up at her. "I don't know... fuck the Nobility," I reply and Luna agrees.

Once healed, I turn to Celestia who is quietly sobbing into her hands where I gently warp her in a hug. "I'm sorry I lost my temper like that," I tell her.

She hugs me back and calms down. "It has been centuries since anypony has treated me as just another mare, but as somepony too high to reach, untouchable, or they're just not worth my time," she tells me and Luna joins in on the hug.

"You and Luna are the first friends I've had in years... right now, you two mean more to me than anything else..." I tell her. I then look back at the damage I caused to the Throne Room floor. "Sorry about the floor," I apologise.

She giggles a little. "It's alright, and thank you." Her horn glows and the floor slowly repairs itself.

"So... how about it? Still want to go on that date?" I ask her again with a smile and let her go.

I wipe her eyes with a thumb and she smiles at me. "I'd love to."

Chapter 21: A Date with the Sun

Terracana
Chapter 21: A Date with the Sun

"So... how about it? Still want to go on that date?" I ask her again with a smile and let her go.

I wipe her eyes with a thumb and she smiles at me. "I'd love to," she replies.

"Wonderful, we shall take over the court tomorrow since somepony adjourned it for the rest of the day," Luna says smirking at me.

"Good, it means Celestia can get some rest and I can plan for the date tomorrow," I reply.

Celestia then yawns with her right hand over her mouth. "I could do with some rest right now," she says tiredly.

I smile, pick up my sword, sheathe it, and pick Celestia up bridal style. She yelps from the sudden action but wraps her arms around my neck and starts to giggle.

I then look at Luna. "I'll see you later tonight, Luna. Just gotta get this one to her room first," I tell her with a chuckle and head for the door.

"Yes, we shall see thee tonight," she replies and stifles a laugh.

I leave the Throne Room and begin heading to Celestia's room. "This is the first time anypony has carried me like this besides my parents, this is nice," Celestia says and rests her head on my chest plate. "What made you ask me to court you?" she asks.

"Mainly Luna's idea, but she told me that men here can have multiple partners due to the male to female ratio. She also told me you have feelings for me, so I decided to give it a chance. You're beautiful, kind, gentle, and a great friend. I didn't see a reason not to try," I tell her.

She hums softly and just relaxes. The guards and maids are all staring at us as we pass by with blank expressions. I reach her room and Celestia opens the door with her magic, I walk in and before I could place her on the bed, she gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you," she says and smiles.

I return the smile and place her down on the bed where her horn glows and she's now in a light pink nightgown... I wish I could change clothes and armour that fast. I tuck her in and kiss her just below her horn.

"Sleep well, Celestia," I say and start walking to the door.

"You can call me Tia if you want," she says looking at me.

"Sure, goodnight, Tia," I reply and exit the room.

I still have about four hours till I have to go to bed myself so I head over to the Archives to see what I can learn about the gryphons. Since their blatant declaration of war, they've been rather quiet with only a few raids, it wouldn't hurt to find out what I can about them...

Three Hours and Thirty Minutes Later

After three hours I finish reading the last book on my pile. Records state that the gryphons have a natural resistance to the magic from the planet and can greatly reduce the damage or effect they take, but there's something that is bothering me... how are they resistant to my magic if it's not from this world? Also the books say they're still damaged and effected by magic but just not by much, the ones I fought were practically immune to mine and the Princesses magic... I've got a bad feeling about what could be behind it.

The gryphon Capital of Aires Peak lies to the north west of Equestria on the other side of the Badlands. The council that governs them is on the tallest mountain in the middle of the kingdom.

The council consists of ten elders who vote, decide, and make the laws of the land. They also handle national threats and their army as well. They were formed after the last king died without any heirs to take the throne.

I've also looked at biology books showing what organs they have, muscles structure, and potential weaknesses. It seems they can't reach their own backs with their talons, but can with their beaks. That's something to look forward to should I find myself on the back of one.

I then spent thirty minutes thinking of where to take Celestia on our date. Once planed, I place the books back on their shelves and head to Luna's room and knock on the door. "Enter," Luna says.

I open the door and close it behind me. "So what have you been up to?" I ask her.

She sighs. "Trying to calm the Nobles down for the last three hours after thy little... rebuke. They're demanding thy head for thine actions against them," she tells me.

I huff and walk over to Luna sitting on the bed while stripping my armour. "If they want my head, they can come and get it themselves. I'm not afraid of their empty threats," I reply.

"That may be true, but it appears Blueblood is getting them riled up. If this continues, there may well be a riot on our hands," she tells me.

"How come you and Celestia have allowed them to be this arrogant?" I ask her.

"It was not always this way, they used to be kind and helped others with their status and wealth. It would seem during our absence, they've grown selfish and arrogant, thinking they're better than anypony else." She sighs and shakes her head. "It saddens us to see they have fallen so far."

"So, is there anyway to change them? Or is it a lost cause?" I ask.

"It would probably take years to adjust their attitudes. Only a few of the families remain loyal to the old ways, like sir Fancy Pants and his wife," she replies.

I yawn and nodded. "Well, I think I have a good plan ready for Celestia tomorrow. Maybe I'll wear that suit I never got to wear for the Gala." I say and lay down on the bed.

Luna changes into her nightgown and we go to sleep.

I wake up and get ready for the day. I get dressed into my black suit with silver cuffs, light blue shirt, and dress shoes. Luna wears her black dress with silver trimming and heads out for breakfast. I on the other hand, will be taking Celestia out for breakfast today. I grab a pouch with two hundred bits inside and my sword and leave the room. I may be taking her out, but I'm still her knight.

I walk down the hall to Celestia's room and knock on the door, the door opens with a golden aura around the handle. I see Celestia sitting in front of a table with a mirror on it, her hair isn't her usual multi pastel coloured wavy hair, but light pink that goes down the middle of her back. She's smiling while brushing her hair.

"You seem to be in a good mood," I say.

She stops brushing and looks at me. "And why wouldn't I be? I haven't gone on a date in over eight hundred years," she replies with a giggle.

"Well, I think I have a nice day planned out for you," I tell her. "Shall I wait outside?" I ask.

"No, you can wait here," she replies and finishes her hair, she then gets up and enters her closet. I wait for a few minutes and she comes back out in a sky blue dress with white and gold patterns on it, her hair is still light pink.

"Looking good," I tell her.

"Thank you, you're looking rather charming yourself," she replies with a smile. "So what do you have planned for today?" she asks.

"Well first, I'm going to take you to a nice café for breakfast, then we can go and visit Twilight and have lunch at Sugarcube Corner. After that we can come back for any activity you want to do, then we'll go for a romantic dinner at some fancy restaurant of your choice, and lastly, a relaxing walk through the park," I tell her. To be honest, I couldn't really think of anything else since I've never been on a properly planned date before.

She just smiles at me. "Sounds lovely. Well then, shall we be off?" she asks.

I hold out my left arm and she hooks her right arm around it. We leave the Castle with many a guard, maid, noble, and even the average civilian staring at us wide eyed and slack jawed.

We arrive at the Golden Roast Café and I greet Mocha. "Good morning, Mocha! I see you're busy today," I say. The customers that see us stop eating and just stare at us, which we just ignore.

She's facing away from us as she's making a drink for another customer. "Yeah! Been hectic all morning... but I'm doing well!" she replies and turns around, her smile instantly vanishes and her eyes widen. "P-P-Princess Celestia!" she says and once again trips over herself.

I chuckle as she gets back up with a sheepish grin. "H-How can I help you?" she asks Celestia.

"We'd like a table for two," Celestia replies.

"R-Right!" Mocha nervously says and looks around, there's a table in the back unoccupied. "Okay! Follow me please." We're lead to a table with comfortable chairs with a vase of fresh roses in the centre of the table.

We sit down and make our orders. I get a mixed salad with dressing, a few pieces of toast and a glass of orange juice. Celestia has prench toast, something called a sunday strata and a glass of water.

We eat as she tells me how she was doing over the time Luna was training me. The nobles and civilians have been asking her for advice and requests, and just like when I was with them, some... well mostly all of the nobles had unreasonable requests, some even demanded them.

"I asked Luna this, but why do you allow them to act like this? In Terra, the King would never allow such behaviour from the kingdom's so called elite," I ask her.

"I'm afraid that would be my fault. Luna was the one who kept them in line, but when she was... sent away, they took advantage of my kindness and while I denied most of their outlandish requests, they began acting like they were the ones running Equestria," she tells me and sighs.

"Well now that Luna is back, can't she just put them back in line?" I ask.

"She's already tried that and Blueblood even sided with her, he used to be a well respected member of the nobility like Fancy Pants. But just three months ago, he's gotten really... egotistic," she tells me.

Wait... Blueblood used to be a nice guy? "What made him change so drastically?"

"He went to Manehatten for a conference with the nobility there, though when he came back, he was different," she says. What the hell happened to him in Manehatten that would change him like this? "We never found out why he's changed so much, but now the nobility seems to be siding with him," she tells me.

I frown at that, I hope Night Blade can find something soon.

We finish our breakfast and I pay the bill of thirty-two bits. The other customers act like they weren't watching us, but they're doing a poor act of showing it. We head back to the Castle where we get a Carriage to take us to Ponyville.

Celestia leans against me in the carriage with a smile as she looks out the window. We land in the town square where everyone bows down to Celestia as I help her out.

"Princess!" I hear Twilight shout as she jogs over to us. "Why are you here? I didn't receive any letters saying you were coming," she asks.

"I'm here on a date with Adrian," she bluntly answers with a smile.

I swear I heard the sound of a string snap. I look at Twilight to see her pupils have shrunk and her hair has a few strands sticking out. "A-A-A d-date?" she stutters.

"Why yes. Adrian asked me to court him yesterday, and I agreed," Celestia replies.

"Eh heh, he he," Twilight laughs with a creepy smile.

"Is she alright?" I ask Celestia with a small chuckle as I wave a hand in front of Twilight's face.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," she replies with a giggle of her own.

Twilight then shakes her head and looks at me. "Y-You're courting both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" she asks me.

I open my mouth to answer, only to have someone jump on my back. I see sky blue arms wrap around my neck. "Whoa dude! You bagged both Princesses? You're a real mares guy ain't cha," Rainbow says teasingly.

"Rainbow! How many times have I told you not to jump on ponies like that?" Twilight scolds her.

"Ah he's fine, big strong guy like him can take a lot more than a little jump," Rainbow replies offhandedly.

"Yeah but his suit can't!" Twilight says. I look over my shoulder and see a tear in the seam.

"Oops," was all Rainbow says as she lets go. "Sorry!" she quickly apologises.

I look more closely as the entire sleeve just drops off. Bugger, and Luna got me this suit too.

The sleeve glows gold and slithers back onto my arm and reattaches itself to my shoulder. Wow, is there nothing Celestia can't fix?

I turn to Celestia. "Thanks, Tia," I say to her. I hear Rainbow sigh in relief behind me.

"Tia?" Twilight asks.

"So, Twilight. How has your spell been coming along?" I ask her.

"Oh, erm..." she says and looks at Celestia. I look at Celestia and see her nod at Twilight. "Well, It's almost ready. A few kinks left but it should be ready soon," she tells me.

"Nice, and what does it do?" I ask again.

"It's..." She looks at Celestia who nodded again. "It's a portal to your world," she tells me.

A portal... to Terra? "Why would you want to make a portal to Terra?" I ask confused.

"Well, if we can make a stable portal with your Capital. We could try and make trade agreements and an alliance with your King. We can trade knowledge and resources, even aid each other in battle," Celestia tells me.

"But what if someone decides to take advantage and invades you instead? Terra isn't all sunshine and rainbows like Equestria seems to be. There are some who would take what you have for themselves," I warn her.

"Then we just close the portal and never open it again. Having more allies like you would be a great help should the gryphons decide a full on invasion," she replies.

I sigh, she has a point. If we can get the Reymorian army to back us up, the gryphons would have a really hard time fighting back. From what I've seen, they don't have firearms here. Dwarven snipers and gunners could easily pick off the gryphons.

"Alright, I see your point, we can talk about it later. Right now, we have a date to continue," I tell her and she smiles.

We head back to the Library where Twilight makes us some tea and tells me how she started making the portal. She collected some samples of my magic from the residual traces of ice and water from when I demonstrated my magic for her. She then found a matching signal after Celestia sent her Starswirl's unfinished long range teleportation spell.

Pretty clever, I gotta admit.

She then tells us how she and her friends are doing so far. They have all the plans ready for Nightmare Night and their costumes all picked out... maybe I should get myself a costume, have it match with Luna's.

Celestia and Twilight go over some more details about the portal and I ask how will they know where to open the portal. They tell me I'll be there to confirm the location before they send an ambassador to the King to relocate the portal to an Equestrian Embassy. They've really planned this out.

Four hours pass and my stomach protests at me. "I think it's time we get some lunch," Celestia says with a giggle. Why do they always laugh at my stomach?

We leave the Library and head over to Sugarcube Corner, greeting the towns folk along the way. Once we arrive, I open the door and allow them in first. We sit at a table and wait for Pinkie to finish serving a customer.

After she's done she skips over to us. "Hi, Adrian, Twilight, Princess! What can I get for ya?" she greets and asks us.

"I would like a slice of your delicious banana split cake with a vanilla milkshake please," Celestia orders.

"I'll have two cupcakes, a slice of cheese cake, and a bottle of cherry soda," Twilight orders.

"I'll have the same as Celestia please," I say.

"Alrighty! That'll be twenty-two bits," Pinkie says and I pay her. "Thanks. I'll be right back in a jiffy." She then goes through the door behind the counter.

"So, Adrian. How did you ask the Princess to court you," Twilight asks. I told her what happened with the nobles and she looked shocked. "They really said all that?" she asks appalled.

"Yes, but I think I put them in their place. They certainly won't be saying those things in front of me again, that is if they know what's best for them," I reply.

"Still, it was sweet of you to carry the Princess to her room like that. It's like Rarity would say, you're her knight in shining armour," Twilight says with a giggle. Celestia smiles with slightly red cheeks.

Pinkie returns with our orders and places them in front of us. "Here you go, enjoy!" she says and skips back behind the counter.

We eat our tasty meals and then head out the door. "So what are you going to do now?" Twilight asks.

"We're going to head back to Canterlot for whatever Tia wants to do," I tell her.

"Oh... alright. Will we see you at Nightmare Night?" she asks.

"Yeah, I'll be coming with Luna," I reply.

"Great! We'll see you then, it was a pleasure seeing you again, Princess. I'll get back to work on the portal right now," Twilight says and starts walking away.

"Take your time, Twilight. There's no rush," Celestia tells her.

We head back to the square and take the carriage back to Canterlot after bidding the town farewell. We land in the courtyard and head into the City.

"So where are we going?" I ask her.

"I'd like to go to the Opera House and listen to some music," she replies. That sounds pretty nice.

We walk through the streets where people bow to Celestia and the nobles glare at me. I just glare back making them back off and scurry away.

We arrive at a grand looking circular building with pillars and stain glass windows. We enter without payment and are escorted to the Royal Box. I wanted to pick up a few drinks and snacks, but Celestia tells me we can just have them brought to us.

We sit in the two chairs here and I look down at the orchestra. I can see Lyra sitting on the left side with a harp or lyre in her hands. She looks around the crowd and then looks up at us, I wave at her and she waves back with a smile. The conductor then tells her off and she snaps back to attention, making us laugh.

After a few minutes of waiting and tea brought to us, the orchestra begins to play.

The orchestra stands and takes a bow once it's over and the crowd applauded, us included. Lyra gives me another little wave which I return.

"Would you like to go say hello to her?" Celestia asks.

"Sure, would be nice to know hows she's doing after the alley incident," I reply.

We head back down and meet the orchestra backstage. Lyra sees me and drags a grey woman with black hair and purple eyes wearing a long black dress with a pink bow tie around her neck over to me.

"Hey, Adrian! This is the guy I told you about, Tavi!" Lyra greets me and says to the grey woman.

"Hello, Lyra. How have you been doing since you know when?" I ask her.

She smiles at me. "Much better! It seems he hasn't tried asking me again since then," she replies.

"So you're the one who saved Lyra from that creep?" the grey woman asks.

Time to throw in the 'ol charm. "That I am ma'am, and I must say that was a wonderful performance from the both of you," I reply with a slight nod of my head.

Lyra leans over to the grey woman. "Told you he's a charmer," she whispers.

The grey woman lightly giggles. "That he is. My name is Octavia Melody, but my friends call me Tavi," she introduces herself while holding her hand out.

I shake her hand. "A pleasure. My name is Adrian Stormsword," I reply.

"I know who you are, Sir Knight. Especially after what you did to the nobles yesterday," she says and giggles again.

"Yes... that. Well they had it coming to them. To be honest, I'm surprised no one else gave them a kick in the ass yet," I say.

"Well, when one has enough power and bits to make your life a living Tartarus, one does not tend to tempt such actions," she says with a sigh.

"The nobility really threaten people like that?" I ask. Shouldn't be too surprising really.

She sadly nodded. "Yes, my own parents had one of our servants, Silver Plate, exiled from Canterlot just because I made friends with her, said I shouldn't mingle with commoners. That's when I left my home and moved to Ponyville, I've even hired Silver Plate as a maid. It's also where I met Lyra and joined the Canterlot orchestra with her," she tells me.

These nobles really seem out of hand. I'll worry about them later, today is for Celestia.

"I see. I'll see what I can do about them later with Luna, but right now, I have a date to finish with Celestia," I say and bow to them.

"Wait... you're dating the Princess?" Octavia says looking stunned.

"That I am, and I believe it is time for dinner. So I bid you ladies a pleasant evening," I say and hold out my arm to Celestia. She hooks her right arm around my left and we leave the stunned people behind.

"So where would you like to go for dinner?" I ask Celestia.

"Hmmmm. There is a place I have been meaning to visit for a while now," she says and she leads me to a rather unexpected place.

"Really?" I ask her while staring at the building.

"Why not? I'm not a Princess for today, and I've never tried food like this before," she replies.

I chuckle and open the door for her. She thanks me and enters, we walk up to the counter where a woman in a red and black uniform and a cap just stares at us shocked. "W-Welcome to the Hay Bale. C-Can I t-take your order?" she asks nervously.

Of all the restaurant's Celestia could choose from, she picks a fast food place. "Yes, I'd like a hay burger with a side of hay fries and a colt-a-cola please," Celestia orders.

I just smile, looking at the menu. "I'll have a potato veggie burger with a side salad and a colt-a-cola as well," I order.

"R-Right, that'll be s-sixteen bits p-please." I hand her the bits and she heads off, yelling at the people in the back who just realize they should be working and not staring.

We wait for a minute or two and our order is ready. "H-Here you go. We h-hope you enjoy your m-meal," she says still nervous with a slight bow. We thank her and head to a table.

More then half of the people here are staring at us, being royalty seems like a right pain in the ass. I wonder if the King of Reymorah has to deal with this as well?

Celestia takes a bite out of her burger and smiles. "This is rather nice," she says and takes another bite. I chuckle and eat my own.

"So what made you pick this place over a fancy restaurant?" I ask.

"I've always been curious about this type of food. I just never had the time to go and try it," she says and munches on her fries.

"I like this side of you," I tell her. "No stress, worries, or cares. Enjoying yourself just like anyone else," I say.

"It has been centuries since I've been able to. With my parents and Luna gone. I had hardly any time to myself and even then I was invited to social gatherings and paperwork most of the time," she replies.

"Well not anymore. From now on, both you and Luna will have the weekend off unless something important comes up. Two days just for yourselves, and if the nobles don't like it? Then they'll just have to deal with me," I tell her.

Celestia smiles at me. "Thank you, that does sound like a good idea. All this time I thought my duty was to Equestria, even if it meant my own desires didn't matter," she says looking down, her smile fading.

I gently lift her chin with my right hand. "Never think your happiness is meaningless. Just because you're a Princess, doesn't mean you can't be happy like everyone else," I tell her.

She smiles again and I can see tears in the corner of her eyes. She leans forwards and gives me a light kiss. I hear gasps around us but ignore them.

I return the small kiss and stroke her cheek. "So, how about that walk in the park?" I ask her.

"That would be delightful," she replies and we head out after finishing our food.

We're walking through the park and Celestia entwines her right hand with my left. After an hour of strolling, her horn glows brightly and the sun begins to set.

"Still amazes me that you can do that," I tell her.

"We can only do it since we are alicorns and that it is our special talents," she says showing me the mark on the back of her left hand. "We don't actually move them by force, we communicate with the sun and moon and with our magic, guide them across the sky," she says.

"Wow, still amazing though. My planet Terra circles the sun while the moon circles Terra all on their own," I tell her.

"Unfortunately, that is not possible here. The sun's gravitational pull is just as strong as the planets. Should I or Luna stop guiding it, it would most likely drift off into the stars, leaving Equis to die, and should the moon lose our guidance, it would fall to the surface, destroying all life with it."

"Then how has Luna been guiding the moon when she was banished?" I ask.

"I've had to take that responsibility myself. So that was another factor of me having less time for myself as I needed more magic to guide both, requiring me to sleep longer," she replies. "But now that my sister has returned, she has taken over the moon once again."

"That's good," I say. We stop and sit on a bench near a pond, colourful fish can be seen swimming in it.

"Thank you for today. I haven't had a good time like this in a long while," she says and leans against me.

"You're welcome. Don't forget, you still have the rest of the week off as well," I tell her.

She giggles, and looks at me. She leans forward and I do the same, but something hitting the ground to my left pulls me away and I see three gryphons uncloaking from a spell with that black leather armoured man I saw in the Forest from Ponyville. Knives are heading towards us and I quickly cast a stone wall spell, but it's small due to the fact I don't have my stave with me. I also use myself as a shield for Celestia.

Most of the knives hit the wall but one gets past, impaling my left shoulder "AAAAAARRRRGGH!" I yell in pain.

"ADRIAN!" Celestia shouts in concern.

Author's Note

Largest chapter yet :D

Also, get ready to see an extremely pissed off Celestia.

Chapter 22: Fury of the Sun

Terracana
Chapter 22: Fury of the Sun

POV: Celestia

"ADRIAN!" I shout as I see the knife sticking out of his shoulder.

"Argh... quickly... pull it out," he tells me. I grip the knife's handle and pull it out. "GAH!" he yelps and grunts in pain.

He quickly heals himself while I stand up, enraged at having the one time I've had in centuries to have fun and relax ruined. My horn glows as I summon my armour and greatsword.

'Luna, we're under attack by gryphons and the assassin, send the guard to the Canterlot Park Pond now!' I tell Luna telepathically.

'We are on our way, sister,' she replies.

My eyes burn with rage as I flap my wings and leap into the air. "I SHALL MAKE YOU REMEMBER WHY I WAS FEARED ON THE BATTLE FIELD A THOUSAND YEARS AGO!" I shout out in the Royal Canterlot Voice for the first time in centuries.

I bring my sword down on the right gryphon who quickly rolls to my right, leaving a small crater where he once stood. I ignore him and swing at the middle gryphon horizontally. She blocks my blade with the gauntlet on her right talon. I jump back as the left gryphon pounces where I just stood.

My horn glows again and I replace Adrian's suit with his armour and stave. He's back on his hooves and stands besides me.

The assassin then speaks up. "I'm sorry, your Majesty, but for our plans to start, you and your pet must be put down. Do not worry about your sister though, she'll be joining you soon enough," he says in a mocking tone.

Adrian 'psst's' at me to get my attention. "Tia, I think I have a way around their resistance. I've been practising a spell called nullify recently, it removes all magical effects in an area around me, barriers, shields and currently in use spells as well. I think these guys are using magic to amplify their resistances to yours and my magic," he tells me. "Although it will also remove any shields or barriers we have as well."

I scowl at the assailants. "Do it," I tell him.

He nodded and I see two orbs orbit his stave, one red and one yellow. If I remember correctly, that's an arcane and shield element. He raises his stave and a faint field of magic expands away from him and hits the gryphons and the assassin.

They glow faintly and a thin field around them shatters and fades away. "What!?" one of the gryphons yells in surprise.

I see Adrian grin wickedly and point his stave at the right gryphon, three red orbs appear and he fires a beam of black and red energy at him, an arcane beam.

It hits the gryphon directly in the chest and to my surprise, he quickly blisters and bloats, screaming in agony. After a few seconds, the gryphon's chest explodes in a shower of blood, bone, and organs. I raise a barrier to prevent us being coated in it.

I look back at Adrian who has a grin so wide, one would think he's gone mad. I look at the female gryphon again and teleport right in front of her. I swing my sword right at her head where she lifts a metal covered talon to block it again, only for my blade to burn right through it and cut off half of her skull with it.

I turn to face the last gryphon and hold my left hand out at him. I quickly gather magic through my horn and to my hand. I fire a large beam of extremely hot flames at him, he tries to fly away but he's too slow and his lower half is caught and instantly burns away. He screams and the rest of him falls into the beam, incinerating his remains.

Adrian teleports right next to the stunned assassin and places a barrier around them both.

More gryphons appear and fly towards the barrier, I can't allow them to interrupt Adrian so I charge at them with my sword raised.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I charge the shield to full strength and swing my sword at the assassin, he leans out of the way and I thrust my stave at his head scoring a direct hit to the side. "Ooof," he grunts from the blow.

He recovers and glares at me. "How did you dispel our barriers? There was no data saying you could do such a thing," the assassin asks me. His voice now sounds distorted and his eyes are all blue with white where his irises should be. His fur is also gone replaced with hard black shell like skin.

I ignore him and channel three steam elements and blast him into the side of the shield. He yells in pain as the steam burns and keeps him pressed against the shield. After a few seconds I cancel the spray and stab him in his left shoulder with my sword. 'Payback bitch,' I think to myself with a smirk.

"GAAAHH!" he screams. I'm surprised when he starts bleeding, his blood is green.

I pull my sword out and he drops to the floor. "You don't need to know how," I tell him and stamp on his head, knocking him out cold. I look outside the shield to see Celestia fighting seven more gryphons. I drop the shield and recast the nullify spell. All seven gryphons' thin shield spells shatter and Celestia takes advantage of it.

She throws her sword and her horn glows. It impales one gryphon then flies off into another spearing both on the blade, she then pulls her hand back sharply and the sword rips out of the two gryphons.

I fire a lightning beam at the closest one to me and it's muscles lock up before falling dead to the floor, smoke rising off it's corpse.

I start getting light headed and my vision blurs... was that knife poisoned? I channel a healing spell slowly through me, repairing the damaged cells constantly. It won't remove the poison, but it will at least delay it.

Luna finally arrives with a contingent of the guard but she runs over to me when she sees me kneeling and healing myself. "Adrian! Are thou alright?" she asks with worry.

I cough and look up at her. "No... I've been poisoned... my healing is delaying it, but I feel light headed. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up," I tell her.

She inhales sharply and turns to the Guards. "Help our sister with these vermin while we take Adrian to the medical wing!" she commands them. They salute and charge at the remaining gryphons with roars of anger.

"Luna... guess who it is," I say and nodded towards the out cold assassin. Her eyes widen and then she scowls at the hooded figure.

"Tis Blueblood's dog, why have thou not killed him?.. Wait, is he a changeling?" she asks stunned.

"I think so, but I wanted him alive so you or Celestia can mind read him later," I reply and cough again.

Luna's horn glows and the assassin's horn now has a ring on it, he's then tied up and muzzled. He then glows and disappears. "We have sent him to the dungeons. Come, let us get thee to a Doctor!" she says and lifts me up.

"Thanks," I mumble out while still healing myself. I start breathing heavily as my mana is starting to go dry... 'Shit, can't hold on anymore,' I think to myself and pass out.

POV: Celestia

Adrian is taken away by Luna while the guard fight the gryphons. One of them is distracted and I fly up and slam myself onto its back with my hooves where a satisfying snap is heard as I crush his spine. The guards finish him off on the ground as I teleport behind the next one and impale the back of her skull.

The last two try to flee, no doubt to warn the others about Adrian's ability to disable their protections, but I won't allow them.

I take off leaving a shockwave behind me. My mane and tail no longer a calm pink, but raging infernos as bright as the sun as they whip around in the wind. I reach the first one and grip his throat and squeeze tightly as I crush his windpipe and drop his writhing body to the ground where the guards swarm him like vultures.

I teleport behind the last one and grab her by the tail, she squawks as I start spinning her in circles. After about twenty spins I cut off her tail and she slams into a nearby tree. I fly down and land beside her.

She opens her eyes, and for the first time since I can remember, a gryphon is staring at me with fear. "We are no longer your prey, gryphon. From this day forth, we fight back!" I say and behead her without hesitating.

'Luna, how is Adrian?' I ask her. I'm panting from over exerting myself, it has been many years since I've had to fight like that... maybe I should join Adrian in his training.

'He is alive, but he's been poisoned. The Doctors have discovered what poison it is and have administered an antidote,' she tells me.

I let out a sigh. 'Thank you, Luna. Stay with him, we don't know how many more of them there are,' I tell her.

'Don't worry sister, they're going to have to kill us to keep us away,' she replies. I can just feel the anger in her tone.

The gryphons have made a grave mistake this day.

Author's Note

Bit of a short chapter this time. But showing what Celestia can do when pushed to far... Holy crap!

And the Assassin is a Changeling? Uh-oh.

Chapter 23: Getting Answers and Getting Ready

Terracana
Chapter 23: Getting Answers and Getting Ready

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I open my eyes to a white sterile looking room, I look to my right and see a beeping machine hooked up to me with wires. I then look to the window and see It's dark outside, so it's night time then, how long was I out? After looking around for a while, I lay my head back down. 'Arg, I feel like shit,' I think to myself.

I place my left hand on my chest and slowly heal myself. Once I'm feeling much better, I sit up on the bed and stretch my arms. I look down and notice I'm in a thin gown with my clothes beside me on a side table. I get up and get changed into my clothes after removing the wires. The machine then starts making a long constant annoying beep sound.

Once dressed the door flies open and Doctors and Nurses rush in with panicked expressions on their faces. I just stare at them with a raised eye brow. "What?" I ask.

"How are you standing? You were poisoned with a potent neurotoxin... it would take a week or two for your damaged nerves to heal," the Doctor asks flabbergasted.

I shrug my shoulders. "My healing magic is just better than yours," I reply, trying not to brag.

"Errr." The Doctor shakes his head. "Please sit on the bed so we can check your vitals," he tells me. I do so and he holds a device in his hand, it has a screen and two crystals on each side. He starts hovering it up and down over my chest and head, it beeps a few times and a green light turns on. "Your nervous system seems to be in perfect condition now, what ever you did fixed everything. Please wait here while we inform the Princesses of your recovery," he tells me.

"Where are the Princesses?" I ask.

"Princess Luna went to check on the guard in the medical wing while Princess Celestia is with the changeling prisoner," the Doctor replies and leaves.

I wait on the bed for the Princesses to arrive while twiddling my thumbs in boredom. Luna suddenly teleports into the room and instantly jumps me. "Thank the stars thou art alright," she says and kisses me.

She then breaks away and hugs me tightly. "I'm fine, Luna. I healed myself the moment I woke up... How long was I out for?" I ask her.

She lets go and sits up on my lap. "Thou has only been asleep for two hours," she tells me. Huh, could have been a lot worse. My stomach then rumbles yet again and Luna smiles. "Stay right there, we shall bring thee something to eat," she says and teleports away.

POV: Celestia

The changeling is just glaring at me. I had him chained to the wall with a special mouth piece to prevent him from biting his own tongue off, though I believe he's trying to starve himself since we can't force feed him the normal way. I've tried reading his memories, but he's got a barrier with magic I'm not familiar with protecting his mind, I can't break through it.

I hope Adrian awakens soon so he can 'nullify' it like he did before. A few minutes later the doors open. "Princess. Sir Adrian has awakened," a Nurse tells me.

For the first time in hours, I smile. "If he is well enough, can you bring him here please?" I ask her.

She nodded. "Yes, Princess," she replies and walks out.

I look back at the glaring changeling and smirk, making his glare turn to a frown. Soon... we'll know what you're doing here and why.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I sit on the bed next to Luna as we both eat a very early breakfast. "So what's happened since I've been out?" I ask her.

She swallows her mouthful and answers. "We have been guarding thee personally since we brought thou in. Our Sister has dispatched the other gryphons as well as kept an eye on our changeling assassin," she tells me.

"I see, so have you found out why he's here and who he's working for?" I ask.

"Nay, we have tried reading his memories already, but a powerful barrier is blocking our attempts and we cannot seem to remove it," she replies. "We have been waiting for thou to awaken so thou can remove it with thy 'nullify' spell, as Tia said thou called it," she tells me.

"Well I feel fine now and rested, and I really want to find out who wants us dead," I reply.

We open the door to see a Nurse reaching out for the handle. "Oh! Princess Celestia has requested for you in the Dungeons as soon as you can," she tells us.

"We thank thee for the message. Come, Adrian! Tis time we get our answers!" Luna says and I follow her to the Dungeons.

Along the way, guards are all over the place, running back and forth following Shining's orders. We arrive at the Dungeons and see Celestia sitting in front of the chained up Changeling, she turns her head at the sound of us closing the door and smiles at us.

"It is good to see you up so soon, Adrian," she says.

"It's going to take more then a knife to put me down. So I take it he hasn't been very talkative?" I ask as the changeling looks at me stunned. I guess he didn't think I would get up so soon.

"Not at all, I guess Luna has already told you, but we need you to remove a barrier that is shielding his mind," she replies.

"Sure, I'm not sure how it's still there after the first time I used nullify on him." I walk up to the glaring changeling and cast the spell. "Did it work?" I ask.

Celestia walks up to him and places her hand on his head. She frowns in concentration and then smiles, she then gasps and looks shocked.

"What is it Tia?" I ask.

She scowls and lets him go. "Prince Blueblood was captured in Manehatten and replaced with a changeling. He's being held in a Changeling Hive at the borders of the Badlands," she tells us. The changeling goes wide eyed and starts struggling against his bonds. Celestia's horn glows and the changeling passes out.

Luna and I look surprised. That would explain his sudden shift in behaviour when he returned! "Are we going to go rescue him?" I ask.

"Yes. You and Luna will go with three-hundred of our guard to retrieve him, but first, we must confront the impostor before he finds out what has happened," Celestia replies.

"Where's my gear?" I ask them.

Luna's horn glows and I'm fully equipped. "I really wish I could do that," I say with a chuckle.

Celestia then orders the jailer to keep the assassin chained up and prepare for another changeling.

We arrive at Blueblood's bedroom where Celestia quietly opens the door with her magic. Sixteen guards are behind us, ready for anything. They wait at the door while Luna, Celestia, and I sneak over to Blueblood.

I cast another nullify spell and his fur turns into a black chitin, his horn curves back, and his hair disappears which is replaced by fins.

Celestia looks ready to kill the guy in his sleep. I gently wave the princesses back and point my stave and right hand at the changeling.

I channel two cold elements into my stave while channelling a single water element into my right hand. I shower him with water which awakens him with a yelp, I then blast him with the cold elements and encase him in solid ice from the chest down. He struggles for a few seconds before getting angry.

"What is the meaning of this!" he demands, but then goes wide eyed. I guess he noticed his voice is now different.

Celestia ignores him and puts a ring on his horn and her hand on his head. He starts struggling, so I grip his horn and hold his head still. "Thank you," Celestia says to me.

The impostor tries to break free but can't move an inch. Celestia lets go and orders six of the guards to take him to the Dungeons.

"Now what do we do?" I ask Celestia.

"We formulate a plan to rescue our nephew. I got most of the hive's layout from the impostor, Blueblood is being held in the back of the forth level, I shall also draw up some maps and give Luna the same memories to use as well. You will go with her to cancel out the changelings guises and to protect her," Celestia tells me.

"Alright, what will you be doing?" I ask.

"I'll be looking for a way to get into Aries Peak so we can take out the gryphons Council. I should of kept one of the gryphons alive for information... but my anger got the better of me," she replies with a sigh.

"So what is the changelings connection to the gryphons?"

"The gryphons apparently offered them half of our populace as a food source and all of Equestria should they help in their invasion," she says.

Wait... If this Blueblood was a changeling... what about his guard? "Celestia, can you gather all of Blueblood's personal guard in the Throne Room and lock them in? There's a chance some of them could be changelings as well. Once gathered, I'll nullify the entire room, revealing any changelings among them," I tell her.

"That's true. Very well, head to the Throne Room with the guards here and act like you were summoned by us as well," she tells me.

I nodded and leave for the Throne Room, the ten guards still here follow behind me. We enter and I head over to the few guards already gathered.

One of the light blue armoured guards yawns. "What's going on?" he asks the man next to him.

"How would I know? I'm just as clueless as you are right now," he replies.

The first one who spoke spots me. "Hey! What are we doing here?" he asks me.

I just shrug. "I don't know, Celestia just told me to come here," I yawn and cover my mouth. "Said she had an announcement for the guards or something, I would rather be in bed right now though," I tell him with a tired expression, getting a few agreements and chuckles from the others.

After thirty minutes, all of Blueblood's guard are gathered along with some of the royal guard. Celestia and Luna walk in and stand in front of the throne and gesture me to stand with them.

"You are most likely wondering why I we have gathered you all here. Just a few hours ago, Sir Adrian and myself was just attacked by a changeling assassin along with ten gryphons. We have also discovered that Prince Blueblood was replaced with a changeling three months ago when he returned from Manehatten," she tells them.

The gathered guards start mumbling to each other. "So, I have gathered all of Blueblood's personal guard to find out which of you are changelings or not," she says and looks at me. "If you would?" she asks holding her right hand out towards the guards.

I raise my stave and cast the nullify spell. Four of the guards turn into changelings and the royal guard instantly pounce on them. They struggle but in the end are captured and have rings placed on their horns.

"Now that we have exposed the impostors, we are planning to attack the Badlands hive to rescue Prince Blueblood and anypony else held captive there. My sister Luna will lead the attack along with Sir Adrian Stormsword. Gather squads one, three, and six from each division as well as Captain Hammer Strike and Captain Bright Mind," Celestia tells them. "I want ten of you to take these changelings to the Dungeons and chained up," she orders the guards.

They Salute and head out to get the Captains and the squads. The changelings are dragged out of the room by their legs as they're tied up good.

Over the next two hours, the guard has been gathered, briefed, and equipped for the attack. Luna leads us to the back of the Castle to a place I haven't been to yet. It looks like a port with boats around it... except these boats have large balloons above them and propellers attached to the sides.

Luna leads me to the largest one that looks like a galleon with cannons all along the sides, two harpoon ballistas on the deck and a rotating cannon at the front. Luna's and Celestia's marks also adorn the sides.

There are also four schooner like ships as well as six sloops, they all have cannons, but not nearly as much as the galleon. I've been living here for months and I haven't noticed these?

"Where did they come from?" I ask Luna.

"Hmm? Oh, they have always been here, we just don't use them unless for emergencies or important meetings in foreign lands as they take a lot of magic and fuel to power. So they just sit here, waiting for a time such as now to be called into action," she tells me.

I watch as the guards get on board different ships. "Alright, let us be off and bring back our nephew."

Chapter 24: Badlands Assault Part 1

Terracana
Chapter 24: Badlands Assault Part 1

We're flying through the air at a decent speed and we've entered a blasted lands like area, rock and sun bleached stone as far as the eye can see.

"What happened here?" I ask Luna.

"Tirek happened. He drained all of the magic out of the lands while we and our Sister dealt with Discord. We got word of Tirek's desecration a week later and set out to stop him. After a long battle, we succeeded in sealing him in stone and placed him in the deepest reaches of Tartarus. Further north is where Grogar attacked with his undead army... It's in even worse condition than here," she replies.

One person did all this? And the Princesses stopped him?.. Note to self, don't piss off Celestia or Luna.

Luna then calls over the other Captains. "Now then, let us go over the plan one more time. The Hive's front gate is sealed with a thick organic substance, we will blast it in with all the ships cannons. Pegasi will remain with a few unicorns to protect the ships and provide air support while we and the ground forces will storm the Hive," she tells us.

Luna then looks at me. "We both will head straight for the holding cells and retrieve Blueblood and anypony else being held captive," she then turns to the two Captains. "Ye both shall cause as much chaos as possible within the Hive to distract them from us, try to take down as many as thou can safely. We shall contact thee telepathically when we recover our nephew. Captain Bright Mind, we want thee to find their armoury and archives to find any information about them as well as samples of their arsenal for study. Captain Hammer Strike, thou shall locate their barracks and do as much damage as thou can," she tells them.

"Yes your Majesty!" they both reply and salute.

She then looks back at me. "Adrian, when we find them, we want thou to use thy life element to heal anypony injured."

"You got it," I reply with a nod.

We continue flying for another ten minutes before we reach our destination. A small mountain with a few holes in it stands ahead of us, at the base is a large black gate that looks pretty thick.

"All units prepare for battle!" Luna shouts out very loudly.

The ships turn so their left sides are facing the gate and slowly get closer to the ground, I can hear the gunner crews loading the cannons below. After a few minutes everything is silent, everyone on deck is ready and eager to attack.

After a few tense seconds, Luna shouts out again. "FIRE!"

About fifty cannons all start firing, it's like standing in a lightning storm as the loud bangs of the cannons echo throughout the Badlands.

The shots hit the gate as the ships turn around to fire off the right side cannons, another volley of cannonballs hit the gate and it caves in. Ramps leading off the ships are extended and everyone charges at the Hive roaring their rage along the way.

Luna and I lead the way into the Hive, it seems the changeling guards by the gate got crushed and a few more injured. Luna runs down the tunnels and I follow behind her. Hammer Strike and Bright Mind split off and head down other tunnels. Hammer is heading towards the changelings Barracks while Bright Mind heads for their armoury and archives to recover anything on the changelings so they can bring them back for research.

A group of changelings ambush us down the tunnel leading to the stairs we need to get to, they have black armour like the stuff on the walls and weapons also looking like they're made from the same stuff.

I cast my stone armour spell and surprisingly, the black organic stuff walling the tunnels attaches to my armour. I kinda look like a big, bulky, and very misshaped changeling now, but whatever its made from, it's effective at blocking their green bolts of magic.

I swing my sword at the first changeling in front of me and cut off his left arm, he screams in pain and swings his curved black sword at me in retaliation.

I parry the strike and point my stave at him and charge up some mana and blast him with a gust of air, he's sent into two other changelings and they all fall over. I quickly channel three fire elements and spray them all as they scream in pain while they're burning alive.

Luna is fighting using a pair of silver swords as she can't use her scythe very well in here. She quickly decapitates one of the changelings and spins to her left, tucking her wings in and avoiding a spear thrust at her. She twirls her right sword to a reverse grip and teleports behind the changeling and stabs him in the neck.

The guards that followed us are also fighting the changelings as well. A few of the changelings start morphing into our guards so I quickly cast a nullify spell and they all turn back looking confused, our guards take advantage of their confusion and quickly take them down.

I turn my attention back in front of me and channel three ice elements and charge it up a bit to narrow the spread. I fire the spell and nine shards of ice impale three changelings in front of me. I notice one of our guards get stabbed in the gut and pushed away. I run over and jam my sword into the changeling's neck and then quickly fire a healing beam at the downed guard, his wound closes and I help him up.

He thanks me and gets right back into the fight with a look of rage.

We push our way into the Hive bit by bit, taking down changelings along the way. This place seems more like a fort than a town or city, maybe it's a remote base for troops to rest or for supplies? Perhaps Blueblood will know since he's been here for months.

My thoughts are interrupted when we get down the stairs to the third level as an arrow lodges itself into the side of my left thigh, hitting an area that the chitin like rock didn't completely cover. "GAAHH!" I yell in pain. I point my stave at the changeling responsible and cast a fire beam at her. It hits her in the chest and burns right through, leaving a two inch wide hole where her heart was. She drops dead to the floor and I rip out the arrow in my leg and heal the wound.

We reach the holding cells on the forth level with only two casualties so far, I healed the other's wounds along the way, including one Luna received as well. Two changeling guards are standing at the door, the right one has a chitin like sword and shield at the ready, the left one has a bow. I channel two earth elements and a single fire element and charge it up. I jump around the corner and aim at the right one. I release the spell and hit him right in the face. His head caves in and the small explosion blows what's left of his head all over the walls and his ally.

Luna then throws one of her swords at the other one -who is blinded by the explosion and bits of her ally- impaling her chest and then pulls it out, leaving a large gaping wound in her torso, her organs then spill out from the wound and she slumps to the ground.

We enter the holding area and search the cells, a guard finds Blueblood in the corner of a cell along with two others in there with him.

A young girl with black fur and dirty white hair, she has no mark on her hand and she's wearing rags that barely cover her, she looks no older than six years old. And shockingly, the other is an injured looking changeling who looks pretty thin from starvation.

I tell them to stand back and cast a cold beam on the door's lock, freezing it solid. A guard with a warhammer then shatters the lock and the door swings open.

Luna walks in and kneels in front of Blueblood. "Nephew, we have come to take thee home, are thou fit enough to walk?" she asks him.

Blueblood tiredly looks up at her. "Oh... aunty Luna..." he responds with a faint smile. "I knew somepony would come eventually... and yes I can walk," he says and slowly stumbles onto his feet, he looks thin, I guess they barely feed him enough to keep him alive. The little girl stands up with him and holds onto his hand, she at least looks in better condition. Blueblood then helps the changeling onto his feet as well.

"Why are you helping this changeling?" Luna asks him.

Blueblood looks back at her. "He has helped keep us alive by getting the others to beat him instead of us and in turn, I have been helping him to survive by giving what love I could to him in return," he says.

Well, if he's helped them stay alive this long and that he's a prisoner of his own kind, he can't be that bad... I cast a healing beam on all of them and they instantly perk up, though it seems the holes on the changeling's arms and legs looked like they closed... I guess I'm just imagining things. My mana is about half way gone now.

"Ah... that feels much better, thank you very much guardsman," he tells me.

"I'm a knight actually," I reply. Wow, this Blueblood is actually very polite! I wonder what Rarity would say after meeting with the real Blueblood.

"I see, but still, thank you," he says with a nod.

I smile at him. "You're welcome," I reply and nodded back.

"Is there anypony else in here, nephew?" Luna asks him.

"No, we're the only ones left. They took the others somewhere else two weeks ago and we have not seen them since," he tells her.

"How many?" I ask.

"About seventeen of them," he replies.

"Very well, let us depart from here and return to Canterlot." Luna says. Her horn glows for a few seconds and fades. "We have alerted the other Captains to pull out," she says.

POV: Hammer Strike

So, Princess Luna found the Prince? Dammit, it was just getting fun as well. "It's time to pull out! Make your way to the surface!" I yell to my troops.

"YES SIR!" they all respond and we slowly make our way out.

A changeling lunges at me with a spear and I laugh at him. I grab his neck with my left hand and slam him into the ground. I raise my Hammer above my head and bring it down on his.

Splat.

'I love my job,' I think to myself as we leave the Barracks.

POV: Bright Mind

Time to leave huh? I think we have more then enough to take back with us. "The Princess has recovered the Prince, we're leaving now!" I order my guards.

"Yes ma'am!" they reply, carrying bags of scrolls, books, a few weapons and armour, even a few magical artefacts as well.

I've lost twenty of my guard for these, this had better be worth it.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I take the lead and follow the tunnel back out, we manage to head up to the third floor unhindered. As soon as I reach the top of the stairs though, a large changeling a foot taller than me tackles me and drags me down the tunnel.

"ADRIAN!" Luna shouts as she gets further away.

"GO! I CAN HANDLE THIS!" I shout back and cast a teleport spell. I appear behind the brute and he slams into a wall.

I turn around and fire an arcane beam at him. Shockingly, the beam bounces off of him and he charges again. His armour looks very thick and reflects the lights in the tunnel off from it. It looks like it's coated in something, is that what is deflecting my magic?

He then charges at me again, so I run back towards Luna and channel a shield, an arcane, and a cold element and create a mine behind me. The brute steps on it and it blasts him with a thin sheet of frost, slowing his movement down. I turn to face him again and channel three earth elements and charge it up as he continues to come at me and I release the spell.

The boulder slams into him point blank, launching him down the tunnel.

I turn back to leave but the floor below me gives way and I fall down into the darkness.

Chapter 25: Badlands Assault Part 2

Terracana
Chapter 25: Badlands Assault Part 2

"SHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" I yell as I hit the level below. "Ouch..." The floor gives way again and I continue to fall.

"Oooff!" I groan. My head is throbbing and I feel dizzy as I try to sit up. A sharp pain in my leg stops me from getting up all the way. I look down and see my right leg is facing inward. 'Shit, my leg's bloody broken,' I think to myself and channel three life elements through me.

I sit there groaning in pain as the bone resets and the damaged muscle repairs itself. I can't afford to take anymore damage, my mana is almost out and I have no idea where I am.

Once I finish healing, I stand up and look around. I can't go back up, the hole is too high. If only I could channel four elements, I could fly out. I'm in some sort of natural cavern, no black organic rock is covering the walls and there's a small lake with a small island in the centre. A pedestal stands in the middle... wait... this look familiar... oh yeah! It looks just like the place from that Daring Do book Luna got me to read to her.

The only thing missing is the ruby skull.

I look around and see a tunnel to my left, I then look back up at the hole and call out to Luna. "LUNA! CAN YOU HEAR ME!?"

No response.

POV: Luna

'He's taking too long' I think to myself. We got back to the ships and got Blueblood and the little filly named Fleur Lily something to eat and drink. The little filly is in better condition as Blueblood gave half of his food to her during their imprisonment. Blueblood has also put the changeling named Thraxx in his own cabin.

I want nothing more than to blow the hive up with a barrage of sunfire shells, but Adrian is still in there and the remaining changelings are attacking our ships. The pegasi guards are combating them in the air while the unicorns and earth ponies attack from the ships decks with spells and arrows.

And due to Adrian's resistance to pony magic, I can't feel his presence, I can't even feel the presence of his armour anymore or contact him telepathically. Just teleporting him a short distance the first time was taxing.

I look back at the Hive's destroyed gate with worry. "Please, be safe."

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I wait for a minute longer but there's no sign of Luna or any guards. I look back at the tunnel and head towards it, it's better than sitting here doing nothing.

I enter the tunnel and channel a shield element through my stave and the light from the orb illuminates the tunnel allowing me to see a few metres around me. I walk for a good twenty minutes with my sword drawn and at the ready.

The walls start turning back into the black organic rock stuff and the tunnel branches off into three ways. I can hear voices from the tunnel ahead while the other two are silent.

I head down the tunnel ahead of me to see if there is anyone else being held captive down here. I reach the end and I'm shocked to see some kind of small town, I hide behind a boulder to the left and look around. Changelings are walking around in rather poor clothing, men, women, and children, talking and playing in this small town. Dome like structures with doors and windows line the cavern's walls both at ground and ceiling height. Lights are placed throughout the town, allowing me to see everything.

To the right is some sort of market with stalls, changelings are trading items with blackish green coins with each other.

A lot of the people here look starved and have holes in their forearms and shins... I frown at the state of this place, how can anyone live like this?

A sudden tapping on my leg gets my attention and I look down to see a little changeling girl looking up at me with wide blue eyes.

"Are you lost, Mister?" she asks. I still have my stone armour with the black chitin like rock on me, I guess she thinks I'm a changeling.

I just stare at her, she's really thin and looks like she can barely stand on her own. She also has a bandage on her left arm.

"Are you alright?" she asks again with a tilt to her head.

"Err, yeah, I'm fine. Where am I?" I ask her.

"You're in the Jade Shell Outpost Hive," she tells me, her little dragonfly like wings flicking now and then.

"I see..." I look around to make sure I'm still hidden and then back at her arm. "How'd you hurt your arm?" I ask her.

She places her right hand on her bandaged arm. "I tripped and cracked my chitin," she tells me.

I sigh, sheath my sword and smile at her. "Would you like me to heal it for you?" I ask her. She may be a changeling, but she's still just a child.

"Really?" she asks and I nodded. "Okay!" she says and holds her arm out.

I remove the bandage and point my stave at it. I channel three life elements and she looks at the floating green orbs with wide eyes. "That's pretty," she says.

I chuckle and cast a healing beam at her arm and the cracked chitin slowly mends itself. What surprises me more is that the holes in her arms and legs suddenly start closing, her body also looks like it has put on a bit of weight as well.

She gasps and then burps loudly. "Excuse me," she says... what the hell just happened?

She looks at where the cracks were and then at her arms and legs. "Wow! My arm feels better and I don't feel hungry anymore! Thanks, Mister!"

"You're welcome... what's your name?" I ask her.

"I'm Shella!" she replies, sounding much more energetic.

"Nice to meet you, Shella. I'm Adrian. Do you know the way to the surface from here?" I ask her.

She nodded quickly. "Uh-huh. Just head back down that tunnel and take the next tunnel to the right. It'll take you out the side of the mountain," she tells me.

"Alright, thank you for your help," I smile at her.

"Shella! Shella where are you!?" a woman calls out sounding worried.

"I'm over here momma!" Shella calls back making me panic. The girl's mother looks over to us and looks at me with fear.

"I gotta go, take care of yourself alright?" I quickly say and sprint off down the tunnel.

"OKAY! Thanks again!" she calls back to me.

"What do you think you were doing!? That thing could have...." I hear the mother scold her child before I was out of range.

I followed her directions and reached the cross section again. To my left, I see armed changelings running towards me, ordering me to halt. I run down the tunnel to the right for five minutes and spot a black door at the end, I push it open and I'm back outside.

POV: Luna

After thirty minutes of fighting and worrying, I feel the presence of Adrian's armour again to my left at least half a mile away. How did he get that far?

"Set course! North by north west!" I shout out.

The ship starts turning and the pegasi land back on the ships. We fly for five minutes and I see somepony standing alone on the ground, I can feel that it's Adrian. Suddenly others appear out of the mountain and start shooting at him with bolts of magic.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I cast a barrier spell in front of me and boost it to full strength. I then channel a single earth element and two fire elements and launch it at the attacking changelings as my barrier deflects their bolts of magic.

"Capture him at all costs! By order of the Queen!" one of them shouts out. They want me alive?

I can hear the sounds of the ships engines to my right and look up. I can see Luna's ships heading my way. I cast another fireball spell and launch it upwards as a signal.

I continue to fight the changelings for another two minutes. One tried flying over my barrier, only to get blasted by a beam of steam and blown away.

Pegasi guards land beside me and the changelings retreat back into the mountain, I blast the cliff face above the door causing it to cave in. I fall back on my ass and start breathing hard, my mana is just about to run out and I'm tired from the running.

The ships arrive and Luna flies down to me. "Adrian! Are thou alright? We were so worried about thee," she says and hugs me. "How did thou get all the way out here?" she asks me.

I tell her how I fell through the floor twice and found an underground tunnel network and the changeling town and how a little changeling girl told me the way out.

"There is a town in the mountain?" she asks confused. "There was no such place in the assassin's or the impostor's memories..." she says with a frown.

"It was rather small, like a border town. it looked like is was recently built as well, and the people looked like they were starving," I tell her.

"That would be understandable, changelings require love to feed on to survive. The hungrier they get, the more holes appear on their arms and legs. They're cannibalising their own bodies to survive," she tells me.

"Then how does that explain the girl's holes closing when I healed her injured arm?" I ask Luna.

She looks at me wide eyed. "Thou let a changeling feed off thee?" she asks shocked.

"No, I don't think so at least. I used a healing beam to heal her cracked arm, her holes just closed along with her injury," I tell her.

She looks down in thought. "Mayhap thy life element has the same properties of love?" she mumbles to herself. That would explain why they wanted to capture me alive then.

"Let's figure this out once we get back to Canterlot, I'm feeling exhausted," I say to her.

"Very well, let us be..." She's cut off as an explosion to my right kills a guard. I look up to see changelings firing their own cannons from the holes in the mountain. One of the sloop like ships takes a hit in the hull and bits of wood fall from the ship. The other ships start opening fire on the changeling cannons.

I look up to see a changeling taller than the others with an elegant green and black dress looking down at me. "So this is the creature that can create love instantly?" she says and smiles wickedly, next to her is the little girl I healed looking scared and crying.

The tall changeling then places a hand on Shella's head and I see pinkish green energy flow out of her and into the woman. Shella screams in pain and I see holes appear on her again while the woman's start closing slightly. Gathering what little mana I have left, I fire a rock at the woman and knock her back into the tunnel. Shella then collapses to the ground.

"Luna! Can you grab the girl and take her with us!" I tell Luna. There's no way I'm leaving her here with that monster.

Luna hesitates and looks at me, I plead with her with my eyes. She groans in disapproval and levitates Shella over to us. I pick her up and we make our way to the ships.

"DON'T LET IT GET AWAY!" the woman screams at the other changelings. Wow, she's back up already? She can really take a hit.

We get on board and the galleon ship takes a hit. The left harpoon ballista is torn off and one of the crew is blown across the deck, a piece of wood sticking out of his leg. I'd heal him, but I have no mana left.

"I'll have you all executed if you let it get away!" the woman threatens her people.

Luna helps me into her cabin and leaves me with the unconscious Shella on her bed. Unable to stay awake any longer, I fall asleep.

POV: Luna

So, Chrysalis thinks she can take Adrian away from me? I'll show her just what happens to those who threaten my mate!

I summon my scythe and jump over the side, thirty of the pegasi guard follow me and I engage Chrysalis who now has a black razor sharp thorn like whip and her own black chitinous armour.

I swing my scythe at her head and she ducks under it. She swings her whip at me and I teleport behind her, I then swing my scythe down and she jumps forward with the aid of her wings, leaving my scythe to pierce into the rocky ground.

She laughs at me and I fire a bolt of magic at her, she fires one of her own at it and they explode on impact. My guards are dealing with the changelings around us while I fight Chrysalis.

Chrysalis then brings her whip up and then swings it down at me. I jump to the right and the whip snaps at the ground, leaving small slash marks from the razor sharp thorns.

I fly back and get some distance from her, she laughs again, calling me a coward. I then charge at her with as much speed as I can gather. She holds her whip to her right side, waiting for me to get closer. Just as she was about to swing, I teleport behind her, still moving at high speed and tackle her into the side of the mountain.

I bring up my scythe to end her, but her horn glows and she teleports away. I look around but I can't feel her presence anymore. 'Look who's calling who a coward now,' I think smugly to myself.

The other changelings flee once they realise Chrysalis ran away. As much as I want to bring down this mountain on them, I will not kill civilians.

The guards and I return to the ship where I order all our ships to return to Canterlot.

Chapter 26: Now what?

Terracana
Chapter 26: Now what?

I open my eyes to see I'm in Luna's room, I'm no longer in my armour and Luna is sleeping next to me. I look out the window to see the moon high in the night sky.

My mana has recharged and I'm feeling better. I remember the events of the rescue and quickly get out of bed making Luna wake up from my sudden movement.

"Hmmm? Adrian!" she says and also gets out of bed. "What is the matter?" she asks.

"Where's Shella?" I ask her.

"She's in the medical wing, why?" she replies.

"Is she okay?" I ask her. I'm not sure why I'm so worried about her.

"She is very malnourished. Chrysalis drained her of her energy to strengthen herself to capture you," she tells me. "It appears you are able to feed a changeling without them draining you of your love."

"Can you take me to her? We can test if it is the life element that is feeding her," I say.

"Very well. If it is true, then we may have a way to get the changelings on our side instead of the gryphons. We'll just have to figure out how to reproduce thy life elements effects," she tells me.

We get dressed and I bring my stave with me. Luna leads me to the medical wing where a Nurse greets us.

"Oh, hello your Majesty. Are you unwell?" the Nurse asks Luna.

"Nay, we art well. Adrian wishes to see the young changeling filly, we have something we wish to confirm," Luna replies.

"Ah, I see. Then please follow me," she tells us.

We follow her to a room in the back of the medical wing. We enter the room to see Shella laying on a bed looking rather pale. She has holes all over her arms and legs. They look so bad that she probably can't even move them herself anymore.

I make my way beside her and lightly shake her shoulder. She slowly opens her eyes and looks at me, her eyes look whiter as well. "Hello, Shella. Do you remember me?" I ask her.

She slowly shakes her head left and right.

"My name is Adrian, I healed your arm remember?" Her eyes widen and she smiles.

"I remember... you're not a changeling?" she asks me slowly, all the energy she spoke with last time is nowhere to be found.

"No. I'm a human... listen, I'm going to try and heal you again okay?" I tell her.

She nodded and I point my stave at her. I cast a healing beam at her and her holes start to close, her chitin returns to its black colour and her eyes shine with a deep blue. She lets out a loud belch again. "Excuse me," she says politely.

Luna and the Nurse look stunned and I just smile. "Feeling better?" I ask Shella.

She sits up and smiles, but then looks upset as if she just remembered something. "She killed momma..." she says.

"Who did?" I ask her.

She sniffles and looks at me. "The Queen... she took me away saying she needed me to capture a strange creature. Momma begged her to let me go... but she just... just..." She breaks down and starts crying.

I sit on the side of the bed and hug her. She wraps her arms around me and cries her eyes out. I look at Luna to see her with a conflicted expression.

"You're safe now, no one's going to hurt you anymore," I tell her. She calms down and lets go. "Try and get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning alright?" I tell her.

"Okay. Thank you again, Mister Adrian," she replies and cuddles her pillow. I smile at the adorable sight and tuck her in. I then leave the room with Luna and the Nurse.

"So thy life element can feed a changeling... we shall have to begin research on this and try to replicate it," Luna tells me.

"What happened to Blueblood, the girl, and the changeling they were with?" I ask her.

"They're here for a check up. The changeling named Thraxx is stable but still in poor condition, even after the small amount of healing thou gave him. Blueblood, while a bit thin and dehydrated, is making a full recovery. The little filly named Fleur Lily, has faired better than the others as Blueblood gave half his food to her while imprisoned," Luna tells me.

Huh, I really want to get to know the real Blueblood now. Compared to the imposter, he sounds like a saint.

I then turn to the Nurse. "Can you take me to their room please?" I ask her.

She looks at Luna who just nodded to her. "Alright, they're in room fifteen," she says and we follow her.

We enter room fifteen where three beds are set up, the left has Thraxx, the middle has Blueblood and the right one has Fleur Lily. The girl is fast asleep while Blueblood is eating a piece of fruit. Thraxx is just staring at the ceiling with a blank expression.

"Hello, nephew. We hope thou art feeling better," Luna says to Blueblood.

"Much better now that we are no longer in that horrid place. Though not to insult you and aunty Celestia, but, how did you not notice that I was replaced?" he asks.

Luna frowns in thought. "We thought thou was... getting pig headed with all the parties thou started to throw before thy Manehatten trip. As if thee were becoming like all the other nobles. So when thou returned and slowly became more arrogant... we thought thee just gave in to the other nobles," she replies.

Blueblood hums in thought. "I can see how you would come to that conclusion. I guess my attempts to get the nobles to follow the old traditions backfired on me... I shall refrain from any more parties from now on and stick to small social gatherings with my friends. How is Fancy Pants and his wife doing since I was away?" he asks her.

"They have been doing well, but have been upset at thy imposters attitude..." she replies and then looks at me. "If we recall, we have an invite to Sir Fancy's home in a few days," Luna says and looks back at Blueblood. "Would thou like to join us?" she asks him.

"If I am fit enough, then I would be delighted," he replies.

I walk over to Thraxx who looks like he's in pain. "How you feeling?" I ask him.

He looks at me with whitish blue eyes, his chitin is also pale looking. "Been better," he replies emotionlessly.

"I'm going to heal you okay? Just lie still and relax." I tell him.

"Don't bother, pony healing magic doesn't work on changelings," he says.

"I'm not a pony," I state and point my stave at him. I channel three life elements and fire a beam at him.

He gasps as his black colour returns along with the blue in his eyes and the holes start closing. After ten seconds he belches loudly and I cancel the spell.

He just sits up and stares at his arms, not a single hole remaining. "You...you healed and fully fed me?.." he mumbles.

"Apparently I can do that without having to give my love. My life element seems to have the same properties as love energy," I tell him.

He then looks at me with a worried expression. "Should Chrysalis ever get her hands on you... she would use you to power herself and her army..." he says.

"Already knew she wants me. Tried to grab me just before we escaped," I tell him. I then turn to Luna. "How'd that go by the way?" I ask her.

"We did battle with her. We were about to deliver the final blow, but she teleported away like a coward," she tells me.

"I see, so what will you do now Thraxx? I doubt you'll be allowed to return," I ask him.

"I plan to stay here and serve under Prince Blueblood. I was imprisoned because my mate returned with a large amount of love energy. I was so proud of her... until the Queen came and took it all from her, killing her in the process saying it was for the good of the Hive... I retaliated, and was overwhelmed. I was thrown in with the Prince and Fleur Lily," he tells me.

This Queen is sounding like a grade A tyrant. I hope I meet her again at my full strength, I'd be happy to put her down a few pegs.

"Don't worry, if I ever see her again, I'll give her a good blast to the face for ya," I tell him and he smirks. "So what will happen to Fleur Lily?" I ask.

Blueblood speaks up. "I shall be adopting her, her parents were two of the seventeen taken away two weeks ago. Until the day they are found, I shall be caring for her," he says.

Wow, I'm starting to like him already! I really can't wait to get Rarity to meet him now. "Sounds good. After everything you've all been through you deserve a break," I say.

"Yes, we'll rest for now and once I've recovered I shall repair any damage to my image and contact all of my friends and family, letting them know what has transpired," he replies.

"Alright, I'm looking forward to talking with you some more. Your imposter didn't leave you in a pleasant light," I tell him.

"I see. No matter, once this has all been sorted out, I shall continue to do as I planned and try to better the nobility like before," he says.

"Sounds like a plan. You have no idea what your imposter and the nobles have put us through so far..." I tell him.

"Oh? What could the nobles have to say to a knight?" he asks me.

"Just that me courting both Luna and Celestia is sacrilege, that I'm not good enough and the like blah blah blah... Bunch of children if you ask me," I reply.

He stares at me slack jawed. "You're courting both of my aunts?" he asks again. I simply nodded making him smile. "That is good news, they deserve somepony to love them. I've watched for too long as they've been miserable. I've noticed that since I have been back that aunty Luna is much happier than her old antisocial self," he says.

I chuckle as Luna crosses her arms and frowns at Blueblood. "Yeah, she was not the friendliest of people when we first met," I tell him, earning me an elbow to my ribs from Luna, only making me chuckle again.

"Indeed, no offence aunty, but you are much more pleasant to be around now. I remember you slapped me for speaking to you the first time, something about, 'Thou shalt not speak unless spoken to.' Or something like that," he replies with a chuckle of his own.

Luna huffs and looks away with a slight blush. "We just returned from our banishment, excuse us if we were still in our old mindset," she says crossly.

I smile. "So how's Celestia doing since we were gone?" I ask.

Luna looks back at me. "She has been searching maps and charts to find the best way into Aries Peak. So far her search has proved fruitless, but she believes she is onto something... Oh yes, she has also been worried sick about thee when we returned. She asked that should thou awaken before midnight, to bring thee to her room," she tells me. "So if we are done here, let us be on our way," she says and pulls on my arm.

"I'll see you guys later!" I call back to the two chuckling men in the room.

Luna leads me to Celestia's room and pushes the doors open. "Tia? Adrian has awoken," Luna says.

I see Celestia looking in her mirror brushing her hair and wearing her pink nightgown, her hair is also its natural pink style as well.

She turns to look at us. "That is good to hear, I was worried about you," she says. Making me smile.

"Not even a psychotic changeling Queen will keep me from coming back," I reply.

She giggles a little bit. "Be that as it may, I was still worried," she says and walks over to me and hugs me. I wrap my arms around her and return the hug.

"So why did you want me to come to your room before midnight?" I ask her.

She blushes and smiles. "I wish for you to sleep with me tonight," she says.

I look at Luna who is nodding her head, I then look back at Celestia. "If that's what you want, then sure," I reply.

"We shall take our leave then, we still have nightmares to banish," Luna says and walks out the room.

"Banish nightmares?" I ask Celestia.

"While asleep, Luna can enter the dreams of other ponies and if they are having nightmares, replace them with pleasant dreams instead," she tells me and heads over to her bed. I look around Celestia's room and notice it's the opposite of Luna's room. It's brighter than Luna's with white walls and what looks to be a realistic piece of the summer sky on the ceiling... makes me feel like I'm outside.

"Don't just stand there, come join me," she says holding up the blanket. I chuckle and place my stave by her closet door, remove my shirt, shoes, socks and climb into the bed. It's just as soft as Luna's bed.

Celestia cuddles up to me and sighs happily. "I can't remember the last time I've just snuggled up with somepony," she says and places a hand on my cheek, making me face her. "Thank you for treating me as a mare and not a Princess," she says and kisses me on the lips.

I press my lips to hers for a few seconds and pull back. "You're welcome, Tia," I reply and kiss her again.

She places her head against my neck and falls asleep with a smile. I gently stroke her hair and eventually fall asleep myself.

Chapter 27: Share the Love

Terracana
Chapter 27: Share the Love

I wake up with Celestia in my arms, she's smiling with her head on my chest, her breathing slow and steady. I stroke her hair and she hums happily. After a few minutes a knock on the door then gets my attention.

"Tia? Are thou alright? Tis time to raise the sun!" Luna asks.

The door opens and Luna walks in. I quickly close my eyes and hear her sneak over, I can feel her lightly shaking Celestia.

"Come on, Tia," Luna says again. I open my right eye slightly and see Luna sigh. "Thou leave us no choice," she says and I see her wrap Celestia's tail around her hand and pulls lightly.

Celestia yelps and her wings shoot out and slap Luna in the face, I couldn't help but laugh at that. I laugh even harder when I see Luna spit out a small white feather.

Celestia glares at Luna with a heavy blush and I simmer down to a chuckle.

"Get up, Tia. Thou art ten minutes late raising the sun," Luna tells her.

"What?" Celestia looks at her clock on the wall, it reads ten past six in the morning. Her eyes slowly widen. "I've never slept in before..." she says to herself.

"We do not blame thee. Adrian is rather cuddly isn't he," Luna tells her with a smirk. Celestia looks at me with her arms still around me.

She smiles and kisses me. "That is true," she says. She then gets out of bed and they both head over to the balcony. I get up and stand behind them and watch as their horns brightly glow with their arms pointing up at the sky, wings spread and slightly hovering off the floor. The moon starts to descend and the sun begins to rise, but my attention is on the two alicorns who are glowing with an aura around them both, looking like angels.

They finish and touch back down on the floor as their auras fade away. Luna looks at me and giggles at my stunned expression. "Did thou enjoy the view?" she says.

I look between the two and nodded. "You were both beautiful," I say making them both blush.

"W-We were speaking of the sky," Luna stammers.

I chuckle. "Sorry, my attention was elsewhere," I reply with a smile.

They both smile as well and each give me a kiss on my cheeks. "That's very sweet of you," Celestia says.

"So, what are we doing today?" I ask them.

Luna speaks up. "We shall be going to the Magic Research and Development Academy to see how we can replicate thy life element," she tells me.

Celestia looks confused. "Why are you trying to replicate it? I understand it would be a great boon to Hospitals and the guard, but I don't think ponies can use his magic. I've read his memories and have even tried casting these elements, nothing happened," she says.

"We have learnt that Adrian's life element can not only heal, but feed changelings," Luna replies.

"You can feed a changeling with out giving any love?" Celestia asks with surprise.

"Apparently. Luna thinks if we can replicate the element, we can get the changelings on our side instead of their Queen's or the gryphon's," I reply.

"That... that actually sounds like a good idea. We could make a new ally while striking a blow to the gryphons," Celestia says.

"Can you bring my leggings here? I have a few gems that can be used to store elements in them to be activated for their effects. It was thought up by dwarves and humans as a form of explosive weapon and or quick burst of healing... kinda forgot I had them actually,"

Luna's horn glows and my leggings appear in her hand. I open the pouch with the gems and pull out two emeralds the size of a human eyeball. they have a dwarven rune etched into them to activate the element within. They both have a single life element in them for a quick burst of healing that heals the holder like a self cast spell. Only really good for healing cuts or bruises.

"When you place and press your thumb on this rune here," I say pointing to a rune that looks like thumb print. "It'll shatter and release its effect. The bigger the gem, the bigger the charge it can hold." I tell her. They're basically dwarven grenades... just using elements instead of gunpowder.

I give one to Luna and the other to Celestia and they look them over. "Tia, these are similar to the crystal wands the guard use are they not?" Luna says.

"You're right ,Lulu," Celestia replies... I snicker a bit, Lulu?

"What?" Luna asks.

"Lulu? That's adorable," I reply.

She blushes. "Yes, well," she says and her horn glows. One of those gem rods appears in her other hand. "Do thou know how to channel an element into a crystal?" she asks me.

"I charged those ones myself," I tell her while pointing at the emerald in her hand.

"Then try to put a life element into this crystal," she tells me and hands me the rod. I place my right hand over it and channel a life element into my hand, I then try to flood it into the clear crystal.

After ten minutes of concentration, it starts to change colour and turns a soft green. I hold it up and see small wisps of magic floating around inside it.

"Did it work?" I ask and hand it back to her.

"Only one way to find out," she says and heads over to the balcony. She points the rod towards the sky and her horn glows. The crystal fires off a bolt of green energy into the sky and the crystal dims in colour.

Luna walks back in. "It works, question is, will it recharge itself?" Luna says.

So we stand there for about ten seconds, watching as the crystal slowly starts to glow green again. "Amazing, we may have just revolutionized our medical and magical arsenal," Luna says.

"So what? I'm going to be charging a lot of crystals then?" I ask. The thought of doing nothing but charging crystals for the rest of my life doesn't sound fun.

"Nay. If thou can charge a large crystal, we can use that to make smaller copies," she replies. Oh thank the heavens for that!

Celestia and I get dressed, me with my armour and weapons and then after a quick breakfast we head down for the Magic Academy north of the Castle. Court has been postponed with the excuse of a more important matter that needs addressing. The looks on the nobles faces was well worth it.

We arrive in a carriage where I help them out and we walk inside, people bow to the Princesses as we walk by them.

We arrive at a door that looks pretty thick which Luna opens and walks in. I follow and see tables with many different crystals and tools on them.

A unicorn woman with white fur and crystal blue hair and eyes walks over to us. "Your Majesties! It's an honour to see you here. What can I do for you?" she asks them.

"Crystal Clear, it is good to see you again," Celestia says. "We're here to help develop a new kind of enchanted crystal," she replies.

Crystal Clear smiles widely. "A new crystal enchantment? What is it, what is it?" she asks bouncing up and down with child like glee.

Luna holds out the life charged crystal wand to her. Crystal snatches it away and examines it closely.

"Princess... what kind of enchantment is this? I don't recognize the magic signature," she asks.

"That would be Sir Adrian's life element inside it. We require a large pure crystal so Adrian can charge it for us," Luna replies.

"Oh! erm, sure. Be right back!" Crystal says and heads through a door in the back.

"What do you plan to do with that wand?" I ask them.

"Well, it would be given to one of the medic guards. Why? Do you want to do something with it?" Celestia asks.

"Yeah, I was actually wondering if I can give it to Thraxx, he can use it to feed himself and not rely on me all the time," I reply.

"That's actually a good idea, we can have one made for Shella as well," she says.

Crystal returns pushing a trolley into the room. It has a large crystal perfectly cut and clear about the size of my torso. "Here you go, our best crystal," she tells us.

I walk over to it and place my hands on it. "I don't know if I'll be able to charge this..." I say.

"Doesn't hurt to try. We can always purge it if you fail," Crystal tells me.

I shrug and start channelling a life element in each hand. "Please don't distract me. This might take an hour or two," I tell them.

One Hour and Thirty-Three Minutes later

I pant and sit down on the floor, breathing heavily. I look up and see the crystal glowing the same soft green colour as the wand.

"Thou did it!" Luna says excitedly. She kneels down and hugs me.

"So now what do we do with it?" I ask.

"We start putting it into other crystals and enchant them to slowly release the magic within. Changelings would then just have to stand near it and it should feed them. This would be the safest way to do this as giving them wands or other types of enchanted crystals would be a bad idea, as they could be used against us. This way, they would not dare bring their only source of food onto a battlefield," Luna says.

"Sounds good. Do I need to do anything else? I'm rather *yawn* tired from that," I ask and tell her. I probably used about eighty percent of my mana on that.

"Nay, thou can rest. We shall finish the rest," she tells me and kisses my cheek.

"Okay. *Yawn* See ya in a few hours..." I say and fall asleep in Luna's arms.

POV: Celestia

Adrian falls asleep on Luna's lap, it's rather adorable to watch. "Luna, can you take Adrian back to your room and then come back with Shella?" I ask her.

"Of course," she replies. She picks Adrian up and exits the room. I walk over to the crystal and watch as the swirling green magic within moves around hypnotically. I place my right hand on it and I can feel the warm magic of his life element flow through my fingertips.

Crystal Clear then brings in several smaller crystals with silver stands for them. She taps the smaller crystals to the larger one and some of the magic is transferred across.

Once all five of them are done, she places a golden brace on top of one of the crystals that will absorb magic from the atmosphere at an accelerated rate. Very slowly, a green mist escapes and surrounds the crystal.

Crystal Clear then does the same for the other crystals. A few minutes later and Luna teleports into the room with Shella beside her. Shella is wearing cleaner clothes now instead of the old torn ones she used to have.

She walks over to the large crystal and stares at it. "Pretty stone," she says.

I kneel down to her. "Hello, Shella. Would you like to help us with something?" I ask her.

She looks at me with a smile. "Okay!" she replies happily. How can she still be so innocent after what she's been through?

"Thank you, we would like to see if you can feed from one of these small crystals," I tell her.

She looks at one of the small crystals and holds her hand out near the green mist. I watch as the mist flows into her hand and after a few seconds, she lets out a small burp. "Excuse me, that tastes just like Adrian's love," she says.

I smile at her. "Thank you, Shella. Would you like some toys to play with? Or some books to read?" I ask her.

She nodded quickly "Uh-huh!" she replies.

I look from the filly to Crystal Clear. "Keep an eye on those crystals, see if they continue to emit magic or if they burn out," I tell her. She nodded and I stand back up, I'm surprised when Shella holds my hand as if waiting for me to do something. "let's go find you something then shall we?"

POV: Adrian Stormsword
Two Hours Later

I wake up and look around, I'm back in Luna's bed and out of my armour. I get up, yawn and stretch, charging that crystal really drained me. I equip my armour and weapons and head out to find Celestia or Luna.

After ten minutes of searching, I find Celestia in her room with Shella playing with dolls. It seems they haven't noticed me yet as I lean against the door frame.

"Cute," I say with a smile, making them both jump.

"Oh, Adrian. I am glad to see you up," Celestia says.

"Hi, Adrian!" Shella says waving an arm at me.

"Hello, Shella. Feeling better today?" I ask her.

"Uh-huh! Princess Celestia was playing with me!" she says and gently throws a pillow at Celestia while giggling. I laugh as it gets impaled on her horn and slides down to her face.

Celestia just sits there with a blank expression before giggling. "Never in all my years has anypony other than Luna thrown a pillow at me," she says.

"So what happened once I passed out?" I ask.

"We have created five smaller aura crystals and Shella here confirmed that they work," Celestia replies.

Shella waves her left arm in the air. "Yeah! I helped!" she says.

"So what's our next move?" I ask Celestia.

"We shall wait a few days to see if the crystals can hold your life element in them. If they do, we'll then try contacting the town you found in the Badlands and try to convince them to come with us, with Shella's help, to show that we can offer them a better way. We can have a town built for them within Equestria's borders as well," she replies.

"Alright then, sounds good. I'm going to go and practice some more after I get something to eat, I'll see you both later," I tell them and head out to the Dining Hall.

Chapter 27.5: Bath Time Romp (Clop)

Author's Note

Like last time, this can be skipped as it has no progress to the main story.

Chapter 27.5: Bath Time Romp (Clop)

Terracana
Chapter 27.5: Bath Time Romp (Clop)

I wake up in Luna's embrace and yawn. It's been two days since I slept in Celestia's bed. I went back to Luna's as now we take turn's on who sleeps with who.

I lightly kiss her cheek and she stirs. "Good morning, Luna," I say to her.

She smiles and snuggles into me. "Good morning, our Love," she replies with a yawn of her own.

I try to get up to start the day, but Luna holds me down. "Come on, Luna... we need to go and check on those crystals," I tell her.

She groans but lets go, we then get up and Luna heads towards her bathroom. "We are going to bathe... would thou like to join us? We could use some help washing our back," she asks while blushing slightly.

My face flushes as well but I smile. "I'd love to," I reply and follow her inside. She draws the bath and we strip down, I couldn't help but watch as she removes her underwear in a teasing manner.

She then bends over as she pulls her black panties down and shakes her backside at me, I'm just staring at her ass with wide eyes. I feel a small trickle of liquid coming out of my nose and wipe it with a hand... she just gave me a nose bleed.

Luna then turns around and smirks at me. "Oh? Did thou enjoy the view?" she asks.

I just nodded slowly. She walks over and unclips her bra and lets it fall to the floor, letting her breasts jiggle a little as they're no longer held up. She then wraps her hands around my waist and puts her hands down my boxers and gropes my ass.

She then grips the hem of my underwear, kneels on the floor, and starts to pull them down. My erection springs out and wobbles in her face, making her giggle.

"Somepony's excited aren't they," she says and licks the tip of my member.

I grunt from the pleasurable sensation and rub her ears making her moan from the action and start sucking on the head of my member, her tongue swirling around it while her right hand jerks at the base.

Her left hand starts to massage my balls and she takes my dick deeper into her mouth. We both moan and she picks up speed, I notice her right hand has gone from my member to her own dripping arousal.

She pokes my urethra with the tip of her tongue and swirls it around. She continues sucking, licking and stroking for a good two minutes while her jerking picks up speed.

She eventually lets go and heads over to the large bath tub and turns the taps off. She steps into the water, lies on her back and spreads her legs. "Come and rut us, Adrian," she says with half lidded eyes and starts stroking her pussy with her right hand while pinching her left breast's nipple.

Fuelled by lust, I step in with her and lean over her. She moves her right hand from her lips to my dick and lines it up. "Rut us like thou did in the Everfree..." she whispers into my ear as I can feel the tip rubbing against her flower. I wrap my right arm behind her back and brace myself with my left hand on the wall.

I thrust forward, piercing her heat and groaning. She moans and wraps her arms around my back and pulls me towards her, my face is engulfed by her cleavage and I begin a slow rhythm. My hips meet her groin with every thrust and she moans out loudly, I begin to stroke her wing joints with my right hand as I thrust into her.

After a few minutes, she speaks up. "Faster... ooooh... buck us faster!" She tells me. I pick up my pace and she gasps. "Yes! Nnngh, keep going! Aaaah!" she says and kisses me.

After five minutes of thrusting, I lean back so I'm sitting up with Luna on my lap. I wrap both arms around her and she starts bouncing on my member. "Soooo~ good! We love thee, Adrian! Nnngh... so much..." she says and begins grinding on my groin.

"Ugh... I love you too, Luna," I reply with a grunt, I cup her right cheek with my left hand and kiss her deeply, our tongues sliding and coiling with each other.

She groans and starts bouncing faster on my lap, she then wraps her arms around my head and pulls my face into her cleavage, the soft warmth of her breasts completely engulfing my face. "We are close! Oooh..." she tells me as her moans are gaining in pitch.

"Me too, Luna. Nnuuggh," I reply with a muffled grunt and start thrusting up into her.

"Nnngggghh... we're cumming! AAAAAAAAAHH!!" Luna screams as her hot silky walls grip my dick tightly as she cums, causing me to cum as well while she suffocates me between her breasts and I fire rope after rope of semen into her womb. "Aaaaahh. *huff* Oooooh. *huff* That felt. *huff* Wonderful..." she says and moans a little as she slowly grinds on my lap.

"You can say that again..." I reply with a dopey smile.

Just as Luna was about to get off, the bathroom door opens and Celestia walks in. "Lulu? Are you alright..." She trails off and her wings spring out to her sides as she sees us with wide eyes.

I just stare at her with a heavy blush. Luna though, moans as she quickly sat back down on my member causing some of my cum to leak out of her pussy. "We are f-fine Tia, we were j-just getting ready for t-the day," Luna replies shakily.

Celestia blushes brightly and nodded, I also notice she's biting her lower lip while squeezing her legs together. "V-Very well... it's just that you were late to lower the moon, s-so I came to see what you were doing..." Celestia says and is very slightly rubbing her thighs together.

"W-We see. We shall be out in a f-few minutes, can thou wait for us?" Luna asks Celestia.

Celestia nodded again and slowly left the room, all the while staring at us.

Once the door closed, I look at Luna. "Well, that was awkward..." I say.

"How so? Tia is a part of our herd. Mmmmm... she could join us if she wanted to," she tells me and slowly gets up, I blush even deeper at her words. My dick slides out and she turns around and sits in front of me. "Now thou shall wash our back as we asked thee to," she says.

We finish washing up, get dressed, Luna lowers the moon, and we then go check on the life crystals.

Chapter 28: A Fancy Tea Party

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 30.5 : Embracing the Sun (Clop)

Author's Note

Once again Skippable. I think I'm getting better at this clop stuff :D

Chapter 30.5 : Embracing the Sun (Clop)

Terracana
Chapter 30.5 : Embracing the Sun (Clop)

"I've just entered my heat, and I want you to give me a foal," Celestia says into my ear with as much lust as she could.

She's in heat?.. wait... SHE WANTS A CHILD!?

"You want a child? I know I warned Luna when we had sex the first time... but, am I even compatible with you?" I ask. I just notice her hair and tail are back to their natural solid pink.

She giggles at me seductively, oh damn that sounds sexy. "I don't know... but I'm willing to find out," she tells me and kisses me. I couldn't help but groan as her breasts are squished against my chest. I grab her ass and start kneading the soft flesh beneath her fur. She moans into my mouth as she gets more aggressive by forcing her tongue into my mouth.

Her tongue coils around mine as we exchange saliva with each other. Oh fuck, I'm as hard as steel already... I need to get these clothes off!

Celestia gasps as the tent in my pants rubs against her groin. "Hmmmm, that feels nice," she says and grinds on my lap. "Let's get rid of these clothes shall we?" she says and licks my cheek. Her horn glows and I'm lying naked beneath her. "That's better, I've had to act as the kind motherly ruler for centuries, and now, I want to experience being a mother. I want you to rut me so much that even if we're not compatible, I'd get pregnant anyway," she whispers into my ear and then exhales, her hot breath sending a chill down my spine.

I growl and wrap my arms around her back and grip the base of each wing, she gasps and moans loudly as I start massaging them. She starts to grind my length between her thighs as it rubs against her heat. I then carefully roll her onto her back, making sure I don't bend her wings the wrong way.

Celestia pants heavily as I start thrusting my dick across her clit slowly. Her moans of pleasure is music to my ears and I bring my lips to her right breast and begin licking and sucking. I twirl my tongue around the nipple and pinch it between my teeth while still massaging her wing joints.

She grabs the back of my head and pulls me hard against her breast. I can taste her milk flowing onto my tongue, it's less creamy than Luna's but much sweeter, I greedily drink her milk. I hear her quietly scream as she arches her back and her juices coat my balls and thighs. I slip two fingers down and gather some of her cum. I quickly lick it off my finger and taste her, tastes like vanilla.

I pull back and look at her face, she's looking at me with lust and love. "Hurry, Adrian. *pant* Rut me. *huff* Make me your mare!" she tells me desperately.

I line up my dick with her soaked pussy and gently prod my tip against her making her gasp. "Don't tease me! Just put it in!" she says and I do just that. I thrust forward slowly so she can savour the pleasure, I know I am. Once I'm fully inside, she wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. I can feel her soft hot walls clenching my cock, fuck that feels good, she's tighter than Luna.

"Oh Adrian... ahhh... please... nggh... rut me... breed me!" she says and I slowly begin thrusting. I latch onto her left breast and begin draining the milk from it making her moan loudly as I continue to rub her wings.

"Yes! Buck me! Buck me so hard I can't walk for days!" she tells me and I increase my speed. She's grunting with every thrust, moaning from every hard suckle to her nipples, gasping from every rough twist of her wing joints. she leans her head back as her eyes roll into the back of her head and her tongue lolls out of her mouth.

I lift my head up and kiss her deeply as I battle with her tongue and run my appendage across her teeth and palate. I feel her run her tongue across my canines and she groans from their sharpness.

I pick up speed again and slam into her with fervour. She leans her head back, screaming as I nibble, lick, and suck on her exposed neck. The sounds of our mating echoes throughout the room with wet slaps and moans of ecstasy.

After a good twenty minutes of passionate sex, I can feel my peak quickly approaching. "Tia... I'm close," I tell her.

It seems she's in such euphoria she barely heard me. "Inside! AAHHHH! CUM INSIDE ME!" she screams as she cums hard, her tail wrapping around me. "ADRIAN! AAAAHHH!" I can feel her vice like grip clamp down on me and pull my dick deep into her. Oh shit, I can't hold it anymore.

"AH FUCK!" I shout as I explode inside her, pumping shot after shot of cum into her eager womb. Celestia is violently shaking against me as her legs and arms hold onto me tightly, her mouth wide open in a silent scream and her eyes roll back all the way. I continue to thrust against her as best as I can to prolong her orgasm.

Her trembling calms down as she tries to catch her breath. "Adrian... *huff* That was... *pant* Wonderful... *huff* Thank you," she says and holds onto me and nuzzles my neck.

"You're welcome, Tia. But we're not done yet," I tell her.

She looks at me confused. "Not done? *huff* Y-You mean you can go again?" she asks me.

"Of course, why? Can't stallions?" I ask her back.

"N-No, they can only last once and only for ten minutes at most... the fact that you lasted... nnnggh... much longer was amazing. Ahh!... In itself," she tells me.

Wow... sucks to be a stallion. "Well then, good thing I'm not a stallion!" I say. I then pull out and turn her onto her hands and knees. She 'Eeeps' and instinctively raises her tail and spreads her legs, I then grip her hips and line myself up with her dripping pussy. Her wings shoot wide open and her tail wraps around my waist as she looks back at me with wide eyes.

I thrust forward hard and hilt her instantly. She raises her head, closes her eyes and screams from the sudden penetration and pushes back against me. "Oh buck me! Ahhh! Nnghh... fill me again my love, fill me to the brim!" she says and I start pounding into her. Her head flops onto her pillow as her ass stays in the air. I lean over her and wrap my arms around her waist where she grabs my hands and entwines her fingers with mine.

I begin to fuck her rapidly as the wet slapping sounds of our frantic lovemaking fill the room. I'm pretty sure any guards and maids can hear her screaming out in bliss if they pass by... if not the whole Castle, but that can be dealt with later, right now I got a Princess to please. I begin to fuck her as fast as I can, thrusting three times every second. Her grip on my hands tighten as well as the erratic squeezing of her vagina.

"A-Adri-ian! NNNGGGH! I-I'm sssoooooooo c-close! AAH! DON'T OOOHH! D-DON'T S-STOP!" she begs me and I start hammering for all I'm worth. She's moaning so hard and constantly, it sounds like she's crying. I can see tears leaking from her eyes as she's gritting her teeth, her pussy is absolutely gushing.

"Oh fuck! Tia, I'm gonna cum!" I tell her.

"YEEESSS! NNGGAAAHH! FILL ME! AH BUCK! OOOOH! BREED ME! CLAIM ME! AAAAAAHHH!" she shouts and cums again even harder this time. I let go and paint her womb with another helping of my cum. Her juices soak my groin and legs but I don't care as she trembles like she's in an earthquake and refuses to let go of my hands. "I LOVE YOU, ADRIAN! AAHHH!" she yells to me, her climax still rocking her body. I keep fucking her until she goes limp.

"Nnngghh... OooOOooOOHhh. I've never... aaahh... felt so goood nnngghh..." she mumbles. Her pussy still clenching and sucking on my dick, trying to extract as much out of me as possible.

I grin and massage her back, earning me more moans from her. "The night is still young and I've got plenty of stamina left. Do you need a break?" I ask her.

I then see her eyes shoot open and her pupils mere pinpricks. She leans back and I fall onto my back with my cock still inside her. She sits up on my lap and begins grinding rapidly to keep me hard. "Ah shit!" I say and grunt from her rough grinding. I grab her waist and start grinding back. She moans deeply and starts bouncing on me.

Her ass slaps against my pelvis over and over, jiggling to my pleasure. I firmly grasp each cheek and squeeze tightly, earning a lustful groan out of her. I begin pulling her down while thrusting up into her to which she starts screaming again. I sit up and start groping her breasts, kneading, twisting and pulling on her nipples. I can feel some milk running down my fingers and then give them a hard squeeze making her scream and cum as milk squirts over the bed.

I pick her up and stand off the bed, I pull out and turn her to face me and lift her up by her ass. She wraps her arms and legs around me as I pin her to the wall and thrust back in. She moans and I start pumping quickly while gripping her ass tightly. "Oooh! O-Once the.. nnggghhh... Hive i-is finnnnaaaahh! Finished... oh buck me... W-Will you m-marr... nnngghhaaaaah!" she says between moans and screams.

Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted as she cums. "YEEEESSS!" she screams and I can't help but cum and flood her again. I can feel our mixed fluids leaking out of her and dripping to the floor. Still inside her, I stumble over to the bed and fall onto my back with her on top of me, my member still buried deeply within her.

I was about to ask her what she said, but she's passed out on top of me. I scoot back and pull the covers over us without pulling out of her. I guess I'll have to ask her in the morning, and only time will tell if she's pregnant.

"Sweet dreams, Tia," I say to her. Feeling exhausted, I join her in the land of dreams. Except my dreams will be filled with the hope of a family.

Chapter 31: The Lapis Hive Part 2

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 31.5: The Love of a Changeling (Clop)

Terracana
Chapter 31.5: The Love of a Changeling (Clop)

I fall back onto Shella's bed and can hear Celestia and Luna giggle as they head back down the hall. Shella is standing beside the bed with a huge blush on her face.

"I'm sorry if this is too sudden, but I don't want anyling else as my mate than you... I love you," she says, still with her heavy blush and holding her hands together.

I sit up on the edge of the bed and pat the quilt beside me, she takes the hint and sits beside me. "I've had a feeling you might of liked me with the way you kept flirting with me last week," I tell her and she looks away. I gently cup her cheek and move her head to look at me. "And I won't say I didn't find it flattering that you would chose me over anyone else... but you sure you're ready for this?" I ask her.

She looks at me with those deep blue eyes of hers. "Yes, I've had this urge to be with you for the last three days, I want to be with you," she says and hugs me.

"But what about your Hive? Don't you need to be there for them?" I ask her.

"No, I can communicate with them using our Hive Mind. Meaning I can stay here with you and the Princesses," she tells me and suddenly kisses me.

I cup her right cheek with my left hand and kiss her back. I won't lie and say I haven't started developing feelings for her over the last two weeks. I'm just glad Luna and Celestia have accepted her as well.

She wraps her arms around my neck as she deepens the kiss, I also wrap my arms around her waist and I notice her moth like wings spreading wide. They look absolutely beautiful. I reach out and gently stroke the edge of one from the base to about mid way making her shiver and moan into my mouth.

"Th-That felt nice, can you do it again please?" she asks and I repeat the action on her other wing earning me more shivers of delight.

"Hmmmm," she hums in content. I can start smelling a musky fragrance coming from her. It smells sweet and she notices me sniffing the air. "Oh, I didn't think you would be able to smell that," she says.

"Smell what?" I ask.

"The pheromones my body is releasing. It's my body's way of letting others know I'm ready to breed, but it should be scentless to anything other than a changeling," she tells me.

"Strange, I can smell it and it smells sweet," I say and lean closer to her and inhale deeply. She smells very nice. "I like it," I tell her.

She smiles and begins to take off her dress but I grab her hand and stop her, getting a confused expression from her. "Allow me," I say.

She blushes as I kneel in front of her and wrap my arms around her as I slowly pull the small zipper on the back of her dress down. I then reach up and pull the straps over her shoulders down and her dress falls to her waist. She's blushing so hard that her neck has started to turn green. I still find it strange that a changeling's blush looks green instead of red or pink... but I guess that's due to their blood being green as well.

I hook my fingers on the back of her dress above her ass and start pulling it down, my hands give her backside a gentle squeeze on the way getting an 'Eep' out of her. I pull the dress down past her knees and then completely off, I then place the dress on a table and turn back to her. She's only wearing a pair of light blue panties and bra.

I wrap my hands behind her again and unclip her bra and pull them off, letting her breasts free and jiggle. Her wings begin twitching and fluttering now and then. I then grip the sides of her panties and pull them down, now that I can see them clearly, their soaked in her arousal. I pull them off and place them and the bra with her dress.

I look back at the naked changeling Queen and smile, the deep blue chitin around her waist has this oily effect when light shines off it. Her nipples are also a deep blue.

I smirk at her and spread my arms. "Would you like your turn now?" I ask her.

She goes wide eyed and nodded quickly, she then stands up and walks over to me. She removes my armour with a glow of her horn and starts lifting my shirt over my head with her hands. She lingers on stroking my chest for a few seconds before pulling my shirt over my head where she then places it on the table next to her dress and then begins unbuttoning my trousers.

She pulls the zipper down, undoes the button and then snakes her hands in to grope my ass while pulling them down. I step out of them once they're at the floor and to my surprise, she bites the hem of my underwear and pulls it down to my knees where she gets them off with her hands.

She's still kneeling in front of me with my erection in her face. I watch as she brings her right hand up and begins to stroke my member with wide eyes. After a few strokes, she extends her tongue and begins licking the head making me moan from the stimulation and gently rub her ears between my thumb and fingers. She hums from the rubbing and takes the head of my dick into her mouth.

I feel her tongue swirling around the head getting me to groan while she still strokes my length with her hand. Her left hand is on my right hip to help her keep her balance as she starts to slowly take me deeper and I silently thank any gods here that her fangs are gone.

She's taking my dick halfway now and moans in delight, she then takes my dick out and looks at me. "You taste delightful!" she tells me and returns to sucking on my cock. She then pushes the whole thing down her throat and gags slightly, I can't help but groan deeply from the feeling.

Once she's used to it, she starts bobbing along the whole length with long slow movements. I continue to rub her ears and she picks up speed and keeps moaning in delight.

I go wide eyed and I can feel her tongue coil around the whole thing from head to base. Holy crap! How long is her tongue? Her tongue then wraps around my balls and begins massaging them. Ooooh shit! I can't hold on anymore! "Shella... nngh. I'm cumming!" I warn her.

She speeds up and when she feels me twitch, she slams my cock deep into her throat and squeezes it tightly. Yup, that'll do it! I grunt and release down her throat with four loads of cum while she gulps it down and moans loudly. After a few seconds, she releases my balls and dick but continues to lick the head for a few seconds as a few more drops come out.

"Hmmm, that was delicious," she says as she looks me in the eyes and smiles.

"Well, now it's my turn," I say and lift her up and lay her on the bed. She's smiling shyly at me with her legs spread as I kneel in front of her between her thighs. I notice that her fluids are not clear like Celestia's or Luna's, but are a light blueish colour. Even the inside of her pussy looks dark blue just like her eyes.

I inhale deeply and almost get hard instantly again, she smells heavenly. I spread her folds apart with my fingers, getting lustful moan from her. I slowly lick her from base to clit, She tastes like... watermelon? I think... whatever, it's sweet and I continue to lap at her flowing slit.

Shella squirms on the bed and grips my hair as pleasure she's never felt before assaults her body. "Nnggh. Adrian... that feels, ooooh, good. Aah. Keep going please," she tells me.

I begin swirling my tongue around her vulva for a few seconds earning a cute moan from her. I then thrust my tongue inside and she nearly screams. I wiggle my tongue and she grips my hair almost painfully while letting out a constant shaky moan. I ignore it and start licking at her walls. She starts trembling and pulls me harder against her.

"I... I think... ahh, nnngghh. I think I'm going to.. oooh, aaahh. CUM!" she shouts and I open my mouth widely. She arches her back and moans as her light blue juices splash onto my tongue. After a few seconds I swallow it and she calms down and starts panting. "That felt... *huff* Amazing!" she tells me and I start crawling up her body, getting a few moans and giggles from her.

I stop at her breasts and give her right one a lick, getting a delightful sigh out of her. I wrap my lips around her nipple and begin sucking, but unlike Celestia or Luna, she doesn't have any milk. A bit disappointing, but understandable since they feed off of love.

I gently stroke her sides with my hands, her chitin feels smooth yet somewhat soft especially around her belly, not as hard as I thought it would be. I switch between breasts for a while to let her recover from her earlier orgasm.

After a few minutes she looks at me with need in her eyes. "I'm ready now... just, please be gentle," she tells me.

I smile and crawl up to her face and kiss her deeply, getting her to wrap her arms around me and moan. I pull back and look down as I grab my member and rub the head against her. I place the tip at her waiting entrance and look back up to her face, I see both excitement and worry in her eyes. I bring my hand back up and gently caress her cheek.

"Are you sure you want this?" I ask her.

"More than anything else," she tells me and wraps her legs around me and pulls me towards her. My dick is shoved inside her and I feel my tip rip through some sort of barrier... I just took her virginity. I look down and see a small flow of green blood leaking out and then look back at her face, she's gritting her teeth with her eyes closed holding back a whimper.

I softly kiss her and rub her stomach gently to help ease her pain. After a minute of waiting, she opens her teary eyes and smiles at me. "I'm ready, but please go slowly," she asks.

I nodded and wrapped my arms around her as I slowly pull out and slide back in. She moans and wraps her arms around me even tighter. I repeat the movement a few more times to help her get used to being penetrated and she starts panting. "Faster..." she tells me.

I pick up the speed a bit and she moans loudly with her legs still around me, giving me full access to her sopping pussy.

"Nnnggh, aaahh. More... ooh, aaaa, nnngh. Faster, Adrian! FASTER!" she begs me.

She gasps as I start fucking her faster with my hips slapping against her ass repeatedly. She's moaning while borderline screaming now. I feel her fingers dig into my back and I start ramming a bit harder, she's grunting and gasping for breath with every thrust.

"I-I'm goi, nnnggh. Going to CUM! AAAAHHH!" she says and I feel her clench tightly with both her vagina and limbs. I can't hold back and cum with her, she moans long and deeply as my seed fills her womb. Her whole body shakes from the amount of pleasure coursing through her, her arms and legs are trembling as they tighten their grip around me. I kiss her as she comes down from her orgasmic high. "I *huff* I Love, *pant* you, Adrian," she says and hugs me tightly to herself.

"I love you too," I reply and smile at her. "Would you like to join me for lunch tomorrow?" I ask her.

She smiles back at me. "I'd love to," she replies and kisses me again.

I pull out and lay back on the bed where she climbs on top of me and sighs. "I want to keep this feeling forever," she tells me and hugs me.

I smile but then sadly frown. I know alicorns and changeling Queens are immortal or just have very long lifespans from what I know of Celestia and Luna and the Information Thraxx told me... but one day I'll grow old and die... leaving them behind. I look up at the ceiling and let a single tear roll down my cheek. 'I'd do anything to be able to stay with them,' I think to myself as I fall asleep.

Canterlot Statue Garden
POV: ?????

A Statue of a misshapen being made from many different creatures begins to glow softly for a few seconds before dispersing.

'Soon I shall be free again. Oh I do hope dear old Celly and wittle Woona are still not mad at me for that prank I played on them,' the being thought. 'It was a harmless prank, how was I supposed to know Celly would take it personally? Note to self, don't mess with her cakes again,' he chuckles at the thought.

'I think I'll take a nap while I wait,' He thinks to himself and slips into unconsciousness.

Chapter 32: The Lapis Hive Part 3

Terracana
Chapter 32: The Lapis Hive Part 3

Construction Day 20
Canterlot Statue Garden
POV: ?????

A Statue of a misshapen being made from many different creatures begins to glow softly for a few seconds before dispersing.

'I think I'll take a nap while I wait,' he thinks to himself and slips into unconsciousness.

Construction Day 21
POV: Adrian Stormsword

I slowly wake up with a weight on my chest so I look down and see Shella sleeping peacefully on me. I was about to smile but notice dark blue and white wings wrapped across her back. I see Luna to my left and Celestia to my right both cuddling up to us. I don't remember them coming in last night. Though, with all of them here, it's really comforting.

I look at the clock on the wall and see it's five forty-two, no doubt we'll all need a bath before we have to go do our own things due to the soiled and sweaty sheets, so I lightly start to shake them awake.

They all groan and slowly wake up. "Good Morning," I say to them.

"Good morning, Adrian," Shella says and nuzzles me. "Thank you for last night, you'd be happy to know I've got three eggs fertilised and growing now," she tells me.

That was quick. "How can you tell?" I ask.

"I can feel the life within them," she replies and sits up. She then places my right hand on her stomach. "Can you feel it?" she asks.

Perhaps I could if I were a changeling. "No, but I'll take your word for it," I reply with a smile. "So how long do the eggs take to hatch?" I ask.

She smiles back. "I'll carry them for a month and then lay them. They'll continue to grow after that for another four months while I feed them some love energy every week. Then they'll hatch and other changelings shall adopt them," she tells me.

"Adopt them? You don't raise them?" I ask.

"I'll raise one or two as my own, but since only Queens can lay eggs, other changelings take an egg or two to raise as their own. Besides, in a month's time, you'll be impregnating me again," she tells me.

I guess that makes sense, as long as we keep one to raise, I'm fine with it. "I understand, will we be keeping one of these three then?" I ask her.

She smiles and nodded. "Yes, although changelings have genders, their genitals are non-functional. Would you prefer to keep a male or a female hatchling?" she replies and asks.

"I'll let you decide," I reply.

Celestia then suddenly lurches and covers her mouth as she quickly gets out of bed and runs into the bathroom. I can hear her retching into the toilet and I immediately wiggle out of bed and make my way to her.

"Tia! Are you alright?" I ask her while rubbing her back.

She throws up again and groans. "I-I'm fine... I must have eaten something that didn't agree with me," she says.

I hear Shella gasp and kneel besides Celestia and place her hand on her stomach. "Celestia... you're pregnant." she tells her.

Celestia looks at her and smiles widely, but it's ruined as she throws up again into the toilet. I just stare blankly at the wall.

Celestia's pregnant? I know she said it was a possibility, but to actually hear it... I'm going to be a father to two or three children...

POV: Luna

Tia's pregnant? I'm going to be an aunt!? I was about to squeal like a little filly, but I see Adrian with a blank expression and then just collapse onto the floor. "ADRIAN!" I yell and shake him.

"Adrian what's wrong?" I ask him and get no reply.

I hear Shella giggling. "He is fine, I believe the information about Celestia being pregnant caused him to pass out," she tells me.

I sigh in relief and cast a spell to wake him up. He groans and opens his eyes.

"I passed out didn't I," he states flatly with a deadpan expression.

"Yes, thou did," I tell him and giggle.

He sighs and gets up and stands behind Tia and hugs her lovingly. "I'm fine now, Adrian. Although I'm not looking forward to more of this in the mornings. I am looking forward to the day where I can hold our foal in my arms," she says and hugs him back.

"Come on ye three, we should wash up before we have to work," I tell them.

Construction Day 30
POV: Adrian Stormsword

Over the last nine days the Hive's housing area has been completed and all the changelings have their own homes. There's also a few empty houses for future families.

More of the market area has been dug out and some shops with small built in homes on the second floors have been built. There's a lot of Crystals in the walls that are giving off light so they can see what they're doing. There's also an empty area for merchants from other towns to set up stalls to sell their own wares to the changelings.

With news that Shella is pregnant with our eggs, all the changelings halted work on everything and started building a nursery for her to lay her eggs in and then for the changelings to care for them.

The people from Ponyville have also visited the changelings and have started to become friends. With the changelings new appearance, they look a lot less threatening, so the ponies aren't as afraid of them. A path has been made from the Hive to Ponyville and plans of having a train station built are in the works as well.

Shella's stomach has started to bulge slightly, but unlike Celestia she isn't effected by morning sickness or cravings. Speaking of cravings, Celestia has been eating a lot of cake and other sweets. Luna had to ban the kitchen staff from obeying Celestia's orders and give her a healthy diet and only one slice of cake a day. Let's just say Celestia wasn't happy with that.

Every morning I get up to help ease Celestia's morning sickness by rubbing her back while she heaves. She's also been getting more emotional. It's not bad right now, but I just know she's going to start throwing things at me soon.

Luna cornered me on the twenty-seventh day and had her way with me for hours, I was very sore after that. I had to rest a whole day just to recover, both Celestia and Shella told her off for being too rough.

Blueblood has another noble family on his side, but it seems a noble family going by the name of Goldrush are trying to get others on their side to keep things the way they are, though Blueblood has high hopes he'll succeed.

Fleur Lily has been assigned a tutor to teach her proper etiquette and general education... she's the same tutor Blueblood had and she is very old... and cranky from what Fleur tells us.

The four changelings that joined the guard have passed the initiation test and are now privates under Shining's command until they pick a specialization.

I've also been getting this weird feeling coming from the Castle Gardens. It's almost like something... or someone is calling out to me. Like I've met them before.

Shining Armour swings his sword at me and I block it with my shield. "That's it! You're getting the hang of it!" he tells me and swings again. I deflect his attack and then charge at him with the shield, I bash right into him and send him on his ass. "Ow... motherbucker," he says rubbing his back.

He's also been teaching me to use the shield as a weapon as well. I've also learnt how to cast a barrier spell onto my shield itself to place a small shield in front of it to reflect magical attacks back at the caster.

I hold my hand out to him and help him up. "You're definitely improving at a good pace, I think you'll be great in just a few more weeks," he tells me.

I was about to reply, but someone called out to him. "Shiny! I'm home!" a woman says. She has pink fur and three colours in her hair, yellow, hot pink, and purple. Her mark is a blue heart shaped crystal with gold on the sides of it. She has purple eyes and an elegant white dress on, what I notice most is that she has both a horn and wings.

"Cadence!" Shining says and jogs over to her. They have a quick hug and then share a quick kiss, I walk over to them after I put the wooden sword I was using back on the rack.

Shining then notices me behind him. "Oh, this is my marefriend Cadence. Cadence, this is sir Adrian Stormsword. The Princesses knight and coltfriend," Shining tells her.

"Coltfriend!?" Cadence yells in shock, making me jump. She immediately grabs my head and pulls me down to her eye level. I stare at her with wide eyes as she looks in mine. I try to look over to Shining for help but Cadence just jerks my head back to her with a glare. After a few minutes of awkward silence she smiles widely. "Oh this is wonderful! Aunty Tia and Luna found somepony to love and love them in turn!" she squeals and hugs me, I just raise an eyebrow at Shining.

"What's going on?" I ask him confused.

"She's just making sure your love for the Princesses and now the Queen is real," he tells me.

"Queen? What Queen?" Cadence asks.

"You've heard news that a changeling Hive is being built at the base of the mountain right?" Shining asks her.

Cadence shakes her head. "Actually no, I haven't. I've just got back and wanted to see you first... why are changelings in Equestria?" she asks sounding worried.

"Thanks to Adrian here, he and the Princesses discovered a way to feed changelings without hurting anypony. After saving the survivors of a Hive in the Badlands who were left for dead by Queen Chrysalis, they were brought here. One of the young fillies there changed into a Queen and is now leading this new Hive. She's also now in Adrian's herd," he tells her.

Cadence just looks stunned at the news that her aunts are in a herd with a changeling Queen. Oh, speak of the devil, here she comes now.

"Adrian!" Shella says with a wave and walks over to us. I can see Cadence looking at her with wide eyes.

"Hello, Shella. Do you need something?" I ask her as she kisses me.

"Celestia want's to know if you want to go out for dinner tonight," she tells me.

"Sure. Sounds like it'll be fun, what time?" I ask.

"In two hours," she tells me.

"Okay, and how's Tia feeling?" I reply and ask.

"She's feeling better, but I think her pregnancy is starting to get to her. I think you'll need to spend more time with her," she replies.

"Hmm, sure. I can spend all day tomorrow with her, how are you feeling?" I ask her and place my right hand on her stomach.

"I'm feeling fine. Only a few more weeks before I start laying them," she tells me. Cadence looks like she's about to pass out.

"Y-You got a-aunty p-p-pregnant!? And h-her as well?" she stutters and points to Shella. "How!? Only somepony with very high magic within them can get an alicorn pregnant! But unlike alicorns, normal ponies gather magic from around them, they don't have any from within!" she says trying to figure it out.

Shining chuckles and pats me on the back. "Well Adrian here has his own magic and I guess it was strong enough to get the Princess pregnant. You should see his kind of magic, it's way stronger than mine. His barrier spell can deflect any spell, but it's not very strong against physical attacks," he tells her.

Cadence then looks from him to me. "Can you show me?" she asks.

"Sure, I don't see why not," I reply and walk over to the target range.

I fire off some beam, spray, and projectile spells as well as some defensive spells.

I hear a gurgle come from behind me, Shella then taps me on my shoulder. "By the way, I'm feeling a bit hungry. Carrying these eggs is draining my energy faster than what I'm used to, can you feed me please," she asks.

"Hmm? Oh sure," I reply and cast a single life element beam at her. The energy flows into her and she hums in satisfaction before she then lets out a small burp.

"Excuse me... thank you, my love," she says and kisses me.

"S-So that's how you've been feeding them? With magic? I thought I felt love energy in that spell... what is its original purpose?" Cadence asks.

"It's a healing beam, the life element to be exact. It heals almost any wound from bruises and cuts, to lacerations and even broken bones. Though it can't regrow or reattach limbs," I tell her. "So with Luna, Celestia, and Crystal Clear's help. We created crystals that continuously give off a mist from the life element that's in them that can feed and heal changelings near them," I tell her.

"So now we have changelings as allies?" she asks.

Shining speaks up. "Yeah, we even have four changelings in the guard now. Over there, see?" he replies and points to the four changelings in guard armour, practising with swords. Each one has their own life wand as well.

"I see," Cadence says and looks at Shella again. "So why does she look so different from Chrysalis' changelings?" she asks.

"She was originally like that, but I think it's because of the energy of my Life element that is most likely changing her and the others to reflect the nature of the element. Instead of a predator like appearance, they now look more friendly. I personally think her wings look very beautiful," I tell Cadence and get a smile from Shella.

Cadence smiles at our display of affection. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Shella. I hope you'll treat my aunties along with sir Adrian well," she tells her. "But now I need to go see aunty Tia and congratulate her!" she says and flies off to the Castle.

Once she's gone I turn to look at Shining. "She sure is a lively one ain't she," I say.

He chuckles. "Oh, you don't know the half of it," he replies.

Two Hours Later

Me, Celestia, Luna, and Shella went out to a fancy restaurant in Canterlot for dinner together. They're all wearing beautiful dresses with their royal regalia as well while I'm in my suit, though I do have my sword as well. Shella also has a dark blue crown that was made for her with a deep blue sapphire on her head. I open the doors for them and hold it open.

"Thank you, my dear," Celestia says and kisses my cheek, followed by Luna and Shella. Celestia walks over to the waiter behind a podium with some kind of ledger or logbook near the doors.

"G-Good afternoon, Princesses," he says and bows down to Celestia and Luna. I don't care that he completely ignores me, but the disgusted look and curled lip he gave Shella made me angry.

"Look at Shella like that again and I'll rip out your eyes," I tell him coldly, even Celestia and Luna look peeved.

"F-Forgive me, Sir," he apologises and bows to me.

I just frown at him. "It's not me you should be saying sorry to," I tell him.

He turns to Shella and bows. "I apologise for my behaviour, ma'am," he says to her.

Shella just waves it off. "It's fine, I understand it will take time for ponies to get used to us," Shella replies. Not really, it's just some people of Canterlot are racist assholes.

Celestia decides to speak up before the man can say anything else. "We'd like a table for four please," she tells him, but the kindness in her tone is barely there.

"O-Of course, Princess. Please follow me," he replies and leads us to a private room. Some of the other customers stare and whisper about us as we pass them, but the one's who make eye contact with me quickly shut up and look away.

We're lead to a room with a table in the centre and eight chairs around it. A vase with some roses sit's in the middle of the table along with plates, cutlery and napkins.

The waiter leaves the room while a woman walks over to us and hands us each a menu. "Here are our menus for today, would you like me to get you any drinks while you decide on what you would like?" she asks us.

At least she's not being rude to Shella. "I would like an iced tea please," Celestia says.

"We would like a Moonlight Cider please," Luna replies,

"I'll just have a mild ale please," I reply.

"I'll have some water please," Shella says.

The waitress bows and leaves the room.

I've learnt over the last two weeks that changelings can still eat solid foods like ponies can. They use the matter for creating cocoons and pods with the goo like material they make within their stomachs, although they don't need to eat food to survive, they can still taste flavours. But a Queen uses the mass to help her eggs grow slightly faster and to coat the eggs with the goo in her womb to strengthen them.

"So how's your day been, Tia?" I ask while looking over the menu.

"Stressful, some of the nobles are still demanding that I no longer court you as you are neither a pony nor nobility. They've even threatened to have me and Luna removed from the throne saying we are being corrupted by you," she tells me and sighs. "And due to my sudden mood swings lately, I may or may not have reacted poorly," she says sheepishly.

"What did you do?" I ask with interest.

She blushes and looks down. "I threw the slice of cake I had at the one who said it in the face... and may have threatened to geld him should he insult you again..." she replies.

I blink a few times and then smile widely, I then snort and burst out laughing. "HAAAHAHHAHAA. Oh! Hehehe, that's funny. I wish I was there to see it. Hehe, what did he do when you said that?" I ask.

She blushes even more. "He... He ran out the door screaming like a little filly," she tells me with a slight blush.

I lose it and fall off the back of my chair as I laugh for a minute or two and I can hear Luna and Shella giggling as well. Once I calm down, I get up and sit back down.

"Oh I really wish I could have seen that..." I say and look to Luna. "What about you Luna? What have you been up to?" I ask her.

"Today is the last day we overlook the Hive's construction. It has been built to a point where the changelings can continue on their own. Though we will send supplies and materials still should they need them," she tells me.

"That's good, I hear Twilight even offered to help set up a Library for them," I say with a Chuckle.

"We have heard that as well. That mare really needs to... what is the term... get laid?" Luna says with a raised brow.

I laugh again while Celestia just sighs and shakes her head. "Lulu, you know that dear Twilight has not got the best track record with stallions... I remember one time she tried to take one of the guards she liked out to the Canterlot Library for a date," Celestia says. "Poor colt fell asleep after five minutes just being there."

That gets me to smile, Twilight really takes her studying and books too far. I wonder how everyone is doing in Ponyville? Maybe I can take Celestia there tomorrow for a visit.

The waitress returns with our drinks and we make our orders. We have a nice time together with no one to disturb us. Once we finished our meals I pay the bill and we head back to the Castle. Though on the way out, no one decided to stare or say anything.

I head to Celestia's room and continue reading my spell book, I'm trying to learn how to cast auras on myself, starting with a life aura. So far it's going well, I can make the aura last a good one or two minutes before it gets unstable.

Luna went with Celestia to finish court for the day while Shella was cuddled up next to me. I've discovered that she likes to sleep naked, something about clothing being uncomfortable for her while she sleeps... not that I'm complaining. Celestia and Luna have even taken to doing the same... and after some, 'encouragement'... me as well.

Right now I have a life aura around me where Shella is absorbing the energy it's giving off. The Life aura slowly heals me and anyone around me as well... that means both friend and foe alike so it's best used while staying back and healing injured soldiers or guards. Shella hums in content as the doors open to the room.

Celestia and Luna both look tired and strip out of their clothes. I put the book on the night stand and lift the quilt up for them where Luna lays on top of me and Celestia snuggles up to my right.

"Good night," I tell them.

"Good night, Adrian," they all reply. Once we're all comfortable we slowly drift off to sleep.

Author's Note

I added the last part from the last Clop chapter to the start for those who wanted to skip the clop but still know this happened in it.

Also there will be some combat action in the next chapter! WHOO HOO!

Also close to the 100k word mark!

Chapter 33: The Living Impaired

Terracana
Chapter 33: The Living Impaired

I wake up to the feeling of someone groping me. I look down to see Luna nuzzling against my chest and her hands on my ass while still asleep.

Well... that's a rather pleasant way of waking up, Celestia and Shella then decide to join in as well. So here I am getting touched up by three gorgeous women. What did I do to deserve this? I think to myself with a smile.

So they want to play like that huh? I wrap my legs around Luna and grab Celestia's and Shella's backsides with a hand each and squeeze.

They all 'Eeep' as they wake up and giggle. "Good morning, love. You're a little frisky today," Celestia says cuddles closer to me.

"Me? You three were the ones molesting me in your sleep," I told them. I then feel Luna squeezing my ass.

"Are thee complaining?" Luna asks.

"Nope," I reply with a grin. "So, Tia. What did you have planned for today?" I ask her.

"Mostly court duties, then to continue with the plans to sneak into Aires Peak," she replies. "Why?"

"Would you like to spend the day in Ponyville with me?" I ask her.

She looks at me with surprise and then smiles. "I would love to, but what about court?" she replies and asks.

"Do not worry, Tia. We shall handle court for today. We have noticed how stressed thou art getting lately with thy pregnancy. Take today off with Adrian, thou deserves it," Luna tells her.

Celestia hums happily and kisses my cheek. "Very well. Come on then, let's get dressed and get breakfast. I've been meaning to visit Twilight for a while now," she says and gets out of bed. Luna gets off me and lets me get out as well, although she cuddles up to Shella afterwards.

Thirty minutes later, we're all up and dressed, me armoured, sun and moon changed and sitting in the Dining Hall eating breakfast. Blueblood, Thraxx, and Lily are here as well.

After we've had breakfast and some small talk, Celestia and I head to the courtyard to get a carriage. Though the nobles weren't happy with her leaving without saying anything about it. I just don't think they like dealing with Luna’s no nonsense attitude.

Once in a carriage, we start flying towards Ponyville. Celestia holds onto my right arm along the way as we look out the windows and the landscape below us. We land in front of Twilight's Library where we see her standing outside with a nervous smile and spike next to her.

I help Celestia out of the carriage and walk over to Twilight. "Hello, Twilight. How have you been?" I ask her.

She bows to Celestia and then turns to me. "Oh, you know... good I guess. I've been studying the changelings and I've learnt so much about their culture, but why do they look so different from normal changelings?" she asks.

"I think it has something to do with the fact they're feeding off my life element instead of actual love. Or maybe each Hive's Queen has their own appearance? Hard to say really," I reply. I just had an idea to tease Twilight with. "Oh, by the way, Tia. Do you want to tell Twilight or should I?" I ask and place my left hand on her stomach.

"Tell me what?" Twilight asks looking confused.

I smirk at Celestia who blushes. "You can if you want to," she replies.

"Alright." I walk up to Twilight with a neutral expression and lean down so I'm face to face with her. "Celestia's pregnant," I tell her bluntly.

Twilight stares at me with a blank expression for a few seconds before falling backwards where Spike catches her. I wave my hand in her face yet she doesn't blink. "I think I broke her," I say and snap my fingers in her face a few times while chuckling.

"You could of told her more gently you know," Celestia tells me and lightly cuffs the back of my head.

"You found it funny and you know it," I reply.

She giggles and levitates Twilight into the Library and sets her down on the couch.

We wait for thirty minutes for Twilight to wake up while Spike made us some tea and told us all that's happened since Nightmare Night. Applejack's nearly finished her harvest of apples. Rarity is getting orders for something called hearth's warming eve a few months away. Fluttershy has been looking after a sick bear named Harry. Rainbow has been practising her stunts and weather work. Pinkie planned a few parties and Twilight has been researching the changelings.

"Sounds like everything's peaceful here, I wish we could say the same for Canterlot. The nobles are still being a pain in the ass," I tell him.

The sounds of grumbling coming from Twilight gets our attention. "Huh? Princess?" she asks looking around. She spots us sitting on the two armchairs. "How did I get on the couch?" she asks.

"I told you something and you passed out." I tell her.

"Passed out?.. wait..." she says wide eyed. I see her horn glow and then she squeals. "Princess! How are you pregnant? I thought no pony could get an alicorn pregnant..." she asks and hugs Celestia.

Celestia laughs softly. "I was sceptical at first, but Adrian has a large amount of magic within him, and I wanted a foal of my own after so many years of being alone, but It was more than enough to impregnate me," she tells Twilight with a smile who blushes heavily. No doubt imagining us together in bed.

"I'm so happy for you, Princess. What are you going to name the foal?" Twilight asks.

"We don't know yet. We'll be discussing names later once we find out the gender of our foal first," Celestia replies and to my surprise, walks over to me and sits on my lap with her arms around my neck and starts licking my cheek with a smile... I think she's having one of her emotional moments. At least it's the overly affectionate one and not the I want to tear you apart for doing this to me one.

POV: Twilight Sparkle

Oh my, I've never seen the Princess this affectionate with anypony before. She must really love Adrian to be acting like this.

"I take it you want me to keep the fact you're pregnant a secret right?" I ask.

Adrian chuckles. "I don't mind if you do or not. If anyone doesn't approve, I'll just ignore them," he says but then his tone turns cold. "But should they do something to harm Tia or our unborn child, I'll make sure they'll regret it," he says with a frown.

Whoa, he's very protective of the Princess. "So what are you both here for? Is it just another visit?" I ask them.

His frown fades into a smile as the Princess grabs his head and kisses him hard. I blush deeply and turn away as I hear Celestia moan into the kiss. I see spike looking out of the Kitchen with wide eyes at them.

I quickly get up and walk over to him. "Spike, go see if Rarity needs any help. I'll stay here with the Princess and Adrian." I tell him.

He smiles and nodded as he runs past them and out the door.

I cough into my hand to get their attention. "Erm, Princess. I know you love Adrian, but could you not... erm... get too into it? This is a public Library after all..." I tell them while covering my eyes.

I peek through my fingers to see Celestia looking at me with a heavy blush and she slowly gets off Adrian who has a dopey smile on his face. She then sits back down on the other armchair.

"I'm sorry, Twilight. But I've been having trouble keeping my emotions in check recently," she tells me.

"I understand, Princess. I've read that pregnancy affects a mare's hormones to a degree that it'll affect their behaviour... though I don't think Adrian minded it.” I tell her and point at Adrian, who still looks out of it, making Celestia giggle.

We spend the next three hours talking about the upcoming Sisterhooves Social. An event where sisters work together to complete obstacles and puzzles. Adrian has gotten stronger thanks to my brother's training and I'm told Shella has also gotten pregnant as well. Celestia also tells me Cadence came back yesterday, I'll have to pay her a visit soon.

Our talk is interrupted by screaming coming from the town. "What's going on?" I ask.

We look out the window to see ponies running towards us with fear on their faces.

I notice Adrian's expression looks grim. "Adrian, what's wrong?" I ask him.

"I can feel a lot of arcane magic nearby. The only time I can feel magic like this if it's concentrated to a high degree," he says and heads for the door.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I rush out the door and draw my sword and shield as I run past the screaming people to see six rotting gryphons chasing the towns folk.

I channel a shield and two life elements and cast a life aura around me, it will heal me while damaging the undead gryphons as well. I then channel three life elements into my sword and swing horizontally as a green crescent beam of energy fans out and gets absorbed into three of them. The life energy makes them falter slightly as some of the arcane magic within them gets purified.

The fourth one tries ramming me and I hold my shield in front of me, but before It hits me, my aura causes some of it's arcane magic to seep out of it. I slide back a few feet once it makes contact with me, but I stay standing upright. I then channel three life elements into my shield and fire a beam point blank at it, the gryphon corpse screeches like nails on a chalkboard as the beam rapidly purifies it's arcane energy.

I then get tackled by another one and roll a few metres away as my life aura is slowly healing the bruises I got from that hit. I turn to see another one rushing at me with its talons out and ready, but before it could hit me, Celestia slams down hard on it making a crater in the ground. She's fully decked out in her armour and moments later, Luna teleports in with her battle gear as well.

"Thanks," I say and stand beside them. My aura starts to get unstable so I cancel it. "Are you sure you should be fighting, Tia?" I ask her.

"I'm fine. Besides, it'll another month or two before I start showing, but I won't stand by and let my ponies get hurt when I can prevent it," she replies.

"Sister... these are the same monstrosities we fought when..." Luna says with worry in her tone.

"I Know, Luna. These are Grogar's foul creations," Celestia says with anger in her voice.

Grogar? That human necromancer they fought a thousand years ago? I look towards the forest and see some people shambling out. Three ponies, a cervine, two minotaurs, two bipedal looking dogs which I'm guessing are the diamond dogs I've read about, and even a young dragon just a foot taller than me.

"We got company coming," I tell them both. Celestia and Luna look towards the incoming group and go wide eyed.

"Tia... those are the ponies that were taken from Whinniesberg..." Luna says.

Wait, they were the ones the gryphons took? But I thought they were eaten...

Celestia charges at two of the gryphon's and swings her sword, but I notice something different about it. The flames are green instead of its normal orange-red hue. I then notice a green crystal on her sword's pommel. Is it one of the life crystals? But I thought they couldn't make them smaller. I'll ask later.

She hits both of them in one attack and the arcane magic seeps out from the green flames, both of the gryphons catch fire and screech from the life altered flames. I also notice Luna's scythe's cold looking mist has a tint of green in it, another crystal like Celestia's sits on the tip of the pole above the blade.

Did they anticipate this? I snap out of it and teleport behind the sixth gryphon and impale the back of its head with my sword. It starts thrashing and I channel a constant flow of life energy through my blade and the black and red energy of its arcane magic starts pouring out at a rapid pace until it drops to the floor lifeless once again.

I pull out my sword as Luna leaps over me and severs another gryphon's head off. The last gryphon just stands there staring at us with its glowing red eyes.

The other undead have made their way over to us and the town's local guards have also arrived. The undead are groaning and snarling at us, but what makes it worse is that the three pony undead are speaking.

"Help us..." the woman asks as she gasps and wheezes raggedly.

"Kill... me..." one of the men begs desperately.

"Fr... *gurgle* Free... us..." The other man moans out in what sounds like agony. I've never heard of undead being able to talk before, or even retain their minds.

I can feel the rage coming from the Princesses at what's become of the ponies. I frown and channel an earth and two life elements through my shield as a rock the size of my fist floats in front the diamond on the shield. "Don't worry, I'll release you from your suffering," I say and charge the spell up a few seconds and fire it at the man in the middle of the three. His head explodes from the impact and the blast of life energy burns the heads of the other two.

I've been practising with making more mines over the last two weeks during my magic training and can now make three of them at once. I teleport behind the woman and make three life mines in front of me. The moment the woman stepped on it they detonated and ripped her apart while healing me.

Celestia attacks a minotaur while Luna engages the dragon and the guards attack the cervine and the diamond dogs. I decapitate the last pony and turn my attention to the other minotaur.

I cast my stone armour spell and coat myself in a two inch thick layer of stone. Even my shield gets coated by a thin layer of it, leaving only the diamond exposed. The minotaur roars at me and starts charging, its heavy weight making it sound like thunder with each step. I channel an earth and two water elements into my sword and swing down making a line of fissures burst from the ground and blast water out. The minotaur gets knocked off his feet and I fire a life beam with two fire elements with it.

The beam hits him in the stomach and he flails about while screeching. He manages to get up and charge at me again, even with me still hitting him with the beam. I make a stone wall between us and then three life mines behind it. The minotaur rams through and steps on a mine. The blast and life energy blows his right leg off, making him easy prey for the guards to finish off.

I see Celestia knock the minotaur she's fighting back, but he gets back up and charges at her with his horns pointed at her. 'She won't recover in time!' I think to myself and teleport right in front of her, I then push her aside and hold my shield up.

I take the full force of the blow and the stone on my chest, left shoulder, and shield shatter. I go flying past Celestia and into a building where my stone armour falls apart. I feel intense pain in my left leg and arm. I try to stand up but I cant move as I'm pinned down by the wall's remains. I'm also feeling light headed... holy crap this hurts.

POV: Celestia

"ADRIAN!" I shout out to him. Some of the guard rush over and start digging him out. I turn to the minotaur who screeches out and turns to me. "YOU WILL SUFFER MY WRATH FOUL CREATURE!" I shout out in the Royal Canterlot Voice. My mane and tail turn into raging infernos and my eyes glow with pure, raw magic.

I teleport my sword back to the Castle and bring out a weapon I have not used for centuries. A warhammer that's as long as I am tall, with a head the size of an anvil. I convert my magic to boost my physical strength so I can swing my hammer like it was a feather. I lift my hammer over my shoulder and get ready to attack... I've really let myself go over the years. After I've had my foal, I'm going to have to start training again with Adrian and Lulu. I don't remember my hammer being this heavy.

The minotaur charges at me and I prepare to swing. Once it's about three metres away, I swing my warhammer with as much force as I can muster and hit the side of its head making his skull shatter and his neck snap from the blow. The force of the strike sends him a good ten metres away back towards the forest.

I turn to see Luna decapitate the dragon while the guards finish off the rest. My mane and tail return to their magical flowing state and my eyes return to normal as well as I dismiss my hammer.

"Adrian..." I say with worry and run over to where he crashed where Luna and I then help levitate the remains off of him. I gasp once I see the state he's in. He's unconscious and his left arm and leg look broken and he has a large gash on the left side of his head.

The guards are using their newly acquired life wands to try and heal Adrian but it's not healing much. I think he'll have to heal himself when he wakes up to repair his limbs. The best we can do for him is get him to the hospital and try to set his bones and patch up his wounds.

I levitate him off the floor with a bit of effort, his resilience to pony magic making it harder for me to carry him. I then start running towards the Hospital to get him the medical attention he needs.

Author's Note

And that's the 100k word milestone! WOO!

Chapter 34: A Nightmare?... A Vision?... Or Something Else...

Terracana
Chapter 34: A Nightmare?... A Vision?... Or Something Else...

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I sit up with a gasp as I look around to find myself back on the road to Reymorah. How did I get back to Terra? Last thing I remember was getting rammed into a building... I even see those two bandits I killed... where's Celestia, Luna and Shella? Did I just imagine or dream it all up? No... I couldn't have... it felt so real.

I stand up and see I'm back in my father's armour, his old longsword by my hip and my stave in my left hand. My pack with my camping gear is on my back and I've still got everything I had before I went to Equestria... that is if I even went there. I open the spell book only to find it's blank.

I put the book in my pack and start walking towards Elysium, the Capital of Reymorah in hopes to find out what's going on. I couldn't of dreamt up a few months worth of memories in just a few hours.

It took me a few hours, which is strange as it should of taken me a few days, but I finally arrived. Though the strange part is, there's no one here. The streets are empty and I've got this feeling I'm being watched.

A fog begins to roll in limiting my vision so I draw my sword and stay on guard. I can hear something being dragged across the floor to my right. I turn to see shadows in the fog limping and then I start to hear pain filled moans and screeches.

I start hearing it all around me now. Shit, whatever they are, I'm surrounded. What the fuck is going on here? I hear something running towards me from the right and see a minotaur that looks like it should be dead. Wait, why is there an undead minotaur here?.. And it's an Equestrian one not a Terran one.

I teleport out of the way and it charges into a house where the wall caves in and the house comes down on top of it. I turn around to see others coming into view: ponies, cervine, gryphons, diamond dogs... even humans, elves, and dwarves... I'll say it again. What the fuck is going on here!?

There must be hundreds of them. I take off down an alley to another street and head towards the Castle with the horde of undead hot on my heels. I place life mines along the way and hear them detonate behind me, no doubt ripping them apart.

Strange thing is, I don't feel my mana draining from casting spells. I stop and then turn around... maybe, just maybe. I channel a single life element with four fire elements and point my stave at the approaching horde. I cast the spell and a beam eight inches wide roars down the street, melting through the oncoming Undead.

I keep the beam going for a few seconds and stop once the horde has been decimated... although I got a couple of buildings in the process as well.

I was never this strong, and my mana is barely even drained. I feel like I could cast spells for hours... I'm so confused right now.

"Adrian..." Huh? Did I just hear someone say my name?

"Adrian... wake... up." There it is again. Wait... Is that Luna?

"Luna!? Is that you!?" I shout out.

"Please, Adrian... wake up!" she tells me again and I can hear crying.

"HAAAAAHAHAHAHAAHAAAA!" a deep cruel voice behind me laughs. "So, you're the King of Equestria? I have to say, you don't look like much," I turn around and see a man cloaked with a black and red robe and hood. I can't see his face but the skin on his hands are pale, almost white. He also has two undead humans standing besides him.

"Who are you?" I demand.

"You've forgotten me already? Now that's just rude. My name is Grogar, the world’s most powerful necromancer," he tells me. He pulls out a staff with a human skull on the top of it off his back and a spell tome foci from his hip. Oh shit...

He channels five arcane elements and fires a beam at me, I counter with five life elements and our beams collide with each other. The force of the explosion knocks me back leaving me dazed for a few seconds as I try to stand up. I'm knocked back down when an arcane infused rock hits me in the chest.

I think it broke a rib or two as I cough up some blood and look towards Grogar, who's still pointing his staff at me.

"I must say, I'm not very impressed with your magic. Even a newborn can do better, haahaha," he taunts and channels five arcane elements again.

"Adrian! Wake up! Please wake up!" I hear Luna call to me again.

I try pointing my stave at him but he fires his beam at me and I scream from the pain. My skin starts to blister and bloat as I can hear him laughing like a maniac. Oh gods, this pain is worse than any hell!

POV: Luna

"Adrian, please wake up," I beg him. He's been unconscious for three days and his face looks pained and he's sweating profusely. He suddenly starts screaming and thrashes about. "ADRIAN!" I shout and try to hold him down.

He manages to throw me off and continues to scream and convulse violently. Where did he get this kind of strength? The door bursts open with Celestia and some Doctors running in.

"Luna! What's going on!?" Tia asks me and tries to hold Adrian down along with the Doctors.

"We don't know! We can't enter his dream. The only way that can be is if his mind is elsewhere or he is having a vision!" I tell her.

POV: Adrian

Just as the pain became unbearable, it suddenly stops. I quickly sit up and look around, I go wide eyed as I can see the stars all around me. Okay... so now I'm in space.

"THE FUCK IS GOING ON!" I yell out in frustration.

"Certainly not the reaction I was expecting to be honest," a male voice says.

I turn to my left to see a man with white fur, a horn, wings, short hair and beard that look like flames, but his eyes, the whites of his eyes look like summer skies with suns for irises.

A woman also stands beside him, her fur is a pitch black with flowing night like hair with a galaxy gently swirling in it. Her eyes look like night skies with moons for irises. They're both wearing elegant looking clothes.

I stare at them stunned. "Who are you?" I ask.

"Oh, forgive us for our poor manners, sir Stormsword. I am Solaris, and this is my wife Galaxia," he tells me.

I stand up and stay silent for a few seconds. "Where am I?" I ask.

Galaxia then speaks up. "You are in a plane between worlds, a form of Limbo if you wish," she tells me.

"Wait... am I dead?" I ask with wide eyes.

"No, our daughters saved your life, but you're in a coma right now and we've managed to pull your mind here," Solaris tells me as he gestures to all around us.

"Daughters? You mean Celestia and Luna? And why bring me here?" I ask surprised that they're Celestia's and Luna's parents.

"Yes, they are our daughters. We have the power to see the future of Equus, but can't change what comes. We believe you've also just seen a possible outcome of the future, where Grogar wins and takes over both Equus and your world of Terra," Galaxia replies. I frown and look down. I saw the future? "But as I said, we cannot interfere with what goes on in Equus, but you're not from Equus. Thus, we can help you," she tells me.

"How?" I ask her.

"With this." She holds her hand out and an orb of white and black light swirl within it.

"What is it?" I ask as I walk over to them.

"This is a portion of our magic and essence. Should you accept this gift, you shall have near limitless magic, or mana as you call it, and you will become ageless, but not immortal nor invincible. You can still be killed like any mortal and fall ill to poison and diseases," she warns me.

She holds it out for me and I frown in thought. At least now I can stay with Tia, Luna, and Shella. "What do you mean by near limitless magic? Will my magic become stronger?" I ask.

"No, we know of your world and it's history. You'll have the power that Legendary mages of old once wielded. The ability to cast magic almost non-stop without tiring. Although you will have to still continue to learn how to use your magic yourself," Solaris tells me. "We also know you wish to stay with our daughters for as long as you can. So we added a bit of our immortality in it, we did it so our daughters stay happy with you," he says.

"How long do I have until what I saw happens?" I ask.

"Five years," Solaris replies.

"Why haven't you tried talking to me before?" I ask.

"We've only managed to bring you here due to your comatose state where your mind is much easier to reach," Galaxia tells me.

I look from them to the orb of light for a few more seconds. I meant what I said to Tia and Luna, I'd do anything to make them happy. Without hesitating any longer, I grab the orb.

POV: Celestia

Adrian has stopped thrashing for the last hour and the pained expression he had is now gone. Luna, Shella, and I are sitting beside him. His leg and arm have been reset but are still badly broken after his thrashing about. We had to strap him down to prevent him from moving again.

"I hope he wakes up soon..." Shella says. She's been crying for the last two hours. She's taken the news of his condition the hardest of all of us.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, he just needs rest," I try to reassure her, but even I have my worries.

I then notice a dim light coming from his chest. "What's that?" Luna asks, pointing at the light.

The light is getting brighter and brighter... I can feel mother's and father's magic coming from it.

'Tia, dost thou feel that? Tis our parents magic!' Luna tells me.

'Yes, I can feel it, but what is happening? I thought they couldn't interact with Equus any more?' I reply.

'Mayhap they are helping Adrian? He technically isn't from Equus!' she says.

We continue to watch until the light dies down.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

"It is done," Solaris says.

"Now the future of Equus is up to you and our daughters, please keep them safe," Galaxia asks.

I look at them both and smile. "I'll do my damned best," I tell them.

They smile in return. "Do say hello to Tia and little Lulu for us, and that we're proud of them won't you?" Galaxia asks me. I nodded and my vision goes white.

I slowly open my eyes and groan in pain from the light stinging them. I then hear three different gasps and feel three people hug me tightly.

"OW! OW OW OW! PAIN!" I shout out and they back off.

"We are sorry, Adrian! We art just happy thou has awoken!" I hear Luna tell me.

I look around and see I'm laying on a bed with wires hooked up to me. I guess I'm back in the Hospital I first arrived in.

"Adrian, you were very badly injured, how are you feeling?" Celestia asks.

I chuckle. "I've been better... how long was I out?" I reply and ask.

"Three days," Luna replies.

My left arm and leg are sore and I can't move them. "Why can't I move my left arm and leg?" I ask.

"They were broken when you crashed into that house. We had to strap you down when you started thrashing about in pain," Celestia tells me.

"Alright, I guess I'd better heal myself," I channel three life elements through my right hand and self cast it. I continuously keep channelling it until my arm, leg and any other wounds I have are healed. The first thing I notice is that I'm not losing almost any mana. I guess what Galaxia and Solaris said was true.

I then look at Luna and Celestia. "Oh, by the way. Solaris and Galaxia say hello and that they're proud of you both," I tell them with a smile.

They go wide eyed and start tearing up. "H-How do you know our parents names?" Celestia asks.

"They brought me to a place they called the plane between worlds and they told me of Equestria's future should it continue the way it was. Grogar is back and they gave me some of their magic and immortality so I can fight against him along with you two," I tell them.

Luna has a hand over her mouth with tears flowing down her face. Celestia also has tears flowing but shakingly reaches out a hand towards me. "I can f-feel their magic in you. D-Does that mean you're immortal now?" she asks.

"No, they said I can still be killed like a mortal, but I'm now ageless," I reply. I try to sit up but I forgot I'm strapped down. "Can you unstrap me please? I'm fine now," I ask.

Celestia's horn glows and I'm free from the straps. I sit up and stretch my limbs and back. A few pops sound out around the room, man that felt good!

Once done, I'm suddenly pounced on by all three of them. They're crying and I just hold all three of them close to me.

"Princess! Princess!" I can hear some woman shouting down the hallway, it sounds like Twilight. The door opens and a panting Twilight walks over to us. "Princess! *gasp* We have a problem! *cough* Rarity's been taken by some diamond dogs out in the quarry outside of town!" she tells us.

I'm never going to get a break am I?

Chapter 35: A Rescue and Implications

Terracana
Chapter 35: A Rescue and Implications

After Twilight told us that Rarity was over at the Quarry outside of town to dig up some gems with Spike's help for her work. Spike returned with a few bruises and panicking about how diamond dogs kidnapped Rarity. I've read some books on diamond dogs that they're similar to gryphons, they hunt other races and animals for food and sometimes as slaves to dig up gems for them and then eat them once they can't dig anymore.

"Well I feel better now. So, who's up for some hunting?" I ask and get off the bed.

"But you just got out of a coma! You can't be fit to fight yet!" Shella says.

"I'm completely fine, my healing magic fixed everything. I'm as fit as I'll ever be," I tell her. She looks unsure but nodded. "So where's my gear?" I ask.

Celestia's horn glows and I'm in my equipment. "So what are you planning?" Celestia asks.

"Simple, get in and find Rarity. These diamond dogs have some intelligence. I'll force one to take me to Rarity and I'll beat the crap out of any of them nearby. Then I'll escort her out and back here, but first I'll create a lot of mines and then detonate them from a distance to collapse their tunnels," I reply.

"But diamond dogs are vicious and very loyal to their pack leader. I've never heard of the dogs betraying one before, even under threat of death," Twilight says.

"Then I'll be the first. If used the right way, the arcane element can cause intense pain and make the one effected wish for death," I tell her. I should know after I was hit by that arcane beam in my vision... I'll never get that feeling out of my head. I visibly shudder at the memory.

"Well, we are coming with thee," Luna says. Her horn glows and she's in her armour.

"Sure, I'd welcome the help," I say.

"Then I'm going as well," Celestia says.

"Nope, you're pregnant. It was too risky of you to join in that last fight, what if I didn't push you aside and block that minotaur from hitting you? Our child... foal, could have been killed. No, you're staying here," I tell her.

I see her frown at me. "He's right, Princess, Please stay here," Twilight begs her.

Celestia's frown fades and she sighs. "Fine, but you better come back, the both of you," she says sternly.

"Do not worry, sister. We shall keep his flank out of harm's way," Luna replies. I just look at her with a deadpan expression.

"Alright then, let's get going. The longer we wait, the less time Rarity has!" I say and head for the door.

Twilight and Spike guide us to the spot where Rarity was taken. I see holes in the ground near a small cliff face and a little red wagon sitting near one of the holes with signs of a struggle.

"Down there huh?" I ask.

"That's what spike said," Twilight replies. Spike just nodded rapidly.

"Alright, Twilight. You and Spike head back to Ponyville, Luna and I will handle this," I say and slide down the hole with Luna following behind me.

"Just be careful!" Twilight says behind us.

We slide down and reach the bottom where It's dark and smells foul. I stand still and listen for any noise where I can hear crying to my right down the nearest tunnel. Luna and I share a look and nodded to each other. We start heading down the tunnel, only for three diamond dogs to jump us. Oh by the gods, the foul smell is coming from them. I feel like I'm going to throw up my whole stomach, don't they know how to bathe?

I cast a stone armour spell as rock and gems break away from the tunnel walls and coat my armour. I raise my shield and block one of their crude spears while Luna draws her two silver swords. I bash him back with my shield and Luna swings at another. I channel three fire elements through my shield and burn the downed dog alive.

Luna decapitates the one she's fighting with elegant fluid motions while the last dog looks between us and whimpers. I knock his rusty sword from his hands and bash him to the floor.

I place my foot on his chest and hold my sword to his throat. "You understand me yes?" I ask him.

"Me understand yes," he replies.

"Your people took a white pony with indigo hair from Ponyville. Where is she?" I ask him.

He growls and tries to bite my ankle so I stab him in the shoulder. "Bad boy," I taunt him. "I'll ask again, where is she?"

"Me tell nothing. You die!" he says and struggles.

"Have it your way then," I say and channel a single arcane element through my blade that's still in his shoulder. He cries out in pain as his shoulder starts to blister. "Still don't want to tell me?" I ask him.

He howls in pain and I dig the blade in deeper. "Kill me!" he says.

"I'll kill you when you've told me where she is. Otherwise I'll just start cutting pieces of you off or start burning your flesh. I'll even heal you to do it all over again! You will suffer untold pain unless you tell me where she is!" I yell at him.

"You lie!" he says.

"Fine then..." I say and pull out my sword. I stab him in his right leg I channel a fire element through it and the smell of burning flesh fills the tunnel making him howl out again in pain.

I repeat the process for each of his limbs. He still won't talk? Fine. I spray his foot with water then cold elements. He screams as his foot... or paw... gets coated with solid ice.

"Now tell me where she is or I shatter your paw off!" I tell him. His eyes are wide but he stays silent, Idiot. I slam my shield down on his paw and it shatters as he screams and struggles. "Tell me or I'll take your other limbs in even more painful ways," I tell him.

"Okay! Me tell! She at end of tunnel to alpha! She taken to find gems!" he finally tells me.

"Thank you," I reply and cut his head off. I turn to Luna who looks horrified. "What?" I ask her.

"Did thou have to be so... barbaric?" she asks me.

"These dogs won't show us any mercy. As the books say, they treat ponies as food, not people, and the fact they even enslave others makes them savages themselves," I reply. "If they won't be civil with others, then I'll treat them like the animals they are... Now let's go and get Rarity back," I tell her.

She doesn't say a word as we head down the tunnel. We reach a chamber with some ponies to the left with rusty pickaxes mining the walls, to the right I see Rarity on the ground holding her stomach. "Stupid pony, you find gems or you die!" a big black furred diamond dog tells her.

"Luna, I'm going to fire a rock at the big one. Can you use your telekinesis to pull Rarity over to us?" I ask.

"Yes, but what about the other ponies?" she replies and asks.

"Once Rarity is safe, the dogs will most likely attack us. I'll try to take out as many of them as I can while you get the other ponies," I tell her. I look around and see about thirty dogs around, about twenty of them are in rusty armour and crude weapons.

"Alright, but I'm helping you if you get into trouble," she tells me.

"Okay," I reply.

A scream and someone choking grabs my attention. I look out and see Rarity grasping her throat as blood pours out like a faucet. "Rarity..." I say and my anger spikes.

POV: Luna

This cannot be happening as Rarity struggles for a bit before going limp... she's dead. I can feel a large amount of hate coming from Adrian and notice his eyes are black with red irises again. Just like when he stood up to the Nobles.

He suddenly teleports in front of the diamond dog that killed Rarity and with his bare hand that's covered in a black and red aura, he punches right through the alpha's chest and pulls out his still beating heart, and crushes it within his hand. The wound on his chest has a severe amount of blisters and slight bloating as the dog drops dead and the others howl and charge at Adrian.

He teleports away and I see five red orbs hover around the diamond on his shield. He points it to most of the dogs and lets loose a spray of flames that could be mistaken for a dragon's breath.

In a matter of seconds half of the dogs are reduced to ash. The look of rage and hate on Adrian's face makes me shiver. "ADRIAN! Calm down! This is not who thou are!" I yell to him.

He looks at me with that stare filled with untold rage and I go pale.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I stare at Luna, I can see fear in her eyes... fear because of me and I try to calm myself down. I take a deep breath and exhale, once calm I turn back to the remaining dogs cowering away from me.

"Leave Equestria and don't come back," I tell them. They yelp and run down a tunnel.

I walk over to Rarity and check her pulse... she has none.

I failed... how can I go back to Ponyville now? There's only one way to save her, but I don't have the mana to cast it... wait. I do now!

"LUNA! QUICKLY! BRING ME MY SPELL BOOK NOW!" I tell her with urgency.

"Why? What art thou planning?" she asks.

"No time to explain, but I think I can save her! Just get me my book!" I tell her. Her horn glows and my book appears in her hand. I quickly take it and look through the pages for the revive spell. I find the page and read the instructions.

Should I fail this spell... it will take my life, but that's a risk I'm willing to take! I channel a life and lightning element into my shield and point it at Rarity and concentrate hard. I mould the life energy as a vessel for her soul to inhabit. After a few seconds of channelling, I can feel a presence within the vessel. This is where it gets difficult as I then pour the lightning element into it and give her soul a positive charge.

Once I'm a hundred percent positive I've got it right. I cast the spell and the Slash wound on her neck closes and a small electrical current then runs through her to jump start her brain and organs. I can see the life in her eyes return and she gasps where I then quickly fire a life beam at her to make sure all of her wounds are healed.

I cancel the beam after a few seconds and collapse onto my ass. That was a lot harder then I thought, no wonder mages needed so much mana. Even with the boost I got from Solaris and Galaxia. It took a lot out of me, or maybe it's just a spell that takes a lot of concentration and practice to get used to.

Rarity coughs and sits up. "Wha... what just happened! I-I'm sure I was just killed," she says while rubbing her throat.

Luna walks over to Rarity and checks her all over. "Thou were killed... but Adrian has brought thee back to life," she says with awe.

I lie down and relax where I can hear the whispers of the other ponies.

"Did he just bring her back to life?"

"Yeah, he even healed her wounds!"

"Is he some sort of god like the Princesses?"

"He must be! Who else can bring back the dead?"

"Wait a minute... we're free now... we can go home!"

They gather around me and start thanking me, I'm too tired to reply and just lie there with my eyes closed. I then feel someone pick me up and see it's Luna.

"Is she okay?" I ask her.

"Yes, she is perfectly fine," she replies. "Thou hast no idea what thou has just done," she then tells me with a worried expression.

My vision starts to blur and I feel dizzy. "I think I need some rest... I feel *yawn* tired," I say and fall asleep.

POV: Luna

Adrian falls asleep as I drape his arm over my shoulder while Rarity still looks like she can't believe what just happened. "Is something the matter, Rarity?" I ask her.

"Oh... erm, no. It's just the experience of hovering over my own body was a bit... jaunting." She starts tearing up. "I started thinking I would never see my little sister again. My parents. My friends. My home... I thought I lost it all," she says and starts crying.

I smile at her. "And yet thou has all that to return to now," I tell her.

She smiles at me and then looks at Adrian. "I do, and it's all thanks to him," she says.

Thirty Minutes Later
Ponyville

I place Adrian down still in his armour on Twilight's guest bed. I then place his sword and shield besides him and head down to the others.

When we got back, everypony was worried about Rarity. My sister and I sit on the two armchairs while Rarity and her friends sit around the couch. Shella was called back to her Hive to check on the nursery while we were at the Quarry.

"Rarity, are you sure you're alright. There's blood all over you," Spike asks. "It's not your blood right?"

Rarity looks unsure. "It is," she replies. "the Alpha killed me," she tells them getting gasps from the others. Spike looks like his scales turned pale.

"B-But you're still alive? You're lying!" Rainbow says.

"She ain't lying," Applejack says with wide eyes.

"B-But if you died, how are you still alive?" Fluttershy asks.

"Adrian used his magic to bring her back to life," I tell them.

Pinkie gasps and stares at Rarity. "Does that make you a zombie?" she asks her.

"Good heavens, I hope not!" Rarity says looking a bit green at the thought.

"Nay, Adrian explained it to us once before. The revive spell repairs the fatal wound while putting the victim’s soul back inside their body," I tell them. "It has nothing to do with necromancy."

Rarity sighs in relief. "That explains the warm soothing feeling I got when I saw that green magic in front of his shield. I felt it pull me in and calm me down," she says. "but what about what those other ponies said? About him being a god?" she asks.

"A god?" Tia asks confused. She's been shocked this entire time about Rarity's death and revival.

"That's what the ponies were saying after they saw Adrian revive her," I reply.

She looks deep in thought. "I guess I can understand their reactions. Even we can't bring back somepony who's been killed, and rumours will spread about this. Ponies and even other species will want to ask or take him for this power," Tia says.

"That's true, the nobles will no doubt want to use this for their own ends, and the gryphons won't take this lying down either. An enemy that can bring back their fallen soldiers will be a major threat, we have no doubt that they'll try to get to him as soon as possible," I reply.

'There's also something else, sister,' I tell Tia telepathically.

'What is it, Lulu?' she replies while Twilight and her friends are all talking amongst themselves.

'When Adrian saw Rarity get killed. His anger and hate grew to such a degree, his eyes changed. Black and red, and then he ripped out the Alpha's heart bare-handed with his arcane element within seconds,' I tell her.

Tia goes wide eyed at the information. 'His eyes changed?' she asks.

'Yes, just like when he lashed out at the nobles when he asked to court thee. It was similar to Sombra's,' I tell her.

A loud thud from upstairs gets our attention and we hear something dragging across the floor. The door opens and a yawning Adrian walks down the stairs.

"Good morning," he says. His armour clanking lightly.

"It's the afternoon," Twilight tells him.

"Oh... good afternoon," he corrects himself. "How are you feeling, Rarity?" he asks her.

"Much better, thank you for saving me and the others trapped down there," she replies.

"You're welcome, how did they catch you in the first place?" he asks.

"I was looking for gems with Spike’s help," Rarity says and pats Spike on the head who has a dopey looking smile on his face. "While he was digging up the gems I located, those ruffians knocked Spike away and dragged me down that filthy hole. I swear, I still smell like wet dog," she says with disgust.

"What did you say to make the Alpha kill you?" he asks.

"I just told the brute to find his own gems. I'm a lady and I won't be reduced to forced labour!" she replies and crosses her arms with a huff.

"Yes, but you wouldn't have had your throat cut if you just complied and waited for help to come. Surely you didn't think your friends would just leave you down there. You're lucky I was there at the time, your soul could have passed on. The revive spell only works on those recently killed up to an hour at most," he tells her.

Rarity looks a bit whiter at that. "I'm sorry darling, I should of thought it through instead of letting my vanity take over," Rarity says as she looks down in thought. Adrian just sighs and combs his left hand through his hair.

"It's fine, you're alive and the dogs are gone now. That's all that matters," he says.

"Well be that as it may. I'll have to bring one of the town's guard, or maybe two with me next time just to be safe," she says.

Surprisingly Fluttershy gets up and hugs Adrian. "Thank you for saving Rarity. We don't know what we would have done without her," she tells him.

"No problem, Fluttershy," he replies. "What time is it?" he asks.

"Ten past six, Why?" I tell him and ask.

His stomach then decides to rumble. "I'm hungry," he says with a grin.

We all laugh at his playful attitude and Rarity then speaks up. "I'd be happy to treat you to dinner for saving my life. It's not everyday you can say a knight in shining armour saves you from beyond death itself," she offers.

Adrian looks at me with a raised eyebrow and I just nodded at him. "Well alright then, sure," he replies and holds his arm out.

Rarity smiles but shakes her head. "I need to clean up first, could you wait for an hour and I'll be right back," she says and heads for the door. "I shouldn't be too long," she tells us and leaves the Library.

Adrian then looks back at Tia and me. "I hope her buying me dinner isn't some attempt to date me," he says, making the others giggle and Spike to glare at him.

"Nay, she just wishes to thank thee for saving her life," I tell him. "Besides. She knows Tia, Shella, and us are in a herd with thee."

"Oh, good. You three are a handful as it is," he says playfully.

Tia levitates a book behind his head and lightly bonks him with it and we all share a laugh at that... I stop laughing after a few seconds and look down in thought. What if Adrian gets angry like that again? Will he lose himself to his rage and hate?

Chapter 36: Here's Discord!

Terracana
Chapter 36: Here's Discord!

After an hour of waiting, Rarity returned clean and in a stunningly beautiful black dress that contrasted her white fur.

"Well darling? How do I look?" she asks.

"To be honest, beautiful," I reply.

She giggles and flutters her eyes. "Thank you. Now come, let us find a nice restaurant to dine at," she says and grabs my left arm and pulls me out of the Library, much to the amusement of the others.

We walk through town with her holding onto my arm... this feels so awkward. We reach a nice looking place called the Silver Platter.

We walk in and everything goes quiet.

"Isn't that the Princesses knight?"

"Yeah! It is! But why's he with Rarity? I thought he was with the Princesses?"

"Maybe he's expanding his herd?"

"But doesn't he already have three Mares? Isn't he just getting greedy now?"

I sigh and find a table with Rarity, who looks oblivious to the comments around us. A waiter greets us and asks for our orders.

"You're paying, so I'll let you decide. Just nothing with grass or hay please," I tell Rarity.

"Hmmm," she hums in thought and looks over the menu. "I'd like two vegetable casseroles with two glasses of dreamvale red wine please," she asks him.

"Very good. I shall be back with your drinks in a moment," he says with a slight bow and walks away.

"So darling, what have you been up to since you were last here?" she asks.

"Well. I've been training and practising my magic using my new shield... erm... I've also practised my sword skills with Twilight's Brother. Blueblood has..." I reply but she interrupts me.

"Blueblood? I don't want to know what that useless Prince is up to. Probably tormenting some poor mare," she says.

"Oh? You haven't heard yet? The Blueblood you met was a changeling impostor. The real Blueblood is actually a nice guy. Over the last month, he's adopted a young filly who was taken by Chrysalis’ changelings as well. He even helped with the funding for Shella's Hive. Right now he's trying to get the nobles to be more... well... noble," I tell her.

"What?" she asks stunned.

"You should meet the real Blueblood. You'd be surprised at how different he is from the impostor you met," I reply.

She looks unsure. "Well, I guess so..." She frowns in thought for a few more seconds. "Alright. I shall meet with him next time I'm in Canterlot, but if he's not as you say he is, I'll turn you into a pincushion," she tells me with a smirk.

I chuckle. "Fair enough," I reply as our food arrives.

During our meal Rarity tells me the same thing Twilight told us when we first arrived in Ponyville three days ago. She also told me why she was at the Quarry. She wanted gems for three dresses she's been hired to make but won't say who they're for. She apparently needed sapphires, diamonds, and topazes specifically. Most of the rest would have been given to Spike to eat.

Once we finish our meals, Rarity pays for it, even though I did offer to pay for mine. She said it was the least she could do for saving her.

"Well, thank you for the meal, Rarity," I say as we exit the restaurant.

"It was my pleasure darling," she replies and sighs. "To be honest, I'm rather envious of the Princesses and Queen Shella... to have such a brave knight who would do anything to protect them and care for them. If you were still single, I would have loved to court you," she says with a sad smile.

I smile back. "Sorry, Rarity, but I'm happy with Tia, Luna, and Shella. I'm afraid that my heart belongs to them and them alone," I tell her.

"I know, but a mare can dream can't she?" she replies.

We head back to the Library where Pinkie has thrown a 'Thank you for saving Rarity' party. We have fun for a few hours and everyone had a good time. Pinkie also threw a pie in my face 'by accident'... was a shame, it was a good pie too.

After the party, we head back to Canterlot. Celestia looks much happier than she was when we first arrived. Less stressed too after all her court duties and my coma.

Two Weeks Later

The last two weeks were quiet. No reports of more undead showing up and the gryphons have stayed away from the borders... it feels like something big is coming. I keep getting this feeling from the Statue Garden, like a presence is waiting there.

Celestia, Luna, and Shella have had some fun with me as well when we had some spare time alone, and Shella's stomach is really big now, just a few more days and she's ready to lay her eggs. I had to be careful when we made love again two night's ago.

We've been spending every afternoon together, just talking, reading, and cuddling in bed.

Celestia's starting to worry everyone with a new craving she's getting, she's been asking the chefs for some cooked fish. The guards and maids are worried that she might be turning into a carnivore... which is just silly. I guess since I can eat meat, our child will be able to as well if she's craving it. She even thinks it tastes good.

I've caught a few fish for Celestia and myself with Shining and the other guards when they went fishing again. I've also gotten my own rod and tackle box to fish with as well.

Word has spread about me bringing Rarity back to life after having her throat cut open. I've had two offers of marriage from two noble families, most likely just because of my new ability. I turned them both down of course, which they said was an insult to their family. Like I care, I'm going to marry Tia, Luna, and Shella. Not some women I know nothing about and who are probably pains in the ass.

Celestia has also told me our wedding will be in just over a month's time. I'm really looking forward to it.

I've been continuing my training and I'm close to using four elements at once, but I still need practice to stabilize it. I'm pretty proficient with my shield now and my sword skills are getting even better. Shining and I are pretty even now.

I'm laying on Luna's bed after a tiring workout in the Gym, Celestia is also laying beside me reading a book. Luna is dealing with court duties while Shella is at the Hive getting ready to lay her eggs. Though I have been invited to witness it.

I yawn and wrap my right arm around Celestia who giggles and cuddles up to me. "I take it your training was tough?" she asks.

"Not really, I think I just over did it a bit," I reply. "What are you reading?" I ask her.

She closes the book and shows me the cover. 'A guide to parenting. How to care for a foal.' "I've seen many foals, but have never cared for one before so I've been reading this book to learn how. I've also been asking some of the staff who've had foals before for advice as well," she tells me.

Huh, maybe I should read it as well. "I guess I should learn to do that as well. I can't let you do all the work raising the foal by yourself," I reply.

For the next two hours we read the book together. Once I feel rested, I bid Celestia goodbye with a kiss and head back out to the Training Grounds to practice my spells some more, but that feeling is pulling at me again. 'Screw it, I'm going to find out what that is. It's been annoying me for weeks,' I think to myself and head to the Statue Garden.

After some looking around, I stand in front of a statue of a creature made from different animals: A long serpent like body. A lion’s paw for it's right arm. A bird's talon for it's left arm. A lizard’s right leg and a goat's left leg. A dragon like tail and a horse like head. It has two mismatched horns and wings and a long snaggletooth. A goatee and bushy eyebrows. The pose its in looks like it was surprised.

The nameplate has moss covering it so I pull the moss off and read the nameplate, Its name is Discord? I frown and look back up at the statue only to go wide eyed and back away a few steps. Cracks start to spread across it and yellow light seeps out of the cracks.

I think I'm in trouble. Small stone chunks start coming off and I can see colour behind it: Brown torso. Yellow talon. Golden paw. Green scaled leg. Tanned goat leg. Red tail. Grey head... Yellow eyes with red irises. Wait... it looks kinda like the guy that gave me the spell book. Same colours, eyes, and the horns he had on his hood.

Once all the stone falls free, it yawns and stretches. "Oooooh boy! You have no idea how stiff you get after a thousand years stuck in the same pose," he says and bends back until he looks at me with his head between his legs. I just stare at him, unsure on what to do. "Not very talkative are you?" he asks.

"Errr, what are you?" I ask.

His legs go over his head and he's floating belly down as if he's laying on the air itself. "Why, I'm a draconequus my human friend. By the way, how's life been treating you since you got here?" he asks me.

"What?" I ask confused.

"Don't you remember my handsome face? I'm the one who brought you here my boy!" he says with his arms spread and I stare at him wide eyed. He brought me here? He then changes shape into the man that gave me the book. "I've been keeping an eye on you since you got here. I must say, hooking up with both Celly, Woona, and a changeling Queen is rather impressive."

I frown and quickly punch him in the face. "If you've been watching me this whole time, then you know of all the trouble and pain I've been through since I've been here!" I yell at him. I then sigh and offer him a hand. "But if it wasn't for you, I'd have never met Tia, Luna, and Shella," I say.

He rubs his cheek and chuckles as he takes my hand and I pull him up. "I guess I deserved that." He snaps his fingers and changes back to his draconequus form. "Oh! I can feel Celly is on her way. Now, do I run and we begin our game of hide and seek, or do I stay and try to reason with her?" he says.

I frown at him. "What were you doing in stone in the first place?" I ask him.

"Oh?" he says with his paw on his chest, looking shocked. "Dear ol' Celly didn't tell you about me? Well if you must know, she had a bit of a sweet tooth when she was younger. She loved her cake. So one time I turned her cake into a giant, but harmless, filly eating monster. It was basically twice her size and tried to eat her instead. It was just a harmless prank. Once it 'ate' her, it would just turn back into a normal cake where she would just climb out." He then sighs. "But it would seem she took that very personally and with wittle Woona's help, sealed me in stone! She never could take a joke." He waved his talon dismissively.

A flash of light blinds me for a second and I look to my right and see Celestia standing there with an angry expression. "Discord! How did you get free!?" she asks him.

"Celly! Even after a thousand years, you're still mad at me? I hold no hard feelings even after you turned me into a lawn ornament," he tells her calmly.

"I almost suffocated in that monstrosity!" she yells at him.

"Yes... well..." Discord says and sighs as his ears go flat. "I may have miscalculated that part..." he tells her and hangs his head. "That was never my intention. Still, sealing me away for a millennia was a tad excessive! I'm just lucky I could still visit my friends and their descendants," he says.

"What?" Celestia asks.

"Even though my body couldn't move. I could still send out an astral projection of myself. Certainly helps to stave off the boredom and insanity!" he replies. "And if you missed what I just told Adrian here, I'm the one who brought him here. You wouldn't have your coltfriend if it wasn't for me," he says.

Celestia looks shocked and looks at me. I just shrug in reply. "I think he's telling the truth, he does resemble the guy who gave me the spell book..." I tell her then look at Discord. "How did you get that book in the first place?" I ask him.

"I felt old Beardy disappear from Equus after Celly stoned me. So I tracked him down after two years to your world. I kept in contact with him as much as I could. He even turned himself into a human to fit in. I was told to give the book to his descendant when I felt the time was right, and with Grogar getting free, I felt it was time and that's when we first met," he tells me.

Celestia frowns at him. "Then why didn't you bring him back?" she accuses him.

"I would have, but it was his decision to stay. He wouldn't tell me why," he replies. He conjures a couch and sits on it.

Wait... this Starswirl is my ancestor? "I'm related to Starswirl?" I ask dumbly.

"That you are Stormy! I was asked to watch over you and your family... but I failed that when I was distracted in Equus by Grogar's release. I wasn't there to protect your parents and you," he says with a sad expression. "After that, I've kept a close eye on you. Remember that time you were captured by bandits? And you broke free? It was I that undid your bonds," he tells me.

So he's been looking out for me? "Why?" I ask him.

"Because Starswirl was one of my oldest friends and I owed a lot to him. Besides, I like to think of myself as your family's weird uncle," he says and sticks his tongue out.

Celestia looks a lot less angry now. "So what do you plan on doing now that you're free?" she asks him.

He pulls the top of his head off by one of his horns and scratches his brain... yeah, that's not nasty at all. "I guess I'll help you protect Equestria from Grogar and maybe even teach Adrian two elements not even Beardy found," he says.

"What elements?" I ask.

"Order and chaos," he replies. "but you need to master both the light and shadow elements first," he tells me.

Chapter 37: Walk in the Light. Step into Shadow Part 1

Terracana
Chapter 37: Walk in the Light. Step into Shadow Part 1

POV: Adrian Stormsword

"Order and chaos?" I ask.

"Yes, boring order and delightful chaos! While these two elements are strong on their own, they're remarkably powerful combined. They create balance, one cannot exist without the other," he says and smirks at Celestia. She just folds her arms and frowns at him.

"So what do the elements do on their own?" I ask him.

"Order can make others tell the truth... a bit like a lie detector that is never wrong. It's energy can also purify or destroy 'Evil' supposedly, I just know the way to channel your mana into the element, you'll have to discover what it fully does. Chaos on the other hand can bend reality to your whim," he tells me and conjures a pie out of nowhere and throws it in my face, but then it disappears leaving me as clean as I was before. "Though it is much harder to control than the order element will be," he warns me. "but first!" he then says and claps his hands together. "You'll need to master both the light and shadow elements," he tells me.

"I've started learning the light element," I say and channel one light element through my right hand.

"Well that's a start!" he says and chuckles. "Since it's late, I'll start helping you train tomorrow, but right now you need to get some sleep. I'm not going to go easy on you," he tells me.

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow then. Uncle," I say with a smirk.

He stares at me for a few seconds and then burst out laughing. He eventually calms down with a smile. "I like the sound of that, uncle Discord! Well then, I'll meet you at the Training Grounds at seven in the morning," he then looks at Celestia. "I also promise never to prank you or wittle Woona ever again," he tells her with a smile. "Arrivederci!" He waves at us and disappears in a puff of pink smoke.

I look at Celestia who seems conflicted. "What's with the face?" I ask her.

She sighs and hugs me tightly. "Although he's never been truly bad... he's still the opposite of what I stand for. Order, peace, harmony. He finds delight in disorder, chaos, and lots of pranks..." she replies. "I can't remember anytime he was serious."

"Well, he brought me here, to you, Luna, and Shella, and he's been watching out for me for years," I tell her. "I think that's pretty serious," I say and hold her tightly.

"Fine, but if he messes with my cake again, I'll send him to the moon," she says and I chuckle.

Training Day 1

I wake up with Celestia and Luna besides me in Luna's room. Shella couldn't join us in bed as she's at the Hive getting ready to lay her eggs in two days. I look at the clock and see it's five fifty-two. I get both Luna and Celestia up and we get dressed and ready for the day.

After breakfast, I give them a kiss goodbye and head to the Training Grounds with my spell book. I see Discord teasing the guards and Shining doesn't look happy about it.

"Would you knock it off already! I'm trying to train the guard here!" Shining yells at him.

Discord, dressed in guards armour and holding a child's wooden toy sword salutes at him. "Sorry, Sir! Won't happen again. Sir!" he says as his helmet then comically tilts to the side. He also has a faint smile on his face.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Good morning, uncle. Making friends already?" I greet and ask, making him grin.

"I'll never get tired of hearing that!" he says and throws his helmet and sword over his shoulders, which turn into jelly and splats on a guard's face. The rest of his armour turns into butterflies and fly off.

"Uncle!? Discord is your uncle!?" Shining asks me with confusion.

"Sure, he's been looking over my family for a thousand years... I guess that makes him family as well," I tell him.

Shining then frowns at me. "Then please tell your uncle to leave my guards alone. He's interrupting our training!" he tells me.

"Come on, Discord. Let's get started with my training," I tell him.

He chuckles and floats along behind me. "Alright then, we'll continue with the light element since you've started with that one. The light element harnesses light to blind your foes. On it's own you can cast it as a beam to blind or even permanently blind a foe with its intense focused light. A nova to blind all those around you, both friend and foe," he tells me and conjures a couch to sit on. "Mines will look like dim balls of light and when stepped on shall blind anyone nearby who steps on it. As a self cast with a shield element, It will make you glow, lighting up the area around you, useful for exploring dark areas, like caves."

"So it's mainly for incapacitating my foe?" I ask.

"Yup, makes them stumble about like drunks. Quite funny to watch actually," he replies and laughs.

I open my book and refresh my memory on how to form it. Once I've gone over it, I start channelling one light element and focus it in my palm. After a minute to get it stabilized, I face my palm towards a target down the range. I cast the spell and a two inch wide beam instantly hits the target, but nothing is really happening. The beam is hitting the target, there's just no damage or blast of light... It's just a beam.

"Very good! Not bad for your, what is it? Fourth attempt? I remember you blinding yourself the first time," he says with a chuckle.

"You've been watching me all the time? Even with Tia, Luna, and Shella?" I ask him with a raised brow.

"Hmmm?" he hums in confusion. He then goes wide eyed. "Oh by all that is chaotic no! When you got frisky with them I turned my attention elsewhere," he says and pulls his eyes out and throws them away.

I just stare at him for a few seconds. "Don't you need those?" I ask bewildered.

"Na... I've got another pair somewhere," he replies and puts his taloned hand into a pocket... That's actually in his fur on his left hip. He pulls out two new eyes and stuffs them into his eye sockets. "Ah! There we go!" he says and grins. I just smile and shake my head.

For the next two hours I practice stabilizing one element and I'm getting better at it, I only need ten seconds now to channel it.

"Alright. Now I'm going to set up a barrier around you to shield the others from your spells," Discord says and a large shaded dome surrounds me. I can still see through it, though it looks closer to night now. "Now try a nova! And close your eyes when you cast it, or you'll blind yourself!" he tells me.

I channel a light element and close my eyes, I cast it around me and I can see the area around me is bathed in light behind my eyelids. Damn that's bright!

I continue for a few more minutes before it starts hurting my eyes.

"Okay, let's take a break! Your mana might not run out anytime soon, but you'll blind yourself at this rate," Discord tells me as he sits in a lounge chair drinking a glass of chocolate milk. I notice a few of the guards watching us with rapt attention.

After a ten minute break, I spend the next two hours with beams and auras. "Alright my boy! I think that's enough for now. I'm feeling a mite peckish. What say you to some nibbles from the kitchen? Hmm?" he says as his stomach rumbles, making him jiggle and the ground to shake slightly as well.

I chuckle at his antics. "Sure, I'm getting a bit hungry and thirsty myself," I reply and we head back in.

We arrive at the Dining Hall and sit down besides Luna and Celestia where they both give Discord glares. "Oh come now Celly, Woona. Why the sour looks?" Discord asks them.

"Thou art just as annoying as we remember, but we shall tolerate thee for bringing Adrian to us and looking out for him," Luna replies and then points a butter knife at him. "But if thou dare harm or prank anypony again, we'll make sure thou canst never return," she tells him coldly.

"Oh that's just being mean, Woona!" he says with a sad frown.

Luna then growls at him. "And stop calling us by that name!" she yells at him. I just chuckle.

"Oh lighten up, Luna, he's not that bad," I say to her.

She crosses her arms and humphs. I smile and kiss her cheek which makes her frown fade into a smile as well.

We eat lunch and head back out to the Training Grounds where I continue to practice for the rest of the day.

Training Day 3
Lapis Hive

My control over the light element the last two days is progressing well but I still need a lot more training to master it.

Right now I'm in the Hive with Shella besides me in her own bed. I decided to spend the day with her as today's the day she lays her eggs. I look up at the dark blue tinted ceiling of Shella's personal chambers, she doesn't have a Castle or Palace, changeling Queens have their own room near the nursery for when they're ready to lay their eggs.

She mumbles in her sleep as she holds onto me. Her stomach is really big now and I can feel it pressed against me so I gently rub her stomach and she hums in content. After a few minutes she opens her eyes and smiles at me.

"Good morning. Today's the day, are you looking forward to it?" she asks me.

"Yeah, though it's technically not their actual birth, it will be interesting to see them in the eggs," I reply.

We get up and head towards the market where I buy some of the crops they've grown to eat. Not as good as the Castle's breakfast, but I've had worse.

Shella tells me how the Hive is progressing. So far they only have vegetables grown as their wheat is still growing, but they've made a few bits selling what they have grown to Ponyville and Cloudsdale.

After breakfast, Shella and I walk around the Hive greeting the changelings running around getting things done. Now that the Nursery is built, they're continuing work on the market area. Their Library is also coming along well thanks to Twilight's help, it's twice as big as the Library in Ponyville now.

We spend a few hours talking to people around the Hive and I'm thanked a few times still for bringing them here. Shella wobbles slightly and holds onto me. "Are you alright?" I ask her.

"Yes, but it's almost time... I need to get to the Nursery now," she tells me.

I pick her up bridal style and make my way to the Nursery. A few of the changelings follow us, excited about the news. We enter the Nursery where there's a bed and four female changelings whose job is to look after the eggs once they're laid waiting for us. I place Shella on the bed, she's remarkably calm for someone about to lay some large eggs.

"My Queen, please spread your legs and lay back. Take slow deep breaths," the oldest of the four tells her. She does as she's told and spreads her legs while I keep my gaze on her face. "When you feel the first contraction, we need you to push as hard as you can," the nurse says.

Shella relaxes and grunts when the first contraction hits. She pushes and the first egg comes out, it's the size of my head. I get a brief glimpse of it as a nurse takes it to a hole in the wall and places it inside, she then covers the hole with that goo they make within themselves.

Ten minutes pass as I hold her left hand. She lays the last two eggs and pants from the exertion. One of the eggs is taken to another hole while the other is given to Shella. She cradles the egg in her arms and I get a good look at it. Inside, I can see the faint outline of a baby changeling curled up in some dark blue goo. The baby is no bigger than my hand.

"Its so tiny," I say.

"She'll grow at least three times bigger before she's ready to hatch," Shella tells me.

"She? So you decided to keep a girl?" I ask her.

"Oh... did you want a colt?" she replies and asks.

I place my left hand on the egg and the baby shifts slightly. I watch as one of the Nurses brings out one of the four life crystals the Hive was given. This one will be used for feeding the eggs and helping them grow.

"It's fine, I'd love them if they were a boy or girl," I reply and smile at her. She scoots across the bed and lets me on, I lay beside her and cuddle up to her with the egg between us.

"I won't be able to walk for a few hours until I can feel my legs again," she says with a giggle.

"That's fine, I've got nowhere else to be right now." I reply.

"Good, because you're going to impregnate me again in a week," she tells me.

Oh boy...

Training Day 10
One week later

During the last week, Shella returned to the Castle with her egg, she's placed it in Celestia's room until it hatches. Celestia fawned over it as the baby inside slowly grew and moved now and then. I've been feeding Shella, who in turn, fed the egg.

Discord has been on my ass with training every afternoon till dinner time. My skill with the light element is going well I can channel one element effectively now. This is a lot harder than the air element was to learn.

Blueblood has got another noble family on his side while the Goldrush family had one join them as well.

Twilight sent a letter saying she and her friends are coming to meet Blueblood in two weeks time since it's the only time they all have free.

After a nice meal with everyone I head up to Celestia's room and get ready for bed. Celestia, Luna, and Shella said they have to get something first, so I lay on the bed reading up on that parenting book Celestia has.

I'm slightly blinded by a flash of light and rub my eyes. "Tia? Luna? Shella? Is that you?" I ask. I look up and go wide eyed. All three of them are in sexy lingerie. Celestia is wearing a black see through lacy thong and bra. She has stockings going up to the top of her thighs and long gloves that nearly reach her shoulders.

Luna is also wearing a matching set but in white. Shella has a light blue thin thong and a small bra with little bands on her biceps and thighs.

...I have the biggest nose bleed right now.

"I hope you haven't forgotten what I told you back at the Hive. I need you to impregnate me again," Shella says and sways her hips as she walks over to the bed. She crawls on top of me and kisses me deeply. I can feel Celestia and Luna cuddle up to me as well.

...I'm going to need a blood transfusion at this rate.

"I hope you're not too tired from training today... because we'll be spending the next few hours having some fun," Celestia says very lustfully.

Chapter 37.5: An Awesome Foursome (Clop)

Terracana
Chapter 37.5: An Awesome Foursome (Clop)

Shella kisses me deeply as she grinds herself on top on me while Celestia and Luna are licking and kissing my neck and shoulders.

Shella then sits up and her horn glows, I'm now completely naked... and have the biggest boner I've ever had. She starts to run my length across the thin fabric of her thong, I can feel the moisture dripping from it.

"I want you to fill me again, Adrian," she says and leans down towards me. She kisses me again and I grab her ass, I then knead her soft chitin and she moans into my mouth.

I move my right hand and grip the side of the thong covering her pussy. I pull it aside and line myself up with her. She gasps as I thrust up into her and we both moan. I almost lose it when Celestia and Luna both start to suckle on Shella's breasts.

She slowly begins bouncing on me and I place my hands on her hips. I assist by thrusting up every time she slides down. She's moaning very loudly now and I can feel her clenching me tightly. Despite laying eggs, she's still as tight as when we first made love, must be a changeling thing.

"Oooh, Adrian! You feel so ahh! So good inside me! Nngghh," she says. Celestia then decides to sit on my face which I happily start to eat her out.

Not to leave Luna out of the fun, I snake my left hand between her legs and begin fingering her pussy. My index and middle fingers slip inside her while my thumb plays with her clit.

All three of them are moaning out in pleasure on top of me. I can hear Celestia making out with Shella while Luna is laying over my chest.

"Yes Adrian! Push thine fingers deeper!" Luna tells me and I comply.

"Ahhhh. Your tongue feels aaahhooohhh wonderful, my love!" Celestia says and wiggles her soft ass on my face, making my tongue go deeper within her.

I can feel Shella squeezing me erratically now she must be close. "OooOooOOOohh I'm so close. Adriaaaaahhn! Buck me harder! NNGGGGGHH. BUCK ME FASTER!" she screams. I thrust into her as fast and hard as I could in my current position, but it's just not enough to give her what she wants.

I gently push Luna and Celestia off of me and they whine in protest.

"Sorry, I really want to give Shella a good pounding," I tell them. "but don't worry, you'll be next," I say and pull out as I move Shella onto her hands and knees.

I spread her legs and line my cock back up with her leaking slit. I push myself in and wrap my arms around her waist. She moans loudly and I begin to hammer away into her as her tail then wraps around my waist as well.

She's now screaming her lungs out as my thrusts push her head into the mattress while her inner walls are sucking and clenching me like crazy. I look to the others and see them masturbating while watching us.

"Yes! Buck me. Ahhh! Fill me with nnngghh with more eggs! Ooohh. I want to bare your hatchlings for the rest of AAHHH! My life!" Shella screams as her walls clamp down hard. "YEEESSS! I'M CUMMING!" she yells and pushes back hard with her ass trembling against me.

"Oh fuck!" I grunt as I cum inside her womb, I keep thrusting until I've emptied my balls into her.

I groan as I pull out of her with an audible pop and she moans from the feeling. I turn to Celestia and go wide eyed when I see Luna laying on top of her, careful not to lay on her stomach though. They're both completely naked and rubbing their pussies together while looking at me with half-lidded eyes.

"Come, Adrian. Rut us," Luna says lustfully.

"Yes, buck us both at the same time!" Celestia tells me.

I waste no time and climb up behind them. I grab Luna's hips and line my cock in between their puffy lips. They're so wet, I easily slip between them and start thrusting between their bodies. My member constantly rubs against their clits as they wiggle and grind against me.

"Damn that feels good," I say and squeeze Luna's ass.

I get a long moan out of her. I then pull back and thrust my dick into Celestia's soaked slit as she screams from the sudden penetration. Luna then silences her by kissing her, oh fuck that's hot.

I thrust a few times before pulling out and lining myself up with Luna's pussy. I push in and get a squeak out of her that turns into a lustful moan. I thrust into her and I can feel her clenching me, trying to keep me inside her.

As I continue to switch between them, Shella has recovered and is now kneeling beside me also naked, kissing me as I fuck both of my Princesses.

After about fifteen more minutes of switching, I finally cum inside Celestia. "Oh buck yes!" she screams as she cums with me, gripping onto Luna tightly as she trembles.

I pull out and Luna looks back at me. "A-Adrian," Luna stutters. "C-Can you buck us in o-our rump?" she asks. She wants me to fuck her in the ass?

"You sure?" I ask as I lightly poke her anus with the tip of my dick.

She moans and wiggles her backside. "Yes! We have witnessed many a ponies dreams of such an action... and we wish to experience it with thee," she tells me.

"Alright, just relax for me," I tell her and start pushing against her asshole. She moans as she tries to relax and her anus spreads around my member as it slowly sinks in easily from the heavy lubrication I got from both their aroused pussies.

I stop about halfway in and pull out until only the head remained inside making her gasp and moan from the sensations. I thrust back in a little deeper and pull back out, I then go deeper with each thrust. I feel Shella move under my legs and begin to eat out Luna's pussy while my testicles are resting on her nose.

Luna screams from the pleasure and starts making out with Celestia again. I notice Shella has also started to switch between Celestia and Luna, licking and sucking at them.

I can feel Luna's rectum squeezing me and massaging my length as I go balls deep. "Damn, Luna. Your ass is so tight!" I tell her.

"Yes! Buck our rump. Nnghh. Spank us!" she begs me. I raise my right hand and slap her right ass cheek firmly getting her to squeal and moan. "Again! Ahhhh, spank us again!" I do so and spank her left cheek.

"Oh buck! We are CUMMING!" Luna screams as her ass clamps down on my dick. I feel her juices splash against my balls and hear Shella's yelp of surprise. I then hear gulping in which can only be Shella drinking Luna's cum. The tightness of her ass and the noises below makes me groan as I unload into her. Luna then moans deeply as she feels my cum fill up her ass.

I pull out and grimace at the mess on my dick, but Shella's horn glows and my cock is cleaned up. She then takes my dick and begins to suck on it making me groan from the sensation. I'm pushed onto my back as all three of them surround my member between their breasts and begin sliding them up and down my length. Celestia is to my right, Luna to my left, and Shella is between my legs.

They all take turns licking the head of my dick while making out with each other. Oh gods I'm so turned on right now, I'm sure I can feel blood dripping out my nose again. I don't think any human has ever been this lucky.

After a good ten minutes of this divine torture, my cock starts twitching. They all pick up their speed, jerking my member off with their tits rapidly. "AH FUCK!" I shout as I cum. My semen showers all three of them and they begin licking each other clean. I watch as they lick each others face and breasts, moaning the the whole time... It got me hard again.

I growl and lunge at Shella once they backed off. She 'Eeps' in surprise as I spread her legs and thrust myself into her pussy. She moans and giggles at my aggressiveness before I start hammering away at her, slapping my groin against hers. She starts panting rapidly and her moans turn into screams. "Don't stop, AHHHH! PLEASE DON'T STOP!" she begs me as I fuck her faster.

She's screaming her lungs out and I abuse her gushing flower as I continuously thrust in and out of her. Celestia and Luna cuddle up besides Shella and all three of them start making out. I watch the display as I grip Shella's ankles and fuck her senseless.

Shella then looks directly at me. "Oh buck yes! I'm so close NNGGHHH! AAHH! Fill me again! PLEASE FILL ME AGAIN!" she yells.

I can feel her vagina sporadically squeezing me like a vice as her fingers claw at my chest. I hold on as long as I can but it's too much as I grunt and squirt rope after rope of cum into her. The feeling of me filling her causes her to cum as well. "BUCK YES!" she shouts and her walls clamp down tightly. It's so tight, I can't even thrust or pull out.

She shakes violently as her climax rips through her body. Luna and Celestia are both rubbing Shella's clit with their fingers, prolonging hers and my orgasms.

After a few more seconds of bliss, she relaxes and I slip out of her. I lay on top of her with my head using her breasts as pillows.

I flip us over so she's resting on top of me where Luna and Celestia cuddle up to us and exhaustion finally catches up with us. One by one we all slowly fall asleep.

Chapter 38: Walk in the Light. Step into Shadow Part 2

Terracana
Chapter 38: Walk in the Light. Step into Shadow Part 2

I wake up with a yawn and find myself surrounded by my lovers and I couldn't be happier. I bask in the comfort I'm in for a few minutes, trying to fall back to sleep, until a horn sounds out loudly in the room. We all jump, scared shitless as it echoes throughout the room.

It's Discord in a uniform similar to Shining's captain uniform while blowing into a brass horn.

"WAKE UP MAGGOT! WE GOT SOME TRAINING TO DO!" Discord yells at me sternly.

"It's not even six in the morning yet!" I yell back, I look at the clock and it's not even four in the morning. I groan and pull the blanket over our heads. Celestia, Luna, and Shella look pissed at being so rudely awoken.

Luna scrunches up her nose and snaps. "DISCORD! WHAT DID WE SAY ABOUT THOU PRANKING US!" Luna shouts at him in anger.

"Oh lighten up, now that Adrian here has got a grip on the light element, I want to start his shadow element training. This will be harder as I forgot to mention that if he should screw it up, the shadow energy could corrupt him... similar to what happened to Luna," he says seriously.

That got us all to shut up.

"C-Corrupted?" Luna whimpers with wide eyes as her anger fades and she holds onto me tightly.

"So before we even get started, I suggest you call your little elements of harmony here just in case he does lose control. Hopefully the elements will purify him like they did for Luna and not turn him into a garden gnome... or worse," he tells us while look out the window. I follow his gaze and see the Moon.

I can feel Luna trembling.

"Then simply don't teach him how," Celestia states.

"Not an option, he's going to need every bit of power he can get when he faces against Grogar. Unlike you two who've been sitting on your comfy thrones getting fat," he says and gets a growl from Celestia.

"I AM NOT FAT! I'M PREGNANT!" Celestia yells at him. I look to her stomach under the covers, it's starting to grow rounder and her toned abs are fading, showing that she is indeed pregnant. I wonder how the nobles are going to react to this.

Discord ignores her and continues. "He's been gathering his forces and getting more powerful as well. Even you two will need to start training and getting back into shape," he tells them.

Celestia and Luna frown at him then look at each other. I just lie there between them looking awkward, and I just realised that we're all naked with Discord looking at us. Celestia also seems to notice this. "DISCORD! GET OUT!" she yells and uses her magic to catapult a pillow right in his face. The force actually sends him through the doors.

A couple of guards run down the hall and rush into the room with their weapons drawn while another two are looking over Discord, who has stars spinning around his head, eyes rolling around and tongue hanging out.

The two guards that entered have blushes on their faces and instantly turn around, facing away from us. I can hear Celestia grinding her teeth... uh oh, I think this is going to be one of her emotional outbursts. "ALL OF YOU! GET OUT NOW!" Celestia yells in the Royal Canterlot Voice, making the guards jump and run out the broken door. They then drag the still dazed Discord away with them.

Luna's horn glows and the door repairs itself. "That was certainly an unusual way of waking up," she then says.

"No kidding, I hope he was joking about that corrupted part. I know I have to get stronger... but is it worth risking?" I ask.

"We told thee of our time as Nightmare Moon. We were so angry, we wanted power no matter the source. We turned to dark magic, and it corrupted us, possessing us. We could still see and hear what we were doing, but our actions were not our own," she tells me and starts sobbing.

I gently hug her with my left arm. "It's alright, Luna. Besides... I can always just cancel the spell if something goes wrong," I tell her.

"Do you really have to go through with it?" Shella asks.

"Yes, how long will it take to get Twilight and the others here?" I reply and ask.

Celestia's horn glows and a piece of paper appears with a quill. I watch her as she writes her letter next to me.

Dear Twilight.

I need you and the other element bearers to come to the Castle as soon as you can with your elements ready. Adrian is beginning his shadow element training today and there's a chance it could corrupt him. We need the elements to purify his corruption should this happen.

We will be waiting at the Training Grounds when you arrive.

Princess Celestia.

P.S. I'm looking forward to seeing you again my student.

She rolls it up and ties a red bow with her cutie-mark around it, her horn then glows and the scroll disappears in a flash. Once done, she nuzzles my neck and licks my cheek affectionately.

"So what do we do until Twilight and the gang get here?" I ask.

"We have an idea." Luna says seductively and starts crawling down my body... Oh boy!

Three Hours Later

We're all standing in the Training Grounds waiting for Twilight and her friends. After a shower and a big breakfast, I feel refreshed and ready for what lies ahead. Although our morning fun was very strenuous, I've never felt better.

"Princess!" I hear a voice shout out. I turn around and see Twilight and the others walking over to us. Twilight's wearing a tiara with a purple six pointed star on it. The others have golden necklaces with a gem in the centre: Rarity has a indigo diamond shaped gem. Fluttershy has a pink butterfly shaped gem. Rainbow has a red lightning bolt shaped gem. Applejack has an orange apple shaped gem with a green stem and Pinkie has a light blue balloon shaped gem.

"Good morning, Twilight," Celestia greets her.

"Good morning, Princesses," Twilight replies, bowing to Celestia and Luna. "And good morning to you as well, Shella, Adrian," she says to us.

I smile and wave to them. "Hey, thanks for coming. I just hope you don't need to use them," I tell them.

They all start looking nervous. "Do you have to do this?" Rarity asks.

"Yes, if I want to get stronger, then I have to learn this," I reply.

Discord suddenly pokes out of the right middle pouch on my leggings. "I see the gang's all here!" he says and jumps out and grows back to his normal size.

I chuckle. "I was wondering where you were," I tell him. I also hear Pinkie giggling.

"Just waiting for the rainbow posse to show up," he says and looks at the six women. Fluttershy gives him a cute little wave which he returns and then looks back at me. "Let's get started! To control the shadow energy, you have to force your will over it. It will in turn try to force it's dark energy into you, twisting your morals against you," he tells me.

"Doesn't sound too hard," I say and open my spell book to the shadow element. I didn't feel anything like that when I first tried channelling it.

"I know you tried once before and that was foolish. You should have read the warning Starswirl wrote down about it first," Discord scolded me.

I look in the book and find the warning. Huh... how did I miss that?

"Alright then, so how do I force my will over it?" I ask.

"You'll feel a sort of push against you. With the energy you channel, you push back at it and cast the spell. On its own, it's a spray type spell. All foes caught in the shadow like mist lose their sense of hearing. It's very effective when used with the light element to both blind and deafen your foes. They become practically helpless without these senses," he tells me. "Though the effect only lasts a minute or two."

I look to the book and read the instructions just to be sure. "Alright... here goes nothing," I say and start channelling my mana like I did before, but this time... It feels wrong.

I frown and grunt from the odd sensation. I clench my teeth as I can feel a sort of presence trying to push its way in.

'What do we have here? My my. What a strong and powerful body you have,' a female sounding voice says in my head.

'Who are you?' I demand while trying to push it back.

'That doesn't matter. Just know that I shall put your body to good use,' she says with a malicious giggle. The presence pushes harder against me and I fall to a knee. I can't even cancel the flow of mana anymore!

POV: Luna

Adrian looks to be in pain as he grips his chest with his right hand. His left hand is surrounded by a familiar shadow like mist.

"Adrian? Are thou alright?" I ask him with worry.

"Nggaah! Someone is... Gah... trying to c-control my body!" he replies.

His eyes open and his left one is a turquoise colour with a cat like slit for his pupil... oh no.

"Nightmare Moon! She's trying to posses Adrian!" I yell in fear and my legs give out. She was not destroyed by the elements!?

"WHAT!" the bearers all yell out.

I quickly get back up and put both my hands on the sides of Adrian's head and place my horn on the top of his head. With some effort, I cast a sleeping spell on him and once he's asleep, I enter his dream.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I'm suddenly in a dark looking forest and I can barely see a few metres ahead of me. I'm still in my armour with my sword and shield at least.

"Oh? This is interesting. It seems my old host has put you to sleep," the voice says. I hear footsteps to my right to see a woman that looks just like what Luna dressed as for Nightmare Night.

"Are you Nightmare Moon?" I ask her with a glare.

She giggles, but it sounds far from friendly. "So you know who I am? I take it poor little Luna told you about me then?" she replies and asks.

So... this is the person responsible for all of Luna's pain and suffering for the last thousand years... I channel an arcane and two fire elements through my shield and without warning, shoot a beam of fire at her. Her eyes widen in surprise and she leaps out of the way. The tips of her right wing's feathers get scorched.

I turn my shield to face her and the beam quickly heads towards her. She flaps her wings and dashes behind a tree. I cancel the spell and channel three earth elements and launch the rock at the tree she's hiding behind. The tree snaps and falls down... but she's not there.

I look around and listen out for her as my perception training with Luna a month ago comes into play. I look around and hold my breath. I can hear footsteps behind me and swing my sword to slash her, but I go wide eyed and pull back just before I hit Luna in the head.

"Luna!? What are you doing here?" I ask her and start looking around again.

"We art here to assist thee in battle against our past sin," she replies. I notice she's in her armour and has her scythe and swords.

"Well well well, if it isn't my old room mate," Nightmare says tauntingly. It sounds like she's all around us.

Luna then growls at her as I hear the flaps of wings above us and look up. Nightmare Moon is flying towards me with a wicked looking spear. It has teeth along the blade that look like it's designed to rip instead of cut. I swing my shield and deflect her attack, I then swing my sword and her horn glows as she teleports away, avoiding my attack.

She reappears to my left and I hold my shield up. I fire a spray of lightning at her and she tries to avoid it, but the lightning is drawn to her spear and armour as she grunts in pain from the electricity coursing through her. Her horn glows and a bubble of magic surrounds her.

"Damn insect! Your body will be mine!" she yells in anger and charges at me, only to be tackled by Luna into a few trees.

"THOU SHALL NOT HARM OUR MATE!" Luna roars in rage. She swings her scythe at Nightmare and barely misses her wings as Nightmare Moon rolls to her left.

"You will not stop me this time you poor excuse of an alicorn!" Nightmare insults Luna and thrusts her spear at Luna. I teleport in front of Luna and block Nightmare's spear with my shield while channelling three fire elements through it. I cast the spell and she's engulfed by my flames.

"GGAAAAAHHH!" she screams and teleports away. She's behind us and looking worse for wear as patches of fur are missing from her body that's exposed from her armour. Her armour is also burnt with black scorch marks on it. "I will make your mind suffer for all eternity once I have claimed your body!" she threatens me.

I smirk at her and get into a defensive stance. Luna's horn glows and she fires a bolt of magic at Nightmare who backhands it into some trees.

'I'd like to see you try that with this!' I think to myself and channel two earth elements with a fire element. I launch the fire infused rock at her and she smirks at it. I guess to her it just looks like a ball of fire.

In arrogance or confidence, she backhands the rock with her left hand. I grin as it detonates and I see blood spray as her hand is blown off. She screams in agony as the armour on her arm is ripped apart and bends into her wound. She drops her spear and grips the stump that's left of her arm. Looks like she lost her hand and half of her forearm.

"DAMN YOU! I WILL GET YOU FOR THIS!" she says and fades away into the shadows.

For the next few minutes we look around for any signs of her, but that feeling of a presence pushing against me is now gone.

"It would seem she has fled," Luna says, looking around still.

"I think so, I don't feel her magic pressing against me anymore," I reply.

Luna then grabs my head and roughly kisses me. "Do not frighten us like that again!" she says and starts sobbing.

I give her a sad smile as I pull her into a tight hug. "It's alright, Luna. She's gone and I'm fine," I tell her and stroke her hair.

"We thought we almost lost thee to the same monster who took us," she says and holds me tightly.

"It'll take more than a cranky evil bitch to bring me down... but thank you for the help," I reply and kiss her.

She smiles into the kiss and her horn starts glowing. "We shall see thee in the waking world," she tells me and my vision fades to white.

Chapter 39.5: Breeding Cadence (Clop)

Terracana
Chapter 39.5: Breeding Cadence (Clop)

Cadence's horn glows and my armour and clothes are stripped from me. Her beautiful purple dress is also removed, but instead of teleporting it off, she slowly pulls it up, revealing her light pink fur from the top of her thighs, stomach, and chest. She's wearing long see through shoulder length gloves and thigh long stockings.

Her panties... she isn't even wearing panties. Has she been walking around with no underwear? She doesn't even have a bra on!

Her breasts bounce around as they're freed from her dress. Her pussy is leaking onto my crotch and I'm sure I have another nosebleed. She lets down her multi-toned hair and tail where they flow freely over her shoulders and chest.

"I am at the peak of my heat, Adrian. I want you to fill me as many times as you can to ensure I am with foal," she tells me and leans down. She grabs my head and kisses me deeply, I can feel her tongue pressing against my lips. Shining, Celestia, Luna, and Shella all said this was okay.

I open my mouth and return the kiss. Our tongues coil around each other and she moans as she starts grinding against me. I reach around her back and start massaging her wing joints. Her wings snap out to the sides and she gives me a long deep moan into my mouth.

She then pulls back gasping for air. "Oh by Luna's stars. That feels amaaaaaazing, nnnggh," she says and dives back into my mouth. I remove my left hand from her wing and bring it up to her horn. I'm curious to see if it's sensitive or not.

I start stroking it and she gasps. "Oh! Aaah... yes, s-stroke my horn!" she tells me. I wrap my hand around it and begin to slowly stroke it up and down making her go cross eyed as she looks up as best she can to watch. "Ngggh. That feels s-so good... go faster!" she tells me.

I grip it a little tighter and begin moving faster. Her eyes close as she grinds on my member faster, my groin is soaked now.

I remove my hand, getting a whine of protest from her. I grip her head and pull her down. I begin to lick along her horn and she gives a small cry of pleasure. I smile as I continue to lick and kiss her horn leaving small trails of saliva to drip down it. She's squirming on top of me and I can feel my dick slide between her ass cheeks as she's hotdogging me.

I wrap my lips around the base of her horn and start licking and sucking up and down the length. She starts to constantly moan and licks the sweat off my chest while rocking her hips back and fourth.

"Your s-sweat tastes s-so salty," she says and continues licking me. I see her horn faintly start to glow and then begin increasing. A small orb of magic begins forming at the tip and her eyes roll up into her head. "Don't stop, Adrian! I'm so close!" she begs me.

I pick up my pace and she's practically screaming now. I watch as the orb gets bigger until Cadence finally bursts. "YEEESSS!" she screams as I feel my dick get drenched. She trembles on top of me as the orb starts shooting small sparks on the wall behind me.

"OH, ADRIAN! Ngghh..." she says and goes limp on me. She's huffing and panting deeply. "Ahhh... it's been ohh, awhile since I-I've had an h-horngasm," she tells me.

Horngasm huh? I'll have to remember that for Tia and the others. She sits up and reaches behind her. She grips my cock and begins to lightly stroke it. "I think I'm sufficiently wet enough for the main event. I want you to cum in me as many times as you can, Adrian," she tells me with a heavy blush.

I nodded vigorously and she lines me up with her leaking snatch. She presses down on the head and moans as she teases me by rubbing my head around her vulva. After a few seconds of teasing, she takes my cock to the hilt in one go.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" she screams and clenches my member tightly. She collapses on my chest and I wrap my arms around her. She looks up at me with lust in her eyes. I grip the back of her head and begin kissing her as I start thrusting slowly up into her.

She moans and begins to raise and lower herself in time with my thrusts. "Y-You feel so d-different from Shiny," she says and sits up straight. She begins to bounce on me faster as I grip her hips.

"Is that a nggh, good thing?" I ask her.

"Y-You don't have a f-flare ohhh! That c-can sometimes nnngh, tug painfully when a s-stallion cums," she replies. "Ah! Adrian, buck me faster!" she tells me.

I grip her hips tighter and start thrusting up faster into her. She screams as I fuck her as fast as I could. "Damn Cadence, you're so tight," I say as I continue to thrust into her gushing pussy.

After a good ten minutes she begins to clench my dick erratically. "Oh! OH! Adrian! I'm going to cum! Buck me! BUCK ME AS HARD AS YOU CAN!" she screams.

I grunt as I push her onto her back and wrap my arms behind her. She moans as I grip her wings and begin hammering as hard and as fast as I could. Her eyes roll back, tongue lolling out and screaming the whole time.

"Shit! Cadence... hnnghh, I'm cumming!" I tell her.

"YES! INSIDE! CUM INSIDE! GGAAAAAHAHHHHHH!" she yells at me. I can feel her clamp down and scream at the top of her lungs. She's shaking like she's caught in an earthquake. Her juices splash all over my groin and I lose it.

"Argh!" I grunt as I fire shot after shot of my seed deep into her while she moans and cums again as I fill her.

"Yeeeeeesss. Put a foal in me, Adrian!" she says and grinds against me, getting every drop she can get. I finish squirting and pull out. She gets on her knees and begins licking my dick. She sucks out the last bit of cum and swallows it. "Wow, even your seed tastes salty. Shiny's is a bit bitter," she tells me and starts sucking on it again.

I groan as I get hard again. "Fuck... you're good at that," I tell her and she giggles. Once I'm stiffer than a steel rod again, she lets go and turns around, bends over, and moves her tail to the side. I get a full view of her cum dripping pussy which is still slightly spread open.

"Buck me again and fill me to the brim," she tells me. I move up behind her and rub my dick against her. She moans and spreads her legs wider and her tail higher. I slowly slip my member into her and she gives off a deep lustful moan. She pushes back against me and my hips slap against hers.

"Oh, Cadence. Shining is a very lucky guy," I tell her and begin to fuck her. She doesn't reply, instead she pants and moans with every thrust while she thrusts her hips back in time with mine. I wrap my arms around her and begin fondling her breasts. They're not as big as Celestia's, but they're firm and soft. I grope them earning cute little gasps and moans out of her.

She turns her head around and catches my lips. We make out with each other as I thrust faster into her. "Adrian... Shiny has never lasted this long before!" she says and grunts with clenched teeth as she grips my dick tighter. "I love Shiny very much, but I kinda w-wish I met you first!" she says and her front half collapses. I hope she's just saying that because of her lust and heat.

I continue to pound her while playing with her nipples. "I'm close! Don't stop, please! Make me cum again!" she begs and begins to thrust back faster and harder. I lean back and grip her waist and begin to really let her have it. She starts screaming again as her fluids are freely flowing down her inner thighs.

"Oh Celestia! I'm cumming! C-Cum with me, Adrian!" she tells me and clamps down on my dick. I groan from how tight she feels and cum inside her again. "AAAAAHHHHHH!" she screams and I can feel her silky insides massage my cock.

She shakes as she rides out her orgasm while I massage her hips and she moans. She wobbles slightly as I slip out and she turns around and kisses me. We make out for a while as she calms down from her recent climax but I get hard again from the rough tongue play.

"That felt wonderful, but I want more. Please give me more," she begs. I lift her up and impale her on my dick. She gasps as I start sucking on her right breast and milk flows into my mouth. Her milk is really creamy and sweet. I'm ashamed to admit, she tastes better than Celestia and Luna. "Yes! Drink my milk. You'll n-need your energy for the n-next few hours! Nnngh," she tells me.

I walk over to the wall and press her against it. "Oh my! S-Shiny has never d-done this before!" she says and I can feel her grip my dick tightly. I begin thrusting in and out at a steady pace as I drink from her tits which I lick, suck, and nibble on her nipples. She's thrashing her head side to side as I grope her ass. "More! I want more! Buck me till I'm numb!" she tells me.

Wow, even Celestia and Luna weren't this aggressive during their heats.

I slip my left index finger under her tail and begin playing with her anus. "Wha!?" she cries out in surprise and moans deeply. "Shiny has never touched me there either," she says and gasps as I slip a finger into her ass. I wiggle it around a bit which is enough to make her cum. "Ah buck me! That f-feels so g-good!" she tells me and shudders in ecstasy.

I continue thrusting into her and her orgasm keeps going. I can feel her essence dripping off my balls as she releases more cum than the others. I start to frantically thrust into her, my peak approaching as I finger her ass faster. She kisses me as I reach my limit and flood her womb again with my cum. She squeals and cums again as she deep throats me with her tongue, holy crap! I didn't know their tongues were this long! I thought it was just a changeling thing!

I groan into her mouth and slide down onto my knees. I'm panting along with her sitting on my lap while she's resting her head against mine. "Auntie Tia and Luna are so *pant* Lucky to have you," she says and licks my cheek. "I-If I wasn't *huff* with Shiny. I'd join y-your herd in a h-heartbeat," she tells me and kisses me. "Maybe someday I w-will. Celestia told me *moan* a-about how you no longer a-age," she says and nuzzles me.

I'm feeling very conflicted. Is she falling in love with me? But what about Shining? I don't want to betray his trust...

"Cadence... I'm not going to lie, you are beautiful and kind, a very lovely woman, but I can't betray Shining's trust. He's my friend, maybe some day we can try, but I won't hurt Shining," I tell her.

She smiles and kisses me again. "That's okay, we have all the time in the world," she replies. "but right now. I want you to fill me some more!" she says and starts grinding against me. Oh crap, she's insatiable!

I pick her up again and she wraps her arms and legs around me. I walk over to the Gym's showers and step inside. I turn them on and lean her against the shower's wall. The water cascades down her hair and fur making her look very appealing, oh gods she looks so sexy. I have to try this with the others as well.

She moans as I begin thrusting again. She starts to lick and nibble on my neck and ears as I grip her left ass cheek and right thigh. Her breasts are pressed to my chest and rub against me as I thrust in and out of her, I can even feel her hard nipples against mine. She's moaning loudly and begging me to go faster. I have to be careful not to slip on the wet floor.

Her wet fur rubbing against my skin feels heavenly and I hold her tightly to me as I start slapping my hips with hers. She begins screaming again and I thrust one last time before cumming into her. Her screams are cut off as she kisses me with vigour, running her tongue all over my teeth and tongue.

Her juices flow out and mix with the water from the shower and she now looks exhausted. "T-Thank you. You don't know h-how much this m-means to me *huff*." she tells me as I let her stand up, but her legs give out and I gently lower her to the shower floor making her giggle. "I can't f-feel my legs... not even shiny has done that to me," she says with a smile.

"Come on, I'll help clean you up," I reply and start washing her hair. She hums in content as we wash each other down.

Once clean, dried, and dressed. I carry her out bridal style and head towards hers and Shining's room.

Chapter 40: Royal Wedding Part 1

Terracana
Chapter 40: Royal Wedding Part 1

After helping Cadence with her request. I carry her bridal style down the hall to hers and Shining's room where she opens the door with her magic and I gently place her on the bed.

"Thank you. I mean it, thank you so much. I've been waiting so long to have a foal of my own," she tells me and rubs her stomach. "I don't think I'll be walking anytime soon," she says with a giggle.

"You're welcome, just get some rest. Do you want to tell Shining it's done or should I?" I ask her.

"I will. You just go back to your herd mates. *yawn* I'll just take a nap," she says and falls asleep. I smile and pull the blanket over her.

I then leave and head for the Throne Room. The guards open the doors for me and I thank them. The room goes quiet as I make my way through and sit on my throne. "Hello, Luna, Tia. Where's Shella?" I ask them.

"She's in my room getting some rest. Her time to lay her eggs is getting closer," Celestia tells me.

"I see. Alright, so what are you two up to?" I ask.

"As thou can see, aiding the citizens," Luna replies.

"Ah, okay," I say and listen on.

"Princess. The pegasi have been slacking in their jobs, I've ask them many times but they just keep saying they'll get right on it. My crops are drying out and I haven't had a decent downpour for weeks. If nothing is done, my entire harvest will be lost," an earth pony man says.

"I see, I shall have an order for a downpour scheduled for you within two days," Celestia tells him.

The man smiles and bows. "Thank you, Princess Celestia," he says and walks out the room. Celestia then writes something in some kind of book.

She closes the book and looks at the line of people. "Next," she says.

Seven Days Later

Cadence had her talk with Shining and he's happy for her, I'm just glad he doesn't resent me or worse. He still trains with me in the mornings, same friendly attitude as before.

I finally can channel four elements at once now. I tried flying for the first time... face planted the ground pretty badly, but after a few more attempts, I got the hang of it. It's so much different from gliding, I had to mentally control the air wings.

Shella checked to see if Cadence was pregnant, she is. I've never heard anyone squeal so loudly, not even when we mated did she squeal like that. Cadence thanked me over and over again... even kissed me right in front of Shining and the others. That was awkward.

The wedding is set to go in two days, I'm both excited and nervous. Nervous about getting married, being a King, and what Goldrush might pull, but I won't let it get to me.

I wake up in the Lapis Hive with Shella besides me. It's time for her to lay her next clutch of eggs. The egg back in Canterlot is growing very well and it seems Shella miscalculated the gestation time. The eggs she previously laid are nearly ready to hatch. She was guessing with the time it took Chrysalis to lay and hatch eggs, but she wasn't getting a constant flow of love or life energy like Shella's eggs are, they're growing at a faster rate.

Our daughter is close to being born, and I can't wait!

I turn to see Shella still asleep and smiling while she's holding onto me, I kiss her forehead and her eyes flutter open. "Adrian?" she asks.

"Yeah, it's me," I reply and stroke her hair.

She hums in content and we lay there for ten minutes. "I think I'm close to laying my eggs. Can you help me to the nursery?" she asks me.

"I'd be happy to," I reply and lift her up. I carry her to the nursery where the same Nurses are waiting for her. I look over at the sealed holes in the wall where the other two eggs were placed and can see a faint blue glow coming from them.

I place Shella on the bed and we wait for an hour before the first contractions start and again the Nurse asks her to spread her legs and begin pushing.

After thirty minutes of grunting and straining. Three new eggs come out and are placed within the holes in the walls. I then stay by her side until she's able to walk again. After about forty minutes, the first two eggs she laid are pulsing with blue light.

"They're hatching!" A Nurse says excitedly.

Shella then goes wide eyed. "The egg in Celestia's room will be hatching as well! Quickly! We need to get back to the Castle now!" Shella tells me with urgency.

I quickly pick her up and head out the door. As much as I would like to watch them hatch, I have a daughter waiting for me back at the Castle. A carriage pulled by four changelings quickly flies off and takes us to Canterlot.

Once we arrive, I carry Shella up to Celestia's room. The door to her room is already open and we enter to see Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Shining standing there with worried expressions.

"Shella, what's happening?" Celestia asks her with concern.

"She's getting ready to hatch," she replies with a smile.

I watch as Shella transfers love energy from herself to the egg. It starts to pulse faster and the top of the egg opens up like a flower. Shella reaches in and gently pulls the baby out and after a few seconds, the baby starts crying. She looks like Shella, a small amount of hair on her head and the beginning of a tail. She doesn't have any wings yet, I guess they grow out later. A little horn is also on her head.

Shella wipes the baby down and wraps her in a blanket. The baby stops crying and then she starts giggling and holding her little hands out. I didn't realize it, but I have tears running down my face. Then it hits me, I'm a father now. I kneel down beside Shella and she holds my daughter out to me. I carefully hold her in my arms and smile as she's smiling up at me and giggling.

"She's beautiful," I say. My tears flowing freely.

"She's adorable!" Cadence says and holds a finger out to her. The baby reaches out and grips Cadence's finger which makes the pink alicorn squeal. "Oh! I just can't wait until my own foal is born!" she says and then hugs Shining.

I hold her for a little longer and then hold her out for Celestia who takes the baby and starts fawning over her. "What will you name her?" she asks us and starts making kissy faces at the baby.

"Mavis" I reply.

"Mavis?" Luna asks as Celestia hands her the baby.

"It means joy," I tell them.

"Mavis... I like it," Shella says. Luna then hands Mavis back to her. "Hello, Mavis," she says nuzzling the giggling baby.

"Shella, why does she have hair? I thought only Queens have hair?" I ask her.

"That's because she's a Princess. She'll naturally grow into a Queen and when she comes of age. She'll help me increase the hive with her own mate," she tells me.

"How long will that be?" I ask.

"Longer than what happened to me. I was forced into becoming a Queen, she'll grow just like any foal," she says.

I pick up Shella and place her on the bed and cuddle up beside her with Mavis between us. "Awwww, that's so cute!" Cadence says and her horn glows. A camera appears and she takes a picture of us with it. "I'll get this developed and give it to you when it's done," she tells us.

I smile and look back at Mavis. I couldn't be any happier right now.

Three Days Later

I'm standing by an alter sweating bullets as I gulp and adjust the collar on my shirt for the twentieth time. I'm wearing a new suit made for me. A white tuxedo with a dark blue dress shirt and white tie.

"You'll be fine, just relax. You look like you're about to faint," Shining tells me and chuckles.

"Easy for you to say, you ain't the one getting married!" I reply and he chuckles again. I notice Discord standing by the door in a black tuxedo and wearing black glasses. He also has a wire going from a pocket on the jacket to around his ear. He's looking around and sometimes talks into his left wrist, well he did say he would be head of security for the wedding. Thraxx is next to him also in a similar outfit.

Cadence is standing behind the altar in her elegant purple dress with a smile on her face. Mavis is in a crib next to her looking around at everyone, babbling and giggling. I can see a few women looking at her with smiles. Only those who supported the wedding were allowed in. Fortunately, the nobles voted in our favour. fifty-six percent to forty-four percent. Goldrush was not happy about that.

Fluttershy is here with a choir of songbirds. They're beautifully chirping and singing along with the music being played by Octavia, Lyra, and their orchestra.

Twilight and the others are in the front row. From left to right is Twilight, Spike, Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Blueblood.

The doors to the Throne room open up and Celestia, Luna, and Shella walk in. My eyes widen at how beautiful they all look.

Celestia's hair and tail are their natural pink tied back and braided, she's wearing a white and gold dress that trails behind her with floral and sun patterns decorating it along with topazes inlaid to it. Despite her pregnancy showing, she's still a vision of beauty.

Luna's hair is its light blue colour and done similar to Celestia's. She's wearing a silver dress with star constellations and diamonds inlaid as the stars themselves.

Shella's hair is brushed and flowing behind her. She's wearing a white dress that contrasts with her dark blue chitin and has light blue trimming and floral patterns decorating it with sapphires inlaid.

Each of them have a veil over their faces and I can barely make out tears behind Celestia's and Luna's while Shella simply has a wide smile.

They make their way to the altar where Cadence is barely restraining her joy and I can't stop staring at them. My knees get weak which threaten to make me collapse, but I stay standing.

I move in front of the altar with all three of them standing in front of me and I smile at them, getting smiles in return. Now that they're closer, I can see Celestia is trying really hard to not burst out crying.

Cadence then speaks up. "We are gathered here today to bare witness to the union of Adrian Stormsword, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Queen Shella. Where they shall be united under matrimony and love. If there are any who object to this union, speak now or forever hold your peace," she says.

I hear a commotion outside and notice Discord with a finger next to his ear. He then sticks his head through the Throne Room's doors like they're not physically there. He then snaps his fingers and it's suddenly quiet again.

After a minute of silence, Cadence resumes.

"Sir Adrian Stormsword. Do you take Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Queen Shella to be your loving wives?" she asks me.

I look at each of them in the eyes. "Till the end of time and beyond," I reply.

"Princess Celestia. Do you take Adrian Stormsword to be your loving husband?" Celestia couldn't take it anymore and starts crying.

"I-I do," she says. I can hear some of the people in the pews crying as well, especially Rarity.

"Princess Luna. Do you take Adrian Stormsword to be your loving husband?" Cadence asks Luna next.

"I do," Luna replies and sniffles.

"Queen Shella. Do you take Adrian Stormsword to be your loving husband?"

"I do," Shella replies with a wide smile.

"Then as a Princess of Equestria. I name you husband and wives, the new King and Queens of Equestria... You may kiss the brides," Cadence says.

I stand in front of Celestia and lift her veil as I stare into her eyes and lean forward.

The sounds of glass shattering gets our attention and as if on instinct, Celestia's horn glows and my tuxedo is replaced with my weapons and armour. Four people in black clothing and skull themed masks smash through the stain glass windows, armed with cutlasses or falchions.

Celestia can't fight as it will risk the baby. Luna is in her armour and Shella is cradling Mavis and running towards some guards.

My eyes widen in disbelief, I was just about to finally marry the women I love... and these people attack us when we were so close, and now they're threatening us and my children! I'm beyond angry.

I channel four earth elements and rip the altar off the floor which I then aim it at the closest assailant. I charge up the spell as fast as I can and release the marble chunk with a roar of rage.

The altar is launched with such force that the first assailant is ripped apart from the impact and bits and pieces of him shower the room as I turn my attention onto the next one. I ignore the altar getting embedded into the wall as I channel a lightning, arcane, and a fire element and cast the haste spell on myself.

I dash forward and before he could even react. I cut off both of his arms and impale him between his eyes through his mask with my fire infused sword. He gurgles as his eyes pop from the heat and his flesh and fur burn. My four element spells are nearly two times stronger than my three element ones are.

I pull out my sword and turn to another. I see Luna looking absolutely pissed as she impales the third assailant with her scythe to the floor through his stomach. Her horn glows and to my surprise, Luna rips his head off along with his spine with her own battle cry. I can just see the anger in her eyes.

I turn to Discord who seems to be holding the door shut. "DISCORD! TRY AND TAKE ONE OF THEM ALIVE!" I shout to him.

"WILL DO!" he shouts back and snaps his fingers. A small cage appears and strangely, the bars wrap themselves like a net around the last assailant in the room.

He squirms, but can't move or speak.

I look around and see a fifth one I didn't notice before about to ambush Celestia. I teleport behind her and block the assailants cutlass with my shield, I then slam my shield in his face and knock him to the ground. Celestia gasps as I stand over the Assailant and cast a barrier around us and point my shield at him. I then fire a beam of four arcane elements at him.

He screams as his body bloats grotesquely and then bursts as blood and guts splatter all over the interior of the barrier, my legs are covered as well, but my shield spared my torso and face.

I cancel the barrier and the blood and gore that covered it falls to the floor. I then hold my shield over my head to prevent it covering me.

I look around one last time to see if there are any others. I stand near Celestia listening for anything else as the people here are whimpering and hiding behind the pews.

Discord has a strange long black box thing in his hand with electricity on the end of it and he pokes an assailant trying to get in the front door with it as he spasms. Small lines of smoke coming off the assailant as he drops to the floor unmoving.

After ten minutes of checking and looking around, Discord, Celestia, Luna, and I are standing around the tied up assailant Discord caught.

"So who wants the honour?" I ask. I pull off his mask to find it's a zebrican.

Celestia grabs the guy's hair roughly and glares at him face to face. "You dare to interrupt a day I've been waiting centuries for," she says coldly. Her horn glows and after a few seconds she gasps. "Goldrush and several other nobles hired them to assassinate us," she says with wide eyes, dropping the man who slams face first onto the floor. "My own ponies want me dead..." she says as she drops to her knees in disbelief.

I frown deeply at the information and Shining also seems extremely pissed. "GUARDS! Search the city for the traitor Goldrush for attempted murder of the royal family. She is to be taken alive for interrogation, but if she resists, lethal force is permitted! And take this piece of filth to the Dungeons!" he yells out and the guards follow his order.

Luna uses her magic to levitate the altar back into place and remove the blood and gore from it.

"Adrian, please calm down, thou art letting thine anger get the better of thee again," Luna tells me.

I take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Once I calm down, I walk over to Celestia who's on her knees crying and hug her. "It's going to be fine. We're okay, the children are okay, the assassins are dead and Goldrush will be brought to us and she'll get what's coming to her for this. Please... don't cry anymore," I tell her. Watching her cry is breaking my heart.

"I'm sorry. It's just... none of my ponies have ever wanted me d-dead before," she says.

I smile sadly at her. "Shall we continue where we left off?" I ask her and lift her veil. After a few seconds of looking in each others eyes, she smiles and we kiss each other.

The people are no longer hiding and are now clapping in applause. Luna is back in her dress and I lift her veil as we share a deep kiss and she smiles, more applause greet us.

And finally, I lift Shella's veil. She's holding Mavis in her arms as we kiss each other.

Cadence then speaks up. "Long live the King and Queens of Equestria!" she says.

The crowd cheer for us and Cadence places a golden crown upon my head.

I stand back up and face the crowd, but they gasp as my armour starts glowing a fiery orange and a bright flash blinds me. I blink a few times and I can see again. I look down and see I'm in golden armour with both Celestia's and Luna's marks on the pauldrons. Unlike my knight's armour, this is full plate armour and it's light as a feather with my crown sitting on top of the helmet.

"F-Father's armour..." Luna says as she places a hand on the chest plate.

"How?" Celestia asks also staring at the armour. My sword and Shield then start glowing as well, but the only change is the colours. While the blade is still the same. the hilt is now golden, same with the shield.

A scroll appears in front of me and I catch it which I then unroll and read it aloud.

"Adrian Stormsword. We congratulate you on your coronation as King and we thank you for protecting our daughters and grand foals from harm. As a wedding gift, I have bestowed my old armour to you. It shall protect you from any fire based magic and is extremely durable. My wife has also gifted your sword and shield with the same durability as well. I'm afraid this is the last time we can aid you. Just sending these gifts has drained us considerably and will take nearly ten years to recover from," I say and continue reading.

"To our daughters. We are so proud of you and are very happy you have found a worthy mate. Treasure him closely and keep each other safe and happy. We shall continue to watch over you and pray for a prosperous future. We love you with all our hearts."

"Your loving parents, Solaris and Galaxia," I finish.

Celestia and Luna are now hugging each other and crying their eyes out. I kneel down in front of them and hand them the letter.

"Here, you can keep it to remember them by," I tell them.

"*sniff* Thank you," Celestia says and they both look at it.

"Tis father's *sniff* handwriting..." Luna says.

I leave them to look at it and walk over to Shella. "Are you and Mavis alright?" I ask with concern.

"We're fine, though she's a little frightened at the moment," she tells me.

I look at my daughter and see she's sniffling, but unharmed. I smile and stroke her cheek with my right thumb. "That's good, no one was hurt."

"Adrian! We need your help! A guard was killed during the attack!" Shining yells from the front door.

I look in their direction to see them dragging a guard with a sword through his chest. I walk over to them and frown. Well, at least I'm going to get more practice with the revive spell.

I pull the sword out and hold my shield in front of the guard. I channel a life element and mould it into a vessel. I concentrate and can feel a presence in the vessel. I then channel a lightning element and give the soul a positive charge. Once done, I push the vessel into the body and the lightning element jump starts his organs.

The wound heals until it closes and I cast a life beam to make sure. He gasps as he takes a lung full of air and coughs.

I then fall to a knee as I forgot this was exhausting to cast. I can hear gasps and talking around me as the guard looks around with a panicked expression. "W-What happened?" he asks.

Shining just stares wide eyed. "A-Adrian... no, our King, revived you," he says and looks at me.

My stomach decides to ruin the moment and rumbles. "Damn, I'm hungry," I say and lie on my back.

Twilight runs over to me with wide eyes. "Oh my gosh! That was some powerful magic I felt," she says excitedly.

I just groan as my stomach rumbles again. "Does this mean it's time for the reception!?" Pinkie yells with excitement.

Chapter 41: Royal Wedding Part 2

Terracana
Chapter 41: Royal Wedding Part 2

The guard I revived walks up to me with a smile. "Thank you so much for saving me, your Majesty," he says with a bow.

Wow... that's going to take some getting use to being called that. "It's alright. I'm glad I was able to pull it off again," I reply.

He bows again and looks at his chest to see the hole where the sword went through in his chestplate. I hear him gulp loudly as he walks away poking at it as the guards crowd around him asking him what it was like being dead and such.

"Come on come on! It's time to PARTY!" Pinkie says and heads for the door leaving some guards to clean up the mess and remains of the assassins.

I hold both Celestia's and Luna's hands as we head to the Dining Hall while Shella is in front of me holding Mavis in her arms.

I was about to open the door to the Hall when two guards do it for me... going to have to get used to that as well. There are many more tables set up each with a different variety of food and drink, I look to my left and see a still steaming pie and my stomach growls at the sight as I walk over there. Since I'm still holding Celestia's and Luna's hands, I unwittingly drag them along with me.

They let go of my hands and I begin cutting us each a slice. I then give them their plates and we head to the main table where I sit down with my wives beside me... I'm never going to get tired of that. I'm finally married... I wonder what my parents would think of what I've accomplished so far.

Twilight and her friends join us with their own food and Twilight assaults me with questions.

"Adrian... was that the same spell you used on Rarity?" she asks.

"Yes, it was just as exhausting as last time. I'll have to practice with it some more to get used to it... but I don't want people dying for me just to get better at it so I don't know how I'm going to do that," I reply.

Shining and Cadence join us with their own plates. "You could use that assassin we just caught," Shining says as if it wasn't a big deal.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "That's not a bad idea... but it's also too cruel. Would you like to be killed over and over again? He may have been hired to kill us, but I won't torture someone like that. I'm not below causing harm and healing them repeatedly to get any information I need... Luna's seen me do it before in the diamond dog Burrow, but killing them over and over just for practice. No, just no," I tell him.

Luna nodded with a sigh. "Tis true, we needed to know of Rarity's location and the diamond dog was adamant in not telling us, but after Adrian's... persuasion," she says with a shudder. "He told us what we wanted and Adrian gave him a swift death," she tells him.

"Besides," I say. "there's a risk with the revive spell. Should I fail casting it properly... it'll take my life," I tell them, getting gasps.

"S-So you risked your own life to save mine?" Rarity says with wide eyes.

I smiled and gave her a small nod. "Yes, I couldn't live with myself should I have failed to bring you back to your friends," I tell her.

She smiles back and I see tears forming in her eyes. "And I thank you for that, 'your Majesty'," she says with a smirk.

"Argh," I groan and bump my head on the table, my crown rolling off slightly. "I'm never going to get used to that you know," I tell her as she and the others laugh.

I turn my head to the side and see Blueblood walk in with Lily. He walks over to us after getting himself and Lily some food and then sits next to Rarity, I smile as I watch them share a quick kiss.

"So I see you two are going steady now," I say as I sit back up and put my crown back on.

"Oh yes, Blueblood has been the perfect gentlecolt," Rarity says and cuddles up to him.

I was about to reply, but the sound of glass breaking makes me look to my right with my grip on my sword. I see Spike with a look of anger and crushed glass in his grip.

"Spike? Are you alright?" Twilight asks him with concern.

He growls and heads for the door. "I'm fine," he hisses and leaves.

"What's the matter with him?" Rainbow asks.

Twilight sighs. "I think he's still upset that Rarity is courting Prince Blueblood. I was hoping he would break out of his infatuation soon, but I think he still believes he has a chance with Rarity," she says.

"I do feel bad for Spike, but he's simply too young. As much of a gentlecolt as he is, I see him as nothing more than a dear friend," Rarity says with her own sigh.

After a minute of silence Rainbow speaks up. "So what are you going to do as King?" she asks me.

"Well, due to Goldrush's attempt to kill us, we're going to be changing a few laws I think," I reply and look at Celestia, Luna, and Shella.

"We agree, we think we have let the nobles get out of hand for long enough. Tis time to put our hoof down on the matter," Luna says with conviction.

"Yes, I've let them have their way for far too long. It is time to set them straight," Celestia says.

"Whoa!" I hear Pinkie yelp as she trips. A large piece of cake she was carrying flies into the air and comes back down towards her, but instead of a shocked expression, she smiles widely and spreads her arms. The cake hit's her in the face and she... moans... then as if by some defiance of logic, her tongue wipes her whole face clean.

The others giggle at her antics, but I just stare at her with a blank expression. Twilight notices my look and giggles at me. "It's Pinkie being Pinkie, just go with it. I've tried figuring out how she does it... I almost went mad in the process," she tells me with a shudder.

I then look back at Pinkie as she's back on her feet and skipping over to the drinks table. I just shake my head. 'Just ignore it, it's healthier for you,' I think to myself.

"So where are you going to go for the honeymoon?" Cadence asks with a smile.

"I'd like to go to some place quiet, just the five of us. No responsibilities, no duties, no worries. Just us and a quiet countryside cottage," I reply.

Celestia rubs her stomach with a smile on her face. "That sounds lovely. There's a nice area of countryside near Hoofington," she says.

"Sounds great, when should we go?" I ask.

"We think it best after we meet thy King of Reymorah," Luna says.

"True, the sooner we meet him, the sooner we can set up an alliance," I reply.

"Well, the portal spell is ready to go, but who's going to go with you, Adrian?" Twilight asks.

"We shall accompany him along with several other guards," Luna replies. "Adrain, how does royalty greet royalty in your world?" she asks me.

"I'm not sure to be honest. I guess just look dignified and be respectful," I reply. I finish off my pie and get up for a drink. "Do you want any drinks?" I ask my wives.

"I'll have some apple juice, my love," Celestia replies.

"We would like some starlight wine please," Luna says.

"Just water for me thank you," Shella says.

POV: Celestia

My husband gets up and goes to get us the drinks we asked for... my husband, I'm so happy I finally have a mate I can love and be with for the rest of my life. However long it is.

"Princess? Are you alright? You're crying," Twilight asks me.

I smile as I place the tips of my fingers across my cheek. She's right, I'm crying, but they're tears of joy and happiness.

"I am fine, Twilight. I'm just happier than I've ever been right now," I reply with a warm smile and my hands on my growing stomach.

'We know just how thou feel, sister,' Luna tells me. I look at her and see her trying to hold back tears of her own. 'We finally have a mate who loves us for us. Not our position, past, or power,' she says.

'And our parents are proud of us and him. I think he deserves a treat tonight don't you?' I ask her.

'We do, Tia. And we do believe Shella needs his help again does she not?' she replies with a smirk.

I smile even wider. Apart from the attack, gryphons, and Grogar's eventual return, our life is just perfect right now.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I carry the drinks back on a tray and take my seat as I hand out their drinks to them. I got myself a cold cider from applejack's farm.

They all thank me and take a few sips. I look around and watch as the guests are enjoying themselves; Lyra and the orchestra are playing more music and the guests are dancing, eating, or talking.

"Congratulations, sir Adrian on your marriage, or should I say, your Majesty," I hear someone say with a chuckle. I look to my left and see Fancy Pants with his wife Fleur De Lis.

"Fancy! Fleur! It's good of you to come but please, just call me Adrian. You're my friends after all," I reply.

"I'm honoured, my friend. So how have you been lately? We really should get together for tea again soon," he says.

"That would be nice, and I've been good. Despite that earlier attack, I'm the happiest man alive," I say and give my wives a smile.

"That is wonderful. Also, Fancy and I will support any changes for the nobles you decide to do. Because of Goldrush's betrayal, the nobility have lost their credibility. I do believe you could strip us of our titles and we wouldn't have the right to object," Fleur says.

"Do not worry, we shall not strip you of your titles, but laws will be enforced to prevent this kind of behaviour from now on," Celestia replies.

As they talk I look down in thought, what will the nobles do when these laws come into effect? And what of Goldrush and any others that had a hand in the attack? Speaking of others.

"Tia, who were the assassins who attacked us?" I ask her.

Everyone else stops talking and listens intently.

"They were part of an underground assassin clan from Neighpon. They are hired with pure gold to take out any target. Goldrush must have spent a small fortune to have them attack us, if I couldn't see memories, we'd have never gotten them to talk... not even with your methods," she tells me.

"Do you know who the other noble families are that helped Goldrush with this attack?" I ask her again.

"No, the assassin only met with Goldrush and only she knows who else is involved," she replies.

"Then all we can do is wait for her to be caught?" I ask.

"Yes, but something good did come of this," she says.

"And that is, sister?" Luna asks.

"I know the location of the Black Hoof Clan's hideout," she says with a smirk. "but for now we'll wait for a few months and let them think they're safe. Then after our honeymoon, we can launch an attack on them," she tells us.

Sounds like a plan... but I'm worried about the gryphons. Why haven't we heard anything from them for a while? And what has Grogar been planning?

Five Hours Later

After we talked about what's going to happen later. We get up and together, cut the wedding cake Pinkie made for us. It had little figurines of us standing on the top with happy smiles on them.

We toast for a brighter future for Equestria and the guests shower us with cheers and well wishes.

I dance with each of my wives and even my daughter Mavis while having the time of my life. Nothing could bring me down right now.

The party dies down and the guests head home. The maids clean up the mess and I stay behind to help, which surprised them that their new King would help with the cleaning.

Before Twilight left, she said she wanted to do some... tests with me later about my magic. I got a weird feeling about that.

Discord was surprisingly gone for the whole reception. I even tried calling for him, only to get no answer. I wonder what he's up to.

Celestia, Luna, Shella, and I head up to a new room made for all of us and it's larger than both Celestia's and Luna's rooms combined. There's one large walk in closet for all of our clothes and a large bathroom with a bath big enough to fit us all comfortably. A large bed is in the middle of the room that could fit ten people on it easy.

Their old rooms are converted into guests rooms since this is our bedroom now.

To the left of the bed are four desks, one for each of us; brushes, makeup, combs, perfumes and colognes, mirrors, and other grooming utensils are on them.

To the far left is a door leading to a children's room where Shella places Mavis into the crib and gently rocks and sings her to sleep. She has a beautiful singing voice.

To the right is a doorway to the balcony where Luna and Celestia step outside as they raise the moon and lower the sun. Once done, they come back in and smile seductively at me. I've been with them long enough to know what that means.

They slowly remove their dresses and underwear in front of me and they both sway their hips as they walk over to me.

"Tis time to consummate our marriage, our love," Luna says to me.

My arousal rises as they both press against me. "Let us spend our first night as a married herd in blissful passion," Celestia says huskily.

I can feel my nose dripping as Shella walks in naked as well.

I'm going to be in both heaven and hell tonight.

Author's Note

Next chapter will be one of passion and romance of gentle lovemaking!

Also it will be the last clop chapter for awhile as they travel to Terra.

Chapter 41.5: Consummation (Clop)

Author's Note

Last clop chapter for awhile. This one has the POV of Celestia, Luna, and Shella.

Chapter 41.5: Consummation (Clop)

Terracana
Chapter 41.5: Consummation (Clop)

POV: Celestia

I begin to remove Adrian's armour piece by piece with Luna's and Shella's help. I notice Adrian also has some blood trickling out his nose slowly so I levitate a handkerchief from his desk and wipe his nose clean.

"You really should stop getting so many nose bleeds, my love," I tell him with a giggle.

"I can't help it when I'm surrounded by the most beautiful women in any world," he replies.

I've been called beautiful by so many ponies in the past, but only Adrian's has ever sounded so lovingly genuine.

"Thou art such a silver tongued stallion," Luna says and licks his cheek.

Shella pulls the last piece of armour off and we all remove his clothes. Once he's naked, I take his hand and gently pull him towards the bed with a sway in my hips.

He follows behind me and he gently lowers me onto the bed as he leans over and kisses me. I return the embrace and rub our tongues together making me moan into the kiss and coil my tongue with his. I'm intoxicated by his touch, scent, and the endless love he shows for us. I want to be his mare forever.

He slowly crawls down my body, kissing and licking at my neck as I lean my head back, giving him full access. I can feel him nibbling me now and I moan from the sensual nips. He continues down to my breasts and kisses the areas around my nipples. I look down and watch as he takes my right nipple into his mouth and begins to suckle gently.

I moan again as I can feel my milk flowing out of my breast and I place my right hand on the back of his head. "Hmmmm, keep going, Adrian. Drink as much as you mmmm, want," I tell him.

I gasp as he switches breasts and I feel his right hand between my thighs. He slowly circles my vulva with his fingers while his thumb is rubbing my clitoris making me squeal from the pleasure.

"Yes. Mmmm, more. Give me more..." I groan as he presses harder against my marehood. I'm panting from the stimulation and lift his head from my breast to my face where I kiss him deeply and he returns it. I can taste my own milk on his tongue.

His hand leaves my marehood and he shifts position. He continues crawling down my body as he strokes my pregnant belly with his hands and lips. Small kisses and licks join in and I sigh happily as he spends a minute just caressing my stomach before going down again.

I feel his hot breath against my sex and shudder with a moan. I look down and barely see his eyes over my belly, I then feel his tongue lash out at me without warning and I squeal as he flicks my clit with it. I squirm as he begins licking all over and thrusts it within me, I wrap my thighs around his head and stroke his hair as he slowly licks me as the minutes pass by.

"Yes... nnnggh. Make me cum aahhhh! Make m-me cum, Adrian! Oooohh," I beg of him. He picks up his pace and I can feel my peak approaching as his tongue is hitting all the right spots, "Adrian! I-I'm cumming!" I tell him and he wraps his lips around my clitoris and begins suckling and licking. "AAAAAHHH!" I scream as I feel my inner walls tighten and my arousal squirts out onto his face. I tremble as I ride my orgasm and he continues to assault my marehood with his skilled tongue, prolonging my climax.

Once I calm down, I feel him crawl back up my body and spread my legs as he rubs the tip of his stallionhood against me.

"I love you all so much," he tells me.

"I love you too, my love," I reply. I hear moans to my right and see Shella and Luna kissing as they both use their fingers to pleasure each other.

My attention is brought back to Adrian as I feel his rounded tip push against me. I gasp as my marehood spreads for him and welcomes him inside its embrace making me give off a low deep moan as the head pops in and the rest slowly sinks into me. I can feel every bump and pulsing throb of his stallionhood against my soaked insides.

"Make love to me, Adrian. Make me your mare for all eternity," I tell him and he grunts as he pulls out and slowly pushes back in. I gasp and pant from the sensation of him sliding in me and I clench my muscles as he leaves then relax as he returns deep within me.

He kisses me slowly and passionately as he thrusts himself into my core with gentle yet firm movements. I feel so loved and wanted right now as tears slowly stream down my face, I wrap my arms around him pulling him close to me never wanting to let him go.

He pushes into me deeply as our groins rub together, he then wiggles his hips in a circular motion, making me gasp and moan from the intense pleasure. I can feel him against my clitoris as he grinds against me and I can't take the pleasure anymore making me scream. "YEEEESS! Fill m-me up, Adrian!" I beg him as I cum. My fluids splash out with great intensity, coating his testicles.

He starts to buck me again and picks up his pace as I can feel him throbbing more inside me.

"Nggah! FUCK!" he says with a grunt and I can feel his essence filling me up, it's warm and sticky and I love it. I hold him tightly to me with my arms and legs and I scream out my pleasure for him, not caring if the world can hear me. I love Adrian so much.

He continues to thrust making me quiver and scream longer as I cum again. By my sun, I've never felt so good in my entire life!

He begins to slow down and we bask in our afterglows as I nuzzle him affectionately which he returns.

"P-Please never leave us," I tell him.

He smiles at me which makes my heart flutter. "Never, I'll always be here for you," he replies and I start sobbing happily into his chest.

POV: Luna

I moan as Shella pulls her fingers out from my dripping marehood. I hear Tia crying and I watch as Adrian pulls out of her and hugs her for awhile, he then leans back against the headboard of the bed so I crawl my way over to him and sit on his lap. I cup his face in my hands and kiss him slowly and lovingly as I can feel his hands on my rump and he begins massaging them making me moan happily into our kiss.

I pull back and gasp as I feel his left hand slide under my tail, I moan lightly as he circles my anus with his fingers. To my surprise and delight I feel his tongue running up the length of my horn, stallions have always been too embarrassed to do this. They say it's too much like a blowjob to do it, but here Adrian is, licking and kissing my horn and enjoying it.

I groan in approval as I begin rubbing my marehood over his member, getting a grunt out of him in return. I begin licking his neck, tasting his salty sweat, it's like he's a living salt lick and we have him all to ourselves. I feel his right hand grip my horn and I moan deeply as he begins to jerk it.

A dark blue orb of my magic begins forming at the tip and I go cross eyed from the pleasure in both my groin and head. I can't take it anymore and scream in bliss as my magic squirts out all over the wall and slowly dissipates. My marehood overflows and coats his groin with my cum.

I continue to grind against him and I must have leaned too far forward as I felt his stallionhood slip inside me as I slide back down. I scream again from the sudden penetration and just sit there basking in the pleasure coursing through my body. Adrian is massaging my wing joints with his right hand as he suckles on my left breast as well.

I shudder from all the different types of stimulation. My horn still feels good after my horngasm, his finger is playing with my anus, his hand is twisting my wing joints. his mouth is licking, sucking, and nibbling my nipples, and his cock buried deep within me. I couldn't help but cum again.

I grind on him as I ride the small orgasm. "That was quick," he tells me with a chuckle.

I groan in both pleasure and irritation. "S-Shut up. We c-can't help that if thou f-feel so good," I tell him and moan again as I start to slowly bounce on his lap, feeling every inch of his cock sliding in and out of me. I savour the feeling and moan deeply.

I look down and stare into his eyes and kiss him. "A-Adrian, nnghh. When we go into h-heat, ahhhh! Again. Wilt t-thou give us a foal!? Oohh aaah," I ask him.

"Of course. I would love nnnghh, love to have a child with you L-Luna," he replies. I smile and kiss him again as I push my tongue into his mouth and explore everywhere. I almost thrust my tongue down his throat, but I pull back and coil it around his instead. I groan breathlessly as we exchange saliva.

I feel his left finger slip into my rump and squeal from the sudden anal penetration. He wiggles it around and I moan as I bounce faster on his member. My marehood is leaking so much, it feels like a river is flowing out of me, he then latches back onto my breasts and swirls his tongue around my nipples. I feel bad that since I'm neither in heat or pregnant, I'm not producing milk for him. I actually want him to drink my milk and it's frustrating me.

I wrap my arms around his neck and nibble on his left ear making him groan and pull his finger out of my anus, he then grabs my rump with both his hands and thrusts up into me with tender loving care. I start panting heavily and I feel his stallionhood pulsing and throbbing making my arousal build as I anticipate his hot seed splashing within me.

The thought alone was enough to tip me over the edge and I cum hard. "OH BUCK! AAAAHH! CUM INSIDE US ADRIAN! FILL OUR WOMB WITH THY SEED!" I shout as I clamp down on his member, pulling it deep and milking it for all it's worth.

"Oh fuck me!" he yells and I feel his dick throbbing like crazy. Glob after glob of his warm cum fills my womb and I nearly pass out from the intense orgasm ripping through my body. I tremble violently as I hold onto Adrian like a lifeline. I can feel my juices gushing out onto him and I groan in ecstasy.

After a few long seconds of bliss I go limp against him and breath heavily. "We t-thank thee... Thank you, Adrian," I tell him. slipping out of the royal we. "We... I love you so much," I say and nuzzle him.

He returns the nuzzle with a smile and kisses me. "And I love you too," he replies.

I smile and carefully get off him, as much as I want to stay there, Shella still needs to have her turn with him.

POV: Shella

I sit beside Celestia and wait patiently for Luna and Adrian to finish. I watch as Luna moans as she gets off of him. I stare transfixed as his penis slides out, soaked in both Luna's and Celestia's mixed fluids. I crawl over and smile at him.

"I hope you still have plenty of stamina left," I say kneeling in front of his groin.

"I've still got plenty to go around," he replies with a grin.

I engulf his member in my mouth and give a long hard suck as I can taste Celestia and Luna mixed with his taste as well. I moan deeply, which vibrates through his penis making him grunt and rub my ears as I hum happily. I pull back and swirl my tongue over the head and poke his urethra a few times.

He gasps as I make my tongue thinner and slip it into his dick about a centimetre. He stares wide eyed at me and groans. I take his member back into my mouth and slide down it. My tongue also goes down further into his penis by an inch or two. I made sure it wasn't too girthy as to cause pain. I've read a few books saying this can be very stimulating for a male changeling back at the Hive, so it should work on him as well.

"Holy s-shit... that feels so w-weird," he says but continues to rub my ears.

I pull myself off him and give him a worried expression. "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I?" I ask him. I notice Celestia and Luna staring at Adrian's penis with heavy blushes.

"N-No, I just w-wasn't expecting that. It did feel kinda good though," he replies.

I smile and put his member back into my mouth and slip my tongue back in as well. I gently caressed the inside with my tongue while sucking and sliding my lips over his penis. He groans and grips my hair tightly which makes me groan from the rough treatment and start fingering myself.

I continue to pleasure him and myself for about another six minutes as Celestia and Luna are cuddled up to Adrain and making out with him. I then bring my soaked hand up to his balls and begin to fondle them.

"Ah shit. I'm g-going to cum!" he says. I pull my tongue out, change it back to normal and wrap it around his whole length. I squeeze his penis tightly and bob my head up and down it fast, also taking the head into my throat. He grunts and I can taste his semen flooding my mouth and throat which I gulp down as fast as I can and slowly slide him out of my mouth. I sigh and lick my lips.

"You taste so good, did you enjoy it?" I ask him.

He nodded lazily. "Where did you *pant* learn to do that?" he asks me.

"I learnt it in a book back at the Hive," I reply.

"Well, that was certainly *huff* a new experience. One I'll be looking forward to again," he says.

I grin and get on my knees and bend over for him. This has to be my favourite position since the last time we made love, the feeling of his arms around me makes me feel safe. I lift my tail to my left side and spread my legs exposing myself to him.

"Breed me again, Adrian. Fill me with more eggs," I tell him as seductively as I can.

He gets up and kneels behind me. I look over my shoulder and gasp as he starts using his tongue on me making me moan as he licks around my vulva and clit. I squirm in pleasure, but he's holding my hips in place.

"You still taste like watermelons," he says. I taste like what?

"I t-taste like waterm-melon?" I ask, my mind barely coherent at the moment.

"Uh-huh, and it's delicious," he replies and digs right back in as I groan from the strong muscle invading me. I gasp and pant as I can feel myself leaking more for him to drink up. I feel so good right now and I want more.

I moan constantly as he continuously lavishes my marehood. I can feel my orgasm rising quickly and clench my eyes shut. "Adrian! D-Don't stop, I'm almost t-there! Keep going!" I beg him.

I feel my marehood twitching and begin secreting more fluids that Adrian drinks up. My moans turn into screams as he licks my clit over and over. He then starts to suck on it and that's when I cum, I shudder violently as I spray my juices over his face.

In my orgasmic haze, I see Celestia and Luna licking Adrian's face clean.

"Thou art right, she does taste like watermelon!" Luna says and continues to lick him.

I shudder as I then feel both their tongues lapping at my marehood and after a few seconds, I feel something press against me, making me moan. I can feel Adrian's stallionhood push against my folds and slowly part them. I quiver in ecstasy as he slides into my twitching pussy.

I moan and rub my cheek against the mattress, my wings are spread to my sides and fluttering involuntarily. He pushes until his hips press against mine and I groan. I then start grinding myself against him and he returns the gesture. I can feel his shaft rubbing all over my inner walls and I love it as his balls stroke against my clit, adding to the pleasure.

"Oh, Adrian... Nggghhaah. Breed me again. Please, fill me up with eggs. I want y-your aaaahh! S-Seed deep within me!" I beg him and squirm against him.

He groans and starts pulling out. Celestia and Luna are hugging and kissing Adrian as he ruts me. I can feel Adrian grip my flanks and squeeze tightly as he thrusts his cock deeply. I moan and thrust my hips back in time with his thrusts where the small flare just behind the head of his dick is rubbing all the right spots making my eyes roll back.

In and out, in and out. I can't see anything but feel the pleasure he's inflicting upon me. I want more, I need more as I start to slam my hips back against him. I scream as he begins to hammer into me and I love it. He then leans over me and embraces me with his arms around my waist. That feeling of being safe in his embrace returning.

I drool onto the blanket as I can hear the squelching of our genitals slapping over and over. My mind is going numb with lust and all I care about right now is Adrian and his sperm filling me.

"H-Hurry, AAAAAAdrian. F-Fill me! Nnnngghh oh buck me. Fill m-me up! Please!" I beg him and begin panting wildly. I can't stop moaning and he ruts me faster. I feel my peak reaching and it feels so good.

"Oh, Shella. I love you so much. I'm nnngguhh. Gonna cum!" he says and his penis throbs hard.

"YES! Inside me. OHHH! CUM INSIDE ME! AHHHHHH!" I scream and cum. I squeeze my muscles down hard and massage his member, coaxing out his life giving seed. I feel my ovaries release not three, but five eggs in response to the amount of sperm flooding my womb.

"OOooOOoooooOOhhh. Keeeeeep bucking meeee," I beg as tears flow down my face. My climax is so strong, I feel like I could pass out any second now.

He's still thrusting into me and I start crying in utter bliss as I never want this to end, but unfortunately, my orgasm dies down and I go limp on the mattress, gasping for air. His penis slips out of me with a wet and arousing pop, I groan and moan as the afterglow floods my mind and body. I feel just perfect right now.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

After satisfying them all. I lie back onto the bed and pull Shella on top of me. Celestia cuddles up to my right and Luna to my left.

Luna's horn glows and the blanket is pulled over us and they all sigh in content as they wrap their arms around me.

"That was the best rut we've had thus far," Luna says and smiles into my neck.

"I agree. I feel better than ever," Celestia says and licks my cheek.

"I can't wait till next month so we can do that again," Shella says. Which is true as I have to be careful when I make love to her when she's carrying her eggs.

"I love you all so much and I'll always be here for you," I tell them.

"We love you too. We'll stay by your side forever, my love," Celestia replies for them.

I hold them all close to me and sigh with a happy smile as we fall asleep.

POV: Cadence

Shiny and I are laying in bed with heavy blushes on our faces. For the last hour we heard both of my aunts, Shella, and Adrian making love down the hall.

Memories of him rutting me in the Gym resurface and I moan. The multiple orgasms and new experiences he gave me flooding my mind.

"Cadence? Are you alright?" Shiny asks me with concern.

"I-I'm fine," I reply and rub my thighs together. I need release and I need it now as I turn to Shiny and growl at him.

He goes wide eyed and I roll on top of him and rip his clothes off. I'm going to have some fun of my own.

Chapter 42: The Portal to Terra

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 43: The Road to Elysium

Terracana
Chapter 43: The Road to Elysium

We walk down the road towards Elysium where Twilight and Bright Mind are discussing the potency of the magic in the air while trying a few spells to test their new strength.

"So... what shall we do once we arrive at the City Gates?" Luna asks me.

"We'll approach the gate guards, tell them who we are and ask for an escort to the Castle. There we'll request an audience with the King and negotiate for an alliance," I reply.

"Sounds simple enough, but what if they get aggressive?" Hammer asks.

"Then we leave without fighting, we don't want to get on their bad side," I tell him.

He grumbles but nodded.

We continue walking for a few hours with nothing of interest happening, Luna takes in the sights around us while Twilight and Bright Mind continue their discussion about magic. We then pass a dense area of Forest and hear laughing to our left.

"What's this? Mutant horses or something?" a man in ragged looking leather armour holding a pair of chipped daggers says.

"Maybe some elves tried fusing people with animals again... it's not the first time they've done that," another man in a tattered robe holding a staff says.

"Maybe we can sell them for a lot of gold? I've never seen anything like em before," a tall dark skinned man in rusty chain armour says to the other bandits.

"And just look at all the stuff they have. That one even has gold armour!" More men start showing up, at least ten of them in total.

"And who in Tartarus are you maggots?" Hammer asks them.

"Oh! It talks!" one of them taunts.

"We're now your new masters. Just come along quietly and we'll only hurt you a little," the big guy in chain armour says and they all laugh.

"You dare threaten our King and Queen," Bright Mind says, getting her gem wand ready.

"Oooh you hear that fellas? We's got royalty before us," a short man with a bow says mockingly.

The visor on my helmet is down and covering my face so I guess they think I'm a pony as well. I draw my sword and channel a shield and three air elements and cast the air wings spell on myself. Two wings of flowing air appear on my back and I hover three metres into the air.

"We are on our way to see King Vortigan Llywelyn. Leave while you still have your lives or we'll be forced to kill you," I threaten them.

They're all now staring at me with wide eyes, even our guards are staring at me. Luna joins me in the air and has her scythe at the ready.

Spitfire draws her bow and the fire arrow forms almost instantly while Hammer Strike holds his massive hammer with a grin on his face.

The two changelings, Chitain and Chameleon, to our surprise, change into large dark blue Equestrian manticores still wearing armour and growl menacingly at the bandits.

The unicorn Blade Dancer is a skilled swordswoman. She has two longswords on her hips and six more on her back. She draws the two on her hips with her hands and her horn glows, levitating the other six around her like a shield. Okay, that's cool.

Twilight hides behind Bright Mind but has a gem wand of her own with her. Discord is looking bored and is leaning on his halberd half-asleep.

"So, what will it be? Stay and die, or leave and live?" I ask them.

Their cocky attitudes are gone and they look hesitant to attack. the short one with the bow then panics and fires an arrow at me. I simply raise my shield and block it.

Spitfire reacts and fires her arrow at the short guy where the arrow hits and detonates as his head and half his torso are blown off.

The rest of them go into a frenzy and charge us with crazed looks. So they're just a bunch of thugs with no skills or training of their own.

Hammer grins and pulls his hammer back as the bandit with the daggers leaps at him and Hammer swings his oversized hammer. The bandit is hit right in the ribs and an audible series of cracks and snaps are heard as the bandit is launched back a good twenty metres.

Hammer just stares at where the bandit lands and then at his hammer. I can see a grin spread on his face as he rushes another bandit with a battle cry. "I LOVE MY JOB!" he yells as he slams another bandit into a tree.

Blade Dancer is fighting three of them at once parrying with her eight swords. She moves like a leaf in the wind and cuts the bandits to her left and right in the chest causing them to cry out in pain and drop their weapons. She then points all eight swords to the bandit in front of her and thrusts all of them into his chest as she then twists and pulls the swords and Blood sprays out the wounds.

She then finishes the other two off by decapitating them with two swords each like a pair of scissors .

The staff wielding bandit fires a weak fire beam at me and a shield forms in front of me. Bright Mind's horn is glowing and she then points her wand at the staff bandit as she fires off a bolt of magic that detonates on impact. His staff is broken in half and he has a scorch mark around the area it detonated.

Luna and I continue to hover in the air and I cast a shield around us and boost it to full strength. Twilight's horn glows and a bandit is frozen in place and can't seem to barely move. Spitfire then takes the opportunity to shoot him with another arrow and he gets blown in half.

The two changelings roar and charge at two bandits and pounce on them. They scream as they're torn apart and stabbed with their tails.

The last one in the chainmail armour is staring wide eyed at the carnage that just befell his allies.

I notice Discord still looking bored as he hasn't moved or said anything since we got here.

"Discord, have some fun with him," I say to him.

"Oooooh! Finally! You're going to love this," he teleports next to the bandit and pulls a curtain over him. The bandit struggles and I can hear him scream... which starts getting higher in pitch.

Discord then pulls the curtain away revealing a blonde haired woman with rather big breasts and wide hips. The chainmail armour has been reduced to some sort of bikini.

The bandit looks down and grabs onto his... her, breasts. She then faints on the spot and I raise an eyebrow.

Hammer laughs loudly while Luna just sighs. "Thou and thy pranks..." she says.

"Oh lighten up. I think she'll be just fine with her new lease on life," he says and rejoins us.

I chuckle and Luna glares at me. "Please do not encourage him!" she tells me.

"Sorry," I reply. I then turn back to Discord. "So where is this surprise you said you had for me?" I ask him.

"Oh, it's waiting at Elysium for you. I think you'll want to both hug me and punch me when you see it," he replies making me give him a confused expression.

I can hear Twilight and Bright Mind talk about how their magic was able to effect humans when I was resistant to it in Equestria.

"Maybe it's because of Terra's magic? It's made you stronger thus, able to effect a human? Try lifting me up," I tell them.

Twilight's horn glows and I'm lifted off the ground by a foot. She strains a bit and puts me down.

"You're right, it's still difficult, but your resistance isn't as strong now," she says and starts writing in a notebook again.

"Alright, Hammer, Bright Mind. I need you to pile the corpses so I can burn them. I don't want them starting to rot and spread any diseases," I tell them.

"Yes sir," they say and quickly pile the bodies.

I set them ablaze with four fire elements and after the fire goes on for a few minutes, we then continue down the road.

Seven Hours Later

The sun starts to set and Luna even tried to raise the moon and started to panic when she said she couldn't connect to it. I had to remind her that it wasn't her moon which got her to blush and sigh.

We then step off the road and into a small clearing to the right.

Hammer and Twilight set up three tents and I set up my two person one. Chitain, Chameleon and Hammer share a tent while Twilight and Bright Mind share one and Blade Dancer and Spitfire share the other. Luna and I use my tent and Discord just lies on a pink cloud with an umbrella over it and a blanket over himself.

Hammer Strike and Blade Dancer have agreed to take the first watch for the night and are standing outside.

I'm laying on the mat with Luna cuddled up beside me, we're both wearing nightwear this time as we don't want to be caught naked by the others. After sleeping nude over the last month... wearing clothes to bed is rather uncomfortable now.

"I miss Tia and Shella already, it just doesn't feel the same without them with us," I say, missing the feeling of them all cuddled up to me.

"We agree, we have grown to enjoy their presence with us, but it won't be for long. We just have to get King Vortigan to agree to the alliance and set up a portal connecting our two Castles. Then we can go home and be with our herd mates again," she tells me.

I smile as she nuzzles into my neck and I try to fall asleep but a few growls from outside gets my attention. I get up and look outside to see two pairs of glowing eyes staring at us. Uh-oh, these are Terran manticores.

I draw my sword and shield and get out the tent. I cast a stone armour spell on myself and have a two inch thick layer of stone covering me. Holy shit this is heavy.

"Errr, my king... what is that? It kinda looks like a manticore... Just more vicious looking... and with horns..." Hammer asks me with his Hammer at the ready.

"It's a Terran manticore, and yes, its a lot more vicious than an Equestrian one," I tell him. Its got a more balanced torso shape instead of a large front and tiny backside. Its teeth and claws look sharper and its eyes more crueller looking as well. Its wings are larger and its tail longer, not to mention the horns as well.

They start to stalk and circle around us.

"What do we do?" Blade Dancer asks keeping her eyes on the right one while Hammer watches the left.

"You and I will take the one on the right while Hammer and Luna take the one on the left. Just be careful, killing them one on one is very hard to do, but if you work together, you'll have a better chance," I tell them. Should be a good pairing with one magic user and a melee user combination. "Just don't let it get you with it's tail, we don't have any anti-venom to counter its poison," I warn them.

"Alright, this should be an interesting battle!" Hammer says and gets ready.

I channel two light elements and get ready. "Dancer, I'm going to blind it as Terran Manticores can't handle bright light."

"By your order, my King," she replies. Arg... I'm really not going to get used to that.

I cast the beam and aim at the manticore's eyes. It roars in pain and I keep the beam focused on it.

Dancer then runs towards it and raises her swords. She swings the ones in her hands and cuts off its front right leg while her other swords cut off it's right wing and tail.

I cancel the beam and channel an arcane and three lightning elements. "Dancer get back!" I tell her. She leaps back and I cast the Lightning beam now that the manticore has lost its mobility. The beam hits and it spasms on the ground. I keep it going for a few seconds and then cancel it.

The manticore lies unmoving so I turn around and see Luna impale the other in the skull with her scythe. It seems to have had it's back smashed in, no doubt Hammer's work.

"What's going on!?" Twilight yells as her head pops out of her tent.

"Oh not much, just killed a couple of manticores," I reply calmly.

"Manticores?" she asks and looks at the corpses. "Wow! They look so different from Equestrian manticores!" she says and pulls out a notebook and starts scribbling in it.

I cancel my stone armour spell and yawn as the stone breaks away. "Yup. Now while you have fun with that, I'm going back to bed. Good night," I tell them as Luna and I return to our tent. I put my sword and shield away and get under the blanket with Luna beside me.

After waking up and eating breakfast, I then strip the manticores of anything I could find useful. I take their horns and some teeth. I extract some of their poison and put them in vials. I skin them, much to the disgust of the others where I explained to them that manticore hide sells for quite a bit of gold and that we might need to get our hands on some Terran currency. Also I guess my old habits for earning a bit of extra coin are coming back to me.

We continue down the path for three hours with no problems. Twilight is going over her notes on the manticores and comparing them to Equestria's breed. Hammer and Dancer also traded shifts with Chitain and Chameleon during the night.

Spitfire is flying above us as our lookout while we all walk down the road. "Princess!... Oh er, I mean, Queen Luna! There's some sort of carriage heading our way!" she calls down to us. In the distance is what appears to be a horse drawn carriage... this will certainly be interesting.

After ten minutes of walking, the carriage is now in front of us and we step aside to let it pass. Luna and the others stare slack jawed at the two large horses pulling the carriage. They're both mares, one is white, the other light brown with white patches on its muzzle and hooves.

The driver in turn stares at us with his own dumbstruck expression.

"Was that a pony?" Twilight asks confused.

"No, that was a horse," I reply.

"Why was she tied up in... bondage equipment and had her vision reduced?" she asks again with tinted cheeks.

Oh gods, ponies consider that sexual?... Now I kind of want to see Celestia, Luna, and Shella in something like that... I shake my head to clear my thoughts of such images.

"No, it's just a harness to pull the carriage. The blinders are to keep the horse going straight and the reins are for steering the horse," I tell her.

"Isn't that slavery!?" she asks disgusted.

"They aren't sapient, Twilight. They can't talk, read, or write. They can't even show facial expressions or emotions, but we keep them well fed, groomed, clean, and sheltered in stables. I know this as I was sometimes made to shovel horse manure out of my home town's stable between my magic and swordsmanship lessons," I tell her. The smell alone was enough to be considered torture.

"I see," she says, still looking at the carriage we passed.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure no one will treat you like that, you're an intelligent woman. If they treat you any less, I'll punch them in the face for you," I tell her getting a smile from her. "Come on, we still have at least another day of walking ahead of us," I tell them and continue down the road.

Five Hours Later

We're sitting by the side of the road eating our lunch. We have enough supplies to last us a week, but I also brought some of the gold and gems from the hoard I got from that dragon in the Everfree Forest with me for trading if need be.

"I don't think we're that much farther now. I saw what looked like a Castle surrounded by buildings and a tall, thick stone wall while flying," Spitfire says, pointing towards the direction of Elysium.

"That would be Elysium. We could probably make it before night fall if we pick up the pace." I say as I finish my lunch and stand up to stretch. I then sit back down next to Luna and wrap my arm around her waist. "So what do you think of Terra so far?" I ask her.

"Tis very beautiful. Though we never thought it would be this... exotic," she says, watching an animal in the distance. It's a tall herbivore like bird that eats fruits and seeds. It can't fly, but it has long legs to run fast and can carry heavy loads. It's feathers are a dark red with white patterns on its wings feather tips.

"That's a Plane Runner. People use them for travelling long distances or to carry packs too heavy for carrying themselves long distances... I've always wanted one as a child. Would have been nice for when I was travelling a lot before arriving in Equestria," I tell her.

"Then why not just tame it?" she asks.

"It's too wild and we don't have time, maybe I could get one at Elysium as they're easy to care for as well. You just need to spend time with them, feed them plenty of fruits, seeds, and water as well as give them the materials to build their own nests, clean up their mess and they'll be loyal to you," I reply.

"I see. Then we could find thee one before we return home," she says.

"Sounds goo..." I start to reply, but the sound of a girl screaming gets our attention.

Spitfire is already in the air looking around. "There's a filly over there being chased by some sort of large wolf," she tells us.

"Might be a dire wolf, come on!" I say and we follow Spitfire to the location.

A little girl no older than twelve is running from a wolf that's quickly gaining on her.

I teleport between them and cast a stone wall spell where the wolf leaps at me, only to smash face first into the wall. I cast a haste spell on myself and grab the girl and run back to the others.

"Spitfire! Shoot it!" I tell her.

She aims her bow at the stunned wolf and fires as a small explosion takes off the wolf's head and it goes limp. I can hear growling as more show up.

"Drive them back or kill them! They should flee once they start losing some of their numbers," I tell the others.

Hammer Strike leaps into the air and slams his hammer down onto one of the wolves, instantly killing it.

Bright Mind fires a barrage of magic bolts at another, filling it with holes.

One leaps at Twilight who panics and unwittingly, launches the wolf with her magic into the air. Well holy shit, that wolf isn't coming back down for awhile.

Luna has her dual swords out and is carving into one of the larger wolves.

I channel four air elements into my sword and swing it vertically down. A blade of razor sharp air quickly hurtles towards a wolf and slices it in half.

Spitfire is taking more shots at the wolves towards the back.

Blade Dancer is fighting two wolves at once and cutting them up really good.

The two changelings after watching them for awhile turn into manticores again, but this time, they're the Terran breed. Looks like they got an upgrade.

They rip through the wolves who flee at the sight of stronger predators. The changelings roar in victory and then shift back into their natural forms. Seeing armoured Terran manticores was pretty cool actually.

"I'm going to admit it, but I'm kinda jealous of changelings now," Hammer says.

Chitain and Chameleon chuckle as I turn towards the girl.

"Are you alright?" I ask her.

She's shaking in fear and is looking at Luna with wide eyes.

"Hello, little one, are thou hurt?" Luna asks her.

The girl shakes her head.

"Was there anyone else with you?" I ask her.

She slowly nodded. "Mama and Papa," she says and sniffles. "T-They told me to r-run while they distracted t-the wolves," she tells me.

"And where are they?" I ask her. She points to the left towards some trees. "Can you take us there? We'll keep you safe," I ask.

She nodded and we follow her. After a few minutes of searching... we found her parents... or at least what's left of them.

The girl starts crying her eyes out as Luna tries to comfort her.

I kneel down and examine the corpses. Too much damage to revive them, missing limbs, organs on the floor. I see a pendant on the woman's corpse and take it off. I open it to see a picture of the family. I frown sadly and use a single water element to wash the blood off it before I turn back to the girl and hand it to her.

"Here, you should have this," I tell her.

She takes it and looks at the picture. She starts crying again and cuddles up to Luna.

I gather the pieces of her parents and place twigs and bits of dead wood around them. I then use a fire element to set it on fire and hang my head in respect, it must have been a brutal choice to sacrifice themselves for their daughter.

After a minute, I turn back to the girl. "What's your name?" I ask her.

"Jasmine," she replies, her eyes are bloodshot from her crying.

"Do you have any other family nearby?" I ask her.

She nodded. "I h-have an *hic* uncle in the C-City," she tells me.

"Alright, that's where we're heading, we'll take you there okay?" I tell her.

She nodded and clung onto Luna. I smile sadly and we make our way to the road again.

We walk for an hour and the girl has calmed down now but still upset.

"You're a pretty horsey," Jasmine says to Luna as she plays with Luna's flowing hair.

Luna goes wide eyed and I chuckle. "We art a pony, and we thank thee for the compliment," Luna replies with a smile.

"You talk funny," the girl says with a little giggle. At least she isn't depressed as much anymore.

"Thou finds our speech amusing?" Luna asks with a raised brow.

"Uh-huh," Jasmine replies. "Where did you come from? I never seen people like you before."

"We come from a land called Equestria. I am Queen Luna," she says and the points to me. "And he is my Husband, King Adrian."

I lift my helmet's visor up and smile at Jasmine.

"But he doesn't look like you," she says.

"I was sent to Equestria from here, where I met Luna and we fell in love," I tell her.

"Oh," Jasmine says and returns to playing with Luna's hair.

It was now night fall but the City was still about half a day's travel away. We had dinner and set up camp where the changelings took the first watch tonight.

Jasmine is sleeping with us in the tent and is cuddling up to Luna.

"You're soft," she says to Luna.

Luna smiles and wraps her arms around the girl while I spoon up behind Luna and wrap my arms around her.

"Good night," I say to them.

"Good night," they reply.

I yawn and slowly drift off to sleep.

I wake up alone in the tent and look around; Luna's armour is still here so she must be nearby. I exit the tent and stretch my arms and legs.

Luna is sitting next to Jasmine and is brushing her hair. I smile as I walk over and sit next to them. "Good morning," I say and kiss Luna on her cheek.

"Good morning, our love. Did thou sleep well?" she asks me.

"As well as one can next to a beautiful woman," I reply, making her giggle.

The others start to wake up as Hammer and Dancer must have swapped places with Chitain and Chameleon at some point during the night.

"That is good," Luna says and continues to brush Jasmines hair.

I return to the tent and get all my gear on. I then place Luna's stuff to the side and pack up the tent as the others also pack up theirs and we all eat a quick breakfast.

Once we're all ready to go, we head down the road and the City comes into view.

We walk for a few hours, greeting a few passersby who were shocked to see a new race walking to Elysium.

We finally arrived at the large sturdy wooden gate reinforced with steel plating sitting in a grand stone archway with a guardhouse to the right where two guards watch us like hawks.

"State your business," one of them says warily.

"I am King Adrian Stormsword of Equestria, and this is my wife Queen Luna. We have come seeking an audience with King Vortigan Llywelyn for an alliance between our two worlds," I tell them as Luna and I bow slightly.

"King? Equestria? Wait... worlds? Are you pulling some kind of joke?" a guard asks.

"Nay, we wish to request the aid of thy King," Luna replies.

They look at each other for a second before speaking. "Go get the Captain. I don't know what we should do in this situation," the right guard says to the other.

Argh. 'This is going to take awhile,' I think to myself.

Chapter 44: Meeting the King and Discord's Surprise!

Terracana
Chapter 44: Meeting the King and Discord's Surprise!

We stand by the gate waiting for the Captain to arrive while the guard still here is giving us odd looks.

"So what do we do now?" Hammer asks.

"We just wait until they let us in," I reply.

Discord then claps his hands together getting our attention. "Well, while you wait for them to pull their thumbs out of their posteriors. I'm going to get that surprise for you ready," he tells me.

"Alright, but it better not be a prank, we're here for Equestria's sake after all," I tell him.

"Oh don't worry, you're going to love it. Ta ta!" he replies, snaps his fingers and disappears in a puff of pink smoke.

Thirty Minutes Later

Finally the Captain has arrived and looks us over.

"So you're the supposed royalty who wants to see the King..." he says. He's about five foot eight tall with a short beard and a scar across his right cheek.

"Yes, Captain. I am King Adrian Stormsword, and this is my wife Queen Luna," I introduce us.

"Alright. Now my next Question is, what are you? I've never seen or heard of your race before," he asks.

Luna replies. "We art ponies, or Equestrians while Chitain and Chameleon here are changelings. We come from the lands of Equestria on the world Equus," she tells him.

"Equus? Wait, world? Never heard of it, sounds like you're just making this all up to be honest," he says.

I frown at him. "I was sent to Equestria by some kind of portal spell. I met the people there and over the last four or so months, befriended them and even found love," I tell him and look at Luna.

"Wait a minute, you were sent there? You a human?" he asks with a raised brow.

I nodded and lift the visor on my helmet. "I was on my way to Elysium when I was pulled to their world where now an old necromancer named Grogar is rising to power again. We're here to ask for aid and to create an alliance between our worlds," I tell him.

"Grogar... I think I've heard that name before in a history book... and how did you get back here?" he asks.

"Through a portal Twilight here created," I reply and tap Twilight on her shoulder as she blushes from the attention.

"Alright fine. I'll escort you to the Castle and see if the King will see you, but cause any trouble and you will be thrown straight into the Dungeons," he says and orders the gate open.

I sigh in relief and we follow him inside, I recognize this street from my vision. People of all races stare at us; dwarves, elves, humans, and even some aquarians walking around on legs made of water.

"Oh my gosh, are they the other races you told us about?" Twilight asks as she looks at them.

"Yes, although I doubt we'll meet any of the kitsune people here," I reply.

I notice some of the elves looking at us with mixed expressions, and some look a bit unsettling. Luna and I are surrounded by our guards as we follow the Captain.

"By the way, what is your name, Captain?" I ask him.

"Theo Dryton," he replies.

"Why was the gate closed? I thought it's always open," I ask.

"Orcs attacked recently and it's just a precaution for now," he tells me.

"I see, are the attacks getting worse?" I ask with a frown.

"Yes, they even seem to have gotten hold of some strong monsters to fight for them. How they're taming them I have no idea," he tells me.

"What kinds of monsters?" Twilight asks.

"Class one to class four," he replies.

"Class? I take it the higher the number the more dangerous the monster?" she asks again.

"Correct. They've somehow gotten dire wolves to obey them, along with shadow bats, gnolls, even some manticores. Worst ones though are the deathmaws which are large reptilian beasts with strong jaws and sharp teeth, very quick as well despite their size," he replies.

"And you've been fighting them all off?" Hammer asks.

"Yes, but not without casualties. We lost just over two hundred of our soldiers in the last attack," Theo tells him.

I can just hear hushed whispers from the people around us.

"What are they?"

"Do some of them have wings?"

"Two of them look like insects."

"What do you think they're here for?"

"Well two of them are wearing crowns, maybe they’re royalty?"

"Mama! Look at the pretty horse!"

"Are those horns!?"

I tune out the rest and focus on where we're going.

After a ten minute walk we arrive at the Castle gates. "Open the gate!" Theo yells. The gate slowly opens and we enter where the guards giving us more odd looks. Theo leads us to a room with many comfy looking chairs and couches. "Please wait here while I let the King know of your presence," Theo tells us,

"Very well," Luna replies.

Theo leaves and closes the door behind him. Twilight and Bright Mind are looking through the bookshelf for something to read.

Dancer and Hammer stand guard by the door. Chitain and Chameleon stand by the windows while Luna and I are on the couch. Spitfire looks like she fell asleep on the chair next to us while Jasmine is also asleep on Luna's lap.

"So what shall we do with Jasmine?" Luna asks.

"Once we've met the King and got what we have to say out of the way, we can then look for her relatives," I reply and pat Jasmine on her head. She mumbles and cuddles closer to Luna.

After Twenty minutes of waiting Theo returns and says the King will see us. We get up and wake Spitfire and Jasmine. We then follow Theo down the hall and into a grand looking Throne Room, not as big as Canterlot Castle, but it does have more decorating it.

Sitting upon the left throne is a man in his forties with greying hair and tidy short beard. He has a crown similar to mine and is wearing a deep purple robe with white fur along his neck. Scars are dotted across his face, no doubt from all the battles I've heard he's fought in. A large battleaxe is also resting on a rack next to his throne.

On the throne next to him is a woman of the same age as long greying blonde hair flows down her back and chest. A beautiful powder blue dress hugs her body and a silver tiara sits upon her head.

"Greetings! So you are these royals who wish to speak with me? May I have your names?" the King asks.

I bow to him and the others follow. "I am King Adrian Stormsword, descendant of the mage Starswirl the Bearded," I reply.

"And we art Queen Luna, Queen of the night and dreams," Luna replies.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am King Vortigan Llywelyn," he says.

"And I am Queen Alyssa Llywelyn," the woman next him says.

"A pleasure, your Majesties," I say and stand up straight.

"So I'm told you require aid against a necromancer? And it's Grogar no less," he asks.

"Yes, he's recently escaped his imprisonment from Tartarus and is raising an army of the dead where we've already fought some of them. Equestrian magic is not very effective against the undead and it seems one of our nation's enemies, the gryphons, has been getting help from Grogar in the form of anti-magic shields and barriers. So far I'm the only one able to nullify the barriers with my magic at the moment, though and I can't be everywhere at once," I tell him.

"I see, and how do you propose we aid you? We already have our hands full with the orcs," he tells me.

"We wish to form an alliance with Reymorah. We have the means to set up a permanent portal between our worlds with us," I say.

"So you would aid us against the orcs in return?" he asks.

"Yes, we would lend you aid in any attacks you come under. Equestria has a policy of never attacking another race or nation unless provoked. We're at war with the gryphons because despite our attempts at peace, they still hunt us for sport and food," I tell him.

The Queen gasps. "They eat you?" she asks disgusted.

"Yes, they see us as nothing more than livestock. My wives and I have already repelled two attacks on our Castle and us within the last two months," I tell them.

"Wives?" the king asks with a raised brow.

"I know what you're thinking. Equestria's male to female ratio is three women to every man. So men can have around three to five women as lovers. I adapted to their culture and I am happily married to Queen Luna, Queen Celestia, and Queen Shella," I tell him and wrap my right arm around Luna's waist.

"Ah. That would make sense..." he says but a voice cuts him off.

"Who let these animals in here!?" an old fat looking man says.

"Mr Thornston, please show respect to our guests," Vortigan tells the man. I glare at the man at calling my wife and friends animals.

"Insult my wife and people again and I shall remove your tongue," I threaten him.

"Oh? You dare threaten the most powerful noble family in the Kingdom? I can have you thrown out of the City in an instant," he sneers.

I channel a shield and three air elements and cast the air wings spell. I hover into the air glaring down at him to look more intimidating, I then channel a single shadow element where my eyes turn black and red with the black mist leaking out of the visor.

"I would. Anyone who insults or threatens those I care for will answer to me," I tell him. My voice now sounds distorted, that didn't happen last time.

He cowers back a few steps. "You filthy beast. I'll have you chained in the Dungeons for this!" he threatens me. I lift my visor and glare at him and he gasps. "Y-You're human!? You would reduce yourself to wed an animal!?" he says disgusted.

That's it.

I cast the shadow element I'm channelling and shroud him in a mist. He panics as he goes deaf and I charge up my mana and blast him back with a gust of air.

He rolls a few times before getting up and flees out the door. Vortigan's soldiers then surround us with their weapons pointing at us. Shit... I let my anger get the better of me again.

I sigh and slowly land back on the floor, I then cancel my wings and turn back to the King.

"I apologise for my behaviour," I bow to him.

He sits there while eyeing me before he then bursts out laughing, confusing his guards and us.

"It's alright. The nobles believe they run the Kingdom, and to be honest it's almost true. Laws made by my great great great grandfather to allow the nobles to have a say in the countries workings has gotten out of hand. That was the first time I've seen Mr Thornston so afraid in years!" he tells me and laughs again.

I remove my helmet and hand it to Twilight to hold for me.

"Thank you for your mercy King Vortigan. I've had issues with our nobility as well. Some even hired assassins to kill me and my wives on our wedding a few days ago," I tell him.

His eyes widen at that. "I see, we've been having the same problem. Attacks on myself are few, but mostly against my wife and son. It does seem giving them power and status is more of a curse than a blessing. The nobles used to be an honourable lot, helping the Kingdom flourish, but the descendants that inherit their wealth and status grow in thinking that they deserve it, not earned it," he tells me with a sigh.

"Just like ours. Though once we return, we're setting up new laws whether they like it or not, although we do have the support of half of them," I reply.

"Maybe we should do that as well?" King Vortigan says to Queen Alyssa.

"Perhaps, but that may cause distrust among the citizens," she replies to him.

"Well, we can discuss that later. Would you and your guard care to join us for lunch?" he asks.

I smile and bow again. "We would be honoured," I reply.

"Oh and just call me Vortigan, I've never really liked using titles anyway," he says and walks to a side door. The stories I've heard of his kindness don't give him justice.

"Then please call me Adrian, and I know what you mean, I'm still getting used to mine. It just feels strange people bowing to me and calling me your Majesty, your Highness, or my King," I tell him.

He chuckles and we enter the room.

Three Hours Later.

Over the last few hours we told Vortigan and Alyssa about Equestria. They were fascinated with pony magic as Twilight demonstrated some for them; levitation, conjuration, teleporting objects and many more.

They seemed sceptical about Luna and Celestia raising and lowering the Sun and Moon, but after telling them that I've witnessed it myself, they seemed more open to the Idea. I even told them that if the portal is allowed to be set up, they could come and witness it themselves.

They told me of events that have transpired since I've been gone. Orcs attacked the City a week ago and repairs have just finished, and that the orcs are getting stronger.

The aquarians have found a lost city that has sunk into the Ocean around three thousand years ago and have salvaged quite a few relics from it.

The kitsune have actually started to venture out from their homeland as more and more have been seen around.

The dwarves are working on a prototype of a train where Luna told them of the ones Equestria has and offered to give them blueprints of them to aid in theirs. The King was grateful and offered a large sum of gold for it. I accepted as we may need some Terran currency in the future.

I was slightly hesitant, but I told him of the Equestrian airships. He was intrigued by them and wondered if they could be altered for dwarven engineering, he said they would make for great defences and safer travel for traders over long distances. Luna offered to give him blueprints for the smaller designs in exchange for some mages willing to come to Equestria who can cast the nullify spell, saying they would be a great help against the gryphons defences and allowing our guards to have a better chance at fighting back. I also asked if we could get some designs for rifles and scatter guns. I remember their barrier defences weren't as good against physical attacks.

He agreed and has lead us to a secure room underground. We told him how we set up our portal and he agreed it would be much safer in a strong secluded area in case something that shouldn't get through does.

Twilight sets up the frame and casts her portal spell again on it. After a few minutes of waiting the portal stabilizes and I see the Crystal Caverns under Canterlot.

"There, I've connected the two portal frames together," she tells us while panting. "The only way the portal will fail now is if the frame is damaged or destroyed," she says.

"Wonderful! Adrian, I look forward to seeing this world of yours later, but right now I do believe we have an alliance to form. If you would follow me to my office, we can write up terms and trade agreements," Vortigan says.

"Sounds good," I reply. "Spitfire, go back to Canterlot and tell Celestia the portal is up," I tell her. She salutes and walks through the portal. We head back up where Luna and I sit with Vortigan and Alyssa in his office while our guards and Jasmine wait outside.

After about ten minutes writing and signing up a treaty, I hear a faint voice. "MY KING! KING VORTIGAN!" the voice shouts from outside the door. The door bursts open with a panicked looking man panting for breath. "My king! Prince Kain has been killed! Someone has infiltrated his room and murdered him!" the man says and falls to his knees gasping for breath.

Queen Alyssa starts breaking down and crying while Vortigan looks beyond angry.

"WHAT!" he yells and heads for the door.

"Luna, stay here and try to comfort Alyssa, tell her I'm going to try and revive her son," I tell Luna and she nodded.

"Just be careful," she tells me and kisses me.

"I will," I reply and a follow the King.

I arrive at a room where Vortigan is on his knees, staring at a boy around nine years old on the bed... with a dagger in his chest, there's also a note attached to the dagger.

"Vortigan," I say, getting his attention. "With your permission, I'd like to try and revive your son," I ask him.

"R-Revive him? You can cast such a powerful spell?" he asks, hope in his tone.

"I've only done it twice, but yes, I can," I reply.

"Then please, I ask not as a King, but as a father, please bring my boy back to me," he asks.

"I'll try," I tell him and stand beside the bed. I pull the dagger out and hand it to him with the note which he takes and watches me.

I hold my shield in front of me and concentrate. "Please don't disrupt me. If I fail this, it will kill me," I tell him.

He nodded and left the room and closed the door, I'm guessing to prevent anyone entering until I'm done.

I prepare the revive spell and create the vessel. It fluctuates a few times, but I get it stable. I then feel a presence in the vessel and charge it. I cast the spell and the boy's body begins healing as the lightning element courses through him and he gasps.

He coughs and starts crying where the door opens and a wide eyed Vortigan is looking at his son. Tears stream down his face as he walks in and hugs the boy.

"Thank the gods you're alive," he says and holds the boy tightly.

"Daddy! I w-was so scared! S-Some strange *sniff* man climbed t-through the window a-and hurt me!" the boy says.

"It's alright now, you're safe," Vortigan tells his son.

I walk over to the window while panting from casting the spell. I nearly slipped up when forming the vessel. I look around and notice a rope connected to the balcony and it goes all the way down to the ground. That's got to be at least a thirty metre drop.

Vortigan then gets my attention. "Thank you, thank you so much. If there's anything I can get you. Please, don't hesitate to ask," he tells me.

"It's alright *pant* I'm just glad I could *huff* help," I reply.

"I'll have some water brought to my office for you," Vortigan says and carries his son back to the office where Alyssa squeezes the life out of him.

"By the way Vortigan, what was written on that note," I ask him and drink some water as Luna clings onto me.

He frowns and pulls the note out of a pocket. "It was a threat to vacate the throne or next would be my wife... I still don't know how an assassin could get in as I've increased patrols around the Castle and grounds," he says.

"It could be a guard? We've had infiltrators in our ranks before, but not since our new allies joined us who can detect their own kind," I tell him.

"Our own guard?" he says and frowns. "If that is true, then my family isn't safe here anymore..." Vortigan says.

"They are welcome to stay in Canterlot if thou wishes. We would keep them safe and comfortable," Luna offers.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm not comfortable with sending them to an unknown world just yet," he replies.

"We understand, but we shall leave the offer open should thou ever need it," she tells him.

Vortigan bows to Luna. "Thank you. Now if you don't mind, we have a treaty to finish," he says and we complete the treaty.

Once finished, Vortigan speaks up. "Right then, I've got an investigation to conduct. You're free to wander the Castle and City if you'd like, but I must get going if I'm to find the assassin," he says.

"Alright, we'll be back later tonight, I still have to find Jasmines relatives," I reply.

"Jasmine? The little girl that is with you?" he asks.

"Yes, we saved her from a pack of dire wolves on our way here... but her parents weren't as lucky," I tell him.

"I see, then I wish you luck with that. Would you like an escort to guide you through the City?" he asks.

"That would be nice, thank you," I reply.

We've been walking through the City for ten minutes looking for Jasmine's Uncle's house, but I start getting worried as we walk through a rather run down looking area of the City.

"You sure your uncle Lives here?" I ask her.

"Uh-huh... but he's not very nice," she tells me.

I frown and stop in front of a house that has seen better days as I knock on the door and we wait. I hear the door creak open and Jasmine grips my hand tightly.

A rather scruffy man who has a bit of a pudgy belly just glares at me, a bottle of some alcohol in his hand. I can smell his breath through my helmet.

"What do yooo *hic* want," he says.

I just stare at him and look behind him to see his house is a mess. Am I really going to let Jasmine live in here? I look back at the girl who is gripping my hand like if she let go she'd die. Even the City guard escorting us looks disgusted at the man.

"Well? What do ya wa-*hic*-ant ya, bastard," he says then spots Jasmine. "What's mah broother's brat doin' ere?" he asks with a belch

Yup, not leaving her here. "Sorry, I think we got the wrong house," I reply and start walking away.

"Waa? What are ya? Some stuu-*hic*-pid shit?" the man yells at us and grumbles.

"Where are we going?" Jasmine asks confused.

"I'm not going to leave you with that bum," I tell her.

"But I don't know anyone else," she says.

"Then thou art welcome to live with us," Luna says, I guess she agrees with me not leaving her here.

"R-Really?" Jasmines asks as her eyes beginning to moisten.

I raise my visor and nodded with a smile.

Her lower lip starts quivering and she clings onto Luna and sobs.

We wander around the City for an hour. I managed to trade in some gold and gems for about four-hundred gold coins and bought Jasmine a stuffed bear and new clothes. I bought Twilight some books on magic that she was ecstatic getting while I also got something for everyone else as well.

Hammer got a dwarven lightning rune and had it attached to his hammer. Now when he hits something, a discharge of lightning will go off, but it needs a few seconds to recharge with every use.

Dancer's was expensive, but with her skills and style, I thought it was okay. She got eight well made katana swords; light, durable, and perfect for speedy attacks. She thanked me with more emotion than I've seen of her since we've been here... she's just like Twilight with her books, jumping around and hugging all eight swords to her chest.

Chitain and Chameleon got a sword each that matched each other, broadswords with a wide hand guard that could be held with one or two hands.

Bright Mind got nearly the same as Twilight, some books on the magic of Terra and a few rune gems and crystals infused with elements.

I got a special scoped rifle for Spitfire with three hundred bullets for her. It would be better than her bow as a pegasus can just sit on a cloud and make for an effective sniper.

I have about one-hundred gold left and entered a jewellery store. I want to get some rings for my wives.

After a few minutes of looking around I find some nice looking rings: One has a topaz in the shape of a sun on a gold ring. Another has a diamond crescent moon on a silver ring, and the last one I like has a sapphire shaped butterfly on a silver ring. The sun one is ten gold, and the other two are eight gold.

While Luna and Jasmine are looking at the necklaces, I purchase the rings and hide them in my pack. A special surprise for my wives when we get home.

"Find anything you like?" I ask them.

"Not really, we have many rings and necklaces back at the Castle," Luna says.

I smile. "Oh well, then shall we head back to the Castle?" I ask.

"Very well, we should let our sister know of our success. Besides, we wish to know more of this world," she replies.

We head back to the Castle where I see Discord waiting by the Gates.

"Discord! Where have you been?" I ask him.

"I went and got your surprise ready," he says in a surprisingly soft tone.

"Alright then, where is it?" I ask.

He steps aside and two people walk out of the Castle's doors. My eyes widen and tears begin to flow down my face...

"Mom? Dad?"

Chapter 45: Welcome Home

Terracana
Chapter 45: Welcome Home

Standing in front of me is none other then my mother and father.

"H-How... I t-thought you d-died years ago!" I stutter with wide eyes, not believing what I'm seeing.

"I might have lied when I said I couldn't make it in time to save your parents... I did make it in time. They were both badly wounded, but." He sighs and looks sad. "They know of Starswirl’s prophecy that his tenth descendant is destined to save Equestria... They told me to take them to Elysium where you would think the bandits killed them and took them away and they told me that after you turned twenty, to give you that spell book," he tells me.

What?.. My parents were alive this whole time! And they planned this!?

"W-Why... why couldn't you just tell me!" I shout at them.

"Because we knew this would make you want to get stronger, to avenge us," mother tells me. "To make you strong enough for when you went to Equestria," she says with tears on her own face.

I frown at them. They did this just because of some prophecy?

"We're very sorry that we did that to you, but uncle Discord had a point. The fate of an entire world meant more than just our happiness," father says.

I'll beat up Discord later. Right now, I'm just glad to have my parents back as I run forward and hug them both tightly.

"I missed you both so much..." I tell them, trying to hold back my sobs.

"We missed you as well, it was so hard letting you go," mom tells me. "Please forgive us," she asks.

"I forgive you... Just never do it again..." I reply.

"Never again," dad tells me.

I hold on to them for a bit longer and then let them go.

"I have a lot to tell you both," I say.

"And we can't wait to hear it," mom replies.

Luna is waiting patiently for us with Jasmine, that gives me an idea.

"Mom, dad. Would you like to come back to Equestria with us? You can live in the Castle." I ask and tell them.

They look from me to each other. "That sounds lovely, but we would be able to return right? We have friends we've made in our years here," Mom replies.

I smile. "Sure, by the way, this is one of my wives, Luna," I say and gesture Luna to come over. "Luna, these are Maria and Lenson. My mother and father"

"Wives? You're married and to more than one woman?" dad asks me shocked.

"Yeah, Discord didn't tell you?" I reply and ask while glaring at Discord.

"What? Where's the surprise if I did that? I was looking forward to their reactions. Why don't you tell them the other surprise?" he replies.

Other surprise?.. Oh. I give him the stink eye before looking back at my parents. "Oh yes... I have a daughter and another child on the way," I tell them. "You're grandparents," mom's eyes widen and she squeals.

"I'm a grandmother!? Where is the little one? What's her name?" she asks.

"Mavis, and she's with her mother Shella in Canterlot at the moment. We were heading back to tell Tia and Shella about our success with the alliance with Reymorah," I tell them. "Want to go with us and see her?" I ask.

"Oh yes! I can't wait!" mom says excitedly.

We walk back into the Castle and down to the portal where Luna and mom are talking together with Luna telling her what's been happening and how we met.

Mom gasps when Luna told her of when I got eaten by a dragon and survived. Dad was very proud of me.

She then told them how I am now King of their Nation and dad chuckles. He said 'Don't you be expecting me to bow or treat you any different just because you're a King now,' making me smile. I didn't want them to, they're my parents after all.

Mom and dad were upset they couldn't be there for my wedding, but I told them we had pictures of it they could look at while we tell them how it went.

On the way, we found King Vortigan and told him we were heading back to Equestria to show my parents Canterlot. I told him he could send someone through to ask a guard to get us if needed and he also said we can do the same.

We arrive at the portal and I walk through first. My parents enter next followed by Hammer, Twilight, Bright Mind, Dancer, Chitain, Chameleon, Jasmine, and Luna.

"Welcome back, your Majesties," a guard salutes to us.

"Thank you. Is Celestia in the Throne room?" I ask him.

"Yes, my King. She's been eagerly awaiting your return," he replies.

"Alright, thanks," I say and head towards the exit.

Mom looks around at all the colourful crystals in the walls. "They're beautiful," she says.

"They are. These are the Crystal Caverns, the crystals here grow over time due to the high concentration of magic here," Luna tells her.

"They grow?" dad asks.

"Yes. Tis where we get all our crystals from," she replies.

The guards leave to report back to Shining and we head up to the Throne Room. People give my mom, dad, and Jasmine some confused looks, similar to how the people of Reymorah looked at us.

The guards at the doors open them for us and we enter to see Celestia and Shella on their thrones. Shella is cooing at Mavis in her arms while Celestia looks tired.

Celestia then looks up from the piece of paper she's reading and spots me. A smile spreads on her face as she rushes over to me and hugs me with a deep kiss.

"I missed you so much! Welcome home, my love," she says between kisses.

"Thanks, I missed you both too," I say as Luna and Shella join the hug where I give Shella a big kiss as well.

I let go and face my parents. "Celestia, Shella. I'd like you to meet my parents. Maria and Lenson Stormsword," I tell my wives.

Celestia gasps. "But you told us they were killed," she says confused.

"That's what I thought, but Discord managed to save them and they asked him not to tell me," I tell her and pout at Discord.

"Why would you do that?" Shella asks my parents.

They explain why to Celestia and Shella. I notice my mom looking at Mavis with barely restrained glee.

"Oh yeah," I say and hold my arms out to take Mavis, I then turn to my mom with my daughter. "Mom, this is your granddaughter Mavis," I tell her.

Mom holds Mavis in her arms and tears are running down her cheek. "She's adorable!" she says and starts to tickle Mavis.

Mavis giggles and dad holds a finger out to her where Mavis grabs his finger and he smiles. "I suddenly feel so old," he says.

I smile, happy to have my parents back. I look at Discord and punch him on his shoulder. "That's for keeping quiet about my parents." I then hug him. "And this is for saving them."

He rubs his shoulder with a smile. "No problem... Now that that's over, I believe you have some family bonding to do," he says and disappears in a puff of smoke.

I turn back to see my dad holding Mavis while mom has her hand on Celestia's stomach. I'm glad they're getting along well with each other.

POV: Discord

I warp to an isolated place on Terra, an oasis in a blasted and cursed land. The place of Grogar's first attack on the world with his army of undead where Starswirl gave his live in banishing him. Unfortunately, he was banished to Equus.

I sit in front of Beardy's grave in a small cave with sunlight streaming in through a small hole in the ceiling that shines on his resting place. His hat, tattered but still in one piece resting on top of the tombstone, preserved by my magic.

"Hey, Swirly. Adrian is doing well. He's married both Celly and Lulu, even a nice changeling Queen," I say to the grave.

"I hope I've done everything you've told me to do, all I can do now is help him get stronger and prepared for the horror that's surely awaiting him," I say, remembering the battles Beardy had against the undead.

I sit there in silence for a few seconds. I then conjure a mana lily and place it in front of the tombstone, a large deep blue flower with small wisps of magic floating around the stamen.

"I need to get some things from your old lab. I'm sure they'll help Adrian in his training, like they did for you," I say and stand up.

I head to the exit when a light breeze blows past me, making the bells on the hat jingle slightly. I smile and then warp away.

POV: Adrian Stormsword
Four Hours Later

Luna went back to Elysium with some guards and the small airship designs. She returned an hour later with twenty mages who knew the nullify spell and ten crates of rifles, scatterguns, and ammunition.

The rifles are made for long range precision and fire round shot. They're loaded in two parts. The powder charge chamber and in front of it a round shot. The hammer ignites the charge and launches the shot down the barrel at around five-hundred and fifty miles an hour.

The scatterguns fire pepper shot that spray an area in front of the gunner. It's loaded with a small paper ball filled with small ball bearings in it. The powder charge ignition burns the paper away and launches the ball bearings out in a tight cone.

These should be effective against the gryphons, we just need to start training guards in their use and teach the blacksmith and alchemists on how to make the shot and charges.

Jasmine has been playing with Lily under Thraxx's watch. I think they're going to be great friends.

Celestia, Shella, and my parents are currently talking to each other and having a good time in the lounge while I've been sitting on my throne presiding over my first court session for the last hour or so.

"Your Majesty. My family and I are having trouble with a den of diamond dogs near our farm. The local guards can't find the den and the dogs keep killing our cows. I ask you send somepony to hunt them down or chase them off as If this keeps up, I won't be able to keep my dairy production on schedule," a light brown furred man in a simple farmers attire tells me.

I pull out the notebook Celestia uses to write down notes and orders and I write down his name and about his issue to bring it up with Shining about how best to deal with it.

"I'll talk with the Captain of the Guard and put together a team to track and remove the dogs," I tell him.

He bows and smiles. "Thank you, your Majesty," he replies and leaves the line.

'Bloody hell this is boring... how do Tia and Luna do this nearly everyday?' I think to myself.

After a few more people plead their cases, Luna walks into the room and I smile as I stand up and stretch my limbs.

"Hello, our love. We take it thou art sufficiently bored?" she asks.

"You have no idea," I reply and chuckle.

She giggles. "Thou will get used to it. Go see the others and relax, we shall take over now," she tells me.

"Thanks. Oh! By the way, I got a present for you, Tia, and Shella later," I tell her and give her a kiss as I walk past her towards the doors.

"We shall be looking forward to it," she says and sits on her throne. I leave the room and head to the lounge.

I enter the room and my mom smiles at me. "Adrian! I'm so proud of what you've accomplished in your time here," she says while rocking Mavis in her arms.

"Not only have you saved royalty, but married them as well?" dad says and chuckles. "Not even my years as a guard were as interesting as your short time here," he tells me.

"Thanks. That reminds me, wait here, I'll be right back," I tell him and head up to my bedroom.

I was about to get dad's armour but I notice that hand mirror I found in the Everfree Castle Ruins on my table. I walk over to it and look it over. It doesn't look like it's been altered, there's also a note on the table.

Dear Adrian.

The researchers couldn't find anyway to activate the mirror with any form of Equestrian magic.

So we've decided to let you have it as we believe only Terran magic can activate it.

Yours forever, Luna.

Huh, I remember how I got it to work last time and try again. I think of Luna and see her sitting on her throne talking to the people. I then think of Celestia and see her in the lounge with Shella and my parents.

I wonder who else I can find.

I try to think of Discord... only to see a sign saying 'Dizcord waz 'ere' scribbled on it. Odd.

Hmmm. It's a long shot, but I try to think of Solaris and Galaxia... and to my surprise, I see them. They seem to be sitting together with a picnic spread around them. They're sitting under a tree on a small hill that begins to fade out the further it goes.

"Solaris! Can you hear me?" I ask him. I was able to talk to Celestia the first time so I should be able to here as well.

"Gah! Who's there?" he says after a little jump, spilling the drink he was holding on his lap.

I then mentally tell the mirror to get closer. "It's me, Adrian," I reply as the mirror moves in front of them.

"Adrian? How are you talking to us? No magic in Equestria is powerful enough to do so," he asks confused, but a smile is on their faces.

"Good thing I'm not using Equestrian magic then. This is elven magic being powered by my mana and I guess your magic as well," I reply.

Suddenly, Galaxia's eyes light up. "Adrain? Could you let us talk to our daughters?" she asks with hope.

I go wide eyed as I just realized what this means... Celestia and Luna can finally talk to their parents!

"Sure, I'll call you back," I say and put the mirror in my pack. I collect my father's old armour and sword and bring them back to the lounge. "Here you go, I kept them in the best condition I could," I tell him.

His eyes widen and he smiles. "My old armour and sword. Discord told us you began using it when it could fit you," he says and puts his old armour on. "Still fits like a glove," he says walking around in it.

"It's yours again if you want it, I kind of got an upgrade," I say, motioning to my golden armour. I then pull the mirror out of my pack.

"Why do you have that mirror?" Celestia asks.

"You'll see, but I need you to get Luna here. I have a surprise you will both just love," I tell her.

She looks sceptical, but closes her eyes and after a few seconds she opens them again. "I've just asked her to come. What is this surprise?" she asks.

"I'm not saying until Luna arrives, you both need to be here for it," I tell her.

Mom and dad talk with each other as dad checks over his old armour. Shella and Celestia are cuddled up to me after Celestia teleports my armour away. Luna then walks in after about ten minutes with a confused expression.

"What is so important that we had to cancel court?" she asks.

"Shella, could you let Luna sit beside me please?" I ask her.

"Okay," she replies and sits next to mom who immediately takes Mavis into her arms and drowns the baby in affection.

"Right then, I have just discovered something you will both be very grateful for," I say and think of Solaris.

The mirror swirls and shows the two alicorns still sitting down on their picnic area. Celestia and Luna both gasp as tears spill from their eyes.

"Mother? Father?" they say together.

Galaxia also starts tearing up. "My precious little fillies," she says with a hand over her mouth.

"How is this possible? Thou can not interact with Equus anymore..." Luna says with disbelief.

"This is elven magic remember? Nothing to do with Equus," I tell them.

"S-So we can talk to our parents whenever we want?" Celestia asks.

"If they're fine with it, there may be times they want to be alone," I reply with a waggle of my eyebrows.

"That's really mature," mom says and shakes her head at me. I just lean back and allow Celestia and Luna to talk with their parents.

"Well my daughters. Care to fill us in on what's been happening? While we can watch over you, we do not do so all the time," Solaris asks and tells them.

Two Hours Later

After a tearful talk between them, Celestia and Luna say goodbye to their parents and promise to talk tomorrow. We then lead my parents to Luna's old room for them to stay in.

"Goodnight, we'll see you in the morning," I say to them.

Mom smiles and kisses my cheek. "Goodnight, and please, try to keep the noise down," she says with a shit eating grin.

I roll my eyes and smile. "No promises," I reply.

"Goodnight, son. It's really good to have you back, we both missed you everyday since that bandit attack," dad tells me.

"Me too, I'm just glad you're both alive," I reply.

He smiles at me and closes the door. As we walk away I can here mom gasp. "This room is beautiful! It's like we're outside!" she says and I see Luna smile at that.

We head to our room where Shella puts Mavis in her crib. We then get undressed and we cuddle up in bed, I missed this over the last two nights.

"Today has been a good day; I find my parents alive, you can now talk to yours, we have an alliance with Reymorah, and new weapons to fight the gryphons with along with mages to help," I say.

"Yes, and tomorrow we shall return to Terra to learn as much as we can about these orcs we may have to help fight. We shall also bring information about gryphons and what we know of Grogar for the King to look over," Luna says.

"Looks like we'll all be busy for the next few weeks," Celestia says and nuzzles her head into my neck.

"Oh before I forget, Luna can you open my pack and pull out the three small boxes please," I ask her since I'm pinned to the bed right now.

She does as I ask and three little boxes float above us. I've written their names on each box.

"Open them," I tell them.

They each levitate their own boxes and open them. They gasp and smile as they pull the rings out.

"They're beautiful," Celestia says as they all put them on.

"Thank you. They're lovely," Shella says and licks my cheek.

"We shall have to find thee something in return," Luna says as she and Celestia kiss my cheeks.

I smile and hold them all close as we fall asleep, yes, I missed this very much.

Chapter 46: The Fall Heat Season

Terracana
Chapter 46: The Fall Heat Season

POV: Adrian Stormsword
One Week Later

My parents have been settling in well, they returned to Reymorah a couple of times to visit their friends and my dad has even made friends with Shining when he practised his swordsmanship again after a few years of not holding a sword. Mom has been cuddling Mavis every chance she got and the little baby girl has been enjoying all the affection and attention she was getting.

Celestia and Luna have me use the mirror after lunch every day to talk to their parents. I smile every time at the happiness radiating from them both, even Shella told me she can just taste the love coming off them.

I also discussed with Shining the matter of that farmer's Diamond Dog problem. He put together a tracking team of eight earth ponies, three pegasi, three unicorns, two thestrals for locating scents and a changeling to sense their emotions. They also all had their own life wands to heal any wounds they might receive from the fight.

Discord has been setting something up in a building he's constructing behind the Barracks. I asked him what it was, but he told me no peeking and to go play with the other kids... cute.

We made trips back to Elysium as well, learning what we can about the orcs and what they have. Seem's like they finally have someone with brains mobilizing them, orcs were never this clever when it came to tactics. We also gave Vortigan books about gryphons and what they're like. He was surprised when we told him they're almost twice our size.

I even gave Vortigan a copy of the air element and I asked him not to give it to anyone else. As much as it would help their soldiers, if it got out and bandits managed to use it... So just after five days of practice, Vortigan has gotten pretty good at it. He's not a skilled mage himself for nothing, I've even taught him how to use them without getting a mouthful of dirt. Let's just say the people of Elysium were more than surprised to see their King flying over the City, he said he never felt so young in years.

The assassin has also been caught, but refuses to talk. It was a member of his guard as we thought and Luna offered to read his memories and discover who hired him. To say Vortigan was shocked to discover his own brother was behind it enraged him. Right now, his brother Orthos was supposed to be at the elves Capital renewing a trade agreement.

The next day he found out that Orthos never even arrived at the Capital and has gone missing.

Jasmine has settled in well and my parents have taken it upon themselves to raise her. Jasmine's still depressed that her parents are gone, but we're doing the best we can to keep her happy. She's taken Celestia's old room now with an entire corner of the room filled with stuffed animals that she could hide herself under.

Shining's been having a hard time with Cadence's increasing sexual drive. He's even asked me to help relieve her the next time a big one hits her. To be honest, it both worried and excited me. I told him I would help only if it got too out of hand.

Gryphons have been sighted near the border towns again, but with the new mages help, their attacks have been foiled repeatedly and while the guards took some injuries, the mages healed their wounds quickly.

The guards have been learning how to use the new rifles and scatterguns we got, while the alchemists and blacksmiths have been learning to make the shot and powder charges. The scientists and magic researchers have disassembled a rifle and scattergun in an attempt to hybridize them with magic.

Spitfire got her custom scoped rifle and was drooling over it, I showed her how to use it and gave her the ammunition for it. For the last four days she's been at the new firing range practising with it. She still has her bow in case she needs something with a bit more... boom, as she called it.

We've been getting reports of Goldrush being sighted in Trottingham, but after a few days of searching, she was gone. I can't wait to get my hands on her.

New laws pertaining the nobles have come into effect; they no longer have a say in who royalty may court or marry, they no longer have any decisions that involve the security of the Nation, they can keep their titles, but their influence with us is just the same as a common citizen. A couple of the families were verbally upset with this, but most have agreed to it due to the shame and damage Goldrush caused.

Blueblood has gone to Ponyville with Rarity for the next week. He said something about treating her like the lady she is...

I'm in the Gym working out in a pair of shorts and what Luna called a tank top. I'm lifting weights and I can hear some strange noises coming from down the hallway, I put the weights back on the rack and lean my head out the door. Down the hall I can hear voices coming from a maids supply closet that's nearby.

I walk over to it and hear moaning and gasps coming from inside it. I raise an eyebrow and open the door.

My eyes widen at the scene before me as a maid is bent over a table with a guard having sex with her.

They stop with looks of dread while heavily panting and blushes on their faces as we stare at each other.

After a few seconds I slowly close the door. Well, that was not what I was expecting to see today. I walk back to the Gym and pass a young looking earth pony maid who has a blush on her face and a slight sway to her hips. Her tail is also sweeping left and right at a fast rate and I can smell a sweet scent in the air.

Her fur is a powder blue and her hair is a light yellow. She has the standard black and white maid uniform on where the skirt goes down to her shins. Her mark is a pile of blankets with different colours.

She looks at me and bites her lower lip... wait a minute. She's acting just like Luna and Celestia when they were in heat... Oh crap.

She smiles and starts walking over to me. "Greetings, my King," she says with half lidded eyes. "Do you need anything? Or would you like me to help you relax?" she asks and presses her breasts together between her arms.

"N-No thank you, I'm f-fine," I stutter. I think she's trying to seduce me!

"Oh, but I'm sure there's something I could help you with. Maybe a massage after that workout you've just had?" she says and places her hands on my stomach. I try to back way and she pins me to the wall, how she's this strong when she only comes up to my chest is surprising. I notice the smell of my sweat is heavy as she buries her nose into my chest and breathes in deeply. Okay this just got too awkward.

"I'm good, but thanks for the offer. I, erm. Need to get going," I tell her and manage to slip out of her grip. I see her frown sadly and rub her thighs together. Oh gods this and the smell is arousing me badly.

I quickly head back to my room and take a cold shower. Once done, I put on my armour and weapons and head down for dinner. The halls were mostly abandoned on the way there.

I enter the Dining Hall to see only Celestia, Luna, and Shella there. My parents, Jasmine, and Lily are nowhere in sight.

"Where is everyone?" I ask.

"Most of the staff and guards have taken the week off due to the start of the fall heat season. Your parents have also returned to Elysium with Jasmine and Fleur Lily for the week," Celestia tells me.

"Heat Season?" I ask and sit next to Luna.

"It's a time when mares go into heat and look for a mate to breed with. Very few mares can control their urges, but most give in to the lust and find the first available stallion they find. Most mares lock themselves in their homes and wait it out," Luna replies while nuzzling Mavis.

"So that explains the maid that tried to help me 'relax'," I say.

Celestia giggles. "That is not surprising. You are a powerful male and a King, mares will want to find the strongest stallion to breed with. It's more instinctual than a conscious choice," she tells me.

"So should I just stay in our room for the week then? I'd hate to think what would happen if I get caught. That maid had a surprisingly strong grip on me. I had to carefully slip away from her before she did anything," I say.

"We too would be in heat right now, but ours was triggered early due to finally having a mate we love," Luna says.

"So what would happen if I'm caught? I don't want to use force and hurt anyone to get away. And I don't want to risk teleporting in a panic and appear inside someone or a wall," I ask.

"Then you would have no choice but to mate with them, being in heat is an uncomfortable experience for a mare, our libido increases, our aggression increases and our bodies feel hot to a point it feels like we're on fire. The constant musky scent we release that even bathing can't remove. Only by mating or waiting out the week will it pass," Celestia tells me.

Damn, that sounds like it would drive anyone mad. "Hmmm, I'll have to be careful then. I'll probably spend the week in our room reading my spell book and practice with the light and shadow elements some more," I say and order a cooked bass. Celestia also orders another one for herself. "So what's going on with the gryphons?" I ask.

"They have tried raiding some of our border towns again. They were very surprised when they ran into our new mages," Luna replies.

I grin. "Bet they weren't expecting more of my kind here to kick their asses," I say.

"Certainly not, and we cannot wait until the guard have finished their training with these new 'guns' we now have," she tells me.

"We'll have to ask one of the guards to take a picture of it," I reply and chuckle.

Two Days Later

I spent the last two days in my room, learning more from the spell book. I can now channel two light elements safely.

My stomach rumbles, signalling that it's time for lunch. I leave the room in only a comfortable shirt, trousers, and shoes. I walk down the halls and hear someone crying. I open a door to a guest room to see the same maid that tried to seduce me curled up on the bed... With her hand weakly rubbing between her legs.

"Make it stop... please make it stop!" she cries. The room smells thick with her musk as she writhes on the bed.

She looks towards the door and spots me and her eyes go wide... Aw crap.

She gasps and pulls her hand away and with surprising speed, gets up and charges at me.

"Bugger me!" I yell and bolt down the hallway, the maid hot on my heels. Oh gods she's fast!

I turn a corner and run past an older maid who is carrying some linens and she yelps as she barely dodges me. Seconds later the younger maid turns the corner still right behind me with an expression of pure lust, drool dripping down her chin. The older maid giggles at us and goes back to her work.

I run down another hallway and run past a guard in the main lobby. 'I hope she turns her attention to him,' I think to myself but to my dismay, she runs right past him straight for me! I yelp and continue to my destination of Celestia's Office as court is cancelled for the week. I make it to the room and shut the door behind me making Celestia look up from the papers she's reading with a confused expression.

"Adrian? What's the matter?" she asks.

I open my mouth to answer, but the door starts to budge as the maid bashes against it. "That maid from before is chasing me!" I quickly tell her.

Celestia giggles at me. "She must be at the peak of her heat for her to forget this is even my Office. I'm afraid she won't stop chasing you until you mate with her, or until her heat dies down," she tells me.

I frown at her. "You're sounding really calm about this!" I accuse her.

"Why shouldn't I be? It's just a natural part of a mares life. Normal ponies can't control themselves at their peaks most of the time. Her mind is clouded with the desire to breed right now. She's probably extremely uncomfortable if she's trying this hard to get to you and judging from how aggressive she's being, it must be her first heat too," she tells me.

The banging dies down and the maid begins crying again getting me to frown sadly at her pitiful wails. "So what should I do about it?" I ask as I have no idea what I should do.

"I can cast a spell on her to make her infertile for the week. Then you can help relieve her of her heat and her mind shall be clear again," she tells me. Wait... she wants me to have sex with her?

"Are you messing with me right now or something?" I ask her with a very confused expression on my face.

She sighs and makes her way over to me. "Adrian. I have been alive for over a millennia as every year I had to endure two heat seasons alone and with my subjects ideals of me staying pure back then, I know the pain and torment of not being able to relieve myself of my heat. Our first time together was the first time I've ever been relieved of the torment," she tells me softly.

A ponies heat is really that bad? I sigh and look down. "And you'll be totally fine with it?" I ask her.

"Yes, as long as she doesn't get pregnant, it'll be fine. We have developed spells and medicine to prevent pregnancies just for this reason, and to prevent overpopulation," she tells me. "Usually the maids without a mate will find one of the guards to relieve themselves with the aid of the spell or the medicine. She may have done that if she didn't see you," she says.

The maid's crying seems to be getting worse behind the door. I sigh again in defeat. "Alright, fine. Just know I'm not comfortable with this at all. She won't be joining our herd right?" I tell and ask her.

Celestia giggles at me. "No, she won't. All you'll be doing is relieving her of her discomfort," she replies.

I groan and move away from the door. Celestia opens it and the maid instantly looks up at me. She then lunges, only for Celestia to catch her in her magic.

"Silky," Celestia says getting the maid's attention. "Do you have a mate of your own?" she asks her.

The maid shakily shakes her head. "N-No, Queen Celestia... I-I don't," she replies, just realizing where she is.

Celestia smiles warmly at her. "Is this your first heat?" she asks.

The maid nodded. "Y-Yes," she says squirming and reaching out to me.

"Adrian has agreed to help you so long as you have the infertility spell put on you," Celestia tells her.

"Y-Yes! Please! J-Just make it go away!" she begs, still reaching out for me. I notice a wet patch on the skirt of her uniform, I'm feeling really uncomfortable right now.

Celestia's horn glows and so does the maid's stomach area. Once it fades away, Celestia gently puts her down and with nothing holding her back, she tackles me to the floor.

"Ooof!" I grunt as she grips me tightly. The maid grabs my head and kisses me roughly as I just lay there stunned.

"I'll leave you two to it then, please treat her gently, my love," she says as she locks the door and teleports away.

I regain my senses and quickly grip the maid's wrists. I sit up and hold her still, even as she squirms to get back on me.

"Listen. Can you calm down for a minute please," I ask her.

Despite her groan of protest she settles down, but I can feel her rocking on my lap.

"Okay first, what's your name?" I ask her.

"S-Silk Sheets," she tells me.

"How old are you?" I ask.

"E-Eighteen and a-a half," she says. At least she's only two years younger than me.

"Are you a virgin?" I ask next. She blushes even harder and nodded. "And you can't hold out until the end of the week?" I ask.

"N-No, i-it hurts. P-Please make it s-stop," she begs me, tears falling down her cheeks. I sigh and let go of her left wrist and wipe her cheek with my thumb.

"Alright. Just try to calm down okay?" I tell her. She takes a few deep breaths and sits on me patiently. "Alright then. You just relax and I'll do all the work alright?" I tell her.

She nodded and I begin to undress her.

Author's Note

Woo! Heat season can be so fun if it doesn't give you a heart attack in the process!

Next chapter will be pure Maid smut.

After that will be the start of the next arc. SPOILER: A war with the Orcs breaks out in Terra.

Chapter 46.5: Sweet Relief (Clop)

Terracana
Chapter 46.5: Sweet Relief (Clop)

I wrap my arms around her back and carefully pull the zipper on her uniform down. I may not be comfortable with this, but it doesn't mean I won't make her first time as pleasurable as possible.

Once the zipper is down, I pull her dress down her arms and down to her waist. I unclip her bra and put it aside. Her breasts are just bigger than my fists and I fondle both with the palms of my hands.

She moans and wraps her arms around my chest. The size difference between her and Celestia is staggering, she's a full foot shorter than me. I lift her up slightly and latch my lips onto her right nipple getting a gasp from her as I suckle and nibble on it. Milk begins to flow into my mouth, though it's got a sweet taste, it isn't as good as Celestia's, Luna's, or even Cadence's.

I switch to her other breast and suck, lick, nibble and pull on it. She's moaning and groaning as her fingers dig into my back. With one last hard suck, I lie her on her back and pull the rest of her dress down off her legs. She's panting hard and looking up at me with the heaviest blush I've ever seen.

I wrap my fingers around the bands of her white panties and slowly pull them down as a strand of her arousal stretches from her pussy to the panties the further down I pull them.

I place the panties with her bra and uniform and spread her legs. I lean in and take a deep breath through my nose, she smells like peaches. I extend my tongue and lick her pussy from base to clit making her moan as she wraps her legs around my head and grips my hair. "More! Please, more!" she begs.

I start licking around her vulva and her clit as she gasps and squirms while I continue to stimulate her. Her juices are sweet and tangy as I lap up at her flowing flower. She moans loudly as I thrust my tongue inside and swirl it around making her legs tremble and her grip tightens as I eat her out.

"I... I think aaah, I'm g-going to c-cum! Nnggh!" she says and starts to constantly moan and gasp.

I feel her pussy twitching and after another minute of licking, sucking, and thrusting, she cums and floods my mouth with her juices. "OOOOOHH! YES! MMMmmmm," she yells as I gulp it down and lick what's left on her puffy lips.

She's breathing heavily and I remove my clothes. Once naked, I crawl up her body as she looks me in the eyes and grabs my head, she pulls me down and kisses me as her tongue invades my mouth. Our tongues curl around each other as we exchange saliva making us both moan into the kiss as I start rubbing my member across her clit and she groans into my mouth.

I pull back and look her in the eyes. "Are you sure you want to do this? As it's your first time, it might hurt at first," I ask her.

"Y-Yes. Please make t-the pain go a-away!" she begs and wraps her legs around my waist.

I smile warmly at her. "Alright, just try to relax and I'll do all the work," I tell her as I grip my dick and rub the head against her entrance. She bites her lower lip with a nervous expression as I then begin to push against her and her lips spread as my head pops in. She gasps and moans as I push another two inches in until I hit her hymen. "Okay, this is the part that will hurt. I'll push in and then let you get used to the feelin alright?" I tell her.

Not able to talk at the moment, she just nodded at me. I wrap my arms around the back of her neck, allowing her to use them as cushions and with a strong thrust, I take her virginity.

She screams and I can feel fluid trickle down my testicles. I stroke her hair and lightly kiss her to help calm her down. Her inner walls are clamping down tightly on me, almost painfully. I should have guessed she would be a lot more tighter than Celestia, Luna, and Shella due to her size. I can feel my tip kissing her cervix as tears are falling from her eyes and she clenches them shut and grits her teeth.

After a good couple of minutes reassuring her that it's fine with words of encouragement, kisses, and gentle strokes. She opens her eyes and pants heavily. "I-I'm okay n-now, nngh," she tells me and rests her head on my arms.

I smile and kiss her as I slowly pull out and push back in gently. She gasps into the kiss which turns into a lustfully deep moan as her insides are pulling and squeezing my member tightly, if she wasn't so wet, it would probably be impossible to move. I can feel every bump inside her as I slide in and out.

She wraps her arms around my neck and hungrily makes out with me. She begins to try and thrust her hips back at me, but not having much success. "Faster! Ahhh, please rut me faster!" she begs me and I pick up my pace.

She's constantly moaning and groaning as we continue to make love on the floor. I grunt as she begins to squeeze harder and I can feel her pussy gushing her juices on my crotch. "AAAAAHHH! SO G-GOOD!" she screams as she cums. I hold on and try to keep thrusting, she's not making it easy with the death grip she has on my dick.

She relaxes and I slow my thrusting. She's panting as her orgasm still flows through her shuddering body. I then kiss her softly and she moans. Her hands wander down to my sides and she begins stroking my hips. "More... please rut me some more," she begs as her pussy massages my length.

"Alright," I reply and pull out. She moans in displeasure as I sit up and lift her up. I then turn her around so she's facing away from me and I slowly lower her on my lap as my cock slips inside her warm wet flower again. She moans deeply as my tip hits her cervix and she begins grinding on my lap.

I wrap my arms around her chest and begin fondling her breasts. "Y-Yes. It feels so g-gooood. I... Aaahh! I want more!" she says blissfully.

I smile as I grip her hips and lift her up. She gasps and moans as I pull her back down and spear her on my cock. She begins to tremble as I start kissing and nibbling her neck. She leans her head away giving me better access to her soft fur covered neck and shoulder.

Her soft plush ass is slapping against my groin every time I pull her down and I can feel her arousal just dripping off my balls. I look at her face and it's a picture of utter bliss, eyes rolled back and her tongue hanging out. I let go of her hips and after a few seconds, she begins to bounce herself on my lap.

I then return my hands to her breasts and grope them, pinching her nipples and giving them light twists and tugs.

"Ooohh, aaaaah. I feel so gooood. Nnnggh, aaah. Oh buck me. NNNGGH! BUCK ME HARDER! AAAAAAHHH!" she screams as she bounces faster and slams herself down on me.

I can feel my peak approaching and lightly bite her neck causing her to scream as she cums on my lap. "YYEEEEESSS! FILL ME UP! BREED ME!" she yells.

I grunt as her walls clamp down and pull me all the way to her cervix. I wrap my arms around her waist and hold her down to my groin as blast after blast of my semen floods her womb and she shakes violently on me. A constant moan leaving her mouth. I turn her head to me and kiss her deeply. She returns the kiss as our tongues coil around each other.

She then goes limp and leans back against me, panting for breath.

"T-That, ooooh. That was wonderful. I d-didn't think sex w-was this goooood," she says rubbing her stomach, I can feel her rubbing where the head of my dick is. "C-Can you buck me a-again please... I-I want more," she asks.

Good gods, are all women here sex addicts when in heat? "Sure, I got more energy in me," I say and lift her up and lie her on her back on Celestia's desk. I grip her ankles and line myself up with her dripping snatch while she begins to play with her breasts as I thrust into her.

She throws her head back and moans loudly throughout the room. She's panting rapidly as I begin thrusting in and out at a fast rate. She lowers a hand and begins circling her clit with her middle and index fingers.

"Y-You feel so big! Aaaahh. Nnnggh. Fill me again! I waaaahhh, nnnghh, want it!" she begs me, lust clouding her mind.

I feel her ass jiggle with every thrust and her breasts follow along with the impact. She's now biting on her left index finger and moaning up a storm. I lean over her and kiss her as I continue to thrust into her. Her vagina is flexing and massaging me as if this was her last moments alive.

"I-I'm close. Make m-meeee cum! Please make me cum! OoooOOooohhh" she groans and wraps her arms around me again.

After a few more thrusts, she screams and cums again. I keep thrusting and she bites onto my neck as she squirms under me. Her fluids giving me another coating on my crotch.

I lift her up as she still shudders in orgasm. I then pin her to the wall and start thrusting up into her. She clings onto me tightly with her arms and legs as my hands hold her up by each ass cheek. I grope and fondle her backside every time I pull her up.

She hungrily dives her tongue into my mouth as I slap my hips into her over and over again. She then starts to lick the sweat off my neck and chest, what is with pony women and licking my sweat? I'll have to ask Celestia later.

I pull her hard against me and start grinding her pussy on my dick in circular motions. She groans deeply and shudders. "Please d-don't stop. Cum insiiiiide me again! Breed me please!" she begs and grinds back, gods is she turning me on right now.

After a few more minutes of thrusting and grinding I can feel myself getting close to blowing. "Silk, I'm going to cum," I whisper into her ear.

She gasps and I feel her pussy grip me tightly as she screams and cums hard. "YEEES! INSIDE! FILL ME! BREED ME! CLAIM ME!" she shouts and I cum with her, pumping load after load of my cum into her. Her eyes roll back and go unfocused, a constant scream coming out of her.

After a minute of delightful pleasure, we calm down and I sit on one of the couches in the room with Silk still on my lap and my dick buried deep within her.

She's panting and has a smile on her face. "T-Thank you... I feel much better n-now," she tells me. Her eyes then widen in shock. "Oh Celestia! I just forced myself on the King!" she says and tries to get off.

I quickly wrap my arms around her and keep her pressed to my chest. "It's fine, Silk. You couldn't control your urges. I'm fine, and Celestia let you have sex with me. She told me how bad it is for women here when they go into heat. I'm glad I could help relieve you of yours," I tell her.

She calms downs and leans into my chest. "Thank you, your Majesty," she replies.

I smile and stroke her hair. "Please, just call me Adrian," I tell her.

She looks up at me and has a happy smile on her face. "Okay, your Ma... A-Adrian," she says and leans up to my face. I cup her left cheek in my left hand and kiss her gently.

She returns her head to my chest and just lays there. After a few minutes I can hear light snoring coming from her. I smile wider and lie back on the couch as the peace and quiet along with the physical exertion was enough to lull me to sleep as well.

Two Hours Later

I'm awoken by the sounds of giggling and open my eyes. The first thing I see is Silk still asleep on my chest. I look to the right and see Celestia, Luna, and Shella all giggling at me.

"We take it thou gave her a good time?" Luna asks.

I look back at Silk and she still has that happy smile on her face. "I would think so, judging by the smile on her face," I reply.

"Hmmm, Adrian," Silk mumbles and holds me tighter. I hope she's just dreaming and that didn't mean anything.

"We shall take her and help her get cleaned up," Celestia says and levitates Silk off me. I grunt as my dick is still inside her as it slips out. Celestia and the others blush as Silk quietly moans as well.

I then rub my eyes and look around the room. The floor, desk and wall have stains and puddles on them... Whoops.

"Sorry about the mess," I say as I stand up and stretch. I notice Shella staring at my dick and lick her lips. "I'll just go and clean myself up. I'll meet you back in our room," I say and get dressed in my clothes. Once clothed, I head out the door and to my room where I wash myself in the shower and put on clean clothes.

Chapter 47: Orc Attack Part 1

Terracana
Chapter 47: Orc Attack Part 1

After helping Silk Sheets with her heat, I went to my room and took a shower. Once clean, I lay on the bed and start reading my spell book. I might of missed lunch, but I ain't going back out there for the rest of the week that's for sure.

After an hour of reading and practice the door opens with Celestia, Luna, and Shella with Mavis in her arms.

"Hello, I take it Silk is doing better now?" I ask.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Celestia replies and steps aside.

I see Silk standing by the door with a light blush. "I'm fine, your Majesty. And t-thank you for helping me," she says.

"It's alright, and I said you can call me Adrian," I tell her.

"Oh, right, sorry. Erm..." she stutters for a bit and I raise an eyebrow.

"She wishes to be your personal maid," Luna says bluntly.

I look at Silk wide eyed. I help her with her heat and now she want's to be my personal maid? "Why?" I ask.

"She want's to thank you for helping her when nopony else would," Celestia tells me.

I sigh. "Alright, what would she do as my maid?" I ask and sit on the edge of the bed.

"She'll run errands for you, bring you any meals, clean our room and anything else you may ask within reason," she tells me.

I don't see a problem with that, she could bring me my meals while I hide in our room until the end of the heat season. "Alright then," I say and look at Silk. "Could you bring me something to eat then since you stopped me from getting lunch earlier," I ask her with a smile.

She blushes harder and nodded. "W-What would you like me to g-get?" she asks.

"A salad with no hay or flowers, a piece of crumb cake and a cup of earl-grey tea please," I reply.

"I-I'll be back in a few m-minutes," she says and leaves.

The others all look at me once she's gone. "What's the real reason she wants to be my maid," I ask them with a deadpan expression.

Celestia just sighs. "We believe she's developed feelings for you. To a mare's instincts, a strong stallion, or in your case a large male, means she'll be well protected and since you helped her in an intimate way, and from what we heard very well performed, she's subconsciously picked you as her mate it seems," she tells me calmly.

I frown. "I thought you said she wouldn't be joining our herd... That this was just me helping to relieve her discomfort," I say.

"True, but I forgot to take into account that she is young and was a virgin. A mare’s first time can cloud their minds and imprint the pony who mates with them in their mind," she tells me.

Great, so now I'm going to have Silk following me around everywhere probably. "So what's going to happen then?" I ask.

"We'll figure that out after we see where this goes," she tells me and lays on the bed beside me... wonderful... these ponies and their openness about sex and relationships are going to be the death of me...

Luna then cuddles up on my left side and smiles. I put my book away as I can't read it with them watching as well. Shella sits on the bed with Mavis giggling at her.

Ten minutes of Celestia reassuring me it will all be fine later. Silk returns with a tray with my food on it. I smile as she places it on my lap where Celestia and Luna begin to feed me with it. Despite the matter with Silk right now, life is going good.

One Week Later

Silk has kept to her word and has answered my every beck and call... which was mainly just bringing me food as I holed myself up in my bedroom. She's also good at massages when she offered to give me one, she's almost as good as those twins from the Ponyville Spa, though she was much more thorough with my backside than they were.

Heat season has come and gone, which meant my parents, Jasmine, and Lily have come back from Elysium. Lily had a lot of fun seeing new things and meeting new races.

Celestia and Luna have talked with their parents some more and they're as happy as can be. They've also kept me company over the week I was hiding now and then.

I can now channel two shadow elements at once now. It seems the effect on my eyes increases as well as the distorted tone of my voice with it, but other then that, no nasty side effects... I wonder where Nightmare Moon has wandered off to. I can only hope she's far away from us right now.

Shella's just a few days away from laying her eggs and mom was stunned to learn I've technically had nine children with her, but Shella told her why and mom accepted it.

Celestia's stomach is now noticeable for all to see and she's taken to wearing shirts as her dresses can no longer fit over her stomach. Her hormones are also playing up more as she's now at the stage of throwing things at me. I had to dodge a cup as she was crying saying that I made her fat... After ten minutes of calming her down, her mood switched and she dragged me off the our bedroom where I was subjected to three hours of making love to her.

I also asked Celestia why she and the others liked to lick my sweat off me. She says it tastes salty, and in which can make them kinda drunk if they have too much of it. I guess ponies just like the taste of salt.

POV: Silk Sheets

I wake up in my bed in the maid's quarters. I yawn and smile, remembering the feeling of Adrian helping me during my first heat. He was so strong yet gentle, and he made me feel so good when all he had to do was relieve me. Yet he brought me over five times and filled me twice... every day since then I've wanted him to hold me in those strong arms again, making me feel safe and wanted. I've never had a coltfriend before, I was always too shy to ask anypony to court me.

I was so happy when he let me massage him. To be able to feel those strong muscles in my hands and the thought of helping him relax brings a smile to my face.

I shake my head, knowing that can't have him. He's married to the Queens and I would be just getting in the way, as long as I can just stay near him I'll be happy.

I get up and take a shower, I then brush my mane, tail, and my teeth. Once clean, I put on my maid uniform and head to the kitchen to bring Adrian and the Queens breakfast.

"Good morning, Cream Cake. How are you today?" I greet the head chef. The other cooks aren't here yet as it's Cream who makes breakfast for Adrian and the Queens.

She looks up from the counter she's at and smiles at me. "I'm doing well. I've heard tale that you've gotten lucky during the heat season... That a certain King helped to relieve you?" she replies and smirks making me blush and stutter. "Oh relax, from what I heard, any mare would've loved to be in your position. The other maids could hear your cries of pleasure throughout the whole Castle and for nearly an hour they said," she teases me.

I look down in embarrassment, was I really that loud? But those memories flood my thoughts again and I smile.

She giggles at me. "Oh? It was that good that you can't get it out of your mind?" she teases me again.

I sigh with a smile. "It was wonderful," I say. "I've never felt so good before, and he was so loving and gentle... I'd do anything to feel it again," I tell her.

"I bet you would. Maybe if you just ask, the King would indulge you?" she says and giggles.

I stare at her wide eyed. "Do you think so?" I ask her.

"Maybe? Then again he is married to two alicorns and a changeling Queen... You'll just have to ask and see. Maybe he can relieve you again during the spring heat," she replies. "Now I take it you're here to bring them their breakfast?" she asks.

I nodded. "Yes, is it ready yet?" I reply and ask.

"It is, it's over there on the trolley," she tells me.

"Thanks, Cream. I'll see you when it's time for lunch," I say and push the trolley out the room.

"Don't forget to ask him! You won't know until you do!" she shouts back at me.

I blush again and make my way to Adrian's room. Should I ask him? Or would I be asking for too much?

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I yawn and hold my wives closer to me. I look at the clock and see it's five forty in the morning so I shake my wives awake and they grumble in protest.

"Come on you lazy bums, time to get up," I tell them and shake them harder.

"Enough of thy shaking, we are up," Luna mumbles and sits up.

"*Yawn* Do we have to get up? I'm rather comfortable right here," Celestia tells me.

"Five more minutes," Shella mumbles. She's laying on her back as she can't lie on her stomach, her head is using my stomach as a pillow.

"Well, you have twenty minutes to get dressed and raise and lower the Sun and Moon," I tell them. Shella sits up and rubs her eyes. I roll over Luna, making her giggle and pinch my ass.

I stand up and stretch my arms and legs as a knock on the door gets my attention. I walk over and open the doors to see it's Silk with our breakfast.

"I've brought you your breakfas..." she trails off and looks down with a bright blush. I follow her gaze and see why. I'm so comfortable sleeping nude with my wives that I forgot that I'm naked right now.

"Oh, erm. One moment please," I tell her and close the door. The others giggle at me and I give them a playful glare. I quickly get dressed and open the doors again. "Come in, thanks for bringing us breakfast again," I say to her.

"Y-You’re welcome," she replies with a heavy blush.

Celestia and the others seem to not mind being naked in front of Silk. They make their way to the closet and get dressed.

"How are you this morning?" I ask Silk.

"Oh, erm. I-I'm doing good," she says and stands by the doors. The others return and we begin eating breakfast. Celestia is wearing a pink shirt and a pair of her gym shorts, Luna is wearing her black and silver trimmed dress, and Shella is wearing a light blue dress with floral patterns on it.

Once we finish, my wives say goodbye as they head out to do their own things. Luna is holding court, Celestia is working through paperwork in her Office, and Shella is heading to the Hive to prepare for laying her eggs.

I stay behind to equip my armour and bring my spell book to the Training Grounds for some more practice. I really want to be able to cast five elements at once so I can get stronger.

"A-Adrian? Can I a-ask you something?" Silk asks me.

I look at her and raise an eyebrow. "What is it?" I reply.

She gulps, takes a deep breath and looks around as if debating to ask me or not. "I-If I asked, would you r-rut me again? I keep r-remembering our time t-together... a-and I want to e-experience it again. You make me f-feel safe when I'm near y-you," she tells me with closed eyes, her face completely flushed red.

I just stare at her and sigh. I bloody knew it! "I don't know. I'm still trying to adjust to having multiple partners, and the fact Celestia let us have sex at all as well. Look, it's not that I don't like you. You're beautiful and a hard worker, I'm not sure about all this myself. If anything, you'll have to ask Celestia about it," I tell her. She looks a little upset but didn't say anything. I walk over to her and give her a gentle hug, making her squeak. "You've been very helpful over the last week. If anything, I consider you a friend. So show me a smile, I'll need you to bring me refreshments while I continue my training today alright?" I tell her to cheer her up.

She smiles and looks up at me. "Okay, but, if w-we could... would you?" she asks.

Oh gods that pleading look she's giving me is breaking my heart. "If the others are fine with it... then sure," I reply and sigh again. I swear the women here will be the death of me in a year or two.

She smiles brightly and follows me to the Training Grounds.

Three Hours Later

I practice channelling five life elements, since it won't hurt me should it fail. It's the safest method of learning to channelling more elements.

So far I'm getting used to it, but it's still destabilizing after a few seconds of trying to hold it. Silk has brought me some bottles of water and happily watches me practice.

I was about to resume when a guard runs up to me. "Your Majesty! King Vortigan is here and he needs your help. Orcs are attacking Elysium and he's requested our aid," he tells me.

Orcs are attacking again? "Take me to him now," I say to the guard and then turn to Silk. "Silk, could you clean up my room for me? I'll probably be gone for awhile, so could you also help Celestia with anything she needs?" I ask her.

"Okay, Adrian." She bows and heads towards the Castle. She's gotten a lot more comfortable calling me by name now.

"Let's go," I tell the guard and he salutes. We head to the Throne Room where Vortigan is waiting with Luna. "What's going on?" I ask him.

"Adrian. Orcs are attacking Elysium again, this time with a bigger force. They've never attacked this quickly again after their last attack..." he tells me.

"How many are there?" I ask.

"Around thirty-thousand... and that's just the orcs. They've also got about two-thousand beasts with them, even ogres," he tells me.

Shit, ogres? "Really? Hmmm, do you have any of those airships built yet?" I ask him.

"No, our researchers are still looking at the plans and figuring out how they work. They're impressed by what they can see so far," he replies.

"Damn. Luna, is there a way we can send some of ours to Elysium?" I ask her.

"Nay, we do not have a portal big enough to send them through," she tells me.

"Could Twilight make one? Or could you make a bigger one?" I ask.

She looks thoughtful for a few seconds. "Tis possible. Twilight did leave us with the instructions but it may take us some time," she tells me.

"Vortigan, how long until the orcs arrive," I ask him.

"A day at most," he tells me.

"Alright. We'll gather what guards we can spare and help with the defence," I say.

Luna then speaks up. "Thou should take Captain Shining Armour with thee as well. He can erect a shield over thy City to protect it for some time," she tells us.

I just stare at her. "He can do that?" I ask stunned.

"Yes, did he not tell thee?" she replies.

I just shake my head.

"That would be a great advantage. How long would this shield last?" Vortigan asks.

"Until his horn starts to strain from the constant use, or something stronger breaks through the shield and judging from the amount of magic in Terra's atmosphere, it will be three times stronger than normal," Luna tells him.

"Perfect. We've already got cannons, marksmen, and mages on the walls with ground troops and siege engines at the ready. Anything you could offer would be welcomed," he replies.

"And once we have found a way to bring our airships, we shall join thee in battle," Luna says.

"Thank you," Vortigan says. "I'll leave some soldiers near the portal to direct where your guards need to go. I shall be waiting for you in my Throne Room," he tells us and leaves the room with his guards.

"Luna, can you get started on that portal right now?" I ask her.

"Yes, but I think we will only be able to bring the sloops with us," she says.

"That's fine. Having air support will be a great advantage," I tell her. Though I would love to have the galleon to join us.

"I'll go gather the Captains and get the guards ready, see you in Elysium!" I tell her and head to the Barracks.

Two Hours Later

I've gathered Hammer Strike and one-hundred of his guards, thirty of them using the scatterguns. Spitfire with one-hundred of her guards, fifty of them armed with rifles and the rest with bows or spears. Bright Mind with one-hundred unicorns. Dark Wing with fifty thestrals and Shining Armour with four-hundred guards of mixed race, including five changelings.

In total, seven-hundred and fifty guards. It took an hour to get them through the portal and set up to defend Elysium.

The unicorns are on the wall ready to fire their spells and have set up newly developed crystal cannons that fire crystal balls infused with magic that detonate on impact. They got the idea after seeing the crystal I tried infusing with the fire element go off.

The pegasi have set up clouds to shoot from all over the field where the orcs are coming from, that made all the Terrans stare in awe as they flew around pushing and reforming the clouds.

The earth ponies are with the foot soldiers to protect the walls and stop the orcs from getting in. The juggernauts at the front lines are nearly twice the size of the ponies.

Reymorah has seven-thousand ground troops and five-thousand ranged and magic troops on the walls. The rest of their army is out in the Kingdom protecting its citizen from bandits and up to class eight monsters.

Me, Vortigan, Shining, the other Captains, and Reymorah's own Captains and generals are around a table with a map of Elysium and it's defences.

"So how are we going to do this?" I ask.

"I'll have the juggernauts protecting the front lines and blocking the orcs advances. We'll have your's and our squads of scattergunners behind them shooting between their shields," Vortigan says, pointing to the front of the walls we will be defending. "Your pegasi snipers shall take out targets of opportunity and keep an eye out for any orcs that look like they're giving commands."

"My shield can last for five hours before my horn starts to give out," Shining tells us.

"Then we better do as much damage to the orcs as we can. Their last attack was only ten-thousand strong. How they gathered this many in only two weeks..." Vortigan says with a frown as trails off.

We discuss the rest of the plan and wait for the orcs to arrive.

Next Day, 2:37 PM

Vortigan and I are standing on the walls overlooking the battlefield as I can see the orc army marching towards us. Oh shit, that's a lot more than I thought it would look like. The ogres are like small houses.

"All soldiers! Prepare for battle!" Vortigan yells out.

A roar of determination sounds out over the field as the troops prepare for the upcoming fight.

"I hope Luna gets that portal open soon," I say to myself.

Horns start sounding out from the orcs and they begin charging us. Airships or not, looks like we'll have to fight without them.

Chapter 48: Orc Attack Part 2

Terracana
Chapter 48: Orc Attack Part 2

Vortigan is standing tall and wearing some really strong and elegant looking armour. His left gauntlet looks bigger though with a blood ruby embedded into it. I guess that's what he uses as his foci. "CANNONS, OPEN FIRE!" Vortigan yells out.

At that signal, Shining's pinkish purple barrier forms around the City, leaving the wall exposed. Apparently, we wouldn't be able to shoot out from inside it, just like a shield element barrier.

The thunderous symphony of blasts from the cannons drowns out the orcs war cries as orcs are blown apart left and right. The crystal cannons showing more power than a normal one.

"Sunfire shell loading!" a unicorn shouts out.

'Sunfire shell?' I ask myself confused.

A long cannon is being loaded with a strange looking projectile. It looks like a cannon ball, but made of some kind of glass or crystal and has fire swirling inside it. They close the hatch and aim the cannon.

"Fire in the hole!" another unicorn shouts and pulls a cord connected to the cannon.

The cannon recoils heavily as braces and gears grind loudly in an attempt to keep it in place and absorb the shock. I watch as the shell flies into the mass of orcs.

It detonates and I have to shield my eyes as the blast is so bright it's like looking at the sun itself... Well I guess I know why they're called sunfire shells now.

As the light dies down, I look at the crater that's left in the ground. That blast must have taken at least a hundred orcs with it.

"By the gods... did ya see that?" a dwarf says in awe.

"With how bright it was, I doubt even a blind man could miss it," an elf replies to him while rubbing his eyes.

The orcs are now about half way across the field. Although the cannons have taken out hundreds of them, it barely looks like a dent.

"MARKSMEN! OPEN FIRE!" Vortigan yells out another order again.

The soldiers with rifles begin shooting into the oncoming horde and the orcs at the front are dropping like flies against the hail of gunfire.

Explosions in the ground go off from the mines the mages hid under the dirt while we prepared for the battle. Orcs are sent into each other as they're ripped apart by the elemental blasts.

"Sunfire shell loading!" the unicorn shouts again.

This time I hold my arm over my eyes to shield them. "Fire in the hole!" he yells as the loud roar of the cannon firing alerts us to brace ourselves.

The ground shakes a bit as this one hit a bit closer. Though the effect was still the same, a crater in the ground and around a hundred dead orcs.

"INCOMING!" a soldier yells and I look up.

A boulder the size of a gryphon slams into the sunfire cannon and rips it off the wall. Fortunately, a unicorn teleported the remaining shells away before he was hit as well. Saving us from a massive detonation no doubt.

'Holy shit that was close,' I think to myself as I look out at what could have thrown that. I see four ogres, each with boulders in their hands. 'The hell? They're using ogres as siege engines?'

"CANNONS! CONCENTRATE FIRE ON THE OGRES!" Vortigan yells out.

The cannons all focus on the ogres and open fire as more boulders hurtle towards us and take out three cannons and one crystal cannon along with ten soldiers and guards. Most of the cannon balls hit their marks and two of the ogres go down, the other two only showing some wounds.

"ARCANISTS! FIRE PROJECTILE SPELLS AT THE ORCS!" Voritgan orders and the mages on the walls begin to channel earth elements fused with others as rocks piled along the walls as ammunition float at the tips of their staffs. They charge their spells and launch the fire, cold, arcane, and ice infused rocks at the orcs.

The pegasi in the clouds are firing at the orcs below while the orcs are trying to fire arrows up at them, but they're not reaching them. The arrows even come back down, hitting their own allies.

The orcs are now within melee distance of the ground troops. "JUGGERNAUTS! REPEL THEM! CLERICS! KEEP THEM STANDING!" Vortigan yells down to the troops.

A chorus of highly motivated cries echo out and the juggernauts ram into the orc attackers as their large shields slam into the orcs, impaling and slashing at them. The Scattergunners then take shots through the gaps between each juggernauts, peppering the orcs with holes.

The orcs then try to go around the juggernauts in an attempt to flank them. "LANCERS AND BATTLE-MAGES! DEFEND THE LEFT AND RIGHT FLANKS!" Vortigan orders.

Men in plate armour and lances gallop on their horses towards the sides and run down the orcs that get too close while the battle-mages fire off beams at the orcs that manage to slip through.

So far the battle is going well, we've only suffered about fifty casualties. A juggernaut is then blown back by a boulder slamming into him and he's not getting back up. Orcs start to stream through the gap and begin attacking the Scattergunners. I guess this is where I join in.

I cast my air wings spell and fly above near the gap, I then cast a fire beam in between the two juggernauts still standing and maintain the beam. The orcs keep trying to push through, even as they're burnt to death. Scattergunners quickly converge on the gap and fire into the orcs.

A screeching above us gets my attention as shadow bats with orc archers riding them are heading towards the pegasi in the clouds.

"PEGASI! CONCENTRATE FIRE ON THE SHADOW BATS!" I yell up at them.

They all start firing at the bats and they begin to drop, but the bats also managed to get a few of the pegasi as well. I fly up and channel four lightning elements and cast it at a group of bats in front of me. The lightning courses through them and chains to others nearby.

"Fall back and take out the rest from the walls! Once it's clear return here!" I Order them. They salute and fly off to the walls and I turn back to the horde of orcs, only to see a boulder coming towards me. "SHIT!" I yell and try to move away, but since I'm not using a four air element aura, the wings aren't moving fast enough and I get hit in the back.

I grunt from the hit and start spiralling out of control towards the ground where I manage to set into a glide and ram into some orcs. I Quickly get up and cast a lightning nova around me, the orcs nearby tense up as the electricity paralyses them and chains out to others.

I then channel four earth elements and cast a quake spell. The ground breaks apart around me and stalagmites spear the orcs near me.

A dire wolf leaps over the orcs and lunges at me. I raise my shield and block the attack but stumble back a few feet. I draw my sword and channel four cold elements into it and stab the wolf in its face. The wound is frozen over and so is the blood in it's head. After a second I pull out my sword and turn my attention on the orcs surrounding me.

An orc lunges at me with a spear and I lean out of the way. Another orc throws an axe at me and I drop onto my back to dodge it, the axe continues and embeds itself into an orc aiming a crude looking crossbow at me. I teleport myself back onto my feet and cast a stone armour spell on myself.

I look around and the orcs are all grinning at me. I need to get out of here! I was about to teleport away when someone yelling above me gets my attention. I look up and see Vortigan slam down onto some orcs with his battleaxe and air wings on his back. Unlike mine, his are twice as big as his are the full four element version.

He casts an air nova and blades of air spin around us, tearing the orcs into pieces.

I cast a fire spray spell and hose down the orcs rushing me while Vortigan does the same behind me.

"We need to get back to the walls!" Vortigan tells me.

"I can't fly as fast as you can!" I tell him and cut down an orc swinging a hammer at me.

"Then cast the two element air wings and I'll pull you along!" he tells me.

I guess that could work. I drop my stone armour and cast the fast gliding two air element wings spell. Vortigan grabs the back of my chest plate and lifts me up. We head back to the walls where the fighting is intensifying. Gnolls and manticores are now attacking the defences and the juggernauts are having trouble holding them off.

The Infantry are cutting down any that are making it past the juggernauts though while protecting the Clerics healing them from harm.

I take this chance to heal myself from the blow I took, no doubt I have a nasty looking bruise on my back and a possible fracture. My armour probably has a big dent in it as well.

Two deafening roars echo throughout the battlefield and I look up to see two deathmaws charging at the juggernauts... They'll be crushed under the mighty beasts.

The deathmaws are large reptile dinosaur type monsters as big as the ogres. They have small arms, practically useless, but their strong legs help them chase down their prey. They have a long tail with spines on the end for smashing into their foe and a large powerful jaw able to bend steel. Long razor sharp teeth line their jaws that can rip flesh in an instant and they have two long horns coming out of their head for spearing something just as big as them... class eight monsters.

"Damn, they've brought the deathmaws this time," Vortigan mutters.

I would blind and deafen them with the light and shadow elements, but they mainly hunt by scent... the loss of these senses wouldn't matter to them.

We land on the walls and Vortigan yells out. "FOCUS FIRE ON THE DEATHMAWS! BRING THEM DOWN!"

The cannons aim at them and fire. The shots hit, but cause little injury. They have tougher hides than the dragon I fought!

"Can't anything bring them down?" a soldier asks with worry in his tone.

The deathmaws keep getting closer and it would be a matter of minutes before they hit the juggernauts. A dark blue light from above blinds me for a second as a swirling vortex appears above the battlefield. The Equestrian galleon airship comes through along with four sloops.

"By the gods! What are those?" a dwarf shouts in surprise.

I just grin widely seeing Luna on the galleon's deck. "Reinforcements," I say as the large ballistas on the deck both fire at a deathmaw each. The harpoons pierce their tough hide and pin them to the ground, The thunderous roar of the galleon's fifty cannons going off rips the horde below to pieces. It seems they replaced all the cannons with those crystal cannons.

"Are those the airships you told me about?" Vortigan asks, staring at the ships.

"Yeah, I'm so glad Luna came through!" I reply and recast my wings and fly up to the galleon.

I land on the deck and see Luna with sweat matting the fur on her forehead and panting slightly. "Luna!" I say and hug her.

She returns the hug and smiles at me. "We managed to make the portal bigger than we thought. How goes the battle?" she asks.

"Good now that you're here. You just took out two class eight monsters easily, they would've torn through the juggernauts like paper," I reply and look over the side of the ship as the cannons are still firing down at the horde.

"That is good to hear. The magic required to open such a large portal was too much for ourself to cast, so Tia and Shella aided us in supplying the magic while we cast it. It was quite taxing and we require a moment to recover," she tells me and sits down.

"Alright. I'm going to look around from up here to see if I can spot any commanders among the orcs," I tell her and look around the battlefield.

The juggernauts are holding strong thanks to the constant healing from the Clerics, bloody hell they can take a beating, even the one I thought was killed by that boulder is now back on his feet. The marksmen are firing their bullets, arrows, and bolts into the mass of the orc horde, dropping them quickly. Though they are taking a few losses themselves from the orcs arrows and bolts.

The two ogres that survived the hits they took are back on their feet and throwing boulders at the walls again. We're losing a lot of cannons now.

I then turn to one to the crew. "Tell the gunners to aim for the ogres!" I order him. He salutes and heads below deck.

Seconds later the ship turns with the port side facing the ogres. The cannons fire and rip into the left ogre, blowing it to bits... Holy crap these crystal cannons pack a mean punch when fired as a group.

The other ogre spots us and throws a boulder at us. "INCOMING!" I yell and brace for impact.

The boulder hits the underside of the ship and wood splinters off. I then hear screams that get fainter, I think some of the crew fell off from the hole now in the ship. I frown and channel four earth elements and break off a piece of the boulder lodged into the ship, it hovers in front of my shield and I charge it up. Once strong enough, I fire it off towards the ogre.

The ogre was about to throw another, but the rock slams into its elbow and it drops the boulder... damn, I was aiming for its head. Still, it gave the gunners enough time to fire off another volley and rip the ogre apart.

Screeches fill the sky again as shadow bats swarm towards the airships. If they puncture the balloons, the ships will go down and we'll lose the advantage!

I fly above the galleon and fire a lightning beam at the approaching swarm of bats. I keep the beam on them for a few seconds before they begin to fall. Our pegasi snipers are now on the decks firing at them. A loud bang and rushing air to my left gets my attention. One of the sloops balloons has burst and the crew is abandoning ship. The pegasi carrying the unicorn and earth ponies to the other ships.

The ship goes down and explodes on the horde below... at least it took out what looks like five-hundred of them at least.

The snipers and I take down the last of the bats and I sigh in relief, which is short lived as a shadow passes over us. I look up and go wide eyed. They have a mother fucking wyvern!? A class ten monster!

"LUNA! WE GOT A PROBLEM!" I shout and head back to the deck.

"What is it?" she asks as she stands up.

I was about to reply, but a sloop to my right explodes as the wyvern rams right through it. "That!" I tell her. "Luna, does this ship have anything strong enough to hurt it?" I ask her.

She nodded. "Maybe, there is a sunfire cannon in the bow of the ship," she tells me.

"Alright, I'll get its attention and cast a lightning beam at it to keep it in place while you get the cannon ready and blast it!" I tell her and another sloop gets destroyed, Dammit!

"Okay, just be careful," she says and kisses me.

I smile and fly ahead of the ship and fire a lightning beam at the wyvern, well... I got it's attention now. It screeches and charges at me which I teleport to the right and just avoid it.

I risk channelling an arcane and four lightning elements and fire the strongest beam I can manage. I can feel a backlash of electricity shocking me slightly but I grunt through the pain. I hit the wyvern and its movements are slowed, but not stopped. Oh shit.

It comes back at me and I fear this might be it for me. A second much stronger beam of lightning hits the wyvern from my left. I look to see Vortigan hovering beside me. "Thought you could use a hand," he says.

"Thanks!" I reply. "LUNA NOW!" I shout back to the ship.

After a few seconds, the sunfire cannon fires.

The shot hits the wyvern in the chest and its wings, head, and legs fly off in different directions before I was blinded by the flash.

I blink my eyes a few times and head back to the galleon. "Nice shot, Luna," I say.

"No problem," she replies with a wide smile.

All we have left is a damaged galleon and a single sloop. Things could be worse. I look back down to the battlefield and see the horde down to half their original numbers.

I look around and see some sort of tent near the back of the horde. I take a spyglass from one of the crew and look at it more closely. I can see a human standing in front of it shouting at the orcs, who are running around with scrolls in their hands.

"Vortigan! There's a human out there," I tell him and hold the spyglass out for him.

He takes it and looks, but he then lowers it with a look of anger on his face. "It's my brother."

Chapter 49: Orc Attack Part 3

Terracana
Chapter 49: Orc Attack Part 3

"It's my brother," Vortigan tells me.

"That's your brother!?" I ask with surprise.

"I know he disappeared and even had my son killed... but to join the orcs and attack his own people?" he says surprisingly calm. "He's gone too far. He is no longer my brother and must be put down," he says and frowns.

I look back out towards the tent and sigh. "We could just fire a sunfire shell at him from here," I tell him.

"No, I want to know why he's done this," Vortigan replies. "I'm going down there, would you assist me?" he asks me.

I nodded to him. "Sure, but what will we do about all the orcs around him?" I ask. I noticed a few brute orcs protecting Orthos.

"Can you have your ship blast the area around the tent and have your snipers pick off any orcs close to him?" he asks.

"Sounds simple enough," I reply.

We give the crew and snipers their orders and begin the attack. I use my fast gliding wings while Luna and Vortigan fly beside me. We get halfway there when the cannons and rifles open fire. The orcs are blown away and any left standing are picked off by the snipers.

We land in front of Orthos where Vortigan casts a large shield barrier around us. It will help prevent Orthos leaving while keeping the orcs out.

"Ah brother. Soooo good to see you again..." Orthos says sarcastically.

"Orthos, why have you done this. Why did you try to kill my son?" Vortigan asks him.

"Try? I was told he was killed," he says unhappily.

"He was, but I revived him," I tell him and grip my sword tighter.

He looks at me with a frown. "You? And just who are you exactly?" he asks me.

"You don't need to know," I reply. If he doesn't know who I am, I'm not about to give him that information.

Orthos scoffs at me. "No matter, I shall take Reymorah for myself as it's rightful King. You, brother, have always been father's favourite. It should have been me to take his place! I am the eldest!" he yells at Vortigan and draws a grim looking staff. It has a human skull on the tip of it and I can just feel the arcane energy oozing from it.

"Now rise my loyal servants!" he shouts as the dead orcs inside the barrier come back to life as undead. He's a necromancer!?

Vortigan looks disgusted. "You would fall so low as to use necromancy!? Then there is no hope to save what was once my brother," he says and raises his battleaxe and brings it down on one of the still rising orcs. I follow along and decapitate another with the air element in my blade while Luna also impales the skull of an orc with her scythe.

While Vortigan is distracted, I notice Orthos channelling arcane elements into his staff and point it at Vortigan. I cast a shield element on my shield, giving it a barrier in front of it and teleport between Vortigan and Orthos just as he fires.

The beam hits my shield and since my shield is facing right at Orthos, the beam's energy feeds back to him and knocks him on his back. "GAH!" he yelps and starts to get back up. I then channel two lightning elements and spray him with it making him spasm on the ground as the electricity paralyses him.

Vortigan channels two water elements and sprays Orthos with it before channelling four cold elements to freeze him, but Orthos teleports away to the other side of the barrier to avoid it.

"Don't think just because there's more of you that you can defeat me!" Orthos yells and channels five arcane elements. I cast a barrier in front of us and Orthos casts an arcane nova. The barrier deflects the nova and Vortigan launches a rock through the barrier, shattering it and hitting Orthos in his right arm.

"GAAAAAHHH!" Orthos yells and drops his staff as his arm breaks with an audible snap.

Vortigan walks over and grabs Orthos by the collar of his robe. "Who put you up to this!? I know you wouldn't be able to pull this off on your own!" he asks his brother.

Orthos just laughs and spits on Vortigan's face. "The Master will cleanse this world and that of your new allies. He promised me eternal life and Reymorah if I can kill you, dear brother," Orthos says and chuckles.

"Queen Luna. Could you perform the same spell you used on the assassin we caught?" Vortigan asks her.

"We can try," she replies and walks over to Orthos and holds her hand out to him, but just before she made contact she pulls back. "His mind is protected by dark magic. We cannot get close without feedback or possible damage to our mind," she tells us.

"Hahahahaaa! The Master protects me even now," he says smugly.

"Then let us see him protect you from this," Vortigan says and raises his battleaxe above his head.

A loud gurgle of a roar echoes throughout the battlefield and heavy quakes shake the ground making it hard to keep our balance.

"It finally arrived!" Orthos says with a grin. He pulls out some kind of crystal and it starts glowing. "If I can't have Reymorah, then I'll just let it burn!" he says and vanishes in a flash of light, that was elven portal magic...

"Dammit!" Vortigan says. "I should have just let you blast him," he says to us and sighs. He then looks towards the west, I follow his gaze and almost shit myself. A giant, and not just any giant. An undead giant fades into sight and is stomping its way over to Elysium. It must have had some kind of invisibility or illusion spell on it.

"Erm... how do we deal with that?" I ask. The giant is at least three times bigger than an ogre!

"We need to head back to the walls," Vortigan says and lowers the barrier. We then quickly fly back up to the galleon, more like I get dragged again by Vortigan.

We touch down on the deck and I turn to Luna. "Luna, can we shoot it with the sunfire cannon?" I ask her.

She looks down with a frown. "We are afraid not. The cannon's braces came off from its last shot. They were damaged by that boulder that hit the ship," she tells me.

"Bugger," I mutter and look back at the giant. It's taking long strides and is getting closer to the city. "Then how do we kill it? It can't feel pain. The only way to stop it is destroy the brain or purge the arcane energy from it, and that would take too long," I tell them.

"We could try and cripple its legs, stop its movement so we can then concentrate on killing it," Vortigan suggests.

"That could work, but how will we damage its legs? My spells aren't strong enough to damage something that big," I tell him.

He frowns and looks at the giant. A puff of pink smoke next to me makes me jump in surprise. "SHIT!" I yell startled as Discord comes into view as the smoke dissipates.

"Oh keep your knickers on you big baby. I've been watching the battle while trying to get a hold of a few relics from Swirlys lab. I managed to get two of them," he tells me and holds out two orbs. One green and the other red.

"What are they," I ask.

He grins widely. "They are manifestations of the Elemental Aspects," he tells me.

"Manifestations?" I ask confused.

"Yup, each element has an aspect that represents it. Kind of like how Twilight and her girl gang represent the elements of harmony," he replies. "and here's the kicker. I'm the Aspect of Chaos," he tells me with a grin so wide, you'd think his head was split in half.

I stare at him wide eyed and then back at the orbs. "I take it these are the aspects of life and fire?" I ask him.

"Correct, I was going to teach you how to make a contract with the aspects, Just like ol' Beardy did, but I think you don't exactly have the time for that now," he says and holds the life orb out to me. "You're going to have to ask Mother Gaia very nicely to help you here," he tells me.

I look back at the giant and it's half way across the battlefield already, trampling orcs without care as it closes in on the City. I turn back to the orb and frown.

'Fuck it,' I think to myself.

I sheath my sword, then I reach out and grip the orb in my right hand. My vision turns green, blinding me for a few seconds and when it returns, I'm standing in a beautiful lush forest full of life. A small pond is in front of me encircled by trees of many kinds. Animals are roaming freely and flowers of many colours surround the pond.

The pond ripples and a woman whose skin looks like tree bark with vines for hair rises out of the water. She's wearing a dress made of leaves and a headdress of flowers. She hovers above the water eyeing me curiously.

"You feel familiar," she says in a soft warm tone. "What is your name?" she asks.

I shake my head and approach the edge of the pond. "My name is Adrian Stormsword ma'am," I reply with a bow.

"Hmmmm. I've heard rumours of you from the Aspects of light and shadow," she says, floating towards me. She places her right hand under my chin and lifts my head slightly, looking me in the eyes. "Your magic feels similar to that of Starswirl," she tells me.

"He's my ancestor," I tell her.

She then pulls her hand away. "I see. So what has his descendant come to me for?" she asks me.

"Elysium is under attack from an army of orcs and the battle was going well until an undead giant arrived. We don't have the means to take it down and Discord said I should ask you for help," I tell her.

"Discord? So, he has offered you my life orb has he? And why should I aid you? I have no contract with you. I was bonded to Starswirl, not his offspring," she tells me.

"I want to protect Reymorah. To stop any more senseless death and bloodshed," I tell her.

"And what does that have to do with me? What do I get in return?" she asks.

"What do you want?" I ask her back.

She steps onto the edge of the pond and flowers bloom around her feet. She cups my face in her left hand and smiles. "I want you to restore the land that Grogar destroyed when he first attacked and where Starswirl gave his life to protect this world. I want you to use my power to return life to the Dread Wastes and revive the Moonglade Forest," she tells me.

I look her in the eyes and smile. "I would be honoured to do that for you. I'm interested in seeing where Starswirl saved the world myself," I tell her.

She smiles back and giggles. "Then with that promise as our contract, I bind myself to you, Adrian Stormsword," she says and surprises me by kissing me.

I go wide eyed and my vision goes green again.

POV: Luna

For the last two minutes Adrian's eyes have been closed as he holds the orb tightly.

"Is he alright, Discord?" I ask him.

"Oh he's fine. He's just talking to Mother Gaia at the moment," he tells me.

"Who is this Mother Gaia?" I ask him.

Vortigan speaks up. "She's said to be the embodiment of life itself. The mother of all life in the world and the one who keeps it in balance, but I never thought the aspects were real," he tells me.

"Pretty much what he said. She's the most kind hearted aspect out of the lot of us and I doubt she would turn Adrian down," Discord says.

I frown with worry and look back at Adrian, only to gasp as his eyes are now open with a green light in them. The orb then sinks into the palm of his hand as vines start to spread out from behind his neck and cover most of his body with white flowers blooming on them as a crown of roses and thorns sits upon his head. He turns to look at the giant and he casts his wings spell. Without a word, he flies off and stops in front of the giant.

He glows brightly as a pulse of green energy expands from him, covering nearly the whole battlefield. I feel my fatigue fade away and energy flow through me but the giant stops when the energy hit it.

Adrian holds out his right arm and faces his palm at the giant. His eyes glow brighter and radiate a green mist as a large beam of green magic from his hand slams into the giant. The giant roars in agony as a red and black sickly looking aura leaks from the massive creature.

The giant swings at Adrian with its right arm and Adrian holds up his left arm to block it. Thick bark in the shape of a shield forms twice his size and stops the giant's attack making Adrian move only about a metre from the impact.

"By the gods, where is he getting this power from?" Vortigan asks in awe.

"Mother Gaia has given him her power in exchange for something, it's how we form a contract with a mortal... though Adrian isn't exactly a mortal anymore," Discord replies.

"He's not mortal?" Vortigan asks with shock.

"He no longer ages. He can still be killed like a mortal, but time no longer has its grip on him," Discord tells him.

I ignore them and concentrate on the battle as Adrian brings his right arm back and bark grows around it. It grows to the size of a large tree in the shape of a fist. He then thrusts his arm forward and punches the giant right in its jaw. The bark shatters and a blast of green mist engulfs the giant, making it roar again as more black and red coloured energy escapes.

The giant stumbles and falls onto it's back, making the ground quake violently. Adrian flies up and faces both his palms down at the monster. After a few seconds of charging up energy, he unleashes a huge beam at least two metres wide down at the floundering behemoth. It impacts the giant in its chest and a crater forms under the brute from the force.

Black and red energy flows out of the giant like a raging river and I notice Adrian's eyes start to flicker and get duller as the beam starts to shrink in size while the white flowers on the vines begin to wilt and fall off. After a few more seconds the giant stops moving and the beam gives out. The vines on his body drop off him and he starts descending. His wings begin flickering before fading away and he drops like a rock.

"ADRIAN!" I shout out and bolt towards him as fast as I can. When I'm close enough, I teleport under him and catch him.

I grunt from the impact and flap my wings as hard as I can to slow our decent. I manage to level out and sigh in relief. I look at Adrian and lift the visor on his helmet to see him asleep. I smile seeing he's alright and head back up to the ship.

I place Adrian down gently and take his helmet off. I then stroke his hair with his head on my lap, he looks so peaceful right now.

Vortigan looks at Adrian for a few seconds and then at me. "Queen Luna, if not for Adrian's and your aid. My Kingdom would have fallen today. Whenever you require our aid against these gryphons of yours, know that we shall answer the call," he tells me with a bow.

"We thank thee, King Vortigan. When the time comes, we shall look forward to having thy aid in battle," I reply. "but for now, let us return to thy Castle so Adrian may rest," I say to him.

"Very well, I'll have a royal guest room prepared for you both," he tells me.

I order the crew to take us back to the Castle and stay by Adrian's side as I frown deep in thought. 'If Adrian can make contracts with all these Aspects... would he become so powerful as to be seen as a true God? Our ponies see our sister and us as goddesses as we can raise and lower the sun and moon, and we have no where near the power Adrian just showed,' I think to myself. I stroke his hair lovingly while looking at his sleeping face. 'What would happen should he use that power in anger?' I ask myself with worry.

I sigh and look out towards the approaching Castle.

'We'll worry about that later. Right now we should rest and aid Elysium in the aftermath,' I think to myself as the battle below still rages on.

Chapter 50: Aftermath

Terracana
Chapter 50: Aftermath

POV: Adrian Stormsword
Three Days Later

I groan feeling sore all over and I can feel something pressed into my sides and stomach. I open my eyes to see I'm in a dark room. I notice Celestia to my right, Luna to my left, and Shella on my stomach.

'Am I back in Canterlot?' I think to myself.

I then look around the room and although it's very nice looking, it isn't our room. I see a clock with a swinging pendulum below it on the wall, It's three past one.

I close my eyes and try to remember how I got here. I remember Discord and something about aspects, a green orb, a woman named Mother Gaia, immense power flowing through me, fighting an undead giant and beating it... then blank. I guess I passed out.

I can feel an itch on my left hand. I lift it up behind Luna and look at the back of my hand. The green orb swirling with life energy is embedded into my skin. It pulses for a few seconds and I feel calmer.

'You handled my power well for someone who has never fused with an aspect before,' I hear the voice of Gaia say in my mind.

'Gaia? What happened?' I ask her.

'The sudden surge of power without any formal training overwhelmed you. I am surprised you kept your mind and lasted as long as you did, very impressive. It seems I have chosen a worthy mortal as my vessel,' she tells me.

'Vessel? Can you take control of my body!?' I ask with alarm.

'Only if you allow me to. We aspects can only take over should you give us permission or pass out and are still in danger of injury or death,' she replies.

That's not disturbing at all... 'So you can't take over even if you tried?' I ask just to confirm.

She giggles lightly 'Correct. Unless you say so, or are in mortal danger, we cannot move you,' she tells me.

I sigh in relief. 'So, how long have I been out for?' I ask her.

'Three days. You burned through a lot of your mana in that last beam you did, wasted most of it as well. You'll need to practice with my power if you wish to master it and not be so wasteful with your mana,' she tells me.

I stay silent for a few seconds before asking another question. 'Why did you kiss me?' I ask her. It really threw me for a loop.

She hums softly. 'It's just how I prefer to transfer my power to the one I'm binding with... I believe it to be more, personal,' she replies.

I'm pretty sure I'm blushing slightly. 'Alright... what was the Moonglade Forest like?' I ask to change the subject, making her laugh gently.

'It was once a rich and lush forest with many forms of life living within. It was also where I once called home,' she tells me.

I frown sadly. 'So how would I restore it? Flood the area with life energy?' I ask.

'Basically, yes. I shall channel my essence through you while you power the spell. I shall then regrow the Forest with your help, but that is not for a long while yet as you have to master my power first,' she tells me.

'So where are you now?' I ask her.

'Within the orb that now rests on your hand,' she tells me.

'So you've been alone for a thousand years?'

'No, I can still talk to the other aspects. I'm guessing Discord will try to get you to make a contract with Infernus, the aspect of fire.'

I yawn and hold my wives closer to me. 'Alright, I'm going to get some more rest. Thank you for helping us,' I tell her.

She giggles again. 'You're welcome. I did the same for Starswirl when he first asked me for help,' she replies.

Her presence seems to have faded away and I feel myself give in to slumber.

5:36 AM

I yawn as I stretch my limbs. Luna, Shella, and Celestia all groan and cling onto me. I feel my back and joints pop from being so stiff.

I notice Shella's stomach is back to normal, meaning she must have laid her eggs. I lightly shake them and they all slowly wake up.

Luna is the first to see me and I smile at her. "Adrian!" she says and kisses me. "Are thou feeling well?" she asks me.

"I feel fine. Just a bit sore," I reply and sit up.

"Mmmm... Adrian? ADRIAN!" Celestia shouts and grips me in a hug. I can feel my ribs cracking I think.

"Tia... *Gasp* Need... air! *Gasp*" I wheeze out.

She lets go and grabs my head and kisses me roughly. "Don't you ever scare us like that again!" she scolds me and then goes back to sucking the air out of my lungs and into hers.

After a minute of suffocating me she lets go and rests her head on my right shoulder.

"I'm glad to see you're alright," Shella says as she sits in front of me and yawns. I see we're all wearing our nightwear.

I smile at her and give her a kiss. "So what have I missed while I was out?" I ask.

"I've laid my five eggs," Shella tells me. She gets up and picks up Mavis from a crib next to the bed.

"Wait... five?" I ask.

She smiles and nodded. "Just shows how well you performed that night," she says and giggles.

"What about the battle?" I ask.

"It lasted for another three hours before the orcs retreated," Luna tells me.

"What were the casualties?"

"The Terrans lost one-thousand two-hundred and eight soldiers. We lost two-hundred and five of our guards, and seventy-one have been crippled," she tells me with a sad frown.

I sigh and hug her with my left arm. "There will always be losses in a war, there's no avoiding it," I tell her.

"True. They will be given a place to rest in the Royal Guard Cemetery unless their families wish to bury them elsewhere," she replies.

After a few seconds of silence, I speak up. "So what's happening now?" I ask them.

"We have been helping to repair the walls, filling the craters in the land, and clearing the dead. We're also repairing the E.A.F Nightingale and salvaging what's left of the three downed sloops," she tells me.

"I see. Well I better get up and move around a bit, I feel like my joints are made of stone." I reply. Luna pulls me up onto my feet and I smile at her. "Thanks," I say and begin to walk around the room. Damn, my whole body feels so sore.

My stomach then decides to let me know I haven't eaten in days with a very loud rumble.

My wives giggle at me. "Somepony's hungry," Celestia teases.

I grin at her. "Very. Maybe you could sate my hunger hmm?" I say and lick my lips at her.

She blushes and smiles wickedly. She pulls her nightgown off and exposes her chest to me. "Well then. Come and get your breakfast," she says, shaking her chest at me.

Oh boy, I was only being playful with her... then again, that does sound rather tasty right now.

Ten Minutes Later

After breakfast, We get dressed and head down to get some solid food, Celestia told me we'll have to do that again in a few days as she said it relieved the soreness in her breasts that she's been feeling lately. They lead me to the Dining Hall where Vortigan, his wife, and their son are eating their breakfasts.

"Ah, Adrian! It's good to see you up and about," Vortigan says to me.

I sluggishly walk my way over to the table and sit down with Celestia and Shella besides me and Luna next to Alyssa. "Glad to be up, if I slept any longer, I don't think I would be able to move my legs," I reply with a chuckle.

I look at the food spread out on the table. Salad, pancakes, muffins, toast... is that bacon? My mouth waters as I pick a few pieces of bacon, some toast with butter, a muffin, a bit of salad, and a glass of water.

Luna looks a bit uneasy while Shella doesn't seem to mind, but Celestia, I notice her staring at the bacon on my plate and I can see a thin trail of drool sliding down her chin. I smile and cut a piece off and hold my fork up to her.

Her eyes follow it and with a bit of hesitation, she bites it. She begins chewing it and moans. "That is surprisingly good," she says and takes a couple for herself, along with a fair amount of the salad, a muffin, and some water.

Luna looks a bit squeamish as she takes some pancakes and salad with a glass of juice.

"Can you feed me please, dear?" Shella asks me with loving eyes.

Vortigan raises an eyebrow at that. "Sure," I reply and face my left palm at her. I cast a healing beam at her and the green energy flows into her and Mavis. She sighs with a smile and leans onto me.

"What was that about?" Vortigan asks.

"Changelings don't need food like we do, they can eat it to produce a substance inside their stomachs, but they feed on love energy, or now more commonly, life energy to nourish themselves," I tell him.

"I see. So how have they been surviving until you arrived?" he asks.

"Very barely. Shella's old Queen named Chrysalis, kidnapped people and drained them of their love to feed herself and barely any for her people. A changeling that's starving will have holes all over their body. As you can see, Shella has no holes and is well fed," I reply and kiss Shella on her cheek, making her smile.

"Interesting. So you offered them a food source for their loyalty?" he asks.

"We just offered them a chance at a better life. It was their choice if they wanted to join Equestria or not," I tell him. "Has there been any sign of Orthos?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "None, and we can't trace where he warped to," he tells me.

I frown and eat the rest of my breakfast. I want to know who this Master of his is.

Two Hours Later

I'm standing on the walls overlooking the field where the battle took place. The undead giant is still there, but is slowly being cut into pieces and carted away. Looks like it will take a week to get rid of all of it. There's patches of bare dirt where the craters caused by the sunfire shells went off.

Most of the bodies have been cleared, but many of the orc bodies remain, along with body parts. The three wrecks of the airships lay on the ground with ponies and dwarves taking them apart.

So many died, there's no way I could have revived them all anyway. The threat of the gryphons, Grogar, and now this Master? I'm going to have to up my training a bit.

I hear footsteps to my left and look to see Luna walking towards me. She stands beside me and leans her head on my left shoulder. "We have not seen such a sight since before we sealed Grogar away," she tells me with a sad tone.

I sigh and lean my head on hers. "And I don't think it will be the last," I tell her. I hold her right hand with my left and our fingers entwine with each other.

"We just want to live peacefully with thee and our herd," she tells me.

"I know, I want that as well, but before we can do that, Grogar needs to be dealt with first," I reply.

She sighs and grips my hand tighter. "We watched you as you defeated that behemoth," she tells me and looks at the giant's corpse. "Were thou in control of thyself?" she asks me.

I remember that my actions were my own, but it felt like someone was guiding me as well. "I think so. I remember fighting it, but it felt like Gaia was guiding me as well," I reply.

'Correct, I was transferring my knowledge to you during the fight,' Gaia tells me.

"You know, you listening in and able to talk to me in my mind isn't creepy at all... and I'm supposed to have fourteen of you in there?" I ask her aloud.

"Who are thou talking to?" Luna asks confused.

I hold my left hand up to her while she's still holding it. "Mother Gaia. She's in the orb on my hand," I tell her.

"Thou can speak with her?" she asks me.

"Yes," I reply.

'Do not worry. Since my home was destroyed, I had to seal myself into the orb. The others are linked to theirs and you will be able to talk to them as long as you touch their orbs with the tips of your fingers, and should they wish to speak to you, their orbs will pulse with a faint light which you just have to touch to respond,' she tells me. 'You'll be able to tell if I'm listening as my orb will light up, like it is now.'

I look at the orb and it is indeed lit up.

"I see, that's good to know. I don't think I could handle all of you talking in my head all the time," I say.

Luna giggles at me. "Thou look like thou have lost thy mind and are talking to imaginary friends,"she tells me.

I lightly bump her hip with mine and chuckle. "You have another voice in your head and try not to mumble to yourself," I tell her and she frowns sadly.

"We have... she wasn't exactly the best pony to be friends with..." she says and sighs.

Oh yeah, Nightmare Moon. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories," I tell her and squeeze her hand lightly.

She looks at me and smiles. "Tis alright... she no longer has any power over us, and we have also wounded her terribly," she replies.

"Come on, let's head back to Canterlot. I want to relax for a few days with you lot and then get back to training so I can get stronger," I tell her.

We head back into the Castle to get Celestia and Shella so we can head back home.

Chapter 51: Recuperating

Terracana
Chapter 51: Recuperating

The Next Day

My wives and I get up and get ready for the day. Mom has agreed to look after Mavis while me and my wives go out to the Spa in Canterlot.

We made arrangements to have the Spa all to ourselves for three hours today as they have no previous appointments for the next three days. I could really use a massage right now.

Silk Sheets was worried about me over the last few days I was out. I assured her that I was fine and she went about her chores feeling a bit better.

After breakfast, we head out into Canterlot towards the Spa in a carriage. I wanted to walk there with them but my body is still too sore to move around too much.

Luna and Shella sit besides me on the seat while Celestia sits on my lap nuzzling my cheek with a happy smile of her face. They've been really clingy since the battle.

The carriage comes to a stop and for once, they help me off the carriage... I grumble quietly, I really enjoy doing that for them myself.

We walk into the building and are greeted by three middle aged looking women. "Your Majesties! Welcome back to the Canterlot Oasis Spa... We see you've brought the King with you this time," the middle women greets us with a smile. She's a unicorn with sapphire blue fur and silvery white hair. Her eyes are a greenish gold colour.

The woman on the right is a pegasus with crimson red fur and orange hair. Her eyes are a deep blue.

The last woman is an earth pony with light green fur and light pink hair. Her eyes are a light purple colour.

Each of them has their hair done up into a bun with sticks crossed in them. They're wearing white dresses that hug their bodies nicely, showing their curves.

"We have and we need you to help loosen him up, he's very sore after the battle he's just been through," Celestia replies.

"Battle? We've heard nothing about any battles," the red woman says.

"We would think not, as it happened on another world," Luna tells her.

"A-Another world?" the light green woman asks stunned.

"Yes, Adrian's homeworld," Luna replies.

They stare at me for a few seconds and I raise an eyebrow at them.

"Oh! Where are our manners," the blue woman says. "My name is Shimmer Hooves. I take care of our customers hooves, fingernails, and horns." she tells me.

"My name is Firm Hands. I manage the massage tables and the saunas," the light green woman says.

"And I'm Scarlet Incense, I manage our supplies and get the baths and oils ready for our customers," the red woman tells me.

I bow slightly to them. "A pleasure to meet you ladies. My name is Adrian Stormsword, and for today, I place myself into your care," I tell them.

"Oh my, he's such a gentlecolt! Just like you told us, Celestia," Scarlet says. Firm Hands is smiling widely at me.

"Oh he is, I couldn't have asked for a better mate," Celestia replies and kisses my right cheek, making the women giggle. "Where is Golden Scroll? I thought he would be here today?" she asks them.

"Our husband has been called to Manehatten to sort out a mess at our Spa there. Apparently, one of our workers was caught rutting in the supply closet with a customer for some extra bits..." Shimmer Hooves tells her with a shake of her head.

"I see..." Celestia says.

Shimmer Hooves then claps her hands together. "But enough about us. What can we do for you, your Majesties?" she asks us.

"We'd like the full treatment please," Luna replies.

"Excellent, please follow us," Scarlet says and we follow them into the Spa. It's a lot bigger than Ponyville's Spa. Ten massage tables. ten mud baths, twenty lounge chairs, five vanity mirror desks, three saunas, male and female shower rooms, five hot tubs, and a door to a large pool.

"Please enter the Changing Rooms and pick a stall to change in, robes and towels of different sizes are available to choose from. When ready, please return here," Firm Hands tells us.

My wives go into the women's Changing Room and I walk over to the men's Changing Room. Before I could enter though, Celestia grabs my hand and pulls me into the woman's instead.

The spa women giggle and wait for us. Celestia drags me into a stall with her name on it and closes the door where she begins to undress and I blush. Once only down to her panties, she begins to take my clothes off with her hands while giggling softly. She undoes my shoelaces and pulls my shoes off one at a time with her magic. She then pulls down my trousers and then hugs me with a kiss.

She then trails the tips of her right fingers across the scar on my chest. "Can you help me put my robe on, my love?" she asks and turns around, showing me her curvy hips and backside. I tear my eyes away and look on the wall, a white robe with a golden trim and a cursive C embroidered on the left side of the chest hangs on a hook. I pick it up off the wall and open it up. I place it on her back where she slips her arms into the sleeves. I wrap my arms around her waist and lightly tie the belt around her pregnant stomach.

"Thank you," she says and takes a large white Towel off the wall and wraps it around my waist. "While Shella and Luna have their massage first, would you care to join me in the sauna?" she whispers to me seductively and licks my neck.

The way she said that makes me think of only one outcome to this...

She opens the door and drags me out. I'm pretty sure I'm close to having a nose bleed again.

We all then walk back into the Spa area. "We'll like to use the sauna while my sister and Shella have their massages first," Celestia tells them.

They all stare wide eyed at me, or at the scar on my chest I think. Firm Hands shakes her head and looks at Celestia. "Certainly, Celestia. Please follow me," she replies and leads us to the first sauna.

Celestia then leans towards Firm's ear. "Please make sure we're not disturbed for at least half an hour," she whispers to her.

Firm blushes and nodded quickly. "Of course, Celestia. I'll let my herd mates know as well," she replies and heads back to the others.

Celestia opens the door with her magic and pulls me inside. There's comfortable looking padded benches along the walls with a device in the middle, it's nothing like the Ponyville Spa one was. Celestia turns a dial on the machine and steam begins to come out of it.

She pushes me onto a bench and then unwraps her belt as her robe slips down her body and onto the floor. She pulls my towel away and straddles my lap with half lidded eyes, her stomach pressing into mine. "I've been feeling very... stressed, over the three days you've been asleep from worry and court duties, and I need you to help me relieve it," she tells me and starts kissing me. "Now you just relax and let me do the work," she says and starts trailing down.

Oh... there's that nose bleed.

POV: Luna

I watch as Tia takes Adrian into the sauna with a lustful expression. I can take a guess at what they'll be up to.

"My Queens, please follow us to the massage tables," Firm Hands tells us. I share a glance with Shella and she giggles.

We remove our robes and lay on top of a table each on our stomachs. Scarlet gets my favourite oil and hands it to Firm Hands who rubs it into her hands. She then starts to knead my shoulders and I sigh, that feels so good... I should get Adrian to learn how to do this.

"How did the King get that scar on his chest? Was it from the battle you mentioned?" Firm asks me.

"Nay, he received it months ago from some bandits who captured him," I reply. No need to go into detail about it though.

"I see," she says and continues the massage.

She moves down after a minute and massages around my wing joints. Firm Hands is one of the few ponies Tia and I allow to touch us there. I hum in content as the stress from the last three days just melts away. She then moves onto my waist and lower back as I let myself go limp from the relaxing massage.

I lazily glance at Shella to see her eyes rolled back and her wings fluttering as Scarlet massages her. I don't think she's ever had a professional massage before.

"Oh my, your skin feels so soft, I thought it would feel much harder," Scarlet says.

Shella tries to reply, but all that comes out is a garbled response with a moan as Scarlet starts on her lower back.

Firm then begins to massage my arms and I barely put enough effort into holding it up for her.

In the corner of my eye, I notice Shimmer walk over to the sauna. "It's been thirty minutes already," I hear her say to herself.

She opens the door and our ears are greeted with the sounds of wet slapping and Tia's moans as Shimmer quickly closes the door with a heavy blush. I just giggle and relax into the table as Firm starts on my other arm.

Shella seems to be coming back to her senses. "I can feel and taste the love coming from them," she mutters with a dopey smile.

I close my eyes and smile as well, just letting my worries float away.

POV: Adrian Stormsword
Twenty Minutes Later

Celestia and I step out of the sauna with our Towel and robe back on, using each other to keep ourselves balanced and upright. I think we got way too into that than we should have, I feel sore again.

I see Luna and Shella on a couple of lounge chairs as Firm and Scarlet guide us over to the tables. I notice they have light blushes on their faces... crap, I hope they didn't hear us. Luna and Shella then make their ways over to the second sauna.

Firm helps me up onto a table and removes my towel while Scarlet removes Celestia's robe and helps her onto some sort of half table half chair thing. Her chest rests against the forty-five degree angle table while she sits on a soft looking chair.

"What kind of table is that?" I ask.

"It's a massage table for pregnant mares. It's more comfortable for them and they don't put pressure onto their stomachs," Firm Hands tells me.

"Oh," I reply and groan as she begins on my shoulders. It hurts at first, but then dissolves into relief as my muscles mould into her hands like an artisan with clay.

"Wow. Your muscles are so tense, what did you fight? An ursa minor?" Firm asks as she squeezes my shoulders a bit harder.

I groan again. "How big is that?" I mumble.

"Just bigger than a small two story house," she tells me.

"Then what I fought was at least three times bigger," I reply and sigh.

She gasps. "You fought an ursa major!?" she asks with shock.

"No... Hmmmm, it was an undead giant," I tell her and roll my shoulders a little, they're already feeling better.

"Undead? You mean like a Zombie from those foal comics?" she asks.

"I guess so, a walking rotting corpse under the control of someone else. With some help, I had to pour all I had just to bring it down. It's why I'm in the state I am now," I tell her. I feel myself getting sleepy under the expert touch of Firm's hands. The last thing I hear is Celestia humming and giggling as I fall asleep.

Thirty Minutes Later

I'm gently awoken by Firm Hands as she lightly shakes me. "I have finished your massage, my King." she tells me.

I yawn and sit up on the side of the table as I stretch my arms and arch my back. I feel a few joints pop and groan in relief, the soreness almost gone.

"Thank you, I feel much better now," I reply and stand up. "So what's next?" I ask.

"You can relax on the chairs or take a dip in the hot tubs while we prepare the mud baths," Scarlet replies.

I notice Luna and Shella are out of the sauna now. A dip in a hot tub sounds good. "I'll take that dip," I say and walk over to the first bubbling tub.

"We've lowered the temperature so the heat won't affect Celestia's foal," Scarlet tells us.

I step into it and it's pleasantly warm. Luna, Shella, and Celestia get in and lean against my sides while Shella leans on my chest.

I sigh and let the bubbles do their thing as I relax with my wives cuddling up to me.

I wrap my arms around Celestia and Luna while stroking Celestia's stomach gently.

Two Hours Later

After a couple of hours. I feel refreshed and much better than before.

"Thank you for the wonderful time girls," Celestia says to the Spa women.

"You're welcome, your Majesties. Would you like to pay now or put it on your tab?" Shimmer asks.

Celestia's horn glows and a small pouch appears in her hand. "Now would be good," she replies and hands them the pouch. "Keep the change, think of it as a tip," she says and heads for the door. "We'll see you next time, and do say hello to Golden Scroll for us," she tells them.

"Thank you, Celestia. We will, you have a wonderful day now," Shimmer replies and they wave goodbye.

"So, what do you want to do?" I ask them as we get back into the carriage.

"We're starting to feel a bit hungry. Shall we visit the Golden Roast?" Luna replies and asks.

"Sounds good. I could do with a slice of cheesecake," Celestia says and licks her lips.

Luna tells the guards pulling the carriage to go to the Café and after a five minute trip, we arrive.

I help them off the carriage and we head inside. Once again Mocha is facing away from us making a drink for another customer.

It seems they installed a bell above the door as it rings out when we entered. "Just a moment please!" Mocha says. She turns around and hands the drink to the customer. "Here's your drink, sir," she says and looks our way. "Adrian! And your Majesties! Welcome back, it's been awhile," she says.

"Yes it has. How have you been?" I ask her.

"Oh, you know, business has been good. So what can I get for you today?" she replies and asks.

"I'll have an earl grey tea with a slice of apple pie and a blueberry muffin please," I order.

"Sure, and what would the Queens like?" she asks them.

They order a fruit salad with some tea. Celestia has a slice of cheesecake, Luna gets a few cookies and shella asks me for some of my love. She says the life energy is nice and all, but love tastes like the most sweetest chocolate when directed at the changeling themselves. As long as she only takes a little, it won't affect me negatively.

We talk for ten minutes while eating our lunch. Celestia said she went to the medical wing two days ago for a check up... and she has told me we'll be having a healthy earth pony boy. Although, he has a high amount of magic in him like an alicorn, but with my kind of magic signature.

I smile, I'm going to have a son? And he'll have my kind of magic? I so can't wait to start teaching him about Terran magic when he's older.

Shella told me that she'll need me to impregnate her again tonight, and that after this lot of eggs, she'll take a month to rest from laying. She then kisses me and I can feel something flow out from me and into her. After a couple of seconds she pulls back with a large blush on her face and half lidded eyes.

Luna says she's joining me in my training starting tomorrow. I smile, looking forward to it. I still need to prove I can match her in melee combat.

I pay the bill and we head to the Opera House next. For the next two hours we listen to music and enjoy each other's company. I see Lyra and Octavia playing again and wave down at them. Lyra spots me and waves back mid song and the conductor scolds her, she yelps and gets back to playing. We laugh a little at that.

After the concert. We leave and head back towards the castle, but Luna spots something out the window of the carriage that grabs her attention and makes her smile. A building with strange box like objects with sticks and buttons in front of a large pane of glass fill the interior.

We get out and I walk up to one of the box things. "What's this," I ask as I wiggle the stick. The glass lights up with the word pong written across it.

"Tis a game to entertain!" Luna says and sits on the left seat. "We have learnt of these during our return. We had little else to do for the first few months, we discovered these during a walk through the City and began to enjoy them. Come, sit. We shall show thee how it works," she tells me. I sit beside her and see we both have a stick and three buttons each. "This game is one of the more simpler ones. Thou use thy stick to move thy paddle up and down," she tells me and moves the stick. "The first button starts the game when both players press them, the second button uses any power ups thou gets, and the third button just makes thee surrender."

She pulls out a bit and puts it into a slot on the machine. The screen changes with a square line near the edge of the glass, two zeros are at the top of the glass with two vertical lines on each side of the screen inside the box. A vertical line splits the middle of the box as well.

"The aim of this game is to bounce the ball back at thy opponent's side and get it past them. The ball will get faster and faster with each bounce," she says. "If the ball hits a power up after thou bounced it back, thou will get the power up. We shall let thee figure out which does which," she tells me with a giggle.

We both press the first button and a number in the middle counts down from three and the game starts. The ball heads towards my paddle and I bounce it back. Luna raises hers up slightly as she hits the ball on the lower half of her paddle making it bounce down to my side. Huh so hitting it at an angle alters the direction the ball goes.

I lower my paddle and hit the ball halfway on the top half of my paddle, the ball bounces back to her side on the top of the screen. She bounces it down and the ball gets a bit faster. We continue to bat it back and forth and my ball hits a power up. It looks like a ball with a few arrows pointing up behind it.

I press my second button and the ball's speed picks up, Luna gasps and quickly moves her paddle, barely hitting the ball with the top of it. I raise an eyebrow as the ball starts to bounce off the top and bottom of the box towards my side. With the angle it's at, it will be hard to hit it back.

I adjust my paddle to where I think the ball will go and hit it with the lower half, the ball bounces back and she returns it. For another minute we continue and the ball is moving quiet fast now, but unfortunately for me, Luna seems to be better at this and the ball goes past my paddle.

"Huzzah!" she says and giggles. I smile and press the ready button.

We play a few more rounds where she won four and I won one. I look around at the other machines and notice each one has a different game on them.

"That was pretty fun. I'll have to come back and see what else is here sometime," I tell them.

"Yes, we will return and we shall defeat thee again!" Luna says with a grin. I smile seeing how happy she is right now.

Celestia and Shella were watching us with smiles of their own. "As amusing as that was to watch, we should be heading back to the Castle now," Celestia tells me.

I get up off my chair and we get back in the carriage. After a short trip, we're back at the Castle where we thank the guards for lugging us about.

Nine PM, Adrian's Room

After Dinner, we spent some time in the Castle's Garden just talking and planning on what we're going to do next. Celestia is going to meet Vortigan and discuss trade agreements between Reymorah and Equestria. Luna will be training with me in a couple of days after I've rested some more while Shella will look after Mavis and take over court for her first time.

Shella and I head back to our room where Celestia and Luna have given us some alone time.

"So... are you ready?" Shella asks me as she strips out of her dress.

I chuckle and take my clothes off as well. "Ready as I'll ever be," I reply.

She takes my hand and pulls me towards the bed. Just before we reach the bed, the doors open with a blushing Cadence.

"Cadence? What's the matter?" I ask her.

"Shiny's away in Reymorah right now looking over their weapons and armour and I need somepony to relieve me... You're the only one I would ask to help me," she tells me while rubbing her thighs together.

I look to Shella who just smiles warmly. "I don't mind," she says.

I look back to Cadence and see her smile as she walks in and closes the door, she then drops her nightgown and walks towards me with a sway in her step.

She gently pushes me onto the bed and gets on top of me. "I know you're still recovering from the battle with those orcs, so just lay back and let us do all the work," she tells me.

I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight.

Author's Note

Gamer Luna is here! WOO! I think the next game they'll play will be a street fighter kinda game.

Chapter 51.5: Conflicting Emotions (Clop)

Terracana
Chapter 51.5: Conflicting Emotions (Clop)

Cadence sits on top of me and she's only wearing her white bra and panties. She grinds on my growing erection as she unclips her bra and throws it across the room while she moans as my member rubs against her thinly covered pussy.

"Hmmmm... I've been looking forward to this again... Aaah, Shiny just c-can't keep up with my needs..." she tells me.

I frown slightly, have I damaged their relationship? I couldn't help but groan as she rubs her soaked panties across the head of my dick. I notice her stomach is just starting to bulge slightly, in another month's time, she'll be around Celestia's size.

She leans forward and kisses me gently. I hesitate at first, my thoughts still thinking about how I'm getting in between Shining and her.

She pulls back and sadly frowns at me. "What's the matter?" she asks and stops her grinding.

"What about Shining? I know he said we could do this if it got too bad... but I just see myself getting in both of your ways," I reply.

She looks down still with her sad frown. "I know... I've... every time we make love... I can't stop thinking of you, how you held me, pleasured me, was so kind and passionate. I could even feel some love in it... I... I think I'm falling in love with you..." she tells me and starts crying. "I keep telling myself it's just my h-hormones playing tricks on me... but the more I t-think about it, the more I know it's true! The way you treat my aunts, like they're just mares and not royalty... like y-you do with me... a-and what you said about us... t-that he'll be gone a-and I'll be left behind...." she sniffles and looks up at me. "But you'll still be here... and I w-wouldn't be left a-alone..." she says and cries loudly into my chest. "I'm so c-confused!"

Shella sits beside us and rubs Cadence's lower back. I frown and wrap her in a hug. "Cadence... I'm not sure what to tell you. If you decide to stay with Shining until the end, I'll help you as much as I can along the way, but if you can't bare the thought of outliving him... maybe you should let him find someone else? You can both still be friends right?" I tell her and wipe the tears from her cheeks.

Her lower lip quivers and she lunges at me, kissing me roughly. I return the kiss this time and massage her wing joints, tears still leak from her eyes as she moans.

She resumes her grinding and her horn glows, her panties are now gone and my head rubs against her clit. She gasps and shoves her tongue into my mouth, we swap a heavy amount saliva as our tongues wrap around each other over and over again. I then feel Shella grip my member and lift it towards Cadence's slit.

Cadence moans deeply as Shella rubs it against her puffy lips. Cadence grunts and thrusts her hips back, my member spreads her vulva apart and slips into her warm, tight, wet pussy. She breathes a shaky breath into my mouth as she sinks lower and lower onto my cock.

She pants and gasps as she adjusts to my size. "I've missed this so much..." she says and squirms on top of me. "and I hate myself for it," she tells me and kisses me again as tears still flow down her face.

Her hips begin to rise and my member slips out of her with only the head remaining inside, she then slams her hips down and takes my whole length back in. She moans deeply and repeats the motion over and over again.

She sits up and places her hands onto my stomach and begins bouncing as fast as she can.

"Ahhhh... Ngggh, aaaahh. I love and h-hate NNNGGHH! This so much!" she says and slams herself onto my lap hard. She then grinds her hips in circular motions and we both moan from the sensation.

I place my hands on her backside and she starts bouncing again. Shella lays beside my head and kisses me as I grope Cadence's soft ass.

Her breathing picks up and her insides are clenching erratically. She starts to moan loudly and more often as she rides my dick as fast as she can. Her eyes roll back and she grits her teeth while her wings are spread out to her sides widely and shaking.

"Oh buck me! Aahhh. I'm going to CUM! NNNGGHH FILL ME, ADRIAN! AAAAHHHH!" she screams as she clamps down hard on my cock and sprays my groin with her cum.

I continue to weakly thrust up into her and after a few seconds, I let go and flood her insides with my seed. "Nnnngggaah!" I grunt as I pump load after load into her.

Her legs give out and her groin mashes against mine with her clit rubbing against me. She starts trembling as she cums again from the stimulation and collapses on top of me.

We both pant as we come down from our orgasms. "T-Thank you. I... I n-needed that," she tells me and kisses me gently. I wrap my arms around her and hold her close.

Whatever she decides to do about Shining, I'll be there to help her.

A moan beside me gets my attention and I look to see Shella fingering herself. "Adrian... I really need you to impregnate me right now..." she tells me and gently rolls Cadence to my left side. She then begins licking my member clean and coating it in her saliva.

I'm rock hard again and she straddles me, she uses her magic to guide my length towards her pussy and slowly slides down it. I feel every bump on the way as she sits on my lap.

"Hmmmmm, you always feel so good inside of me, my love," she says and starts to slowly rise and fall. I sigh from the pleasure and stroke her thighs lovingly.

Shella starts purring as her wings start to rise and flicker slightly. Her purring is causing her to vibrate slightly and I can feel it on my dick. She then starts to pulsate her inner walls around my member, massaging it gently.

"Where did you, nnngh. Learn to do that?" I ask her.

She giggles which devolves into a deep moan as she grinds herself on me. "I've asked, mmmmm, a few of the females at the hive for aaaahh, advice," she tells me. Her purring increases and I groan from the feeling as her pussy starts to grip me tightly and she begins to pick up speed.

I sit up and wrap my arms around her waist, she giggles again as I start to suck on her breasts. Her arms wrap around my head and holds me to her chest. I lick, nibble ,and suck on her nipples as she rides my cock.

She forces me to let go and stands up on her knees as she turns herself around. I wrap my arms around her again and pull her down onto my dick, she moans deeply and starts purring again. I slip my right hand down her stomach to her clit and she screams as I begin rubbing it in circles, making her bounce on me faster.

It seems Cadence has recovered and is kneeling beside me as she lifts her left breast towards my face, milk slowly dripping out of the nipple. I turn my head towards her and latch onto her breast, she moans as I drink her milk.

"Oh, Adrian. Mmmm, yes, give me ahhh, your seed... Fill me with Nnnghh, eggs again," Shella begs me.

Shella repeatedly slaps her ass against me and I rub her clit faster, she then screams her lungs out as she cums. Her pussy is massaging my member over and over making me grunt as it tips me over the edge and I fill her womb with my semen. She moans continuously as she grinds on my lap and I keep unloading into her.

After a few seconds she flops to our right and my dick slips out of her, she rests on the bed as she pants and moans weakly.

I let go of Cadence's breast and lay behind her and lift up her right leg. She gasps as I prod around with my member and rub it against her leaking snatch.

"Don't t-tease me, Adrian... p-put it in me," she begs me and moans.

I angle my cock higher and thrust into her, she gasps and sighs as she presses her ass against me. I twist her so her chest is facing me and I start suckling on her right breast. She wraps her right arm around the back of my head and drapes her arm over my right shoulder. I greedily drink her milk some more as I begin rocking in and out of her pussy.

She moans loudly as I thrust into her soaking slit harder while she lifts her right arm and grips my hair.

"Buck me, Adrian! I w-want you to claim me! AHHHH! Make m-me your mare! Make me c-cum!" she tells me.

I grope her left breast with my left hand and use my right to rub her clit. She screams and cums hard, her juices splash on the bed, but I don't stop.

"OH BUCK! D-DON'T STOP! NNNGGGHH! D-DON'T STOP RUTTING ME. AAAAAAHH! RUT ME TILL I'M NUMB! NNNGGAAAAAAAAAH!" she screams as I thrust faster into her. Her eyes roll back and her tongue lolls out, saliva dripping off her tongue as tears form in her eyes.

I pick up speed and really begin ramming into her, her screaming is constant now as her pussy is overflowing with her juices.

"I'M C-CUMMING AGAIN! OH, ADRIAN! AAAAHHAAH! CUM INSIDE ME, HURRY! NNGGGHH! AAAHH! FILL ME UP AGAIN!" she begs as she shakes uncontrollably.

I grunt with every thrust as I slap my hips against her ass.

"BUUUUUUUUUUCK! AAAAAAAAAAHHH! Cadence yells as she cums. She's trembling and pulls my head to hers, we kiss roughly and I lunge my tongue into her mouth and she begins to suck on it. I groan as I cum as well, filling her already occupied tunnel and I can feel some of my semen spilling out of her.

I hold onto her tightly as she rides out her climax, she gasps and moans into my mouth as I thrust lazily into her now and then.

She slowly comes down from her euphoria with a dopey smile on her face. She moans as I pull out of her and I turn my attention to Shella, who's now on her hands and knees again. I think that has to be her favourite position as she gets me to do her that way nearly every time we have sex, or maybe it's a submissive thing?

"I want you to pump more of your seed into me," she tells me and wiggles her ass at me. "I want you to hold me tightly as you buck me senseless," she begs me and lifts her tail up.

I crawl over to her and kneel behind her, her tail lifts up higher and I rub my tip against her, she hums and wiggles back at me. I push my member into her and sigh, she moans and presses back until her ass is mashed into my groin, her wings fluttering at her sides. I lean over her and wrap my arms around her stomach, I then raise my arms to her breasts and fondle them.

She gasps and squirms under me so I pull back and thrust back in. "Mmmmmm, yes, more!" she says and thrusts back at me.

I pinch her nipples between my fingers and she moans happily. I pick up my pace and slap my hips into her, her ass jiggles a little and she leans her head down on the mattress and groans.

"Deeper, nnnggh. Shove it right into me, gaaah!" she begs and I fuck her harder, shoving my dick into her as deep as I can. "Yeeeeesss, more, aaaahh, buck me moooore!" she tells me. I can feel her gripping me tightly as I ram into her over and over again. She's really leaking a lot as the squelching noise gets louder and louder.

I bring my left hand down and play with her clit again getting her to scream as she clenches hard. I thrust into her and hold my position until she relaxes a bit, I can't move an inch.

"Gaaaahh! Nnnnngggh, oh buck me! More... rub my clit some more!" she tells me and I begin circling it. I can feel her pussy excreting more and more of her fluids as they drip off my balls.

Her breathing gets louder as I fuck her fast and hard, she's starting to scream as her vagina squeezes me now and then.

"Adrian... AAAAHHH! I-I'm sooooo cloooOOOSE! KEEP GOING! DON'T NNNGGAAAAHHHH! D-DON'T STOP!" she screams at me and she grits her teeth as she starts gushing on my groin, her pussy is vibrating and massaging me like never before.

"OH FUCK!" I grunt and cum. I unload into her again and her moans pick up as I fill her while I keep thrusting to prolong our orgasms, she trembles as her legs try to kick out but she's pinned under me.

Once we calm down, I pull out and lay back on the bed, Shella and Cadence crawl over me to and cuddle up beside me. I watch Cadence as she has an conflicted expression but before I could say anything, she closes her eyes and falls asleep.

I sigh and hold them both closer, we'll discuss it in detail tomorrow. I then yawn and drift off to sleep myself.

Chapter 52: Heart to Heart

Terracana
Chapter 52: Heart to Heart

I feel someone holding me tightly as I wake up. I open my eyes to see Cadence to my right with her arms and right wing wrapped around me.

I then remember her confession last night. She said she was falling in love with me... I sigh and frown. I knew something like this was going to happen. It was only me helping her have her own child. I didn't expect her to react like this.

She shuffles slightly and grips me tighter, a sad expression on her face.

"Cadence?" I ask her and shake her slightly.

She mumbles and blinks her eyes open. "Adrian?" she asks and looks around. Her expression deepens as she looks back at me. She lies her head on my chest and sniffles a little. "What am I going to do?" she asks me quietly.

I rub her side gently with my right hand. "We're going to have to talk to Shining about this. Leaving it bottled up is just going to make matters worse," I tell her.

She then starts sobbing onto my chest. "B-But I don't know what to tell him... I love him... but I l-love you too," she replies.

I'm not sure what to tell him as well. 'Oh hey, Shining. How's your day been so far? Me? I just found out Cadence loves me! Isn't that great!' I think sarcastically to myself.

"I want t-to stay with him... but I w-want to be with you as well... I'm so c-confused," she tells me and continues to sob on me.

Shella slowly wakes up and stares at us. "What's the matter?" she asks.

"Cadence doesn't know what she's going to do about how she feels about me and Shining..." I tell her.

"How do you feel about them?" Shella asks her.

"I've known Shiny s-since he was a colt... we've only been t-together for seventeen months... b-but I've enjoyed m-my time with him... He makes me smile, laugh and feel loved, but Adrian treats me j-just like any other *hic* mare. Not some prize or symbol of status, he doesn't even boast h-how he's married both Celestia a-and *sniff* Luna, and you... I've had h-hundreds *hic* of marriage proposals over the years... and *sniff* I still get them now and then," she tells us.

"I treat them as equals because that's how I would like to be treated in return. I don't see titles or status. I see the person underneath them," I reply.

"And t-that's what I *hic* like about you, and w-when I'm near you *Sniff* I feel safe. More so than with Shiny," she tells me.

She feels safer with me? Is that what Celestia meant when she said mares want strong mates? Is it instinctual? I look at the clock and see it's eight in the morning. "I think we should get up and go for a bath. We can find Shining and get this sorted out after we've had breakfast," I tell them and pick Cadence up as I get off the bed.

She yelps and wraps her arms around my neck. She hums softly and buries her cheek into my neck. We enter the bathroom and Shella turns the taps on. I continue to hold Cadence until the bath is ready. Once drawn, I place Cadence into the tub and climb in after her, Shella joins in on my right side and we scrub each other down.

Once clean and dressed, we head down to the Dining Hall and order a quick breakfast of pancakes. Cadence eats hers quietly, I guess she's not looking forward to our talk with Shining.

After we finish breakfast, I ask a guard if they know where Shining is. He tells me he returned this morning and is at the Barracks. I thank him and make my way out with Shella and Cadence.

We walk into the Barracks and I knock on Shining's door. "Come in!" he shouts from inside. I open the door and let Shella and Cadence inside first, I then enter behind them and shut the door. "Cady!" he smiles warmly at her. He then looks at us. "Adrian, Shella. Do you need something? I've been going over these new forging techniques the dwarves use in their metalwork all morning," he says and shows us some papers with the dwarven forging process on it.

I look over to Cadence who looks terrified. I sigh and guide her to a seat. "You, Cadence, and I have something we need to discuss," I tell him.

"Is something wrong?" he asks.

"You could say that," I reply and nudge Cadence lightly.

She sputters and whines as tears start forming in her eyes. Shining gets up and walks around his desk towards her. "Honey? Are you alright?" he asks her. I saw her cringe when he called her 'Honey'.

"I... I-I..." She looks at me sadly and I give her an encouraging smile. She smiles faintly and looks back at Shining. "I... I'm in love with Adrian," she tells him and closes her eyes tightly. "b-but I love you as well... I don't know what to do anymore!" she yells and starts crying into Shining's chest.

Shining looks at Cadence with a worried expression. He looks at me and I can only give him a sad smile. He turns back to Cadence and sighs. "I know," he tells her.

I raise an eyebrow at that. Cadence looks up at him with a tear stained face. "Y-You knew? How?" she asks him in surprise.

"Well... the last two times we made love... You called out his name. I don't think you even noticed," he tells her. I look stunned as he said that. He kept quiet about it and never mentioned it to her?

"I... I did?" she asks horrified.

Shining nodded. "Yes, but I don't hold it against you," he replies and sighs. "I had a feeling this would happen. Ever since your heat, you've slowly been falling for him. I notice it whenever he walked by, you would stare at him. You talked about him a lot and even asked me about him and how he's doing in his training," he says.

Cadence frowns. "Oh Celestia, you're right... I have..." she says and covers her mouth with her hands. "I've been fawning over Adrian i-in front of you," she mumbles and begins to cry into her hands.

"It's alright, Cadence," Shining says as he hugs her. "Adrian is a great stallion, any mare would love to be with him. He's strong, kind, caring, and makes a great punching bag," he tells her.

I just chuckle quietly at his final part about me.

"B-But what do we do? I don't know w-what to do now! I want to stay with both of you. I-I'm good at helping others w-with relationships, but I've never dealt with t-this kind of problem before!" she cries out.

Shining strokes her hair gently. "Remember what Adrian and I talked about in the hallway where you caught us?" he asks her. She nodded at him and sniffles. "Then be with Adrian... I've always known trying to be with you would be a huge challenge. At first, I thought I could make it work, but over the time we've been together, I just can't keep up with you, Cadence. Our little... 'Fun' times together leaves me beyond exhausted, I can't even train or do my job properly because I feel so sore and tired most of the time," he tells her.

Cadence looks upset at that. "B-But I love you, Shiny..." she mutters.

Shining cups her chin in his right hand and gently makes her look at him. "I love you as well, but I want you to be as happy as you can be... As much as I want to, I can't give that to you. Adrian was the one to give you your foal, not me. He can satisfy you ten times over more than I could, and as much as I hate to admit it, he's stronger than me and can protect you better than I ever could... I watched as he took down a monster taller than a fully grown dragon and win without so much as a scratch during the battle at Elysium," he tells her.

Cadence is crying non-stop at this point. She's hugging him tightly as he rubs her lower back. "B-But I don't want t-to leave you," she mumbles into his chest.

"I won't be going anywhere, Cadence. We can still be friends and hang out with each other like when I was a colt, right?" he reassures her.

She looks up at him with red puffy eyes and a quivering lip. "P-Promise?" she asks him. The tone in her voice is heart breaking.

He smiles warmly at her. "I Pinkie promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eyeoOWCH!" he yelps as he pokes himself in the eye.

Cadence giggles a little but frowns sadly. She leans up and kisses Shining slightly and pulls back. "I'll always l-love you, Shiny," she tells him.

"I love you too, Cady," he replies.

She begins to sob again but stands up and walks over to the door. "I... I need to b-be alone for *sniff* awhile," she says and leaves.

Shella gets up and follows her. "I'll go comfort her," she says and leaves.

I stare at the door for a few seconds until I hear sniffling to my right. I turn to see Shining trying to hold back his tears. "Shining, you alright?" I ask worried.

He wipes his tears away and looks at me sadly. "Y-Yeah, remember what I asked you?" he asks me. I nodded. "Make sure she stays happy for as long as you can... give her what I can't," he tells me.

I walk over to him and give him a sideways hug and pat his shoulder. "I'll do the best I can... I'm sorry this happened. I never wanted to come between you two." I tell him.

He sighs. "I knew this was a possibility. I'm upset, don't get me wrong... I love her, but in the end... I'll just leave her behind and she may never find love again, her happiness means more to me than mine. This way, she can be with somepony she loves and not worry about time taking him away from her," he tells me.

I frown sadly. "Still, for what it's worth, I'm sorry... How about we go out for a drink tonight? My treat," I ask him.

He chuckles lightly. "Sure, I could use a drink after this," he replies.

"Alright, what time do you want to go?" I ask him.

"Around six after dinner sounds good," he tells me.

"Okay, I'll see you then. I got to ask Celestia a few things," I reply and head for the door.

I open it and Shining speaks up. "Listen, I don't hold this against you. Just... treat her well, okay?" he tells me.

"I will, I'll see you later alright?" I reply.

"Yeah, see ya later," he says and I head out to find Celestia.

But as I leave, I can barely hear Shining trying not to breakdown.

POV: Cadence

I'm laying in one of the guest room's beds since my room reminds me too much of Shiny. I cry into the pillow as my conflicting emotions war against each other inside me.

I hear the door open and close as hoofsteps make their way closer to me. I look up and see Shella with a sad smile on her face.

"Shella... *sniff* Do I really j-just leave Shiny to b-be with Adrian?" I ask her.

She sits on the bed and rubs my shoulder. "I don't know the answer to that. You love Adrian correct?" she asks me. I nodded in reply. "You feel Adrian can keep you safe right?" she asks again.

"Y-Yes," I stutter my reply.

"And Shining did say you could still be friends," she says and I nodded again.

"A changeling Queen's first reason to find a mate is so he can protect her and her eggs while she's pregnant with them, though that is mostly done through mind control. This was only the second reason I wanted to be with Adrian. He saved my Hive from starvation, he even fed and healed me when we first met when I was still just a hatchling. He didn't have to do that, he told me the reason why he was there, he could have just left or even killed me, but he didn't, he showed me kindness when there was so little," she tells me and smiles with her eyes closed. "As I grew and matured into a Queen, I felt an emotion we changelings only felt with other changelings, I began to fall in love with him. The male who saved and protected me from my old Queen who drained me and left me for dead. He could have left with Luna and the others that day... but he begged Luna to take me with them," she says and looks at me.

"He helped a complete stranger and a race who were seen as monsters," she tells me and spreads her arms and wings. "Look what he has done for me, for my Hive. He's given us a free source of food, a safe place to call home, and a new appearance. I love him with all my heart and I will spend the rest of my days by his side," she tells me with a bright smile.

I smile back at her. Adrian did all that for somepony he didn't even know, and I know I would have done the same. I wipe my eyes and hug her. "Thank you," I say to her.

She hugs me back. "You're welcome. As far as I see it, you're already a part of our herd," she tells me.

I begin sobbing again and hold her tightly. She just sits there stroking my mane.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

After twenty minutes of searching, I found Celestia and Luna taking a break from court playing chess in their Lounge Room. The white pieces look like the day guard and the black pieces look like the night guard... Must be a new chess set they got.

"Tia, Luna. I need to talk to you," I tell them.

"If this is about Cadence last night, we know," Celestia replies with a giggle. "Check," she says to Luna who groans.

"Then this makes it a little simpler. Cadence told me she loves me. Shining, Cadence, and I just had a talk about it... and they've just broke up," I tell them bluntly.

They both gasp. "Cadence has broken up with Shining Armour? We did not think it was possible..." Luna says and takes the rook threatening her king.

"I believe I'm to blame for that. As I said, Cadence has been falling in love with me since her heat and I think she wants to join our herd," I tell them and sit on the couch.

"I see," Celestia says and moves her queen across the board. "Checkmate," she says and gets up, she walks over to the couch and sits to my right.

Luna sighs and flicks her king on it's side. She then makes her way over and sits to my left.

"And what dost thou think of it?" Luna asks me.

"I don't want to bring them apart, but what Shining told me just makes sense," I reply.

"And what did he say?" Celestia asks.

I just hold my hands out to them. "Why don't you see for yourselves?" I reply.

They both take my hands and close their eyes as their horns glow. After a few minutes, they open their eyes with sad expressions.

"He does have a point. Lulu and I never looked for a mate for that same reason. Losing Luna was extremely painful and I lost my will to love anypony intimately after that. I only felt close to that when I was teaching Twilight, and when Luna returned to me, I was the happiest mare in the world. Until our wedding day that is," she tells me.

"Then what made you give me a chance before Solaris and Galaxia made me ageless?" I ask them.

"Over the centuries, ponies just wanted to marry me for my status or wealth. I saw your past, your personality. You didn't care if I was a Princess or a Beggar, you saw me for me. So I wanted to give you a chance, I was so surprised when you were the one to ask me. It's usually the mare who ask the stallion out," she tells me with a giggle.

I chuckle along with her. I then look to Luna. "We may have... fallen for thee a little too quickly we admit, but thou were the first pon... person, to treat me so kindly since my return. Tho... you saw me as the lonely, hurt mare I was. You 'hung out' with me as the foals say nowadays, when you didn't have to. You kept me company in the evenings and watched my stars with me," she tells me and kisses me. "I just had to have you with me," she says, dropping her archaic speech and leans her head on my shoulder.

I wrap my arms around them and hug them closely. "Thank you. You both are the reason I live and fight now. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you or Shella," I tell them.

"What about Cadence?" Celestia asks me.

I smile. "If she does join our herd, I still need to take her out on a proper date," I reply, making them giggle.

"You can do that tomorrow," Luna says.

I just sigh and hold them close. As complicated as my life seems to have gotten, I wouldn't change it for the world.

10:00 PM

After dinner, Shining and I went to a bar he and some of the guard visit now and then. As I promised, I paid for all of our drinks.

I kept myself limited to three drinks while he got himself drunk. He kept making me promise to treat Cadence like the Princess that she is and to give her all the love she deserves, or he'd geld me. I had to look up what that meant when we got back to the Castle... I made sure to keep that promise burned into my head once I found out.

We even played a game called darts. The rules were simple enough, but even drunk he still beat me... His aim didn't suffer at all.

After two hours of drinking. I helped him back to the Barracks where the guards took him to what they called the 'What did I do last night?' room. Apparently, coming back drunk was not uncommon for the guards and they knew how to deal with the after effects the next morning.

I returned to the Castle and decided to work out in the gym for an hour before bed.

I step out of the shower while drying myself off, I worked up quite the sweat. I leave the room in my gym shorts, tank top, and sandals and head down the hallway towards my room where I open the door and walk in. I see Celestia, Luna, and Shella all on the bed waiting for me. I smile, undress and join them in bed. They cuddle up to me but I notice Shella lying on top of my right side and partially on Celestia. I frown and was about to ask why when the toilet in the bathroom flushes.

I look to the bathroom door and see Cadence walk in naked with a heavy blush on her face... Ah, that's why.

She stands there looking away cutely for a few seconds as I lift the covers for her. "Come on, Cadence." I tell her.

She shuffles on her hooves for a few seconds before slowly walking over to the bed. She yelps as a golden glow surrounds her and places her next to Shella on top of me.

Cadence looks at me with a nervous expression. I smile and lean forward and kiss her. She closes her eyes and leans into the kiss.

I pull back and continue to smile at her. "Goodnight, Cadence," I tell her.

She smiles back. "Goodnight, Adrian," she replies and rests her head on my chest with a small smile on her lips.

"Goodnight, girls," I say to the others.

"Goodnight, Adrian," they reply and we all bask in each other's company as we fall asleep.

Chapter 53: A Date with Cadence

Terracana
Chapter 53: A Date with Cadence

I wake up to see Celestia, Luna, Shella, and now Cadence all cuddled up to me. I sigh and just relax.

After about seven minutes, Celestia and Luna slowly wake up. Celestia hums happily and nuzzles me. "Good morning, love," she says.

"Good morning," I reply and turn my head to kiss her.

She smiles into the kiss and then looks towards Cadence. "You should take Cadence out into Canterlot and show her a good time today. She's probably still upset about Shining Armour. This will help take her mind off it for awhile," she tells me.

I look back at Cadence and see her smiling peacefully in her sleep. I frown with a sad smile. I never intended to take her from Shining, but that's just how it happened. I just hope Shining can find someone else.

"Tis alright, Adrian. We shall help Cadence adjust. Thou just concentrate on making her happy, like thou does for us. Besides, tomorrow we have training to resume," Luna tells me and kisses my left cheek.

"Alright... what are Cadence's likes and dislikes?" I ask them.

"She likes those over the top romance novels and plays and loves to be around foals. She used to be a foalsitter, Twilight was the last foal she looked after before she took up her duties as a Princess. She doesn't have many dislikes. She doesn't like spicy food or strong alcoholic drinks, and she's not a fan of anything violent. Like those games Lulu seems to enjoy," Celestia replies. Luna giggles and pokes her tongue out at Celestia.

Hmmm, I could do the same thing I did with Celestia, only take her out to a baby store as well to look at the things there. That might cheer her up.

"Okay, I think I have an idea on what to do," I tell them. I look to the clock to see it's only five thirty.

Cadence begins to awaken after a few minutes of us just cuddling each other. "Hmmmm, this is nice," she mumbles and snuggles herself deeper into us.

I smile and arch my back, getting a few pops from it. "Come on, time to get up," I say, getting groans of protest in response.

"Don't want to," Shella says and licks my neck.

"Well we need to get ready for the day and only twenty minutes to do so," I tell them.

They sigh and grumble as we all get out of bed. Once dressed and our hairs brushed down from the bed head we got, Shella gets Mavis from her crib and we head down to the Dining Hall.

"Good morning, Adrian, your Majesties," Silk Sheets greets us with a bow.

"Good morning, Silk. How are you today?" I ask her.

She smiles at me. "I'm good thank you," she replies. "Is there anything you need me to do?" she then asks.

"Could you tidy up our room please, and after that, could you help Celestia, Luna, or Shella with anything they might need. I'll be out most of the day," I reply.

"Of course, Adrian," she says and follows us.

We enter the Dining Hall and take our seats. We order our breakfasts and Shella gets me to feed her and Mavis some of my love. Mavis giggles as I lightly stroke her cheek and a pink mist like energy flows slowly from my fingers into her. I smile as I kiss Shella and the same happens to her. I then cast a life beam at her to feed her the rest.

"Where are my parents?" I ask.

"They've gone back to Elysium to visit some of their friends. They took Jasmine with them," Celestia replies.

"Oh." Guess I've been so preoccupied lately I didn't notice.

"So what are you doing today that'll have you out most of the day?" Cadence asks.

I smile at her. "I'm taking you out on a date," I tell her.

Her eyes widen and she chokes lightly on the piece of toast she was chewing. "*Cough cough* What?" she asks after her coughing fit dies down.

"I'm taking you out on a date in Canterlot. If you're joining our herd, I want to get to know more about you," I tell her.

She blushes and smiles. "I'd love to," she replies.

We talk while we eat breakfast. Celestia will be going back to the Aries Peak assault plans, Luna will be planning out our training program, Shella will be taking court for a few hours where Luna will take over later and Silk will be helping Celestia with anything she needs.

I tell Celestia and Luna that I'll use the mirror tonight so they can talk to their parents. They haven't been able to talk to them in awhile due to me being out and the latest drama.

We finish breakfast and Cadence and I return to our room. We get changed into something more formal for our date. I wear my black suit from Luna with my sword and a pouch of three hundred bits. She wears a pale pink dress with long white gloves.

She stands in front of me with a nervous smile. "I feel like a little filly again," she tells me.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" I ask her.

"Good... I haven't felt this nervous in years," she replies, but her expression turns sad. "It reminds me of how Shiny first dated me. He tried so hard to make me happy... ended up muzzle first into a street lamp and I had to levitate him home," she tells me with a light giggle.

I chuckle at the image of that. "I bet he was embarrassed," I say.

"Oh he was, he was red faced for the rest of the day... and that's not from the bump," she tells me.

"Well then, I promise to look where I'm going. So, are you ready?" I ask her.

She checks over her dress and nodded. "Yes," she replies.

I hold out my left arm for her and she hooks her right arm around it. We walk out the room and head to the courtyard, getting some strange looks from the guards and maids we pass. We get a carriage and a couple of guards to pull it and make our way into the City.

First, we'll just take a stroll around the city and talk.

"So, Cadence. Where were you born?" I ask her.

"Oh, I was born in Cloudsdale. My family was just an average one. Not wealthy, but not poor. My mother and father ran a small general store in the City. I helped out when I wasn't in school or doing homework. I helped the ponies in my school who were having relationship issues and found I enjoyed it and got my cutie-mark. When I turned twenty, I opened up my own place where I offered advice and ideas to help others, I didn't make a lot of bits from it, but I loved my work all the same," she tells me. "It was when I turned twenty-five that I became an alicorn. Celestia was there explaining how the magic of Equus chose me as the Princess of Love... though I think I've failed in that lately," she says and sighs.

I squeeze her hand reassuringly. "From all I've heard of you, you're doing a great job," I tell her.

She smiles and squeezes my hand back. "Thank you," she replies. "What about you? Where were you born?" she asks.

"I was born in a small town called Elerune. My mother was a seamstress while my father was a member of the town guard. I was still in school myself back then, but just a little over six years ago bandits attacked the town. I saw my parents... I guess injured is what I now know is the truth, were saved by Discord and I only just met them again," I tell her.

"I've met your parents. They're very nice people," she tells me.

"Thank you. I've missed them over the years, but I'm glad to have them back," I reply with a smile.

"You should treasure them for as long as you can. I remember the day my parents died. They both passed away together in their sleep, We found them on their couch holding onto each other with smiles on their faces," she tells me with a sad smile.

"Sounds like a peaceful way to go," I reply.

"It does, but I just hope I won't have to experience it for a very long time," she says and leans against me. "So, where are we going?" she asks.

"We're going to the park first so we can walk around and get to know each other better. Then we'll go to a Café me and the others go to. Then we can do whatever you want, and after that, the next place you'll have to wait for and at the end, a nice romantic dinner," I tell her.

She smiles. "Sounds lovely," she replies.

I tell the guards pulling to take us to the park. We sit quietly and after five minutes, we arrive and the guards open the door for us.

I get out first and then hold my hand out for Cadence. She giggles and takes my hand and steps off the carriage.

I then look back at the guards. "We'll be back in an hour or so," I tell them.

They saluted and sat on a nearby bench. I hold my left arm out for Cadence and she hooks her right arm around it.

"Celestia tells me you used to babysit kids. What made you start that?" I ask her as we walk through the park.

"You mean foalsit?" she asks. I nodded. "Well, it was after I became an alicorn. I was told I'd never have my own foal unless it was with a male alicorn... which there isn't any. So I decided to foalsit, I love foals and their happy playful nature. I guess it was just the closest thing I could have to a foal at the time," she replies and then strokes her stomach. "but thanks to you, I can finally have my own," she tells me.

"I'm glad I could help. You're a kind and caring woman, I have no doubt you'll be a wonderful mother," I tell her.

She hums and leans her head on my shoulder. "Thank you. I just can't wait till I can hold the foal in my arms," she says. "What have you been doing before you came here?" she asks me.

"I travelled Reymorah doing any job I could find. Helping to clear out bandits, bodyguard, escort, healing, and anything else I could help with. I was also hunting the bandits that attacked my home, but I'll have to ask Discord what happened to them as I never found them," I reply.

"So you were like a mercenary?" she asks.

"Eh, kind of, but I didn't hurt anyone innocent or those who didn't deserve it," I reply. "What were your parents like?" I ask her.

She has a sad smile on her face. "They were very kind and tried to give me everything I wanted, which wasn't much as I was happy with my life back then, but when my business started to get financial trouble, they gave me some bits to pay my bills. As I said, I didn't earn much, but I loved my work. They kept telling me to keep at it and enjoy what I did," she tells me. "What were yours like?" she asks in return.

"My dad was strict, but still caring. He wanted me to join the guard when I grew up and we had little practice sessions in our backyard. My mom made clothing, blankets, table cloths, pillow cases, anything with cloth really. When we found out I had a gift for magic, she got me a beginners wand and I started learning the life element. I was twelve back then, I only had under two years of practice before the bandits attacked," I tell her.

"What happened to your parents?" she asks.

I sigh with a sad smile. "Dad was teaching me some new stances with a sword when they came. There were quite a lot of them for a bandit group, thirty I think. Dad told me to hide in the basement and lock it from the inside. I climbed some boxes and watched through a small window as my parents were stabbed and then dragged off. I was down there for two days crying before someone found me," I tell her.

She hugs me tightly. "I'm sorry you had to go through that," she tells me.

"It's fine, my parents are alive, I couldn't ask for more," I reply and hug her back.

We walk for a while longer and I can hear people talking.

"Is that Princess Cadenza?"

"Yeah, it is. What's she doing with the King?"

"Is she part of his herd? I thought she was with the Captain."

I see a couple sitting under a tree talking about us. Cadence looks nervous now. "Maybe we should head back..." she says.

"Ignore them. If they want to speculate, let them. It doesn't change anything," I tell her. After a few more minutes walking through the park, I speak up. "Come on. Let's go back to the carriage and head to the café. I'd like you to meet Mocha," I say to her.

She nodded and we head back to the carriage where the guards stand up and bow. "Welcome back, your Majesties," they say.

"Thank you, can you take us to the Golden Roast Café please? I'll even treat you to anything you want there," I tell them.

They grin at each other and grab the bar at the front of the carriage as I help Cadence into it. We sit down and the carriage starts moving.

After ten minutes, we arrive and enter the Café. The bell goes off and Mocha looks at us. "Adrian!.. Oh hello, Princess." Mocha greets us and bows.

"Good morning, Mocha. At least you didn't trip this time," I tease her.

She blushes slightly. "Hush you... So what can I get for you today?" she asks.

"I'd like my usual please," I reply.

"I'd like a piece of strawberry cake, a cup of jasmine tea and a small fruit salad please," Cadence says.

I look back to the two guards. "What would you two like?" I ask them.

They both ask for a sandwich, a muffin, and a coffee.

"That'll be thirty bits please," Mocha says and I hand over the coins. "Thanks, take a seat and I'll bring it over to you," she tells us and we head over to two tables. Cadence and I sit at one while the guards talk to each other at another one.

"She's nice," Cadence says.

"She can be a bit clumsy at times. Trips over herself when she's surprised or startled," I reply with a chuckle. "but very friendly."

"So what happened on Terra? I know there was a battle, but no pony told me any details," she asks me.

I tell her how the battle went and what happened, minus the gory details. "I then managed to bring down the giant and that's when I passed out. Woke up three days later," I finish.

She frowns sadly. "That sounds terrible, why would anypony want to hurt their own family?" she says.

"Those who think they're superior, stronger, or just like violence. Or for resources, position, and land. There are many things people kill over..." I reply, this isn't a good discussion for a date, time to change topic. "What do you plan to name your child when it's born?" I ask her.

"Well, a foal's name is usually given to them when they're born. Something to do with the magic of harmony," she tells me.

I frown confused. "So you just make up a name when they're born?" I ask.

"Not really, the name just comes to both parents. We're still not sure why that is," she replies.

"Huh... Well, what ever their name is, I'm sure your child will be as beautiful as their mother," I say.

She smiles and blushes slightly. "Our daughter you mean," she tells me.

"Daughter?" I ask with surprise.

"MmmHmmm. I went for a check up two days ago. It's an earth pony filly, with alicorn magic but the same kind of magic as you... Just like Tia's foal," she tells me.

So I have two daughters and a son? I wonder what Luna will have. I smile at Cadence and squeeze her hand.

Our food arrives and we thank Mocha. We dig in as Cadence tells me what she's been doing the last three days. She's been talking with Celestia about their pregnancies and what their babies will look like. Fur, eye, and hair colours. Celestia gave her advice on what to expect in the next few weeks from her own pregnancy.

"I see," I say and finish my tea. "Well then, if you're ready. Shall we go?" I ask and stand next to her holding my hand out.

She takes my hand and I help her up. "Thank you," she says.

I head over to the counter and give Mocha twenty bits as a tip. She thanks me and the guards follow us out.

We get in the carriage and I ask her where she would like to go. "I'd like to go see a play," she tells me.

The guards take us to the Theater where we're taken to the royal box where we sit down and wait for the play to start, it's some kind of romance and action thing. Something about an ex-guard turning bandit and the love between said bandit and a noble woman.

The actors take their place on a set that looks like a forest. A small carriage with bags and chests on the roof is pulled along with some noble looking unicorn woman in it. They're ambushed by some people in green tunics or leather like armour with swords and bows.

They defeat the guards by knocking them out as the earth pony leader named Silver Shield opens the carriage door.

"Please don't kill me," the woman begs him as the men take the bags and chests off the carriage.

Silver just chuckles. "Perish the thought, m'lady," he says and holds her hand. He slips off her middle ring and lightly kisses the back of her hand. "A gentlecolt such as myself would never harm such a beautiful rose," he tells her.

She blushes as he smiles at her before leaving her with the rest of her valuables still on her.

Silver and his men run off into the forest with their pilfered goods as the woman watches them leave, still with a blush on her face.

Three Hours Later

Silver runs past the guards in a mansion trying to catch him. He parries and dodges their swords with his own, laughing at them.

The noble woman named Eloquence is chasing after them. "Stop! Please don't hurt him!" she shouts.

The guards corner Silver at the end of a hallway with only a window. "We got you now scum," a guard says to him.

Eloquence slips past them and hugs Silver. "Take me with you," she says to him.

"Are you sure, m'lady?" he asks her.

"Yes, I love you," she replies and they kiss each other.

"M'lady! Step away from him!" a guard tells her.

Silver just grins. "Hold on tight," he tells her and then jumps out the window.

She screams as they fall and seconds later, two pegasi catch them and they fly off towards the forest.

The last scene shows Eloquence wearing a similar outfit to the bandits and shows them robbing another carriage together with smiles on their faces.

The curtains close and I frown... that was certainly not the ending I was expecting.

Cadence sighs. "It's so romantic that she would give up her nobility just to be with him," she says.

"I was expecting them to... you know... settle down, start a family. Not her becoming a bandit as well," I tell her.

"I guess the director wanted to do something different," she says and stretches her limbs. "So... what's next?" she asks.

"I'm going to take you to somewhere I think you'd like," I tell her.

We leave the Theater and I walk up to the guards and whisper to them to take us to the baby store, they nodded and I help Cadence into the carriage. People watch our carriage go by as Cadence leans against me while looking out the window.

I notice she has a sad smile. "Is something wrong?" I ask her.

She sighs and looks at me. "Just remembering the time Shiny took me out," she replies.

"I'm sorry about Shining, I really didn't mean to break you two apart," I tell her.

"We knew this could happen... auntie Tia told me they didn't find a mate because they would just out live them... but I wanted to find love, I wanted it so badly... I'm the alicorn of Love and I found it hard to find it myself," she says and looks me in the eyes. "I just hope I have this time," she tells me.

I give her a light kiss. "Don't worry, I'll try to make you and the others as happy as I can," I tell her.

The carriage stops and I help her out. She gasps when she sees the store. "Why are we here?" she asks.

"I'm going to pay for anything you want to get for our daughter," I reply.

She smiles widely and pulls me into the store. For the next hour she looks around and gets a pink crib, a few different pink full body outfits she called a onesie, and some toys to start with.

I paid for them and loaded them into the carriage. For our next stop, we head to a fancy restaurant called 'The Golden Bell'. Canterlot sure likes stores with Golden in it's name. I open the door for her and we both enter. Everyone inside stops what they're doing and stares at us as a waiter quickly makes his way over to us.

"Your Majesties, welcome to The Golden Bell. We have an empty private table if you want it," he tells us with a bow.

"Yes please," I reply.

He leads us into the back with all eyes still on us. We enter the room with a circular table with four chairs around it. I pull a chair out for Cadence and she thanks me.

"Here are your menus," the waiter says and hands them to us. We look through them and pick our meals. "I will be back with your order in a few minutes," he tells us and leaves.

We chat while we wait for our food and she sighs. "I've just thought about what Twilight will think of us..." she says.

Oh yeah, Twilight is Shining's sister... I'm not looking forward to that conversation.

"We'll deal with that when the time comes... right now, let's just enjoy ourselves," I tell her.

Our food arrives and we chat while we eat. "What are you doing tomorrow?" she asks me.

"I'll begin my training with Luna and to harness Mother Gaia's power," I reply.

"Who is Mother Gaia?" she asks confused.

I show her the back of my left hand. "She's the aspect of the life element and she's in this orb on my hand," I reply.

She looks surprised. "How did she get in there?" she asks and I tell her what Gaia told me. "I see. So when you master her power, you're going to help regrow her forest?" she asks.

"That's the plan, but I got a feeling Grogar will be needing to be taken out before hand," I tell her and finish my meal. "Ahhh, that was good," I say.

I wait a few minutes sipping my cider while she finishes hers.

She puts down her fork and looks at me with worry. "Adrian... I need to tell you something," she says.

"What?" I ask with a raised brow.

"I've started getting these cravings for... meat... like auntie Tia," she tells me nervously.

"I see, and have you talked to Tia about it?" I ask her.

"No... not yet. I wanted to get your opinion first," she replies.

"Well as far as what I've seen from Tia, it's not harmful to you. I could catch some fish later and you can try some. Since I can eat meat, I'm guessing our children will be able to as well," I tell her.

She looks a bit queasy at that. "Do I have to?" she asks.

I give her a sad smile. "Most likely. I need a source of protein to stay healthy. So I think the ba... foals, will need it too," I reply.

She rubs her stomach and sighs. "Alright, I'll try it. If it helps keep our foal healthy," she tells me.

I lean over and hold her hand. "You'll be fine. Come on, let's pay for the meal and head back to the Castle," I tell her and we get up. We head back into the main room where everyone stares at us again. I pay for the meal with a tip and we go back to the Castle.

The guards drop us off in the courtyard and then take the carriage away after we thank them and I take Cadence's baby stuff out of it.

Cadence then turns to me and smiles. "Thank you for the date, it was fun," she tells me.

"You're welcome. I'll take these up to the baby room," I say and lift the box with the crib in it over my shoulder. "What are you going to do now?" I ask her.

"I'll probably go and keep auntie Tia company," she tells me and kisses me.

I return the kiss and smile. "Alright, If any of you need me. I'll be in our room talking to Mother Gaia," I tell her and make my way to the Castle doors.

"Okay. I'll see you tonight," she says.

I head up to our room and place the box in the baby room, along with the toys and clothes. Once placed, I return to the bedroom and lay on the bed.

I then tap the life orb on my hand. 'Gaia, what would I have to expect when I start training to control your power?' I ask her.

The orb lights up in response. 'It will be similar to how you channel your elements, except it will be much more intense and you'll need to focus a lot more, and this time, I won't be guiding you like I did against the giant,' she tells me.

Hmmm, doesn't sound too hard. I'm guessing it might just take time and practice.

'Thanks. I can't wait to get started,' I reply.

'If you thought it's going to be easy, think again. Starswirl took six months just to master my power,and mine is the safest to learn,' she tells me.

Well... bugger.

Two Hours Later

The others enter the bedroom looking tired, After Shella put Mavis in her crib, they cuddle up to me and Celestia levitates the mirror over to us. I smile and open the connection to Solaris and Galaxia.

They congratulate Cadence on joining the herd and she blushes. She was also excited to meet Celestia and Luna's parents for the first time as well.

After a good thirty minutes of just idle chit chat, they say their goodnights and Celestia puts the mirror in a safe box they had placed in the room to keep it safe and hidden. I would too if it was the only method of contacting my parents... Although we could just get another mirror from Terra if we had to.

Once we were all settled down, we all slowly fall asleep.

Author's Note

5k chapter for ya!

Next chapter in the beginning of Adrian's life aspect power training.

Chapter 54: The Power of an Aspect Part 1

Terracana
Chapter 54: The Power of an Aspect Part 1

Aspect Training Day 1

After waking up and getting ready for the day. Celestia sent a letter to Twilight and her friends to see if they would like to come and watch. Knowing Twilight, she wouldn't miss this chance to see a new kind of magic.

We all head out to the Training Grounds after breakfast. I'm in my armour, minus the helmet, standing in an open area with everyone else a good ten metres away. Cadence looks nervous standing next to Twilight, who has a notebook and quill ready.

Shining Armour is also here but over with the other guards and doing his best not to look our way...

Discord is also here grinning like an idiot, with some kind of giant white hand clenched shut on his right hand with '#1' on the index finger that's pointing up and waving a little flag with 'Go Adrian Go' written on it with his left... He even has a shirt with my face on it...

I ignore him and tap the orb on the back of my hand. 'Okay, Gaia. What's the first thing I do?' I ask her.

I yelp as she appears in front of me. "First, I will connect my power to you, in which you shall take on your aspect form, just like when you fought the giant. You will then feel my mana flowing into you," she tells me. I just stare at her with wide eyes. "Ah yes, this is just an astral projection of myself. While I can use my power myself in this form, it is only one-tenth of my full power, but channelled through you, it brings out it's full potential," she tells me.

"She's right," Discord says. "Even my power was greatly reduced in my astral form. It's why I was mostly only able to watch over you and intervene when necessary," he tells me.

"Alright. So what do I do once you channel your mana into me?" I ask Gaia.

"Once you have taken your aspect form, you will need to gather both your's and my mana and mix them together. Once done, you just need to cast the spell like you normally would for the life element. Once you have gotten used to this, I shall then teach you how to grow plants and control them," she tells me.

"Okay... let's do this," I say and close my eyes.

"I'm now channelling my mana. Don't resist it, just let it flow within you," she tells me and I feel her mana pushing against me. I tense up and frown, this feels strange. "You need to relax," she tells me.

I take a deep breath and exhale slowly a few times, I feel myself relax and calm down. I can feel something on the back of my neck moving and I open my eyes to see vines crawl over my armour with white flowers on them. I then feel something wrap around the top of my head, I reach up and feel flowers overlapping my crown.

I look around and everything looks different. I can see the energy of the world around me, in the plants and birds flying by, in the people around me. My wives and Cadence all have the strongest glow around them followed by Twilight. I notice Twilight writing in her book with wide eyes.

"Whoa..." I mutter. I notice my voice has a slight echo sound to it.

"Good, you now have access to my power. You need to gather mana from both of us and mould it into your hand or chest. From your hand, you can cast beams, projectiles, or waves. A wave is like a wall that pushes outwards from you and looks like an ocean wave. From your chest, you can cast it as a nova, or a self cast," she tells me.

I look at my right hand and flex my fingers a couple of times. I close my eyes and gather some of my mana into my hand. I then feel for Gaia's mana for a few minutes to get used to having it there. I frown and try to gather some of it.

"Don't force it, take your time and get used to the feeling," she tells me.

I stop and just keep feeling it within me. I sit down on the ground and spend thirty minutes just getting used to it, feeling and pulling at it to test it's limits. Twilight asks what's happening but is shushed instantly.

Once I feel comfortable enough, I gather my mana again and some of Gaia's slowly. I then try to merge them both like I would with two elements. I can feel them mix, but it quickly breaks apart and a visible mist of green mana expels from my hand and fades into the air.

"Not bad for a first attempt, try again," Gaia tells me with an encouraging tone.

I gather the mana again and mix them. I continue trying over the next hour, some stabilising longer than others.

After the fortieth try, I finally I get it stable. "Good," Gaia says. "Aim at one of the targets over there," she tells me while pointing to a target board down the spell range. "To fire it as a projectile you need to just release the mana outward without channelling anymore into it." She tells me.

I aim my palm at the target and release the mana. My arm recoils from the force as a ball of green energy with a thin trail soars down the range and hits the fourth ring and explodes in a mist.

"Very good," she says and smiles. "Now try a beam. To form a beam, do the same as a projectile, but just keep pouring mana into the spell," she tells me.

I merge the mana together again and aim at the target. I release the spell and pour more mana into it. It lasts for a few seconds before breaking apart again.

"Not bad. You did better than Starswirl did on his first try, but you need to practice merging our mana together some more. For the next two hours, I want you to practice mixing our mana together," she tells me.

I sit down and begin practising. Twilight walks over and starts asking Gaia questions like what she is, how old she is, what can her magic do and so on. I also notice one of the flowers on the vines is starting to wilt.

Two Hours Later

After a couple of hours more of practising to mix our mana together, I can now keep them together for a good five seconds. Not much but it's a start and I still got plenty of time to get better at it.

"Alright, Adrian. We'll stop for today, if you haven't noticed, the white flowers on your vines represent my mana," she tells me. I look to see eighteen out of twenty of them are wilted. "When all the flowers wilt. I can no longer help you and must rest. The reason I'm almost out already is because you still wasted a lot of mine and your mana while merging them," she informs me.

"I see. So how would I go about not wasting it?" I ask her.

"We shall begin that lesson tomorrow, but right now, don't you and Queen Luna have a 'date' to attend," she tells me and giggles.

Date? What date?.. Oh, does she mean our training session together?

I smile at her. "Ah yes, thank you for reminding me," I reply. The vines begin retracting to the back of my neck, but it doesn't feel like it's going inside me. Like there's some kind of portal there.

I feel Gaia's mana is now gone. "Thank you for the lesson, Gaia. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's as well," I say to her, my tone back to normal.

"You're welcome, now I must go and rest. I shall see you tomorrow, Adrian," she tells me a fades away. The orb on my hand turns dull.

I then turn to Luna "Are you ready for our training, Luna?" I ask her.

She smiles and nodded. "We are, but first, we will have lunch and then kick thy flank across the dirt," she replies.

I laugh and we head inside for lunch.

After lunch, Luna did as she said and kicked my ass in training, but I'm getting better and getting more hits on her as well.

"That was good, Adrian. Thou art getting better," Luna tells me.

"Thanks, but I think that'll be all for today before I lose feeling in my legs," I reply and cast a healing spell on myself. Luna bashed the shit out of my thighs and shins, despite the armour.

"ADRIAN!" I hear Twilight yell at me with anger in her tone.

I look towards the Castle and see her stomping towards me with a deep frown and glaring at me with Cadence trying to stop her... Ah shit.

"How could you break Cadence and my Brother apart!" she yells at me. Ignoring Cadence's pleas.

I look to Luna who shrugs and then back at Twilight. "That was actually their choice, Twilight. Shining thought Cadence would be better off with someone who could stay by her side after she admitted she loves me. It wasn't my intention to break them up, but that's just what happened," I tell her.

"But they love each other!" she yells again.

Cadence places her hand on Twilight's shoulder. "Twilight, I do love Shiny... but, I'm scared of the day he will die and I'll remain... I'm scared of never loving again... or choosing to follow Shiny into the afterlife from the depression... Adrian is a kind, caring, and gentle person. He's given me what I've been waiting thirty years for," she tells her and places her hands on her stomach.

Twilight frowns with a pout. "But... what about Shiny? I noticed him looking at you sadly a few times during Adrian's training," she says.

"I know, but we've agreed to remain friends... I do miss being with him, and we both knew this could happen. Even after the warnings auntie Tia gave me," Cadence replies.

Twilight sighs and looks back and walks up to me as she glares at me with a frown again. She looks more adorable than scary when she only comes up to my chest. "You better look after Cadence like your life depended on it then!" she tells me.

"Don't worry, Twilight. I'll treat her just like I do the others," I tell her.

"Good," she says and sighs. "Sorry about shouting at you... it was just seeing Shiny not his usual self that set me off," she tells me.

"I'll see if Shining wants to go out for a drink in a few days, maybe some fishing," I reply. "but right now, I've worked up an appetite," I say and my stomach rumbles. "Are you going to join us, Twilight?" I ask her.

They giggle at me and she nodded, we then head back inside.

Aspect Training Day 30

Over the last month, I've been practising with merging mine and Gaia's mana. I can now hold it for a good twenty seconds before It breaks apart.

I'm also getting better with mana efficiency and not wasting as much anymore... but not good enough yet according to Gaia.

Twilight and the others went back to Ponyville three weeks ago. Blueblood and Fleur have also been taking trips to Ponyville to visit Rarity.

Shella just laid her eggs two days ago. She's also told me the hatchlings back at the Hive have found families and are growing up well. She's now taking a break from laying eggs for at least a month now.

There's been another attack from the gryphons. This time with a larger group of twenty, but thanks to the mages we got from Terra, they were taken out with only two losses.

We've also got reports of undead along the borders of the Badlands. We've sent some mages with earth pony guards to protect them and pegasi snipers to check the area and take down any they see. Even letters from the minotaurs and cervine were arriving with news of undead attacking them as well. A meeting with all the Alliance leaders will be held in Canterlot within two weeks.

I took Shining out with some other guards for a fishing trip. He was feeling a bit depressed, and I don't blame him, but apparently, he and Silk Sheets bumped into each other and knocked each other over, Silk was on top of Shining and found herself straddling him by accident. She told me she was so embarrassed from it, but he was very polite and even apologised to her. During our fishing, Shining told me she was actually rather cute and would like to see her again. I told him if he likes her, then go and just talk to her.

I brought back some fish for Celestia, Cadence, and I. At dinner, Cadence looked at the cooked fish with a cringe and took a tiny bit with her fork and hesitantly ate it. After chewing it for a bit, her expression softened and her eyes widened. She said it was surprisingly tasty and ate the rest.

Luna and I trained together every evening at the Training Grounds and in the Gym where Celestia and Cadence joined us for a light workout as well.

Cadence is getting used to sleeping with us as she and Celestia now sleep to my left and right to keep pressure off their stomachs. Shella and Luna take turns sleeping on top of me while the other cuddles up to Celestia or Cadence.

Cadence has started to have her morning sickness. I was surprised it took so long before she started feeling it, but I helped her every morning by rubbing her back which she appreciated.

I've taken my wives and Cadence out on another date and we all did one thing they each wanted to do. We all had a pleasant time and grew closer together.

We wake up and we go through our morning routine. A new desk has been added to the room for Cadence to brush her hair at and keep her grooming utensils on.

Shella gets Mavis and I greet my giggling daughter. Her hair is growing longer and so is her horn. Once we're all ready, I head back out with Luna for more aspect training.

Gaia and I are in an open area and continuing to practise with merging mana and mana efficiency. I'm sitting on the ground with my eyes closed and feeling the two manas within me.

Halfway through, I hear someone running towards us. "My Queen. Undead are attacking the border town of Whinniesberg," the voice of a female tells Luna.

I open my eyes and see a guard holding a scroll out to Luna. She takes the scroll and opens it up.

She reads it and frowns. "We see, prepare the two remaining airships and gather as many of the Terran mages as you can get on board," she tells her.

"So we're going to defend the town?" I ask her. That echoing tone still present.

"Yes, and with thy new power, thou shalt be effective in protecting the town from the undead," she replies.

"Alright then, let's get going," I say.

Author's Note

Next Chapter will be a battle with the Undead!

Also... Never wearing a Tuxedo again! Those things itch like crazy!

Chapter 56: The Power of an Aspect Part 3

Terracana
Chapter 56: The Power of an Aspect Part 3

I spent the next two hours growing the sunflower seeds one by one. I wilted two of them, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

"Very good," Gaia says. "Now that you know how to grow them, you now have to learn how to move them," she tells me.

"And how do I do that?" I ask.

"Sit in front of one of the flowers and close your eyes. Try to feel the life force of the flower," she tells me and holds her right hand out to a sunflower. To our surprise, it uprooted itself and began 'walking' on it's thick roots. It walked over to Celestia who was staring at it with wide eyes. Using its two leaves like arms, it bowed to her.

Jasmine and my parents laugh as Celestia returned the bow with a small one of her own and an amused expression. The flower then turns around and walks back to the spot it grew from and replants itself.

"Feeling for it's connection is the hardest part. It took Starswirl two long months to find the connection, it then took him four more months mastering it," Gaia tells me.

I sigh and get right to it.

Training Day 37

Over the last week, I've been practising with feeling for the flowers life force. With very very little progress. Although I can see it, I just can't feel it. I've also been practising more with mana efficiency and casting. Luna and I have been training with each other some more in the evenings and I'm getting better with my sword and shield.

Shining has finally asked Silk if she would like to join him for lunch. She blushed and stuttered a few times, but with some conflicting emotions as she looked back at me, I nodded at her with a smile. She agreed and they went together into the city. I don't know how it went, but by the happy smile on Shining's face, I can guess it went well.

I visited Vortigan and his family for dinner at his Castle with my lovers. He tells me Orthos has been sighted leaving the borders of Reymorah, but all traces of him have been lost, as if he just up and vanished.

The Lapis Hive has grown some more and even some ponies have moved in with them. Shella's hatchlings have also been adopted by other changelings and are growing nicely... but we've been told some of Chrysalis's changelings have been sensed nearby faintly before disappearing. We've sent some more guards down there to beef up their security.

Cadence and Celestia's stomachs are getting noticeably bigger, Celestia more so, and people are gossiping about it. Some are excited and can't wait to see the royal foals, while others just don't care or hate the thought.

Mom, dad, and Jasmine are heading back to Terra to meet some friends and catch up with their work. Mom still makes clothing, which she and Rarity have been talking to each other about, trading ideas and designs. Dad just helps around her shop and does the heavy lifting, accounting, and stock checks.

Ponyville has been peaceful and quiet, though a couple of changelings have moved to live there. A life crystal has also been set up in Ponyville, under heavy guard though.

Shella has also been getting bigger. She tells me she's carrying six eggs this time, and that something strange has happened that should be impossible... one of them is a Princess, just like Mavis. She told me that shouldn't be possible as a Queen can only lay one princess egg every one hundred years. Celestia believes it's the magic that's within me that may be the cause, or the fact that she's so well fed, it might be speeding up the process as she has a lot more energy than Chrysalis does.

After a tiring day of training and little progress with the plant control. We just get into bed and fall asleep in each others embrace.

I open my eyes and notice my lovers are gone. I'm also not in our room anymore. I sit up and look around, I'm in some sort of ancient looking hall. Moss and vines cover and hang from the worn stone walls and ceiling, a pool of clear still water is in the middle of the room and I'm wearing my casual clothes as well.

A snort to my left gets my attention. I look up to see a towering being covered in flames with only two bright eyes on it's face. It has no legs but a small trail of flames as it hovers above the floor. Its hair looks like the flames you would see on a campfire and It's arms are also folded across its broad chest, just staring at me.

"So this is the mortal we must make a contract with?" It asks in a deep male voice.

I only just notice Gaia standing next to him. "Yes, you've been watching him and with the looming threat to both his and our world, you know we must," she replies to him.

"Yes, I know of who threatens us, but why must we choose this weak child? He is nothing like his ancestor," the being of flame says.

I frown slightly at that. I'm still learning dammit!

"That may be true," Gaia says. Gee, thanks. "but he hasn't had the practice and training Starswirl had," she tells him.

Whilst they argue with each other, I look around and notice a few more entities looking at me. There are three others.

One looks like a woman made of pure clear water, she's wearing a dress that looks like it's made from seaweed and seashells, and her hair looks like a flowing river that fades away at the end.

The next looks like a golem made of stone and earth, two diamonds for eyes with moss growing on the top of it's shoulders and head. Vines hang from it's face, making it look like a beard.

And the last one, my eyes almost pop out of my head. It looks like skeleton in a tattered black robe holding a very morbid looking scythe. The pole is made of four arms, one holding the next, the fourth arm is holding a skull with a blade coming out of the mouth. It's eyes are also glowing a familiar red and black.

I then look back to the still arguing Gaia and fire being. "Where am I?" I ask with confusion.

Gaia turns from the living flame and looks at me. "You are in the Hall of the Aspects... spiritually of course," she replies.

"Okay... and why am I here?" I ask.

The flame being speaks up. "Those gathered wish to see your quality ourselves. The others either don't care or are busy right now," he replies.

"Alright... what do I have to do?" I ask and stand up.

"For my test. I wish to see if you can handle my power before any training or practice. If you can keep yourself from dying, I'll accept a contract with you," he tells me.

Gaia sighs. "Infernus, why must you always use the most dangerous test of them all?" she asks him with a glare.

"Simple, I shall not aid those I deem unworthy. Unlike you who would settle for a promise that may never come to pass," he replies to her.

They start arguing again, but my attention is pulled to the being now standing beside me. I look up to see the robed skeleton just staring at me.

"You certainly have great potential young one," he tells me in a cold emotionless voice. Just the tone of it gives me chills.

"Erm... thank you," I reply.

"I am the Arcane Aspect. Arcanum Mortis," he tells me and holds out a bony hand.

I take his hand and shake it. "Adrian Stormsword," I reply.

He chuckles, but there's no emotion behind it... very creepy. "We all know who you are, descendant of Starswirl," he says.

"So why are you here?" I ask.

He looks at the still arguing Aspects. "I simply wish to correct a mistake I've made. Before I even met Starswirl, I was contracted to another... Grogar," he tells me. I go wide eyed and he sighs. "Yes, I am responsible for the monster that now plagues Terra and Equus."

"Why?" I ask.

"He wanted to understand why such an element as mine exists. I too wished to know why such a dark and tainted energy such as my own existed. So I made a contract with him, to work together to discover why. As the years went on, his mind began changing. Warping into a twisted and power hungry being. He found a way to stop his own heart and grant himself immortality... undeath. This broke our contract and I was forced to cast him aside, but he got away before I could end his madness," he tells me, again with no emotion what so ever.

I frown in thought. "Just because your element can raise the dead, doesn't mean it's tainted. It's how someone uses it. I use the arcane element to protect those I care for, to put down those who would cause them harm," I tell him.

He laughs. "Word for word, Starswirl told me the exact same thing," he tells me.

I chuckle slightly. "Well I mean it, I'm guessing it was Grogar who gave your element the name, element of death?" I ask him.

He looks down and nodded. "Yes, because soon after he escaped, he began experiments on corpses and brought them back as mindless slaves to his will, and he still to this day holds a portion of my power. It is why I'm in this form," he tells me.

"So if we kill Grogar, you'd get your power back and turn back to your original form?" I ask him.

"Correct," he replies.

"Adrian," the voice of Infernus says and I look at him. "Are you willing to go through my test?" he asks while Gaia looks upset and is glaring at Infernus.

After a few seconds of thought, I give my answer. "Yes. If I am to stand a chance against Grogar and his undead army, I'll need as much help as I can get," I reply.

He unfolds his arms and hold his right hand out to me. "Very well. If you survive my power, then I shall make a contract with you, but to do so, you need my orb which Discord has," he tells me.

I look at his hand as I then hold out my right hand which he grabs and I can feel a burning heat flare up inside my chest. I grunt in discomfort and fall to my knees. I see my hands burst into flames as well as my feet and shoulders.

I clutch my chest as the burning sensation grows. It feels like my insides are melting. I groan in pain as it continues to spread through my body, as well as the flames covering me. The pain gets too intense and I scream from what feels like my flesh starting to melt.

"Adrian, please hold on! You're almost there!" I barely hear Gaia tell me.

I fall onto my side and curl up into a ball. This feels just as painful as the time I was shot by Grogar in that vision I had.

Just as I was about to give up from the intense pain, it stopped. I go limp on the floor and breath heavily, trembling from the aftershock.

Gaia kneels beside me but keeps her hands away. "Adrian? Are you alright?" she asks with worry.

I open my eyes and look at her. Well that's different, I can see her face but it's in different colours of yellow and orange. I look to Infernus and see bright white and yellow colours. Looking around the hall, I see black, deep blues, and cyan colours. I guess I can see the heat everything gives off.

"I'm fine... bloody hell that hurt," I reply and look at myself. I'm covered head to toe in flames but my clothes are still in one piece at least.

Infernus then moves beside me. "You survived... as promised, after you finish your training with Gaia, I shall make a contract with you," he tells me and holds a hand out.

I take his hand and he pulls me up. The flames covering me dissipate and the heat inside me fades away.

"Where is this mortal I am to...YOU!" a female voice echoes loudly through the hall. I turn around and see none other than Nightmare Moon staring at me. Her wounds are gone and her hand is back.

I glare at her and channel four arcane elements into my right hand.

"WAIT!" Gaia yells and stands in front of me.

"Gaia move! That bitch hurt Luna and tried to posses me!" I tell her.

"That maybe true, but you'll need her help as well!" she replies.

"Her help? Why would I need or want her help?" I ask, still glaring at Nightmare Moon.

"Because she is the Shadow Aspect," Gaia tells me.

What?.. I look at Gaia with wide eyes.

"Her real name is Umbra," she says.

My glare turns to a frown and I look back at Nightmar... Umbra. "That still doesn't excuse her from trying to posses me! And what she did to Luna!" I shout out.

To my surprise, Umbra looks away with a sad frown. "I did what I must to survive. I was sent along with Lux and Discord to Equus when Starswirl gave his life to banish Grogar. I needed a place to gather mana, and the mana on the planet was too weak to sustain me, and the only source I found after months of searching came from Luna and her sister. At first, I only stayed within her to survive, slowly feeding off a tiny portion of her mana," she tells me and looks me in the eyes.

"That was the time she was getting depressed and angry at her sister. I chose then to offer her a contract to help her make her nights better with my power. She accepted and that's when I made a mistake, her anger and magic overwhelmed me, and the result is what you see now. It altered my form, and my mind. I still feel her pain and anger," she says. "She wanted my power not to make her night better, but to make it eternal."

My frown is gone and I'm staring at her slack jawed. So she didn't corrupt Luna? It was the other way around?

I shake my head and frown again. "And how do I know you aren't just making this up?" I ask her.

"Aspects are bound by a law Adrian. We cannot harm, alter, or kill anyone unless they break our contracts," Gaia tells me.

"Then why did you try to posses me?" I ask Umbra.

"I was still feeling the negative emotions from Luna, even after we were separated. I was dying, slowly without a source to feed from. Then I felt someone using my shadow element. So I hid inside a woman and suggested to her we go to where the source was coming from. After awhile, I found you, training to use my element, and with Luna's anger and my own at what she did to me. I was going to use you to feed and to punish her," she tells me.

"I managed to get enough mana from you before you forced me to retreat to come back here. Where the others helped to restore my mind," she says and walks over to me. I just notice that instead of her blue armour, she's wearing a dark blue dress that looks like a shadowy mist.

"I am sorry for the pain I have caused, but just like any mortal, we too fear death," she tells me and holds her hand out.

I just stare at her for awhile and sigh. "Fine, but you're going to have to earn my trust," I tell her and shake her hand.

"Thank you. I shall offer you my contract as repayment for my actions towards you, once Discord gets my orb, I shall help you to learn using my power," she tells me.

"Wait, you said two others were sent with you. I know Discord, but where is this Lux?" I ask.

Umbra sighs. "He resides in Celestia," she tells me.

I go wide eyed, but the hall starts to blur and I feel dizzy.

Gaia places her hand on my shoulder. "You are waking up, we shall continue this the next time you sleep," she tells me and everything fades away.

Chapter 57: The Power of an Aspect Part 4

Terracana
Chapter 57: The Power of an Aspect Part 4

I wake up to the sounds of my lovers yelling at me.

"ADRIAN! WAKE UP!" Celestia yells right in my ear.

"Gah!" I yelp and rub the inside of my ear.

"Adrian! Are thou alright?" Luna asks me. "We could not enter thy dream and thou were screaming," she then tells me.

Shella and Cadence both look worried as well.

"I'm fine," I reply and lift my left hand up. "Gaia took me to meet some of the other aspects," I tell her. I then frown with a sigh. "I need to talk to both you and Tia alone," I tell Luna. "Could you give us a moment please," I ask as I look at both Cadence and Shella.

They look at each other and nodded. "Alright," Cadence replies and they both go into the baby room.

"Tia, can you place a soundproof ward in the room please," I ask her.

She looks scared now but does as I ask. "What's the matter?" she asks in almost a whisper.

"First, Luna. I met Nightmare Moon again," I tell her and she gasps.

"Are thou alright? She didn't harm thee did she?" she asks.

"No, but there's something you need to know and tell me. She didn't corrupt you did she," I say more as a statement than a question.

She frowns. "To be honest, we don't fully remember what happened. We remember being angry, and she offered me power. In my sadness and anger, I accepted. Then it's all a blur from there. We remember fighting Tia... her tears... then going in and out of consciousness over the years on the moon... and then our mind was clear when the elements freed us."

"I see. Well, you actually corrupted her. She is the Shadow Aspect and her name is Umbra. She offered you a contract to help you make your nights better, but your anger turned that into a lust for eternal night," I tell her.

Her eyes widen and tears start to roll down her cheeks. "Thou mean we are the one at fault?" she asks with a hand over her mouth.

I hug her to my chest. "You didn't know what would happen, but when I get her orb... will you talk with her? The other Aspects have freed her from her corruption. She's actually quite nice and feels guilty about what she has done... to both you and me," I tell her and stroke her hair.

She starts crying into my chest and hugs me back. I then look to Celestia.

"Tia... are you going to tell me or do you not know?" I ask her.

"Know what?" she asks with genuine confusion.

"You have an Aspect within you," I tell her.

Her eyes widen. "What?" she ask again, but this time, in disbelief.

"Umbra told me she went into Luna to survive, and that Lux, the Light Aspect, did the same with you," I tell her.

'It is true,' a voice in my head says. Seems Luna and Celestia heard it as well.

A small orb of light leaves Celestia's chest and forms into a man made of pure white energy. His face only shows two eyes that are a bright golden colour and he seems to be wearing some kind of toga.

"Greetings. I am Lux, the Aspect of Light," he says with a bow. I feel the covers pulled over us with a dark blue glow. "I apologise if I have embarrassed you, but I believe you would like answers," he says.

Celestia is the first to speak up. "Y-You have been inside me all this time?" she asks.

He nodded in reply. "Yes, you and your sister were the only strong sources of mana able to sustain us. Your planet just simply doesn't have the mana we need to survive, but I have kept myself hidden deep within you and only taken enough to keep me alive. I made sure not to interfere with your life, but I have been giving you advice subconsciously after your sister was banished to keep you from doing something you would regret, and I have used your mana to contact the other Aspects from time to time," he tells her.

"Is that why I felt weaker now and then? You were syphoning my magic?" she asks with a slight frown.

"Correct, and I do apologise for that, but both Umbra and I are now bound to this world and Umbra is slowly starving again without a source of mana to feed from. The mana she took from you Adrian will only last her a few more months," he tells us.

"Then why doesn't she come here and let me feed her?" I ask.

"You would allow her?" he asks surprised.

I nodded but Luna speaks up. "We shall," she says with determination.

I look at her with wide eyes. "Are you sure?" I ask.

"Yes, we are to blame for her corruption... we would like to help her," she replies.

I look back to Lux whose eyes are closed. "Very well, I shall contact her. Please get dressed as she shall be here within the hour," he tells us and turns back into a ball of light. Celestia frowns again as she watches the ball slowly going back into her chest.

"All these years... I thought it was a magical fluctuation that was causing my magic to falter every year..." she says.

"Are you alright, Tia?" I ask her.

She sighs and looks at me. "I will be. I just need time to take this all in..." she replies and kisses me.

I smile into the kiss. "Come on, we need to get ready for when Umbra arrives," I tell them.

One Hour Ten Minutes Later

We are all dressed and had breakfast brought up to us. We're sitting on the bed waiting for Umbra while I comb Cadence's hair. She hums happily while holding Mavis in her arms. Luna is massaging my shoulders while Celestia is braiding Shella's hair.

My lovers all yelp as Lux appears out of Celestia again. "She is here," he tells us.

A shadow in the corner moves into the middle of the room and forms into Umbra.

I can feel Luna's hands shaking on my shoulders. I put down the brush in my hand and place my hand on hers. Her trembling calms down but isn't gone.

"Hello, Umbra," I greet her.

She looks up at me with a faint smile. "Greetings, Adrian," she then looks at Luna. "Hello, Luna," she says to my scared wife.

I turn around and pull Luna onto my lap and hug her tightly. "Luna, she's not going to hurt you," I tell her.

"H-Hello, U-U-Umbra," she finally replies.

"I understand if you're still afraid of me," Umbra says and hangs her head. "but I meant you no harm... I just wanted to help make your nights better. I always preferred the night time over day," she says and looks at Celestia. "No offence," she says to her.

Celestia, to my surprise, giggles. "None taken," she replies and continues to braid Shella's hair... I thought she would be furious at Umbra for what she had to do to her sister.

"We... we're sorry for w-what we did to thee," Luna says, still gripping onto me.

"And I forgive you, if you'll forgive me," she replies.

Luna looks into her eyes for a few seconds, and smiles. "We do," she then gets up off my lap and walks over to Umbra and hugs her.

Umbra looks stunned, but then smiles and returns the hug.

I just had a thought. "Umbra, Lux. Can you make a contract with anyone?" I ask them.

They look at each other and nodded. "If they have the will, mana, and strength to wield our power, then yes," Lux replies. "Why?" he then asks.

"I know I won't be able to master all the aspects in time. I was thinking maybe others could learn to harness them," I reply.

"You do not wish to learn them yourself?" Umbra asks confused.

"If I had the time, but we don't. Grogar will be attacking in just over four years. How long did it take for Starswirl to master them all?" I reply and ask.

Lux looks up in thought. "About twenty years," he tells me.

"Exactly... I don't have that much time, and it would be better to have multiple aspects fighting at once whereas I'll only be able to use one at a time. It just makes more sense," I tell them.

"Are you sure? Once an aspect makes a contract, they cannot make another unless it is broken or the one with the contract dies," Umbra tells me.

"Yes, I'm sure. I don't need all that power anyway, I have my friends and lovers to help me," I reply with a smile. My girls all return the smile.

"Very well then, but who shall you have make contracts with us?" Lux asks.

"Why not you and Celestia? Same with Umbra and Luna?" I tell them. They stare at each other and then at me. "What? It makes sense. Luna is the alicorn of the night, the night represents shadows. Celestia is the alicorn of the day, and day represents light. Plus you know each other already," I say.

"He speaks the truth," Lux says with a hand on his chin. "I have grown accustomed to Celestia's mana, and with her mindset."

"I feel the same. While we were... on the moon," Umbra says and hugs Luna again. "I grew accustomed to hers as well," she says.

"Great, that means you can help me when the battle finally comes," I tell them with a grin.

Luna and Celestia smile back at me. "Do you know any others who would accept?" Lux asks.

"Maybe. Shining might go well with the Shield Aspect. His barrier and shield spells are the strongest of the guards here, and maybe Vortigan could help us, he's taken a liking to the air element I taught him," I reply.

"I'm afraid only beings with their own mana can harness an Aspects power, as they'll need their own to mix with ours," Lux tells me.

Well damn. "Wait. Starswirl turned himself into a human, could we turn ponies into humans as well?" I ask.

"It's possible, you wish to turn Shining Armour into a human so he can harness his own magic?" Celestia replies and asks.

"It's worth a try if he agrees," I reply, but right now we need their orbs. "Discord!" I shout out to get his attention.

With a poof of pink smoke, he's standing by the door with a pair of tight pink looking underwear. "Adrian, what can I help you with my boy!" he asks cheerfully.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "What are you wearing?" I ask. He also has some goggles and a tube next to his mouth going up past his horns.

"I was just about to go snorkelling when you called." He then notices Umbra and Lux. "Ah, hello my dear. I see you've patched things up with wittle Woona," he says with a smile.

"We said to stop calling us that!" Luna tells him.

Discord chuckles and looks at Lux. "And finally out and about Luxy hmmm?"

"That I am, Discord. Still causing trouble for others I can see," he replies.

"Oh you know me, always one for a laugh," he then looks back at me. "So what do you need, Adrian?"

"I need you to get Umbra's and Lux's orbs," I tell him.

He raises his eyebrows. "Oh, you wish to master their powers next?" he asks.

"No. Tia and Luna are," I reply.

His jaw disconnects from his head and drops to the floor. His tongue then drops down, sticks to his jaw and reels it back up where it reconnects. He then looks at Luna and Celestia. "Are you two serious?" he asks them.

After a few seconds looking at each other, Celestia replies. "Yes, this will help us protect our ponies and we will be able to fight by Adrian's side," she tells him.

"Well then... alright. Be back in a few!" he says as the floor opens up like a trap door and he falls through, the door then closes behind him. I couldn't help but chuckle.

For the next two hours Lux and Umbra explained what will happen. Their contract will consist of allowing them to reside in and feed off the two sisters while they will offer their power in exchange.

I sat on the bed with Mavis sitting between Shella, Cadence, and I. She was looking around at us giggling while patting her hands on the covers. We then tickled and began playing with her. I grabbed my daughter and gave her some raspberries on her tummy. She squealed and slapped her little hand on my head, which made Cadence want a turn. We then gave the giggling baby back to her mother who then began to feed her some energy.

Discord finally returns with an orb in each hand. One is a bright white with a light shining within it, the other is black with a shroud of shadowy mist around it. He gave them to Celestia and Luna who held them in their hands.

Lux is standing in front of Celestia. "Queen Celestia, I make a contract with you. For keeping me alive and well from now till death take you, I shall offer you my power whenever you need it. Do you accept these terms?" Lux asks her.

Celestia looks at the orb and then back to Lux. "I accept your terms," she replies.

The orb then sinks into her left palm and then reappears on the back of her left hand, in the middle of her sun cutie-mark.

"It is done, we are now bound. Whenever you are ready, I shall help train you in using my power," He tells her.

"Thank you," she replies and touches the orb, which is glowing.

"When I am resting within you, just tap the orb and speak in your mind and I shall answer. When I need to talk to you, the orb will pulse with a faint light and you just have to tap it to hear me. but if it is urgent I will speak to you directly,"

I then look to Luna and Umbra. "Queen Luna, I make a contract with you. For keeping me alive and well from now till death take you, I shall offer you my power whenever you need it. Do you accept these terms?" she asks the same thing as Lux did.

Luna shakes a little and takes a deep breath. "W-We accept t-thy terms," she replies with a stutter.

The orb does the same with her and appears on the back of her left hand, in the crescent of her moon mark.

"It is done, we are now bound," Umbra says. Luna gulps and looks scared as Umbra also tells her how to contact her.

I smile at Luna and she seems to calm down. "Well then, shall we all start practising?" I ask. I'm looking forward to seeing what their aspect forms will look like.

POV: Celestia

We're all standing in the field at the Training Grounds with each of our aspects in front of us.

"Celestia, I shall now pour my mana into you. Do not resist or fight against it, just relax and embrace it," Lux tells me.

I relax and then feel a different yet familiar magic flow into me, I don't resist and let it mix with my own. It feels comfortable.

"Good, you have now received your aspect form," he tells me and I look at my arms. A faint light is radiating from me and my flesh looks more like pure magic in physical form, I summon a mirror and look at myself. My eyes are pure white and shining brightly. My mane and tail are pure white and flowing in all directions. I panic a bit as my wings are gone, but I then notice I'm floating a foot off the ground. I look around and notice that even looking at the sun doesn't hurt my eyes. I also see no shadows, as if everything was being bathed in light from all angles.

"This is incredible," I mutter to myself. My voice sounds like a mix between my own and Lux's.

If Lux had a mouth, I'm sure he would be smiling right now. "Now we shall begin with mixing our mana together, just as Adrian was taught," he tells me.

POV: Luna

I look at Tia with wide eyes. I can feel the power she's giving off.

"Now it is your turn, Luna," Umbra tells me.

I then begin to panic. What if I turn into Nightmare Moon again?

It seems Umbra noticed what I'm thinking. "You shall be fine, Luna. Nightmare Moon was a result of your emotions corrupting us together, as long as you relax and don't fight it you will have complete control," she tells me.

I nodded and take a few breaths to calm down.

"I will now begin to pour my mana into you. Accept it and make it your own," she says and I can feel her magic flow into me.

At first, I try to push it away, but I force myself to relax and let it in. I sigh as it feels nothing like before. It's calming and soothing.

I watch as my arms change from a deep blue to a pitch black. My fur seems to turn into a shadow like mist, I move my arms and a faint, short trail of shadow is left in its wake. I look around just as Tia did and notice all the shadows around me. I can see what lies within them, nothing being hidden from me.

I also summon a mirror and look at myself. My hair and tail are similar to Tia's now that they move freely around me and look like a void that would drain all light around them. I also notice I can consciously move them a little, as if they were extra limbs. My eyes are a silvery colour, like moonlight. It's a bit creepy seeing no pupils in them and the dark blue almost black mist seeping out the sides.

I still have my wings, but they look like a thestrals and made of shadows.

"Well done, Luna. How do you feel?" Umbra asks me.

I look at her and smile. "We feel... great," I reply. My voice sounds like a whisper, as if it was meant to be quiet. I also notice I'm not making any noise as I move.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I smile as I watch them, they look stunning in their aspect forms. Celestia looks graceful, she even still has her pregnant stomach while Luna looks scarily awesome.

I notice the guards looking on with awe at their Queens. I even see Shining with wide eyes. I'll have to ask if he'll become a human to master the Shield Aspect later.

They both begin their training in mixing their mana while I resume my attempt at plant control.

Author's Note

Four hours for this chapter WOO! And I'm just starting on the next one now!

Chapter 58: The Power of an Aspect Part 5

Terracana
Chapter 58: The Power of an Aspect Part 5

Two hours... two bloody hours was all it took for Celestia and Luna to figure out how to mix their manas perfectly...

I sit in front of the flowers grumbling to myself as I continue to focus on the flowers life force. I yawn and feel a bonk to the back of my head. "Focus, Adrian," Gaia scolds me.

"Argh," I groan with a slight echo. "I'm trying, I just can't seem to find it," I reply.

"That's okay, there's no need to rush," she tells me.

I'm then blinded by a light to my right. I rub my eyes and see Celestia firing small bolts of white light down the target range. At least she got her wish to train with us, as it's not strenuous physical activity. The small balls of light cause a bright flash on impact, but what confuses me is the scorch marks left on the target, with no visible smoke or fire. Maybe that's because of her own magic as the alicorn of the Sun?

I look to Luna who holds her arm out and four tendrils of shadow extend out and wrap around a practice dummy. I hear her grunt and pull her arm back as the dummy is crushed and ripped out of the ground... Wow, at least I know that when the fight does come I won't be facing it alone.

I then get bashed on the head again. "What did I say about focus?" Gaia tells me with a sly grin.

I just grumble again and resume my own training.

POV: Celestia

So much power... is this how Adrian feels during his training? I feel like I can take on every single gryphon by myself.

"Very good, Celestia. My element, while mostly is used for general light and blinding, can also cause severe damage with UV radiation when a lot of mana is used. Similar to how if you stay out in the sun too long, you begin to burn. Now, I want you to try and cast a beam. Fortunately, an aspects power doesn't just require a human's method to casting, but how our... host, casts spells. To cast a beam, all you have to do is gather our mana and instead of a single push, you keep the flow open," Lux tells me.

"Alright," I reply and take a deep breath.

I hold my right hand out a gather our magic together, I then release the energy and keep the flow of magic going. A bright white beam hits the target instantly and very slowly, starts to burn through the target... No, burn isn't quite right, It looks more like it's vaporising. No smoke, no burning smell, no flames.

After about ten seconds, the beam goes through and continues to hit the cliff face, where it starts to vaporise through it. I stop the flow and just stare wide eyed.

"Very good. Adrian was right that we would make a strong pair. It seems you're also accustomed to my mana as well from me all these centuries to be learning this fast," Lux informs me. "For now though, I want you to continue with bolts and beams just to make sure you're used to my power," he tells me.

I nodded and fire another beam at a new target.

POV: Luna

I pull back my hand and crush another dummy. This power, it feels so similar to when I turned into Nightmare Moon, but I have full control this time. I look to my right hand and can feel the shadows around it. I think I understand how Adrian felt when he fought that undead giant.

"Excellent, Luna. You're a natural at this," Umbra tells me.

I don't know if it shows, but I think I'm blushing. "We thank thee. This feels so familiar, yet instead of fear, we feel... comfort, like an old friend hast returned," I reply as I flex my fingers and feel our magic flow together as one.

"As it should have been all those centuries ago," she says. I can only smile in reply. "I want you to continue to practice with the tendrils until you can fully control them at will," she tells me.

I smile wider and nodded. This is surprisingly a lot more fun then I thought it would be!

POV: Cadence

This is amazing! I can feel so much magic coming from both Tia and Luna. I kinda wish I could help them, but I know nothing about how to fight. I can't stand the sight of blood or hurting anypony.

I notice Adrian getting frustrated and lay down on the grass with his arms spread out. I walk over to him and sit beside him.

"Are you okay, Adrian?" I ask him.

He opens his eyes, that faint green glow of magic in them. "Oh, hi, Cadence. Yeah... I'm fine. Just feeling a bit jealous at how quick they're learning and I'm stuck with trying to move a flower..." he replies with a chuckle. His voice sounds nice with that echo to it.

He looks at my stomach and puts his right hand on it. "I can see her you know," he tells me and rubs my stomach.

"What?" I ask confused.

"While in this form I can see all the life around me, and I can see our daughter growing inside you," he replies.

I go wide eyed and pout. "That's not fair!" I whine playfully. I would like to see my foal myself.

He chuckles again and smiles at me. "She's growing strong. I can only see her life force, but I know she'll be just as beautiful as her mother," he tells me.

I smile and blush as I lean down and kiss him. I squeak as I feel his tongue caress mine and I couldn't help the slight moan that escapes my throat. I lay on my left side and rest my head on his chest and look in his eyes. I'm glad he's not wearing his armour right now, the rise and fall of his breathing along with his heartbeat and the sweet scent of the flowers on him is very comforting. He then places his right hand on mine, just lazily stroking my fingers.

After a few peaceful minutes, his eyes then slowly widen and a grin is on his face. "What?" I ask with confusion.

"I think I understand it now," he says and gently lifts me off him as he sits up.

He looks at the sunflowers and I just watch quietly. He points his left hand at them and has a look of concentration. After about ten seconds, a flower begins to shake and starts to... dance? The stem waves back and forth while the leaves rise up and down. The flower on the top leans to the left and right.

I giggle as it looks adorable.

I see sweat roll down his face and I couldn't resist as I lick it off. I don't know why, but his sweat tastes so salty and delicious.

That seems to have broke his concentration as he blushes, the flower then jumps out of the ground and lays on the grass.

I giggle again and kiss his cheek. "Sorry," I say.

"It's alright. At least I've figured it out now," he replies with a smile.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

"And what was it?" Cadence asks me.

"Before, I was trying to force it to move, but after some thought, I just tried to ask it. It's not an inanimate object, it's still a living thing," I reply.

Gaia sits down to my left. "Correct. All life has a will of it's own, from the mightiest of beasts to a single blade of grass," she tells me and giggles. "It took Starswirl two months to figure that out, always thought with a scientific mind instead of a more open one," she says as she makes the uprooted sunflower get up and and re-root itself.

"You could have just told me," I glare at her, still with my smile.

She puts on an innocent smile. "And would you have really learned anything from that?" she asks.

I sigh, she has a point. I now have a greater respect for all forms of life. "No, I might not have. So I take it I just continue to practice this now?" I reply and ask.

"Yes. Once you can make at least six sunflowers move at once, we shall then move onto bigger plants, like vines and small trees," she replies.

Well, no time like the present. Cadence cuddles up beside me and hooks her left arm around my right. I lean my head against hers as I hold my left hand out and continue to practice.

Thirty Minutes Later

I'm making another flower dance for Cadence as she watches with a smile. I then notice Silk Sheets come out with a trolley with bottles of water on it. She hands them out to Celestia and Luna, but stops at Shining and kisses his cheek as she gives him one. I smile seeing her find a man of her own and Shining looking less depressed.

After a minute or two of talking, she brings the trolley over to us and hands us both a bottle.

"I see you and Shining are getting along rather well," I say to her.

She blushes with a smile. "Oh yes. He's been very kind and gentle with me," she says but her smile fades into a sad frown. "I'll be honest, but I kinda wanted to be with you... Especially after, you know, but I think that was more of a crush than love," she sighs and looks back at Shining. "But I think I'm falling in love with him," she says with a wide smile.

Cadence smiles as well. "Please make him as happy as you can," she asks her.

"I know how much he means to you, Princess. I just hope I can make him just as happy as you did," she replies.

"I'm sure you will. Thank you for the water," Cadence says and starts taking sips from her bottle.

Silk sheets bows and delivers the rest of the bottles to the guards and then talks some more with Shining.

I yawn and take a few gulps from my bottle. I put the cap back on and was about to start practising again but I feel something land on my head, it feels like a bird's talons.

I tilt my head up slightly and look up and see a red bird with an orange neck and yellow beak look back down at me with pure white eyes.

'Is its feathers on fire?' I think to myself.

The bird tilts its head and squawks at me. I raise an eyebrow at it while Cadence laughs.

"Philomena!" I hear Celestia shout out.

I turn to Celestia with a confused expression. "Who's Philomena?" I ask, as the bird stays perfectly on my head.

Celestia hovers over to us and holds her arm out as her aspect form fades away. The bird jumps off my head and lands on her arm.

"I've been worried sick about you young lady!" she scolds the bird.

The bird -I'm guessing is Philomena- looks upset but nuzzles Celestia. She then squawks a few times at her.

"I see, did you find them?" she asks Philomena.

Philomena hangs her head and lets out a pitiful squawk.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Just before you arrived in Equus, Philomena's egg was stolen from her nest. She knows who took it and has been pursuing them, but she's lost them. I've even sent guards to hunt them down," Celestia says with a sad tone.

I frown. "Why would anyone steal her egg?" I ask.

"Philomena is a phoenix, a very rare and magical bird. When they die, their bodies burst into flames and they're reborn from the ashes. It's very rare for a phoenix to lay an egg. Most ponies and other races want them for their healing properties as a phoenix's egg can cure almost any ailment, but they only lay them once every thousand years," she tells me.

Gaia floats over to Philomena and strokes her. The bird coos and nuzzles her hand.

"I believe I can help with that," Gaia says.

"How?" I ask.

"I can feel all life on the planet, finding another with a piece of her unique life force from her offspring will be easy," she tells us.

"Then let's go and get it back!" I say as I stand up.

POV: Celestia

We all get on a carriage, except for Shella and Cadence who stayed behind, and follow Gaia's directions. I teleported Adrian's weapons and armour on to him before we left. After about an hour of flying, we arrive at a rather run down warehouse in the city of Manehatten with forty guards with us.

"Her egg is in there," Gaia tells us.

My anger at these criminals stealing one of my oldest friend's egg rises, she's been waiting centuries for her own foal just as I have. I step out of the carriage and tap the orb on my hand.

'Lux, please lend me your power. I wish to teach these heartless animals a lesson,' I ask him. This will make a good test for my new abilities.

'Very well, but please do not give in to your anger and hate. You saw what that did to your sister and Umbra,' he replies.

He's right, I take a few breaths to calm down as I can feel his magic flow into me. I begin to hover above the ground as I feel my wings recede into my back. I open my eyes and stare at the large metal door.

'Celestia, if you channel our mana throughout your entire body you'll be able to just go through the door as you vaporise it, as well as vaporise anything else physical that can't handle the heat coming in contact with you,' Lux tells me.

'Thank you,' I reply. I then turn to the guards. "I want twenty guards to surround the building and capture any who try to escape. If they resist with killing intent, you have permission to defend yourselves. The rest of you will follow behind me and capture any inside, but their leader is mine," I tell them.

They all salute and silently surround the building. There will be no escape from the ground or air.

I turn to Luna to see her already in her aspect form. "Luna, can you help the guard out here please?" I ask her.

"Of course, sister," she replies in a whisper like tone. She flaps her wings to join the pegasi in the air, but it's rather unnerving that she made no sound what so ever.

"Adrian, I want you to find the egg with Gaia's help and be ready to heal any wounds the guards may receive," I tell him.

"Alright," he replies with a nod.

I turn back to the door and gather our magic and let it flow throughout me where I can feel a heat building up as my body glows brighter. I start to move forward with the guards and Adrian following behind me.

POV: Adrian Stormsword

I watch as Celestia just floats into the door and it just evaporates around her. Wow, that must be some heat she's giving off. I hear shouting and yelling from within as the guard and I follow behind her.

'Adrian, the egg is upstairs in that room. Please hurry, now that we're closer, I can feel it is dying,' Gaia tells me.

My eyes go wide and I look to the right to see a set of metal stairs leading to the room overlooking the warehouse. I can see the life force of a small round object... and it's very dim.

'Got it,' I reply and make my way to the stairs.

"No pony move! You're all under arrest for theft!" a guard shouts out.

"BUCK! IT'S THE GUARDS! EVERYPONY SPLIT!" one of the people yells out.

A loud squawk echoes through the room as Philomena soars in and latches her talons onto a man's face and to my surprise, flames spew out of her mouth and scorch him. He screams in pain and tries to pull her off, but her talons have dug deep into him, I'm glad she didn't do that to my scalp.

A dark green furred man runs down the stairs holding the dying egg. I draw my sword and cut him off.

"Outta my way!" he yells at me and pulls out a small one handed crossbow.

He pulls the trigger and I raise my shield. The small bolt bounces off and I thrust my sword into his leg.

"GAAAAAHHH!" he screams. In his pain, the egg rolls out of his hand and over the railing. I breath in sharply and drop my sword as I dive off the side. I grab it and slam my back onto the floor hard. 'Oh shit, I'm going to feel that in the morning. No, wait... I'm feeling it now,' I think to myself sarcastically as I sit up while ignoring the pain. Not one of my brightest ideas.

'At least you saved the egg, hold it in both hands and don't move, I'll try to keep it alive.' Gaia tells me.

I can feel her mana flow through my hands and into the egg as a green mist surrounds it. I then feel something land on my head. It must be Philomena as I look up and see a worried expression on her face.

As Gaia does her thing, I look at Celestia. She's got the leader cornered and has a really pissed off expression on her face.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" she asks him.

"I'm sorry! I won't ever do it again!" the man begs pitifully.

She lifts her arm up and I see a ball of light form above her hand. "How would you feel if someone took your foal from you!" she yells at him.

Uh-oh, I think she's having one of her emotional outbursts again.

"It's just a stupid bird's egg!" he replies... aw shit.

"Just an egg?" she asks, her right eye twitching. "That bird you took it from has been my friend for hundreds of years! She's been waiting centuries to lay her own and you just Insult her and call it just an egg!" she yells at him.

I want to go over there and try to calm her down, but I can't move without disrupting Gaia.

"Please don't hurt me!" he begs her and cringes.

Her face forms a scowl with gritted teeth. Well, nothing will save him now.

"RrraaAAHHH!" Celestia cries out as she slams the ball of light onto him. I then hear a scream that sounds more like it belongs to a little girl.

Once the bright flash dies down, I look at the man... Oh gods that's nasty. The front half of his skin and muscle have been vaporised, exposing his organs and bones. I can even see the insides of his eyes and brain.

I hear a guard throw up and another pass out.

Celestia is breathing heavily and drops to the floor as her aspect form fades away. Her wings sprout back out and she sighs.

She then drops to the floor and begins crying with her face in her hands.

'Gaia, how much longer?' I ask her. I want to go over to Celestia and comfort her before she really starts to break down.

'Almost there... and done!' she replies and the mana flow stops. I look at the egg and see its life force much brighter. I then get up and walk over to Celestia.

"Tia, it's alright. The egg is safe and healthy," I tell her and hold the egg out to her.

She lowers her hands and takes the egg. I hold my arm out next to it and let Philomena sit on my arm. The phoenix nuzzles Celestia who just smiles back.

"My Queen, all the criminals have been detained," a guard tells her with a salute.

She sniffles and I wipe the tears from her eyes. "Thank you. Let's go back to the Castle... I need to lie down," she replies and I help her up. Philomena moves onto her shoulder and keeps nuzzling her.

As we walk out to the exit, I look back at what's left of the corpse. 'If that was just a basic spell... then what is the true power of an aspect?' I think to myself.

Author's Note

And that ends The Power of an Aspect chapters. Next one will be a Celestia stress relief clop chapter. :rainbowwild:

Chapter 58.5: Stress Relief (Clop)

Terracana
Chapter 58.5: Stress Relief (Clop)

After retrieving the egg, Celestia gave it back to Philomena who then took it back to her nest.

Celestia then began crying again, calling herself a monster for what she did to the leader of the criminals.

Luna teleports my armour off me and I took Celestia to our room while Cadence, Luna, and Shella went to attend court and give me some time alone to calm her down.

We enter our room and I close the door. "I've never lost my temper that badly before..." she tells me with a sniffle. She then glares at me and I think I'm not going to like what's coming. "This is all your fault! You did this to me! I've never had this much trouble keeping my anger in check before!" she yells at me and slaps me on the face hard enough to make me stumble back a metre or two.

I wince from the stinging pain. "Ow..." I grumble as I rub my sore cheek.

Celestia gasps and immediately crushes me in a bone breaking hug. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it! Please don't hate me!" she begs and finally breaks down, crying into my chest.

I lift her up and carry her over to the bed and gently lay her down on it. I lay beside her and stroke her hair lovingly.

"It's alright, I don't hate you. I love you and the others more than anything in the world. You all mean everything to me, you know that," I tell her.

She's still crying with the left side of her face buried in the crook of my neck.

"I... *sniff* I know... it's just... *sniff* I feel so unstable... *sniff* since m-my pregnancy," she replies. "And I've b-been feeling more stressed as well... you constantly *sniff* getting h-hurt and making m-me worry," she says.

I sigh and nuzzle her. After so long of them doing it to me, I just find it natural to return the affection now. "I'm sorry about that. I am trying my best not to worry you, but I would die to keep you lot safe. I really don't want to do that as that would mean leaving you, but I would still do it if I had no other choice," I reply.

She remains quiet for a few minutes. She then looks up at me with tear stained eyes. "Would you... would you please make love to me, Adrian," she asks me. "To hold and love me."

I smile warmly at her and give her a soft but deep kiss. Her eyes close as she melts into the kiss and returns it.

I pull back and cup her left cheek with my right hand. "Of course, Tia. I'll love and stay by you forever," I reply and slowly pull her shirt up over her head.

A smile and a light blush adorns her tear stained face, her eyes never leaving mine. She does the same for me and pulls my shirt off with her magic.

I then unclip her bra and toss it over the side of the bed. Her breasts have gotten quite large since they haven't been milked in a month so I gently wrap my lips over her right nipple and begin to lightly suckle her milk out.

A quiet gasp and soft moan leaves her breathless as I drain her breast. She gently presses the back of my head against her soft bosom. "Yes... I love you so much," she tells me.

I softly knead her left breast with my right hand, eliciting small cries of pleasure from her. After a few minutes of drinking her milk I switch breasts and look up at her. Her face is even more flushed now and she's staring at me while biting her bottom lip, oh gods is that turning me on.

I start suckling again and begin groping her right breast, she wraps her legs around my waist and starts panting. "That feels so good... Mmmmm," she says while stroking my hair.

I pinch and nibble her nipples, getting some squeaks and moans out of her. I can start smelling her arousal in the air and I growl with lust.

Once I've drained her dry, I slowly make my way down and plant soft kisses over her stomach. Her moans are laced with her heavenly giggles.

I sit up and grip the sides of both her loose shorts and panties. I slowly pull them down while digging my fingernails across the sides of her thighs.

She squirms and I grin seeing her getting so worked up as her horn glows and the rest of my clothes are gone. I throw her shorts and panties to the side and crawl up her legs giving small kisses and licks to her inner thighs.

She moans and grips my hair tightly, pulling me closer to her leaking pussy. My nose barely touches her and I breath in deeply, the same sweet smelling vanilla scent.

I extend my tongue and slowly lick from base to clit making her squeal and grip my hair painfully. I ignore the pain and start circling her vulva slowly which gets her to grunt in frustration and forces my face into her snatch.

So she wants to play rough? Fine.

I pull back and take a deep breath and shove my face as hard as I can against her. She gasps loudly and then screams at the top of her lungs as I rasberry as hard as I can into her pussy. "OH BUCK ME! GGAAAAHHHHH!" she screams.

I watch as her eyes roll up and drool flows out of her mouth and down her chin. Her legs spasm uncontrollably as a copious amount of her cum floods my mouth which I latch onto her pussy and gulp down as much as I can.

After a few seconds she calms down and releases her thighs grip on my head.

"That... *gasp* felt w-wonderful. *huff*" she says breathlessly.

I climb up the rest of her body and kiss her deeply. She moans into the kiss as her tongue invades my mouth.

I lift her legs up and spread them and poke around with my dick in an attempt to penetrate her. Her horn glows and I feel a slight tingle around my cock as the tip finds its mark.

After kissing for a bit longer. I push my hips forward slowly and sink into her warm, wet folds. She moans into my mouth and I keep pushing until my groin rubs against hers and she shudders.

"Oh, my love, aaaaahh. Make love to me! Mmmmm. I'm yours forever," she tells me as her arms and legs wrap around my neck and waist.

I rest my forehead against hers and smile as I look into her eyes. "And I'm yours, Tia," I reply and begin pulling back.

She hisses in pleasure and sighs as I push back in. "Yes... I need this so badly," she says and wiggles her hips and grinds against me.

I begin a slow rhythm, sliding in and out as gently and lovingly as I could where her eyes close as she loses herself in her euphoria. Her hands trail down my chest as her fingers follow my scar. She then strokes my sides and licks the sweat off my neck.

Being curious, I return the gesture and lick hers. Her sweat tastes a bit bitter... but surprisingly pleasant.

We continue to make love with more passion than lust. For the last twenty minutes I've fucked her gently with kisses, tender caresses, and words of love. She's already had two orgasms and seems to be approaching her third.

"Faster... Ahhh, I'm close! Oooohh, make m-me cum again! Aaahh... fill me!" she tells me. I pick up my pace and she moans deeply. "That's it, nngghh, keep g-going!" she grunts and starts thrusting her hips back at me.

I make sure not to ram into her so I don't harm her or our child. I then feel her fingers dig into my sides as she starts to clench and squeeze my cock.

I couldn't take it any more and release my load into her as the pleasure sends me over the edge. "Gah! Nggghh," I grunt as rope after rope of semen coats her silky walls.

She gasps sharply and screams as her orgasm rips through her body. "YEEEESSSSS! AAARRGH!" Her vagina grips me like a vice and starts massaging my dick, milking it for every drop it could get out of me while her fluids drench my already soaked balls and thighs thoroughly.

She trembles as I continue to thrust gently for her pleasure. She then starts panting as she comes down from her orgasmic high. She tugs me onto my side and I slip out of her pussy.

"T-Thank you. *pant* I feel m-much *gasp* better now," she tells me and cuddles up to me.

I smile and hold her against me, basking in our afterglow and the feeling of her soft fur on my skin.

I hum a tune my mom used to sing me to sleep with when I was six.

Celestia hums happily as she listens to the tune. "Please stay with me," she mumbles as her breathing slows down and she falls asleep.

I lean down and kiss her cheek. "Always," I reply and continue to hum the tune and stroke her hair until sleep takes me as well.

Chapter 59: Hearth's Warming Eve

Terracana
Chapter 59: Hearth's Warming Eve